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

[Soul]

thanks. heres another, why am i hearing crappy sounds when i activate the driver? the sounds are broken when i scroll my selection finger up and down..

[d33eniz]

Oh, awesome, v0.7.3b is out! I didn't recognized it- won't you edit your first post? Aweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[bluejv7]

Here's a crash report.  Happened in the motorcycle scene when fighting the boss, 1st disk.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/2bon1xz0gfm/crash_submit.zip

It was when the boss used "twin burner"
...

[untalented893]

Woohoo! Works nicely! THANKS!

[InuRa]

Changelog
Fixed the random crashing.
Fixed some less than random crashing.
Added configuration option to enable/disable the new transparency features.
Improved error handling w.r.t. broken models.
The drivers own text rendering doesn't look like crap anymore (not that anyone gives a sh*t, it's only used for the debug info anyway)

Thanks again for the update!
I have never had any crashes with your custom graphics mod, but i might have been just lucky or not played long enough.
Btw, I'm guessing i need to install a separate patch to see those transparencies? Or how do they work, and where can i check them out?

Hmmmm, the only thing missing now is a "complete replacement" for FF7Config.exe so we don't need to run the registry files and be careful if we run that program by accident.

[Aali]

Here's a crash report.  Happened in the motorcycle scene when fighting the boss, 1st disk.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/2bon1xz0gfm/crash_submit.zip

It was when the boss used "twin burner"
...

Confirmed, there is a problem with the flamer attacks of motorball when fancy_transparency is on.
I could not reproduce the crash though, I just got the error messages.
Turning off fancy_transparency while you fight the boss will solve the problem.
A permanent fix has already been implemented for the next version.

[AngeBleu]

An Other Crash appeard:

Battle vs emerald weapon: when he launches emerald beam's attack

[Aali]

Are some of the graphical effects missing/flickering/glitching when he does the attack? In that case it's the same issue.

[Masqurin]

Hello Aali,

Great work with the drivers, and all works at my Final Fantasy VII. But I think the Final Fantasy VIII is'nt setup for the german version? Too bad, maybe you can add it (I think is just a hash-check for correct patched *.exe? *just suggesting - don't cut my head ;O*)?
The problem is, I can't use the eng *.exe, because the program looks for /eng/ folders inside the packed files (at Final Fantasy VII it was possible to use the eng *.exe with drivers and german game by renaming some data (before you add there the support - so nevermind ).

Here is a Link for the GeForce 1.2 german patch.

- Masqurin

[Kauto]

I adapted a median filter for post processing:
http://www.intergenies.com/file/median.post

It worked really well. It rounds the edges. Try it for yourself. Here are some screenshots:

[Mako]

I adapted a median filter for post processing:
http://www.intergenies.com/file/median.post

It worked really well. It rounds the edges. Try it for yourself. Here are some screenshots:

This looks Amazing!!!!!! Please share how did you do this do you just add the text to the config file or do something else?

[pyrozen]

just wanted to say i moved all my stuff off of xp and onto win7, and the driver is functioning perfectly.  Great job aali!

Lee

[pyrozen]

rightclick save as on the median.post file. save it to your ff7/shaders directory.  then open ff7_opengl.cfg and change this section so it looks like this:

Code: [Select]

# post-processing shader, used to apply fullscreen effects
post_source = shaders/median.post
enable_postprocessing = yes
overall the filter looks pretty good, it's not overly powerful and smooths things out nicely.  On the other hand, it causes alot of other textures to simply lose detail.  That's just the drawback to using postprocessing that blankets everything, you have no control over what gets filtered. It would be cool if it ccould be contained to only altering the background textures
lee

[Mako]

Don't know what I am doing wrong! Everything looks like an oil painting super blurry and here's the thing when I go to create a screenshot It's super sharp! So I have no proof my settings are...
 
# ff7_opengl config file

# use shaders, if available and supported
# turn shaders off to use the OpenGL 1.1 backend
use_shaders = yes

# plugins
# a movie plugin is required, the music plugin is optional, but required to make FF7Music work
movie_plugin = plugins/ffmpeg_movies.fgp
#music_plugin = plugins/ff7music.fgp

# vertex and fragment shaders
vert_source = shaders/main.vert
frag_source = shaders/main.frag

# post-processing shader, used to apply fullscreen effects
post_source = shaders/median.post
enable_postprocessing = yes

# display frames per second counter in upper right corner
show_fps = no

# display some real-time debug information
show_stats = no

# set the window size (and fullscreen resolution) of FF7
# 0 means use original resolution (whatever ff7.exe provides)
# preserve_aspect adds black borders as needed to preserve a 4:3 aspect ratio
window_size_x = 1920
window_size_y = 1080
preserve_aspect = no
fullscreen = yes

# prevent glitches due to rounding errors by rendering in the nearest (larger, if supported)
# multiple of the original resolution and up/down-scaling
prevent_rounding_errors = yes

# check your driver settings if this option doesn't seem to work
enable_vsync = yes

# limit snowboard, coaster and highway minigames to refresh rate / 2, i.e. 30fps for a 60hz display mode
# vsync must be enabled and working for this to have any effect
minigame_framelimiter = on

