Qhimm.com Forums
Miscellaneous Forums => Archive => Topic started by: Dreakon on 2004-04-16 22:14:34
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I noticed the final battle model of Cloud with Leviathin and I was wondering is there any way to use it in game (outside of the final battle, you know, in normal battles)? If so, how?
Thanks.
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What do you know? (http://forums.qhimm.com/viewtopic.php?p=40301#40301) :P
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Hiya.
Sort of. See this post: http://forums.qhimm.com/viewtopic.php?t=2882
Edit: Raaargh. Aaron just beat me. =P
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Nice to see it's been done, but can someone give me at least a brief description on what I need and how to do it?
@ Aaron: EDIT: Whoops, didnt know that was a link, thanks ;)
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You need Alhexx's Battle File Database (http://www.alhexx.com/descriptions/other/battle_database.txt), a copy of Ficedula's LGP Tools (http://www.warwickcompsoc.co.uk/~ficedula/f2k3/php/programs.php?category=ff7), and a lot of patience. Basically you'll have to find the original Cloud's model data and the high-res Cloud's data. Then you swap them.
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So in the battle file database it says the hi-res cloud is si and the low res is rt. This LGP Tools is foreign to me. The file names have 4 letters. Do I extract everything that begins with rt and si, then replace them and import them (how do I import by the way?). Is that about it?
EDIT: After I do this I want to make a patch so I can give it to friends and they can use the high-res model. How do I do this?
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You've got the general idea, anyway. Some of the files in those groups should be animations (all the ones that end in da). Chances are you want to leave those alone...
If you double click on a file in LGP Tools, it should give you the option of trying to view it. Try to view each non da file in the two groups as .P (3D data) and .TEX (textures). Take notes, especially because if LGP Tools finds a file it doesn't know what to do with, it'll probably page fault.
The reason for doing that is because the file names might not match. This is just something I'm pulling out of thin air (AKA as a Dilbert "assumption") but suppose sidd is part of high res Cloud's head. Now, if you just rename sidd to rtdd, it might turn out that rtdd was part low-res Cloud's arm...
You've got to figure out what each part is first.
So you want a list of each part for both models, and their names. Something like this:
Part: High Res Low Res
Head sidd rtsr
Head Texture side rtss
Left Shoulder sicf rtmb
...etc. I made up those filenames. Just making a point.
Then you can start swapping. I recommend loading up the game and trying after every change you make, just to make sure.
how do I import by the way?
Click on the file you want to replace. Then hit the big "Replace" button in the upper right, which will bring up a dialogue. Browse to the file you want to replace it with. Voila! Isn't Ficedula cool?
After I do this I want to make a patch so I can give it to friends and they can use the high-res model. How do I do this?
Go to Tools > Patches > Create Patch. I recommend using the Pack Archive option in LGP Tools before this. To create the patch, you'll need an unaltered copy of the .lgp (from one of your game discs) for LGP Tools to compare it with.
I've sometimes had trouble getting it to create the patches in the past, so check the size of the patch (should be about as big as the files you import), and test it, before distributing. If you have problems, try changing the directory where LGP Tools saves the patch.
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Ok I got the replacing stuff to work. Now when I try and make a patch it says "Out of memory while expanding memory stream". I dunno what the hell this means cause I have more then enough RAM and normal memory on my PC. It's near the end of the process when it says this.
Should the battle.lgp that was modified have the same filename as the battle.lgp that isnt modified? Cause thats what I am doing right now...
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Sorry for the double post but I got it working! The (visual) patcher is very decieving considering that it says FF7 path when you need to select a folder when you really need to go to the folder that the file you need changed is in. But now that I figured that out it works. If you want the stand alone exe patcher post here, so I know people actually want it :)
EDIT: Okay I made a good readme for the patch and all should work well, plus I also have a 300 kb bmp file so you can see the difference close up in game. You can download the file here:
http://www.yourwebspace.com/cgi-bin/dreakon/cloudhires.zip
A screenshot comparing the 2 is here (beware 56k users):
http://www.yourwebspace.com/cgi-bin/dreakon/beforeandafter.bmp
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Sorry for the double post
Next time, please just Edit your post if you've got something more to say.
