The Great FF7 FAQ (now outdated)

[Vints]

Hello,

I'm trying my best to have an ideal set-up for FF VII PC. However, the current sound card I have only supports DirectX 8. According to Eidos, this game works best with audio cards that support DirectX 5.

So, could somebody please recommend an accessible sound card that support DirectX 5? I'm sure there's a good sound card I could find on the Net for $10-$20. Also, if the sound card is designed for PCI...that'd be great, thanks!


edit: after searching around, I'm wondering if the 'Sound Blaster Live! 5.1' would work fine?

[zero88]

Well, as far as I know, if your card supports DX8, it won't have any problems supporting DX5.

[pigwalk]

"Ok, after installing FF7 and the 1.02 patch, I can run it fine, except until it gets to the main menu with the New Game or Continue options. When it gets there, it seems that something is pressing on the down arrow (I used the laptop config file to avoid using the keypad) when I'm not pressing anything. I keep pressing entire until it hits New Game. After that, the intro vid works fine, and then it goes black. The textbox shows up fine, and the audio is fine, but theres nothing except black. Fight scene ensues with the two soldiers, and that works fine, but it seems that something is hitting on the left arrow, causing it to always go on the Change (for change stance, moving forward or back option) unless I hit the right arrow key, which makes it go to the normal option, and move up one, only for it to go back to the Change option again."

I'm guessing you're using either a Saitek Eclipse or Gamer keyboard, correct?  If so you have to go into the Device Manager and start disabling HID devices until you find the ones that are running the extra sideboard, that's what did it for me.

-pig

[[GLG] Sirius]

I'm sorry if this is considered a double post as i have put this message in the "High Res" patch thread,  however upon thinking it seems this thread may have been the better place to put it, if i get an answer from one of the threads i will post on the other to avoid wasting anybody's time.

"Hello all, just found the site and checking out the High-Res patch made me hunt all day long for my FF7 Discs and against all odds i actually found them (Hurrah!!)

Watching FF7 AC just made me want to play it even more

I have searched the forums and have seen a few answers, however the most of these rely on turning of AA, which to be honest is the main thing i want to see!

Anyway's, Saint, you have done some fantastic work, and what a great idea! I just have one question.

GFX Card is a Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition

I installed the game from my Discs, applied the 1.02 patch and then applied the high res patch. As far as i can tell the resolution has been upped and to my eye it looks like the FSAA is also on (im assuming i had to go into CCC and change FSAA and AF from application pref to always on at FSAA 6 AF 16 *edit, i have also changed these to "off" aswell to no avail*)

The main question however is has anyone managed to find a way to get this patch working with ATI cards properly? I.E. getting rid of the grid whilst keeping FSAA. ( i know the patch is mainly for nvidia users ) butIf so i would be very greatful as to find out how

Thanks in advance for any reply's and to everyone releasing patches, keep up the good work, theres allot of gamers out here appreciating what you guys do!!"

*edit*

I have tried the fix listed under "ATI Cards - No More Grid Lines in FF8! " however this did not fox the problem for me in FF7.  Any additional help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[pigwalk]

On my NVIDIA card I got the grids too, but only using Multisampling AA.  Switching over to Supersampling AA got rid of that, might work the same way on your card?

-pig

[EmperorSteele]

Hey, uh, i just noticed..

some of the likns in the first post are no longer working.  Probably due to the forums being moved around.  Might wanna fix that, Aaron =)

[Whateverizm]

Hi, im new here

I'm having a problem here:
The game crashes while Barrett tells that there is another man with a gun-arm(GP desert prison). It crashes just after Dyne tells Barrett to go to the razed village first.

My current computer specs:
1. Ati RADEON 9600
2. AMD Sempron 2500+ 1.4GHz
3. 512MB DDRAM
4. Windows XP
5. DX9.0c

I tried the 1.02 RIVA TNT patch, the chocobo patch, and the upside down patch (since at the first time i play it in XP, the movie doesn't run).

I'll send my savefile, if it's needed.

Thanks before .

[Trance]

Hey , im trying to start up FF7 and it says please insert the game disks 1 , 2 or 3 , I have disc 1 in and it still comes up with an error..

[dziugo]

Insert the correct CD into drive you installed FF7 from.

dziugo

[Wintermute]

Hey , im trying to start up FF7 and it says please insert the game disks 1 , 2 or 3 , I have disc 1 in and it still comes up with an error..

The numbering on the disks in your version (I have the same one) is wrong. You have to insert disks 2-4; disc 1 is only the install disk.
The same applies ingame. When the game asks you for CD 2 you have to insert number 3 instead.

[cloudiz]

I cant use 2x2 antialiasing with RivaTuner! I have GeForce4 MX 440...

[Godfoster]

So, even if you have an ATI card, once the 1.02 patch is installed you should always check the "NVIDIA" box?  Also, then should an ATI user select the "RIVA 128" or the "TNT" radio button?  Also, could these answers be reflected in the first post of this thread?  It makes FAQ's infinitely more useful when they answer your questions.  ;_;

[dziugo]

That's because you need to check by yourself which fix works for you.

