Outbreak's aspect ratio is 4:3, causing either a stretched look or black bars on either side of the picture if running in full screen on 16:9 displays. Widescreen patches change the rendering perspective to 16:9 for widescreen play. These patches have long been included with PCSX2 but also work on PS2 or other platforms that can play the games including PS3. Keep in mind not all assets are changed by the patch so some of the UI will inevitably be stretched. All of the in-game graphics will render properly, though.
Credits
The patches used and adapted in this page were created by synce, credited in the original .pnach files for the gameplay perspective change, and nemesis2000, credited in the .pnach files for the FMV aspect ratio change. They are featured in the PS2 widescreen patch archive graciously compiled and curated by Devina at pcsx2.net.
Example screenshots without and with the widescreen patch
Example gifs by macchina demonstrating additional area rendered by patch:
Without patch, stretched
Patched, no stretch
Without patch
Patched
Important: PCSX2 users
Two things for PCSX2 users to note:
PCSX2 will not render in 16:9 until the aspect ratio is changed.
1.7.x with QT: Settings -> Graphics
1.7.x with wxWidgets: Config -> General Settings
1.6.x: Config -> Emulation Settings
Some of the online-related screens will show some background corruption that will not affect anything else:
Choosing your patching method
There are different ways to use the widescreen patches and which one is most convenient will depend on your setup. Listed from least to most involvement:
PCSX2 only: if you are on PCSX2 1.7.0 on Windows or Mac OS, it will be easiest to head over to QuickLoading and enable quicker loading and widescreen at the same time. No need to keep reading below. If using 1.6.0 or older PCSX2, or on console/other platforms, use one of the other methods.
PCSX2 only: has a widescreen patches function built-in. If you are simply playing from ISO and not using the HDD loading method, it is easy to setup, does not require any ISO modification, and can be enabled or disabled before starting the game. Although it can be made to work with HD Loader or OPL, it is not quite as convenient for that as switching from File 1 to File 2 or vice versa requires some file moving or renaming.
Patching the ISO directly has the widest compatibility as it will work on any device or emulator that can play from ISO or from a burned DVD backup and does not depend on loading patch files separately.
If you are using OPL to play from HDD on either console or emulator, the widescreen patch can be converted to OPL's built-in PS2rd cheats system format for an easy way to use your current installation without having to re-rip or re-transfer the game to HDD. As with the PCSX2 widescreen patches function, the user may enable or disable the widescreen patch before starting the game, without requiring two separate installs for standard or widescreen.
If you are playing from DVD on console, backup or original discs, or insist on using HD Loader without needing to re-rip the game to HDD, you can use the widescreen patch with the ps2rd standalone cheat engine.
Detailed instructions for the different methods if not using QuickLoading:
Patching the ISO
It is recommended that if you are using the translation patch, that you apply the translation patch first. PCSX2 only: Make sure that the widescreen patches option is disabled as we will be baking the widescreen patch into the ISO.
PS2 only: If you will be using the patched File 2 widescreen ISO on console, you will first need to edit the .pnach file to remove the FMV related lines since the FMV modifications cause black screens during FMV on the console. Notepad++ is a good file editor for text files. Browse to where you extracted the widescreen patches, enter NTSC-J folder and select Biohazard Outbreak - File 2. All 3 of the files are identical, so you may delete any 2 of them and keep 1. Open the File 2 .pnach file you will be applying and edit the text to delete anything below the gameplay patch data, so it looks like this:
gametitle=BioHazard Outbreak File #2 [NTSC-J] (SLPM-65692)
//gameplay by synce
patch=1,EE,202491fc,extended,3fe38e38
Leave an empty line at the end of the file. The File 1 widescreen patch works fine on PS2 as is.
Open PS2 Patch Engine, and click Browse to select your Outbreak ISO, either File 1 or File 2.
Again click Browse, but on right side, click the dropdown menu that is currently set to Image File (*.iso, *.bin, *.img) and select Patch file (*.txt, *.pnach) instead. Navigate to where you extracted the widescreen patches, enter the NTSC-J folder, and select either Biohazard Outbreak File 1 or File 2 depending on the game you are patching. Note that there will be 3 files within each Biohazard Outbreak folder. All 3 are identical so pick any for your chosen game. Be sure to follow step 2 if you are patching File 2 for use on PS2.
