Custom graphics driver for FF7/FF8 [v.1-.7.6]

[Xelane]

this is why u want to backup your files prior to tinkering with them

[Kranmer]

great thanks for this Aali. I will test this later today when i get back on my computer with ff8 installed. But now i cant wait until i can test this later today. Also which EXE's does it work with or does it work with 1.0 + 1.2Geforce and 1.2NoneGeforce ?

[Aali]

You tell me, it definitely requires one of the two 1.2 patches though.

[Kranmer]

ok just gave it a quick test and doesnt seem to work with 1.2 Non-Geforce EXE but seems to work with 1.2 Geforce EXE. Also i do have a Geforce card but the non geforce EXE does work without the driver so i dont think that is the cause.
I also noticed in both the cfg file and when it crashes it still says FF7 (i know this isnt a problem but thought i should say this anyway)


The App.log from the non-geforce EXE when it crashes is this (i can upload the crash dump if you need me to)

INFO: Auto-detected version: FF8 US English
INFO: NVIDIA Corporation GeForce 9600 GSO/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW! 3.1.0
INFO: OpenGL 2.0 support detected
INFO: Found swap_control extension
INFO: Original resolution 640x480, window size 1280x896, output resolution 1194x896, internal resolution 1280x960
INFO: FBO extension detected, using fast scaling/postprocessing path
MATRIX INITIALIZE
ERROR: unhandled exception

[seifertemp]

Aali, shall we just make you king of quimms?

   It just gets better and better

edit:

for a first release it is excellent.  Window mode without messing about!  Finally!

[Terid__K]

This is weird... I couldn't get past the credits screen, no matter what button I pressed. The music just kept playing and the Squaresoft logo kept looping.

EDIT: Ok, I managed to get past it. It seems it wasn't detecting my controler for some reason.

Anyways, performance is really good. World map looks like crap (I guess you haven't found out how to use the high res textures yet?).

That's pretty much it so far (other than the ones you already mention). Definitely great for a first release, you work really fast O_o

EDIT2: I get slowdowns in some areas of the world map. That was to be expected I guess. Diablos summon is working correctly with no missing effects (Although the bats have a bit too much transparency).

[seifertemp]

works flawlessly here aali, with some minor hitches.  The battle menus are all translarent and broken but I am not complaining....

also, fraps remains at 30 FPS with FF8  in the field... no deviation, no change.  Is it just because it is better coded than 7?  Because I wish 7 could be as smooth as this while recording.  I even used fastcappro with 7 same thing happened but with 8 it is as smooth as a whistle.

Anyway here is a vid of your driver in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2NKvEeCpwg&fmt=18

[Covarr]

Known problems
"Battle swirl" doesn't look right.

A pretty insignificant problem considering that everybody has trouble with the FF8 battle swirl in all cases anyway.

[Terid__K]

Known problems
"Battle swirl" doesn't look right.

A pretty insignificant problem considering that everybody has trouble with the FF8 battle swirl in all cases anyway.

In this case though, the battle swirl is almost completely missing. Something that definitely needs a fix.

[seifertemp]

Known problems
"Battle swirl" doesn't look right.

A pretty insignificant problem considering that everybody has trouble with the FF8 battle swirl in all cases anyway.

In this case though, the battle swirl is almost completely missing. Something that definitely needs a fix.

You mean the lines that come across the screen and initiate the battle, yup they are missing completely, see vid above

[Covarr]

Ugh, I can't find my install disc for FF8. I think I know where it is, but if so I won't be able to test this driver until Friday

Does/will this driver support custom resolutions like your FF7 driver does?

[Aali]

Hmm, the non-geforce version should've caused version detection to fail. You should not have been able to get that far with it.

Anyway, I have a feeling the non-geforce version is the horse to bet on. If the geforce patch does what I think it does, that's the reason AA isn't working. (Which graphics card you have is completely irrelevant here)

The blending problems in battle concerns me though.. I have no clue why it's happening or how to fix it. It's just going to be trial and error

Covarr:
It supports almost everything the FF7 version does.

[Kranmer]

anyway i have just started testing and so far i am impressed. Also i have noticed even though the battle's menu is transparent you can see them if you press select (thats what i have it assigned to on my joypad anyway but i mean the discription key) and they become solid as long as the help menu is infront.

[Makubex (Mendelevium)]

 
Great work Aali..
I am wondering...
My current PC is Non-Geforce..
So it won't work?

