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Topics - IonXi

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Hello all!

A short while ago I began modding my FF8, and today I'd like to share a tool I created to ease the process a bit. Please allow me to introduce GFRefine!

What is it?
GFRefine is an editor for altering what refines into what else within abilities like T Mag Ref and the others.

What does it do?
Sticking with the example of T Mag Ref, you can use GFRefine to make the 1 M-Stone Piece giving 5 Thunder into almost anything you like, such as 1 Screw giving 100 Apocalypse(you cheater :P)! It even works with the cards!

What doesn't it do?
GFRefine cannot change the rules of the refine abilities. T Mag Ref and the others follow the formula of [amount of item] [item] becomes [amount of magic] [magic].
Mid and Hi Mag are magic to magic, many are item to item, and card is card to item. To my knowledge, this cannot be changed.

GFRefine is currently incapable of editing refine descriptions. This is because it does not dynamically read where the information is in the mngrp.bin. For the initial release, all offsets are hard-coded, and any change to the descriptions can move information around and cause the editor to fail or behave erratically. As a side effect of this, GFRefine only works on the english mngrp.bin, and even then, only if mostly unedited.

To reiterate, GFRefine ONLY WORKS ON THE ENGLISH VERSION (for now, I'm working on it).

Mostly unedited?
If you have edited your mngrp.bin, don't worry too much. As long as you were careful enough to maintain the ability offsets in their original positions, GFRefine will have no issues working with your modified file.

How do I use it?
Download Deling, extract mngrp.bin from the [eng] folder of menu.fs, and open it with GFRefine. When you're done, replace the one in menu.fs with your newly edited mngrp.bin, and load your game. Presto! *NOTE:* Always, always, always back up any files you plan to edit. I am not responsible for any file loss or damage caused by your own recklessness.

Sounds awesome, gimme!!!
Alright, keep your pants on! You'll find the link to the download at the bottom of this post.

Plans for Future Updates
In no particular order:
  • Compatibility with other language files
  • A new Save As icon (the save icon on
         the right is actually Save As... Sorry!)
  • A new icon for the tool itself
  • Overall tool beautification
  • Dynamic offset locating
  • Pending the above, description editing
  • Several other features that have yet
         to make themselves apparent to me

In Closing
Thank you for taking interest in my tool, I hope it proves useful to you in your modding adventures! If you have any comments, criticisms, or advice on how to improve GFRefine, feel free to comment on the thread. I'd also like to extend the oppourtunity to PM me, but am unfamiliar with if or how that works on Qhimm Forums. Finally, if you wish to help make GFRefine better by contributing assets, code, functionality, etc., please feel free to speak up! I'm an amateur coder myself, and without opensource projects and documentation I would not have been able to make GFRefine. I would love to receive your help and hear your tips, ideas, and feedback!

Alright, here's your link: :P
DOWNLOAD HERE

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Hello all!

Obligatory long time lurker, first time poster statement.

As you may be able to guess from the title, I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on what controls the level requirement for GF refine abilities. I'm working on modding my game files (shout-out to Sega Chief for the excellent FF7 New Threat Mod which inspired me to jump on the bandwagon. Play it if you haven't!) and, without getting too messy, I'm trying to alter the level requirement for refining items in a single ability(e.g. make Thunder Magic Refine require GF level 5 to refine Thundara).

Some notes about my journey so far:
  • Using a combination of excellent tools by this community and a hex editor, I eventually found myself in the mngrp.bin, where I set to work decoding and demystifying the refinement tables.
  • Like others who've explored this bin, I noticed the seemingly static "00 01" bytes between the "amount received" and "ID" values.
  • I noticed in two instances these 'static' values were set to "00 64". These were for Siren's Dark Matter and Doomtrain's Hero-Trial, and I realised that these bytes were actually the minimum level for the GF to refine those items.

Now, as I'm sure you've caught, I'm on the Steam version of FF8. These bytes are obviously skipped, as the level requirement for Siren and Doomtrain isn't used in that version. I would rather not edit the exe, as that is messier than I would like, so does anyone know if there is another file/byte responsible for making that skip? Else, would someone be kind enough to point me in the direction of how I might go about finding and re-enabling the check?

Regards, and happy modding!

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