# same thing, but for the battle swirl
battleswirl_framelimiter = off

# replace FF7's default framelimiter timer source
use_new_timer = yes

# use a more stable (but less accurate) timer to control FF7's framelimiter
# this option has no effect unless the use_new_timer option is on
use_stable_timer = no

# allow FF7 to use linear filtering for its textures
# some things look slightly better with this option on, but alot of textures just lose their detail
linear_filter = yes

# enable alpha blending for textures without an existing blending effect
fancy_transparency = on

# read files directly instead of using LGP archives
# this option requires you to have all your LGP archives unpacked in direct/, with one folder for each archive
# for example; if FF7 is looking for aaab.rsd in char.lgp, this option will make it open direct/char/aaab.rsd instead
# this option should be used for testing only, performance will take a hit
direct_mode = off

If anybody has any idea's please let me know.

http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae246/Mako_07/untitled.jpg

[Kauto]

It would be cool if it ccould be contained to only altering the background textures

Maybe it would be possible with access to a depth texture which contains the z-coordinates of the screen.

[pyrozen]

Don't know what I am doing wrong! Everything looks like an oil painting super blurry and here's the thing when I go to create a screenshot It's super sharp! So I have no proof my settings are...
 

it could be due to the fact you are postprocessing,and using linear filtering. turn off linear filtering and see how it looks.

[Mako]

Don't know what I am doing wrong! Everything looks like an oil painting super blurry and here's the thing when I go to create a screenshot It's super sharp! So I have no proof my settings are...
 

it could be due to the fact you are postprocessing,and using linear filtering. turn off linear filtering and see how it looks.

Nope thats not it. This is strange...Hmmmmm

*EDIT* GOT IT...It was my resolution!! For some reason my gpu on 1080p HDMI does this super color thing and makes it look terrible!. For future reference just play the game in full screen saves a lot of headaches.

P.S Thanks pyrozen your always there for me to save the day wish I could say the same about my lazy boyfriend.
 

[halkun]

Ack! A Girl! Run while you still can! 

[Aali]

I think the resolution thing is a problem with the shader actually, since it doesn't touch the width and height uniforms it will sample the wrong areas of the screen if you're running at some higher resolution.

[CyberPirate]

Good job on the custom driver Aali, works like a charm! Would be nice if you could add a feature to boost the overall FPS of the game a little though.

[arew264]

Good job on the custom driver Aali, works like a charm! Would be nice if you could add a feature to boost the overall FPS of the game a little though.

He already added one, you just have to buy a better video card or a new computer for it to work.
Seriously, that's something that just can't be done here. You want better FPS? Lower the resolution, turn off shaders, or get a better computer. This isn't a graphically demanding application.

Now, rage aside, this just isn't something that's technically feasible or a priority. You can't just "speed it up" under normal circumstances. Aali might find some sort of optimization that would make the game faster, but that's not likely to happen, nor is it a priority. On ordinary hardware, this game runs with no performance issues, and the custom driver already makes it faster.

[InuRa]

Think he's referring to the "internal" frame caps the game has.
The thing is FF7 is extremely FPS dependant, thats why there were a lot of patches to make the game work at the right speed in some places before, but our hero Aali solved all that for everyone and made the game ever better with his video mod, tho it's not flawless.
Luckily the default 30FPS make the game completely smooth even on my laptop and I imagine this game will even play just as well on an Atom N270 with the GMA950.
Just turn the FPS in the corner off so you don't get psychologically disturbed and enjoy this awesome game.

[CyberPirate]

He already added one, you just have to buy a better video card or a new computer for it to work.
Seriously, that's something that just can't be done here. You want better FPS? Lower the resolution, turn off shaders, or get a better computer. This isn't a graphically demanding application.

Now, rage aside, this just isn't something that's technically feasible or a priority. You can't just "speed it up" under normal circumstances. Aali might find some sort of optimization that would make the game faster, but that's not likely to happen, nor is it a priority. On ordinary hardware, this game runs with no performance issues, and the custom driver already makes it faster.

Don't worry about my specs, they are top notch, but I remember I used a side-effect of Dziugo's patches that made the FPS increase because I think the game is generally slow. I'm not complaining or anything, I just asked if it was a possibility.

[Hellbringer616]

FF7 ran at 30 FPS on both PS1 and PC (a mere 15FPS for cutscenes)

Which is slow yes, But thats how the game is meant to be played

[sithlord48]

as some of you may know i run this game w/ wine on a linux machine. lately ff7music is once again on the fritz. other wise ff7 works perfectly (thanks again aali for this awesome video driver). i get sound effects. but no backround music. this whole outdated ff7music thing has got to go.. i was thinking since this driver works perfectly w/ wine and there for should allow ff7 to be played on just about any platform w/ wine support. why not create a ff7music plug in for the video driver. now i know there is one that uses ff7music but its not exactly what i am proposing. this plug in would bascily do the work off ff7music thus elimiating it and enabling users to easily set there own custom songs. in the plugin's config

first off is this possilbe w/ your video driver, or does this reside more in the area of the exe. if its not possible does any one know if ff7 supports its own native music driver in a similar way that it supports the gfx driver?
if it is possible, what sort of external calls does the driver make in terms of the soundtrack. and how would i go about creating a plugin for it ?