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

[drfeelgud88]

oh ok, so will that mean that it will happen again in taht same area? and aw! teh save point was RIGHT there! now i have to start from where i last left off..   

[Prince Lex]

Actually, what Aali just said suggests to me that it probably won't happen again.

[seifertemp]

or that it will but randomely.

[Terid__K]

This?

INFO: Auto-detected version: FF8 1.2 US English (Nvidia)
INFO: NVIDIA Corporation GeForce 7600 GS/AGP/SSE2 2.1.1
INFO: OpenGL 2.0 support detected
INFO: Found swap_control extension
INFO: Original resolution 640x480, window size 1366x768, output resolution 1024x768, internal resolution 1280x960
INFO: FBO extension detected, using fast scaling/postprocessing path
MATRIX INITIALIZE
INITIALIZING SOUND...
  initializing direct sound
  EAXDirectSoundCreate
  creating primary buffer
  initializing audio data
  OK
  initializing streaming
SOUND INITIALIZED
DIRECT MUSIC - Enumerating Ports...
PORT 0: SoundMAX Digital Audio
GUID={0x490a03e8,0x742f,0x11d2,0x8f,0x8a,0x0,0xc0,0x4f,0xbf,0x8f,0xef}
PORT 1: Mapeador de MIDI da Microsoft [Emulado]
GUID={0xb971831f,0x58db,0x444b,0xb5,0xd8,0x20,0x3b,0x2c,0xd8,0x42,0xa2}
PORT 2: SoundMAX WDM MIDI [Emulado]
GUID={0xb7ec7694,0x41a,0x41c5,0xa8,0x8d,0x53,0x1e,0x6b,0x66,0x42,0x5d}
PORT 3: Sint. softw.tab. sons wave MS G [Emulado]
GUID={0x59f1a216,0x22d,0x44e9,0xb4,0x69,0xcd,0x26,0x47,0x6d,0xde,0x25}
PORT 4: Microsoft Synthesizer
GUID={0x58c2b4d0,0x46e7,0x11d1,0x89,0xac,0x0,0xa0,0xc9,0x5,0x41,0x29}
Creating Port1...
    SoundMAX Digital Audio
  Port1 supports XG data
BinkClose

[Aali]

Nothing out of the ordinary there.. nothing that would explain why you can't see those Goddamned Bats(tm) anyway.

[Kranmer]

what Graphics driver version are you using Terid_K ? Also does any of that happen if you run the game on its own ? (i mean without any loaders or custom configs etc)

[Terid__K]

what Graphics driver version are you using Terid_K ? Also does any of that happen if you run the game on its own ? (i mean without any loaders or custom configs etc)

Forceware 163.75. No, that does not happen with the game on it's own (Although the bats do show up as black squares, that could be the lack of 8-bit palleted textures support). I don't get slowdowns with the FF8 launcher either.

The bats DID show up on the first version of the driver, but they were transparent.

I'll do a few more tests with different configs to see if I can get anywhere.

[Kranmer]

hm strange, But also your driver is really out of date so if your gonna mess around with things i would recommend backing up your current driver then trying the 190+ drivers to see if it makes any difference (it may do but since like you said it worked in previous versions it is unlikely this will fix the problem but i would say its worth a try if your desperate).

[Terid__K]

I don't think my video card would benefit from newer drivers. Those were meant for next-gen cards, it wouldn't do much for me right now.

Anyway, the bats decided to show themselves again. All I did was run FF8Config and change from hardware to software rendering. Oh, and I also removed FF8 launcher and dx_hook.dll from the game folder.

Yes, I'm still running the driver, so settings like that shouldn't have any effect (right?). Slowdown is still happening, but I believe in future versions this will go away.

EDIT: It seems the bats do appear in some battles, and in others they don't. Very weird indeed.

[Servior]

Hi,

tried to use this driver, but game crashed @ startup

app.log & crash.dmp:
http://www.servior.de/tools/ff8.zip

I'm using Forceware 185.85.

