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Tachikoma_Pilot
October 5th, 2008, 19:52
Has anyone attempted to make patches for former online Dreamcast discs to allow them to natively connect to private servers?

Im not interested in wares, just if the patching has been attempted. :confused:
quzar
October 6th, 2008, 05:57
No, hasn't been done or tried. The first step would have to be to intercept network traffic and you know... write a server ;)
Tachikoma_Pilot
October 6th, 2008, 09:05
Oh you :rolleyes:

I'm not nearly proficient enough to write a private server :p

What I was more like thinking is patching discs to connect to existing private servers.

(I work in networking. I have experience coding in Java and C.)

/Off Topic I'd love to see these functions restored :rolleyes:

4x4 Evolution - download tracks
Cosmic Smash - online rankings
DC Squares - online rankings (Website Interface)
Dead or Alive 2 Limited Edition - online rankings
Floigan Bros. - Extra content
Ikaruga - online rankings
Jet Grind Radio - upload graffiti
Maqiupai - online rankings (Website Interface)
Metropolis Street Racer - online rankings
Project Justice - upload characters (Japan Only)
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Sega Marine Fishing - downloads
Sega Rally 2 - online rankings
Shikagami no Shiro 2 - online rankings (Japan) (Website Interface)
Skies of Arcadia - download weapons, new levels
Sonic Adventure - download events, menu themes
Sonic Adventure 2 - download events, menu themes, new levels
Shenmue - download VMU icons, sega classic games, Shenmue Passport
Street Fighter Alpha 3 - upload scores
Trizeal - online rankings (Japan) (Website Interface)
Virtua athlete 2k - online rankings
Darksaviour69
October 6th, 2008, 09:51
http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/phpBB2/content_gameslist.php?sid=751f9de08d2c04a500f84274 846c5ea1

i thought pso has private servers now
Tachikoma_Pilot
October 6th, 2008, 12:15
There is sodaboy's project, scthack, nikon's server yes.

Thats not really the point of my thread, you need some hacked saves in order to connect I believe.

What I want to do is figure a way to patch an online dc game to connect to any server whatsoever.

(A small step, but maybe some more people will try attempting bringing some more games online by coding privates)
quzar
October 6th, 2008, 13:17
Oh you :rolleyes:

I'm not nearly proficient enough to write a private server :p

What I was more like thinking is patching discs to connect to existing private servers.

(I work in networking. I have experience coding in Java and C.)

/Off Topic I'd love to see these functions restored :rolleyes:

4x4 Evolution - download tracks
Cosmic Smash - online rankings
DC Squares - online rankings (Website Interface)
Dead or Alive 2 Limited Edition - online rankings
Floigan Bros. - Extra content
Ikaruga - online rankings
Jet Grind Radio - upload graffiti
Maqiupai - online rankings (Website Interface)
Metropolis Street Racer - online rankings
Project Justice - upload characters (Japan Only)
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Sega Marine Fishing - downloads
Sega Rally 2 - online rankings
Shikagami no Shiro 2 - online rankings (Japan) (Website Interface)
Skies of Arcadia - download weapons, new levels
Sonic Adventure - download events, menu themes
Sonic Adventure 2 - download events, menu themes, new levels
Shenmue - download VMU icons, sega classic games, Shenmue Passport
Street Fighter Alpha 3 - upload scores
Trizeal - online rankings (Japan) (Website Interface)
Virtua athlete 2k - online rankings

The thing is that there aren't existing servers anymore. You say private server as all one would need to do is setup apache and tell the game to look to that ip instead of the one it's told by default. Thing is even if the game interacted with it's webserver through basic http, you'd still need to know what files and such it needs.

If you (or one in general) have a bba or modem through pc connection for the DC, you could use a packet sniffer or proxy to view what it is looking for. Knowing the address that the game looks for and the files it tries to get, you could then either:
A) use a proxy to route those requests to a private server (local or not)
B) use the knowledge of the address to patch the game to instead look for another (this may even be possible by simply using a gameshark/action replay)


hrm, just found this. wrote it a few hours ago. wasn't sure what I was going to finish up with but hope that might give you a better idea of what is required.
Tachikoma_Pilot
October 6th, 2008, 22:33
B) use the knowledge of the address to patch the game to instead look for another (this may even be possible by simply using a gameshark/action replay)

Thats what im talking about ;)

There are still four or five games that have active private servers, just want to make it easier to connect to these in the long term.

I realise the DC scene is probably not active enough for anyone to invest the time needed to try and write server emulators for every game, in fact I doubt anyone ever will again. (Starlancer being the last I can remember, Phantasy Star still actively improved).

And then wherever I turn, mentioning "sega snap" is like a swear word. :(