Sure, I'll try it out (doesn't matter if it's just a patch or a self-executing.) Let's see how you did. =)
Edit: Looks cool. I'll try it out.
Edit 2: Seems to work. No obvious problems yet.
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Yeah, I didnt experience any problems either, and I hope no one does. I tried summoning, casting spells, using items and just normally attacking and there were no crashes or animation problems. I was also suprised at how well the hi-res model blended with all the low-res models surrounding it.
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Well, part of it is probably that I'm running in software mode--their might be more marked difference with 3D acceleration. But part of it is also that the high res model isn't *that* much higher in quality, I guess.
I think we've avoided animation problems since the skeleton still has the same parts--just different data.
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The high res model is quite a bit better if viewed at different angles. What card do you have? If it's ATI then I know a trick to running in hardware mode regardless of 8-bit paletted textures.
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Well, it's nice to see that someone made the patch so I don't have to. ^^; Thanks a lot. Working like that with LGP tools can do a lot of stuff. Like... Want cloud to have Excalibur? Take it out of the magic.lgp, put it inot battle.lgp, point one of the referencea that way in the LGP and you're all set. As you all see in my other post, I gave cloud the Masamune, it might be possible to mix and match other weapons interestingly. I want to see how Sephy looks with the Buster Sword, or Apocalypse.
-Contra-
Or imagine... *grin* Tifa in Aeris' clothes or vice versa! Let's see who can mix and match the coolest character!!!
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Or imagine... *grin* Tifa in Aeris' clothes or vice versa! Let's see who can mix and match the coolest character!!!
Lol, that'd be wierd. Any way to make your own weapons? Like model em outside the game and put them in as a replacement? Maybe like cooler looking final weapons and stuff...
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I'm getting:
Acces Violation at adress 00000000. Read of adress 00000000.
is that ok??
i'm kinda @ the point where i don't have cloud in my team zo can't check if it worked...
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No problems here, either =) Excellent work! ('ll probably swap Cloud's head, cuz i dont like the high-res one)
However, one Q: Do people need Ficedula's ff7 patch utility to make this work, or is the exe all you need? Cuz if it's the former, you may wanna put that in the readme.
Also, I'd like to host this on my website if you'd be so kind =)
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You can host it on the site if you want. I dont want to sound egotistical but be sure to say it was made by me assuming your adding it to a site (this is the first thing productive I have ever made :)).
As for the Fic's patcher question, no you don't need it. All you need is the exe included in the zip file ;)
EDIT: Of course you will need the LGP Tools for the head swapping thing you mentioned, I wonder how that'd look... :-?
@ Ye Roon: Someone emailed me about that too, I have no idea why that could be happening. Do you have any patches installed? If so, what ones?
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i only have installed the chocobo patch and the upside down patch.
I am using the EU version of the game, cause well, i live in europe.. perhaps that is it?
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The high res model is quite a bit better if viewed at different angles. What card do you have? If it's ATI then I know a trick to running in hardware mode regardless of 8-bit paletted textures.
Yeah, well, there've been a billion tricks to getting hardware mode working on this forum. If it hasn't been said before, shoot, for the public good. =)
Thanks for the offer, but I just haven't ever really bothered with hardware mode. It seems to create more trouble than it's worth, and software works fine.
Any way to make your own weapons? Like model em outside the game and put them in as a replacement?
Yeah, but it's a bit complicated. biturn (http://mirex.mypage.sk/index.php?selected=1) (by Mirex) and various tools (http://www.alhexx.com/tools/index.html) by Alhexx can both convert .P files to various formats, so you can edit them in your 3D proggy of choice (as long as it supports Vertex Coloration.) Then you can use Alhexx's stuff and convert back to .P. Then replace, as before with LGP Tools.
