Aali's driver [v 0.7.10b] Help/Bugs/Suggestions

[BlitzNCS]

Roll back your drivers - The latest 64-bit Nvidia drivers screw up FF7 for some reason.

Shaders are hardware-based shortcuts for rendering 3D materials, If I understand correctly. Basically it just makes it faster, I think. You're best to keep them on though, really.

[bjaxx87]

Damn it, you were right! I got it working with NVIDIA drivers 263.09. Thank you.

I hope this will be fixed in the future as I'd like to keep my graphic drivers up to date.

Maybe there's also the option to change the settings of the most recent drivers to get it running properly? I guess I will experiment a bit.

[Jaki]

Hq fmvs run very slow (about 3 fps) and no music. When i tried to replace ffmpeg_movies.fgp with 0.7.9b version, everything looks good but music doesn't seem to match with movie. I tried to convert them to 320*224 but results unchanged. I don't want to replace them with old fmvs on disc so plz help!

[Template]

I think if someone redid the videos with different audio they would work for a lot more people. Just a guess.

[voodoochild]

Howdy, tried to lurk and find the answer but could not after a few hours. While trying to install Aali's custom for FF7 I am stuck in two places.

First, when I open the "ff7input.cfg" file (to adjust settings per needed) windows does not recognize the file and I do not trust what windows finds online for me as a suitable program to open it. (do i just use notepad?)

Second, when trying to follow along with the ff7-pc.com tutorial video the author suggests having 9 save files in the "saves" folder which does not exists in my programfiles/squaresoft/finalfantasy7 folder. Do the saves sometimes have another location? Should i create this folder?

I am currently using Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OS. Any advice is appreciated.

[sl1982]

Open it with notepad. The 9 saves is not required anymore.

Also please post any help topics in troubleshooting.

[Kompass63]

voodoochild, do NOT manipulate "ff7input.cfg", instead you can manipulate "ff7_opengl.cfg" with an simple Text-Editor like Notepad, found in C:\Windows.

Hi Aali,

I use your driver for FF7 German. It work very stable on my ATI-Card but i have found two little Bugs.
If i turn framelimiter for minigame and battleswirl on, (only) in the first battle (minigame) a message will come up:

GLITCH: Vsync seems to be forced ON, battle swirl framelimiter will not work

Äh?...Yes, I have vsync on, it's needed! If i try to turn off, i could not see the swirl (GraKa too quick?).
For more confusion, the framelimiter will work correct! The swirl need double time.

The second problem is the print-screen key in full-screen. If i press the key first time, i get back a black picture. if i go back to game, come into a battle and press 'print screen' a second time, i get back a picture from worldmap!
If i disable your driver or use window-mode, the key will work fine.
It a Graphic-Driver-Problem...

Thanks Kompass63

Sorry for my bad English...

PS: If you need a beta-Tester for ff7/ff8 German, let me know

[BloodShot]

Hey Aali, got a weird problem. I just recently installed a new graphics card, an Nvidia GTX 560 ti 2gb, and FF7 was all white when I loaded it up. I turned off shaders, and it was fine, which I thought was odd because Nvidia usually supports OpenGL better than ATI. I tried it again today, and found out any texture that is in the game is all white. Vertex colored models are perfectly fine with shaders on, but that means battle backgrounds, field backgrounds, any type of vanilla or custom texture or models with textures are white.



It's not really a problem per se, because i can play the game with use shaders set to no, but I just thought it was curious and that I should let you know.

btw I'm running the latest certified drivers for my card.

[sl1982]

If i remember correctly the latest nvidia drivers have issues.

[Raestloz]

I have a few questions:

1. What does post processing do? AFAIK, post processing applies some special effects to the scene, but if I use it the resolution is forced to go down to 640x480 (so I never actually tried it in-game)

2. Is there any advantage in using shaders? I use nVIDIA 9800GT 266.58, and I see that it has problems with shaders on (I've never enabled it myself, just wondering)

3. How does direct mode work? And how is it different from using mods folder? When I put buster_00.png in "direct/menu/", it can't be read, while putting it in "mods/" allows it to be read. And yes, I've enabled direct mode before trying

4. When I enabled the speedhack.dll, when the game starts there is a dialog box with 2 numbers in it. What does it do?

5. How much does the texture compression affect performance? it says there may be some artifacts because of it, and I'd rather not take any risks

[sl1982]

