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1

FAQs and Tutorials / Re: STICKY: FF8 Enhancing

« on: 2009-06-24 19:21:00 »

I'd like to add that if anyone has problems with instruments not playing in Vista (and they sure do because of how Vista handles audio) especialy when using custom DLS (like Samuel's) there is a way to fix it by putting an "old" dmsynth.dll (aka Microsoft Synthesizer) file in the game directory. The file can be downloaded here.
I tested this on 64bit Vista and it works like a charm.
This dll file and the marvelous FF8 Launcher from magixts bring this game into the modern era,what more can a ff8 fan ask for?

Another addition to this issue.
With SP2 for Vista they updated the dmsynth.dll as well.The best part of it is that many games got surround sound back, and a lot of games work as they should now (if they had issues because of sound).
It also fixes the missing instruments issue in FF8 when using the "Microsoft Synthesizer" as the device which is necessary for Samuel's DLS and gives the best sound.
It's nothing new for FF8 because it worked great with the method I wrote before but just as information, another way you can get normal sound back is by installing Service Pack 2 for Vista or just using the dmsynth.dll from it.

Also, I tested it on Windows 7 RC too and it works.
If anyone wants only this dll - download here
You can put it in the game directory just like the previous, older dll that fixed the problem (I see 71 downloads, looks like it was usefull) but there is no reason to do it because the old one works just as fine.

So why would you need it? If you have sound issues with other games too and not just with FF8, this new dmsynth.dll will likely fix those problems too, on Vista and Windows 7 (currently RC status).I noticed that I got surround sound back again in all the games that didn't want to use surround in Vista and Win7 and Metal Gear Solid 2 actually starts, without sound issues+surround and is playable untill the end!
For it to work on a "global" level, you have to put the dll in C:\Windows\System32 ...the old dll there may have some protection, so you have to "own" it to delete/rename

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FAQs and Tutorials / Re: STICKY: FF8 Enhancing

« on: 2009-01-25 21:14:28 »

I'd like to add that if anyone has problems with instruments not playing in Vista (and they sure do because of how Vista handles audio) especialy when using custom DLS (like Samuel's) there is a way to fix it by putting an "old" dmsynth.dll (aka Microsoft Synthesizer) file in the game directory. The file can be downloaded here.
I tested this on 64bit Vista and it works like a charm.
This dll file and the marvelous FF8 Launcher from magixts bring this game into the modern era,what more can a ff8 fan ask for?

in long

You're not hearing all the instruments because of Vista's sound system.
You probably noticed that instruments are missing when you use "Microsoft Synthesizer" as a music device..which you have to use in order to get any good sound at all and for Samuel's DLS.

You have to place an "older" dmsynth.dll in the folder where your game is installed and that's it.
I uploaded the file here.

An easy way to test it is with FF8MIDI from the main site www.qhimm.com
When you apply Samuel's DLS files and try to play "Balamb garden" with "Microsoft Synthesizer" selected as the device I guess you won't hear any sound at all for like 12 seconds.
If you put the dmsynth.dll file in the same folder as FF8MIDI and then start it you should now hear the sound as it should be.

So...once again,dmsynth.dll has to be in the same folder as the main game .exe or any other program/game you intend to use it with.

3

Archive / Re: FF8 music, possible to replace the default midi with mp3s?

« on: 2009-01-25 20:51:32 »

You're not hearing all the instruments because of Vista's sound system.
You probably noticed that instruments are missing when you use "Microsoft Synthesizer" as a music device..which you have to use in order to get any good sound at all and for Samuel's DLS.

Soooo...to the point,you can fix it!
You have to place an "older" dmsynth.dll in the folder where your game is installed and that's it.
I uploaded the file here.

I have Vista 64bit and it works great.

An easy way to test it is with FF8MIDI from the main site www.qhimm.com
When you apply Samuel's DLS files and try to play "Balamb garden" with "Microsoft Synthesizer" selected as the device I guess you won't hear any sound at all for like 12 seconds.
If you put the dmsynth.dll file in the same folder as FF8MIDI and then start it you should now hear the sound as it should be.

So...once again,dmsynth.dll has to be in the same folder as the main game .exe or any other program/game you intend to use it with.

edit:oh, X-Fi ...well...I never had an external sound card but try this dll stuff,I hope it will help

As for the main topic question it would be really nice to exchange the sound with mp3s ... ...

edit: may 2011.
I'm not entirely sure, but I think Windows 7 got an update which fixed the overall broken midi support in it (which was done for Vista SP2 but not for Win7 for some time after it's release).

So an updated Windows 7 or Vista SP2 shouldn't run into any problems with Samuels DLS.
If for any other reason you're running Vista/Vista SP1 then just put this dmsynth.dll to where your FF8.exe is.

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Troubleshooting / Re: FF8 Launcher - Custom resolutions and 8-bit paletted textures fix (patch)

« on: 2007-12-28 17:13:15 »

Hi!
I got a problem with this new v1.3,it doesn't want to start.All the previous versions start and work but this one gives an error.I tried changing settings manualy in the config.cfg file but it didn't help.
Windows XP SP2
"This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect.Reinstalling the application may fix this problem."

Hope you can help

EDIT:fixed....Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86) is what it needed to start...funny...the same problem as Ossott's but Vista gives other info than XP

Well looks like magixts can freely add the info that v1.3 needs Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package

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FAQs and Tutorials / Re: STICKY: FF8 Enhancing

« on: 2007-12-25 13:20:55 »

First of all hi! 
I want to say a HUGE thanks to magixts for the patch!Great job!
I almost gave up hope that there will ever be a fix for the black texture corruption and that I'm stuck with software rendering and oh boy a higher resolution patch?OMG 

so here it goes..
Intel Core2Duo E6750 clocked @ 3.4GHz,2GB ram,8600GTS (FW 169.21-Beta),WinXP SP2 the game runs great in 800x600,1024x768 and 1920x1440 resolutions with forced 16x Anisotropic and 16xQ AA from the Nvidia CP....didn't see any artifacts yet with those settings but without the Anisotropic and AA there was flickering on the top of the screen.

The game doesn't start in 1280x960 and 2560x1920 resolutions,ok the last one is too much for my monitor and i can't select 1280x960 as normal resolution (desktop) eighter but i can choose and play with the 1280x960 in all games except in this one so it looks like this resolution change isn't the "normal" change like other 3d apps have..well ok...it's not a problem at all when i can run at 1920x1440