Messages

101

Archive / Voodoo or TNT?

« on: 2005-06-15 00:11:57 »

I have tried my voodoo5 on a slow CPU and it didnt run too well (with or without FSAA),and I doubt he wants to search ebay for a card that is quite rare and expensive (usually around 70$),especially when he can have a v2 or v3 almost for free.not mentioning the size of the card,if he has a small case,he will have a hard time fitting the card in there,and old pcs usually have small cases (at least around here).anyway,its his choice

Well, being a software T/L card, peformance would be bad on a slower system, but the point was that in theory, adding FSAA shouldn't make it any worse than it already is -- and the performance, I'm guessing (I've never used a V5 on that old of a system) should still be at least a bit better than a top-of-the-line V3 could do.

On the other hand, you're right about the size.  I forgot that mine almost didn't fit (V5 5500 AGP, so it wasn't like I could simply move it to another slot).

102

Archive / Voodoo or TNT?

« on: 2005-06-14 19:42:49 »

Voodoo5 is an overkill.and the PCI version is not exactly cheap..take a voodoo2 if you want to keep your primary graphics card or a voodoo3 pci if you have a junky one with terrible image quality and you want to get rid of it.voodoo2 should be around 5-10$,voodoo3 10-15$..

The overkill is the whole point -- he can max out on FSAA on those games without affecting performance, as the rig would be CPU limited.  Essentially, he'd still have slowdowns in areas where the CPU can't keep up, but he'd get them in the same places and situations regardless of how much FSAA he's using, so it'd be like getting free AntiAliasing with no cost in speed.

However, if money is larger a concern, then a V2, V2 SLI, or a V3 will work just as well -- he just won't have any AA on those games.

btw Goku7,your avatar seems familiar.does the nick ps47 say something to you?

ps47?  It's vaguely familar.....is he from the 3dfxzone.it boards, or the x-3Dfx boards?

At any rate, I found the image while roaming around the internet, and thought, "hey, that'd be cool to use as my Avatar (at Qhimm's), it'd go along with the in-joke there of me being one of the only guys on the boards who are still using 3Dfx cards".

103

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Having Problem with my USB Joy Pad

« on: 2005-06-13 21:26:08 »

Well, I'm running DX9.0b on my system -- perhaps updating to that (or 9.0c) will help fix the problem?

104

Archive / Voodoo or TNT?

« on: 2005-06-13 21:22:48 »

Actually, in this scenario it might be better to go for a Voodoo5 PCI instead.  Since the CPU will not be maxing out the card at all, you can get free FSAA on all your old 3D games.

105

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Having Problem with my USB Joy Pad

« on: 2005-06-13 00:06:10 »

For what it's worth, I keep my joypad perpetually plugged in, and the rest of the system doesn't have a problem with it.

...now that I think about it, have you considered reinstalling DirectX?  DirectInput may be damaged in some way, and that is the section that governs the game controller aspect of the computer.

But before doing that, boot up DXDIAG and go to the input tab, and see if it sees your controller and/or reports any problems with it.

106

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-06-12 23:56:12 »

Hey, I've managed to fix all the problems with Zack

Awesome.  Dual shoulder pads == sweetness! :wicked:

You know what would really be awesome? If those soldiers you see in the background there would have their hi-res models. Then the intro would look a helluva lot cooler! Is that even possible?

Judging by what you've already seen here, you would would think it is definitely possible.  And it is, based on our current "kitbash" approach.

That being said, we we could theoretically take Rufus' model as a base for the red dress uniform the Red Solider model needs, and work from there.....  :wicked:

However, there is one thing we need to be careful of, and that's something that I think is called a "feature bloat".  It's when you want to add all this stuff in the next release, and you keep thinking of more and more stuff to put in, which then keeps pushing back the release date, and in extreme cases, it never sees public release because the "next version" starts looking more and more like vaporware and.....er, well, maybe my wording could be better, but I'm pretty sure you know the effect I'm describing, and besides, that's just an extreme case.

Now, in no way am I insisting a release be made NOW (that would be rude, and selfish, and would kinda give off a "spoiled brat" vibe -- but I do admit I'm just as anxious to see this all this stuff in action as the next guy), but rather that Reunion should merely consider releasing another "intermediate" (for lack of a better word) version in the short term that has just enough to keep us interested while giving him (and Borde, considering that this is looking more and more to be a collaborative effort) the time they need to continue putting more stuff in for the long term (aka your "Final" or "Gold" release).

But hey, that's just my 2 cents (aka 200 gil).

107

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-06-11 22:39:01 »

The the arm/hand size ratio still looks a little off -- perhaps the hands need to be made smaller?  All I know know is the size difference just seems too....abrupt.....at the wrist area.

Other than that....the model looks good, though the in-game picture is a little small for us to discern all the detail.  

And nice touch with the 9mil on her hip. :wicked:

108

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Having Problem with my USB Joy Pad

« on: 2005-06-11 19:48:43 »

I use a USB-based GamePad Pro in Win98SE as well, and the biggest problem I've ever had with it is that I have to tap any direction on the control pad once to get it to remember its calibration -- and this is with stock Windows drivers, too.  However, I've never had it totally stop working, though.....

