Running in Xp 64bit?

[LimitBreak]

Hello. I am having trouble getting the game to play. I tried downloading the 1.02 patch and even the "hoax" patch. I installed no problem, but it crashes right after I start up the game. The Eidos logo music plays, but the screen is black and I get one of those error messages saying the program has caused an error and will shut down, would you like to send this information to microsoft yes/no (I wonder if they get many error reports about FF7PC these days...). My cd's are the original version that came out about a decade or so ago. I was wondering if anyone has gotten this to work on a 64-bit O/S. I've tried setting the compatibility modes to 95,98,and XP to no avail. I'm probably just missing something really simple.

My specs:
Windows XP 64 bit
Core 2 Duo 7200 @ 3.33 (god help me on the bike minigame)
Geforce 8400 GS

[qwerty103]

First things first. In your FFVII Configuration (chocobo icon) check both Nvidia and TNT. See if that helps.

I'm using 64-bit Vista and no problems so I don't see why you having some problems with yours.

[LimitBreak]

I just did a fresh install and installed the 1.02 patch. I did the Nvidia/TNT check and... no go. I tried all the different compatibility modes and still nothing.

Eidos music starts... then
"FF7 has encountered a problem and needs to close."

I also tried installing the ff7betap1 but it quits to the desktop right after I agree to the EULA. What else did you do to get yours running besides ticking the NVIDIA/TNT box?

[qwerty103]

I just did a fresh install and installed the 1.02 patch. I did the Nvidia/TNT check and... no go. I tried all the different compatibility modes and still nothing.

Eidos music starts... then
"FF7 has encountered a problem and needs to close."

I also tried installing the ff7betap1 but it quits to the desktop right after I agree to the EULA. What else did you do to get yours running besides ticking the NVIDIA/TNT box?

Hmm, I'm not really good with this. Wait till dzuigo comes, he usually knows the answer when it comes to these kinds of crashes.

But first you gotta make sure that you're doing it right. Be careful on putting some patches because there are some patches that will only work if you put them in order. I'm sure that you need to put the 1.02 patch first (before doing anything else) then the high res patch (if you use them). I had problems like that (not the same but almost similar to yours) and it was because of the patches or the FF7 Configuration sometimes.

There are also some patches that have missing files. This link is always good because it always works check it out, you might like some patches to use:  http://fem1.uniag.sk/Miroslav.Jezik/ff7ncopam.html

It can also be because of your codec. Try to install the Truemotion 2.0 codec. If you can, try to reinstall it again with that codec. Did you check the two required drivers during your first installation? They say that you should uncheck both of them. Truemotion 2.0 codec (just take out that ff7betap1 and manually install the codec, that ff7betap1 might also be an older version idk) :  http://forums.eidosgames.com/archive/index.php/t-62737.html

[LimitBreak]

Thanks for the links!

Okay, I reinstalled K-Lite and fixed up my codecs. Now I can run the game, but it just skips over the movies! So I went to the first link you posted and downloaded the duck.exe program. Problem is, it requires a serial number. I went to the truemotion site (duck.com) and they have a nice little message saying, "Sorry, FF7 players. We don't support this anymore." How did you guys install this thing, because there's no serial number provided in the ZIP file?

Also, if I install the codec via the second link and I get the error message again. I uninstall it, and the game starts... but again no video.

[dziugo]

The codec is also on the InstallCD, just choose "Install movie player" from the install menu. If you still get the black screen, it means that some other codec is trying to play the movies. I'd check the ffdshow configuration one more time. And I'm not really sure what you mean by "it just skips over the movies". Can you be a little more descriptive on this?

[LimitBreak]

Sure. It doesn't actually skip over them so much as it plays a completely black screen for the movie duration. If I click the mouse button twice it goes to the new game / continue screen. If I don't, there just a long, black pause before the main screen.

Edit: I just installed the movie player from the InstallCD. Like the codec from qwerty's second link, I can play the movie in WMP, but the error returns when I actually try to run the game, only now I cannot uninstall it, so I can't even get to the menu.

[dziugo]

Then, as mentioned above multiple times, you have to tweak your codec setup. Drastic measure would be to uninstall all the codecs and then install them again starting with truemotion and ensuring that everything works in FF7 before moving to other codecs.

[LimitBreak]

Well, I just completely uninstalled K-Lite and cleaned up the registry with CCleaner afterward. Everything runs fine. I did all the ffdshow configurations but none of that seemed to help, which doesn't make any sense that uninstalling K-Lite would fix everything (because the main one I tried was, of course, disabling TrueMotion through ffdshow). The problem is, I need K-Lite to play DVDs. I'm not familiar with the vast amount of codecs that K-Lite offers up on install, so any help on what ones I should check off?

[dziugo]

The FMVs play fine now? If they do, you can install kLite (or any other codec pack). You'd probably still have to check the ffdshow settings but other than that, it should work just fine.

[LimitBreak]

Well, I reinstalled the K-Lite and K-Lite 64 codec packs. I left everything at default (meaning TrueMotion decoder is set to libavcodec) and... everything works. I'm still completely confused, but at least the game works.

So, I guess, uninstall all codec packs, install FF7, install the movie player from the CD, reinstall the codec packs, install 1.02, and all is well in XP64....

... for now.




Thanks for all the help!

[dziugo]

Good for you.

Why it works now? If there are multiple codecs able to play the specific file, and both has the same priority, the one which was installed earlier gets the chance to play it. The reinstall solution worked for many years, it just still is a drastic measure to me, as simple tweaking should work too.

[qwerty103]

Glad to hear it's working.

Weird I never really had to install that Klite codec (I know most people needed it) to get my FMV's working. The only codec that I used was the Truemotion and everything runs fine.

Maybe I already had the other codecs from the beginning.

[LimitBreak]

Nah, I didn't need it to get the FMV's working, but I do need it to play my DVDs, so not having it is not an option.

[qwerty103]

Ah kk. ^^ Make sure you try some of those cool patches.