Messages

26

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: [FF7]getting player's position reliably

« on: 2018-01-15 08:01:59 »

I've taken a look at something promising http://blackchocobo.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?title=Savemap . But it's written that it's only for read reference.

Let's assume I'd like to rebuild the qhimm wiki along the way. Be rough with me, encyclopedic if you need.

27

FF7 Tools / Re: [FF7PC/PSX] Field Editor - Makou Reactor (1.7.2)

« on: 2018-01-15 06:28:24 »

This is pretty fu**ing awesome. Thanks for this amazing piece of softwork.

28

Gameplay / Re: [FF7] Battle difficulty options mod

« on: 2018-01-15 06:11:57 »

Great stuff.

Food for thought about that incrementing MP mechanic. Is it known how to achieve similar result at runtime? Trainer-like, a bit like Ochu maybe?

29

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: [FF7]getting player's position reliably

« on: 2018-01-15 04:19:56 »

Fair enough, this could work even better. I'm no good with Delphi at all.

1. How do you triangulate which addresses to read for example for player's position? Are those fixed offsets every time game is launched, or do you use method of tracking them throughout address space? I assume you know the data layout of the allocated memory and I would like to know it too.

2. How do you triangulate data needed for the save state function? There's certain data arrangement and a way to reach it. Ochu is more stable than my GPU drivers so I assume you got this thing tight.


Let's assume Example 1 where I'd like to make a difficulty setting mod which would include respawns for easy levels. Before a fight I make a savestate, after failure I load it up.

Let's assume Example 2 where I'd like to make a fast-travel sort of mod which would allow player to speak to a certain inserted npc and be moved between fields in a predictable, static pattern.

30

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: [FF7]getting player's position reliably

« on: 2018-01-15 03:44:13 »

That's the thing, thank you. I'm super impressed how far this modding scene have progressed.
I'll reverse Ochu if I have too, but before that it's worth to ask: any chance of finding it's source code or any references online? Pretty please, I need it HARD. Seriously, it's got about 15% of functonality I need, which would take me an assload of time to reverse.

31

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / [FF7]Any success with compiling IDA disassembly?

« on: 2018-01-14 21:49:11 »

I've disassembled ff7.exe and produced a lot of IDA nuances. It'll take time to fix it all and I'm gonna work through it as long as there's some spirit left, so naturally some aid would be welcome. Has anyone seen the light? I mean, made sense of things disassembler couldn't and managed to compile it back to working exe? I'm aware that some exe files can be decompiled with harsh accuracy, but this doesn't seem to be the case. Can anyone share notes, sources, IDA db file or at least confirm/deny it's been done before?

32

Troubleshooting / Dead links to mods and how to get mirrors

« on: 2018-01-14 21:36:00 »

Hi,
I see that some of the mod links are dead(Anxious Heart, Aalis opengl patch, and that's probably just the start of the list). I'd like to offer http and/or torrent seedbox mirror for extinct mods or for those lacking proper mirroring. I can't handle them all myself so if any of you would be kind enough to throw a mod that comes to your mind, I'd be grateful for saving me a lot of chewing through discussions. Cheers.

Edit: Found latest OpenGL Patch. I assume since its source isn't posted online there's no chance of obtaining it?

33

Gameplay / Re: [FF7] Battle difficulty options mod

« on: 2018-01-14 19:24:12 »

Battle length as a factor? That's pretty good idea for an extension. There was also a mechanic which included steps traveled(FF6 Traveler), number of escapes and number of YEAHs in Tifa's limit break, that come to my mind now.

34

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Re: [FF7]getting player's position reliably

« on: 2018-01-14 17:08:13 »

Thanks, I'll poke it around.

35

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / [FF7]getting player's position reliably

« on: 2018-01-14 02:50:01 »

Anyone got player's current field/world position/face direction reliably? I can see there's an address for faster walking on gamehacking.org and I've found camera format along with walkmesh in here http://q-gears.sourceforge.net/gears.pdf but I don't see much world map info there. Any help?

