I just found this board, have been playing FF7 when I was younger, and now that I have grown older, I was wanting to play it all over again... to my surprise, it was not as simple to make it run compared to when I was 10... over 8 years ago... anyway, here are some problems I ran into (mostly because I wanted to learn how to fix more, some on purpose...)
Problem: game doesn't even start, crashes on first video or any video
Possible solution 1: make sure you either install one of the following: direct show drivers from your install disk, or the upside down video patch (try the directshow alone first)
Possible solution 2: I have tested the game in XP in many different way's, some systems you can right-click, and under compatability set it to windows 95,
Possible solution 3: make the video's play off your pc:
step 1: open my computer and the FF7 cd:
step 2 open FF7 folder then right-click on Movies --> copy, choose where you want them and right-click then paste:
step 3 start menu --> Run --> regedit --> Hkey_local_machine --> Software --> Square soft inc. --> Final fantasy 7
when you click on the ff7 folder in the registry, you will see a file called movie path --------------- D:\ff7\Movies --> you must change this to the location of your new movies folder
I have also found a way to force ANY video card to play in D3D mode regardless of the failed test :: WARNING :: if your card is not compatible it will have funky collors and no backgrounds
step 1 open the registry editor
Hkey_local_machine --> Software --> Square soft inc. --> Final fantasy 7 --> 1.00 --> (what I was using at the time) clicking on the + next to 1.00 will give you three choices, click on Graphics (1.02 if you installed there probably is no point....)
Where it sais driver, 0 = software mode 1 = direct 3D mode
all you need to do is click and change it, the game will run regardless, you just wont see much if it is not compatible
RECOMENDATION either get the PS version or find yourself an older video card, for Instance I just dug through my pc extra's box and fished out a nice specimen: VooDoo 5500 *solem tear* ((if only they made the original release dates)) sorry, back on topic now...))
I have also been hearing that many people have no problems with their games in Windows XP wether service pack 1 or 2 pro or home edition,
Other problems include not enough Virtual memory (seems like a memory leek can easily occur in the game) to add more Pager file (PF) you must right click My computer --> Properties --> advanced --> Perfomance settings --> advanced --> virtual memory --> change --> add the amount and choose set.
many people have put up to 3 gigs of PF and then had no more problems (make sure you have around 6 GB free on your HD or you might cause problems...
My conclusion, FF7 is not the most stable of programing, it is very picky depending on how much Ram you have, how big your Pager file is (PF), what type of video card you have, or driver, and also the processor
And any combination of these
Hope this helps, any comments would be apreciated, if Im off in what I have said, tell me and I will fix my errors