1. Just adds special effects after the frame is rendered, IMO not worth it, but some people like it.
2. Shaders just make things run a bit faster as far as I know, without them the game will still function.
3. Direct mode only works with files in ff7 format, like TEX files and models. PNG's are only loaded in modpath.
4. Not sure
5. Texture compression does degrade the quality of the textures, much like going from a png to jpeg, it does provide a nice speed boost however (especially when using Team Avalanche's mods)

[Raestloz]

1. Just adds special effects after the frame is rendered, IMO not worth it, but some people like it.
2. Shaders just make things run a bit faster as far as I know, without them the game will still function.
3. Direct mode only works with files in ff7 format, like TEX files and models. PNG's are only loaded in modpath.
4. Not sure
5. Texture compression does degrade the quality of the textures, much like going from a png to jpeg, it does provide a nice speed boost however (especially when using Team Avalanche's mods)

1. What kind of effect? Does it apply something like lighting effects or something?
2. I see... well, since the game runs smoothly as it is, not gonna try to fiddle around with it
3. I see, thanks
4. Well, since the game plays just fine as it is, I guess I'll just leave it that way (I heard all that speedhack.dll does is improve frame rate?)
5. Hmmm... gonna try to play without it.

[gn0mish]

I have FF7 + 1.02 +  v 0.7.10b driver.

In windowed mode, everything is correct. In full screen it doesn't show the whole image.
Example: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/17/ff7gn0mish.png

The whole game is like this.

ATM I have
window_size_x = 640
window_size_y = 480
preserve_aspect = yes
fullscreen = yes

But with default settings, it has the same results...

Suggestions?

I'm new to the forums, but not to FF7 =)

[obesebear]

I have FF7 + 1.02 +  v 0.7.10b driver.

In windowed mode, everything is correct. In full screen it doesn't show the whole image.
Example: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/17/ff7gn0mish.png

The whole game is like this.

ATM I have
window_size_x = 640
window_size_y = 480
preserve_aspect = yes
fullscreen = yes

But with default settings, it has the same results...

Suggestions?

I'm new to the forums, but not to FF7 =)

You'll probably want to post your app.log for us to look over.

[Template]

I have FF7 + 1.02 +  v 0.7.10b driver.

In windowed mode, everything is correct. In full screen it doesn't show the whole image.
Example: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/17/ff7gn0mish.png

The whole game is like this.

ATM I have
window_size_x = 640
window_size_y = 480
preserve_aspect = yes
fullscreen = yes

You are on the right track. Need to change the resolution for x and y to whatever resolution you use normally, so check your display settings and adjust accordingly. If it's a semi old computer you probably will want to use 1024X768

[Kompass63]

Hi gn0mish

try 'use_shaders = off' , if this works correct, you have to change your GraphicCard-Driver (no OpenGL2.0).

[armedcor]

Hey guys,

I'm running FF7 on windows 7 x64 and I've had a few crashes. I know it's been mentioned a few times but I could not get FF to run using v0.7.10b until I had filled up all save slots. Once I got it running everything seemed pretty smooth until I tried to change equipment or when I tried to enter the materia screen. Both caused crashes. At the moment I'm using v 0.7.9a with no crashes apart from it been unable to access some textures like Tifa.t09 which I can live with.

I'm pretty new to reporting crashes so if there's any additional info I can give let me know.

All the best,

[Jaki]

When i play mini game at Fort condor, every thing look fine but sometime it saying error: "COULD NOT CHANGE TO DIRECTORY C:\Program Files (x86)\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\Data\minigame/data\". Game run fine but does this problem cause anything later ?

[Raestloz]

I remember Aali saying he kinda skipped the whole sleeping sequence altogether due to some problems with ficedula's music plugin. But when I sleep at Junon (specifically, before sending Rufus off) the sequence is not skipped and the game plays just fine.

Is there a special reason for this particular case (that this inn's sequence is not skipped)?

[Synapse]

First time install.. I essentially followed the guide here  http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=11248.0

When I load up the game, the opening FMV plays.  If I don't touch anything, it will get all the way through to the screen where the Prelude plays.  Upon hitting any input key, the game crashes.

Hardware:  Core 2 Duo E8400 @3.0 GHz, 4GB DDR2, ATI Radeon HD4850 512MB

ff7_opengl.cfg - I have tried with default resolution, windowed mode, and shaders off (all combinations of those options) without any luck.

