Portable FF7 *UPDATE: Now with video proof!*

[Cloudster]

Ever wanted to play FF7 anywhere? Now you can, with portable FF7!

Things needed:
Brain
Original FF7 disc set
Ollydbg
FF7 1.02 patch from edios (not the XP patches made by animevamp)
2GB thumbdrive/memory card
tm20dec.ax (Truemotion codec for FMVs)
Notepad

Optional: YAMP and various patches made by dziugo to enhance gaming experience
Optional: FF7w to play in windowed mode
Optional: Minigame patch
Optional: My version of the Advent Avatars patch

If you're not paranoid, skip steps 2, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16, scroll down to the bottom, get portableff7.zip, and unzip to your ff7 install dir.

Steps:
1. Install FF7 from the Install Disc, taking care to select Maximum Install and not to install DirectShow and DirectX 5.
2. Copy version 1.02 of FF7.exe and FF7Config.exe from ff7_102.zip to the FF7 folder (not the start menu entry!), overwriting the originals.
3. (Optional) Use YAMP to install various patches. I *STRONGLY* recommend at LEAST the battle swirl fix.
4. Get OllyDbg.
5. Patch FF7.exe as per the first post in http://web.archive.org/web/20080115210409/http://forum.exetools.com/showthread.php?t=6926
6. Make a folder called "movies" in your FF7 install dir. (It is C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII if you didn't change it during install)
7. Insert FF7 Disc 1 and navigate to <CDROM drive letter>\ff7\movies.
8. Copy everything in the CD's movies folder to the movies folder in your FF7 install dir.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for CD 2 and 3, and insert Disc 2 and 3 accordingly.
10. After copying from the last disc, the movies folder in the FF7 install dir should have 106 files and take up about 880MB.
11. Open notepad and paste all of the following into the empty text file:

Code: [Select]

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Square Soft, Inc.]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII]
"DataDrive"=".\\"
"AppPath"=".\\"
"DataPath"=".\\Data\\"
"MoviePath"=".\\Movies\\"
"DiskNo"=dword:00000000
"FullInstall"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\1.00]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\1.00\Graphics]
"DD_GUID"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"DriverPath"=""
"Driver"=dword:00000000
"Mode"=dword:00000002
"Options"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\1.00\MIDI]
"MIDI_DeviceID"=dword:00000001
"MIDI_data"="GENERAL_MIDI"
"MusicVolume"=dword:00000064
"Options"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII\1.00\Sound]
"Sound_GUID"=hex:1a,d7,6d,bd,eb,3d,d1,11,b1,71,00,c0,4f,c2,00,00
"Options"=dword:00000000
"SFXVolume"=dword:00000064

12. Go to File > Save as..., name it ff7.reg, select All Files in the "Save as type" drop down box, and make its encoding ANSI, and save it in your FF7 install dir.
13. Navigate to your FF7 install dir, double-click ff7.reg and click yes to import its data into the registry.
14. Get tm20dec here. http://cl0ud.net/tm20dec.zip, unzip tm20dec.ax into the FF7 install dir.
15. Open notepad again and paste the following into the empty file:

Code: [Select]

copy .\tm20dec.ax %windir%\system32
regsvr32 %windir%\system32\tm20dec.ax16. Go to File > Save as..., name it tm20dec.bat, type All Files, encoding ANSI, and save it in the FF7 install dir.
17. Go to the FF7 install dir, double-click tm20dec.bat and a message should pop up saying that the registration has succeeded. Click OK on the dialog.
18. Copy the FF7 install dir to your thumbdrive. (It should take up about 1.28GB)
19. Double-click FF7Config to select hardware/MIDI settings that work (or leave it as-is if unsure), as my registry entries are using very conservative defaults to ensure compatibility with wide ranges of hardware.
20. Double-click FF7.exe. With luck, FF7 should run from your thumbdrive and play the opening FMV with the animated EIDOS logo!
**NOTE: MAKE SURE THE FF7 FOLDER AND THE SAVE FOLDER IN THE FF7 FOLDER ARE NOT SET AS READ-ONLY.**

**FOR NON-PARANOID USERS: DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE BELOW AND EXTRACT TO FF7 INSTALL DIR, OVERWRITING ANY EXISTING FILE THAT (MAY) EXIST.**
http://cl0ud.net/portableff7.zip

A downside is that administrator privileges is needed to install and register tm20dec.ax, even though FF7 runs fine as a limited user. I'll see if converting the FMVs to a more common codec will eliminate the need for the TrueMotion codec.

