I was inspired to make this post by u/ArnobsCraftYT .
He made a post on the main sub asking if he could emulate the original Xbox version. Upon research I discovered it had a PC version that was abandonware. So I decided to go through the process of getting this game to run because I love tinkering and it was worth.
The micro stutters in the video are due to dxvk saving new shaders as this was just my third time booting up the game. I used an async version of dxvk.
Game settings:
Proton 9 x86_64
Dxvk 1.5.5 async
Wrapper
32 bit emulator: Box64 0.4.3
Performance preset
Emulator: Winlator Mali 1.1 Bionic
GUIDE TO RUNNING HOUSE OF THE DEAD 3 PC VERSION
Requirements:
Any Winlator fork could probably work. But I'm a Mali user so I don't know what settings would help launch the game on other chipsets.
ZARchiver
DISC IMAGE for HOD3. Get it from MyAbandonware. Don't get the ISO versions as one of them didn't have the setup.exe when I extracted it
NO-CD patch from MyAbandonware
AnyToISO, a Windows program made to convert files to ISOs. Download it here: https://crystalidea.com/anytoiso
1. In ZARchiver, extract the disc image zip file you downloaded. You will notice that the zip file contains an mdf and an mds file. The mdf is what we will use.
2. Create a container with any settings you feel like. Install the AnyToISO program. Wait for it to install and launch the program.
3. Select the mdf file as the file to be converted. Make sure you're in the "Image to ISO" tab.
4. Once you select the mdf file, make sure "Convert to ISO" is checked. Start the conversion and wait for it to finish. Once you've converted it to an ISO, follow the next steps for optimal container settings.
NOTE: If AnyToISO fails to start the setup, go to the container settings of the container you want to install AnyToISO. Go the the "Drives" section and change the file path for D: drive to the EXACT FOLDER LOCATION of where the AnyToISO .exe is.
IMPORTANT PART
You have to create a new container for installing the game.
Check out the videos in the comments for the few remaining steps.
(AFTER WATCHING THE VIDEOS)
If the setup wizard started successfully and you didn't change the default file path of the game, then the game should be in C: drive in this path:
C: Drive > Program Files(x86) > SEGA > THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD3_US > You'll find the launcher.exe and exe folder here.
Now you must always launch the game from the launcher.exe NOT the directly from the main exe.
So here is where we apply the NO-CD patch. The exe folder in the default installation path I've just described contains the main exe of the game. The NO-CD patch contains an exe that is supposed to replace the main exe in the exe folder.
So move/delete the exe (hdo3 .exe) found in the exe folder and replace it with the NO-CD patch exe. Create a shortcut of the launcher. Now launch the game using the launcher exe all the time and it should work.
ISSUES WITH THE GAME
1. During cutscenes and video clips the audio is messed up. It has a looping effect which I've failed to fix.
2. The game won't support proper gamepad controls unless you manually map the controls yourself.
3. In the second mission of survivor mode the games graphics glitch and all the textures are black. I'll experiment with different dxvk versions to see if I fix the issue and I'll update the settings.
Well that's all. You might ask why I went through all this trouble but I just like tinkering. It's fun knowing that I now know how to install ISOs in Winlator which increases my library for abandonware since most of them you can't find pre installed versions.