I do have to admit that its not directly hooked up to the comp's USB port.  I use a "Port Replicator" from Targus that gives me all these different ports that then hook up to the comp's USB port, and I've got my controller hooked up to this Replicator.  The replicator itself seems to use its own driver....perhaps that is the key to preventing the controller from stopping?

109

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-06-11 01:40:01 »

And with that, Borde goes on a major FF7 model kitbashing spree....  :wicked:

110

Archive / FFVII Compatibility problem, assistance appreciated.

« on: 2005-06-10 08:24:47 »

I did try to run it in the software mode, and had this problem with it.
Ok, sound acceleration is put all the way down now. Did you mean hitting the button next to the hardware acceleration slide bar with '8 bit palletization test'? If so, it just played some jungle sound and asked me if I could hear it, and I did, every time.

No, he switched gears on you there.

The "8-bit palletization test" is refering to FF7's config program. The graphics part of the config program has this list on the right side, and the last entry lists the results of a 8-bit palleted texture test it ran when you started the config program.

Although in the end, it said my sound card can't support hardware buffering and sounds will only be played through software buffering.

This is normal, considering the setting you've selected with the sound acceleration slider, so don't worry that much about it.  FYI, when the directsound tests give you that message, it means your computer's processor has to literaly spoon-feed sound data and sound processing instructions to your sound card, and this is SLOW.  If you play any other recent or new games besides FF7, and you have a rather modern sound card (read: Sound Blaster Live! or Sound Blaster Audigy), you should re-set the slider back to Full before playing those other games -- they usually require so much sound acceleration that leaving it in Basic mode can potentially cause LOTS of stuttering during playback.

111

Releases / [BETA RELEASE] Higher Resolution FFVIIPC [v1.00]

« on: 2005-06-10 02:09:54 »

Nevertheless, the actual step of stretching/resizing the image is still more or less automatically handled by the FF7 engine.

And IIRC, Bilinear IS a blurring effect, so I think that FF8 is merely doing bilinear on the backgrounds, with no additional image filteirng.

112

Releases / [BETA RELEASE] Higher Resolution FFVIIPC [v1.00]

« on: 2005-06-09 07:22:41 »

IIRC, the game has the backgrounds stored at 320x240, and probably does some generic pixel doubling or what-have-you when using the images in 640x480 mode.  So any background resizing, I'd guess, would be handled automatically by the engine -- and I think FF7 also automatically tries to use Bilinear Filtering on the images as well to counteract any pixelization....or was that FF8?

113

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-06-09 04:34:49 »

Ack!  Borde, I just remembered that you need to include the Buster Sword on your Zack model, since the "stock" model always has the sword visible.

Fortunately for you, it appears that Reunion included a hi-res cloud-with-sword Field model in his last release, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to overcome....

114

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-06-08 05:00:35 »

That might be more work than its worth.  Yeah, theoretically you could rip his model from Ergheiz (I thought Cloud replaced Zack in the finished retail version of it, though....?), but would it be any more detailed than Borde's already-game-compatible model?

115

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-06-08 02:58:25 »

<mr_Smithers>Exxxcccellent...</mr_Smithers>

Keep up the good work, Borde.  That Zack model looks good, but I agree with EmperorSteele -- the hair does need more adjustment (i.e., less Rogain on the front, and IIRC his hair should go down to at least the middle of his back, if not more.)

Jesse's model looks....interesting, considering that you could call it an early "kitbash" of model parts.  And I guess you could call your Zack model a "kitbash" as well.  Which brings up something else -- are we able to replace (and redo the necessary color shading) the hands of other battle models with Cloud's hi-res ones so that the rest of the characters have defined fingers?    :wicked:

116

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-06-01 07:33:20 »

Ok it could be somewhat smaller but from the way I see it not much.
*image*
Here is a front port view of the old model and mine they are about the same size accept the Y value...
*image*
This is what would happen if you made the Y value the same as the old clouds. He can not be that small. Also I will not SD any model.

Setting all the Y values from the p models higher... good idea but I tried that already. When the leg are above the root they rotate against the hip.

Well...how would RedXIII fare if you set his X/Y (and Z?) values to that of the original "stock" model?  Considering he's not one to stand upright on two feet and all......

117

Archive / Anti-potty. Anyone...?

« on: 2005-05-28 01:07:03 »

Ah, but buy searching for only one of the symbols that also doesn't show up unless its a curse, then you get all possible combinations in your search.

118

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Musings on the Cosmo Observatory and similar crash scenes

« on: 2005-05-27 08:11:34 »

...which files contain the script for the scenes in which these crashes are occuring?

I've never run into ANY crash scene in any of my playthroughs of the PC version, so if there's a chance that there IS a random flaw in the file's integrity which causes the crash, perhaps using the files from my apparantly "good" copy might alleviate the problem?


I mean, come on.  We've recieved how many reports over the years of disks with corrupted movies?  They just seem far too common to think that it's impossible that the rate of corruption during mass production is that high.