**UPDATE: Video proof now available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEeX-Zg4MVo for non-believers!**

EDIT [9/9/08] Thanks to Drizzt for reminding me, don't install DX5 or DirectShow!

[kini]

sounds too good to be true, i will try this out and post back

[Tsetra]

That's cool, I like that. It's like bringing back the old cartridge era, only on PC. Now if only I had a whole boatload of drives to do this with other games of mine...

[kini]

seems to be workign fine fo rme so far, I have it on a 2gig micro Sd with the NCP mods installed, Its a life saver as my disks are nearly dead and I wont have to reinstall it and apply all the patches every time i switch computers

thanks a lot for this one

[MEPHiST0]

very nice, this can be done with just about any game if it doesnt need to read more then 12mbps

[Cloudster]

very nice, this can be done with just about any game if it doesnt need to read more then 12mbps

That's only if you have either an old PC with USB 1.1 or prehistoric flash devices that are only capable of USB 1.1 Full speed (12Mbps, unlikely since I've never seen USB devices older than the USB 2.0 standard come in 2GB sizes)

For comparison, USB 1.1 Low-speed (1.5Mbps) is 1.28x, USB 1.1 High-speed (12Mbps) is 10.24x, the slowest flash device I have here (512MB no-name SD card) does 9MB/s read, which is 61.44x and the fastest (4GB SDHC in card reader, which I put my PortableFF7 on, does 20MB/s read, which is 136.53x). The fastest CD drives are 52x and it's dangerous for discs to be spun that fast in the drive, so the practical theoretical maximum for CDROM drives is 48x. Any game that requires any CDROM drive at all should be able to load well from any reasonably modern USB 2.0 flash device.

I used 1KB=1024b, 1MB=1024KB and so on (binary prefixes vs SI prefixes). 1x for CDROM drives is 150kilobytes per second.

[Drizzt]

Cloudster:

I was reading the reg entry and the entries say 1.00. Shouldn't they be 1.02, since you've performed the upgrade at step #2?

Also, what changes to I have to perform in that reg file and any other concerned file if I want the game to be run from an HDD folder instead of a memory card?

Helpful guide, btw!

[Cloudster]

Cloudster:

I was reading the reg entry and the entries say 1.00. Shouldn't they be 1.02, since you've performed the upgrade at step #2?

Also, what changes to I have to perform in that reg file and any other concerned file if I want the game to be run from an HDD folder instead of a memory card?

Helpful guide, btw!

Even though it is v1.02, the registry entries are still labeled 1.00. Don't ask me about it; I have no connections to anyone in Square. I guess they probably did it so that the user didn't have to re-configure his game settings after updating to 1.02. No changes need to be performed on anything, you can copy the folder to anywhere on your HD, since the period means "current directory", as compared to the original entries that point the game to a fixed directory (the one that you installed FF7 in). Just put the folder in any folder of your choice. Cheers!

[Drizzt]

Understood.

Now, onto the other speedbumps.
- Re: patching link ... Do I have to follow everything all the way to EAX? If yes, then what is the rationale with "screwing" with it? And why the numerous choices (i.e. MOV EAX,ESI)? I am under the impression that EAX is audio-related (and not some other acronym).

- I can remove OllyDbg when I am through with the procedure? I got 1.10.

- I think this will be my biggest hurdle (for OCD purposes): K-Lite. During my last PC install back in '06 (XP SP2), it went well, but I had to install riva tuner and the upside-down patch. However, when I upgraded my KLMCodec, the FMV's turned green. I don't know if it was a filter but anyway...
Suppose I install tm20dec.ax, do I have to deactivate certain filters/codecs in K-Lite (like libav)? And would this cause conflicts with my non-FFVII related media viewing?

