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Miscellaneous Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: FeliX Leonhart on 2013-07-04 09:50:10

Title: FFVII steam release
Post by: FeliX Leonhart on 2013-07-04 09:50:10
http://store.steampowered.com/app/39140 (http://store.steampowered.com/app/39140)


Finally it's out in steam ^^
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Terid__K on 2013-07-04 09:52:33
Yeah, it surprised me. Some people are mentioning always-on DRM though, even though it doesn't say anything about third party DRM on the main page.

Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: FeliX Leonhart on 2013-07-04 09:54:36
Maybe we should make a petition for steam workshop support=D
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-07-04 15:27:27
From what I'm reading on the steam community forums, it only requires online for cloud saving, and if you turn off cloud saving from the launcher, it won't require a connection anymore. SecuROM seems to be removed.

If someone buys this, can someone confirm the presence or absence of "paul.dll" in the game's install directory? I won't be able to afford it myself for a week and a half.
A kind benefactor has purchased me a copy. I can confirm it does not have SecuROM. More info coming.
edit: It's still using OGG versions of the old MIDI music, just like 2012 release.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: sithlord48 on 2013-07-04 15:53:08
does this use the same save formats as the 2012 release or do i have to add support for another format?
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-07-04 16:33:33
Saves look largely the same; my cloud saves from last year actually sync'd to this version even. Directory is slightly different, you might need to make a few minor updates, but signatures and metadata all look to be probably identical.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: CJDJ on 2013-07-04 16:44:28
Long time lurker, 1st time poster... hello all.  :)  I'm sure it's too early to tell, but would the mods (i.e. Bootleg) work with the Steam version?
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-07-04 16:57:11
This is nearly identical to last year's release on the S-E store. Assuming the game converter kranmer made still works (it probably does), bootleg should also.

That said, you're likely to run into issues because Steam *REALLY* wants to install to Program Files by default, and won't let you create multiple libraries on the same drive, and bootleg really doesn't like when you install in Program Files. For now, people who want to mod are likely to have trouble unless they have a second HDD or partition they can install to.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: CJDJ on 2013-07-04 17:04:55
This is nearly identical to last year's release on the S-E store. Assuming the game converter kranmer made still works (it probably does), bootleg should also.

That said, you're likely to run into issues because Steam *REALLY* wants to install to Program Files by default, and won't let you create multiple libraries on the same drive, and bootleg really doesn't like when you install in Program Files. For now, people who want to mod are likely to have trouble unless they have a second HDD or partition they can install to.

I wouldn't have to worry about that.  I don't have Steam installing into Program Files.  I have the games going to my larger 3TB drive, instead of my tiny SSD.  Maybe I'll finally jump into the FF7 Mods for PC... I've been coming here for a while looking at the mods....
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: zahrdahl on 2013-07-04 18:26:16
Bootleg seemed to work fine, I used Tifa's Package on the Steam install and played for an hour with no issues that I could tell. This was my first time using bootleg though so it might be *something* didn't work as it should and I simply didn't notice.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Terid__K on 2013-07-04 18:34:14
Are the lgp files the same between this and the old PC version? Just wondering if I can just swap the lgp to play with updated models.

EDIT: Wow, I just saw there are people who still think you need stuff like the truemotion codec and chocobo patch to make the old PC copy work. I guess the existence of the FF7 modding community isn't as obvious as I thought.

Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: EQ2Alyza on 2013-07-04 19:26:13
http://steamcommunity.com/app/39140/discussions/0/846958001162974435/

I find it HILARIOUS that the most commented post is an argument about DRM. Do they even realize they're on Steam forums...STEAM...hello??? lol  :D
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Kein on 2013-07-04 20:14:11
This is nearly identical to last year's release on the S-E store. Assuming the game converter kranmer made still works (it probably does), bootleg should also.

That said, you're likely to run into issues because Steam *REALLY* wants to install to Program Files by default, and won't let you create multiple libraries on the same drive, and bootleg really doesn't like when you install in Program Files. For now, people who want to mod are likely to have trouble unless they have a second HDD or partition they can install to.

Can I have more info on this subject? I may as well replay FF7 but I' like to know which mods are compatible with re-release. I think for original FF7 I used FF7Music, Avalanche HD Textures, Rejuvenation project, YAMP for MDef/minigames fixes, Aalis driver and some custom 3d models.

