Messages

26

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: New towns textures and some edits for the world map

« on: 2017-05-05 16:01:55 »

Very cool. If it's possible to remove, or at least raise the limit, the world map could be updated to look even more realistic. I couldn't imagine being able to import geometry for the grass (not like the high grass, just enough so it doesn't look like a 2d texture). We could also update Midgar, as I think it's just a 2d texture and doesn't have any actual geometry on the world map. I remember looking into this but cant remember the details. 

27

General Discussion / Re: Japanese Modding

« on: 2017-03-30 15:33:38 »

Hmm, might explain why his status said Japan, Tokyo.
Anyway that doesn't answer the first question, does it? I'm not aware of another big moding community for ff7 than qhimm. And I guess there isn't one or at last a very very small one. We shouldn't forget that this game's home is the psx and Japan, so only a minority played it on PC. Reminds me, wasn't the re-release the first time of an official release of FF7 on PC in Japan?

I think Kaldarasha is right, I was interested in learning about the Japanese game while I was learning the language. The only PC version released in Japan is the re-release, with some interesting changes to the game mechanics. I guess for it to properly display the dialogue. You can only mod the lgp's, and only make graphical changes. If you even try to unzip and wrap the flevel the game will no longer display dialogue correctly, for some reason it breaks the file. Same with the kernel. So any mods that require Aali's driver cant be installed. Modding the Japanese version would require brand new tools. I've tried looking for Japanese modding forums, but at the time nothing came up

28

Support / Re: creating new animations question

« on: 2016-11-01 18:19:37 »

Hey Gensis. So the short answer is yes, but there's a bit of work involved. My only experience with this was the Red Werewolf mod with Wolfman. First you have to have a skeleton for a model that fits the animations you want to use (in our case we used the Galiant Beast model). You'll need to do some editing to make this model playable (I believe we recycled one of Vincents several battle models) it'll need a valid battle model file (such as RTAA). Once you have this you have a playable character full of animations of their own you can use. At this point you can probably make the Supernova attack an available limit break.

For the Red Werewolf we actually reused quite a few of Vincents limit break attacks, and you can also tweak the actual animations to better fit your model.

For actual character animations this is a lot more work. To make the Red Werewolf stand up and walk around we used Barret's skeleton and a mixture of his and Cloud's animations (they're pretty similar, other than their feet). From there you can select which animations you need for the various actions this character will make (if they're a member of your team or seen in the field). This process can take awhile though, I believe Wolfman and I spent 2 weeks or more editing and creating brand new animations.

I can offer insight for the animations and adding limit breaks for characters, but actually making a model available as a teammate is outside my knowledge, we had help with that part. Didn't seem difficult, you just have to know how to do it (or it was just made to look easy lol, not to undersell the complexity involved). I think that answered your question, but maybe a bit off topic since your talking about new bosses instead of a new team character.

29

WIP / Re: ファイナルファンタジーVII (FFVII Japanese Translation)

« on: 2016-08-31 15:56:28 »

Sorry Genesis, I totally missed your post and just happened to catch it by chance. An over all update on this, mainly for fact at this point. So the Japanese games files are formatted differently, so they cant be used with other versions of the game. When I altered the JP files they'd get corrupt because the tools we use here would reformat them. So there's really only one option available for playing the Japanese version, and it involves VPN software and buying the game from the Japanese Square website with a Japanese IP. Modding wise you can use anything that only alters the .lgp files (and not the flevel!). So you can still update the models in the game (world, field, battle) as well as the soundfx and music. But you cant use any gameplay mods, or background mods that require aali's driver (the game absolutely cant be converted to support it, at least not without a convertor made specifically for that version of the game). So you have to do a bit of extra work to get the game and mod it (or just snag the lgp's from your modded Steam game), and you'll end up with two different copies installed (also, keep your JP game installer as you may need the VPN tool again to download it). Over all it's worth it if you can read Japanese or have an interest in learning it, but it wont have the modding potential of the Steam version. I may eventually do a version of this mod with just Romaji, but it wont be for quite some time.

As for your question about the Sephiroth mod, I'm not sure what you mean, but I assume it's something in the kernel, so probably not. The kernel is formatted differently from the version of the game we can mod, so we cant just plop it into our games, and we cant mod it because the tools will reformat it. You'd need to figure out what it is you want from the game, and try to mimic it in the Steam version.

30

Team Avalanche / Re: Monster Remodels!

« on: 2016-06-23 22:00:31 »

zBrush can be used for environment assets as well as game characters, but the backgrounds have to be completed as a whole, and are imported much differently than game models. So the short answer is no, all of Wutai would have to be recreated as a whole.

31

Team Avalanche / Re: Monster Remodels!