[Cloudster]

Hmm, sorry if you got confused... these steps should be clearer:

1.Load FF7.exe into Ollydbg, wait for analysis of the to finish
2. Right-click on the large area with all the assembly instructions (top left) and select Go to > Expression, type 00404B3F and press enter.
4. The address 00404B3F should be highlighted. You should see MOV EAX,DWORD PTR DS:[9A0538]. Double click on the highlighted line to bring up a "Assemble at 00404B3F" dialog.
5. Replace MOV EAX,DWORD PTR DS:[9A0538] with MOV EAX,ESI and leave the checkbox selected, then press assemble. You should see 00404B3F has changed to MOV EAX,ESI and the 3 lines after it to NOP. The assemble dialog should still be open, click cancel to close it. Right click the large area, select Copy to executable > All modifications, then click Copy all. Right click the white area yet again, select save file, and save the modified .exe. The rationale behind it is that it replaces the part of the program that checks for the CD to jump straight to loading the main part of the game, and the NOPs after it mean "No execute", which is basically a big word for "do nothing". Since the CD check routine isn't run anymore, the routine code is replaced with "do nothing" opcodes. The EAX, ESI, MOV, etc are x86 assembler mnemonics. Each mnemonic corresponds to a certain opcode. The different choices are different methods of doing the same task.

You can remove OllyDbg. tm20dec.ax is the truemotion codec for the FMVs, the .bat for registering it basically tells Windows, "Oh hey, there's this codec file in the system32 folder, use that if any truemotion codecs need to be played, OK?". It will not affect the playing of any other media files. In fact, you can use WMP to view the FMVs after tm20dec.ax installation. I do not know about the K-lite pack, primarily because I do not trust those codec packs... call it paranoia. Hope I've been helpful!

P.S. Please install any patches before editing FF7.exe, because dziugo's YAMP chokes on the edited FF7.exe file... but that might just be me. It might or might not work for you.

[Drizzt]

I am currently approaching step 3. Since I don't plan on using a hi-res patch, I hope the separate chocobo patch and minigame patch would be enough.

Oh yeah, your tm20dec.ax (Truemotion codec for FMVs) link seems to be broken

Thanks, as usual, for the assist.

[Cloudster]

No problem, I'm always happy to help a fellow FF fan. Sorry for the dead link, I used a Phoenix Down on it and it's back!

http://cl0ud.net/tm20dec.zip

I reformatted the server and did a reinstall due to some general weirdness, and I haven't put everything back on it yet. I'm running the server off my home internet connection, so it might be down at times, I apologize for any inconvenience caused. I'd upload it to rapidshare, but I'm aware that not many people have rapidshare accounts and I don't want people to click through countless ads just to get a file. I know that "OMGICANTWAITIWANTTOPLAYTHEGAMENOW!!!!" feeling

[Drizzt]

Yeah, the burning itch to play seems to have returned in a more potent fashion. The laptop is actually on standby beside my desktop as I type.

Thanks. I got the file. Here's a virtual hero drink! Out of curiosity, I tried playing a movie file while waiting. It wasn't upside-down, so it didn't require the patch. I'm guessing this was because I bypassed the "install movie player thing" on the splash page. Anyway, since I am a K-lite user, I might as well anticipate for any future mishaps by installing TM2.0.

