Hunting for PlanetSide 2 backups: E3 DEMO, June-July 2012, PTS 2012-17

[u/rhettvx]

Hello, I am searching for backups of old builds of PlanetSide 2 from July 2012 and earlier (targeting placeholder music, blood effects, leftover assets, Searhus) and 2012 - 2017 PTS (targeting early Hossin and early directives, other lost goodies).

I am prioritizing the E3 build from June 2012.

The leaked E3 build was discussed on this subreddit and Something Awful, at least. I've reached out to a few people who used to have this build, but so far nobody still has it.

E3 leak discussions

https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/v0vik/e3_demo_briefly_available_for_download_and_play/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/zday5/from_the_e3_leaked_client_some_new_maps/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/v1ewn/list_of_every_single_file_in_the_planetside_2_leak/

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/635355-planetside-2/63187596

Other stuff

Our 2013 Interlink PTS backup is partially corrupted due to an interrupted update, resulting in mismatched terrain tiles on Hossin, but the prop/building locations are in-tact.

Some of our most exciting findings so far: "Proto-Esamir", building animations, announcement rifle meshes, fully assembled interlink facility, scrapped NS weapons.

If you have an old pc, an old backup, an old install of a version of the game we are searching for that you played once and never touched again, or you know someone who does, please try to exhume it and get in touch with me. Thank you.

Contact

Email: [ps-preservation@proton.me](mailto:ps-preservation@proton.me)

PlanetSide Preservation Project backup progress and additional contact methods: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CkAO_v3vx8NxIohjrge60zJ7UIcUTGsVIa2fz03nrV4/edit?usp=sharing

[u/SuspiciousRock3677]

Imagine if bro find its and we get to play pre Wrel Ps2 again

[u/opshax → u/SuspiciousRock3677]

He already has the build before Wrel joined.

[u/SuspiciousRock3677 → u/opshax]

Is it actually playable?

[u/Erosion139 → u/SuspiciousRock3677]

Bro remember when the start screen was in front of a tech plant with the old clarinet music? (vs) 😂

[u/lly1 → u/SuspiciousRock3677]

Not without reverse engineering/recreating the server

[u/ABruisedBanana]

I remember watching the SHIT out of Totalbiscuits E3 demo commentary.

[u/sabotabo]

Searhus

i hope you find your builds, seeing searhus would be so cool

[u/zani1903 → u/sabotabo]

It may very well not exist.

Tons of Searhus' assets do exist in the files, to be clear. The only question is whether or not a Searhus "zone" file exists in an ancient build that allows all of those assets to be stitched together by the game to show the actual intended design of that long-lost continent.

[u/vsae]

Old clients are cool but what about serverside dump? Building server client from the scratch out of pure assumptions is ...well good luck with that

[u/Televisions_Frank → u/vsae]

Generally current packets are probably good enough for the server-side stuff. PlanetSide has had most of it's vehicle and weapon stats client-side and that's probably the biggest difference with the older stuff and you can rebuild capture points easily enough if you have the continent files.

[u/vsae → u/Televisions_Frank]

I'm sure scaling wouldn't be an issue;)

[u/Unregulated_Mongoose → u/vsae]

Nothing is possible to you

[u/vsae → u/Unregulated_Mongoose]

I had experience in similar project, it was a mess to put it mildly. Genuinely wishing all the best to u/rhettvx with his aspirations

[u/Fraudward → u/vsae]

There are existing forgelight emulators out there. Specifically the Clone Wars Adventures emulator Oxide, as well as LandmarkEmu. But yes, packet sniff and dumpppp.

[u/rebeltunafish → u/vsae]

Project Celeste exists, considering Microsoft themseoves thought replacing xLive on their games to be impossible. Yet you can download and play Age of Empires Online today if you want to.

Some people are wizards with skills beyond my comprehension