Messages

1

Completely Unrelated / Re: The New State of CHAZ...

« on: 2020-06-19 19:28:38 »

It's quite a dire picture you have painted there, MysticLord.

It's sad when we lose all hope for a better future.

Meh, raising goats out in the middle of nowhere actually sounds kinda nice

2

Completely Unrelated / Re: The New State of CHAZ...

« on: 2020-06-18 06:01:08 »

Honeslty though, there list of demands is pretty hilarious. They are so disconnected with reality, whoeverf they are. There are definitely some extremists mixed in, which is the most concerning part.

3

Completely Unrelated / Re: The New State of CHAZ...

« on: 2020-06-15 19:50:19 »

Just popping in to remind everyone to remain civil.  Leave the hate mongering for the media.

Just wanted to clarify that this wasn't meant as a trolling thread. I was unware of some of the recent controversy going on in other threads. I am just genuinely curious and appreciate everyone's response. As for me, I'm a little torn about the situation. I've heard reports of strong arming, and gangs forming what amounts to a local mafia, bullying companies into paying for protection, and then again reports of a peaceful liberal utopia.

I'm fairly conservative myself, but I have liberal views on some issues as well. Much more important than political views to me, is being respectful and tolerant of all different points of view. However, I am not opposed to calling someone out when their logic doesn't seem to hold either, I just think it should be done in a tactful and respectful manner. We are all human and thus prone to error.

I just hope this whole thing doesn't result in some sort of civil war or something, though with the apathy level in this country I somehow doubt it.

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Completely Unrelated / The New State of CHAZ...

« on: 2020-06-13 03:53:45 »

In case you haven't heard, some miscreants have set up their own "country" on capital hill in Seattle.

Comments? Concerns? Raging angry rants? Just curious what you guys think.

5

Q-Gears / Re: Anyone familiar with the code base at this point?

« on: 2020-02-01 16:10:45 »

Sound like time would be best spent reversing then. Is there any sort of centralized db for keeping track of the progress, or is it just scattered throughout the various efforts? If so, perhaps organizing such an db would be useful.

6

Q-Gears / Anyone familiar with the code base at this point?

« on: 2020-01-29 22:51:56 »

Is there anyone who still has a working knowledge of the code base? I see it's been dead on GitHub for about 5 years. I really love the idea, as am sure most of us do, so what went wrong here? Did it fail due to some sort of engineering oversight? Some sort of structural design problem? Or was it just a time commitment issue? Anyone know?

I mean I can grep through the code base and get an idea of what's up but I'm just asking if anyone already knows before I go through that... shall we say... fun process. Nothing quite so fun as reversing a legacy C++ code base after all.

Just looking at the stats I see it's a pretty far along project, almost 70,000 lines of code. I need a new side project, something more low level than what I'm doing at work and it'd be awesome to either pick this up and try to get it further along, or if it has some sort of critical design flaw maybe even start from scratch in a language I much prefer, like Rust and begin this hopeless endeavor all over again!

These are all just thoughts, don't anybody get excited now. I would really like to see a fully working open source engine for these games though, and it doesn't seem like anyone else is gonna do it, so I could waste a few years trying. Why not? Always wanted to build a game engine from scratch anyhow and the world doesn't need yet another general purpose engine. One for old classic games sounds much more fun!

Just collecting information to guage how feasble such a thing would be. But if someone pays me... (haha yea right)

I'll be lurking through this forum, the code and the website to see what I can find out over the next few days, but there is no substitue for hands on experience, so if you have it, please share.

I'm gonna try to at least add nix build support since that's what I do all day anyway. That will make it a lot simpler to package and build, and create a unified dev environment. Maybe that alone would be enough to kick up interest from some others. I know it wouldn't work on Windows but I don't care really.

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Completely Unrelated / Re: It's been a while; good to be back.

« on: 2020-01-29 20:29:51 »

Hey this guy is lying, he is totally not me! I'm me.





gotcha 

Thanks for hooking me up sl1982.