I was browsing through the forums to find these related stuff:

<If you installed K-Lite Codec Pack, you may have to install the Truemotion 1,2 codecs again. You'll have to go into FFDshow Video Decoder, and activate TrueMotion 1,2 (set it from Disabled to Libracodec or whatever that one that starts with a L is). You'll also have to make sure to uninstall any other codec pack before hand, otherwise they may conflict>

<If you have ffdshow installed (it comes with some popular codec packs, including the K-Lite codec pack and the CCCP), you must disable ffdshow's "True Motion" support through the ffdshow Video Decoder Configuration>

and this from another forum:

http://www.warp2search.net/contentteller/compatdb_details/final_fantasy_vii_windows,3.html

<YOU DON'T HAVE TO UNINSTALL CODECS!!!!!! That post is for EVERYONE WHO USE ffdshow. Truemotion 2.0 codec have been replaced by a different one in the ffdshow and you have to disable it. It's IN FFDSHOW VIDEO DECODER in the tab DirectShow Controls in the left. Put ff7.exe in the exceptions : "Do not use directshow in these applications." Edit... and browse for the ff7.exe. But you have to install Truemotion codec 2.0 http://wiki.qhimm.com/FF7/Technical/Customising the truemotion 2.0 codec And for each time you update your K-lite mega codec pack or whatever have ffdshow, you have to rewrite ff7.exe in the exception and have to reinstall ff7. That the bad news but it works>


I guess I can bypass True Motion 1 then... And I have no other choice but to disable the codecs. Now, regarding these actions, is it best to do them after everything else (i.e. step #18)?

[Cloudster]

You can install codecs anytime after uninstalling FF7 from Add/Remove Programs.

I didn't notice that I had forgotten to tell people not to install DX5/DirectShow until your post reminded me >_<. Mainly because the tm20dec.ax that is installed when you install the DirectShow filter is that it is (very) old, and it crashes Vista's explorer when a FMV is selected and it attempts to load the preview. But the version I linked to works fine with Vista/2k8, I've personally tested it.

[Drizzt]

But if I wish to keep the game as a permanent laptop program, then would it be best to do the k-lite codec tweaking after I've edited/patched the reg files and registered the *.bat file?

Installing the chocobo patch and the mgp as of this moment...

* Oh yeah, since you mentioned that I should attend to the patches prior to editing the exe file, then that means the laptop patch (cfg file) has to be transferred as well?

[Cloudster]

Yes to the codec question, and no to the .cfg question. You don't need the laptop ff7config patch if your laptop has a "virtual number pad" that you can access with the Numlock key.

[Drizzt]

Yes it does. Pressing the Fn key activates it.

Am now at the movie transfer step. I am only getting 104 files though, instead of 106.

[Cloudster]

Do you have all of the movie files (and the lone LGP) in your movies folder that you say has only 104 files?