Or imagine... *grin* Tifa in Aeris' clothes or vice versa! Let's see who can mix and match the coolest character!!!
:lol: We could have a contest. Of course, just about everyone's entries would probably be pretty sad.
I'm getting:
Acces Violation at adress 00000000. Read of adress 00000000.
is that ok??
That means it didn't work. I actually get the same problem (probably means I have my Ficelib files in the wrong /dir/ or some such), but there's a simple fix. In LGP Tools go to Tools > Patches > Patch Convertor. Then use the "Convert from Self Extractor to Patch" option. Then apply the non-executable patch and it should work.
However, one Q: Do people need Ficedula's ff7 patch utility to make this work, or is the exe all you need? Cuz if it's the former, you may wanna put that in the readme.
All you need is the .exe, unless you're having ye-roon's problem. In that case you need LGP Tools as well. Regardless, you don't need Cetra, though.
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Of course you will need the LGP Tools for the head swapping thing you mentioned, I wonder how that'd look... :-?
Something like this.
(http://bin.mypage.sk/FILES/aerisheadtifa.jpg)
Fuwahaha!
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Haha! Thats awesome! Switch Cids head for Barrets or Vincents for Red XIII's (freaky...).
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That means it didn't work. I actually get the same problem (probably means I have my Ficelib files in the wrong /dir/ or some such), but there's a simple fix. In LGP Tools go to Tools > Patches > Patch Convertor. Then use the "Convert from Self Extractor to Patch" option. Then apply the non-executable patch and it should work.
when u do that, do u get a message like: IT WORKED or not?
cause i dunno if it worked now :p
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Well, first you check and see that it created the patch, obviously. ;)
After that, to check if it applied the patch, left-click once on battle.lgp and see when it was last modified. If it was today, looks like the patch worked.
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I wouldn't doubt the idea that it was the patcher causing the problems. It was hard enough to make to begin with. I wonder why some people's worked and others didnt though. Bad download?
Also to see if it worked try looking at an unedited copy of battle.lgp (can be found on installation CD) and it should be about 59.4MB while the edited one should be around 59.7 MB. Thats another way to check if it worked.
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I wonder why some people's worked and others didnt though. Bad download?
No, because I've had the same problem on my machine when I manually create autopatches. I had this same problem with yours, but was able to follow the steps I've described above and get it working.
I'm not sure what causes it, but my guess is that I have something wrong with my FiceLib (http://www.warwickcompsoc.co.uk/~ficedula/f2k3/php/programs.php?startnum=14&endnum=15)files.
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Curse you FaceLib! I suppose I should add that information about the bug and how to fix it in the readme. Mind if I use your explanation?
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well i can't actually figure out what to do ...
can u give a step by step discription??
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well i can't actually figure out what to do ...
can u give a step by step discription??
To save myself and anyone else who cares to explain time you can download this, extract it and use apply patch in LGP Tools.
http://www.yourwebspace.com/cgi-bin/dreakon/cloudquality.zip
This should work unless I put in the wrong ffpatch file (which could happen since I made many incorrect ones). Good luck ;)
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Dreakon: It's probably my fault and not FiceLib's. I probably just extracted them in the wrong place or have multiple, different copies floating around my hard drive. ...or something. I can't remember, and am too lazy to check. >=)
Sure, you can use my fix. Don't know if my explanation is right, though.
ye-roon:
Well, I still felt like typing it up. Just download Dreakon's new file, though.
01. Download the file.
02. Extract the files in the zip.
03. Open LGP Tools 1.55
04. Go to Tools > Patches > Patch Converter
05. A dialogue should have opened. Click on "Self Extractor to LGP"
06. Click on the "..." at the top. This will open a file browser. Find "cloudquality.exe" in the browser, click on it, and hit enter.
07. Click on the 2nd "..." This will open another file browser. Go to \your ff7 director\data\battle, type "cloudquality", and hit enter.
08. Click the Convert button.
09. Wait a minute, then close the window.
10. Go to \your ff7 directory\data\battle and make sure there's a file there called "cloudquality.ffpatch"
11. In LGP Tools, go to Tools > Patches > Apply Patch
12. A file browser should have opened. Find cloudquality.ffpatch, click on it, and hit enter.
13. Wait for the progress bar at the bottom of LGP Tools to fill up.
14. Go to \your ff7 directory\data\battle. Right click on battle.lgp and select properties.
15. Look for filesize and last modified. If filesize is "59.7MB" and last modified is "17th April 2004", it worked.
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ah i figured the patch make thingy, and i used yours, but it would freeze b4 loading a battle :p
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The one I gave you doesnt work? Must be a wrong one...
Did Srethron Askvelhtnod's instructions help you though?
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more snapshots :D (it really works!)
(http://home.so-net.net.tw/halohalo/cloud6.JPG)
(http://home.so-net.net.tw/halohalo/cloud7.JPG)
(http://home.so-net.net.tw/halohalo/cloud8.JPG)
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convert .P files to various formats, so you can edit them in your 3D proggy of choice (as long as it supports Vertex Coloration.)
I would like to try and add detail to the rest of the models to the best of my ability. Are there any free 3d programs I can use?
EDIT: Awesome pics by the way ;)
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Dreakon: http://www.anim8or.com/ =)
Halohalo: Wait, Aeris is in your party, while you're IN the GELNIKA, and vinny has 9999 hp?
Someone's been cheating =P
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Does anim8or work with .p files (or whatever the FF7 files are)?
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im wondering... Do You guys know a game named ERGHEIZ? Can be used that Sephiroth, Cloud and others models?
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i know EHRGEIZ but i don't think that it would work because ehrgeiz is not produced by the final fantasy team.
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Dreakon: I think you'd need a converter, actually, but i think someone around her released on a few weeks ago..?
And if it doesn't, ask the guy who made it to incorperate .p recognition: He loves feedback and suggestions. His e-mail should be on that site somewhere, hehe
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im wondering... Do You guys know a game named ERGHEIZ? Can be used that Sephiroth, Cloud and others models?
I doubt it for two resons
As Fa-Pa already stated the FF team didn't create it
and it wouldn't be in the same file format as FF7...it would take a hella lot of coding to convert and import...plus then theres the size, skeletons, and for that matter, the animations of the chars...
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Though if they'd port Kingdom Hearts to PC, i'd rather use those models.. though they'd probably present many of the same problems =/
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En zoals ik al zei, hi-res textures my ass. Het zijn gewoon dezelfde textures...en voor de poppetjes worden helemaal geen textures gebruikt, dat zijn shaded poly's. Maar het is leuk dat je het op 1024*768 kan spelen als je spelplezier daarmee verband houdt hoor
someone wrote that on a dutch tweaker forum, without giving the total translation: the dude says that that for the characters there aren't any textures being used, but shaded poly's.
is this true?
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Though if they'd port Kingdom Hearts to PC, i'd rather use those models.. though they'd probably present many of the same problems =/
Yeah... Sephiroth from Kingdom Hearts rules!!!! :)
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En zoals ik al zei, hi-res textures my ass. Het zijn gewoon dezelfde textures...en voor de poppetjes worden helemaal geen textures gebruikt, dat zijn shaded poly's. Maar het is leuk dat je het op 1024*768 kan spelen als je spelplezier daarmee verband houdt hoor
someone wrote that on a dutch tweaker forum, without giving the total translation: the dude says that that for the characters there aren't any textures being used, but shaded poly's.
is this true?
For the most part, yes. The only part that are textures are eyes, mouthes, and tatoos. Everything else is vector-shaded.