Click Patch and choose where you will save the patched ISO file. The original file will be unmodified.
Burn the ISO to a DVD, play direct from the ISO, or install the newly patched ISO to your PS2 or emulated hard drive. If you already had installed the game to the HDD, either delete the pre-existing game install or install the widescreen-patched ISO but make sure to name it something that easily distinguishes it from the non-widescreen patched game.
Using OPL's built-in cheats engine
If you have not yet installed OPL for playing games off of an internal HDD, head to HDDInstall. OPL version: you will need a version of OPL recent enough that it has ps2rd cheat support built-in and it should also create the +OPL partition. The latest release will do both.
On PS2
Download the patch files converted to CHT format for OPL cheat system here. Additionally, the File 2 patch has been modified to remove changes to FMVs. That is because the FMV modification only seems to work on PCSX2 but on a real PS2 results in non-working/black FMVs. If you are on PCSX2, do not download this file, and instead download the .cht files in the PCSX2 section.
Move the two .cht files to a USB memory stick. Insert the stick into either of your PS2 USB ports. Alternatively, use any method to transfer the files including uLaunchELF/wLaunchELF's built in FTP system - guide courtesy of Jay-Jay at Ps2-home.
Start wLaunchELF/uLaunchElf and copy the .cht files to the CHT directory under the +OPL partition on your HDD. The +OPL partition and CHT subdirectory should be present on your HDD if you have run OPL at least once and have enough space. If there is even 128mb of space OPL should create the partition. If you do not have space, free up some space by deleting unused installed HDD games, and then run OPL again. Reminder: as mentioned above, you need a version of OPL recent enough to have ps2rd cheat support built-in and will auto-create the partition.
Follow the steps to Start OPL and enable the cheats.
On PCSX2
Download and extract PFS Shell by uyjulian. This application can, among other things, manipulate PS2 HDD image files.
Download the widescreen patches for PCSX2 converted from .pnach to .cht format here. Unlike the ps2 patches above, the File 2 patch in this archive also works on FMVs. Extract the 2 .cht files into the PFS Shell folder. The files must be in the same folder as pfsshell.exe.
Open the folder where you extracted all of the files and right click --> Open in Terminal. You may need to hit shift and right-click to get the option. This option may be labeled slightly differently depending on Windows version. CMD.exe will work as well.
Close PCSX2 completely. We need to make sure the program is not locking or trying to access the virtual hdd while we are modifying it.
Start PFS Shell by typing:
.\pfsshell.exe
pfsshell for POSIX systems
https://github.com/ps2homebrew/pfsshell
This program uses pfs, apa, iomanX,
code from ps2sdk (https://github.com/ps2dev/ps2sdk)
Type "help" for a list of commands.
>
At the PFS Shell console, type help for a list of the available commands if you are curious.
Type device followed by a space and the path to your PCSX2 virtual HDD file, which is generally named DEV9hdd.raw unless you named it something else. The default location of the file is in the root PCSX2 folder, but if you are not sure where this is, check your PCSX2 HDD settings. Instead of typing out the full path, you can drag and drop the virtual HDD file into this window and the full path will be added to the command line.
> device "C:\Users\generic\Downloads\pcsx2\hdd image test\dev9hdd_1.raw"
hdd: PS2 APA Driver v2.5 (c) 2003 Vector
hdd: max open = 1, 3 buffers
hdd: 15:51:28 10/11/2022
hdd: disk0: 0x017fffff sectors, max 0x00200000
hdd: checking log...
hdd: drive status 0, format version 00000002
hdd: version 0000 driver start.
pfs Playstation Filesystem Driver v2.2
ps2fs: (c) 2003 Sjeep, Vector and Florin Sasu
pfs Max mount: 1, Max open: 1, Number of buffers: 10
pfs version 0000 driver start.
