Aali's driver [v 0.7.11b] Help/Bugs/Suggestions

[UGerstl]

@tbogard: Please can you try these parameters in ff8_opengl.cfg :

window_size_x = 640  or  1280
window_size_y = 480  or    960


Add these lines at the bottom to avoid error messages while playing :

# Disable Error Notifications
disable_popup = on

[tbogard]

Thank you for your answer.

I let the window screen as default:

window_size_x = 640
window_size_y = 480

and the last line is ok, no more glitch popups. Nevertheless I still got black lines on the borders of the transaparencies of many object textures.

here my config:
http://pastebin.com/rXcCJ7K7

and here the result:
(black borders in fight stage and world map are appearing like before):


GPU Data:
nVidia GeForce GTX 560M 1,536MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11

[skilzorz]

Hello everyone,

I'm having some issues with aali's driver for ff8. I'll try to describe the issues as best I can since I am not sure how to take scrnshots (is it just print screen or is it a mod?)

-"Glitch : Unsupported texture format" when entering battles. Error message only pops up with high resolution fonts in ff8 config. Sometimes battle swirl animation is shown, sometimes screen just goes black until battle screen. I know about the disable_popup = on but I am wondering if there is a way to fix this? (since battle swirl doesn't always work)

-Blue fuzzy boxes around some animations in battule screen (for example, when cloud runs up to strike with 'attack command' there is some blu-ish transparent shading around the dust clouds he picks up. Not sure how to better describe.

-Slow graphics\map world: I think my vid card is good enough? Map world lags a bit, animation 'ultrasound' from caterpillar monster (in first early game stages) causes some lag. Movies run perfectly...

edit: -also get same error as TeridKane on first page of this post (some backround garbles when re-entering areas)

-Might not be a graphics issue but... when I change compatibility modes, my save games disappear (I've heard changing compatibility modes can help some graphics glitches.

System stats
-laptop
-windows 7 64 bit
-iso's from purchased CDS (ripped them myself)
-1.2 patch installed
-aali driver 7.11 b

Config

Code: [Select]

# ff7_opengl-0.7.10b config file



## USER OPTIONS ##
## If you just want to play the game, these are the only options you'll want to change.

# set the window size (or fullscreen resolution) of FF8
# 0 means use original resolution (whatever ff7.exe provides)
# preserve_aspect adds black borders as needed to preserve a 4:3 aspect ratio
window_size_x = 1024
window_size_y = 600
preserve_aspect = yes
fullscreen = yes

# mod directory
# subdirectroy of mods/ where textures will be loaded from
# does not affect the old external textures feature, those should still go in textures/
mod_path = none

# check your driver settings if this option doesn't seem to work
enable_vsync = yes

# allow FF8 to use linear filtering for its textures
# some things look slightly better with this option on, but alot of textures just lose their detail
linear_filter = off



## ENHANCEMENTS ##
## All the little extras that weren't part of the original game, default options include only trivial bug fixes.

# post-processing shader, used to apply fullscreen effects
post_source = shaders/bloom2.post
enable_postprocessing = no



## ADVANCED OPTIONS ##
## Don't fiddle with these unless you know what you're doing.

# use shaders, if available and supported
# turn shaders off to use the OpenGL 1.1 backend
use_shaders = yes

# prevent glitches due to rounding errors by rendering in the nearest (larger, if supported)
# multiple of the original resolution and up/down-scaling
prevent_rounding_errors = yes

# enable alpha blending for textures without an existing blending effect
fancy_transparency = on

# display frames per second counter in upper right corner
show_fps = yes

# display some real-time debug information
show_stats = no

# store external textures in a compressed cache for increased performance
# compression is not lossless, some artifacts may appear when this option is in use
# texture cache does NOT update automatically if the source image changes, however, deleting anything from the cache
# will cause that file to be recreated from the source
compress_textures = yes

# use pixel buffer objects to speed up texture loading
# will probably crash horribly on ATI cards but should work for NVIDIA users
use_pbo = no

## MODDER OPTIONS ##
## These options are mostly useful to modders and should not be enabled during normal play.

# show every failed attempt at loading a .png texture
show_missing_textures = no

disable_popup= on



App Log

Code: [Select]