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ah i figured the patch make thingy, and i used yours, but it would freeze b4 loading a battle :p
Sounds like you might've applied the patch twice. Anyway, *I* did that once, which caused the game to crash as soon as a battle starts. What happens if you copy battle.lgp from one of your game discs, replace your old battle.lgp, and then try to patch that file?
it would take a hella lot of coding to convert and
Well, IIRC, Terence Ferguson mentioned something about converting the Ergheiz 3D models before...something like their format had already been decoded (not all PSX devs invent new formats.)
Still, even if they aren't, all you need is something that can convert the models to a fairly standard format. Then you can use one of the existing .P converters. Animations shouldn't be *too* much of an issue.
Are there any free 3d programs I can use?
I think the student edition (http://www.alias.com/eng/products-services/maya/maya_ple/faq.shtml) (stripped down and free) of Maya just came out. The two unknowns are whether there are any converters for the special file format it uses, and if there's .P <-> Maya converter. If there isn't, Alhexx or Mirex *might* be able to add it.
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I just wanna say thanks to everyone here, by following what you typed, I was able to do this myself (I know, its not impressive, I still like it though, heh).
(http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8306/hirescloud1.jpg)
(http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7562/hirescloud2.jpg)
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Just tried the executable version of Dreakon's patch (the one that you don't have to use LGP Tools to apply), and I'm getting an error message similar to ye-roon's.
However, its pulling a different read-of-address than what ye-roon got. Mine says"
Access Violation at 0000000. Read of Address FFFFFFFF.
Sounds to me like there's either a NULL pointer or uninitialized variable in there that's spitting out garbage when accessed.
If it makes any difference, this is being done on an install of FF7 that doesn't have any patches on it, and this is in Win98SE.
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Sorry Goku, I think you will have to use LGP Tools. I know it's inconvenient but the patcher is relatively buggy and I cant post the modified file online since its about 60-something MB.
Unless you can get it working I suggest using the LGP Tools ;)
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Is it possible to hex-edit the thing instead? I've never had much luck with the LGP Tools stuff in the past.
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If there is a way I definatly wouldnt know how...
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Ok, ok, so I finally broke down and tried using LGP Tools to apply the patch, dispite the fact that the last time I'd ever used it, I couldn't get the program to work.
I"m pleasantly surprised to say that it worked without problems. The new model looks NICE with 4x FSAA enabled.
Of course, now that we have a working battle model patch, perhaps some attention should be turned to the Buster Sword model? Currently it's only vertex shaded, but we could use like 2 textures to turn it into a high-detail model, like that seen on the box....now that'd be cool. :D
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is it possible to apply textures to objects which dont already have them w/out making the object disapear? Or would we just have to discard the color info and tell the sword model to accept a texture within a 3d proggie?
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is it possible to apply textures to objects which dont already have them w/out making the object disapear? Or would we just have to discard the color info and tell the sword model to accept a texture within a 3d proggie?
That was kinda what I was getting at with my suggestion to texture map the Buster Sword -- remove all the info in the .p files regarding its vertex shading, and (using info from other model parts that have textures to figure out how to store the new texture data correctly for FF7), instead tell it to use a custom texture map (if anyone can get a good detailed scan of the detail seen in the rendering of the sword in the box art, then we should use that).
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Oh, and by the way:
Did anyone notice that the hi-res Cloud model seems to have each of its fingers INDIVIDUALLY RENDERED (read: not a block with lines that are supposed to indicate spaces between fingers, but actual spaces inbetween fingers)? I noticed that the other day, and I think that's totally awesome that it has that kinda detail. :D
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Did anyone notice that the hi-res Cloud model seems to have each of its fingers INDIVIDUALLY RENDERED (read: not a block with lines that are supposed to indicate spaces between fingers, but actual spaces inbetween fingers)? I noticed that the other day, and I think that's totally awesome that it has that kinda detail.
A major improvement!
Now, just do that with all the other main characters, and we'd be all set =P
Shame it wasn't done even for battles...