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 FF7
# 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 = 1920
window_size_y = 1200
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 = avalanche

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

# limit snowboard, coaster and highway minigames to refresh rate / 2, i.e. 30fps for a 60hz display mode
# vsync must be enabled and working for this to have any effect
minigame_framelimiter = on

# same thing, but for the battle swirl
battleswirl_framelimiter = on

# allow FF7 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

# plugin used to play music, the FF7Music plugin MUST be enabled for FF7Music to work.
# If no music plugin is loaded the game will play MIDI as usual but FF7Music will NOT work.
#music_plugin = plugins/ff7music.fgp



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

# make all dialog boxes transparent, same effect as the transparent dialog boxes YAMP patch
transparent_dialogs = off

# allow max hp/mp to go over 9999, same effect as the YAMP patch by dziugo
break_9999limit = no

# include armor in magic defense calculation
mdef_fix = yes

# expand battle viewport to cover entire screen and make the battle menu transparent
new_battle_interface = on

# 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 = off

# 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

# replace FF7's default framelimiter timer source
use_new_timer = yes

# use a more stable (but less accurate) timer to control FF7's framelimiter
# this option has no effect unless the use_new_timer option is on
use_stable_timer = no

# plugin used to play movies, FFMpeg is the only choice for now
movie_plugin = plugins/ffmpeg_movies.fgp



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

# read files directly instead of using LGP archives
# for example; if FF7 is looking for aaab.rsd in char.lgp, this option will make it open direct/char/aaab.rsd first,
# if this file doesn't exist it will look for the original in the LGP archive
direct_mode = off

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

APP.LOG

Code: [Select]

INFO: FF7/FF8 OpenGL driver version 0.7.10b
INFO: Auto-detected version: FF7 1.02 US English
INFO: ATI Technologies Inc. ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series          3.3.10666 Compatibility Profile Context
INFO: OpenGL 2.0 support detected
INFO: Found swap_control extension
INFO: Max texture size: 8192x8192
INFO: Number of texture units: 8
INFO: Original resolution 640x480, window size 1920x1200, output resolution 1600x1200, internal resolution 1920x1440
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.

INFO: FFMpeg movie player plugin loaded
INFO: FFMpeg version SVN-r25886, Copyright (c) 2000-2010 Fabrice Bellard, et al.
LOCK UNLOCK TEST
MATRIX INITIALIZE
INITIALIZE DD/D3D END
initializing sound...
creating dsound primary buffer
reading audio file
loading static sounds
sound initialized
INITIALIZING MIDI...
selecting device 0:Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth, mid=1, pid=27,
midi data type: GENERAL MIDI
using midi data file: C:\Program Files (x86)\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\Data\midi\midi.lgp
midiOutGetVolume returned: ffffffff
MIDI INITIALIZED
set music volume: 127
MIDI set volume: 127
100% of 127 = 127
set music volume: 127
MIDI set master volume: 100
MIDI set volume: 127
100% of 127 = 127
Entering MAIN
Exiting MAIN
START OF CREDITS!!!
INFO: C:\Program Files (x86)\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\movies\eidoslogo.avi; rawvideo/null 364x353, 15.000000 FPS, duration: 0.066667, frames: 1
INFO: C:\Program Files (x86)\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\movies\sqlogo.avi; mpeg4/mp3 640x480, 15.000000 FPS, duration: 247.466667, frames: 3712
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: yuv program link log:
Vertex shader(s) linked, fragment shader(s) linked.

set music volume trans: 127->0, step=60
MIDI set volume trans: 127->0; step=60
MIDI stop - OK
MIDI stop - OK
END OF CREDITS!!!
Entering MAIN
set music volume: 127
MIDI set volume: 127
100% of 127 = 127
ERROR: unhandled exception

Crash.dmp:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4OYF8XSK

Any help would be awesome.  Thanks!

[sl1982]

Turn off compress textures.

[Synapse]

Turn off compress textures.

That fixed it.  Thanks!   The only issue I'm having now is there's a slight graphical issue with the text.  It's nothing major and the game is perfectly playable, but if it's fixable that'd be cool.  It just looks sort of like an image would look that is saved as a low quality JPEG, except only surrounding the text.  Sort of artifact-ing.

http://i.imgur.com/XJA2D.png

[sl1982]

Turn on fancy transparency.

[Soul XXcult]

I have issues installing the v 0.7.10b driver onto my ff8 directory folder. When I try to launch ff8.exe with the current aali driver an error comes up  'failed to load custom driver' I need some detailed explanation but can't find any in the forums so can anyone help me!

[Vgr]

0.7.10b is broken in FF8. Update (or downgrade) to either 0.7.9b or 0.7.11b