Author Topic: Information on FF7.exe  (Read 68393 times)

The SaiNt

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Information on FF7.exe
« on: 2001-01-22 08:43:00 »
Some stuff about FF7.exe that I found out.
Those who already know this can ignore this post.

Open up FF7.EXE with a hex editor

Changing Battle Characters
--------------------------
Search for CLOUD.DAT
Here you will find a few other .DAT files specified here.
Anyway, if you were to replace any of the text with another person's .DAT file, this person will appear in battle.
For example, if you were to replace CLOUD.DAT with EARITH.DAT, you will have Aeris appear in cloud's place during battles.
I haven't been able to find where the .DAT files are really located though.

Changing the Pics Displayed On-Screen
-------------------------------------
If you search for disk1_a.tim (Display screen for Insert Disc 1)
You will see a whole load of .tim files located here.
Replace them with whatever filename you want and you will have that .tim file in it's place.
No examples here, just test them out yourself.

Changing names of LGP's if you don't like the original names
------------------------------------------------------------
Search for field/char.lgp
A whole load of LGP names are listed here.
Just change the links here and the name of your lgp files.

Changing names of AVI's if you don't like the original names
------------------------------------------------------------
Search for fship2.avi
A whole load of AVI names are listed here.
Just change the links here and the name of your avi files.

Limit Break's
-------------
Search for:-
GALL.DAT........DEATHGIG.DAT....HELLMASK.DAT....CHAOS.DAT.......VINSENT.DAT.....VINSENT2.DAT....VINSENT3.DAT
This is the specification for Vincent's Limit Break.
I haven't tried this yet but theoratically, you can change chaos.dat to sefiros.dat and when he's supposed to do his chaos limit break, he will turn into Sephiroth.


Search for this
LV5DETH.TIM.LV5DETH.SPT.LIGHT_1.RSD.blue/lv5deth
Everything below it describes what the attack should do.
Not that it's in plain english though
Actually, there's a lot of this stuff in the exe, so my assumption is that all limit breaks, magic attacks and summons are defined in the .exe file itself.
In fact the definitions for the mini-games seem to be located in the exe as well.
The default names for char's are also in this file.
Even the world map definition is on the exe file

Changing MIDI's
---------------
Search for
FANFARE.MAKORO..BAT.FIDDLE..KURAI...CHU.KETC....EARIS...TA..TB..SATO
Note : When changing the names of the midi files, only the filename is required, the extension is not nescessary

Hehe, there's a special message in the EXE file too
---------------------------------------------------
Search for
great special thanx to you, ARIKO.......from your husband, HIDEJI

To ficedula: Some of the text for the game resides in the EXE itself.
Messages that appear in shop's are also listed in the EXE itself.
For example : $O.YOU.WANT.TO.QUIT
So, far the program seems to replace the first character in a statement with the following
$  -  D
&  -  F
7  -  W
9  -  Y
3  -  S
"  -  B
#  -  C
-  -  M
0  -  P
)  -  I
!  -  A
2  -  R
,  -  L
6  -  V
%  -  E
1  -  Q
'  -  G
+  -  K
4  -  T
(  -  H
.  -  N
:  -  Z
/  -  O
The rest can be deduced.

I would love to add more but my hand is already aching. I'll post later when I have the time. Does anyone else have anything to add?


ficedula

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Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #1 on: 2001-01-22 16:55:00 »
The text probably uses the same table as the text in other files. The complete 'translation table' is in Qhimm's Gast source. Maybe I'll upload the Cosmo source too.

Note: If you want to change files when it's a file located in a known LGP, editing the LGP might be a bit easier than editing the EXE! Though there's probably no choice for things like limit breaks which don't appear to have a known file in the LGP....

I'll post more later too (got a lecture now)


The Skillster

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« Reply #2 on: 2001-01-22 17:02:00 »
thats looks interesting, yes there is alot of readable info in the exe. but there is a ansi to ff7 text conversion chart in gast's source code. maybe we can edit the exe? would that work? what tools would we need?

ficedula

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Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #3 on: 2001-01-22 18:40:00 »
Sure, editing stuff in the exe should work fine if it's done properly. The trick is, of course, doing it properly  :)

Tools? Well, all you NEED is a hex editor, and the text translation table. Once somebody's figured out some useful changes you could write a nice frontend that did the edits for you ... hex editor's always the place to start tho. At least, that's how I start off.

Oh: Theory about the .DAT files: Maybe FF7 compiles the various RSD,P,HRC,TEX,etc, files into one data structure internally, and that's what it's referring to with CLOUD.DAT etc.


The Skillster

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« Reply #4 on: 2001-01-22 20:00:00 »
but maybe that is refernce to the old PSX style format, maybe theres a section in the exe that translates such commands to the new PC data format?

The SaiNt

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Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #5 on: 2001-01-22 20:01:00 »
You're probably right about .DAT files cause I can't really find out where they are anywhere. Actually, I also found out that some of the HRC files that we are unsure about are specified properly in the .EXE file. I might bring my EXE file to my hometown to have a look at. It all really depends.

Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #6 on: 2001-01-22 20:11:00 »
The SaiNt: How did you translate all of this? With the table in Gast?
For the AVI references: Doesn't this mean that you could make your own AVIs and use them instead if desired?
Good luck with further "decoding".

Ficedula: Please! Upload the source at some point.  :D Interesting theory, btw.


The Skillster

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« Reply #7 on: 2001-01-22 20:31:00 »
which source? if its gast you know where to get it from, and the saint is referring to the hex view of the ff7.exe

Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #8 on: 2001-01-22 21:04:00 »
The Cosmo source. And of course I know he's referring to the hex view.

dagsverre

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Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #9 on: 2001-01-22 22:23:00 »
You people do know about NEVER EVER CHANGE THE LENGTH OF AN EXE, right? Meaning, if you replace something in the exe, make sure it's got the same length.

It is possible to change the length, but I won't delve into that here. You'd have to know assembly for it to work, and if you know assembly then you probably already know how to do it...


ficedula

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Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #10 on: 2001-01-23 00:02:00 »
It was already possible to use different AVI's ... if you had the AVi's running off hard disk (like you'd need to use custom ones anyway!) you could always copy one of your own over the original, using the same name.

EXE hacking is useful, but only to do things (like swapping .DAT files) that we haven't got a clue how to do by editing the original data files.

OK, I'll go on a source-uploading mission tomorrow  :)


Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #11 on: 2001-01-23 01:28:00 »
Dag Sverre: I'm rather sure I knew about that at some point... Thanks for the info.

Ficedula: Thanks for the info, and glad to hear it.  :)


The Skillster

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« Reply #12 on: 2001-01-23 02:43:00 »
well, i dont know delphi so its little help to me, but you never know  :)

The Skillster

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« Reply #13 on: 2001-01-23 03:02:00 »
the saint; you say world map definitions are in there? where? (this could be fun) anyone know if the summon supernova has a dat file section in the exe, or what is it called? super.dat nova.dat?
im a bit novice in this area: what exactly happens when you compile a EXE? :O

The Skillster

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« Reply #14 on: 2001-01-23 03:07:00 »
hold just found it, supernova is called stage57.dat, i remember that from the psx version, there was a whole folder devoted to the summon supernove...
ficedula: i said this a long time ago, i onced opened up a save game in a hex editor, and filled it with values. now when i play the save cloud (or the lead character) has a realy long name (made up of one letter) and the lead character is non-existant in the battle scenes!, on top of that cloud was equipt with weird materia (which lowered and increased your stats) and was equipped with a poisen ring as armour! and one of cait siths weapons, and a bangle for a accessory!
I was hoping that you could tell what was wrong with it and maybe it could lead to making custom materia (independant - purple) for changing stats, and learn how to remove players from battles. if you want it ill post it to you

The Skillster

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« Reply #15 on: 2001-01-23 03:19:00 »
one more thing for today, i cant seem to find cloud's limit breaks in the exe! can anyone help? (this IS my last post for today, dont expect an 8 post monologue!)

Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #16 on: 2001-01-23 16:35:00 »
Ahhhh! All these multiple postings. How am I supposed to keep up? Anyway, *if* I get time, I'll look for Cloud's limits. Of course, by then you'll have probably found them. At one point I was considering learning Assembler. Then I found out that it wasn't exactly easy and decided I should go with something a bit more conventional (C).

ficedula

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« Reply #17 on: 2001-01-23 15:11:00 »
I don't really know anything about the savegame files - it isn't anything I've ever looked at.

Starting to upload source now anyway. Hopefully the Tripod FTP will work...


The Skillster

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« Reply #18 on: 2001-01-23 18:46:00 »
damn, didnt get vincent to do supernova  :D
can try and make him become cloud tho...

Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #19 on: 2001-01-23 22:16:00 »
Ficedula: Well, it seems to be up ok. The image for the older versions of programs seems to be missing. Also, the Shared Code download doesn't seem to work.

[This message has been edited by Srethron Askvelhtnod (edited January 23, 2001).]


ficedula

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« Reply #20 on: 2001-01-24 01:36:00 »
Yes, I know about those. Shared Code I'm hoping to upload now , also I'll fix the FFLZS download. There isn't an image for archived programs yet ... I'll add that in when I get around to doing a full redesign.

Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #21 on: 2001-01-24 01:55:00 »
Heh. That's that, then. How's the work on Cosmo coming?  :D

ficedula

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« Reply #22 on: 2001-01-24 02:03:00 »
Iffy. I'm working on improving the compression ... might be about to make progress (or my new method might be complete cr@p). Other than that ... no immediate plans 'till I've done my coursework.

Information on FF7.exe
« Reply #23 on: 2001-01-24 02:20:00 »
Sounds good. Are we talking about an improved compression ratio (!), a speed increase, or both?

The Skillster

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« Reply #24 on: 2001-01-24 02:42:00 »
i dont think youll get both, better comp' will take more time, while more speed while take less comp'