FF7 PC, Too Fast?

[squad417]

I recently got a new computer and put on ff7. The speed is fine for most of the game except for the mini-games. The the motorcylce part when you leave midgar and the chocobo race are wayyy too fast. I want to slow just those parts down. I'm not so sure about the submarine game but I'm betting that it will also be fast. The snowboarding part is fine since you control every aspect of it.

Is there a way to slow down those parts of the games? I have a p4 1.8ghz 512ddr ram computer. Please help. I nearly die in the mortorcycle game and the chocobo race ends in only 30 seconds!

Also, does anybody know when Yamaha is going to release their xp version of their xg softsynth? I thought it was suppose to be released in janurary but it's already been 8 months.

[Aaron]

...Perhaps we should throw this into the FAQ?

Anyway, the motorcycle part of the game (and perhaps the Chocobo races? dunno) were written back when people had 150 mhz computers, and I guess they forgot to put in a speed limit.  As far as I know, there's no way to slow it down.  You can try using Software Rendering for those parts (it'll be at least a little slower) or you can try to find some way to keep your processor busy or slow it down.

[Synergy Blades]

I get those symptoms too. I just had to do as best as I could on the motorcycle game, when the boss came along my characters where near death  
From time to time the Chocobo Race will be extremely fast, but for most races, the speed is limited to what it was on my old computer. Oddly it seems to happen most when you let Tifa ride in place of Cloud.
The submarine game is also fast - just sit there tapping [switch] as fast as possible and the game's over.
I'm glad you could control the snowboarding part because I couldn't! It kept crashing on every second corner.  :weep:

Edited to add I'm using an Athlon 1.3GHz, 512MB RAM, GeForce3.

[CloudStrife]

I have no problem in French Version on my Athlon XP 1800+ with 256Mo SDRAM with Windows XP in chocobo racing.
PS : i am in software render because I haven't Direct3D of my Voodoo 2 (I have only Glide and OpenGl)

Sorry for my bad english.

[Sir Canealot]

The bike race was always pretty fast to me. Annoying becuase I enjoy racking up a top score on the bike game in Gold Saucer. All the other mini games have always been fine for me though.

[Alhexx]

Am I wrong or have we discussed that problem already a long time ago?
If I'm right, we have already found a solution for it (?)...

Have you installed the latest official FF7 Patch??

 - Alhexx

[Aaron]

I actually don't think we found a solution.

You can try using software rendering for the motorcycle game - that should slow it down some...

You could also underclock your CPU

[KojiroTakenashi]

I think the scenes are actually more related to your GPU. When I had an old Monster Voodoo card, it ran slow. I upgraded the drivers and it ran  like nuts.

...Anyway, for a CPU Underclocker (for old games:p) go to MajorGeeks.com and look for "CPUKiller"

[Nori]

='-'= change to software render, and
change back to hardware redender...
CPUKiller... eee don't want that

(My lil brother's NEW compu) eee errr =v.v=
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 2.66GHz
1GB PC-2100 DDR (expandable to 1.5GB)
533MHz Front Side Bus
120GB 7200rpmUltra ATA/100 Hard Drive
DVD-RW / CD-RW Drive
Analog Video Input for 8mm or VHS Camcorders
4X AGP 3D Graphics Hardware Acceleration (nVIDIA® GeForce4 MX 440)
64MB Video Memory (128-bit DDR)
High-Speed Internet Ready with 10 Base-T/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet
Front and Rear Accessible i.LINK (IEEE 1394) Interfaces and USB 2.0 Connections1
Memory Stick® Media Slot

FF7 PC, Too Fast? Well, I will tell him lol ='-'=

[KojiroTakenashi]

Well, the underclock only works as long as the program is active ^^

[Terence Fergusson]

In my experience, the timing should be fine if you play using Software Rendering; your CPU speed won't matter unless it's too slow (in which case you'll see a slowdown).

Personally, Software Rendering is good enough for me, since it can run in 640x480 mode anyways.  I don't need tweaks to get higher than that to enjoy the game.

If you're planning to make use of a 3D card though, you're going to have problems with this though.  (It'll also make itself known during the boulder 'dodging' part of the Temple of the Ancients)

[Rubicant]

I'm going to have to disagree with constantly using Software Rendering on anyone who doesn't have a hella good cpu, like squad417's. My friend can't play ff7 in hardware on his video card and I shudder at the lack of speed on his game. He has a freaking 1.2 ghz amd Athlon for crying out loud!

Besides, (In my opinion) Software looks pretty gruesome compared to hardware mode. Everything is smoother in direct3d, and overall looks "nicer". Perhaps someone can create a patch that will allow a fps cap in the mini-games. Until then, slow down your cpu and video card, or simply use software rendering mode.

[Goku7]

Besides, (In my opinion) Software looks pretty gruesome compared to hardware mode. Everything is smoother in direct3d, and overall looks "nicer". Perhaps someone can create a patch that will allow a fps cap in the mini-games. Until then, slow down your cpu and video card, or simply use software rendering mode.

I've asked about the possibility of putting an FPS cap on the Minigames before.  As far as I know, Ficedula has said he might look into trying to see if its possible to do through the use of a Cetra patch, but that's not one of his top priorites so I doubt if he's working on it right now.

As for why it doesn't look as good in Software Rendering as it does in hardware, is because software rendering engines usually don't bother trying to do Bilinear Filtering on any primitives (aka poly's) being displayed.

If you're planning to make use of a 3D card though, you're going to have problems with this though.  (It'll also make itself known during the boulder 'dodging' part of the Temple of the Ancients)

Hey, out of curiousity, what are these "problems" that are occuring at the boulder-dodging area of the Temple of the Ancients, anyway?

[Terence Fergusson]

<looks back in>

Regarding lack of speed in Software Mode... I've played FF7 successfully on a P2 500 before.  Yes, there was slowdown, but it was certainly *PLAYABLE* and enjoyable.  Sometimes I get the feeling people expect a bit much these days...

In any case, faster the CPU, the faster Software Mode will run.  It's that simple.  You don't need a super fast CPU to get the most out of FF7.

And yes, stuff like bilinear filtering and the like is the reason why Hardware Mode will always look superior.  Of course, with the graphics cards I've used in the past (TNT2, etc), that's always ended up putting nasty black borders around any texture used (everyone's eyes, Barret's tattoos, bridges on the overworld, etc.), so I'm not too impressed about its implementation in FF7.

As for the problems regarding the Temple of the Ancients I was talking about... it's just the same as usual; no frame limiter, so it ends up being hell to complete.