Maybe its because my computer isn't Geforce but i tested it..

here is my App. Log

INFO: Auto-detected version: FF8 US English
INFO: Intel Intel Bear Lake B 1.4.0 - Build 7.14.10.1437
INFO: No OpenGL 2.0 support detected, shaders won't be available
INFO: Found swap_control extension
INFO: Original resolution 640x480, window size 640x480, output resolution 640x480, internal resolution 640x480
MATRIX INITIALIZE

(how come it says No  Open GL detected... when i obviously have it... the FF7 Drivers work magnificently..)

and here is my crash dmp.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ycntnozgnmb


*Edit*

I tested it on my
Windows XP
with A GeForce NVidia 5500 graphics card....
The drivers made the game run really slow..
like you know the EIDOS FMV at the beginning, how it only takes 20 seconds..
try 20 mins... and it still wasn't done..... i left it there and did some errands... came back.. still the EIDOS screen.. it didn't Freeze.. it was still moving...
that is how it is with the FF7 drives as well..

I delete your driver's and used the 1.3 (HI Res/ 8-bit texture fix launcher) Launcher..
and the game runs fine....

I don't get it.
-.-

The FF7 Driver's run perfectly on my Vista (this PC.. the one with internet)
But, my XP seems to have trouble using your drivers Aali...

I can't get the FF8 drivers to work on this PC (my Vista) either.. maybe its cause its not a GeForce??

[Aali]

Seems like the geforce patch was not causing the problems with AA after all. It does cause the 1 pixel fade issue though.

But now that I know whats going on I can compensate for that so both versions will look the same.

I may be able to solve the AA problem with a nice and easy hack aswell, but it does point to a more serious problem with FF8's sprite engine. (Due to a miscalculation somewhere it ends up positioning sprites 1/3rd of a pixel off)

[pyrozen]

I've just installed the newest version for FF7 and it works/looks great @ 1152x864.  I'm having a wierd issue though where my mouse pointer is still visable ingame as a semi-transparent square that will not go away.  I'm not sure what's going on since i couldn't find anyone else with this problem, and the game doesn't crash so there is no log to send.  The game is still playable, but that damned pointer is so distracting.
All settings are left to their defaults except for the resolution fields.

SPECS:
A7N8X-E Deluxe
2G RAM
2.4GHz AMD XP-M
ATI 3850 HD AGP version

lee

[halkun]

Seems like the geforce patch was not causing the problems with AA after all. It does cause the 1 pixel fade issue though.

But now that I know whats going on I can compensate for that so both versions will look the same.

I may be able to solve the AA problem with a nice and easy hack aswell, but it does point to a more serious problem with FF8's sprite engine. (Due to a miscalculation somewhere it ends up positioning sprites 1/3rd of a pixel off)

The original PSX GTE has a rounding error that programmer commonly compensated for. Maybe some the the compensation code creeped into the PC version?

[Prince Lex]

Could this fault be anything to do with the way the World Map looks?

[Aali]

Well it doesn't matter what caused it, it's gone now. Both geforce and non-geforce versions work fine with 16xAA, no fade glitch, no texel alignment issues.

Completely unrelated to the low-res worldmap issue. The game doesn't even load the high-res textures for the driver to use, they're just loaded into memory and never used. They probably disabled them at the last minute to counteract the awful worldmap performance on cards without 8-bit palette textures.

[Makubex (Mendelevium)]

So you fixed all the problem


yay.. then i will be able to play it with your next release.
^.^

40 pages! And my 80th post!
xD
 

[Hellbringer616]

So is there a way to re-enable them Aali? Or are they just going to sit there for every unable to be used?

now that i think about it, With what you've done with FF7, you'll end up fixing it sooner or later haha

[Terid__K]

2009 is a good year for Final Fantasy, it seems.

[Aali]

Even if I can't reenable them per se, it would be fairly trivial to make the driver sidestep FF8 and just load the textures directly.

The blending issues in battle is priority #1 right now though.

I'm also taking requests for other translations of FF8, you provide the .exe and I'll make it work for the next version.

[Covarr]

# set the window size (and fullscreen resolution) of FF7
# 0 means use original resolution (whatever ff7.exe provides)

Minor issue. I'm not sure it's even big enough to qualify as a bug. But FF7 != FF8.

[Hellbringer616]

Yeah i figured the new textures is kinda low on the list.

But i have faith you will get this as amazing as your FF7 driver is!