FF7 on Win7-64bits : no sound during movies

[Lokiador]

Hello Everybody

I have installed FFVII PC version (the oldest kind - I bought it back when it was released on PC!) on Windows 7 64bits pro edition.

I have used the 1.02 patch (french version), then the 7.09b OpenGL patch, then ff7music.

Everything run perfectly well until a movie starts (the one in which reactor 7 is blown up) : Not a single sound ! Then, the game remains mute for the next few scenes.

Searching this issue on the internet, I came upon some explanations stating that this is being due to FF7 muting the music during some movies (the one who do not have any background music), which results in windows 7 in ALL kind of sound being muted (until the game orders music to be unmuted, which reactivates the whole sound).

However, I did not find any solution (besides installing winXP). Please note that this issue arise also without the FF7music patch.

Any kind of help would be very appreciated !

[Covarr]

Umm, Aali's graphics driver coupled with FF7Music really *should* fix this issue, at least if you installed it right. Can you post the contents of your ff7_opengl.cfg?

[Lokiador]

Sure ! Here it is :

# ff7_opengl-0.7.9b config file



## USER OPTIONS ##
## If you just want to play the game, these are the only options you'll want to change.

# set the window size (or 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 = 1680
window_size_y = 1050
preserve_aspect = yes
fullscreen = yes

# mod directory
# subdirectroy of mods/ where textures will be loaded from
# does not affect the old external textures feature, those should still go in textures/
mod_path = none

# 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

# 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 = no

# plugin used to play music, the FF7Music plugin MUST be enabled for FF7Music to work.
# If no music plugin is loaded the game will play MIDI as usual but FF7Music will NOT work.
#music_plugin = plugins/ff7music.fgp



## ENHANCEMENTS ##
## All the little extras that weren't part of the original game, default options include only trivial bug fixes.

# make all dialog boxes transparent, same effect as the transparent dialog boxes YAMP patch
transparent_dialogs = on

# allow max hp/mp to go over 9999, same effect as the YAMP patch by dziugo
break_9999limit = no

# include armor in magic defense calculation
mdef_fix = yes

# expand battle viewport to cover entire screen and make the battle menu transparent
new_battle_interface = off

# post-processing shader, used to apply fullscreen effects
post_source = shaders/bloom2.post
enable_postprocessing = no



## ADVANCED OPTIONS ##
## Don't fiddle with these unless you know what you're doing.

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

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

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

# display some real-time debug information
show_stats = no

# store external textures in a compressed cache for increased performance
# compression is not lossless, some artifacts may appear when this option is in use
# texture cache does NOT update automatically if the source image changes, however, deleting anything from the cache
# will cause that file to be recreated from the source
compress_textures = yes

# 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

# plugin used to play movies, FFMpeg is the only choice for now
movie_plugin = plugins/ffmpeg_movies.fgp

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

# YUV fast path shader
yuv_source = shaders/yuv.frag



## MODDER OPTIONS ##
## These options are mostly useful to modders and should not be enabled during normal play.

# read files directly instead of using LGP archives
# for example; if FF7 is looking for aaab.rsd in char.lgp, this option will make it open direct/char/aaab.rsd first,
# if this file doesn't exist it will look for the original in the LGP archive
direct_mode = off

# show every failed attempt at loading a .png texture
show_missing_textures = no

[Covarr]

I assume you didn't use my installer or tutorial to install ff7music. Anyway, this should fix your problem:

In ff7_opengl.cfg, find this line:

Code: [Select]

#music_plugin = plugins/ff7music.fgp
and remove the # so it looks like this:

Code: [Select]

music_plugin = plugins/ff7music.fgp
Basically, this will have the driver remove the midi music so that ff7 doesn't even try to mute it.

[Lokiador]

I made the tweak you suggested, which resulted in music being completely removed from the game (although other sounds did subside)

As for your installer and/or tutorial on ff7music, well, I may have overlooked it. Maybe you could tell me were I can find it, using it may resolve the issue.

Thank you in advance !

[Covarr]

If you're getting no music now, that means FF7Music isn't working properly.

This installer should do all the work for you, and it includes both finalfantim's remastered OST (which sounds great IMO) and the original PSX music. I should warn you, though, it is a rather hefty download, at a bit over 300MB. Note that it does NOT install FF7Music to the default FF7 directory, so you'll need to use the copy it installs rather than what you already have. To make things convenient, it'll put a shortcut on the desktop to start ff7 and ff7music together, if you don't want to deal with configuring them or custom settings or anything.

[Lokiador]

Now it works adequatly, and the remastered OST is indeed fantastic. Thank you.

There is still a slight glitch  : Music carries on during movies where it should be muted : for instance the movie following the blowing of sector 7's pillar. No big deal in my opinion, but that means sound and music cannot work properly under win7 (damned retrocompatibility...)