Confirm that there is a +OPL partition. If you do not have a +OPL partition, exit from PFS shell, run the OPL elf in PCSX2, and it should create the partition automatically. Note that OPL does this without prompting the player or giving any feedback. Reminder: as mentioned above, you need a version of OPL recent enough to have ps2rd cheat support built-in and will auto-create the partition.
Copy the File 1 and file 2 widescreen cht files by using the put command. Again, these files must be present in the same folder as pfsshell.exe or the put command will not work.
+OPL:/CHT# put SLPM_654.28.cht
+OPL:/CHT# put SLPM_656.92.cht
+OPL:/CHT#
Confirm that the .cht files are now present in the CHT folder by typing ls
+OPL:/CHT# ls
./
../
SLPM_654.28.cht
SLPM_656.92.cht
+OPL:/CHT#
Type umount to unmount the +OPL partition.
Type exit to exit pfsshell.exe.
Activating the cheats in OPL
PCSX2 only: Make sure that PCSX2's widescreen patches option is disabled.
Start OPL. Press O to enter the game list. Press Triangle to enter the game options menu. Enter the Cheats submenu, and change the Settings Mode from Global to Per Game, change PS2RD Cheat Engine to On, and leave PS2RD Cheat Engine Mode as Auto Select Cheats. Select Ok and at the menu, select Save Changes.
Launch the game. If you ever would like to disable widescreen mode, simply disable the PS2RD Cheat Engine Mode in the game settings.
Using PCSX2 widescreen patches function
No downloads are necessary as the widescreen patches are bundled with PCSX. If you are loading from ISO, the only step should be to enable widescreen patches. If you are running from virtual HDD and insist on using the PCSX2 built-in widescreen patches option rather than using the OPL Cheat method, there are a few more steps to note.
Reminder: make sure the PCSX2 aspect ratio is set to 16:9.
Start the game and verify that the patch is loaded.
On 1.7.x nightly with QT UI, click Debug --> Enable Systems Console. When loading the game, you should see text similar to the following:
[ 648.0363] Loading patch '32088394.pnach' from archive. [ 648.0364] comment: FMV's fix will cause abnormal collection interface [ 648.0368] (Wide Screen Cheats DB) Patches Loaded: 8
On 1.7.x with wxWidgets UI or on 1.6.x, the top of the console window displays whether the widescreen patch loaded:
If you are not seeing the above, follow the steps below.
Different CRC ID
PCSX2 uses game CRCs to find and load the relevant .pnach patch files. Each pnach file name is the CRC for the game the patch applies to. Your game CRC ID will not match any of the pre-existing .pnach patch names:
if you have applied different mods or patches to your ISO, including newer versions of the translation patch.
If you cannot verify that any patches are loaded because of the above reasons or in general, follow the steps below. Note that while these steps will work for playing from HDLoader or OPL, you should consider the OPL Cheat method or the iso patching method to save file swapping/renaming when switching between File 1 and 2.
Get your game CRC ID by:
Only if using ISO: using Mastercode Finder by pelvicthrustman, mounting the ISO, and then pointing Mastercode Finder to the SLPM_xxx.xx file in the root of the mounted ISO. Mastercode Finder will show the CRC ID at the top of the window, or:
For either ISO or HDL/OPL: starting the ISO or HDL/OPL ELF file in PCSX2 and reading the CRC file from PCSX2. In the below examples, the HDL ELF is started and the id is A87C0327.
In PCSX1.7.x with QT UI, make sure you have enabled Enable System Console option under Debug. You can click System ---> Pause shortly after starting HDL/OPL in order to make finding the text easier:
[ 25.0090] ELF (host:C:\Users\generic\Downloads\pcsx2\elfs\HDL_V0.8C.ELF) Game CRC = 0xA87C0327, EntryPoint = 0x01D00008[ 25.0093] (IsoFS) Invalid partition descriptor encountered at block 0x10: 'C' [ 25.0724] Elf entry point @ 0x01d00008 about to get recompiled. Load patches first. [ 25.0727] [GameDB] Searching for 'a87c0327' in GameDB [ 25.0728] [GameDB] Could not find 'a87c0327' in GameDB [ 25.0747] Overall 0 Widescreen hacks loaded
In PCSX1.7.x with wxWidgets UI and with 1.6.x, this information is visible after the Disc ID, if any, at the top of the console window.