« on: 2016-06-08 16:40:16 »

With Zbrush and level of experience...you'd be surprised what you can do in just 20 mins lol. For me, I'd average your work so far around 2-3 hours, and the Ultimate Weapon closer to 4-5. They aren't polished and still have the zbrush "inflated" look, but these are great base sculpts to get the overall form of each creature, which if anything is more difficult than adding HD detail. Very impressive.

I'm curious, what's your process? Do you start out at low res and sculpt through the whole body and up the poly count as you go along and keep sculpting or do you tackle parts of the body one at a time?

32

7th Heaven / Re: Japanese version

« on: 2016-05-17 00:16:19 »

I've been looking into this for quite a while, unfortunately the JP version is very unmoddable. Every tool would need to be adapted to work with it. Not to mention since there isn't an original JP pc version converting the game to 98 file format isn't likely. You can mod everything in the lgp's (don't touch the flevel though!) so mainly battle, field, and mini game models (maybe audio, I forget). It's definitely worth it if you're a Japanese speaker and want to experience the game with it's original translation.

33

Graphical / Re: At it again...

« on: 2016-02-01 18:35:55 »

Wow, this is really impressive! I didn't think the original backgrounds could ever be this crisp and clear.

34

General Discussion / Re: Petition to have FF7 Remake be a FULL TITLE!!!

« on: 2015-12-12 15:46:50 »

I'd rather have multiple releases of DLC (hoping how they're doing it instead of actual titles like Tell Tale) than condensing the game. Of all the things they could possibly do this is one I don't mind (In comparision to Barret possibly wearing those sunglasses through the whole game).

35

General Discussion / Re: FF7 Remake Gameplay Reveal

« on: 2015-12-11 00:39:58 »

Personally I have no problems with the gameplay changes. FF7 is iconic for it's story line, not necessarily it's battles (other than the ridiculously long animation that plays in the final Sephiroth battle lol). The more active battles will probably be more engaging this way. I also love that they're using the Unreal Engine 4. After seeing what Rocksteady was able to do with the UE3 (though heavily modded) in the Arkham Knight it really makes you wonder about it's potential. And it could have great potential for modding. Plus although incredible looking their new Luminous engine sounds like a pain in the ass and would probably much up development.

I do agree, I'm iffy about the episodic releases. I personally hate Tell Tale Games in this regard, and always wait to buy the whole package when it's completed. The tidbit about each release being the size of an entire game sounds interesting though. I just hope though as we progress through the story we can revist and explore different locations as we please, instead of having to load a particular episode. On a side note I'm not sure how it'll work, as in needing to play episode 1 before 2, as the game does include character development and customization. I'm hoping they'll release bits of the game as it's ready and just have each new part downloaded as dlc for the core game.   

36

Aali's Custom FF7/FF8 Driver / Re: Custom graphics driver for FF7/FF8 [v0.8.1b]

« on: 2015-12-04 17:44:46 »

Is there any way to get this working the the JP international version?

I recently purchased the download version and can't seem to get this to work by itself. I can use bootloader that comes with bootleg, and it will run an English version (JP versions comes with a number of different languages), so I'm guessing it's not a technical limitation. However, I'd really like to get this running with the JP version.

Any help would be appreciated.

This a bit old but I've had experience with this as well so thought I'd offer some input. Basically the International version works the same way as the Steam version. I honestly have no idea how the JP files work though. I've tried everything I could think of to get them to work with the converted English game, but none of the text works correctly, and the conversion tools need to be updated to actually support the JP files. Instead what I did was just mod the .lgp's to update all the models, and replace the audio files with the Anxious Heart files. In the end the only thing you cant really install are background and effect png textures that go in the Mod folder, or anything that relies on 7H to work. The game will be noticeably different with more jagged backgrounds, but it's a minor trade off to play the game in Japanese.

On a site note, do not alter the JP Kernel or Flevel. I have no idea why, but they seem to be formatted differently or something, and although Wallmarket and Makou Reactor or supposed to be able to support Japanese it wont work correctly. The original JP files wont work at all anymore, even with the most minor change. You also cant replace the text with either tool, once you save the files the perfect Japanese (that will paste in correctly) will no longer display properly in a jumbled mess of jibberish. 

37

General Discussion / Re: Learn Japanese from Final Fantasy VII examples!

« on: 2015-12-03 14:53:27 »

Wow, this is a really incredible project. I'm at a slightly intermediate level, still using furigana for kanji when possible. This will be cool to check out.

38

Graphical / Re: Female Hair Texture Revert

« on: 2015-11-25 17:24:42 »

Long hair is very difficult to assemble in FF7, as moving parts are all individual pieces stitched together by the skeleton. Sometimes textures overlap when making transitional area to fill holes (this is what happened with Tifa's hair here). Aeris' pony tail seems to end with the old pieces from the converted battle model. On a side note though neither of these models appear to be Qhimm friendly (being made from ripped materials) so not much help or support can be offered here for them.

