This page is for the original game. For the remake, see Resident Evil HD Remaster.
Resident Evil [Note 1] is a singleplayer survival horror game developed by Capcom. It is the first entry in the Resident Evil series.
Originally released in 1996 on PlayStation, it was ported to PC in-house and released in Japan on December 6, 1996, followed by releases in North America and Europe on September 17, 1997. The original PC releases suffers from poor compatibility with modern systems. The cutscenes of Direct3D releases go out-of-sync on a PC with a CPU speed higher than the recommended system requirements, as the cutscenes are tied to CPU speed.
It was released on GOG.com on June 26, 2024, and includes fixes for compatibility with modern systems, all four localizations, uncut content, improved Direct3D renderer, new rendering options and wider controller support.
The game is capped at 30 FPS. Note that the original PC release can be run directly from the CD.
General information
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
Availability
| Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
| Retail |
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Simple disc check |
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| GOG.com |
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Version differences
- The GOG.com release is the uncut edition, which features more scenes of extreme violence and gore than the original PlayStation release.[2]
Essential improvements
Patches
- Latest version is 1.01.
- Removes the need for Win95/98 compatibility mode to even boot, making the game compatible with Win7 and later.
This collaterally fixes CPU0 100% spikes.
- Removes support for software rendering (which would crash in the long run), enforces hardware rendering, and removes the need to specify a graphics card.
- Adds support for some AMD cards that wouldn’t work because of incompatible Z-buffer formats.
- Fixes frame rate. Gaining 30 FPS in most 3D sections while 60 FPS in the rest, like it’s intended to.
- Removes the need to install the game by rerouting access to the Windows Register (replaced with an INI configuration file).
- Replaces legacy gamepad module (winmm.dll, joy module) with XInput, DirectInput, and RawInput.
This means that you can use an XBox360/ONE controller and take advantage of all common buttons, including shoulder triggers, or literally any other controller with DirectInput or Dualshock 3/4/DualSense with Raw Input.
- Allows to boot the game without the need for a physical CD-ROM drive.
- Allows the game to load videos from the installed directory, instead of always checking for data on CD-ROM.
- Adds new windowed resolutions. New resolutions are 320×240 and multiples, and borderless window mode when hitting desktop resolution. You can cycle through them in game by pressing F8.
- Fixes in-game timer when entering the status screen.
- Replaces the Windows MultiMedia video player (winmm.dll, MCI module) with a new one based on FFmpeg and fanplayer.
This introduces a number of improvements, like filtered rendering, better internal control of what happens during playback, and the ability to play high quality MP4 files natively (supports H264 for video and AAC for audio).
- Provides extended mod support, which is required for most mods.
- Requires a Japanese release with the version 1.01 EXE file. The MediaKite release is 1.01 out-of-the-box.
Non-MediaKite releases can be made compatible by applying patch 1.01.
- Converts the original US release to the MediaKite release, thus making it compatible with the Classic REbirth patch. Not compatible with other releases.
- Compatible with the GOG release, though it may overwrite some of its improvements.
Use Gemini's Classic REbirth patch with the GOG.com release
- The GOG.com port is fairly bare bones and overshadowed by Gemini's Classic REbirth patch.
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Instructions[3]
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- Install the game via GOG Galaxy.
- Click on the drop-down menu to the right of Play and click on
Manage Installation → Configure.
- In the menu, choose Japanese as language, which will prompt GOG Galaxy to install the Japanese variant.
- Go to
<path-to-game> and rename biohazard.exe, ddraw.dll, and dinput.dll to anything else.
- Download patch 1.01 and Gemini's Classic REbirth patch, then extract to
<path-to-game>.
- Run the game and you should get a launcher with quite a few more features than the GOG.com's wrapper.
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- Replaces the original audio with higher quality sounds and includes FMVs.
- Includes an older version of the Classic REbirth Patch and the Japanese MediaKite 1.01 executable.
- Replaces textures and the original FMVs with higher quality MP4 files that have reduced artefacts, smooth interpolations to 30 FPS, and better compression.
- Works with the Seamless HD Project to provide even higher fidelity pre-rendered backgrounds and FMVs.
- Seamless HD Project needs to be installed first.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
Video
Input
Audio
| Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
| Separate volume controls |
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| Surround sound |
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| Subtitles |
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| Closed captions |
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| Mute on focus lost |
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| Royalty free audio |
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Localizations
| Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
| English |
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| Simplified Chinese |
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Only available in retail release in Mainland China. |
| Finnish |
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Fan translation by Mechanical Paladin & Doze_D, download. |
| French |
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| French |
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Fan translation, download. |
| German |
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| German |
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Fan translation by Accandon, download. |
| Japanese |
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| Polish |
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Fan translation by Viuys, download. |
| Brazilian Portuguese |
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Fan translation by Tribo Gamer; download. |
| Russian |
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Fan translation by CasperPRO, mirror (outdated) & collaborative translation. |
| Spanish |
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Fan translation by Leigiboy, download. |
| Italian |
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Fan translation by Menma, download. |
- All fan translations require Resident Evil Classic REbirth.
- To use some translations with the Seamless HD Project, it is necessary to copy the
TEXT folder along with the XML and INI files into the MOD_SHDP folder.
If you place all the translation files in this folder, some HD textures will not load.
Issues fixed
"Jill Bug"
- Fixed in the GOG.com re-release.
- While playing as Jill, the image freezes during the encounter with Barry after killing the first monster. This bug is triggered if the PC specs exceed the game requirements.
To prevent this issue, it is necessary to decrease the FSB (Front Side Bus) frequency to reach a value that does not cause problems with the game, usually 100Mhz or 66Mhz.
For all those who do not have the possibility to configure this option, it's necessary to rely on 3rd party solutions such as "CPUKILLER" or "Resident Evil Classic REbirth".
Error: "Failed to initialize the Graphic Hardware Device.(3)"
- This issue is caused by incorrect detection of Z-buffer formats on AMD cards.
Error: "The game would only be able to run only when Windows95"
- Fixed in the GOG.com re-release.
Set the compatibility mode to Windows 95 for the following files: Checker.exe, launch.exe, ResidentEvil.exe, and Setup.exe.[5]
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Installing the game (Retail)
- During installation, the installer goes fullscreen. Sometimes an error message pops up behind the background of the installer.
To view and then get rid of the error message by clicking OK, it is necessary to use Alt+Tab ↹ or the Task Manager.
- This issue occurs in certain western retail releases.
Visual artifacts on AMD & Intel GPUs\iGPUs
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Use dgVoodoo 2
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- For more details, read here.
Notes
- It can be combined with the Classic REbirth patch.
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Other information
API
| Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
| Direct3D |
3 |
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| Software renderer |
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Also supports PowerVR's PowerSGL and Rendition's RRedline APIs |
| Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
| Windows |
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System requirements
Original release
| Windows |
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Minimum | Recommended |
| Operating system (OS) |
95 | |
| Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 90 MHz | Intel Pentium 133 MHz |
| System memory (RAM) |
16 MB | 32 MB |
| Storage drive (HDD/SSD) |
5 MB | 400 MB |
| Video card (GPU) |
4 MB of VRAM
DirectX 3a compatible | |
GOG re-release
| Windows |
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Minimum |
| Operating system (OS) |
10, 11 |
| Processor (CPU) |
CPU with 2.0 GHz |
| System memory (RAM) |
2 GB |
| Storage drive (HDD/SSD) |
650 MB |
| Video card (GPU) |
DirectX 9.0c compatible |
Notes
References
