FFVIII/FF8 Mods?

[AnghellicKarma]

Hi, all!
 
I just beat FFVII last night, as part of my goal of playing all the FF single-player games this year in chronological order, one each month. That means onwards to FFVIII!
 
One of the things that led me here back at the start of July was how awful FFVII looked on my 55" HDTV using my PS1 discs in my PS3. I ended up installing Tifa's Bootleg mod for FFVII PC and, other than a few technical snags along the way, I had a blast.

Last night, I loaded up FFVIII in my PS3 using my old PS1 discs just to see the graphics qualities. I thought it might look better, since there had been a graphics update from VII to VIII on their original release. How wrong I was! It looked even worse than VII somehow -- totally pixelated! So now I'm looking into FFVIII for PC again. I poked around the forums here and also on GameFAQs -- which in turn said to just ask here, so here I am.
 
Is there anything similar to Tifa's Bootleg for FFVIII? Or any collection (or singular, even) mods? I saw a sticky thread about "The big list of FFVII mods" but don't see anything like that for FFVIII. I don't know if I just couldn't find them, or if they don't exist. Maybe it looks okay on PC? Not sure. I know that FFVII had different music in its PC version, so I had used an original music pack that replaced the PC version with the original PS1 music; don't know what the FFVIII situation is on this end, however.
 
I know I asked several questions in that last paragraph, but I'm at work now and hoping to figure out what to do regarding FFVIII when I get home tonight, so I figured I'd post everything running through my mind here and see what the deal is.
 
Thank you in advance for any assistance!

[Vgr]

Sadly there are very few mods for FFVIII. You can check in the Graphical Mods > Releases forum, you might find one or two.

[dkma841]

Most FF8 Mods listed - http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=12909.msg180223#msg180223
also check this out but not released yet - http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=13345.0

[Kranmer]

Yeah there are very few mods for FF8 for the PC which is a shame since it is a very good game, even Aali's driver for FF8 has some problems.
But i do recommend playing the PC version (i use the loader instead of Aalis driver since there seems to be less glitches) or playing the PSX version on a PC emulator.
I do not recommend playing FF8 on a PS3 for a few reasons, first being the graphics quality, and the second reason being that the game can't be completed on PS3, for some reason the PS3 can't read the 4th disc of FFVIII (which i found out the hard way), so if you even think about playing on a PS3 make sure yours can read the 4th disc (i have only tried this on a PS3 Slim with the original PAL discs of FFVIII so if you are using the NTSC or a different type of PS3 results may vary, and before anyone asks the discs are in perfect condition its just the PS3 doesn't read the 4th disc)

[Sebuzzie]

Yeah there are very few mods for FF8 for the PC which is a shame since it is a very good game, even Aali's driver for FF8 has some problems.
But i do recommend playing the PC version (i use the loader instead of Aalis driver since there seems to be less glitches) or playing the PSX version on a PC emulator.
I do not recommend playing FF8 on a PS3 for a few reasons, first being the graphics quality, and the second reason being that the game can't be completed on PS3, for some reason the PS3 can't read the 4th disc of FFVIII (which i found out the hard way), so if you even think about playing on a PS3 make sure yours can read the 4th disc (i have only tried this on a PS3 Slim with the original PAL discs of FFVIII so if you are using the NTSC or a different type of PS3 results may vary, and before anyone asks the discs are in perfect condition its just the PS3 doesn't read the 4th disc)

I've tried playing disc 4 on my "normal" (originally 40 gb) PS3. And I can confirm that disc 4 doesn't work on PS3.

Thanks for the heads up!! And I hope to see FF8 mods aswell.

[DLPB_]

The thing with FF8 is, it was mostly well done.  The PC port has nice FMV, it has nice menu, reasonable font, good translation....  it isn't something I look at and think "this needs improvement"

The thing that does is the addition of looping ogg from the ff8 OST which I WILL DO, IF Aali confirms he is adding the ability to his driver.

[Covarr]

It does have a bunch of hi-res textures that it refuses to use.

[Tenko Kuugen]

If only there was some fix for FF8 horrible plot holes and generally EHHH story

[StickySock]

The thing with FF8 is, it was mostly well done.  The PC port has nice FMV, it has nice menu, reasonable font, good translation....  it isn't something I look at and think "this needs improvement"

The thing that does is the addition of looping ogg from the ff8 OST which I WILL DO, IF Aali confirms he is adding the ability to his driver.

