The Comprehensive Outbreak Server FAQ (Updated 12/18/19)

[Isles487]

10/10/22:

As part of the forum cleanup and build-out of the wiki.obrsrv.org site, we are unstickying old threads and guides with information that is now posted to the wiki. The wiki is our definitive source, up-to-date source of information for getting set up on Outbreak, the server, and the Cheat Sheet, which includes tons of useful information about the game. We thank everyone that's contributed to the knowledge base of the server over the years and helped make the community what it is!

Please see https://obsrv.org/wiki/index.php?n=Server.FAQ and https://obsrv.org/wiki/index.php?n=Game.PlayingOnline for the new home for this info and more.

Server DNS: 173.233.94.154

Most recent update: added additional information and Hardware Requirements page to the wiki. Clarified that users may use consoles from different regions.

Also added a HDD Mode explanation to clarify the difference between the in-game HDD mode and programs such as "OPL" and "HDLoader."

Silent Hell's addendum: I've decided to answer and highlight some additional questions not featured on the wiki.

I just started File 1. What is the difference between East Town and West Town?
East Town features "Scenario Mode" where players select a single main character to progress through the entire game together. This mode then places you in a pregame lobby where you can walk around as your character before the game starts. The difficulty is dependent on how many players are in the lobby. After about 10 minutes, the game starts. This mode is pretty broken and doesn't really work as intended. You'll most likely never find players here and everyone instead goes to the functional West Town which features "Free Mode," where players can host any scenario, customize the game and lobby settings, and select any character you've unlocked. Basically, just play on West Town.

I just beat the "Outbreak" scenario. Why didn't the next map unlock?
Unlocking new scenarios is rather interesting in this game. In order to unlock a scenario for online play, you must first beat the map, whether offline or online. The next map only unlocks for offline play, i.e. I just beat "Outbreak" offline, so "Below Freezing Point" unlocked, but only for offline. So it won't unlock for online until I beat it offline. Alternatively, joining and beating a scenario you do not have online will unlock it for you to host online as well.

My game froze in Hellfire and it happens a lot? Is this because of a broken translation patch?
No. This freeze is a rather unique glitch that occurs on all methods of playing the game, be it emulation, or vanilla Japanese console with disc. While we do not know the exact cause of the glitch, we do know that excessively ad libbing in the Northwest Passage 1 increases the chances of it occurring dramatically. Generally, the person who triggers the glitch is unaffected while the other 3 players experience a freeze no matter where on the map they are. This glitch can also happen during the boss fight with Suspended, albeit more rare. Other places where this glitch has been reported to occur is during the siege in Desperate Times on File 2 being even rarer.

I heard Decisions, Decisions has a special ending that is triggered by having a specific pair of survivors on your team and not taking any Daylight. Can I still get the ending if my partner took Daylight?
Yes! The only conditions for the pair endings are that you don't take any daylight and that your partner survives with you until the end. You will get the ending where you both stay behind and your partner will get the ending where they escape anyway. Kind of funny in both scenarios. The character pairs for the ending are Kevin with Jim, Mark with David, Cindy with George, and Alyssa with Yoko.

[GhostMissile]

Thanks For this...Pretty Informative...I liked the part about VH games

[Isles487]

Thanks For this...Pretty Informative...I liked the part about VH games

No problem! I speak from experience. I probably annoyed a few players when I first hopped into Outbreak and knew nothing. But I had a great time once I started on easy/normal and worked my way up. You'll learn the ins and outs of the levels, the strategies, and the characters that way. By the time you're ready to play on VH, you'll be able to contribute to the team and it will be an exhilarating experience.

[TrueLolzor]

I was surprised new players even allowed into the hard/very hard modes. I thought network is tied to a single player and if you hand't unlocked a difficulty - you can't play it online. I've never been so wrong.

[XWeskerLeonX]

thanks for the information!

[LynchyGod]

Do not join Very Hard games. You will only annoy veteran players and you will not learn how to play at higher difficulties. Find other new users and play at either the easy or normal difficulty settings until you are able to contribute at higher difficulties.

In order to discern the difficulty of a game, press R1 at the character select screen.

Thank you so much for posting this part. As fun as it it is to help new players when I host normal games, I really
don't like having to disband my rooms when people with less than hour of play or 25% survival rate join on VH...

@TrueLolzor, new players can play any difficulties and even host any difficulty. All they can't do is host the levels they haven't unlocked yet.

[Isles487]

Do not join Very Hard games. You will only annoy veteran players and you will not learn how to play at higher difficulties. Find other new users and play at either the easy or normal difficulty settings until you are able to contribute at higher difficulties.

In order to discern the difficulty of a game, press R1 at the character select screen.

Thank you so much for posting this part. As fun as it it is to help new players when I host normal games, I really
don't like having to disband my rooms when people with less than hour of play or 25% survival rate join on VH...

@TrueLolzor, new players can play any difficulties and even host any difficulty. All they can't do is host the levels they haven't unlocked yet.

Exactly. It's not that veteran players are trying to be "exclusive," it's just that a new player will be overwhelmed and will cause problems on higher difficulty levels. Unless you have a USB keyboard, it's hard to convey these concerns when someone joins.

[TrueLolzor]

@TrueLolzor, new players can play any difficulties and even host any difficulty. All they can't do is host the levels they haven't unlocked yet.

Yeah, I know. Thats was kinda the point of my post.

[Edihnori]

Out of curiosity, what previously unknown major bugs emerged from the open beta? Is it the events list not synching properly or did other oddities pop up with the server under heavy load ?

[Isles487]

Out of curiosity, what previously unknown major bugs emerged from the open beta? Is it the events list not synching properly or did other oddities pop up with the server under heavy load ?

At this point, mostly related to the server crashing under heavy load. The event list is actually complete- as in we don't think there's anything else we can do to improve it- the times when the event lists don't come through are much rarer than before and we are completely emulating the original server behavior.

[Hiroshirou]

Could we get some details on the spec of the server used to host the game?

[the_fog]

I updated the FAQ (DNAS and ID registration).

[Gandi]

Since my post regarding the DEV9 mac problem is being linked in the FAQ (a post I'm incapable of editing) I'd like to add on that regard the edited versions of the DEV9giga_razi.dll: http://puu.sh/4Q6nM
I'm still not exactly sure what the difference between this and DEV9ghzdrk.dll are, but in case anyone experiences less freezes with this one I thought it should be worth mentioning at least.

[the_fog]

Since my post regarding the DEV9 mac problem is being linked in the FAQ (a post I'm incapable of editing) I'd like to add on that regard the edited versions of the DEV9giga_razi.dll: http://puu.sh/4Q6nM
I'm still not exactly sure what the difference between this and DEV9ghzdrk.dll are, but in case anyone experiences less freezes with this one I thought it should be worth mentioning at least.

I added the link to your original post.

[Gandi]

Thank you!