8

Releases / Re: Field Resurrection [0.1]

« on: 2016-12-20 00:38:21 »

It should definitely reduce them compared to previous attempts like Omzy's facepalmer script.  Obviously I haven't tested every single scene but by following some simple rules they should be brought to a minimum. 

I avoid completely any semi transparent pixels.

Second I avoid smoothing of 90 degree angles in layers.

Finally the script compares each layer with the one directly underneath it and if there are any pixels that reside in both they are removed from the top layer.

This should definitely take care of 99% of the black pixel bugs in other scripts.  Problem is there are scenes which have special conditions that I have not yet have the chance to code in, but even so this should work on the vast majority of scenes as it.

As it stands the scripts just takes in palmer batch exported scenes and spits them back out upscaled.  There are no command line options as of yet.  But I would definitely like to add in options for easy processing of single scenes and fine tuning of other parameters.  I also want to completely refactor this in Haskell to dramatically increase performance and use some existing libraries to eliminate dependence on third party binaries and make a completely stand alone and cross-platform tool.  There is also the matter of special case scenes which need to be addressed.

Of course that could be a ways off with my schedule being what it is and it is kinda a miracle I had some time this month to get this far.  I hope it is helpful.

9

Releases / [FF7PC] Field Resurrection [0.1]

« on: 2016-12-19 21:21:38 »

I apologize for the long silence.  I have had a pretty intense year with not much free time, but I was finally able to put together a little script which processes the images in a new way to avoid some of the "black pixel" bugs of previous versions and also uses the new photo method I was talking about before.  I still have some things I would like to do with this like refactor it in Haskell to add parallel processing of scenes and add support for FFVIII.

Unfortunately it looks like I won't have much time to do that for a while so I figured I should share what I have so far.  The script is written in bash and expects the palmer exported files to reside in "~/FFVII_fields".  I have not tested this on a Windows environment at all but it may work.

This script depends on the ImageMagick suite, as well as Potrace for layer tracing and waifu2x-cpp-converter and will fail if they are not found in you PATH.

Check it out here.
https://github.com/timde9/ffvii_frp

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Troubleshooting / exporting field layers in Makou Reactor

« on: 2016-12-04 05:43:13 »

Is there any way to do this in the same way you can batch export in palmer?  I am asking because I am running a linux server and don't have easy access to any Windows machines right now.  I found the ability to mass export but it doesn't output all the layers just the whole image.

I wrote a new script from scratch to process field upscales more efficiently and want to test it on some actual fields now rather than just the test files I have been using.

Also if anyone has access to palmer and could just send them to me that works too.

on a sidenote.  does anyone know if Aali ever released any of his source code for any of his tools.  I would ideally just like to port palmer to *nix if I could and fix it up a bit from a user perspective.

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General Discussion / Re: Anybody need a Steam Key for FFVIII?

« on: 2016-04-05 07:36:32 »

np enjoy!

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General Discussion / Re: Anybody need a Steam Key for FFVIII?

« on: 2016-04-05 04:50:47 »

K well since there are no takers here is the key

X0NTP-TL3E9-HG75K

whoever gets it gets it I suppose.

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General Discussion / Anybody need a Steam Key for FFVIII?

« on: 2016-04-03 19:01:20 »

I got the Easter Surprise Box from Square this year and I already owned FFVIII but it came with a key.  Asked a couple of my buddies here but they didn't want it so anyone who might need it can have it.  Just post here and I will PM someone at random.

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Completely Unrelated / Re: Hello Again

« on: 2016-03-27 05:00:16 »

hey good to see ya around man long time no see!

15

Graphical / Re: At it again...

« on: 2016-03-23 23:24:44 »

AC and CC you would only need one of the throwback scenes like cloud at the train station even just a few seconds of video is thousands of images.

but finding raw videos in a high resolution is the problem compressed videos have too many artifacts to be useful

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Completely Unrelated / Re: Trump & Clinton supporters: What is wrong with you?