 Volume in drive C is I_Have_No_Materia
 Volume Serial Number is 8411-E0A1

 Directory of C:\Documents and Settings\Cloud\Desktop\PortableFF7\movies

09/05/2008  01:01 PM    <DIR>          .
09/05/2008  01:01 PM    <DIR>          ..
05/15/1998  12:33 AM        25,260,596 biglight.avi
05/15/1998  01:08 AM        14,954,764 bike.avi
04/04/1998  11:35 PM         2,804,966 biskdead.avi
04/09/1998  03:14 AM        10,699,514 boogdemo.avi
04/04/1998  10:14 PM         1,330,718 boogdown.avi
04/09/1998  03:47 AM        19,856,714 boogstar.avi
04/04/1998  10:19 PM         1,371,730 boogup.avi
05/03/1998  01:19 AM         4,250,188 brgnvl.avi
05/03/1998  07:38 PM        21,816,748 canon.avi
05/05/1998  06:53 PM         2,706,498 canonh1p.avi
05/03/1998  07:56 PM         4,062,996 canonh3f.avi
05/06/1998  08:18 PM         7,228,702 canonht0.avi
05/06/1998  08:36 PM        10,747,026 canonht1.avi
05/04/1998  05:30 PM         4,797,162 canonht2.avi
05/04/1998  05:45 PM        10,077,264 canonon.avi
05/15/1998  07:20 PM        17,492,194 car_1209.avi
05/03/1998  07:57 PM         8,381,782 c_scene1.avi
05/04/1998  05:20 PM         5,524,092 c_scene2.avi
05/04/1998  05:30 PM         4,567,334 c_scene3.avi
05/06/1998  07:17 PM         8,326,812 dumcrush.avi
05/22/1998  06:42 PM         3,216,700 d_ropego.avi
05/22/1998  06:46 PM         3,545,798 d_ropein.avi
05/03/1998  01:09 AM        17,871,114 earithdd.avi
05/13/1998  10:02 PM         1,897,520 eidoslogo.avi
05/05/1998  01:43 AM        15,975,630 ending1.avi
05/13/1998  12:47 AM       149,466,880 ending2.avi
05/06/1998  10:16 PM        17,844,506 ending3.avi
05/13/1998  07:11 PM           856,098 Explode.avi
05/03/1998  06:47 PM        14,658,384 fallpl.avi
05/15/1998  08:09 PM        18,329,954 fcar.avi
05/06/1998  08:47 PM         8,423,880 feelwin0.avi
05/06/1998  08:55 PM         4,701,536 feelwin1.avi
06/06/1997  12:29 AM         2,371,718 fship2.avi
04/06/1998  08:20 PM         7,596,390 funeral.avi
05/04/1998  06:43 PM         4,506,982 gelnica.avi
05/19/1998  06:37 AM        19,731,124 gold1.avi
05/02/1998  11:37 PM         6,311,786 gold2.avi
05/02/1998  11:44 PM         3,022,962 gold3.avi
05/02/1998  11:59 PM         9,356,832 gold4.avi
05/05/1998  06:47 PM         2,937,262 gold5.avi
04/09/1998  03:42 AM         2,404,262 gold6.avi
05/05/1998  11:20 PM         6,896,478 gold7.avi
05/05/1998  11:52 PM         6,461,082 gold7_2.avi
05/06/1998  09:04 PM        14,047,580 greatpit.avi
05/03/1998  01:16 AM         7,219,690 hiwind0.avi
05/04/1998  06:09 PM        12,660,956 hwindfly.avi
05/06/1998  10:02 PM         7,073,254 hwindjet.avi
05/03/1998  12:32 AM         3,141,736 jairofal.avi
05/22/1998  07:45 PM        12,650,370 jairofly.avi
05/03/1998  06:33 PM        12,124,242 jenova_e.avi
04/09/1998  03:57 AM         1,097,798 junair_d.avi
04/09/1998  03:54 AM         1,088,302 junair_u.avi
04/04/1998  10:47 PM         2,089,830 junelego.avi
04/04/1998  10:53 PM         2,189,346 junelein.avi
04/09/1998  04:03 AM         2,097,862 junin_go.avi
04/09/1998  04:14 AM         2,439,390 junin_in.avi
05/09/1998  10:08 PM        15,959,370 junon.avi
04/09/1998  04:44 AM         1,323,018 junsea.avi
05/15/1998  01:28 AM           248,326 last4_2.avi
05/15/1998  01:38 AM           269,906 last4_3.avi
05/15/1998  12:50 AM        12,219,044 last4_4.avi
05/04/1998  07:18 PM         3,134,718 lastflor.avi
04/14/1998  12:08 AM         4,023,802 lastmap.avi
05/06/1998  09:02 PM         8,116,378 loslake1.avi
04/09/1998  04:46 AM         3,024,106 lslmv.avi
05/02/1998  11:25 PM         3,470,890 mainplr.avi
05/04/1998  07:03 PM        13,492,154 meteofix.avi
05/04/1998  06:31 PM         5,461,474 meteosky.avi
04/09/1998  04:10 AM         1,182,074 mk8.avi
04/09/1998  04:22 AM         2,131,442 mkup.avi
04/09/1998  04:21 AM         2,341,138 monitor.avi
03/09/1998  10:29 PM         2,274,727 moviecam.lgp
04/09/1998  04:29 AM         1,314,374 mtcrl.avi
05/09/1998  10:18 PM         7,313,558 mtnvl.avi
05/09/1998  08:50 PM         4,729,670 mtnvl2.avi
05/03/1998  06:42 PM         7,597,984 nivlsfs.avi
05/02/1998  11:14 PM         3,633,912 northmk.avi
05/06/1998  09:57 PM         6,657,140 nrcrl.avi
05/04/1998  07:20 PM         2,742,738 nrcrl_b.avi
05/17/1998  12:36 AM         7,465,908 nvlmk.avi
05/20/1998  07:57 AM         3,923,234 ontrain.avi
05/13/1998  11:24 PM        26,596,308 opening.avi
05/22/1998  07:16 PM         7,876,652 parashot.avi
05/17/1998  02:02 AM        10,680,404 phoenix.avi
05/02/1998  11:33 PM         5,132,454 plrexp.avi
05/04/1998  11:54 PM         3,498,830 rckethit0.avi
05/05/1998  12:06 AM         7,268,814 rckethit1.avi
05/05/1998  12:30 AM        13,562,958 rcketoff.avi
05/03/1998  12:47 AM        13,972,590 rcktfail.avi
05/09/1998  09:50 PM         2,819,610 setogake.avi
04/21/1998  10:58 PM           708,474 smk.avi
05/02/1998  11:50 PM         4,401,674 southmk.avi
05/24/1998  04:28 AM         2,555,976 sqlogo.AVI
05/03/1998  07:02 PM         3,163,032 u_ropego.avi
05/22/1998  07:00 PM         3,123,444 u_ropein.avi
05/06/1998  10:06 PM        14,415,508 weapon0.avi
05/06/1998  10:14 PM         9,665,112 weapon1.avi
05/05/1998  12:13 AM        11,018,396 weapon2.avi
05/05/1998  12:28 AM        10,450,768 weapon3.avi
05/05/1998  12:42 AM         5,786,532 weapon4.avi
05/05/1998  01:11 AM        14,320,904 weapon5.avi
05/09/1998  10:34 PM        17,582,294 wh2e2.avi
05/15/1998  08:30 PM           736,286 white2.avi
05/09/1998  10:41 PM         4,022,946 zmind01.avi
05/09/1998  10:46 PM         3,719,914 zmind02.avi
05/09/1998  10:50 PM         7,168,898 zmind03.avi
             106 File(s)    922,862,897 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  17,273,524,224 bytes free