Now, I know that FF7Music is obsolete, there is OGG support in-game and proper track list for that. What about the rest? I assume YAMP is not compatible anymore as well (which is sad, I can live without minigames but Mdef fix is critical).
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: saftle on 2013-07-04 20:29:17
http://steamcommunity.com/app/39140/discussions/0/846958001162974435/

I find it HILARIOUS that the most commented post is an argument about DRM. Do they even realize they're on Steam forums...STEAM...hello??? lol  :D

Well, I used to think the same thing, but it's a common misconception. Most of the games on Steam are actually DRM free, like GOG games. After installing, you can literally move the folder, uninstall steam, and still play the game.

Edit: "Most" may have been exaggerating, since I'm not sure how many games have their own DRM, but either way, if they don't have a DRM of their own, and they aren't Steamworks games, you should be able to move it.

Here's the list of current Steamworks games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_using_Steam_authentication

Edit 2: Ok, I wasn't quite right either. Steamworks can contain many different things including the DRM component, but doesn't have to.

Here is also a list of non-DRM Steam games: http://www.gog.com/forum/general/list_of_drmfree_games_on_steam/page1
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Gordon228 on 2013-07-04 21:23:28
What would someone need to do to use the mods with the steam FFVII? is it copy and past or is there more to it?
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: saftle on 2013-07-04 21:28:21
The normal Bootleg Config works with the Steam release just as it did with the 2012 release. I re-purchased again and just tried it out. No issues so far.

It converts the game into the 1998 version though, so you'll lose all of the extra features like achievements, cloud saving, etc.

After installing it, I renamed the Bootloader as FF7_Launcher.exe while backing up the old launcher. This makes it so that you can play directly via Steam like you normally would.

The only thing that I can't figure out yet, is how to get the Steam Overlay to work when launching FF7 using the Bootloader. It works if I rename the FF7.exe as FF7_Launcher.exe and bypass the Bootloader, but then FF7Music.exe doesn't work.

Anyone have an idea on how to have the best of both worlds? :)
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Kaldarasha on 2013-07-04 22:13:29
Hello Guests ;D
(http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/7962/o2ln.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/585/o2ln.jpg/)
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: EQ2Alyza on 2013-07-04 22:25:06
Hello Guests ;D
(http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/7962/o2ln.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/585/o2ln.jpg/)

Now you've gone and made me think about editing my post  :P
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Kein on 2013-07-04 22:40:13
but then FF7Music.exe doesn't work.

But why do you still use it? Shouldn't re-release  support OGG "natively" now?  Anxious Heart offers looping OGGs + quality even better than PSF since encoded from original OST. You don't need FF7music anymore, do you?
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Kaldarasha on 2013-07-04 22:58:42
The point is the 'New' DirectX9 engine is in basic a modified version of Aali's Custom Open GL driver. Aali has added a way to play ogg music without FF7Music, but never release it. So we need it, until Aali made an update to his driver or someone else find a better solution or even made a new custom driver.
The new rerelease has no option to load external content, like png-files, that's why you need to downpatch the game to get the full experience of all mods.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Gordon228 on 2013-07-05 05:07:24
well i will experiment with the steam ff7 once i get the music i have renamed and will let you all know of my results.

So far external files do not work. maybe since we know that the Steam FFVII is using qt some one could make a plugin that would allow it to use the external folders? i would do it but i have no codeing experience.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Cazador on 2013-07-05 14:30:16
Random question but if I have the 2012 version and I get the steam version and log into my SE Account do the achievements carry over? Because I don't feel like getting them all again :P
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: saftle on 2013-07-05 15:44:27
Random question but if I have the 2012 version and I get the steam version and log into my SE Account do the achievements carry over? Because I don't feel like getting them all again :P

I was able to login to my old 2012 account, so I assume so, but then again I never used the cloud saving feature. I modded it straight after logging in once when I bought the 2012 release and also with the new Steam release.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-07-05 16:04:26
Yeah, achievements carry over. When I first started the game, I got three achievements right at once.