INFO: FF7/FF8 OpenGL driver version 0.7.11b
INFO: Auto-detected version: FF8 1.2 US English
INFO: ATI Technologies Inc. AMD Radeon HD 6250 Graphics                 4.1.10429 Compatibility Profile Context
INFO: OpenGL 2.0 support detected
INFO: Found swap_control extension
INFO: Max texture size: 16384x16384
INFO: Number of texture units: 8
INFO: Original resolution 640x480, window size 1024x600, output resolution 800x600, internal resolution 1280x960
INFO: FBO extension detected, using fast scaling/postprocessing path
INFO: Shader limits: varying 128, vert uniform 16384, frag uniform 16384
INFO: vertex shader compile log:
Vertex shader was successfully compiled to run on hardware.

INFO: fragment shader compile log:
Fragment shader was successfully compiled to run on hardware.

INFO: main program link log:
Vertex shader(s) linked, fragment shader(s) linked.

MATRIX INITIALIZE
INITIALIZING SOUND...
  initializing direct sound
  EAXDirectSoundCreate
  creating primary buffer
  initializing audio data
  OK
  initializing streaming
SOUND INITIALIZED
DIRECT MUSIC - Enumerating Ports...
PORT 0: Microsoft MIDI Mapper [Emulated]
GUID={0x760d5850,0xb553,0x4a38,0xad,0x8e,0x57,0x63,0xb2,0xe1,0x8b,0xbe}
PORT 1: Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth [Emulated]
GUID={0x56abff70,0x2428,0x4da6,0xa8,0x8e,0xf6,0xaf,0x51,0x4e,0xe9,0x9f}
PORT 2: Microsoft Synthesizer
GUID={0x58c2b4d0,0x46e7,0x11d1,0x89,0xac,0x0,0xa0,0xc9,0x5,0x41,0x29}
Creating Port1...
    Microsoft Synthesizer
  Port1 supports XG data
BinkClose
SdMusicPlay ()
sd_music_play (number=0, song_id=79, volume=0)
midi_play...
Stopping Performance
Loading DLS...
Playing Segment
midi_play successful
MIDI stop
WM_CLOSE

Releasing Performance...


Releasing Loader...


Releasing Port1...


Releasing DirectMusic interface...

Releasing COM...



[Terid__K]

Thank you for your answer.

I let the window screen as default:

window_size_x = 640
window_size_y = 480

and the last line is ok, no more glitch popups. Nevertheless I still got black lines on the borders of the transaparencies of many object textures.

here my config:
http://pastebin.com/rXcCJ7K7

and here the result:
(black borders in fight stage and world map are appearing like before):


GPU Data:
nVidia GeForce GTX 560M 1,536MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11

You're not going to get rid of those black borders. That's the disadvantage of using Linear filtering on such low-res textures (other than losing detail). I recommend you to leave it off. You'll get used to it eventually.

[DARKWORLD]

Hi guys!
I've recently completed FFVII using this driver without any kind of issues.
But I got *some* troubles running FFVIII...
I cant even get past EIDOS logo, it just runs at 1 frame/10 seconds speed.
I am on pretty old PC as of right now (well, I am stuck with it for a little), but I dont think it could be an issue.

Log:

Code: [Select]

INFO: FF7/FF8 OpenGL driver version 0.7.11b
INFO: Auto-detected version: FF8 1.2 US English (Nvidia)
INFO: NVIDIA Corporation GeForce FX 5700/AGP/SSE 2.0.0
INFO: OpenGL 2.0 support detected
INFO: PBO not supported
INFO: Found swap_control extension
INFO: Max texture size: 4096x4096
INFO: Number of texture units: 4
INFO: Original resolution 640x480, window size 640x480, output resolution 640x480, internal resolution 640x480
INFO: Shader limits: varying 32, vert uniform 256, frag uniform 256
INFO: vertex shader compile log:
(1) : error C0201: unsupported version 120

INFO: fragment shader compile log:
(1) : error C0201: unsupported version 120

INFO: main program link log:
Vertex info
-----------
(1) : error C0201: unsupported version 120
Fragment info
-------------
(1) : error C0201: unsupported version 120

