[FF7PC-98] Higher Resolution (v1.00)(Discontinued, use Aali's driver)

[cmay119]

Well, you're probably right, EmperorSteele... Ultima is intended to be altered for XP. Doesn't seem to be anything I can do.

As for legality, Ultima is simply the game, modified with extras. It would be no different if I installed the game from my cds, modified it myself and then downloaded some extras. It's still the same game content, it's just been modified. But I understand it's not a clear line, for sure.

Perhaps I'll see if a friend of mine still has his original CDs and see what I can do with them.

Still... if anyone has a suggestion...?

All I can think of with your problem Kai, is your monitor may not support the resolution of 1280x960? Your monitor has to atleast be 17" to support any 1280 pixel resolution. Just a thought, good luck.

[Kai_Hawatari]

Thanks, but I have a 17IN monitor with max res of 1280x1024, so I don't think that's the problem. But I'll try a fresh install from the actual CDs (if they aren't too scratched) and try and mod that.

To answer your question, Ultima, from my understanding, is simply FF7 but premodded for XP. I'm not sure what mods they used (likely the basic FF7XP mod) and it is pre-updated to v1.02. But it is, of course, illegal to obtain unless you own the original copy of Final Fantasy 7 for PC.

[cmay119]

Although your monitor is 17", that doesn't gaurantee for certain that it can support a resolution of 1280x960. Just to fully eliminate that being the issue, go into your display properties and set the monitor to 1280x960 and apply. If the desktop reappears than that resolution is supported, if it doesn't show up, than that's your problem

[Kai_Hawatari]

Ah, hehe. You got me on that one ^_^. I didn't think that in-between resolutions, as such, might not be available. Though I checked and the res is fully available.

EDIT: Well, I tried the mod with my original copy of FF7 (from the CDs) and it works great. So sorry to bother everyone, I shouldn't have assumed that it wasn't the fault of the Ultima Edition. Much thanks!

Couple Qs though, is FF7 in 32bit color default now? And if I apply AA or FSAA, will I still get text errors in menus/dialogue like I usually do?

[EmperorSteele]

If you'd read the thread, you'd know that fsaa and af have been fixedified =)  Note: af doesn't do squat for ff7)

[TheCrow]

a patch high resolution is functionnal with a french version of Final Fantasy 7 ?

[Kai_Hawatari]

Well, some modder's definition of "fixed" is different than others. Many people would consider stability w/ AA "fixed", even if the text was screwed up, so I was just checking.

[cmay119]

Well, some modder's definition of "fixed" is different than others. Many people would consider stability w/ AA "fixed", even if the text was screwed up, so I was just checking.

There are still some issues with this patch, for it's still considered to be in a "beta" format. You'll see the horizon doesn't exactly render correctly, and if you read a couple of my posts from this page, you'll see that some characters don't show up in the dialogue boxes (see picture above for details). I'm still using it even though, the game looks so beautiful with the FSAA at 8x

[The SaiNt]

Another update.
The timer for the safe and the gaea cliffs are fixed now.
Also, the textures for damage values in battles are also fixed.
Some of the textures in battles are fixed now, not all.

[cmay119]

Another update.
The timer for the safe and the gaea cliffs are fixed now.
Also, the textures for damage values in battles are also fixed.
Some of the textures in battles are fixed now, not all.

Downloading now. Thank you for your quick update man. I didn't expect it to be done this fast, I very much appreciate it

Update: Thank you very much Saint, It works flawlessly Great Job!

Update #2: The slots in the battle square showing your Handicap still do not appear. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Also, damage numbers are very big this time around in comparison to what they were in the last version. It just caught me off guard as they battle damage values appeared very small before now they really pop out .

[Noobie]

I was wondering, since manually re-making the backgrounds takes way too much work, wouldn't it be possibly to use extract them, apply a 2X SAI filter on them and then putting them back in the game-files?

I  :love: your work saint! It makes FF7 so much better.

[The SaiNt]

At the moment, no editor actually extracts the field file backgrounds properly enough for import / export purposes. I'll have to do it with the engine manually.

Anyway, here's another release for users that want full screen 1280x1024 support, and I've included jedwin's chocobo patch so you guys don't have to patch the exe a 2nd time.

[The Skillster]

Thanks TheSaint, that was late night workout for you!

[cmay119]

At the moment, no editor actually extracts the field file backgrounds properly enough for import / export purposes. I'll have to do it with the engine manually.

Anyway, here's another release for users that want full screen 1280x1024 support, and I've included jedwin's chocobo patch so you guys don't have to patch the exe a 2nd time.