I should note I didn't get very far in the 2012 version.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Cazador on 2013-07-05 16:12:45
awesome, thanks for the confirmation guys!
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: ScottRTL on 2013-07-05 17:55:02
I was able to login to my old 2012 account, so I assume so, but then again I never used the cloud saving feature. I modded it straight after logging in once when I bought the 2012 release and also with the new Steam release.

I had a few achievements with the 2012 version, and when I bought the Steam version, I logged in with Square North America and the moment the game opened a bunch of achievements popped up... I guess all the ones I had up to that point...

P.S.

I would love if we could figure out to have all the mods WITH cloud saving still enabled...
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-07-05 18:08:33
I would love if we could figure out to have all the mods WITH cloud saving still enabled...
Most of the game's file formats are the same as the old one. Just about any mod that doesn't depend on certain features from Aali's driver can be made to work with this pretty easily. The main thing is that you have to actually edit files instead of loading things externally, a feature the community as a whole has grown to rely on, particularly for textures.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: saftle on 2013-07-05 18:10:09
Anyone get the Steam overlay to work yet?
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Gordon228 on 2013-07-05 19:11:40
heres how i see it some one needs to make a qt plugin that dose what we want.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: UltimaOmega07 on 2013-07-20 08:03:00
Anyone get the Steam overlay to work yet?
Just in case you or anyone is still looking for an answer to this, in order to get the Steam overlay to work you have to copy "launchff7.exe" from the FF7Music folder to the game's root folder and rename it to "FF7_launcher.exe". This way the game will launch through FF7Music but you will be able to use the Steam overlay. Always remember to back up original files. You just have to manually mount the FF7 disc if you are not using a usb stick or something because you are not launching from the bootloader. As far as I can tell there is not a way to launch the game from the Bootloader and at the same time keeping the Steam overlay. It is either or.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Template on 2013-07-20 13:49:22
Just in case you or anyone is still looking for an answer to this, in order to get the Steam overlay to work you have to copy "launchff7.exe" from the FF7Music folder to the game's root folder and rename it to "FF7_launcher.exe". This way the game will launch through FF7Music but you will be able to use the Steam overlay. Always remember to back up original files. You just have to manually mount the FF7 disc if you are not using a usb stick or something because you are not launching from the bootloader. As far as I can tell there is not a way to launch the game from the Bootloader and at the same time keeping the Steam overlay. It is either or.
What are the advantages of using the STEAM overlay please? I did a quick google search but it didn't immediately become clear and I'm doing 8 million things at once at the moment.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: UltimaOmega07 on 2013-07-20 16:36:04
What are the advantages of using the STEAM overlay please? I did a quick google search but it didn't immediately become clear and I'm doing 8 million things at once at the moment.
Basically you can chat with your friends on Steam, use a web browser, look up guides, videos etc. while you are playing the game, without going back to the desktop. It is handy sometimes because some games mess up or crash when you alt-tab to the desktop. It is pretty seamlessly integrated into the games so you can for example jump between playing a game and reading a guide really quickly.

Personally I find it very useful because I use Steam to chat with all my friends but to each their own.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Tenko Kuugen on 2013-07-20 20:03:18
if you can play a game window mode, the overlay really is pointless
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Cazador on 2013-07-21 02:41:39
cloud service seems to be down, can't sync old saves.. :(
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: UltimaOmega07 on 2013-07-21 08:45:27
if you can play a game window mode, the overlay really is pointless
Personally I don't like windowed mode. Either you play with those borders which really distract me or you play borderless windowed which in many cases is more unstable or decreases performance in a lot of titles. Plus you cannot really downsample if you run windowed because the game doesn't fit in the screen anymore unless you increase the desktop resolution as well but then it turns everything way smaller so it's hard to see text especially.

But like I said, to each their own.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-07-21 17:54:37
if you can play a game window mode, the overlay really is pointless
I see it as the other way around. If the overlay is available, you don't have to play in windowed mode.

Of course, there's always Alt+Tab, but 99 games out of 100 have issues with that.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: WickedForte on 2013-07-25 00:08:59
I may be a newbie on this forum but have followed for many years. For me the steam overlay would help me take the beautiful pictures of tifa's bootleg and upload them as screen shots of the final fantasy 7 community of steam. This might also increase sales of ff7 for people wanting to play ff7 the way mine works/looks. Yes you can print screen and take pictures that way, but it seems abit troublesome to print screen paste save trick steam into thinking i took the screenshot as the ff7 steam version.