Still, if we could get any data on what's in the RAM at the time of the crash, and use some sort of memory breakpoint thing like Jedwin did when he pinpointed the cause of the Chocobo Crash, we might be able to narrow down the location of the offending instruction(s).

Either way, I wanna know which files are involved -- I wanna my "corrupted script" theory out.

119

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-05-26 23:31:46 »

Hmm....I see why now.  But, why are the stock models not affected by the clipping glitch when you use them to play that scene?

*Looks at Reunion's FF7 menu screen*

NICE!  :wicked:

And this gives me an idea -- if you're saying that that is what you've got it to display that in-game, we could add something like that in for whatever mod we're using, like

FFVII -- 2005 Edition

Or something like that....or simply a version number to indicate which version of the game we're using, or we could get someone to re-render that image at a higher resolution and overwrite the old one with the new, so that it would not look as pixellated when TheSaint's hi-res-display modificiations are complete and the patch is released....

In the meantime, maybe you should get in contact with ice_cold513 and get his corrected-skin Hojo model (amoung others) to implement in the next release.

120

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-05-26 21:55:36 »

I was playng that scene earlier, and I noticed that there's some sort of graphic glitch in between the two tables in front of the door, which acts as if the character's feet are being masked by some object despite the fact that there's nothing there.

And ironically enough, I see the same glitch in your shot, Reunion -- check out Barret's right foot, its not all there!

121

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-05-26 18:13:21 »

I suspect we could get away with leaving kid models unchanged.  As for Zack, we use the Cloud model as a base and make edits from there, possibly using the "stock" Zack model's head instead.

122

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Musings on the Cosmo Observatory and similar crash scenes

« on: 2005-05-25 22:40:15 »

Right, but if the script that goes along with the movie is in some way corrupt, that in itself is enough to either lockup or crash FF7.  For all we know, all we need is to do some sort of file integrity check between one who has the crash and one who doesn't, and if there are obvious integrity differencies (like, getting different checksum results from the two), then curing the problem could be as simple as grabbing the "good" copy of the script files and replacing the damaged one with it.

123

Archive / Anti-potty. Anyone...?

« on: 2005-05-25 22:29:22 »

.....RPGillespie, you DO know that there is swearing (not spoken, though, all the dialogue is sub-titled in english with no voiceovers) in the ending FMV, and that the only way of editing it out would require movie-editing software?

124

Releases / Battle model > Field model Conversion FINALLY!!

« on: 2005-05-25 21:01:30 »

.....The president ALREADY has a battle model we can do a direct conversion from.  Remember that Rooftop battle?

*suddenly realizes WHICH president they were refering to*

Oh.  Right.  I forgot about Rufus' Dad.  

Well, in that case, all we need is for Reunion to show up and we can get this new party started! :wicked:

125

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Musings on the Cosmo Observatory and similar crash scenes

« on: 2005-05-25 20:38:05 »

Hmm..

I dunno.  I have to raise doubts about this theroy, as, while I'm running a 6600gt and do not come upon this crash.

Also, if this were true, people's games would crash on the elevator ride up into the observatory, not while in the observatory itself.

I'm using a 6600gt, and while i'd love to test your theory, i dont have any save points near cosmo canyon.  However, i know i can play other sprites over fmvs scenes just fine. (clouds mind and northern cave, for instance)

Well, we also need more information on the configuration of the systems in which these crashes are manifesting themselves.  This would include normal system specs, drivers used, what version of Duck Trumotion you're using (original or patched codec), full or standard install (perhaps the actual game script -- not the movie file -- for that section is corrupt on the install CD or game CDs; it could account for the apparant randomness in who gets victemized by it, while simultaneously allowing for the fact that no amount of reinstalls will solve the problem), and any sort of compatibility mode you're running the game in.

There HAS to be at least one single point of commonality out there that could lead to a pattern that's buried in the apparant randomness of it all.  For all we know, there could be a higher percentage of corrupt discs out there than we thought -- most of the time we think that the only part of the disk that tends to be corrupted is the movies, but if the script that calls up for that movie was not copied properly, that could crash the game too.

Finally, it's not just a hardware thing that's being theorized -- its also the mentality of the programmer who wrote the code.  Keep in mind that this game was designed to operate in the Win9x environment, and as such there the programmers may have used a few speed-increasing tricks that are illegal to the point of crashing in the WinNT-2000-XP environment.  The Chocobo Race crash is one instance of this, as the memory space it tried to use was no good in 2000/XP but worked under 9x.

I don't think it's a matter of hardware... as I had the Cosmo crash on my PS copy...

Maybe, maybe not.  Has it crashed on the console itself?  Or are we talking about it crashing when playing it on an emulator -- if its the latter, then ultimately the computer is being told to do the same thing as it would have been told to do in the PC version, and crash.

If its the former....it could be that the mass production facilities for the PS1 version's CDs also had random corrupted copies being produced, with the corruption either affecting the script which calls up the movie or the movie itself  -- and that, in turn, could be more evidence that the random flaw in the copy process was not caught before they started mass production of the PC version's CDs.