Yesterday, popular modder Aydan Watkins announced that they were both returning to the scene and had already begun work on adding co-op to the original Resident Evil.
"Been a while huh? Well with the release of the Resident Evil decomp I wanted to have a little play with it," they posted to X. "Currently in the process of [adding] VERY basic online co-op as a proof of concept. SO far the clients connect to one another and share packets... More to come!"
Just an hour later, they shared a video of the mod in action, with two players walking around Spencer Mansion, even being able to occupy different rooms at the same time. "Online co-op in Resident Evil 1!!! It's still VERY early and purely proof of concept. But it works!!! One is a host, the other a client, connected, rendering both players across different rooms," they said.
Their final post on September 10 showed a second player joining the game via the load menu, with nameplates now displayed above their heads. It might be "far from finished," but it's an impressive feat nonetheless. "Everything now [syncs] properly across clients," they explained. "Movement, animations, and even player names. Also updates when a player disconnects and rejoins."
With the basic networking now demonstrated—allowing players to join each other's game, sync their movement, and even visit different rooms—Aydan is now looking towards the trickier questions. For example, what happens when one person picks up an item, like a key?
"There are a few ways to tackle this," they said. "One player takes a key, the flag is set for both players so the other person can't get the same key. That said when a door is unlocked by Player 1 that flag is also sent to Player 2 who, without the key, can open the now unlocked door."
Inventory state, puzzle progression, scripted events, cutscenes, room transitions, saving, death, player desyncs, and cinematic triggers are all problems Aydan will have to address if the mod continues. Can players be revived? Is it game over for both if one dies? What happens when one player waltzes into Yawn's lair, while the other is still rummaging through the piano room?
Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, the DS version of the original game, had a popular co-op mode.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.thegamer.com/resident-evil-classic-co-op-mod/