ERROR: failed to load shaders, reverting to fixed function
MATRIX INITIALIZE
INITIALIZING SOUND...
  initializing direct sound
  EAXDirectSoundCreate
  creating primary buffer
  initializing audio data
  OK
  initializing streaming
SOUND INITIALIZED
DIRECT MUSIC - Enumerating Ports...
PORT 0: Creative Sound Blaster PCI
GUID={0x490a03e8,0x742f,0x11d2,0x8f,0x8a,0x0,0xc0,0x4f,0xbf,0x8f,0xef}
PORT 1: Microsoft MIDI Mapper [Emulated]
GUID={0x874f8688,0xb6b7,0x49cf,0xa9,0x97,0x8b,0x20,0xfe,0x2a,0xf3,0x65}
PORT 2: Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth [Emulated]
GUID={0x470fa098,0xae2b,0x4a0f,0x82,0x29,0x50,0x18,0xc2,0xdd,0x3f,0x5}
PORT 3: Creative Sound Blaster MPU-401 [Emulated]
GUID={0xba51f486,0x5368,0x4c68,0x88,0x52,0xe9,0xda,0xac,0x83,0x33,0x92}
PORT 4: Creative Sound Blaster MPU-401 [Emulated]
GUID={0xd5d63278,0xa658,0x4f69,0x85,0xb3,0x7,0x80,0x46,0xaa,0x4c,0x86}
PORT 5: Microsoft Synthesizer
GUID={0x58c2b4d0,0x46e7,0x11d1,0x89,0xac,0x0,0xa0,0xc9,0x5,0x41,0x29}
Creating Port1...
    Creative Sound Blaster PCI
  Port1 supports XG data
WM_CLOSE
BinkClose

Releasing Performance...


Releasing Loader...


Releasing Port1...


Releasing DirectMusic interface...

Releasing COM...
Installed old drivers, now shaders wont work. But with latest (for this card) drivers - shaders working but the issue remains the same.
Cfg on defaults, tho I tried to manipulate with settings some, it didnt work.

Code: [Select]

# ff7_opengl-0.7.10b config file



## USER OPTIONS ##
## If you just want to play the game, these are the only options you'll want to change.

# set the window size (or fullscreen resolution) of FF8
# 0 means use original resolution (whatever ff7.exe provides)
# preserve_aspect adds black borders as needed to preserve a 4:3 aspect ratio
window_size_x = 0
window_size_y = 0
preserve_aspect = yes
fullscreen = yes

# mod directory
# subdirectroy of mods/ where textures will be loaded from
# does not affect the old external textures feature, those should still go in textures/
mod_path = none

# check your driver settings if this option doesn't seem to work
enable_vsync = yes

# allow FF8 to use linear filtering for its textures
# some things look slightly better with this option on, but alot of textures just lose their detail
linear_filter = off



## ENHANCEMENTS ##
## All the little extras that weren't part of the original game, default options include only trivial bug fixes.

# post-processing shader, used to apply fullscreen effects
post_source = shaders/bloom2.post
enable_postprocessing = no



## ADVANCED OPTIONS ##
## Don't fiddle with these unless you know what you're doing.

# use shaders, if available and supported
# turn shaders off to use the OpenGL 1.1 backend
use_shaders = yes

# prevent glitches due to rounding errors by rendering in the nearest (larger, if supported)
# multiple of the original resolution and up/down-scaling
prevent_rounding_errors = yes

# enable alpha blending for textures without an existing blending effect
fancy_transparency = on

# display frames per second counter in upper right corner
show_fps = no

# display some real-time debug information
show_stats = no

# store external textures in a compressed cache for increased performance
# compression is not lossless, some artifacts may appear when this option is in use
# texture cache does NOT update automatically if the source image changes, however, deleting anything from the cache
# will cause that file to be recreated from the source
compress_textures = yes

# use pixel buffer objects to speed up texture loading
# will probably crash horribly on ATI cards but should work for NVIDIA users
use_pbo = no



## MODDER OPTIONS ##
## These options are mostly useful to modders and should not be enabled during normal play.

# show every failed attempt at loading a .png texture
show_missing_textures = no
Any suggestions, please?

[Kompass63]

Hi DARKWORLD,

The problem seems to be the graphics card driver.
Which Windows do you use?
If you're using Windows 7, you can use maybe even drivers for Vista.

