Author Topic: [FF8PC-Steam] Project Eden - dramatically improved backgrounds (v1.0) (Read 342694 times)

Omzy · « **on:** 2014-06-12 01:44:56 »

Project Eden v1.0
A collection of 4x-resized background textures for FFVIII.
These are the result of my field resizing batch script which I will release once it has been tested more. As this is a beta release, many textures have bugs that you will notice in-game. Some of these bugs are from the photoshop script, and some of the bugs are from Tonberry's hashing. Over time, as players point out these bugs, both will be refined until we are at 100% completion. Note that there may still be some bugs in Tonberry that may affect your gaming experience, potential crashes or lag during summons have been noted.

Pardon a few of these screenshots which may be missing lighting or other little things--they should look normal in-game, for the most part.
(Click to Enlarge)

Download
Download the 1.3GB pack. Then, if there are other files that have been fixed, you can download those packs and apply them manually.
*If any of these links go dead, ask the community for a mirror.

Download: Project Eden (~1.3GB)
Torrent: Project Eden (~1.3GB) (Link down for now, anyone have mirror?)

Install
Requires the most updated version of Tonberry.

After downloading the big pack, you may download individual fixes and 'patch' the folders inside the big pack with the fix (copy&replace). Your directory structure should resemble this:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Final Fantasy VIII\textures\(lots of folders). Refer to Tonberry's documentation for folder structures.

Feedback
-If you have trouble installing or getting files downloaded, post in this forum so that others can respond with help.
-Please document glitches in this format when you find them, and keep the running list posted in each new reply so we can see all of them in one spot.

[Name of field file from PuPu/Deling] : [problem with Tonberry or Project Eden?] : [description of problem]

Glitched Field List
(alphabetical, re-post this quote if you are adding to the list)

Quote

Tonberry Hash Errors:
bcsaka_1 or bcsaka1a : Tonberry hashing error : flag animation is old texture
bgroad_4 : Tonberry hashing error: bushes on bottom are old texture

Project Eden Glitches:
bghall_3 or bghall3a: Project Eden glitch : black borders around water
bghall_4 or bghall4a : Project Eden glitch : wrong elevator layers
bgroad_4 : Project Eden glitch : white border around tree leaves

*See newest replies for updated list

EQ2Alyza · « **Reply #1 on:** 2014-06-12 02:34:04 »

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I would love to test this immediately.

Omzy · « **Reply #2 on:** 2014-06-12 03:40:47 »

Quote from: EQ2Alyza on 2014-06-12 02:34:04

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I would love to test this immediately.

Great! I posted my Tonberry release in the Tools section like an hour or 2 ago (before this thread) but it hasn't been approved by the forum moderator yet. I'll need lots of help with that project before this project.

Omzy · « **Reply #3 on:** 2014-06-25 03:32:58 »

Main post updated with release. Keep in mind this is a beta release, so expect to see bugs, especially since I'm releasing this and Tonberry at the same time. If you find fields that don't look right, please document them. Try to find the name of the field file by using PuPu or Deling. If there is a texture that has parts that look like the old version and not resized, that is a hashing error (Tonberry)--document it as such. If, however, there is a problem with the way the layers overlap, that is a Project Eden script error, document it as such. Let me know if you guys have problems with the download, I'll try to get a torrent going soon. Happy testing

Aavock · « **Reply #4 on:** 2014-06-25 04:13:16 »

Truly amazing once again Omzy, I will test Project Eden this weekend !

Mcindus · « **Reply #5 on:** 2014-06-25 04:57:01 »

OMG why is this not in releases!?

::DOWNLOADOWNLOADOWNLOAD::

Sorry. I might have peed myself.

You're my hero. Again.

KaidenJames · « **Reply #6 on:** 2014-06-25 05:35:43 »

Does this work with the Steam version?

Edit: It works with Steam version. Thank you Omzy, amazing work!

LeonhartGR · « **Reply #7 on:** 2014-06-25 05:39:59 »

I guess we can notice a noticeable difference only if someone would re-create those backgrounds in a more detailed version. Work that's been done is still amazing though and I'm going to try them asap.

Mcindus · « **Reply #8 on:** 2014-06-25 10:39:01 »

I made a gameplay video of FF8 buffed up with a bunch of Mods thanks to Omzy, Tonberry, and Project Eden!
I'm also using RaW and Tripod v1.1 as well as my as of yet unreleased text/menu/art upscale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uOKgOMPzD4

It looks amazing!!

I can't wait for magochocobo's mod! I'm almost salivating.

Salk · « **Reply #9 on:** 2014-06-25 14:37:53 »

Amazing!

You did it again!