I tried making tifa's boot loader -> launch steam -> launch Final Fantasy 7 through steam -> enjoy tifa's mod. I cant tell which ff7 exe tifa's bootloader uses or trick windows by renaming a symbolic link of steam.exe as ff7.exe. This also presents a problem. If i get the process to behave like I want, will tifa's bootloader accurately apply the external mods of the project into ff7.exe?

As far as achievements, look up steam achievement manager I dont recommend this, but if you're an achievement whore like myself use this when you know you should've unlocked the achievement if you used the modded ff7. Just don't be stupid with it, research it.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Kein on 2013-09-26 12:14:52
A 220Mb update was released that has something to do with music.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: EQ2Alyza on 2013-09-26 14:42:50
They patched the game to come with PSX music.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-09-26 16:42:15
If this were Completely Unrelated, I'd be posting a picture of Stephen Colbert with the caption "We did it!" (http://static.fjcdn.com/gifs/We+did+it.+Because+Stephen+Colbert+is+50+thousand+times_eda923_3860544.gif)

But I'm not going to set a bad example and post image macros or memes in General Discussion.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: dkma841 on 2013-09-26 18:32:41
Nice, btw if i buy ffvii on steam and when i convert it to 1998 to be modded like will it still be linked to my steam account like when i play it it will also say on steam? if that makes sense.. abit confused :s
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-09-26 18:45:23
As long as you launch it from Steam, it'll still use the Steam overlay and show you in-game.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: DLPB_ on 2013-09-26 19:15:55
They patched the game to come with PSX music.

Did they burgle mine per chance?  :-D
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-09-26 20:13:39
I'd assume they did it themselves, otherwise it wouldn't have taken so long. The game has received quite a few changes in the Steam Registry (http://steamdb.info/app/39140/#section_history) before the update was actually pushed out, so I think they've been working on this for the past month or so.

That said, this only should've been like eight hours work, tops (I've ripped and looped bigger soundtracks than this in less time than that), but I'd imagine between having other stuff to work on, QA, and general bureaucracy, this is probably about right.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: JBedford128 on 2013-09-26 20:35:03
The files have Date last modified dates for the 9th September 2013, at 12 AM, between :13 and :40 minutes. So that's probably when they were converted to OGG.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: DLPB_ on 2013-09-26 20:43:30
Shame they couldn't have saved themselves a whole lot of effort and used my update.  But I guess all the legal crap gets in the way.  8-)
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: LeonhartGR on 2013-09-27 01:34:17
So ahead of your time Daniel... SE would have saved such a descent amount of time if, just, credited at least qhimm members for their contribution or sponsor any nice efforts that've already been made... instead of "discovering America" all over again...
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: ThunderPeel2001 on 2013-09-27 15:52:15
Did they burgle mine per chance?  :-D

No. Your files are from the OST. Theirs is literally converted from the PSX music (which is slightly different).
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: ThunderPeel2001 on 2013-09-27 15:54:22
I'd assume they did it themselves, otherwise it wouldn't have taken so long. The game has received quite a few changes in the Steam Registry (http://steamdb.info/app/39140/#section_history) before the update was actually pushed out, so I think they've been working on this for the past month or so.

Changing the music doesn't require any registry changes. Weird. Are you sure they've been making changes?
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: DLPB_ on 2013-09-27 16:08:01
No. Your files are from the OST. Theirs is literally converted from the PSX music (which is slightly different).

Not to mention inferior...  The quality of PSX simply isn't up to the standard of a professional OST release in this case.  And I am really shocked they would mess about using PSX emulation to achieve this result.  I suppose they couldn't get rights to using the music through official OST or... found it harder to do somehow. 
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-09-27 17:56:20
The aim was to make it accurate to the original. To that end, the PSX music is the best way to go.

PSX sound emulation is miles ahead of where it was even just two years ago, so that's not really a bad thing.