[Aaron]

Godfoster:

The first post of this thread mentions (several times) that you should use "TNT mode."  I do not know of any situations with modern cards where selecting "Riva 128" would be a better choice.  Please let me know if this is wrong.

You only need to check the NVIDIA box if your card fails 8-bit Paletted Textures (pretty much any new card does), this is also addressed in the FAQ.

[Winter]

Guys, I have a problem.
I'm currently using a Radeon 9600 card, cause I've just sold my gf 6600 gt.
So, here's the problem - I can't run FF7 correctly. I have 1.02 patch installed, it doesn't matter if I use Riva TNT box or not, always black screen during the first movie of EIDOS and Square Soft.
I have reinstalled the game, installed DirectShow and installed Upside Down patch, but no good.

So, any ideas what to do?

[dziugo]

Uninstall any other codecs which might try to decode the TrueMotion2.0 and then install the DriectShow filter from install cd (you can install any uninstalled codecs later).

[Winter]

Mam tylko zainstalowanego Divx 6.2, ac3 filter i ffdshow, na gf 6600 gt nie było takich jaj.

[Winter]

OK works great now, both games (FF7 and FF8) are D3D accelerated

[carohit]

i need help with one particular problem.even with gypt2 guard on,it still hangs on disc 2 when heidegger and rufus have agreed that the cannon is to be fired.it hangs right after the three sailors have run off.the game's been working pretty well,no patches a[art from the chocobo installed.config in use:win xp sp2,1 gb 533 ram,amd dual 3600+,nvidia 7300 LE.i need a fiz for this desperately!any help is appreciated!

[Death By Monkeys]

Hey guys! I just came back to playing ff7 on the pc after all these years, and Ive been tweaking it with all these... delicious mods out there. Only problem is that I've been getting some crashes lately right when I enter a battle. It doesn't happen on every single battle, and usually if I don't get one on the first battle I do in an area I am fine for however long I am there (this includes the world map). It most commonly occurs right after leaving a town and getting into a battle in the world map. The errors started around the shinra building thing before you are able to get to the world map. I suspect it might be somehow due to the music mod, since that's around the time I put it in, but I don't see how that could be crashing it. I can usually get through certain parts after a second try or two, but it can get a little irritating sometimes. Im going to try to tough it out with the midi for a while and see if it crashes, but I was hoping I could get some thoughts from anyone. Thanks in advance!

Edit: I -may- have found a solution. I switched the Midi driver to one that worked with volume control rather than one that did not work at all and just turned the volume down. I cannot get the game to crash now. Ill keep playing and see what happens.

[lukas_neo]

HI all, i tryied all the solutions to the Gaea's Cliff Movie crash, but i cant fix it. Anybody can play my save and give me again please!

If anybody can, this is my save:
http://bin.mypage.sk/FILES/save00.ff7

[miracle.flame]

HI all, i tryied all the solutions to the Gaea's Cliff Movie crash, but i cant fix it. Anybody can play my save and give me again please!
If anybody can, this is my save:
http://bin.mypage.sk/FILES/save00.ff7

Here you go. I've sent you an e-mail with played save along with all possible solutions for crashing movies.
_{hey what a coincidence...I'm playing ff7 as well now and I am exactly at the same point in my game.} 

[#Sen-chan#]

Most people seem to have problems, but I felt that I should post and say thank you to the people who put this guide up:

FINAL FANTASY VII HAS NEVER LOOKED THIS BEAUTIFUL.

I did try making it work with the Reunion patch still in (though I was gonna take it out and put in NPC Restoration anyway), but after some abortive attempts, I started fresh off with a fresh install. (I also was one of those that had put in the XP Patch).

I put it in exactly the order listed, with the latest RivaTuner, and the antialiasing at 2x2 with supersampling and I nearly fell over my chair at the results when everything came together with the high quality patch and all...*_*

I also was a tad worried if I was going to get gridlines because I wasn't able to get the direct 3d option without checking the nvidia option and choosing tnt (when my video card is Nvidia Geforce 7600 GS, with driver 91.47), but it worked like a beauty. I have to figure out a way to take screenshots to show you all

I may get glared at from those having problems, but it's nice to hear success stories to remind you what you're working for, right? Now I wish FFVIII was as easy to get to working with direct 3d and antialiasing.

EDIT: Screenshots from Fraps (I resized them, but if they're too big, let me know)
Finishing Touch


Menu


Gongaga Town


Shiva


I have lots more that I took (all in the gongaga area, since that was where my save was). If anyone wants to see more, I'll be happy to show you

[WebKill]

I can't seem to clear up teh 'gridline' problem. I installed the 11.02 patch linked on page 1 of this post, and checked the NVIDIA checkbox (with RIVA 128 selected) so that Direct3D Hardware Acceleration would come up for me and I started the game, and I could tell there is a vast improvment from just the menu, but when I select a save and go into the game, it's all on a grid. I followed the instructions on page 1 to use RivaTuner, but it hasn't helped. (I have AA method set to 2x2).
My system specs are: Athalon 64 4000+, 2gig ram, Geforce 7800 GT with latest drivers (9371).

[miracle.flame]

Don't have Riva 128 selected but TNT instead in the first place!