EQ2Alyza · « **Reply #10 on:** 2014-06-25 15:58:18 »

The east side of Balamb Garden is getting the black borders around the water animations.

http://youtu.be/IfHkWVr1X4o?t=1m52s

Sonicmfc · « **Reply #11 on:** 2014-06-25 17:21:11 »

Thank you so much for this I am really happy FFVIII is finally getting modding attention!

Mcindus · « **Reply #12 on:** 2014-06-25 20:10:19 »

Also - just noticed that the elevator on the first floor in balamb isn't being rendered properly... we're floating when we come down the tube into 1F.

Omzy · « **Reply #13 on:** 2014-06-25 22:05:31 »

Quote from: EQ2Alyza on 2014-06-25 15:58:18

The east side of Balamb Garden is getting the black borders around the water animations.

Quote from: Mcindus on 2014-06-25 20:10:19

Also - just noticed that the elevator on the first floor in balamb isn't being rendered properly... we're floating when we come down the tube into 1F.

Thanks for pointing those out. I think as testing goes on further, it will help to have glitches in a consistent format so I can fix entire lists of textures quickly instead of trying to hunt down what exactly is wrong where. If you don't mind the extra work, please document glitches in this format when you find them, and try to keep a running list in each new thread posted so we can see all of them in one spot. I'll go ahead and start it.

[Name of field file from PuPu/Deling] : [problem with Tonberry or Project Eden?] : [description of problem]

For example, the two that were mentioned:
bghall_3 or bghall3a: Project Eden glitch : black borders around water
bghall_4 or bghall4a : Project Eden glitch : wrong elevator layers

One with Tonberry hashing errors:
bcsaka_1 or bcsaka1a : Tonberry hashing error : flag animation is old texture

One with both Project Eden and Tonberry errors:
bgroad_4 : Tonberry hashing error: bushes on bottom are old texture
bgroad_4 : Project Eden glitch : white border around tree leaves

Running List (alphabetical, re-post this quote if you are adding to the list):

Quote

Tonberry Hash Errors:
bcsaka_1 or bcsaka1a : Tonberry hashing error : flag animation is old texture
bgroad_4 : Tonberry hashing error: bushes on bottom are old texture

Project Eden Glitches:
bghall_3 or bghall3a: Project Eden glitch : black borders around water
bghall_4 or bghall4a : Project Eden glitch : wrong elevator layers
bgroad_4 : Project Eden glitch : white border around tree leaves

Also, can someone move this post to releases please, or PM me with who I should ask.

Kaldarasha · « **Reply #14 on:** 2014-06-26 07:01:35 »

Curse you! If you haven't made this mode for the Steam release I never ever had considered to buy the game again. But well, now the game is on sale for 66% off. Must resists ... must resis ... Screw you Steam and Omzy! I'll buy it!

By the way how can I convert the models into blender and back?

monty777 · « **Reply #15 on:** 2014-06-26 08:51:09 »

Trying to get this to work on my old Vaio Laptop but i get an error. Is my old Mobility Radeon HD 3470 - 256mb Graphics Card too weak maybe? Also, when i installed Microsoft VC++ Redistributable it was repaired. I'm doing everything correctly i think. Must be either my graphics card or a problem with the Redistributable...what else could it be? Any suggestions? Not even the Tripod Mod will work on its own, but i can play the unmodded steam version without any problems, hmm....weird.

Mcindus · « **Reply #16 on:** 2014-06-26 09:09:46 »

Quote from: monty777 on 2014-06-26 08:51:09

Trying to get this to work on my old Vaio Laptop but i get an error. Is my old Mobility Radeon HD 3470 - 256mb Graphics Card too weak maybe? Also, when i installed Microsoft VC++ Redistributable it was repaired. I'm doing everything correctly i think. Must be either my graphics card or a problem with the Redistributable...what else could it be? Any suggestions? Not even the Tripod Mod will work on its own, but i can play the unmodded steam version without any problems, hmm....weird.

What error? If it's some kind of MCblahblah.DLL error, it's the VC++

Make sure you have the latest versions of Tonberry - also, make you sure you exit steam completely before you mod. You need to download your latest graphics drivers for your video card so you have DirectX9. Also, since you had a problem with VC++, I would uninstall/reinstall it.

LeonhartGR · « **Reply #17 on:** 2014-06-26 15:35:21 »

Quote from: Kaldarasha on 2014-06-26 07:01:35

Curse you! If you haven't made this mode for the Steam release I never ever had considered to buy the game again. But well, now the game is on sale for 66% off. Must resists ... must resis ... Screw you Steam and Omzy! I'll buy it!