« on: 2016-03-02 17:06:24 »

Tin foil hat time: does anyone feel like things would generally not change much no matter who gets elected?

I don't like how, in this society, stating the obvious truth is somehow considered taboo as if your some sort of wack job conspiracy nut.  I know its just a joke its just sad to me that you have to present this statement in this way.

A drastic change?  No.  But I think if we keep pecking at it here and there, making tiny baby dents, eventually something will give.

This is unfortunately a flawed statement. This assumes that any damage you do to the system of inequality is not quickly repaired and reinforced on the other end faster than you can do any damage.  Not to say that trying is meaningless.  Look, in this system nobody likes to feel apathetic in the face of overwhelming odds.  Unfortunately nobody likes to go out on a limb and risk something precious either.  Therefore people fall behind causes that keep them from feeling apathetic, like what they support will make a difference, all the while not risking anything that would bring about a meaningful change.  We are all guilty of this, myself included, but being aware is the starting point.  The only thing that would really change this system is a system that works more efficiently.  One that can replace it, not fight against it.  There is no "ism" in existence that could classify what we need to become.  We would have to create a whole new paradigm.  Again this is contrary to our evolutionary instincts to avoid change so it is a slow and violent process.

Despite all my nay saying however I do believe change will come.  Just not through this corrupt sphere of socioeconomic political warfare.  It will happen in the realm of technologies that solve these problems more efficiently than they have ever been solved to date.  Unfortunately technology is advanced at a much faster rate than it is released to the public.  And many of the major contributors to technology today are looking only to advanced weaponry, not society.  Another major issue is that the vast majority of citizens don't really understand today's advanced technology and so those who do gain and almost unstoppable advantage.  Because of these factors there is a very real incentive to keep a lid on technology and only release it to the masses in small quantities so as not to the lose the grip of control on the masses.

So it comes down to only two obvious outcomes, we either reach a point of technological sophistication enough to feed all peoples, travel the stars and become a truly immortal species.  Or will die in the process of trying by destroying ourselves with our own inventions.  It really comes down to something quite simple and not technologically dependent.  It all depends on how mature this species really is or can become, and that is still sort of up in the air at this point.  I just advocate for people to put their hope in more practical solutions rather than those that have failed us time and again, and that by design will continue to fail.

17

Graphical / Re: At it again...

« on: 2016-02-25 00:21:15 »

unfortunately AC is a departure stylistically from the original.  Although I only need something that is basically devoid of characters and only contains the scenery of FF7.  I'm sure some shots from AC would work, I actually have the bluray from years ago lying around somewhere.  Funny thing is I don't have any sort of optical drive bay on my computer lol.

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Graphical / Re: At it again...

« on: 2016-02-24 18:44:39 »

You could take the intro movie and splice it into .png using vDub. In theory you could and tens of thousands of images in just a few movies. Some with exact color profiles as the fields.

I know it's rather the opposite of what I just said but the AAcolor shader looks fantastic in conjunction with the Anime setting.

I have definitely thought of this.  We would just need a fairly high resolution video copy, similar to the raw video with as little noise or compression artifacts as possible.  In order to train an effective model noise free images are crucial.  Actually I have been looking for some videos along those lines haven't found anything yet but if anyone has any suggestions I'll give it a shot.

19

Graphical / Re: At it again...

« on: 2016-02-24 15:41:45 »

I just recently placed an order for the 980 ti.  I am just waiting for it to arrive and I will get to work on process the full game with this method.

20

Completely Unrelated / Re: Trump & Clinton supporters: What is wrong with you?

« on: 2016-02-10 03:56:28 »

The problems in the political institutions are mirrors of the problems of the human institution and therefore will not be resolved until the underlying driving motive of this species shifts.  I can argue effectively that the core human motive in the majority of this world is a perverted type of greed. I'd like to note that, in my opinion, greed in it of itself is actually a positive driving motive.  In the truest sense of greed and individual would realize that by doing best for his species he is doing best for himself as well, and harming others can only create conditions in which he is at greater risk of also being harmed. This is not philosophical or mystical but simply mathematical.  However the kind of greed that drives this species is not pure, it is more of a desire to position oneself over others than to really do best for oneself. 

