See what this GoG release is offering and compare it to Classic Rebirth. This release is basic.

So I just found this patch too but I don't understand exactly how this would work.

Its moddb page says its to be installed before Classic Rebirth DLL, but according to @mvp13 guide (in OP) we wouldn't need to install any patches for Resident Evil 1.

Does everything work fine without this patch installing Classic Rebirth directly from Japanese GOG installation?

You see, I'm in doubt because in the Classic Rebirth's resources page for RE1 there's also one patch:

https://classicrebirth.com/index.php/download/biohazard-pc-cd-rom-patch-version-1-01/

Are both the same and/or is this required for RE1 Classic Rebirth DLL to work?

That Error mean you didn't install SourceNext Conversion Correctly.
There's already a guide or two about how to installed Classic Rebirth step by step.
You just have to search.

I think you need to do a little bit more research then. I even retweeted the news of this rerelease multiple times on my Twitter account and will do again when RE3 becomes available. There are different meanings to "basic", and this is the closest to "bare minimum". It's just a wrapper and a couple assembly patches. That is very basic for any industry standard, there's really no way around this one, no matter how sugar coating we can throw at it.

Thanks for pointing that out! I forgot the update the instructions in that post until now.

I don't go on Twitter. Or is it called X nowadays?

You can still dislike something and promote it. I dislike ZP but will still promote them if they have games not on GOG.

I still disagree with it being basic. From what I remember, this version of RE2 - not the superior soucenext version - couldn't run on modern hardware or have controller support. Getting this game to play on modern hardware is more than basic. I guess we should call all games that use wrapper and some patches to run basic nowadays. :⁠-⁠)

Also, GOG has done some real basic jobs in older releases. This is not one of them.

I think it's completely fair to make comparisons. Many mods have significantly improved games, to the point where the base game feels basic in comparison. However, I still disagree with you. I have completed both the GOG and Rebirth versions. As I mentioned earlier, I don't really need Rebirth anymore to enjoy Resident Evil on PC. But it's great to have the option of using that mod if I want.

Just think of it this way, the GOG release is the vanilla PC port, with support for modern systems and controllers but otherwise vanilla, it has all the upsides and downsides that the PC version already had back then when compared to the other contemporary versions of it's time.

Classic Rebirth is an actual Remaster.

GOG DX9 Wrappers are likly a bit universal between 2 release of Classic RE. Both RE1 & 2 has similar file size, same config.exe (with the same hash). And since GOG already done a lot of work similar to this. I thinks these Wrappers may also universal to whole company. Use the same base source with a littlie bit of edit per game for something extra, not exactly specialy made from ground up.

For the game exe, since I didn't have original version, I can't compare the hash so I don't know whether or not GOG got the souce code and re-complie the game again (But I think CAPCOM would have lose it log time ago).

But yeah, I'm kind of agree that using GOG DX9 Wrappers is basic. Cause GOG DX9 Wrappers are most likely to be using the same base source code for the company wrappers.

Update 17-09-24:

Just updated the main post with ClayKinder corrections:

https://www.gog.com/forum/resident_evil_series/resident_evil_123_sourcenext_conversion_patches_seamless_hd_mods_classic_rebirth/post4

Also, a good thing to know clarified by user @pgbp88 about Blood effects missing on Resident Evil PC releases:

https://www.gog.com/forum/resident_evil_series/missing_blood_effect_on_gored_zombies_steamdeck_fmvs/post5 Interesting to know for those that remember those blood effects or can still emulate the console originals.

That's how I kind of look at it. Rebirth is a mod that can improve the game, like a lot of mods. Calling rebirth a remaster is stretching it. Maybe a basic remaster. Just kidding, haha.

I mean, that's how companies work. GOG is patching multiple games, not just Resident Evil. So, it makes sense for them to use a universal wrapper for their games. Now we all know night drive would probably do crazy remaster for resident evil.

I'm just glad we have Resident Evil to play now out of the box, and you can use Gemini's nice mod if wanted.

That's why I and maybe Gemini think it's basic. It's minimum enough to make it playable on modern PC. Nothing more than that. GOG can give us more, something like a proper Resolution setting or use only one exe to play both side (as a proper game in modern era should be). And that would make their works on RE out of Basic Category.

Don't forget that they have a list of everything that was done to this version. Making it work on modern systems wasn't the only thing.

I understand the resolution complaint, but you're referring to an older game that will still look poor even with a higher resolution due to the 3D background rendering. Rebirth doesn't look much better, unless you're using the HD mod. The whole .exe thing is just nitpicking and does not actually affect the game. It's more convenient, which is cool. They did a pretty good job working with probably the worst version of RE2 on PC. Now, why GOG could not use the soucenext port is beyond me.

Just because it's not exactly like rebirth mode doesn't make it basic. Lol

Calling it basic or barebones is just being dishonest.

Bug fixing is something you should do when you release a game. Basic for every game release. All dev must do this no matter what and shouldn't count as generous work (But it's Ok to give them credits).
Resolution doesn't have to do anything with HD. Most 2000 dot-pixel game still allow me to choose the resolution even if the bigger the uglier. No Excuse (aka GOG is lazy).
I have to close the game when I finish Leon Story, so I can play Claire? This is not PS1 where I have to swap disc when the data was there (aka GOG is lazy).

I don't have to compare it to Rebirth. It lacks a thing the modern game really need to have. Unless you only buy old games from GOG and never play anythings new.

And for the reasons why they didn't pick Soucenext version as a source is easy. It's only avaliable in JP as Biohazard 2. They can't "lazily" make other language versions with just "Basic Wrapper and code patching" like original Platinum port. They also need to turn other version to match Soucenext version by themselve, Or they have to put a lot of work on their Wrapper to have code patch like Rebirth, which they can't "lazily" do these, they need to put the effort.

Well, if they're not lazy, they would have realised that in order to make all language play the same, they need to patch and disable auto aim in JP Biohazard version, which they didn't.

By the way, Basic doesn't mean it's bad. It means this is what people must do as a minimum requirement for selling a game as of now. But they could do better, which they didnt (that's what I called lazy).

You're still going, huh? I don't know, I still think Rebirth is mandatory, at least for re2. There are several problems with both games:

- Controller support: d-pads, triggers, and vibration don't work. Rebirth fixes all 3. Otherwise if you don't care about vibration, you need to use Steam or something else for d-pads and triggers, which should be fixed. It's kind of odd to need Steam to use a GOG game. Not being able to use the d-pad in the base game is an absolute sin.

- Sound quality: I understand this is an issue with all the PC ports that were released in 2006 and earlier, but for a modern game, the sound quality is so terrible. For re1 it seemed plug and play to replace the sound files with the HQ mods we have in the OP, but it's not as simple for re2. Modders would need to convert their mods to work with this version, but it doesn't seem there is much motivation for this.

- Missing music in re2: again, this was a problem with all PC ports, but Rebirth fixes this. GOG said they fixed other game-file specific things, I feel like this should be something they can fix. The areas are several outside the RPD and when you meet Marvin. TBD if they can, I suppose.

- Needing a launcher for Leon/Claire: you call this "nitpicking", and I don't understand why. But these games beg to be played on a controller on the couch, and it's just annoying to switch the scenarios if you aren't playing on keyboard. Even the GameCube version merged them to one disc.

Before we even talk about HD mods and whatnot, these are all things that I think are necessary to enjoy the base game, making Rebirth still "mandatory" with this release. Which, isn't a bad thing. I love that we are able to support the developer instead of doing youknowwhat as we did before. I won't call the GOG lazy or insult anybody, but if Rebirth can fix all these things, why can't they?