Author Topic: Final Fantasy IX coming to PC and mobile... finally. (Read 54798 times)

Tekkie.X · « **on:** 2015-12-31 14:41:05 »

http://comicbook.com/2015/12/31/final-fantasy-ix-coming-to-pc-and-smartphones/

It's happening, only a few years late but it's happening.

Covarr · « **Reply #1 on:** 2015-12-31 15:07:43 »

Well, the video is clearly running the game at higher resolution than a PS1, but I still suspect this is emulated. Not that emulation is necessarily a bad thing, if they do a good job with it, changing button labels, good performance, etc.

obesebear · « **Reply #2 on:** 2015-12-31 15:56:19 »

The FMVs look really good. In game looks like a pretty decent upscale.

Will be purchasing.

Fischkopf · « **Reply #3 on:** 2015-12-31 16:44:45 »

This looks like an actual port to me, you can tell it's not a emulated PS1 version by how smooth the polygons look (usually, when you emulate PS1 games they wobble a lot). I'm not the biggest fan of FF IX, but if this means modding will be possible it's a win anyhow.

olearyf2525 · « **Reply #4 on:** 2015-12-31 16:50:31 »

Wow definitely purchasing as well, the fmvs look amazing and they definitely touched up the backgrounds and models too, on an emulator it looks way worse than that.

-Ric- · « **Reply #5 on:** 2015-12-31 17:28:13 »

Finally... Graphics look AWESOME. Can't wait.

Covarr · « **Reply #6 on:** 2015-12-31 18:19:15 »

Quote from: Fischkopf on 2015-12-31 16:44:45

This looks like an actual port to me, you can tell it's not a emulated PS1 version by how smooth the polygons look (usually, when you emulate PS1 games they wobble a lot).

That can vary by emulator.

Quote from: olearyf2525 on 2015-12-31 16:50:31

Wow definitely purchasing as well, the fmvs look amazing and they definitely touched up the backgrounds and models too, on an emulator it looks way worse than that.

The models appear to have the same level of detail, but the textures are filtered. This is also possible in an emulator.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with emulation if it's handled well; one way or another, this'll probably be the best version of the game. Really, the only thing that screams "port" here is that it appears to be running in true native widescreen, something that's really not possible with emulation, but could be the result of clever video editing. But personally I'm taking a "wait and see" approach. We'll know for sure once it's released.

KaidenJames · « **Reply #7 on:** 2015-12-31 18:31:27 »

Yeeessss!!! My favorite Final Fantasy is finally arriving on PC!!! Then my favorite forum can start modding it.. Happy new year to us!!

Vgr · « **Reply #8 on:** 2015-12-31 18:32:02 »

I'm looking forward to it! FFIX deserves some more love! Hopefully, this port sparks the interest of some people to get modding on that game. If it doesn't turn out like the disaster that FFV was, I'll most likely buy it.

Tekkie.X · « **Reply #9 on:** 2015-12-31 22:27:49 »

Going to be a while though, no date even for Japan, just the usual "SOON™".

nfitc1 · « **Reply #10 on:** 2016-01-01 01:43:44 »

FINALLY!! My patience and money ~~wasted~~spent on FFXIII is finally paying off!! When it comes to PC I'm going to preorder it first.

EDIT: Just saw "Auto-Save" feature. I hope that can be disabled. I don't like games that think they know when I want to save my progress. I think FFIX's save system was perfect as-is.

Now I just want to play through it again. I might have to plug in my PS2 again.

Kefka · « **Reply #11 on:** 2016-01-01 08:12:04 »

Quote from: KyubiNemesis on 2015-12-31 18:31:27

Yeeessss!!! My favorite Final Fantasy is finally arriving on PC!!! Then my favorite forum can start modding it.. Happy new year to us!!

Quote from: Fischkopf on 2015-12-31 16:44:45

I'm not the biggest fan of FF IX, but if this means modding will be possible it's a win anyhow.