[Drizzt]

That's odd. I copied all the movies from Discs 1-3. Overlaps aside, disc 1 contains 54 files in the movie folder, 2: 62, and 3: 30. The moviecam isn't in any directory and I'm still hunting for that other file.

Here are screencaps:




If it's any help, I am using a newer EA Classics version of the game.
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/8853/702de2.jpg
http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/4770/701mp9.jpg

* Moviecam.lgp is in ...Final Fantasy VII\data\cd

[dziugo]

EA Classics Pacific Edition doesn't have the eidoslogo.avi FMV.

[Cloudster]

Hmm dziugo. Useful information. I'll bear that in mind when I help people in the future.

[Drizzt]

Thanks! Heh, brain lag  

I wonder why moviecam.lgp remained in the movies folder of the original discs though.

* and I am done!

FF7 Config = success
Entered the splash screen = success

Then this problem arose. Was going to quit to Windows. Pressed Ctrl+Q but couldn't move the cursor to Yes, even though I had the numlock key lit. Should I proceed with the cfg file?

* Nevermind... 4 and 6 (U and O without Numlock) were the left and right arrows.

[Cloudster]

Glad to hear about your success.

P.S. If you want to use things such as LGP tools and stuff, put them in the root of the PortableFF7 folder (where ff7.exe is). The cause of the problem is that those tools read FF7's registry key to find out where to find FF7's data files. Speaking from experience, LGP tools balked when it couldn't find the data files in .\ (the current dir). Took me a few hours before I finally figured the problem out. Bear that in mind if you ever decide to use those programs.

[Drizzt]

Argh, my first real problem. The first battle... When it was time for the victory fanfare, I was brought back to Windows. Any ideas why?

[Cloudster]

Hmm, I just started a new game on my PortableFF7 and tried it out. It didn't hang, crash or whatever. Just curious, what patches have you installed? If I understand correctly, the thing quit to the desktop when it was about to play the music and fade out to the "Gained EXP and AP" screen?