ForceWare Release 95 for Windows Vista 32-bit
ForceWare Release 95 for Windows Vista 64-bit RTM

greets Kompass63

[DARKWORLD]

I am on WinXP, changed 3 drivers already, it really seems not be the case...
But thanks for reply =)

[Prince Lex]

Has no one found a way to fix the towns on the world map yet?

If people don't know what I'm talking about, a quick reminder: the towns that display on the FF8 world map on PC are the horrible low scale versions, yet the better ones do exist but for some reason are not displayed.

It's not something I care about too much, I'm just curious because I brought it up a few years ago. There's a thread about it somewhere.

[DLPB_]

I remember Aali saying something about this once... can't remember what though!  I'd like to see the better versions back too.

[Kompass63]

Hi DARKWORLD

Did you also install the chipset drivers?
If I remember correctly they also had to install a driver for the AGP interface.

greets Kompass63

[Beoron]

Thanks! It turns out I am just a goob and had put some stuff in a wrong directory that also had some FF7 files somehow! Now if I can figure out this lgp stuff and get some cool models I'll be set. Thanks for the quick reply!

[DARKWORLD]

Hi DARKWORLD

Did you also install the chipset drivers?
If I remember correctly they also had to install a driver for the AGP interface.

greets Kompass63

Hi!
Yup, just did it, still wont work.

Read the first few pages...
TeridKane stated similar (or exactly the same) problem - slowdown/stuttering on movie playback, he solved it by turning pbo on. I tried the same, but no use : \

[Kompass63]

Hi DARKWORLD

Unfortunately I do not know what "PBO" means. I think this is only for newer video cards.
Also unfortunately I do not remember how I got my FX 5600 to work.

May help the "K-Lite Mega Codec Pack". This repairs some broken codecs and also provides new codecs.
I know Aali's driver has its own plug-in for videos, but maybe it will help anyway.

greets Kompass63

[nate]

So I seemed to have encountered a fairly uncommon bug, and by that I mean one that from searching the forums/google pretty much lead to people reporting it, and the 'official' response always being "That can't/shouldn't really happen", but it does, and unfortunately while some of those people said they fixed it, they didn't specifically say how exactly.

While there's one workaround someone noted that should work (I haven't done it yet though), and that's playing the stock version without the mod until after Laguna's first 'Dream scene' on the way to Timber, I figured I'd post the log & crash data regardless, perhaps it could lead to a fix for something that's apparently been around since 0.7.6 at the very minimum that I saw.

App.log; (Also available here)

Code: [Select]

INFO: FF7/FF8 OpenGL driver version 0.7.11b
INFO: Auto-detected version: FF8 1.2 US English (Nvidia)
INFO: NVIDIA Corporation GeForce GTX 460 SE/PCI/SSE2 4.2.0
INFO: OpenGL 2.0 support detected
INFO: Using PBO
INFO: Found swap_control extension
INFO: Max texture size: 16384x16384
INFO: Number of texture units: 4
INFO: Original resolution 640x480, window size 1360x768, output resolution 1024x768, internal resolution 1280x960
INFO: FBO extension detected, using fast scaling/postprocessing path
INFO: Shader limits: varying 124, vert uniform 4096, frag uniform 2048
MATRIX INITIALIZE
INITIALIZING SOUND...
  initializing direct sound
  EAXDirectSoundCreate
  creating primary buffer
  creating 3D listener interface
  EAX: creating bogus sound buffer
  EAX: creating bogus 3D buffer
  EAX: Establishing listener property set interface
  EAX: Checking for EAX support
  EAX support initialized
  EAX: set global reverb
  initializing audio data
  OK
  initializing streaming
SOUND INITIALIZED
DIRECT MUSIC - Enumerating Ports...
PORT 0: USB PnP Sound Device
GUID={0x490a03e8,0x742f,0x11d2,0x8f,0x8a,0x0,0xc0,0x4f,0xbf,0x8f,0xef}
PORT 1: Microsoft MIDI Mapper [Emulated]
GUID={0xf05ab20,0x2775,0x434a,0x83,0x4c,0x98,0x7a,0x65,0xb0,0x6b,0xbc}
PORT 2: Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth [Emulated]
GUID={0x477d6e29,0xd4b2,0x4174,0x92,0x6f,0xa4,0xf9,0x76,0xc5,0xfc,0x74}
PORT 3: Microsoft Synthesizer
GUID={0x58c2b4d0,0x46e7,0x11d1,0x89,0xac,0x0,0xa0,0xc9,0x5,0x41,0x29}
Creating Port1...
    USB PnP Sound Device
  Port1 supports XG data
BinkClose
SdMusicPlay ()
sd_music_play (number=0, song_id=79, volume=0)
midi_play...
Stopping Performance
Loading DLS...
Playing Segment
midi_play successful
MIDI stop
SdMusicPlay ()
sd_music_play (number=0, song_id=74, volume=100)
Can't open file: \ff8\data\eng\field\mapdata\te\testbl6\testbl6.sfx
SdMusicPlay ()
sd_music_play (number=0, song_id=4, volume=127)
midi_play...
Stopping Performance
Playing Segment
midi_play successful
Can't open file: \ff8\data\eng\field\mapdata\gw\gwenter1\gwenter1.sfx
Can't open file: \ff8\data\eng\field\mapdata\gw\gwgrass1\gwgrass1.sfx
ERROR: unhandled exception