Wow, you're able to get 1280x1024? I thought that wasn't possible for you to do, as 1024 isn't a direct multiple of 320? I'm applying it now to see the difference

[EmperorSteele]

He adds a black bar at the bottom of the screen to make it fit =)

Also, i've noticed something, saint:  your program makes a backup of ff7.exe.  When i revert to that backup, the patch can no longer patch that backup (after i take out the .bak, obviously), saying the crc32 check failed, so i have to go and reinstall the regular 1.02, thus kind of negating the whole purpose of the backup =/

[The SaiNt]

Hmm, I'll have to take a look at that, nvr actually checked.

[-gone away-]

im unsure whether anyone has mentioned this problem already but the at fort condor the minigames interface is screwed... it comes out at 640*480 even thow the game is set to 1280*960.

Ill send you a screen shot of the problem.

---

by the way the patch im using is dated 9/8/2005 in case a newer one is available.

[ragnarok13]

Even higher resolutions are possible but I wish to make one that completely works on this resolution first.

SaiNt, your patch is fantastic. I hope you will add the 1600x1200 resolution :love:

[cmay119]

im unsure whether anyone has mentioned this problem already but the at fort condor the minigames interface is screwed... it comes out at 640*480 even thow the game is set to 1280*960.

Ill send you a screen shot of the problem.

---

by the way the patch im using is dated 9/8/2005 in case a newer one is available.

Yeah, I noticed that as well, just bring the cursor left and up from the position you want the character to be placed... If all else fails, just let the enemy reach the shed. You can just battle them with your characters and save some gil... Hopefully it will be resolved in the future.

[X-Hunter]

Hello!
 I've got this patch and it works great!!!
But I have a question...
 Can't we using LGP tools or whatever, extract the game backgrounds and make it blurred with photoshop or another editor and replace the original ones? This would solve the problem with Great 3d models and horrible 2d backgrounds...
 If there's a way, and it requires a lot of work ( probably by judging the lenght of the game), I would be one to help...I've tried myself but I couldn't find these damn screens...
 And another thing:
         Here in my PC, both the status Muted and Silence are screwd (a flickering box apper in the head of the character).
 
THX a lot for every thing Saint!!!


EDIT:Sorry, I did not read the last posts and the aswer about the 2d backgrounds.....will be really annoying to do it ( change something in the engine to make background better)....

[Cyberman]

EDIT:Sorry, I did not read the last posts and the aswer about the 2d backgrounds.....will be really annoying to do it ( change something in the engine to make background better)....

The only way to do this is either create a whole new engine that works with the content or hack the engine.  The later is unlikely to get anything but trouble. The former is pretty much the only option.  Unfortunately modifying the backgrounds does mean something, it means an alteration of the original copyrighted material, this cannot be distributed etc.  So either way is not going to be pleasant.

Background blockyness is not going to go away without something questionably legal.

Cyb

[X-Hunter]

EDIT:Sorry, I did not read the last posts and the aswer about the 2d backgrounds.....will be really annoying to do it ( change something in the engine to make background better)....

The only way to do this is either create a whole new engine that works with the content or hack the engine.  The later is unlikely to get anything but trouble. The former is pretty much the only option.  Unfortunately modifying the backgrounds does mean something, it means an alteration of the original copyrighted material, this cannot be distributed etc.  So either way is not going to be pleasant.

Background blockyness is not going to go away without something questionably legal.

Cyb

...So interpolation is a good option (though hard to do )

               And I think: "lots of things have been changed already..."
               This wouldn't be: " Distribute altered copyrighted material"
               But yes: "Distribute a program that allow you to mess with the copy you own!!!"
                                                         ....Nevermind....

[desiprince11]

can som1 tell me step by step how to use the patch??

[EmperorSteele]

Do a full install of the game.
Apply the 1.02 patch from eidos (Or you can find it here.  Just replace the EXE and the Config, overwrite if asked.
Download this patch.  Open it up using WinRAR (If you don't have winrar, you  can get it for free online.  Do a google seach =) )
Double-click the exe within, and hit "Patch!"
It will then check for a legit version of the game.  If this check fails, the patch won't install.  However, if the check succeds, the game will then be patched =)

Now open FF7 and try it out =)  If it doesnt work, that may mean your video card doesnt support high resolutions.  If that's the case, then you're outta luck =/  You'll have to re-apply the 1.02 patch to get your game working again.

[CkRtech]

I had to register to say how cool a lot of the patches are on this forum - including the one this thread represents.

I gotta hit the sack, so I didn't have a lot of time to search for this....but -

I am having an issue with the ff7.exe process not closing after exiting the game. I have to manually shut it down with task manager (Win XP Pro).

Sorry if you were already aware of this. Keep it up! Looks great!