Author Topic: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista  (Read 26055 times)

Jamers

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Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« on: 2009-02-26 03:00:00 »
Hi everyone! The information in this guide is all on these forums, so none of it is from me, but I thought it would be nice to pull it all together for those of us (un)lucky enough to be running Vista!

Before anything else, read this, and make sure to run everything as an Administrator!

I should add one more thing with Vista... if you don't have Administrative rights, and you try to write (through a program) to a Program Files directory it will actually write to a VirtualStore folder that mirrors the Program Files one... without actually writing to the Program Files directory. This may be what is happening.

Check your VirtualStore folder:

1. Go to your 'user' directory.
2. Go to properties and select 'Show Hidden Files'.
3. Look for AppData in your 'user' directory.
4. Look for VirtualStore in your AppData.
5. Follow the path along like you're in the Program Files directory.

You may have to clean out your VirtualStore. Just delete everything in the Squaresoft directory of the VirtualStore, if there's anything there. Then, make sure to go to properties for the relevant programs (such as Highwind) and select 'Run as Administrator'. This will sidestep the VirtualStore.

1. Download FF7Music from here. The linked version is v1.51. Also, download one of the archived versions, such as v1.10 for the FF7Music.ini file, which we'll need. Additionally, you're going to want the dlls (dynamic linked libraries) he uses, available here.  Ficedula's (the author) homepage is here.

2. Obtain the soundtrack for FF7. The OST in mp3 format is a good one to use. I prefer the remastered OST available in this thread by finalfantim.

3. Get the in_mp3.dll and out_wave.dll files. You can find and download them for free on many dll (dynamic linked library) sites by googling them.

4. Get Highwind, a lgp editor available here.

5. Go to your FF7 directory. Copy the in_mp3.dll, out_wave.dll and the ficedula.dll to the main directory (I also have ficeconsole.dll in there, though I don't know if it's necessary or not). Create a folder in that directory named Ficedula, but DO NOT place the dlls in that folder; leave them in the main directory.

6. Copy the unpacked FF7Music to the Ficedula folder in the FF7 directory. Also, get the FF7Music.ini file from the v1.10 version you downloaded and place that in the Ficedula folder.

7. Create a Music folder in the Ficedula folder. Copy all of the music you intend to use into the Music folder.

8. Fun part! Rename your collection to match the game's names for the midi files. Please consult the list below, kindly provided by TwilightFantasy.

[NOTES]
One difficulty I had with getting the MP3's to work was having names with spaces or dashes in them.  I decided to write down the information of each Midi (the names of the files) and then looked at my mp3's in order to rename them to the specified midi file name. (eg: as you see Hurry's alternative midi file is aseri. therefore I renamed Hurry to aseri.mp3)  This made it alot easier for FF7Music to recognised.

Midi Name - Mp3 Ost list:

aseri - Hurry
aseri2 - Hurry Faster
ayasi - Lurking In The Darkness
barret - Barret's Theme
bat - Fighting
bee - Honeybee Manor
boo - The Flow Of Life / Lifestream
bokujo - Farm Boy
canyon - The Valley Of The Fallen Star - Cosmo Canyon
cannon - The Makou Cannon Is Fired (not including Shinra Explodes)
cephiros - Those Chosen By The Planet
chu - Still More Fighting
chu2 - J-E-N-O-V-A
chase - Crazy Motorcycle
cinco - Cinco De Chocobo
cintro - Those Chosen By The Planet
condor - Fortress Of The Condor
costa - Costa Del Sol
comical - J-E-N-O-V-A
corel - Mining Town
corneo - Don Of The Slums
crwin - A Great Success
crlost - Tango Of Tears
date - Interrupted By Fireworks
dokubo - Underneath The Rotting Pizza
dun2 - Chasing The Black Caped Man
earislo - Flowers Blooming In The Church
earis - Aerith's Theme - Aeris' Theme
elec - Electric De Chocobo
fanfare - Fanfare2 (this should be the second fanfare not the first as stated. This one is the shortened version only for the Parade in Junon.
fan2 - Fanfare (the normal fanfare, extended version.)
fiddle - Fiddle De Chocobo
fin - World Crisis
geki - Debut
gold1 - Gold Saucer
gun - A Full Scale Attack
guitar2 - On The Other Side Of The Mountain
hen - Who Am I
hiku - The Highwind Takes To The Skies
horror - Trail Of Blood
iseki - You Can Hear The Cries Of The Planet
jukai - The Forested Temple
junon - Off The Edge Of Dispair
jyro - Steal The Tiny Bronco
ketc - Cait Sith's Theme
kita - The Great North Cave
kurai - Anxious Heart
lb1 - Birth Of A God
lb2 - One Winged Angel ( Yayayay! <3)
ld - Judgement Day
mati - Ahead On Our Way
makoro - Makou Reactor
mekyu - Reunion
mura1 - Parochial Town
oa - Opening - Bombing Mission
ob - (JUST Bombing Mission)
odds - Chocobo Racing
over2 - Requiem
parade - Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony
pj - Jenova Absolute
pre - Prelude
red - Red XIII's Theme
rhythm - The Turk's Theme
riku - Shinra Explodes
ro - The Countdown Begins
roll - Staff Roll
rocket - Oppressed People
rukei - The Sandy Badlands
sadsid - Sending A Dream Into The Universe
sadbar - Mark Of The Traitor
seto - The Great Warrior
sea - A Secret, Sleeping In The Deep Sea
sido - It's Difficult To Walk On Both Feet Isn't It
siera - If You Open Your Heart
sinraslo - Infiltrating Shinra Tower
si - Shinra Explodes 2
sid2 - Cid's Theme
sinra - The Shinra Corporation - The Shinra Company
snow - Buried In The Snow
ta - Main FFVII Theme
tb - Main FFVII Theme
tender - Holding My Thoughts In My Heart
tifa - Tifa's Theme
tm - On That Day Five Years Ago
utai - Wutai Theme - Uutai Ruins
vincent - The Nightmare Begins - Vincent's Theme
walz - Waltz De Chocobo
weapon - Weapon Raid
yado - Good Night Until Tomorrow
yufi2 - Stolen Materia
yufi - Decendent Of The Shinobi
yume - Who Are You

I'm sorry if none of this was any help, but I thought I'd give it a shot due to the fact I can see no specific instructions on how to do this.  I did my best.  So I hope this information was useful to you :)

Including the OST listing, as it is very difficult to know which file belongs to which midi due to the really vague naming.

:)

9. Okay, so we're all set to go, right? Wrong. Vista has made it exceedingly difficult to mute the midi output, so typically most vista users will hear both the midi file and the mp3 file playing at the same time. That's no fun. So, remember Highwind? The program you downloaded earlier? Well, now we use it. Thanks Chrisu for the tip!

I've got the same Problem.
The easiest solution to mute the MIDI is:
Open midi.lgp with Highwind and click "Remove all". Then click "save" (enabling the backup function).
then you'll have a midi.lgp that wont play midis and a backup with all the music if you need it and the game wont play music and FF7Music will (set General MIDI in FF7Config).

I didn't see a remove all option, so I just removed each file individually. It didn't take that long. Remember to create a backup first, though!

10. Now open up FF7 Configuration. Go to the 'Midi' tab. Make a note of the midi driver you're using.

11. Now open up FF7Music. Click Configure. For Input Plugin browse your way to the in_mp3.dll file that you copied to your main FF7 directory. For Output Plugin do the same with out_wave.dll.

12. Now go to Files. Select 'Filenames Only' from the dropdown menu for Profile. Go to the top of the explorer menu for your Ficedula/Music directory, and copy the pathname. Paste that in 'Paths to search for music files:' in the Files tab.

13. Almost done! Now go to 'Playback Options'. You will see a lot of options here. I have 'Loop Custom Files', 'Resuming: Always' (personal preference), 'Mute midi on custom playback' (though with our method, it won't matter), 'Emulate Ramps', and 'Obey 'Stop'' checked. Also, set the midi device to the same one that FF7 Configuration uses. Save and exit!

14. Now, click Run FF7! If you followed everything above to the letter, it _should_ work.

There are some other options for muting midi playback on vista, but they didn't work for me. For the sake of completion, they are quoted below in case the above does not work for you (although, again, it _should_).