In other words a person in this society is willing to sacrifice even their own best interest in an effort to fulfill their underlying base desire to dominant others and/or gain material advantage.  This takes into account that a human being can often act in conflict to what would actually be the best outcome for them in any given situation.  A simple hypothetical; a billionaire who is grossly obese.  Obviously it is not in his best interest to be grossly obese however his pursuit for power over others is far more motivating and dominating in his psyche than his own physical well being, and furthermore there is no force in his life strong or influential enough to convince him that he urgently needs to change his will.  In fact its quite the opposite, since he is a billionaire most of his actions are rewarded with material gain regardless of his underlying intent, and the behaviors that drive his obesity are reinforced positively.  This is just a surface level example and the reality is even more frightening as all of us have deluded ourselves in one fashion or another regardless of social status or position. Its probably the one thing I have noticed that we all share.

To fully understand the complexity of the issue you have to have the ability to observe the system completely neutral to your position within it.  Which is impossible for a single human being to do, as we will inevitable become blind to our own bias at one turn or another and not even realize when we have entered the realm of ignorance.  Therefore no one person is fully aware as to the full extent of the "human" problem and so there can be no one person who can fully realize and therefore fully formulate a solution.  That's not to say that brilliant minds cannot formulate technological solutions to core human problems such as energy or hunger.  However, implementing those technologies is out of the individuals hands and requires a collective desire to solve each problem in the best possible way, regardless of short term gains or position.  Unfortunately, the solution lies in reaching out and comparing our differences and accepting our individual disparities between one another and using that knowledge to fill the void in our competencies against our biases.  That type of practice is in direct contradiction to a system that promotes dominance as the core human virtue. 

We live in a system where it is okay to be ignorant so long as you are also rich.  It is considering respectable to commit despicable acts of human violence so long as the shareholders stock increases.  Essentially this system actually promotes and rewards criminals so long as they are never actually caught.  In others words con artists rule the world.  People who are best at covering their tracks.  That is hardly the kind of person who should have sway over the most important decisions facing our species.  And we see the consequences of this every day we draw breath.  These situations are so plain, and so overwhelming that most of us simply chose to blatantly ignore what is in front of our face and deny the intellect we inevitable are given.  People are not stupid.  They are choosing not to act on their intelligence out of an underlying fear of change.  One that has been coding into our very DNA.  After all, from an evolutionary standpoint, change presents a very real risk of extinction.

It is ironic then, that the only way we can prevent extinction is by overcoming our evolutionary impulses and choosing to act on our highest ideals.  In other words to evolve we have to embrace the intelligence that lies dormant in most everyone.  You can't turn off your brain, you can only ignore its output.  Its a very profound and beautiful struggle for our intelligence to assert its dominance over impulse and lead us to an era where unlike other animals we are truly guided by our best thought rather than our first one.  However nobody really knows if we can or will reach this point before we have crossed the proverbial "point of no return".

I'm not trying to frame this as if I know the solution to this system because I definitely do not.  I am just cutting it as plain as I can try from my own bias point of view.  However I definitely know enough to know that their are better systems of voting in other countries that are more effective at representing the point of view of all the different groups of interests in a society than the system that we have.  I just get frustrated when people put so much stock into the political system when that system is never going to be the one where the change sparks.  In fact the political institution will undoubtedly be the last stronghold of ignorance on humanities path to intellectual maturity.  Its seems to me as the last place to look for change, at least certainly not the first.

21

General Discussion / Re: Garbage Article about FF7's sexism...

« on: 2016-02-06 14:47:59 »

I'm not even going to read it. I don't give this kind of crap the time of day - and nor should anyone. 

Agreed. Pondering over the stupidity of the the ignorant is only liable to make you susceptible to the same stupidity.  That said, I can see stumbling upon this article first before realizing the heaping pile contained within so I am not blaming you.  But really you should just be ignoring it rather than linking to it.  The premise is flawed, that's obvious.  Not much else to be gained.