39

Team Avalanche / Re: Monster Remodels!

« on: 2015-11-18 16:44:37 »

Wow that looks awesome, and at 18k pretty impressive. Personally I disagree about the polycount. For field models that definitely makes sense considering how many models are loaded at one time (an entire towns worth of NPC's are loaded and walking around at once). However in battle at most you're looking at about maybe six enemies total, so 9-12 models total at any one time. With the fewer number of models on screen the game can certainly handle higher poly models. My Life Form model is about 60k, and I think I used a 2048 texture map (I think Wolfman's Jenova models are somewhere around there too). I'd say boss and summoning models can get this more lenient allowance since there's only one of them, and regular enemy models seem fine around 45-50k or so.   

40

Team Avalanche / Re: Monster Remodels!

« on: 2015-11-16 18:02:12 »

Very cool, yeah you're definitely off to a promising start. Do you have a particular model you're interested in completing first? Yeah the detailing can be tricky. My best suggestion to maintain high poly detail is to also bake a normal map, it can be added to your diffuse later in Photoshop or gimp. There's also an older plugin for baking Materials into your diffuse map, which is really helpful. With the current version of zBrush it only works with a single material but it's better than just a flat colored texture. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about the actual FF7 modding process, there's quite a few knowledgeable members around who'd be happy to help.

41

Team Avalanche / Re: Monster Remodels!

« on: 2015-11-16 15:08:42 »

As of now I think only Wolfman and I have been doing similar projects. He did the Jenova Life/Death/Synthesis models and I've done the Hojo Life form. I've begun working on the Hojo Helletic model but have gotten tied up with some work stuff lately. Otherwise it's probably safe to say everything's fair game.

Your work looks pretty smooth, how much experience do you have in zBrush? It's been quite interesting for me to learn lol, the number of tools and possibilities are just endless. What's your general workflow? Modding FF7 can be a bit tricky, for instance all of your HD details will need to be added to the diffuse texture map. There doesn't seem to be a way to import normal maps. Leet found a method in Photoshop that takes care of this for us, but it takes some tweaking and trial and error.

42

Releases / Re: [FF7PC] cmh175 Release Thread

« on: 2015-10-14 21:17:15 »

Started a new project, putting together a Hojo battle model package. I updated the topology and the UV mapping is nearly completed now, going to start painting the texture in zbrush.



This place has been pretty dead lately, looks like modding has slowed down with the announcement of the remake.

43

Releases / Re: [FF7PC] cmh175 Release Thread

« on: 2015-09-10 14:49:13 »

Hey guys, first update in awhile. This one is a custom creation of mine, an HD Life Form boss battle model. I imported it directly over the original model without making any changes to the skeleton, so it will look and animate like the original. With the Qhimm 7H catalog in full swing I'll skip the 7H version of the mod so it can be packaged with the others instead. If you're a 7H user just use the direct battle folder for now. Download is available on the first post.   

44

FAQs and Tutorials / Re: Tutorial to create an Hext patch for HextLaunch

« on: 2015-08-28 15:05:21 »

This is awesome buddy, thanks! I"ll have to try this out later, this maybe just what I need.

45

WIP / Re: ファイナルファンタジーVII (FFVII Japanese Translation)

« on: 2015-08-26 00:42:59 »

lol thanks Covarr, that alone makes it worth it. Either way I've decided I'll at least do a release of the mod with Romaji. If Kana and possibly Kanji can be supported as well than I'll do options for those too. Either way you'll be able to experience the Japanese version of the game.

If some understands how the game works well enough to have an idea of where language or character support is that would be great. Honestly I've hit a wall trying to figure out how to add support for the Kana and Kanji.

It's curious, because I see Makou Reactor supports Japanese characters. So it seems like saving the flevel in Japanese should be possible (which I tried, when I reopened the flevel the Japanese was just jibberish). I'm really not sure what the issue is.

On a side note anyone interested in checking that out, I've included the two executables for comparison in the download above. If necessary I can make a list of the Kanji characters that would need to be supported.

46

WIP / Re: ファイナルファンタジーVII (FFVII Japanese Translation)

« on: 2015-08-25 18:07:18 »

I've tested JP files and managed to get them all to work with 7H, so full support shouldn't be an issue. As of now though all Japanese text is displayed as jibberish, like trying to open an encrypted file. The game doesn't seem to just display what ever text is in the kernel and flevel, it actually needs to be able to read it. From what I can tell there isn't a font file or anything, I think I've narrowed the issue down to the games executable. If this is the case it maybe possible a hex file could add Japanese support. This really isn't my forte though so I'm having trouble getting it to work. The best I've done is patch the english FF7.exe into the ff7_jp.exe, which wont play without a legal serial number from square. If someone with hex editing experience could check this out that would be really helpful. Or someone with extensive knowledge of the game has any tips or ideas.