36

Gameplay / [FF7] Battle difficulty options mod

« on: 2018-01-14 02:10:36 »

I've been fiddling with the idea of making a battle difficulty and reward switch/scaler for FF7. Linear, geometric or custom scaling of attributes in a preset-like manner, achievable through stand-alone app or in-game difficulty setting scrollbar. I'm already chewing through this http://q-gears.sourceforge.net/gears.pdf and while I do that I'd like to ask if there's anything unorthodox which I can include? For example: frog/death status, regen strength, spirit stat bug, white wind shenanigans or a defense bypass?

37

Completely Unrelated / Re: So, I'm learning C++...

« on: 2010-06-16 12:24:28 »

my main goal, is to be able to write Wii Homebrew, tbh =p

That's a good goal, better would be making a Wii game for WiiWare maybe but it's still a good start, hold on to it and you'll succeed.
I'm making with few other people PS3 game, it's tough but every little success is definitely worth it.


As for programming, object oriented languages aren't really that different. C++ is good way to start your adventure since it's kind of pro language, you can write here really nice software especially when you're performance and optimisation freak like I am and yeah, don't drown in mentioned .NET plauge. I worked with it, it's convenient, easy to use but limits your horizons. Or even DirectX for that matter. OpenGL is harder but better in many ways(performance, technology, multiplatform etc) and you're not limited to MS systems.

Python here: C++ is lame.

Python's fun, it's a prologue to new levels of convenience in programming. There's no indication which one is better. Just different strokes for different folks(including purpose).

...and Japanese, finally. At the moment, I know absolutely nothing of the former and a little of the latter.

Does anyone have any advice/funny anecdotes about learning C++? (i.e. what books/online guides to read, what tools to use, etc)

I'd suggest you to buy some books. Nothing better than good old cellulose. Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in C++" would be a good start but if you're complete beginner in programming I'd recommend Dawson's "Beginning C++ Game Programming". Didn't read the latter one but I heard it's good for beginners while the former may be a bit too much at the beginning.

38

General Discussion / Re: Sephiroth's Last Name??

« on: 2010-05-12 12:09:11 »

As I recall Lucrecia wasn't married to Hojo, so child from that kind of relationship most often retains mother's maiden name.

39

General Discussion / Re: FF7 Scorpion Remake

« on: 2010-05-11 09:06:14 »

Yup, they can go C&D happy.

Those money greedy monkeys kinda hate this kind of fan contribution. But while it's still low profile they won't do a thing. They'll kill it near the end like Crimson Echoes or in mid-development like they did with Chrono Ressurection lame "mofos"(I really loved the latter one and it was hugely disappointing when I heard about C&D letter).

40

Troubleshooting / Re: Help guyz

« on: 2010-05-05 12:02:42 »

You need ficelib or just the ficedula.dll from here: http://sylphds.net/f2k3/index.html
Dunno if there are some more recent or better dlls than this one.

41

Completely Unrelated / Re: Final Fantasy XIII Versus?

« on: 2010-03-25 08:15:15 »

Hard to tell when it'll be released but Nomura stated they aim for world simultaneous release so expect to play the same day as our asian brothers and sisters.

42

Completely Unrelated / Re: Final Fantasy XIII Versus?

« on: 2010-03-24 16:30:55 »

Versus will be more traditional than XIII. Nomura recently tweeted they managed to make playable world map and airships. It'll be action RPG with Kingdom Hearts style combat as titeguy mentioned, and it'll be first 18+ Final Fantasy game in history.
Also when you look at gameplay trailer that leaked some time ago, since that time, they've improved visuals. It'll be massive.

43

General Discussion / Re: final verdict on ff13 and other games?

« on: 2010-03-23 12:00:41 »

FF13 was kinda a let down IMO the games music was poor, you can only control one person at a time in the battle system & not to mention the game was extremely linear

so was dirge of cerberus, but i liked it

I liked Dirge also, it was fun. FF13 just plain sucks.

44

Completely Unrelated / Re: Thoughts about "Final Fantasy XIII"

« on: 2010-03-18 11:48:53 »

Well you still have to meet cost requirement so if a fight gives you 1.5k and you need 8k it's not THAT easy, but still easy and often longer than it should be.

Perfect example of bad design of combat system.

45

General Discussion / Re: final verdict on ff13 and other games?

« on: 2010-03-18 11:42:43 »

If you prefer RPGs go with Dragon Age. Tenchu Z is kinda mediocre so I'd skip it as a birthday gift. If you want good visuals and some brainless action go with FF13.