Config; (Also available here)

Code: [Select]

# ff7_opengl-0.7.10b config file



## USER OPTIONS ##
## If you just want to play the game, these are the only options you'll want to change.

# set the window size (or fullscreen resolution) of FF8
# 0 means use original resolution (whatever ff7.exe provides)
# preserve_aspect adds black borders as needed to preserve a 4:3 aspect ratio
window_size_x = 1360
window_size_y = 768
preserve_aspect = yes
fullscreen = yes

# mod directory
# subdirectroy of mods/ where textures will be loaded from
# does not affect the old external textures feature, those should still go in textures/
mod_path = none

# check your driver settings if this option doesn't seem to work
enable_vsync = yes

# allow FF8 to use linear filtering for its textures
# some things look slightly better with this option on, but alot of textures just lose their detail
linear_filter = off



## ENHANCEMENTS ##
## All the little extras that weren't part of the original game, default options include only trivial bug fixes.

# post-processing shader, used to apply fullscreen effects
post_source = shaders/bloom2.post
enable_postprocessing = no



## ADVANCED OPTIONS ##
## Don't fiddle with these unless you know what you're doing.

# use shaders, if available and supported
# turn shaders off to use the OpenGL 1.1 backend
use_shaders = yes

# prevent glitches due to rounding errors by rendering in the nearest (larger, if supported)
# multiple of the original resolution and up/down-scaling
prevent_rounding_errors = yes

# enable alpha blending for textures without an existing blending effect
fancy_transparency = on

# display frames per second counter in upper right corner
show_fps = no

# display some real-time debug information
show_stats = no

# store external textures in a compressed cache for increased performance
# compression is not lossless, some artifacts may appear when this option is in use
# texture cache does NOT update automatically if the source image changes, however, deleting anything from the cache
# will cause that file to be recreated from the source
compress_textures = yes

# use pixel buffer objects to speed up texture loading
# will probably crash horribly on ATI cards but should work for NVIDIA users
use_pbo = yes



## MODDER OPTIONS ##
## These options are mostly useful to modders and should not be enabled during normal play.

# show every failed attempt at loading a .png texture
show_missing_textures = no
(For some reason the 0.7.11b FF8 config file marks itself as the 'ff7_opengl-0.7.10b config file', guessing just a forgotten change at .11b release)

And the dump file is available here

Edit:
I forgot to note, I am not on the latest drivers for my nVidia card, however considering the 'file not found' problem in it's nature, as well as the fact this has been present for several past releases, I think it's a pretty certain assumption that the drivers likely are not related.

Edit Edit:
It's also worth noting that I did not crash walking through the big grassy field the first time, I actually crashed in the hotel at the save point, unfortunately thinking it was just random coincidence from playing awhile, I did not save the dump/log file at that time.

It wasn't until I tried playing through again (and then 2 more times) that it keeps crashing when running through the grassy field screen (roughly at the same spot, right before the area transitioning).