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Graphical / Re: At it again...

« on: 2016-02-04 01:04:45 »

Well theoretically you'd end up with the same or worse image quality.  Basically you need something better to learn from. Using the same images but processed once through would just cause a reduction in quality most likely if any difference at all.

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Graphical / Re: At it again...

« on: 2016-02-03 00:03:09 »

If you want the software i could send  them to you with a "howto" but if you're familiar with scripting you may have better result by modifying the omzy's one
If you want i could also say in a precise way how the software i made works so you counld adapt it to the omzy script to your taste

Yeah sounds like you put a lot of good work into the the software and a how-to would be very useful.  I should have enough experience to be able to use it.  Also knowing how it works in a precise way would also be useful if you have the time.  Now also if you documented which scenes it was that you needed to edit manually that'd be great as well that way I already know what to work on.  Basically whatever your willing to share I'll take.  You have done a lot of good work.

On a side note. hope my statement about "poor" choice wasn't offensive.  I would be more correct to say "poor to my taste"  but I rather admire your work from a technical standpoint. 

Now I am also serious about training my own waifu model but does anyone have any clear idea about where we could get that many images.  I mean using google's advanced search might not be a bad way to find the images but how exactly could we define the original  Final Fantasy 7's style from a purely objective standpoint, in order to collect only those images that conform to that definition?  If we can define that clearly I may just start compiling images.

24

Graphical / Re: At it again...

« on: 2016-02-01 23:25:30 »

Well this is just to suite my personal taste.  I don't like distortion or stylized upscales.  While the anime is decent in sharpness it definitely changes the style of the original scenes.  This result with photo is the best and sharpest image I have ever gotten without completely botching the style.  In addition I now have a 2k display and the 4x upscales aren't working anymore I may need to go as much as 6x.  Also satsuki, if you have a better script that your willing to share that'd be great otherwise I'll just use omzy's and fix some scenes that need manual tuning. To answer some other questions the demo goes up to the point where you get off the train after the bombing mission with that scene not including. 

Also I have considered doing some noise reduction on the scenes I just wanted to post the results of the raw upscales to showcase how crisp it looks. 

I have even considered just training my own waifu2x model completely from scratch based on the FF7's style but I don't know where I would be able to find upwards of 6000 or so largescale images all in the style of the original ff7 with as little noise as possible to train the model.  I know I could use some of the fields that have been upscaled manually as input but I would need a lot more data to be able to train an effective model

EQ2Alyza  I wouldn't replace anything just yet until I decide on a finalized process but I definitely consider this higher quality from my previous work.  When you compare the raws side by side there is really no comparison

25

Graphical / At it again...

« on: 2016-02-01 02:44:56 »

So I just can't leave well enough alone I suppose.  I know someone already did an upscale using waifu2x but I believe his model choice was poor.  He used the original "trained" model for anime art, whereas there is another "trained" model you can use with waifu2x that is based off of photography. 

Using this "photo" model instead of the anime model I have gotten incredibly clean and sharp results without the blotched or smudgy look of the anime style waifu2x.  I already modified Omzy's facepalmer script to work with waifu-caffe, trained with this new model and using cuDNN to make the processing time reasonable.   As a result I am posting a demo of the bombing mission so you can get an in game taste of this new method.  Also posting some sample images from an imgur album but keep in mind these are compressed a bit.

So here is the demo, just rename "demofin" to "field" and place in modpath.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/o8p04qwwaifgsms/demofin.7z

Also here are just a few samples to see what I am talking about
https://imgur.com/a/IjxFa

What do you think?  Would it be worth processing the whole game again?  With my new rig it probably wouldn't take nearly as much time as it did in the past, but then again even with CUDA and cuDNN the waifu2x resizing does take a fair bit of time to process even with a gtx 970, so just looking for feedback as to whether or not I should go for it?