46

General Discussion / Re: So, Final Fantasy 13 is pretty rad...

« on: 2010-03-17 11:29:37 »

Also, did someone above say that this game is split into chapters? For I dislike games that are chapterized. *is rage*.

Yeah. It's 13 chapters as far as I know(I lost the will to play when game opens) and 11 of them are awfully linear. And even then it's just one big location comparable to one or two from FFXIII. Not much huh?

Destructoid's review put some nice and valid points about the game, like:

Team always talks about saving Cocoon, their home, about some kind of patriotism but the game never really attaches you to the world. It seems like it's more playing with itself than with player.

2 of the least entertaining games I've played in the past 3 years:

• Soul Calibur IV
• Sonic Unleashed

FF13 is about as entertaining as SC4 for me. Hardly.

Usually the fewer developers there are for software, the more elegantly made it is. Take Winamp for instance, the winamp team consists of pretty much 5 or so developers at any given time, and it's pretty much the most well-made piece of software on my computer.

The same with indie games. World of Goo, Flower, Plants vs Zombies, Braid. Each one of those games are made by small teams, they aren't made to be blockbuster hits. It's for pushing new ways to have fun and making quality product. Less about money which drives major companies.

47

General Discussion / Re: So, Final Fantasy 13 is pretty rad...

« on: 2010-03-16 12:41:26 »

You don't miss much. Also Square disbanded their music studio so future audio case is even more uncertain.

48

General Discussion / Re: So, Final Fantasy 13 is pretty rad...

« on: 2010-03-15 14:22:49 »

Hahah, exactly. I'll give kudos for Hope's voice actor, he was really good as a whiny teenager.

Chocobo chick was one of the better developed chars, overly intelligent, it even told Sazh and the rest which choice is correct one!

What's disappointing is the fact that only chars I liked died soon after appearing. Sucks.

Also scenario goofs: Cut out the escate route, one way to freedom, past PSICOM, they aim at the team, goes to in-game: PSICOM starts to wander around aimlessly, save point next to the team and you can evade most of the fights there. I repeat, PSICOM was ready to shoot at the team in the cutscene.
Other situation: Snow falls unconscious, they get him up and somehow he walks on his own feet without waking up.
Sazh's jump scene after first fight is composed of three barely fitting different scenes. Reminds me of 80's movies.
Lots of hardly fitting retrospections remind me of Black Dynamite movie.

And there's more to that.

49

General Discussion / Re: So, Final Fantasy 13 is pretty rad...

« on: 2010-03-15 13:26:41 »

I'll be in minority here then.
I played 11 chapters out of 13 as I know and it's terribly boring. There were like two or three challenging bosses up till now, and I still use auto-battle in every fight. Story is lacking, characters are weak, their development is artificial and mostly not convincing, scenario is full of errors and lacks consequence. Game mechanics and battle system is hardly an RPG. 3 stats, auto-battle all the way, limit on upgrades and linearity even there up till chapter 10.
And game's linearity until chapter 11 isn't that terrible. Sure it lacks exploration elements but on the other side, game is OK at most, so there wouldn't be much to explore except nice environments.

If it wasn't for beautiful CGI, nice visuals and Vanille's boobs, this game wouldn't have a bit of decency in it.

Unfortunatelly it sold really nice and Square decided to pull more of this crap.

Visuals: 9/10 (Superb)
Audio: 6/10 (OK. except really awesome prelude tune, the game lacks proper audio treatment. two main themes are repeated over and over, rave music in green forest, sounds sometimes are hardly fitting and not as good as the rest, uneven level of sound effects)
Gameplay: 6/10(OK. Despite boring combat system, weak mechanics, unnecessarily long battles, subpar upgrade system, gameplay is flashy and easy to follow in the beginning, and may show it's teeth later)
Story: 5/10(Mediocre. It's more like Dirge of Cerberus level of storyline. There's story shown in flashy cutscenes, some backstory to follow but it's not compelling or immersive at any point, char development lacks depth, characters are simple, scenario is full of errors, direction fails at times)

Overall(not an average of previous score): 6/10(OK).
But personally it's really disappointing.

50

Releases / Re: [WIP] The "not-so hardcore" FF7 mod

« on: 2010-03-05 10:35:59 »

You can try this and this one as a reference. If I understand you correctly, something in the middle is what you should aim for.