Yeah, the main problem people have with FF7 is the inconsistent visual style (fixed by PRP and the new FMV inspired main cast), the translation (which DLPB is fixing  ), and Cait Sith.

FF8 has a consistent visual style, good translation, and no Cait Sith. 

The problems with FF8 goes to the convoluted plot riddled with plot holes, and the emo and/or generally unlikeable cast (Aside from the best character in the game Quistis. Most of Squall's popularity must come from his clothing style and gun blade, although some may like his brooding). FF8 easily has the worst story since FF1's time traveling Garland nonsense.

Edit: And the Draw system was pretty annoying too, easily the worst battle system out of the popular entries in the franchise. All the problems people have with the game are not likely to be fixed though due to how much work they entail.

[DLPB_]

I really liked FF8, story and otherwise.  Only thing I didn't like was the odd plot hole and bad explanation, but otherwise I thought it was top. 

[Tenko Kuugen]

The early parts of the story were good. CD1 and CD2 were really good. CD3 then threw out all logic and CD4? what the hell was the scriptwriter smoking

[DLPB_]

I liked the time loop aspect of d4, where it ended up being Edea who set up garden from cloud visiting in the past in order to do what had already been done by that point (from squall's pov).  And that Edea became a sorceress because of Ultimecia from the future.  Part of that had potential.

The time compression thing was very silly though, but they put themselves in a corner by making the enemy from the future.  I guess there could have been some sort of "mind" battle instead, but...

I did love Ultimecia's Castle.  I will forgive them!

[Bosola]

So remind me, why DID Ultimecia want to compress time again?

[DLPB_]

Because she would be in control of that existence... in effect be a god.

Yes, that's been done to death and yes it's piss poor, but that's the reason.

[falkTX]

hrmmm...
am I the only one that actually liked the FF8 history?

the 'draw' thing is what makes it a bit weird, but other than that I love FF8 (yes, I've played other FF titles like 7, 9 10 and 10-2, but 8 is still my favourite).

it's sad that there aren't more mods for it, but FF8 is not that bad as default anyway.
(Aali's driver + Samuel's DLS + SeeD project already gives a good game experience, at least to me)

[EQ2Alyza]

hrmmm...
am I the only one that actually liked the FF8 history?

the 'draw' thing is what makes it a bit weird, but other than that I love FF8 (yes, I've played other FF titles like 7, 9 10 and 10-2, but 8 is still my favourite).

it's sad that there aren't more mods for it, but FF8 is not that bad as default anyway.
(Aali's driver + Samuel's DLS + SeeD project already gives a good game experience, at least to me)

Same here. The story was good enough, and Squall + Rinoa made a really cute romance. The draw system was the only downside for me.

I can't get Aali's Driver or SeeD to work with it. Clue me in on how you set it up? 

[DLPB_]

I loved 8, as I said.  Loved the whole thing.  Needed to be harder but I rek a nice stat boost would solve that.  I liked the story mostly, loved the characters, graphics, music, game play, card game etc.  It ranks in at number 3 best game of all time for me

[falkTX]

I can't get Aali's Driver or SeeD to work with it. Clue me in on how you set it up? 

Note that I'm running Linux, so things might be a tiny different.

the method should be:
1 - install ff8
2 - apply 1.02 update (official)
3 - install Aali's driver (just extract its contents over the Data/ folder)
4 - configure ff8_opengl.cfg to your liking
try to run the game now, that needs to work first before going any step forward

[StickySock]

To me, FF8 was a cash in on the Final Fantasy name just as much if not more than 12, 13, and 13-2. The only thing it holds over them really is uniqueness in battle system over 12, and exploration over 13. Anyone who hates 13 and 12 and likes FF8 isn't being objective. They all had their flaws and good points, it's just a matter of what caught your attention personally. I don't really hate any final fantasy, but I think it's weird that there is so much hate for 12 and 13 while 8 is considered in league with the top tier, (4, 6, 7, 9, 10).

Bottom line: FF7 gets so much mod love because people feel that it didn't reach it's full potential (Bad translation, inconsistent visual style), while FF8 for the most part did, for better or for worse.

I did love Ultimecia's Castle.  I will forgive them!

Ultimecia's Castle was actually a nice surprise. The puzzle solving and artistic style of it was awesome.