FF8 no-disc

[endlessdamage]

I feel as though i read something to this nature before, but i do not remember where it was, or what path the discussion took.. so here goes.

Is there any way for me to install all four discs of FF8 to my computer so when i run the game, it never asks me to insert disc(#) or to switch discs while i progress through the game?

I am not looking to rip the image from my disc and mount it as a drive, i feel as though it would be easier just to switch the disc then to do that ( anyway I say that method is only for you damn pirate folks out there [argh] )

Maybe there is a way that i could possibly create four folders inside the FF directory and name them D1, D2 respectively. and have the contents of each disc in those folders. Would i then have to go and edit something so the game does not look for a disc, rather it runs   blank.blank   from   \FFVIII\D1 ?

I am not looking to make a new installer for the game, as I know that is not allowed, merely, a way around the above mentioned nuisance.

[xLostWingx]

Hi again dude.  I don't know the answer to your question, but you may want to consider changing the Subject/Topic whatever of this.  Maybe "Transferring FF8 to the HDD" or "Running FF8 from the HDD" or whatever you feel best identifies what you are trying to find out.  Just watching your back in case someone wants to come along and scold/warn w/e you for not specifiying.  This is a good idea because a) its in the rules and b)i can't help you with this, yet i found my to this topic only to discover there is nothing i can do.  Good luck

[obesebear]

Yep it is in the rules.  But the only person harmed by nonspecific subjects is the original poster.   I read every post of every thread now, but before I was a moderator, something like "Is there any way..." or "so I was wondering"  would get ignored immediately.   A little common sense goes a long way.

[Shankifer]

I see very few possibilities here.
Disc-Switching isn't a huge concern, and it's also one of the ways you can be sure a person is playing a legitimate copy. The first option would be to do what you said you didn't want to do, Rip the CD's to iso files. and find out what point it asks for which CD's in the game, and setup some kind of rigging that auto-mounts.

Or setting as many Disc Drives as you need, mounting them all, and just hotkeying them to turn on and off as you need them.

Pushing all the files into one massive iso is a nice idea,but the names of the discs is what I think FF looks for so it would be messed up.

All-in-all the most stress-free way, is to just iso them and mount. less stress on your PC and less stress on you. just two right clicks and 4 left clicks if you keep a my computer and FF8CD folder open while you play.
What you're describing is playing the games without,or without all of the CD's, which doesn't make the game any better/worse. Maybe if all the game and data could be installed it would be beneficial to run speeds... but really not much of a difference.

In my experience games that were "Altered to install all components to my program files" in comparison to the real game with disc changing, disc changing is the most efficient.

[endlessdamage]

Thanks. And i will change the name of the subject as soon as i get home I am on my way frantically running out the door now and I am still late. The only reason i want to do this is because first, the cut scenes. The disc doesnt start to spin up until after 10 seconds or so when it should be playing, so it freezes for a minute, then keeps going. And I havent quite figured out what causes it yet, but if i switch tasks whilst the game is running. it just crashes. Ill post more when I have more time later. Until then thank you and sorry about the subject.

[nfitc1]

The only reason i want to do this is because first, the cut scenes. The disc doesnt start to spin up until after 10 seconds or so
when it should be playing, so it freezes for a minute, then keeps going.

This is a hardware thing. Your drive is slow. Doesn't matter if it's a 50+ speed or whatever, if it doesn't read efficiently that'll be your worst restriction.

And I havent quite figured out what causes it yet, but if i switch tasks whilst the game is running. it just crashes.

That's just a Windows thing. For some reason it's never liked switching out of a full-screen application. Memory and processing power are handled differently when it's a full-screen game like this. The game just assumes it's the only thing getting processing time and kinda flips when it doesn't. Some games are better at that than others, but not ones made before XP came out.


As for your original problem, yes there is a way, but no one's going to be able to tell you. As obesebear says it's against the rules. I'm sure it's possible to do, but it's likely going to be complicated. It's pretty easy in FF7 to do that, but since you can already set it to run most of the stuff off the HD anyway it's not much doing. I think FF8 specifically looks at the hardware config and checks optical media drives. I tried to make a no-CD crack for it once, but I don't remember it going anywhere.

[endlessdamage]

The topic has been changed =]

As for it being a hardware problem, I do understand that, and that is exactly why I want to run the cds from my hdd, so there will be no lag. ( I ran out of money when building my computer, I forget to factor in only one thing, the optical drive.. So i had to use an olllldd 16x cd-rom drive from some old p.o.s. sitting around the house. )

NFITC1, Thanks for your response. At least now I know why i can't switch tasks, which helps ease my mind slightly =]

[Playhazard]

If you are gonna mount it you need to go into Reg-Edit.

If you're on Windows 7 you go to this

Hkey_Local_Machine > Software > Wow6432node > Square soft, Inc > Final Fantasy 8 > 1.00

Then click "DataDrive" set it for the drive your trying to play the disk on. 

I've done this and it works.  Now I just have to figure out why mine crashes when I try to load game >_<

[endlessdamage]

If you are gonna mount it you need to go into Reg-Edit.

If you're on Windows 7 you go to this

Hkey_Local_Machine > Software > Wow6432node > Square soft, Inc > Final Fantasy 8 > 1.00

Then click "DataDrive" set it for the drive your trying to play the disk on. 

I've done this and it works.  Now I just have to figure out why mine crashes when I try to load game >_<

Thanks, I don't necesarily want to mount the disc, because then I do still have to switch when I finish  portion of the game. Oh well, its just an ignorance I will have to deal with.