[Kompass63]

Hi nate

I once had a crash. Luckily I had saved quite a short time before. In the second experiment, there were almost at the same point again a crash.
I thought it was because of Aalis driver, so I got him off, in which I have renamed eax.dll inside the game folder. But then I also had a crash in the same place.
So I think that it is not Aalis driver who caused the crash. After restarting the PC, the error was gone.

greeting Kompass63

[nate]

Hi nate

I once had a crash. Luckily I had saved quite a short time before. In the second experiment, there were almost at the same point again a crash.
I thought it was because of Aalis driver, so I got him off, in which I have renamed eax.dll inside the game folder. But then I also had a crash in the same place.
So I think that it is not Aalis driver who caused the crash. After restarting the PC, the error was gone.

greeting Kompass63

Well I probably should have edited my post to note that I did the suggestion others did where playing the game 'standard' works, which it did, until we got into Timber, which after I saved and restored the mod, I encountered another crash, this time the .log not really detailing why, so I just disabled the mod for the time being to play normally.

I'll probably check out the crash dump later myself (as it's rough uploading 70~MB files on an 80KB/s upstream), see if I can't figure it out and post back, at least for now that 'grass' file-not-found was bypassed, but perhaps the dump above will help him figure out whats been causing it through various releases now.

[DLPB_]

Zip the crash dump.  It goes much smaller.

[Kompass63]

I've played with Aalis driver to Deling City, 4 hours at a time before the crash occurred. If you want to examine my crash dump, here it is.

greeting Kompass63

[nate]

Zip the crash dump.  It goes much smaller.

I thought about doing that (or more specifically 7z'ing it), but when I noticed most people post them raw, I figured perhaps I should as well in case anyone complained

From what I can tell of the second crash (after playing vanilla-game to get past the grassy field), it looks like it may be the binary itself, perhaps because I used the 'nVidia/GeForce' 1.2 patch.  Looks like it was more designed for the older GeForce's, perhaps I'll switch to a default 1.2 patch .exe, see if that helps too.

[Aali]

The difference between the nvidia patch and the regular one is insignificant, infact the driver disables the few changes the nvidia patch makes to the rendering process because they do not apply to OpenGL.

Seems like the server is broken again, hopefully it wont be for as long as it was last time but in the meantime I suggest you find some mirrors. I'm sure Ugerstl will be all over it..

[Kompass63]

Hi Aali

I am sure that life here in the forum is a bit simpler if you could add a link in your last post to UGerstls folder. You can write to the fact that you make no warranty.
I am also sure that everyone here would help you, if at all possible and with whatever.

I have a request. Can it be you (or someone else) possible to develop a post-processing shader replace the linear_filter, but with the exception, not incorporate the transparent pixels in the calculation?
That might solve the problem that was described by tbogard.

greeting Kompass63

[dkma841]

hi, i just recently got this crash popup after using the MultiDLL by Kranmer here:
http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=11564.msg161144#msg161144
here are the files the message said to provide:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qtvewesgjvnl6ot
other than that i am still able to play but it is very annoying as i keep on having to close that message each time i start the game and pausing the game in the background, thanks

[LeonhartGR]

hi, i just recently got this crash popup after using the MultiDLL by Kranmer here:
http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=11564.msg161144#msg161144
here are the files the message said to provide:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qtvewesgjvnl6ot
other than that i am still able to play but it is very annoying as i keep on having to close that message each time i start the game and pausing the game in the background, thanks

lol bug after bug.. u finally decided to use the multidll option

[dkma841]

lol bug after bug.. u finally decided to use the multidll option

Haha yep i would've used multidll if i have heard about it before :/ dunno why but i always run into bugs even though i did a fresh install with Bootleg etc just recently

[Kranmer]

hi, i just recently got this crash popup after using the MultiDLL by Kranmer here:
http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=11564.msg161144#msg161144
here are the files the message said to provide:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qtvewesgjvnl6ot
other than that i am still able to play but it is very annoying as i keep on having to close that message each time i start the game and pausing the game in the background, thanks

If it happened after using the MultiDLL it could be a conflict with it, which DLL's do you have in the LOADR folder ? also if you disable MultiDLL does it still happen ?