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I'm guessing that there was one TrueCloud model (Used for the movies) and we are getting reduced version of that model. The hi-res cloud is pretty much the same as the FMV version. I'm guessing that somewhere locked in a vault is the original hi-definition models for all the characters. It's a shame the porting team didn't have access to that.
Oh well, we have advent children....
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Oh well, we have advent children....
And AC could completely blow for all we know...
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It could also ro><0rz da h0us3
*Ahem*
Yes, It could be good.
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Anyway, getting back to texture mapping the Buster Sword....
I think I found a suitable texture. Do any of you remember that part in FF7 where you have to fight several bats and there's this big stalagtite in the Back Row that you need to destroy as well?
Well, if you also remember, once you destroy it, it "cracks", but the game overlaying a texture of a huge hairline fracture going down the length of the stalagtite. Based on the image of the Buster Sword that is on page 41 of the FF7pc manual, that hairline fracture texture runs in a somewhat simliar pattern to the lines on the Buster Sword. Resizing/editing and overlaying that texture on the Buster Sword MIGHT just work..... ;)
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I used Srethron Askvelhtnod's instructions, but when i hit the convert button it saves "cloudquality" as just a file not a ffpatch. I tried it many many times I followed the instructions very carefully. Please help me I can't mod or hack worth s***. :weep:
EDIT: it finally worked but when I try to apply the patch it says: "stream read error" what is going on? And when I start a new game the first battle of the game crashes and I have to restart my computer.
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Raven: Do you have ficedulla.dll? I've found that it is required to get this working right. Go to http://www.warwickcompsoc.co.uk/~ficedula/f2k3/ to find it. Then, put it in your windows system32 directory. And when you use the patch, make sure you're overwriting battle.lgp
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yes I have the ficedula dll file but its still freezes when i get into the first battle
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hmm
and you say the game was working fine before?
Okay, tell ya what. Back up your saved games, and Uninstall.
Reinstall the game. make sure it works! Then, find and BACK UP "Battle.lgp"
Update to 1.02. make sure it works.
Install the upside-down movies patch if necissary.
Then try the patch again. MAKE SURE you read the README and follow the instructions!! Theres one point where you'll get a pop-up warning message... CLICK NO!
It *SHOULD* work now. If it doesn't, you may have a bad patch. Try here: http://www.ff7-universe.com/Downloads/cloudhighres.zip then try again.
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To save myself and anyone else who cares to explain time you can download this, extract it and use apply patch in LGP Tools.
http://www.yourwebspace.com/cgi-bin/dreakon/cloudquality.zip
This should work unless I put in the wrong ffpatch file (which could happen since I made many incorrect ones). Good luck ;)
Its kinda weird, this patch on this link is smaller then asagaru's patch on this post: http://forums.qhimm.com/viewtopic.php?t=2882&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30 wonder why? :-?
can any1 conform the difference?
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Using the LGP tools to convert the high red cloud file into a patch, I run into an annoying problem.
This is how it looks before I convert it (Shown below):
http://img37.photobucket.com/albums/v113/combatkiller/b4convert.gif
Once I click on the convert button, I receive this message (Shown below):
http://img37.photobucket.com/albums/v113/combatkiller/afterconvert-failed.gif
I don't know what to do and I'm getting quite irritated. I have no clue what's going on, and so I ask...Help me! :weep:
Edit:
I HAVE the ficedula dll file just in case anyone suggests it's that...because it's not.
Edit (Second time):
I fixed the problem!! :D :D :D :D :love: :love: :P :D 8) 8) :) :love:
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For anyone who still gets this message reported earlier when using the cloudquality.exe:
Acces Violation at adress 00000000. Read of adress 00000000
the solution:
i just put the "ficedule.dll" & "ficeconsole.dll" in the same directory as the .exe i was using and it worked perfectly.
hope that helps.
By the way, get .exe file, keep up the great work.