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

[arew264]

I'm on Linux, and until recently, my Linux box didn't have a CD drive (or rather it did, I just didn't have enough IDE channels to hook it up and I didn't have a PATA->SATA adaptor). I tried to just mount an ISO of the disk, but ff7 complained that it wasn't the actual disk. Oddly enough, it worked when I mounted the ISO, copied all the files to another folder, and told WINE to treat that folder as a CD drive with the label FF7DISC1. Doing the same thing with the folder where the ISO was mounted made ff7 complain that I didn't have the CD in.

[Terid__K]

FINALLY figured out what was wrong. It turns out that it was indeed my video drivers that were causing all the problems. I just updated to 190.38 forceware and everything (even Diablos' bats) was fixed.

Sorry for confusing you Aali, updating the drivers should have been the first thing I tried to do.

[ViagraPolice]

Having problems with FF7 custom driver......

Opening movie plays fine but when I go into battle screen the game crashes and does the crash dump plus app.log here's what it says.

INFO: Auto-detected version: 1.02 US English
INFO: FFMpeg movie player plugin loaded
INFO: FFMpeg version SVN-r19334, Copyright (c) 2000-2009 Fabrice Bellard, et al.
INFO: NVIDIA Corporation GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+/PCI/SSE2 3.1.0
INFO: OpenGL 2.0 support detected
INFO: Found swap_control extension
INFO: Original resolution 640x480, window size 1920x1080, output resolution 1440x1080, internal resolution 1920x1440
INFO: FBO extension detected, using fast scaling/postprocessing path
LOCK UNLOCK TEST
MATRIX INITIALIZE
INITIALIZE DD/D3D END
initializing sound...
creating dsound primary buffer
reading audio file
loading static sounds
sound initialized
INITIALIZING MIDI...
selecting device 0:Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth, mid=1, pid=102,
midi data type: GENERAL MIDI
using midi data file: C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\Data\midi\midi.lgp
midiOutGetVolume returned: ffffffff
MIDI INITIALIZED
set music volume: 127
MIDI set volume: 127
100% of 127 = 127
set music volume: 127
MIDI set master volume: 100
MIDI set volume: 127
100% of 127 = 127
Entering MAIN
Exiting MAIN
START OF CREDITS!!!
INFO: G:\FF7\Movies\eidoslogo.avi; truemotion2/pcm_u8 320x240, 15.000000 FPS, duration: 10.133333, frames: 152
set music volume trans: 127->0, step=60
MIDI set volume trans: 127->0; step=60
MIDI stop - OK
MIDI stop - OK
END OF CREDITS!!!
Entering MAIN
set music volume: 127
MIDI set volume: 127
100% of 127 = 127
Exiting MAIN
START OF MENU SYSTEM!!!
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save00.ff7
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save01.ff7
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save02.ff7
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save03.ff7
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save04.ff7
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save05.ff7
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save06.ff7
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save07.ff7
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save08.ff7
ERROR: COULD NOT OPEN FILE C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\save/save09.ff7
END OF MENU SYSTEM!!!
Entering MAIN
Exiting MAIN
Field Start
MIDI stop - OK
INFO: G:\FF7\Movies\opening.avi; truemotion2/pcm_u8 320x224, 15.000000 FPS, duration: 119.400000, frames: 1791
MIDI play: 2
reading midi file: OB.mid
current volume: 127
MIDI is playing SUCCESSFULLY!!!
Field Quit
Entering MAIN
Exiting MAIN
Entering FRAME_INITIALIZE SWIRL
Exitting FRAME_INITIALIZE SWIRL
Swirl sound_effect1
stop_sound
End of Swirl sound_effect1
Entering FRAME_QUIT SWIRL
Exitting FRAME_QUIT SWIRL
Entering MAIN
Exiting MAIN
[BATTLE] Entering FRAME_INITIALIZE
[BATTLE] Scene# 300
[BATTLE] Exitting FRAME_INITIALIZE
ERROR: unhandled exception

EDIT: I found the solution by reinstalling the game and carefully applying the patches this time

[Aali]

And where's the crash dump..?

Also, are you running any mods?

[LeeHiOoO]

I'm sorry, I'm trying to use the custom driver, but it appears like I'm making some mistake as I can't make it works.
I updated the registry with the .reg file that comes with the pack... put the files in the folder, but my ff7 seems to run the normal way.
And any modifications I do in the .cfg file it takes no effect at all. I don't get any APP.LOG also...

What Am I doing wrong? btw, i'm running in Windows 7 RC - en

 

[Hellbringer616]

run FF7 as admin. it'll work

[LeeHiOoO]

YAY! Thx... now it seems to works.. but I'm getting "No-cd versions not supported" error...
Need to use original ff7.exe ?

nevermind... i got it works with 1.02 original exe.

Amazing Work!!! Gratz Aali!