Find and open the cheats_ws.zip file:
In 1.7.x, either UI: in the resources folder of PCSX2.
In 1.6.x, in the PCSX2 root directory.
Find the .pnach file corresponding to File 1 or File 2, depending on what you are playing:
For File 1, you can use 03C8F393.pnach
For File 2, you can use 6FCA6FBD.pnach
Take the relevant file from above and extract it into the cheats_ws folder, which should be in the PCSX2 root directory in 1.6.x or 1.7.x.
Rename the pnach file to the CRC ID that you obtained above. In the examples above the ID was A87C0327, so the new name of the file would be A87C0327.pnach.
Note: If you are playing the game from HDL or OPL, the game CRC is always going to be the same regardless of the game you are launching, because PCSX2 will use the CRC of the HDL/OPL ELF file when you launch either of those programs. You will have to rename the relevant widescreen patch file to match the CRC ID every time you switch between File 1 and File 2.
Using PS2rd standalone
PS2rd offers a cheat system, among other things, and can boot to DVD or an ELF file. The listed contributors on Github are mlafeldt, jimmikaelkael, and root670. Although for PCSX2 users PCSX2's built-in widescreen patches or for virtual HDD users, OPL are more convenient options, this method will work on PCSX2 as well.
See documentation regarding config file options for more information.
If you plan on loading PS2rd and/or HD Loader ELF off of your USB memory stick, you need to set usb_support to true.
PS2rd will not work properly if you try to run from the HDD. It will not be able to read files.
boot defines a list of ELF files to select, and here PS2rd is set to find HDL_V0.8C.ELF, which is HD Loader, in the root of the first memory card slot, mc0. If you plan on running from the second memory card, change to mc1, and mass would be used instead if you plan on running HD Loader from the usb memory stick root.
Debugger is disabled here both because our use case doesn't require it and it would conflict with Outbreak as it uses the network adapter to allow connections for remote debugging
videomod is disabled by default and not part of the use case. If you need to change video output you can run standalone GSM Selector before starting PS2rd.
Specifically for DVD users:
You may set sdklibs and elfldr to false as supporting libraries for loading an ELF like HD Loader are unnecessary.
Save the file. Open cheats.txt, delete all of the text and edit the file to only list the following. This will make selecting our game less time consuming:
Note that the above removes the FMV modifications for File 2 because on PS2 the modification causes FMVs to go black. If you will be playing on PCSX, you may use the following as the File 2 section:
Save the file. Put the ps2rd folder on a USB stick or use another method to transfer the folder to the PS2. PCSX2 users could use PFS Shell to transfer the files to the virtual HDD in the same way it's used above, use the Run ELF or alternately labeled Start File option in PCSX2 to start uLaunchELF, and then copy the folder from hdd0 to one of the virtual memory cards, but be aware PFS Shell does not support transferring folders into/out of the virtual HDD, so you will need to make a directory for ps2rd in PFS Shell and then use the put command to transfer the files individually. Alternatively, using the Host Filesystem option in PCSX2 and then using uLaunchELF to copy the folder from the Host area to the virtual memory card would be quicker.
Start ps2rd.ELF from uLaunchELF.
PCSX2 users must start uLaunchELF/wLaunchELF first as ps2rd.exe will not work properly when run directly.
PCSX2 users not using HD Loader must also now make sure that CDVD mode is set to ISO and the Outbreak ISO that will be run is selected. In 1.7.x nightly with QT UI, after starting uLaunchELF, select System --> Change Disc --> select the ISO from game list or other option.
Select the game by pressing UP or DOWN on D-PAD. If using DVD, you may now press START or X to launch the game from DVD. The gameplay should now render in widescreen.
If using HD Loader, press RIGHT or LEFT on D-PAD to select HDL_V0.8C.ELF, then press START.
Start the game from HD Loader, and gameplay should now render in widescreen.