Tried this way, and all I got were sound effects to work.  If you're using FF7music, or anything else, there is a much easier way (finally!!!), guaranteed to work.

go to http://www.nerds.de/en/loopbe1.html and download the free version for individual users.  Install it and then go to the final fantasy VII configuration settings.  Under the music tab (i think), instead of using the MS midi player, select the loopbe.  Then, click apply and all that.  Then, in the lower right hand corner, there is now an icon for the driver you just installed.  Right click on it and then click "mute".  If you're using FF7music, you have to adjust the settings so that the midi device used with that is the loopde.  Then, all you hear is the FF7music program's music and the sound effects!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!  Spread the word, I finally beat stupid MF'in Vista!!!

I figured out a fix for FF7's audio in Vista.  Unlike XP, you cannot change your default midi driver in Vista, nor can you simply mute midi since M$ decided to remove the mixer.  As a result if you play FF7 in vista, you get the aweful M$ midis playing over your own audio in ff7music.  These reasons are just several reasons to never use Vista, but if you have a Geforce 8800 and want to play FF7 in HD, you don't have much of a choice. 

A year ago or so, I discovered that in XP, the terrible midi sound bank that M$ provides is stored in c:\windows\system32\drivers\gm.dls .  By using Awave studio or other program, you could take soundfonts (including the ones from FF7 and FF8) and convert them to the dls format.  Then you could back up the old gm.dls and replace it and anything that plays midi would sound good.  More details here: http://digg.com/mods/Midi_Hacking_use_soundfonts_with_any_soundcard

Like xp, there is a file at c:\windows\system32\drivers\gm.dls that presumably does the same thing.  There is also a copy of it in C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft-windows-audio-mmecore-other_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16386_none_8ac7060813a4d0d2 though I'm not sure why and I deleted that file by accident and it wouldn't let me put it back.  Unlike XP however, you can't just put a good sounding dls file there or it will sound even worse.  I don't know why, but I am continuing to research. 

So on to the fix for Vista.  You can't just remove the gm.dls file or the midi engine will fail and ff7music won't start.  You also can't just make a text file, call it gm.dls and replace.  But, you can replace it with a blank file you create with awave studio.  One such file I created is here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/df8c83

So basically, backup your old gm.dls and replace with the downloaded file to mute (but not break) midi audio in vista.
« Last Edit: 2009-02-27 03:24:55 by Jamers »

cloud1414

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #1 on: 2009-02-26 19:35:30 »
Its weird, I did everything you said and i can still hear the old midi in the background and not the custom music. i deleted everything in the mid.lgp with highwind, but i can still hear the old music :( did i do something wrong here?

Jamers

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #2 on: 2009-02-26 19:41:24 »
Its weird, I did everything you said and i can still hear the old midi in the background and not the custom music. i deleted everything in the mid.lgp with highwind, but i can still hear the old music :( did i do something wrong here?

You deleted everything in the midi.lgp file in the data/midi directory? Try opening it again with Highwind to ensure that you actually did delete them all. Additionally, when you made a backup of the midi.lgp, if it's in the same directory, just append a .bak onto the name so that you know it's a backup, and the game doesn't read it as a legitimate lgp file.

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #3 on: 2009-02-26 21:11:44 »
Well before i deleted stuff from the original midi. lgp i saved it on my other drive just in case. i even deleted the backup that was in the same folder as the edited midi.lgp and i still get the same old music. its so weird :( so strange

Marc

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #4 on: 2009-02-26 22:09:35 »
I would guess you'd need to do a maximum install for the midi.lgp in your game folder to be used.

cloud1414

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #5 on: 2009-02-26 22:34:55 »
i still have full midi.lgp on my computer
i even deleted the midi.lgp from the midi folder and the game still reads the midi music haha XD this is so weird

ill keep on messing around with it, i might find something i might of forgotten

BlitzNCS

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #6 on: 2009-02-26 22:57:56 »
Thanks a lot, Jamers. I really like this Guide, and now i might actually be able to use FF7Music  :-D

i even deleted the midi.lgp from the midi folder and the game still reads the midi music haha XD this is so weird

A similar thing happened to me when i was messing with video Files once. The file somehow kept repairing itself even after it was deleted, and i couldnt figure out why. I'm assuming you're using vista, and so some the advice i can give to you is to check the "compatability files". for me, FF7 was somehow using it to restore deleted files

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #7 on: 2009-02-26 23:02:44 »
whats the compatibility files? how do i check that?