[Aali]

Hi,

tried to use this driver, but game crashed @ startup

app.log & crash.dmp:
http://www.servior.de/tools/ff8.zip

I'm using Forceware 185.85.

You're using the non-geforce version from Squeenix, use the geforce version instead.

[drfeelgud88]

ok, that random crash never happened again, hehe, i guess it was just loading problems or my pc or something (altho the game's like new) but anywayz, this driver is workin its wonders so far... thanx aali

[Skillster/RedSarg99]

Someone want to point out to me what the advantages are over the default d3d engine?

[Millenia]

Someone want to point out to me what the advantages are over the default d3d engine?

Better compatibility with modern hardware, offers custom resolutions (up to any monitor's max resolution), removes some graphical limits for modders like maximum texture size or bit depth, minigame fixes...

There are lots, it's totally worth using.

[Kudistos Megistos]

Someone want to point out to me what the advantages are over the default d3d engine?

Better compatibility with modern hardware, offers custom resolutions (up to any monitor's max resolution), removes some graphical limits for modders like maximum texture size or bit depth, minigame fixes...

There are lots, it's totally worth using.

And doesn't it also allow us to play the game on Linux with Wine?

But yeah, it makes a lot of patches obsolete as well as giving all of those other advantages; the only things necessary to play the game now are this and the FF7 1.02 patch AFAIK (and maybe not even the 1.02 patch). Whenever I hear of anyone having problems with the game, the first thing I tell them to do is use this driver; it's something everyone should be using now.

BTW, this topic has 1046 replies   Pretty impressive, and way ahead of the next longest thread on the forums.

[Aali]

Found another glitch in FF8, when you first meet Julia at the hotel there's an odd flashing triangle going from the center of screen to the right.

[seifertemp]

agreed.  This driver has finally ended the problems with this game.

[Covarr]

FF8 Glitch: On the boat on the way to the exam, a single triangle of Seifer's hair flashes white repeatedly. It's a very minor issue, and didn't bother me at all, but for all I know the cause may be some huge underlying problem, so I felt the need to report it.

Question: I had the first release of the FF8 graphics driver and videos were displaying all white. Since then, I installed ffdshow and the latest release of the FF8 graphics driver, and videos work right. Which of these was it that fixed them.

[Aali]

Yeah I noticed something like that with Edea too, a single triangle flashes on/off. Along with all the other odd things caused by the renderstate being just a little bit off, this is probably caused by the same thing.

None of those should make any difference. The video decoder is in the bink library and you'll only get white videos if you don't have NPOT texture support.

[Litude]

Weird, I also got white videos (actually they started out fine and then faded into white?) using the first release of the FF8 driver, but with the second release they are now being displayed correctly for me.
Great work on the FF8 driver by the way!

[arew264]

And doesn't it also allow us to play the game on Linux with Wine?

Heh, I wrote that test result. The game crashes when you go to the Quit menu, but other than that, you can play in Wine with no problems. The Midi is unsteady, which irritates me, but I guess FF7Music would get you around that. Dunno if that works under Wine though.

[Aali]

Another minor problem with FF8, at the entrance to the lunatic pandora during the second dream sequence there's a weird-looking black semi-transparent block that probably shouldn't be there.

[obesebear]

Whenever I press pause on the world map (FF8) only a grey box pops up.  I'm not sure but I think there should be some letters there 
The smoothing between colors of grey (such as picking which save file to load) doesn't transition anywhere near as well as its FF7 counterpart

[Aali]

Whenever I press pause on the world map (FF8) only a grey box pops up.  I'm not sure but I think there should be some letters there 
The smoothing between colors of grey (such as picking which save file to load) doesn't transition anywhere near as well as its FF7 counterpart

I already reported the pause issue about a page ago

The menu background is a texture in FF8.

[Franck19520]

Hi! I'm french so excuse for my poor english.
I really appreciate your work with custom driver Aali and i recently rediscovered ff7. Thanks a lot
but with ff8 the custom driver doesn't work: it tell me french is not supported... So I want to know if you'll make it work with the french versions soon? is it possible? or may i prepare myself to forgot this possibility ?
As well, thanks again for your work...