How to Play OnlineCTR

OnlineCTR is a free, fan-made online multiplayer patch for the original PlayStation 1 game Crash Team Racing (CTR). To play it, you need your own retail copy of CTR, the DuckStation emulator, and the OnlineCTR patch. Once set up, you can race against up to 8 players worldwide on dedicated servers, or host locally over LAN.

What You Need Before You Start

OnlineCTR does not include the game itself. It is a patch applied to a copy of CTR that you already own. The project's site states it is "free to play" and instructs players to "use your own retail copy of the game and apply our patch."

Setup Steps

1. Get DuckStation. OnlineCTR runs under the DuckStation emulator, which the project links to on GitHub. Download and install it first.
2. Obtain the OnlineCTR patch. The full source code is available on GitHub, where anyone can fork, edit, and pull fixes. Use the patch to prepare your copy of CTR for online play.
3. Apply the patch to your retail copy. Follow the project's instructions to patch your own game files. The site does not document the exact patch procedure in the material available here, so check the GitHub repository or Discord for current steps.
4. Launch the game through DuckStation. With the patch applied, run CTR in the emulator.
5. Join a race. Connect to one of the dedicated servers or host locally over LAN. The site lists servers in countries including the USA, Brazil, Spain, and Australia.

How Online Play Works

OnlineCTR was built by disassembling the original Naughty Dog assembly and machine code back to C, then rebuilding it for online play. The networking code was written from scratch, which the project says eliminates the desynching issues common in P2P setups such as Kaillera.

• Player count: Up to 8 players per race.
• Dedicated servers: Hosted in multiple countries, so you can usually find a game.
• LAN option: You can also host locally over LAN.
• Live status: The site shows current online counts per server region (for example, "6 players online" and "152 seen in the past 24h" at the time of writing).

What's Unlocked and Improved

OnlineCTR keeps the original core game intact while adding features:

• All tracks and characters unlocked by default — race where you want with who you want.
• 60 FPS — the game runs at 60 frames per second.
• Full screen and widescreen — no split-screen when racing others, and no reduction in polygons.
• Custom username — choose your own name.

Finding Players and Getting Help

The project runs a Discord community where you can find new players, make friends, organise races, and report issues directly to administrators. If you get stuck during setup, that is the most direct route to current guidance, since the patch process itself is not fully detailed on the main page.

Quick Recap

Own CTR, install DuckStation, apply the OnlineCTR patch, then join a dedicated server or LAN game. Everything is unlocked from the start, and races support up to 8 players.