Jamers

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #8 on: 2009-02-27 02:44:47 »
Thanks a lot, Jamers. I really like this Guide, and now i might actually be able to use FF7Music  :-D

Sure thing! Like I said in the OP, most of this information wasn't mine, it just took me a while to find while I tried to set it up!

A similar thing happened to me when i was messing with video Files once. The file somehow kept repairing itself even after it was deleted, and i couldnt figure out why. I'm assuming you're using vista, and so some the advice i can give to you is to check the "compatability files". for me, FF7 was somehow using it to restore deleted files

Yes, I think that has to do with the VirtualStore below...

I should add one more thing with Vista... if you don't have Administrative rights, and you try to write (through a program) to a Program Files directory it will actually write to a VirtualStore folder that mirrors the Program Files one... without actually writing to the Program Files directory. This may be what is happening.

Check your VirtualStore folder:

1. Go to your 'user' directory.
2. Go to properties and select 'Show Hidden Files'.
3. Look for AppData in your 'user' directory.
4. Look for VirtualStore in your AppData.
5. Follow the path along like you're in the Program Files directory.

You may have to clean out your VirtualStore. Just delete everything in the Squaresoft directory of the VirtualStore, if there's anything there. Then, make sure to go to properties for the relevant programs (such as Highwind) and select 'Run as Administrator'. This will sidestep the VirtualStore.

My guess as to what is happening? Highwind is being run NOT as an administrator, and when you attempt to save the empty lgp file, it saves it to the VirtualStore instead of overwriting the file in the real, Program Files directory.
« Last Edit: 2009-02-27 02:51:52 by Jamers »

cloud1414

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #9 on: 2009-02-27 03:14:00 »
I even tried that and it still isnt working for me. I can get the midi not to play but i just cant hear the other music :(
for some reason FF7Music will only work start up for me if its all in the folder ficedula in the root dir. not the FF7Music folder, do you think that is strange :/ ?

Jamers

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #10 on: 2009-02-27 03:23:09 »
I even tried that and it still isnt working for me. I can get the midi not to play but i just cant hear the other music :(
for some reason FF7Music will only work start up for me if its all in the folder ficedula in the root dir. not the FF7Music folder, do you think that is strange :/ ?

Hmm, I thought either one would work, but maybe only ficedula. Did you rename all of the music files? Did you set the profile to 'filenames only'?

EDIT: Just checked, and mine was in Ficedula too, I'll change the guide.

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #11 on: 2009-02-27 03:23:40 »
yup :)

wait i think i forgot to rename one file. what do i rename the gameover mp3 to? i didnt see it on the list XD

Jamers

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #12 on: 2009-02-27 03:26:18 »
yup :)

wait i think i forgot to rename one file. what do i rename the gameover mp3 to? i didnt see it on the list XD

Hmm, I'm not sure, but you should still be able to hear the other files playing, even if that one isn't renamed.

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #13 on: 2009-02-27 03:31:11 »
:( stupid vista hahaha
ill still tweak with it if you find anything out just let me know :D

d33eniz

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #14 on: 2009-03-03 15:22:30 »
This thread is too old and it won't work- really :D

So, just ignore this I think ;)

Deniz

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #15 on: 2009-03-03 16:04:52 »
It's not to old the steps are still correct. I just did this last weekend (3/3/09) and it works fine. You just have to run everything as an admin. and make sure any files that end up in the virtual store make it into the real progam files.

Jamers

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #16 on: 2009-03-05 20:19:01 »
This thread is too old and it won't work- really :D

So, just ignore this I think ;)

Deniz

It's not old, I just made it a few weeks ago. Try it and see if it will work for you.  :lol:

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Re: Guide: Ficedula's FF7Music on Vista
« Reply #17 on: 2009-12-13 13:24:42 »
Hey, great work on the tutorial, renaming them all was a pain :x, but my motivation is my love for FF7.

I'm having a bit of a problem, in the list of quoted mp3 names below, I have one from the OST named "15 - Continue.mp3"

If anyone could please give me the original filename for the music played at the game over screen, it would be greatly appreciated :)

P.S: apologies for bumping the topic, but I've searched for this damn filename for hours