[LeeHiOoO]

I'm just wondering... is someone already hi-res'ing textures?

[CygnusRekcah]

SOMEONE HELP!!!!! How does this work I extracted the files to my FF 8 folder but how do I change the resolution, trying to use this cause ff 8 launcher by magixts didnt work for me

[LeeHiOoO]

Change options in .cfg file.
Open it with notepad.

[Satoh]

I'm just wondering... is someone already hi-res'ing textures?

What exactly do you mean by this question?

Are you asking if someone is modifying the EXE to use the textures that aren't working properly in FF8 PC?

OR

Are you asking if someone is attempting to raise the quality of existing textures to a new larger size to fit the higher capacity of the new driver?

If it's the latter, then I have a photoshop plugin that allows for increasing image sizes while retaining a large amount of clarity (thus making them look about as good as they can without being re-rendered alltogether)

I'd be more than willing to try resizing all of the images in one map to test the concept of hirez field maps... but someone else will have to re-inject the new textures into the game for testing... I don't have 7 or 8 PC accessible at this time...

I'll post an image for comparison (original image size scaled up, and the new image with the special resizing process) later if you're interested...

Maybe we can reinvent FF7 and 8 altogether with better model rendering AND maps... Well anyway, I have high hopes for this driver.

EDIT:

Here is a part of the Iron Man enemy from FF8, I don't have any map images to use so this was the next best choice...




Personally I find the quality of the fractal scaled version to be the most appealing... Specifically look at the brown decorations and the chink cut out of the chest plate.

[Xelane]

i dont see a difference

[LeeHiOoO]

I'd be more than willing to try resizing all of the images in one map to test the concept of hirez field maps... but someone else will have to re-inject the new textures into the game for testing...

Ok, resize field map md1_stin from ff7 and i'll inject to test it... and i'll post comparison ss's
What about animated parts of bg fields? Can u resize the layers too?

[Satoh]

I'd be more than willing to try resizing all of the images in one map to test the concept of hirez field maps... but someone else will have to re-inject the new textures into the game for testing...

Ok, resize field map md1_stin from ff7 and i'll inject to test it... and i'll post comparison ss's
What about animated parts of bg fields? Can u resize the layers too?

I should clear up something... as I do not have the games on hand, I can't access the textures directly... plus, I don't even know how to get to the texture at "md1_stin" XD;;  Then again I suddenly realize I can't ask you for those textures as that would be technical redistribution...

Instead I suppose I can point you toward the source of my plugin...

Fractal Scaling...

Anyway I hope this helps... in the future I'll try to think through my offers better XD;

[CygnusRekcah]

ok I opened .cfg file with notepad and in window size x i put 1440 and in window size y I put 900 because I want a resoolution of 1440x900, but when I start the game these huge black blotches appear. am i doing something wrong?

[Satoh]

ok I opened .cfg file with notepad and in window size x i put 1440 and in window size y I put 900 because I want a resoolution of 1440x900, but when I start the game these huge black blotches appear. am i doing something wrong?

Try 1200 x 900... I believe FFPC's are designed for 4:3 I don't know whether that affects Aali's driver, but for sake of argument, try it anyway.

[Covarr]

ok I opened .cfg file with notepad and in window size x i put 1440 and in window size y I put 900 because I want a resoolution of 1440x900, but when I start the game these huge black blotches appear. am i doing something wrong?

Try 1200 x 900... I believe FFPC's are designed for 4:3 I don't know whether that affects Aali's driver, but for sake of argument, try it anyway.

No, mine is set to 1680x1050 (16:10) and it simply pillarboxes it. Unless the blotches being referred to are just black bars on the left and right, the problem is probably something different than a widescreen problem.

[CygnusRekcah]

tried setting res to 1200x900 and it still doesnt work, the black blotches appear in the middle of the screen, I think it might have to do with the 8 bit paletted textures cause when i run magixts launcher the blotches don't appear but the resolution stays the same, 640x480 even when I change it to 1440x900 or any other res

[Aali]

Please post a screenshot.

[CygnusRekcah]

ummm I got the screen shot but how do I upload the image to this forum???

[Kudistos Megistos]

Upload your image to imageshack (or a similar site), then post a link here. Also, if you haven't done so already, use a program like paint to change the screenshot to a .jpg image.

[CygnusRekcah]

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/3974/ffviiix.jpg

here is the image

[CygnusRekcah]

BTW, thanks kudistos for the tip on how to upload the image

[Satoh]

It is an alpha issue, there's no doubt about that...it is possible that the paletting got screwed up for you somehow... but as Aali is obviously better at this than I, I'll leave it up to him to figure out.

Those black areas all correspond to a transparent area on an overlain layer. As I'm sure you noticed, however, those areas are not transparent.

Though in the end my post is a waste of time...

[Aali]

You're not using the driver.

I'm curious to know how you managed to get a resolution of 720x480 though.