Changing the music doesn't require any registry changes. Weird. Are you sure they've been making changes?
The Steam Database (I think Valve changed the name when I wasn't looking, it totally used to be called Steam Registry) is unrelated to the Windows registry. It's an internal database of absolutely every product, bundle, DLC, etc on Steam. This page (http://steamdb.info/faq/) explains a bit more a bout how it works, but in short, it's often an easy way to see information on updates and sometimes even products that haven't been made public. It's also how I know they're working on a Steam version of Final Fantasy VIII (http://steamdb.info/app/39150/), even though they've never so much as mentioned it.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: ThunderPeel2001 on 2013-09-27 18:06:20
Not to mention inferior...  The quality of PSX simply isn't up to the standard of a professional OST release in this case.  And I am really shocked they would mess about using PSX emulation to achieve this result.  I suppose they couldn't get rights to using the music through official OST or... found it harder to do somehow.

I'm pretty sure it was the fan petition (http://steamcommunity.com/app/39140/discussions/0/846958223080118201/) on Steam that caused them to make the changes, and the fan petition insisted that the original PSX music was the best. *shrugs*
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: ThunderPeel2001 on 2013-09-27 18:08:51
The Steam Database (I think Valve changed the name when I wasn't looking, it totally used to be called Steam Registry) is unrelated to the Windows registry. It's an internal database of absolutely every product, bundle, DLC, etc on Steam. This page (http://steamdb.info/faq/) explains a bit more a bout how it works, but in short, it's often an easy way to see information on updates and sometimes even products that haven't been made public.

Ah, thanks for the explanation. My bad.

Re: FFVIII - They've spoken about it now :) http://kotaku.com/first-look-at-hi-res-final-fantasy-viii-for-pc-508161832
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-09-27 18:19:18
Re: FFVIII - They've spoken about it now :) http://kotaku.com/first-look-at-hi-res-final-fantasy-viii-for-pc-508161832
That only mentions a PC release, not specifically Steam (don't forget, for a whole year FF7 was only for sale on their own Store and not Steam), and it only mentions Japan. The SteamDB page shows languages: "english,german,french,italian,spanish,japanese" as well as is obviously specific to Steam. If nothing else, you can see update logs, so you know that they're actively working on it, and some details which may not have been made public.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: DLPB_ on 2013-09-27 18:38:34
I'm pretty sure it was the fan petition (http://steamcommunity.com/app/39140/discussions/0/846958223080118201/) on Steam that caused them to make the changes, and the fan petition insisted that the original PSX music was the best. *shrugs*

If they were comparing it with the official CD releases of the soundtrack, they are flat out wrong.  I doubt they were.  They are identical except the CD is higher quality.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: ThunderPeel2001 on 2013-09-27 18:49:10
That only mentions a PC release, not specifically Steam (don't forget, for a whole year FF7 was only for sale on their own Store and not Steam), and it only mentions Japan. The SteamDB page shows languages: "english,german,french,italian,spanish,japanese" as well as is obviously specific to Steam. If nothing else, you can see update logs, so you know that they're actively working on it, and some details which may not have been made public.

Gotcha.

If they were comparing it with the official CD releases of the soundtrack, they are flat out wrong.  I doubt they were.  They are identical except the CD is higher quality.

I doubt they did a comparison. If you read the petition, I don't think they even mention the CD. They were just in a fervour that it wasn't the PSX music.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-10-03 17:37:29
$11.99 too much for you, especially when it's only $9.99 on PSN? You're in luck!

Final Fantasy VII is on sale on Steam this weekend (http://store.steampowered.com/news/11563/). The game can be had for $5.99 (50% off!) until Monday, October 7 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time.

Are Steam sales worldwide, or regional? I have no clue if this is a US sale, a North America sale, or an everywhere sale.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Rundas on 2013-10-03 21:02:42
I think they're worldwide, but that's just a blind guess.
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Kaldarasha on 2013-10-03 21:32:53
50% off in europe.
So we are on a close release of FF VIII, aren't we?
Title: Re: FFVII steam release
Post by: Covarr on 2013-10-03 21:40:42
Hard to say. Sometime while I was asleep, they either removed or hid (http://steamdb.info/app/39150/#section_history) FF8 from the Steam Database. I dunno if they've changed their minds about a Steam release, or if they just finally realized people were able to see stuff that wasn't meant to be seen yet and closed up the hole. Either way, it's harder to predict what they're up to now.

I just hope they don't release it on their own store as a year-long exclusive as they did with FF7.