Quote from: Vgr on 2015-12-31 18:32:02

I'm looking forward to it! FFIX deserves some more love! Hopefully, this port sparks the interest of some people to get modding on that game.

Uhm, the possibility to mod FF9 has been there for a couple years now, there are even some mods around at this forum. Have none of you ever checked out tirlititi's HadesWorkshop in the Tools section? It allows you to edit pretty much everything ranging from items, spells, equipment, shops, party stats, enemy stats, enemy attacks, enemy AI scripts, enemy formations in battle, Tetra Master cards, treasure chest contents (both in fields and on the world map) etc. What more could one ask for? It's like FF7's Hojo, ProudClod, White Choco, Wall Market and Makou Reactor combined! In short, amazing. You have to make isos of your PS1 discs first or (dare I say) download them from somewhere, and you have to make the changes on each of the 4 discs individually which can be a bit tedious at times, but still.

Anyway, great news that it's finally getting a PC release, even though I wished that this happened like 14 years sooner.

Fischkopf · « **Reply #12 on:** 2016-01-01 10:43:34 »

Quote from: Kefka on 2016-01-01 08:12:04

Uhm, the possibility to mod FF9 has been there for a couple years now, there are even some mods around at this forum. Have none of you ever checked out tirlititi's HadesWorkshop in the Tools section? It allows you to edit pretty much everything ranging from items, spells, equipment, shops, party stats, enemy stats, enemy attacks, enemy AI scripts, enemy formations in battle, Tetra Master cards, treasure chest contents (both in fields and on the world map) etc. What more could one ask for? It's like FF7's Hojo, ProudClod, White Choco, Wall Market and Makou Reactor combined! In short, amazing. You have to make isos of your PS1 discs first or (dare I say) download them from somewhere, and you have to make the changes on each of the 4 discs individually which can be a bit tedious at times, but still.

Anyway, great news that it's finally getting a PC release, even though I wished that this happened like 14 years sooner.

I was talking more about model swap/retex kind of mods... Just mods that improve the graphical quality, like we have for FF VII (and to some extent for FF VIII).

Aerith-san · « **Reply #13 on:** 2016-01-01 12:05:29 »

Really nice to hear. I was one of these that thought it'd never come to PC because it never had a PC port unlike VII & VIII. So happy to hear I'm wrong.

The prerendered backgrounds seem kinda ugly compared to the models though, I'm not sure if it still is in 720p/1080p as my internet and PC are too slow for that. We have mods anyway.

Kaldarasha · « **Reply #14 on:** 2016-01-01 12:23:19 »

Quote from: Aerith-san on 2016-01-01 12:05:29

Really nice to hear. I was one of these that thought it'd never come to PC because it never had a PC port unlike VII & VIII. So happy to hear I'm wrong.

The prerendered backgrounds seem kinda ugly compared to the models though, I'm not sure if it still is in 720p/1080p as my internet and PC are too slow for that. We have mods anyway.

It looks to me that they use the models from the battle or have polished them a bit, at last ~~Hawk~~ (why does Secret of Mana 2 springs in my mind...) Zidane looks a bit smother.

I checked it again, the models have a higher polycount. So it's probably not only an emulated version... I wouldn't be surprised if they have taken a look on Q-Gears.

Az · « **Reply #15 on:** 2016-01-02 08:32:25 »

Quote from: Covarr on 2015-12-31 18:19:15

That can vary by emulator.

True. Z-fighting issues have finally been eliminated with "modern" GPU plugins (hacks of existing plugins, rather), and 4k+ internal resolutions are also available. Other than the high quality FMVs and the new UI assets, this is nothing we haven't seen in emulation for the past 2 years or so.

