New Member, Couple Questions

[Downing]

Hey Guys,

My name is Downing, new member and FFVII adict since it's original release. I like many other have been waiting for a remake of the game for the modern systems, but I just happened to stumble upon a picture that showed 3D modles of the characters and of course had to persue.

I'm amazed I didn't find this sooner, and perhaps that's a bit of an issue seeing how most of the technical info I've seen so far is a couple years old. But no matter, it's what's out there to work with and I'll make it work.

With that said, I've got a few issues. Now being a Mod myself over at the MBB forums (it's a video game console modding site) I know how annoying it is to answer the same question a thousand times. I know the info is out there, but there's just soooo much of it it's hard to search. Plus I don't know what's out dated and what's current. I've got a fair bit of computer knowledge and have done mods before, but here's what I'm up against.

To start, I had Windows Vista.
I had the 1.02 patch installed and Aail's Graphics Driver 7.11 or the latest that I could find.
I had PRP installed and working.

Then...I tried installing TAO. I got the message that Aail's driver wasn't installed and it was. Reading through I found that with Vista, using the "Run as Admin" usually helps. Well I had a problem with that because of an old error my PC has had since I got a virus two years ago. Any time I would "Right-Click" in Windows explorer, it would crash. Well my computer needed an OS upgrade anyway, so I sprug for Windows 7 upgrade, thinking that would clear up the issue. So after 4 hours or so of going through that mess, I got upgraded and then tried right clicking on Aail's driver to run as admin. CRASH....

So I'd just upgraded for nothing so I went back to the Internet and found the issue was within my regeistry and was a HOT_KEY or something like that. They said that finding the one causing the issue and deleting would fix it. So, I went in and found one that had something to do with WINRAR that was almost a duplicate of the entry below it. Deleted and boom, first try I had my right click back!

So back to the install of TAO. After right clicking and running Aail's, I went to the installer for TAO and it loaded up! So I installed it and everything looked good. Went to test it...the screen would pop up and then close almost just as fast. No message, no reason. I uninstalled the game, patches and deleted the Square Soft, Inc folder and reinstalled everything, same issue. The game wouldn't even run without the mods/patches.

So I guess I'm just wondering what's up at this point. Do I need to uninstall and then do a reg cleaner like CClean or should I just burn my discs to ISO's and give that a shot, though I don't think that's the issue. I will try and update the drivers to my graphics card as I know after the OS upgrade I just downloaded the software and might not have reinstalled the driver, though I figured that would have been done automatically. It's a Radeon HD 6870, so more than powerful enough to run this without issue. Compatiablity mode didn't help either.

Phew, I know that's a mouthful and a long intro post, but I really want to play this game again with the new mods installed. Be like playing it again for the first time! Any direction would be great, I don't mind doing research, but like I said, there is so much info out there, hard to tell what's good and what's crap. Thanks!

Downing

[PitBrat]

Don't use the PRP installer.  It creates separate .exe and data files that are not compatible with other mods.
Instead, use the Unified Model Installer for models or Bootleg for a complete overhaul.

Bootleg0038.zip                                 PitBrat         Bootleg Configurator                    Qhimm FILE
U001.exe                                        DLPB++          Unified Model Installer                 Qhimm FILE
U001 battle.part1.rar - .part2.rar              DLPB++          Unified Model Installer in 2 Parts      Qhimm 01 02

[Downing]

Cool! Was reading up on the bootleg a bit. Which would you prefer and do I need to do a regestry clean before hand, or did I read that bootleg overwrites all previouse entries anyway?

I assume this has to be run as Admin and requires both the 1.02 patch and Aali's Driver? I'll read into both some more.

*Edit* Nevermind, all the info was right there. Thanks!

[Downing]

So PitBrat,

Every one of the files in Red has to be downloaded for this to work correct? But not every one has to be used, nor could they because I've noticed that some do the same function just differently?

So in theory if I wanted to just use PRP and TAO those are the only two I'd have to configure?

Now I also extract these to the mods folder in the FFVII directory, exactly as it shows in the read me? Not in a seperate folder for each mod?

Just trying to understand basics on how this works.  I'm about half done with the downloads, got everything up to the movie section complete.

[PitBrat]

Don't extract anything.
Download bootleg and extract the archive into the same folder with the mods.
Install ff7.
Run bfe.exe.
Configure the settings and click mod list.
That will tell you which mods are required.

[Downing]

Cool. I'll give that a shot when I get home from work then. My hats off to ya man, this and many of the mods seems like it took an overwhelming amount of time to produce. Very impressed and excited to see the dedication and generosity of everyone here in making these remakes. Can't wait to play it!

[Downing]

This is working great! Thanks a lot! One more question and then I'll leave you alone! What config do you figure is closest to the PRP and TAO only. I'll play around with the configs, but I wasn't sure if you'd know specifically. Thanks!

*EDIT*

Actually I lied...does bootleg have to reinstall everything every time I change a config?

[PitBrat]

Bootleg installs everything again when it is rerun..

[Downing]

I see...so does that mean that every time I want to change my config, Bootleg has to reinstall everything all over again...or is that what that optional .zip file is for.  Does that allow you to wipe out the folder and replace it with a copy of a clean install? I think that's what I read. Cool program though, makes life easier no doubt, but my FFVII file is up over 7 gigs now!

[Downing]

Another couple of questions...I know, sorry but I am learning a great deal so they are of great value to me.

I uninstalled everything because I wanted to change a few settings after playing around with them and getting some that I liked. However I'm noticing now that when I change a config, like limit break or profile cards for example, when starting the game they don't change, even after a fresh install. The music and sound effects will change, but that's it.

I'm going to assume it has something to do with my registry but I have no idea how to go and find it using regedit. Is there a path that I need to clear to be able to enable the changes I want? 

Also is there a way to change settings without reinstalling using bootleg every time? I'm getting the hang of it, but it takes time like anything else and I'm just kinda stuck on this one. Thanks guys!

[nfitc1]

As a new member we'll overlook this, but don't double post. You can modify your most recent post if you need to.