By the way how can I convert the models into blender and back?

lol

monty777 · « **Reply #18 on:** 2014-06-26 19:16:44 »

Quote from: Mcindus on 2014-06-26 09:09:46

What error? If it's some kind of MCblahblah.DLL error, it's the VC++

Make sure you have the latest versions of Tonberry - also, make you sure you exit steam completely before you mod. You need to download your latest graphics drivers for your video card so you have DirectX9. Also, since you had a problem with VC++, I would uninstall/reinstall it.

"An unknown exception has occured"....is the error message...yes do have the latest Tonberry, latest hashmaps, and im unable to update my graphics drivers because of no support for the Mobility Radeon HD 3470 - 256 mb. But i do have Directx9. Did uninstall and reinstall VC++ And im not a noob at modding, applying patches etc either. Could it really be that my Graphics Card is too weak for the upscaled Textures? It's not just this mod, but as soon as i installed Tonberry, nothing works anymore. But thanks for your help anyway, really appreciate it.

Omzy · « **Reply #19 on:** 2014-06-26 19:40:46 »

Quote from: monty777 on 2014-06-26 19:16:44

"An unknown exception has occured"....is the error message...yes do have the latest Tonberry, latest hashmaps, and im unable to update my graphics drivers because of no support for the Mobility Radeon HD 3470 - 256 mb. But i do have Directx9. Did uninstall and reinstall VC++ And im not a noob at modding, applying patches etc either. Could it really be that my Graphics Card is too weak for the upscaled Textures? It's not just this mod, but as soon as i installed Tonberry, nothing works anymore. But thanks for your help anyway, really appreciate it.

It is possible. The new textures are 4x but what that really means is 16x the number of pixels. Since each normal-sized texture is loaded once by the game so that it can be hashed, that means that loading textures requires 17x processing power compared to the original. I expect to see some trouble on older machines, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean it is definitely the problem you're having. Keep in mind, there still may be crashes that I'm not aware of after playing for a while or at certain junctures in the game, and someone has already brought up potential crashes when the game syncs with SE servers. There may also be a problem with the way you put the files in your directories.

xNuSeNsE · « **Reply #20 on:** 2014-06-27 18:55:36 »

This mod is brilliant, thank you so much. One little problem I'm having though, is there any known fixes for this?

EQ2Alyza · « **Reply #21 on:** 2014-06-27 19:36:42 »

There can be. This is essentially a beta release, so we need everyone to report the texture glitches. If you come across anymore, please report them here. Screenshots help!

xNuSeNsE · « **Reply #22 on:** 2014-06-27 20:19:00 »

No problem, will do.

Also I'm running Win 8.1 and the only other mod I'm using is the Roses and Wine audio mod.

Omzy · « **Reply #23 on:** 2014-06-28 19:48:18 »

I don't mean to sound rude with this, but I added a statement above the downloads section that states:

Quote

*Please DO NOT post any direct links to files, always link to this forum thread. Especially, do not make any links to adfly or any other ad site

My reasons for this are as follows:
1) I don't believe (ethically) that anyone should be profiting in any way off of game mods unless they require donations to stay in operation
2) If people want to download these files, I prefer that they come to the forum to do so. This allows them to see the other projects on the forum and potentially become interested and also provides them a place to find support for these mods
3) I shorten my URLs now using Google URL shortener because it provides interesting analytics on the number of clicks and countries that people click from and I'd like to keep track of those things

Aavock · « **Reply #24 on:** 2014-06-28 21:47:00 »

Quote from: Omzy on 2014-06-28 19:59:30

I don't mean to sound rude with this, but I added a statement above the downloads section that states:My reasons for this are as follows:
1) I don't believe (ethically) that anyone should be profiting in any way off of game mods unless they require donations to stay in operation
2) If people want to download these files, I prefer that they come to the forum to do so. This allows them to see the other projects on the forum and potentially become interested and also provides them a place to find support for these mods
3) I shorten my URLs now using Google URL shortener because it provides interesting analytics on the number of clicks and countries that people click from and I'd like to keep track of those things

Quote from: Covarr on 2014-06-28 20:55:01

4) If you release an update, direct links will become outdated.

This doesn't just apply to this mod, but to all mods, and to software in general. It's always better to link to the official download site/forum post/whatever.

100% agreed.

I haven't experienced any problems so far using Tonberry but I'm playing the french version so some of the fields layers are kept untouched (maybe just by renaming the one *.png layer file would solve it ?).

Project Eden looks extremely good, I've tried the 4x xBR algorithm and it does a great job compared to; results are very similar to Omzy's, maybe slightly more sharp edges but the colors gradient are not as smooth, here's a preview, let me know what you guys think: