Author Topic: FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues  (Read 11527 times)

August

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FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues
« on: 2014-04-05 07:40:58 »
Hi, I've been eager to make use of the FF7 retranslation and menu overhaul for my PC Final Fantasy experience. I use the Steam version, so of course I made sure to run the game converter first. However, there are several niggling issues that I simply can't resolve on my own. Just to be clear, GameConverter and Reunion are the only mods I've applied to it, the latest releases of each, and I've uninstalled and reinstalled both applications more than once in hopes of fixing them; some problems went away, others persisted, and at least one I didn't even have the first time. Here they are:

- The aforementioned latest issue is upon startup, which is a warning box that reads "You have an error in your config file, some options may not have been parsed. (no such option snowboard/framerate)"

- The music no longer uses the Steam edition's .ogg files and is simply using MIDI. My own attempts to resolve this have failed.

- I don't know whether it's intentional or not, but the formatting of magic spells in the FF7 battle screens seems messed up. There is a full two lines left blank between each available spell, which makes it look like so:

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Fire


Thunder


Quake


Bio

... In addition, the red arrow that is used to signify "All" next to magic spells simply does not appear at all. Since this arrow graphic is apparently what got DLPB started in creating the Menu Overhaul in the first place, I take it this is a bug.

These are the extent of the issues I've found thus far. Since others don't appear to have these issues, I'd like to fix whatever particular problems are occurring on my copy as soon as possible. If anyone can help I'd be extremely grateful. Thanks.

Kaldarasha

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Re: FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues
« Reply #1 on: 2014-04-05 11:21:04 »
At first: Update the OpenGl driver! It will solve the first two issues. The Games Converter has an older build implemented, which is still needed for the current Bootleg version. Open the ff7_opengl.cfg and make your settings (read the side notes, specially the one for the new music plugin. It explain where you have to move your ogg files to have music)

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There is a full two lines left blank between each available spell,

Come on, isn't it obvious, why there are exactly two lines? If you think about it, it will make sense. :wink:

August

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Re: FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues
« Reply #2 on: 2014-04-05 13:17:27 »
At first: Update the OpenGl driver! It will solve the first two issues. The Games Converter has an older build implemented, which is still needed for the current Bootleg version. Open the ff7_opengl.cfg and make your settings (read the side notes, specially the one for the new music plugin. It explain where you have to move your ogg files to have music)

I was afraid something like this would happen: upon extracting the latest OpenGl driver to my FF7 folder and letting it overwrite the existing files, opening ff7config as instructed and clicking the Graphics tab pops up with an error message "Failed to load driver: the specified procedure could not be found." The game is a mess when attempting to play it now.

Update: After writing out this post I decided to uninstall and reinstall Reunion just to see what would happen. It now seems to be working normally again, or at least as it did before updating the driver. This despite the fact that ff7config still spits the failed driver error message at me. There is no more warning popup about snowboards, or anything else for that matter, when running FF7.exe proper. However... the magic menu issue persists.

Likewise, following the instructions for music inside the ff7_opengl.cfg file (I assume that's what you're referring to by side notes?) simply leads to a red error message in-game, too garbled to read, and no music at all. If you're wondering, seeing as the vgmstream_music.fgp file is located in the plugins folder, I copied the .ogg files into plugins\music\vgmstream.

Update: Uninstalling Reunion and running the game without it allowed me to read the error message, which helpfully listed the file path it was trying to find. It turns out a music folder has to be created in the main FINAL FANTASY VII folder itself, a fact that wasn't made clear in any of the instructions I read. Oh well, I'm just happy to have working music.

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Come on, isn't it obvious, why there are exactly two lines? If you think about it, it will make sense. :wink:

Sorry, I don't follow. Are you saying this is an intentional design decision on Reunion's part? I went and checked my original PS1 disc and vanilla Steam version just to be sure, and it's as I thought; no huge gaps between spells, and the little red "all" arrow where it should be.

I'm sure this all sounds incredibly obtuse, but I have no experience with FF7 modding. I'm simply interested in playing an enhanced game. Thanks for your patience.