I think the stretched and smudged 320x240 backgrounds look like complete garbage in the trailer. At the very least, I hope 4:3 is an option, as well as unfiltered backgrounds. Regardless, I'll buy it. If this somehow isn't emulation, I hope we can finally get combat that's not locked at 15 fps with 10 second loading screens at the start and end of battle.

olearyf2525 · « **Reply #16 on:** 2016-01-02 13:16:29 »

Quote from: Tawm on 2016-01-02 08:32:25

True. Z-fighting issues have finally been eliminated with "modern" GPU plugins (hacks of existing plugins, rather), and 4k+ internal resolutions are also available. Other than the high quality FMVs and the new UI assets, this is nothing we haven't seen in emulation for the past 2 years or so.

I think the stretched and smudged 320x240 backgrounds look like complete garbage in the trailer. At the very least, I hope 4:3 is an option, as well as unfiltered backgrounds. Regardless, I'll buy it. If this somehow isn't emulation, I hope we can finally get combat that's not locked at 15 fps with 10 second loading screens at the start and end of battle.

There is a thread of screenshots of the backgrounds on the reddit Final fantasy board, they are way less smudgy/pixelated than the ff7 or ff8 backgrounds with no mods, they look as good or even better than the modded ones we have like with Project Eden and Satsuki's/Alyza's Waifu/upscaled textures I think the ff9 ones, at least in those screenshots look even better, that being said there is another thread with the original 3d prerendered backgrounds which are extremely beautiful and high quality but were compressed for ps1, people are speculating that they probably lost some of them like they did with ff7's I think, there was a website that had posted some of them online that I found awhile ago if I remember right, like many years ago.

Tirlititi · « **Reply #17 on:** 2016-01-02 14:44:06 »

I guess you're talking either of Neogaf's topic :
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551612
Or Kusanagi's gallery :
http://www.kusanagi.co.jp/#!-----/c21w2

olearyf2525 · « **Reply #18 on:** 2016-01-02 17:45:06 »

Quote from: Tirlititi on 2016-01-02 14:44:06

I guess you're talking either of Neogaf's topic :
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551612
Or Kusanagi's gallery :
http://www.kusanagi.co.jp/#!-----/c21w2

Yup I saw the Neogaf one awhile back, they are beautiful, half way down the post.

Happy Jari · « **Reply #19 on:** 2016-01-03 01:33:26 »

thank you prophet joey
i have waited more than 14 years

DLPB_ · « **Reply #20 on:** 2016-01-03 05:03:33 »

They may have kept some of the FMV at higher res this time. So it's more hopeful than FF7 or 8. But I'd be shocked if they had the source and actually ported this properly. But it's something that was definitely needed, regardless. Although, I still play ff9 via emulator.

Fischkopf · « **Reply #21 on:** 2016-01-03 11:32:19 »

Quote from: Tawm on 2016-01-02 08:32:25

True. Z-fighting issues have finally been eliminated with "modern" GPU plugins (hacks of existing plugins, rather), and 4k+ internal resolutions are also available.

Not eliminated, just slightly reduced... I use PetesOpenGL2Tweak with the GTE accuracy hack in my emulator and while you DO notice a big improvement, you still notice there is no actual z-buffering. How good the hack works varies from game to game, though. Maybe some day we will have an ultimate PSX emulator that has actual z-buffering along with anisotropic filtering, HD texture swap support, tesselation, draw distance hacks...

Covarr · « **Reply #22 on:** 2016-01-06 16:51:06 »

Confirmed for Steam in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish releases. Not really a surprise, but good to have confirmation.

Irritatingly, none of these screenshots show any text or UI, and the video, though redone in English for the trailer parts, still shows footage of the Japanese version.

edit: They took the video off of Steam. I wonder if that's because they noticed the Japanese text in it. Is someone at Square Enix reading my posts?

ultima espio · « **Reply #23 on:** 2016-01-06 17:57:42 »

It's also 20gb, about 10 times it's original size.

Tekkie.X · « **Reply #24 on:** 2016-01-06 18:02:15 »

The models are noticeably higher in polycount in the update, Zidane is pretty angular in the original and looks much smoother here.

Look at the hair and shoulders.