I've saved the converted ff7.exe and ff7_jp.exe as txt files for anyone who's interested in checking this out and trying to make a hex file. Any help and contributions would be appreciated with credit in the completed mod. These files are long, so don't open them in word or notepad, I suggest Notepad++.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4mp96TAOq6eM0ZGNURqQThyWFk/view?usp=sharing

Otherwise the game probably wont be able to display Kana or Kanji. As an alternate option I could translate the games text to Romaji, but this wont have the same effect and appeal as playing with the actual Japanese text. 

47

WIP / ファイナルファンタジーVII (FFVII Japanese Translation)

« on: 2015-08-25 18:06:27 »

This mod is meant to add Japanese support for those interested in playing outside of Japan. The International version of the game is only available in Japan and is quite difficult to get without a JP address and credit card. It also isn't moddable outside of lgp changes since using the conversion tools on Qhimm only lets you play in the four supported languages. As of now you're better off just playing the version available on the PSN as it's also easier to get.

What I'm trying to do is make the files from the International game compatible with the original 98 game and those converted using conversion tools. That way it's possible to play in Japanese but with still fully modded games. When it's completed I'll make a 7thHeaven mod so this can be easily toggled on and off (direct files will be available as well).

To do list:

Retranslate Menus/ Import JP Menus - 98% done

Add support for Menu Overhaul

Test JP Kernel vs English/Reunion Kernel for major differences and support - 50% done

Test JP flevel for issues and possible animation errors (like Vincent's ballet animation during Aeris' death scene) - 35% done

Consider possible option to toggle on and off Kanji (translating all text into Kana)

Upscale JP FMV's

Add Japanese character support with either a patch or hex file






   

48

General Discussion / Re: FF7 Japanese PC

« on: 2015-08-23 18:41:57 »

I have a legal copy of the Japanese International game (curiously only sold in Japan lol). The trouble is it isn't moddable in nearly any way other than lgp changes. So I'm hoping to figure out how to make the English version of the game display Japanese characters so it can read the JP files. I've been looking for something like that but haven't seen anything. I was hoping to figure out how to patch the english FF7.exe from the 98 version from the JP executable. I ended up patching it directly into the Japanese executable though because it then asked for a serial number lol. If it's possible to figure this out and make a hex file for the changes this can be easily applied and installed using 7thHeaven. I'll have to keep looking, if anyone with a greater understanding of the game has any ideas your input would be appreciated.

49

General Discussion / Re: FF7 Japanese PC

« on: 2015-08-23 16:08:15 »

こんにちはアメリカジン。始めまして。

This is tricky. Getting the JP version of the game isn't hard (though it's nearly impossible to buy...) the issue is unless you buy it and have an activation key you cant do anything with it. The conversion tools that convert the game to the 98 version will work, but only in English, French, German, and Spanish. I believe it works by actually translating the text from one language to the English version, so technically you're always playing the English version of the game. I've been trying to find a way to add support for the JP files so a mod can be made for everyone to play in Japanese, but so far all the text just keeps loading as jibberish, the game isn't able to read and properly display Kana and Kanji.

I'm hoping to find a way to get this to work (and am open to ideas if anyone can think of how to make this work). Realistically I suppose I could just translate the Japanese text to Romaji so the game can at least properly display the characters, but that's not nearly as fun as playing the actual Japanese translation.

~Since I will likely need some help getting this mod to work I'll list what I've tried so far.
First I tried just renaming the JP files to English. Technically this does work and saves a ton of time so retranslating the game isn't necessary. The game can't read the Japanese characters though so it just displays jibberish like trying to open an encrypted file. I think the issue is in the executable, it needs to be patched to be compatible.

I tried translating the text in the kernel and flevel, which does display properly in Walmarket and MakouReactor. However I just get the same jibberish after I save the changes and reopen the kernel and flevel.

Ultimately I think the only way this will work is either the Conversion tools need to be updated to support the Japanese game, or the english game needs to be patched to support Kana and Kanji. I can help with the production and testing of this, but probably need help making it work. I just don't have enough understanding of the games mechanics and executable. When a patch or hex file can be made for this I can easily make a 7thHeaven mod so anyone who's interested can easily play in Japanese without needing to directly installing anything. 

50

General Discussion / Re: request/question

« on: 2015-08-20 23:40:03 »

vBinDiff, Hex Workshop, even Total Commander. There are many file difference analyzers. The best is HexWorkshop as it works on patterns.

Doesn't HexWorkshop do one difference at a time when comparing two executables though? That could take an entire day going through them and coping them. If we could get a tool that compares two FF7.exe together and produces a hex file that could be used in the game that would incredible.

~Not to mention HexWorkshop is a $90 download.