EQ2Alyza

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Re: FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues
« Reply #3 on: 2014-04-05 16:24:09 »
I think opening FF7Config updates the registry keys, which overwrites the correct ones implemented from the GameConverter. I'm not sure where you were instructed to open FF7Config, but I don't see it from this thread. Let's do some testing to try and fix this. Follow these steps:
  • Uninstall The Reunion.
  • Uninstall FF7.
  • Clean your registry with this tool: HERE
  • Install FF7.
  • Test this personal build of the GameConverter: HERE --- It will install Aali's Driver 0.8.11b with corrected ff7_opengl.cfg edits.
  • Install The Reunion.
  • Install Anxious Heart (Optional, but recommended): HERE

The red arrows have never been in the Menu Overhaul with all my playthroughs. You just need to read the white text to the right of the spells and see how many All uses are left.

The spaces between the spells are for their upgraded versions, e.g. Fira, Firaga, etc.

August

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Re: FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues
« Reply #4 on: 2014-04-06 00:02:53 »
I think opening FF7Config updates the registry keys, which overwrites the correct ones implemented from the GameConverter. I'm not sure where you were instructed to open FF7Config, but I don't see it from this thread.

It's part of Aali's installation instructions in the custom graphics driver thread linked here by Kaldarasha, step 2a. Looks like that was the wrong thing to do. Oh well.

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Let's do some testing to try and fix this. Follow these steps:
  • Uninstall The Reunion.
  • Uninstall FF7.

The whole thing? Ouch. Actually, I'm not quite sure what to do in this instance. I had copied FINAL FANTASY VII and its contents out of SteamLibrary\SteamApps\common\ and into a separate location before installing any mods, as I had read that its location in Program Files (x86) could cause problems. This also had the unexpected benefit of being able to play both the unaltered Steam version and the fully modded version on the same PC.

Uninstalling the vanilla version seems straightforward enough - presumably that's simply right-clicking it in the Steam interface and hitting 'delete local content'. But what of the modded version? I assume it's necessary to remove both. Is it safe to just put the entire folder into the recycling bin?

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The red arrows have never been in the Menu Overhaul with all my playthroughs. You just need to read the white text to the right of the spells and see how many All uses are left.

The spaces between the spells are for their upgraded versions, e.g. Fira, Firaga, etc.

Ah, now I get it - the mod author has greatly shortened the width of the magic menu, so the empty spaces that would normally be right alongside the initial spell are crammed underneath it. I suppose this was done to keep the rest of the battle interface unobstructed at all times, although IMHO it's not worth the cost with all the extra scrolling you have to do. But that's another matter entirely; I'm just happy it's not a bug.

It appears the game is now working as intended, despite the message in ff7config.

EQ2Alyza

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Re: FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues
« Reply #5 on: 2014-04-06 00:11:10 »
Ah, I see. Well there was also an error in his registry keys associated with that, which was noted in a reply post: HERE. I don't blame you for missing that buried post. The correct registry edit is in the GC.

Yep, the whole thing. I forgot to mention that you should delete the FF7 folder after you uninstall the game, as it may contain junk files from the mods you installed. This is usually the case for using Bootleg, but I'm not sure if that occurs with The Reunion. Installing back into the same location that still has leftover mods causes issues.

The GC will copy the game to C:\Games\FF7 if you have your Steam folder located inside a system folder. You no longer need to manually do it.
« Last Edit: 2014-04-06 00:15:57 by EQ2Alyza »

Kompass63

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Re: FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues
« Reply #6 on: 2014-04-06 03:46:52 »
I've uploaded the correct registry for Aalis driver here.

August

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Re: FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues
« Reply #7 on: 2014-04-09 00:20:37 »
About uninstalling/removing everything: what about save files? Can I back them up, and restore them after the new installation? And is it feasible for the Steam and modded versions of the game to coexist, as it does on my PC at the moment, or does it lead to registry issues?

As it is right now, I've played a new game up to Junon with seemingly no errors at all, aside from one message in the first battle during the Kalm flashback, I think related to the cephiros.ogg. Sorry Alyza, I'm kind of reluctant to upset the house of cards now that it's playing nicely! I might attempt the complete reinstall when Reunion receives its next big update.

Vgr

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Re: FF7 GameConverter + Reunion Issues
« Reply #8 on: 2014-04-10 02:10:40 »
You can safely backup your save files for later use. If you use the Steam version, you'll need to edit them (or just open/save) with Black Chocobo to have it update the metadata.