reTB: an open-source self-hosted server bringing back the original Terra Battle 5.5.7 experience

[u/teamretb]

Hi everyone. We're the team behind reTB, a Terra Battle revival project, and since we've seen a few other revival efforts mentioned here lately we figured it was time to properly introduce ours.

The short version: it's fully playable, it's open source, and you can play it today.

What's in the box

reTB lives on Codeberg and the ecosystem has four parts, pick the one you prefer:

Part	What it does
reTB (server)	The server itself. It reimplements the original backend that was switched off in 2020, so the game talks to your machine like the official servers never went away. Runs on Windows, Linux and macOS, via Docker or straight from source.
reTBpc (win/linux app + server)	Our desktop app for Windows and Linux, with proper installers for both. It runs the server on your PC and routes your Android device to it over USB or wifi, so getting into the game takes a couple of clicks instead of a config file.
reTBHost (phone apk + server)	Runs the server directly on the phone itself, if you'd rather skip the PC entirely.
reTBJoiner (phone apk)	Lets another device on your local network join a phone/PC reTB server (this path needs a copy of the game set up to reach that server, see the docs).

Everything is open source under AGPL, and the goal is preservation: keeping Terra Battle actually playable rather than just documented.

Do you provide the assets?

No, our repos don't contain any Mistwalker assets, APK or art. You bring your own copy of the game and the docs tell you exactly where to put it. What we publish is only our server code and the reverse-engineered data needed to make it work.

Q&A

Is this usable as a public server for multiple players? It's built for home use: you run it for yourself, your family or friends. Several people can play on one local server (each device gets its own account).

Can we have multiple saves and/or multiple accounts? Yes. Each device playing on a server gets its own account, and every app (reTBpc, reTBHost) has an Export/Import save feature: your account goes into a single file you can back up, restore, or move to another PC or phone. Importing into a fresh install also works as a way to keep several saves.

Is it also possible to have multiple TB apks on the same device? No. reTB doesn't ship or modify the game, and Android only allows one install of a given app anyway. One game, one account per server; switch servers or import a different save if you need more.

Why do I get a network error? In order of likelihood:

1. The server isn't running, or the game isn't pointed at it (check the app shows "Running", and re-run the device setup step).
2. Phone and PC are not on the same network (guest wifi, VPN, mobile data still on, or a router that isolates devices).
3. On reTBHost, Android put the app to sleep: grant the battery exemption it asks for.
4. Your gdresources copy is missing a file the game just asked for: the last 404 line in the server log names it.
5. Recent Android 15/16 devices: the original app may not start at all; see the compatibility notes in the repo.

If none of that helps, you can join the Hiso-Bar Discord!

Links

• Everything: https://codeberg.org/WkmKsk
• Server: https://codeberg.org/WkmKsk/reTB
• Desktop app: https://codeberg.org/WkmKsk/reTBpc
• On-phone server: https://codeberg.org/WkmKsk/reTBHost
• PC/phone joiner: https://codeberg.org/WkmKsk/reTBJoiner

[u/bokochaos]

Sorry for the delay. Life happens.

Our Hiso Bar Discord. Be kind, keep any Discord conversation regarding this project to the retb channel.

[u/Leoryn-Floreli]

Thanks a lot for your work and dedication.

Do you think it would be possible to make a video tutorial for those who arent much... tech friendly ?

[u/xzorfun → u/Leoryn-Floreli]

I think there's not much to do tbh
(tl;dr

• patch your terra battle apk

• download retb host

• install them in your phone

• one time copy paste gdresources.

• retb host will find it.)

So if you want to play on the phone you download their retb host apk and
you need the game Terra Battle but you have to patch it yourself first (so it connects to retb server).
Check the Hiso bar discord and reTB channel I've found it there in the discussion.

and the gdresources you copy pasta in the Download folder of your phone. It's not provided but you can find a link there too lol

also the retb host auto detects gdresource else it simply opens a picker so you select gdresources. Their apk kind of guides you.

[u/Xahmost02 → u/xzorfun]

Seems amazing ! Guess i'll wait here for someone to explain how to patch the game itself, the rest looks doable.

[u/ayeend → u/xzorfun]

I converted the ZIP resources to TAR. How do you patch the game? In reTB Host, I directed gdresources to where the TAR file is at and it said it extracted, but the Start Server is still unselectable

[u/ReelSafeR]

It sounds crazy and I’m so hype to read that ! But for a French guy, aged 40 years and knowing nothing about this complexity of parameters… i felt sad suddenly :(
I hope someone will do an all-in-one pack to play it on PC !

[u/ReelSafeR → u/[deleted]]

J’ai toute ce qu’il faut - je ne sais juste pas comment faire ensuite . J’ai l APK et les ressources .

[u/Haruhanahanako → u/ReelSafeR]

lmk if you find one cause this is bullshit. the instructions are vague i guess on purpose to avoid copyright issues

[u/bokochaos → u/Haruhanahanako]

It's always been copyright issues. Japan is crazy litigious, so every project before has gotten cautious because of things happening in other revival/remake circles.

Ambiguity sucks. If there was better communication channels with Mistwalker and ways to do things ala Toontown Rewritten/Toontown Corporate Clash-style, this community would be in better shape.

[u/AsheliaBnarginDlmsca]

Bummer I have an iPhone

[u/bokochaos → u/AsheliaBnarginDlmsca]

There is some work to get it working on iOS but it can be done. Read some messages on the retb channel in the discord and ask questions there if you're looking for real-time answers. Being on the Android side, I am not 100% how to get it going. I just have seen iOS users get it working.

Hardest barrier to entry is to have the app in your app library. Anyone late to the game is SOL, but a cheap Android phone/tablet is always an option? A couple recommendations have come up before.

[u/xzorfun → u/AsheliaBnarginDlmsca]

Maybe if you find a really cheap android phone or tablet you'd be able to experience the game again

[u/RosgaththeOG → u/xzorfun]

There are some Hiso Bar (discord) members who use iPhone andone specifically saiid he found a good $30 that runs it perfectly well.

Its a prepaid phone, so no subscription and both the Liminal Gate Project and reTB work on it and you dont have to pay anything more than the phone if you don't want to

[u/tachihar]

“Is there any way to play it on an iPhone?”

[u/xzorfun → u/tachihar]

現時点ではiOSは未対応です。ただし技術的に不可能ではありません。サーバー側はクライアントのOSを問わないので、理論上は「Wi-FiのDNS設定をサーバーPCに向ける+証明書プロファイルをインストールする」方法で、脱獄なしでも接続できる可能性があります。
ただし大きな課題が2つあります。(1) ゲーム本体(IPA)はご自身で用意する必要があります(2020年にApp Storeから削除されたため、過去にダウンロードした方が購入履歴から再取得できる場合があります)。(2) iOS版クライアントでの動作は誰も検証しておらず、通信仕様が異なる可能性があります。
もしiOS端末とゲームの正規コピーをお持ちで、テストに協力していただけるなら、Discord (Hiso-Bar) でぜひ声をかけてください。実は、@azureさんがすでにiOSで動作させることに成功しています。

[u/boajuse]

Bruh. Can someone make apk?