'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

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Shademp
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'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

Post by Shademp »

- The 'Dirge of Cerberus Multiplayer' Archives


This online mode was only ever available in Japan during two phases, first during its beta testing from 20050922 - 20051031, then during its public version from 20060126 - 20060929. No online functionality was ever given to the overseas releases of Dirge of Cerberus.

The purpose of this thread is two-fold:
1) Acquire more knowledge about the varying degrees to which online games can be resurrected and finding out which difficulty level the DCFFVII online mode belongs to in terms of resurrection

2) Expanding the DCFFVII Multiplayer Archive I am currently creating. I desperately hope to catch the attention of anyone whose harddrive may contain DCFFVII Multiplayer documents, snapshots or video recordings which can't be found on the web, in the hope that they might share those files.


Though I have barely even begun to scratch the surface of an online mode might ever feasibly be restored to Dirge of Cerberus, I have fortunately found a great deal of content on the game disc with the use of Cheat Engine. For example I have, in an incomplete state, unlocked the Online Player Character by replacing it with Vincent Valentine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asSoZ8sdSKc
Last edited by Shademp on Wed Mar 01, 2017 9:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

DonkeyKong
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Re: 'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

Post by DonkeyKong »

Interesting idea ,but I think it would be difficult to resurrect it, notice that you will need to emulate PlayOnline service or bypass it somehow, and this game requires HDD installation, that will make it unplayable to all SLIM model owners. Also the online mode is presented only in Japanese version of the game, which is not easy to find.

no23
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Re: 'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

Post by no23 »

AFAIK, DoC was only playable with the japanese NTSC-J version of the game. And it required to have a japanese console with harddisc. The game itself wasn't installed on the hdd, but the program that was necessary to go online. This was PlayOnline. While doing the captures for the DNAS forever project, PlayOnline was already down and DNAS IDs couldn't be captured. So even if you manage to install the service, you need a DNAS bypass!

Is your DCFFVII Multiplayer Archive publically available?

Shademp
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Re: 'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

Post by Shademp »

no23 wrote:AFAIK, DoC was only playable with the japanese NTSC-J version of the game. And it required to have a japanese console with harddisc.
This is correct that only the original Japanese release ever had official online functionality. Only the original NTSC-J release and the β Version had the Main Menu options to lead you to the Multiplayer. I'm curious however as to how much of the programming for online functionality might still exist as unused data in the later releases.

I own all official releases of Dirge of Cerberus, minus the β Version. I am very interested in buying the β Version, but so far I haven't found it.
no23 wrote:The game itself wasn't installed on the hdd, but the program that was necessary to go online. This was PlayOnline.
This is interesting. I was speculating to myself last night that maybe the online game components could be retrieved from a PS2 HDD that had downloaded DCFFVII Multiplayer data, but you say that none of the Multiplayer data was saved on the HDD? Has this model of doing things been confirmed for other PlayOnline games such as Final Fantasy XI?
no23 wrote:While doing the captures for the DNAS forever project, PlayOnline was already down and DNAS IDs couldn't be captured. So even if you manage to install the service, you need a DNAS bypass!
Since I'm completely new to the online gaming scene (apart from having played FFXIV: A Realm Reborn for a few weeks) I am also new to the terminology. Is it the case that these DNAS IDs could only have been retrieved from the PlayOnline service?
no23 wrote:Is your DCFFVII Multiplayer Archive publically available?
"Sort of" yes. Because the archive is unfinished and messy I have not set up many links to it yet, but the current pages are set to public so that with the right link you can view it. I'll send you a PM with a link to the archive in its current state. =)

Here is my "DCFFVII Unlocked" YouTube series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKqp5Am ... KifpOzxxg0

In this playlist you will, among other things, see me exploring the hub that was once used for the DCFFVII Multiplayer. More unused data exists on the disc than what I have shown so far in my videos.

Shademp
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Re: 'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

Post by Shademp »

Interesting developments over at Assembler Games.

http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/req ... ost-931159

Member "krHACKen" unlocked the installation screen for the Multiplayer of Dirge of Cerberus!

It is not enough to run the actual game, but the installation screen sports much official artwork that can't be found anywhere else.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLPyGbjQXS4

Hunk91
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Re: 'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

Post by Hunk91 »

Very interesting project! krHACKen is a french developer well known in the PS2 homebrew community! May be I can get you together in touch?
\\FAT PAL PS2 + Internal 64GB SD Card + FMCB 1.953 + OPL 0.9.3
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Shademp
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Re: 'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

Post by Shademp »

Fortunately krHACKen was easy to get in touch with over the Assembler Games forum (as I requested some other video downloads over PM and they quickly abliged), so whenever I have something I want to ask I'm sure krHACKen will respond. Still just trying to get my head around all this PS2 technology, both old/official and new/homemade.

I recently purchased a BB Unit that is compatible with the PS2 Expansion Bay and my plan is to buy a SCPH-50000 PS2 model. The only reason I haven't already bought a fitting PS2 model is because of money: My unemployment makes these purchases hurt somewhat. Don't worry, I know I want these products regardless of how easy these things might be to emulate. I both want to collect and get up close-and-personal with this tech.

DonkeyKong
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Re: 'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

Post by DonkeyKong »

That's interesting , before the installation of PlayOnline Viewer starts you need to pass through "Online Certification". It includes DNAS check and the actual connecting to the network, so does it check just the internet connection or the availability of POL service?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=E4-5D_fZqMM

And also, where can I find Japanese PlayOnline Viewer?

Shademp
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Re: 'Dirge of Cerberus FFVII Multiplayer' Archive Project

Post by Shademp »

The archive is now officially online. A link has been edited into the first post in this thread. In the Image Gallery you can download over 2300 screenshots from the game.

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