[PSX/PC] Save Editor - Black Chocobo (v1.16)

[DFR66]

Hey guys,

I would like to play a new mod, the Superboss Rush Challenge with the 7th heaven modder, however I like to have Sephiroth in my party for a change. I try to replace Vincent with Sephiroth with the Black Chocobo app, but however Sephiroth is in my party, I can't control his actions. Does anyone know what I could do about this? Thanks in advance.

[SerathDarklands]

I'm trying to use the save editor so that I can start the game from scratch (that is, press "New Game" on the title screen) and start with a set of equipment and altered stats that I've chosen.

Is there a way to do this? I've looked through the user guide, and haven't really been able to find anything that points me in the direction of how to do this - if it's at all possible.

[sithlord48]

Hey guys,

I would like to play a new mod, the Superboss Rush Challenge with the 7th heaven modder, however I like to have Sephiroth in my party for a change. I try to replace Vincent with Sephiroth with the Black Chocobo app, but however Sephiroth is in my party, I can't control his actions. Does anyone know what I could do about this? Thanks in advance.

You can not control him that is normal. If you want to control him you need to look for a mod that does it. It is not possible to change this via the savegame.

I'm trying to use the save editor so that I can start the game from scratch (that is, press "New Game" on the title screen) and start with a set of equipment and altered stats that I've chosen.

Is there a way to do this? I've looked through the user guide, and haven't really been able to find anything that points me in the direction of how to do this - if it's at all possible.

When you open Black Chocobo It will start with a game just like you had pressed "New Game" make your changes then save it as the correct type for your game. Be careful with stats not everyone will keep them (Cait / Vincent and Yuffie have stats and levels generated when they join your party) For them you will need to edit the stats after they join. But the rest should be fine DO NOT PLAY WITH SEPHIROTH OR YOUNG CLOUDS AT ALL . Doing so will cause the game to freeze when you do the flashback. Also remember to edit the base HP / MP stat not the current or max HP/ MP those are calculated at run time and will not do what you want.

[SerathDarklands]

When you say "the correct type for your game" what do you mean, and how do I do that? I tried simply setting the stats as I desired, then clicking save, but it simply takes me to a save window. Where do I save the new file, and what do I call it?

[codemann8]

It sounds like you're looking for something that will start every new game with extra equipment and stats.  Black Chocobo can only modify existing save files to give you the extra stuff you need, which is the easiest approach, but will only affect THAT save file.

If you want it to happen EVERY new game, it's more complicated and you won't find any pre-built tool that does it, but you you'd have to use Makou Reactor and modify the md1stin map, add a new script group in that map, there are codes to increment specific items, materias, and gil.  But like I said, it's both complicated and you won't find anything that does this already, it'd be a completely custom hack.

[sithlord48]

When you say "the correct type for your game" what do you mean, and how do I do that? I tried simply setting the stats as I desired, then clicking save, but it simply takes me to a save window. Where do I save the new file, and what do I call it?

It Depends on the way your playing FF7. If your playing on pc you want to save as a pc save and then place this file into your Save folder. The file should be named ff7save##.ff7 (00-09) the number is the safe file it will show in game as. See where to find pc saves For Emulators you need to save as a VMC and import that to your emulator . For psx you need to save as rawPSX then get that on a memory card.

It sounds like you're looking for something that will start every new game with extra equipment and stats.  Black Chocobo can only modify existing save files to give you the extra stuff you need, which is the easiest approach, but will only affect THAT save file.

If you want it to happen EVERY new game, it's more complicated and you won't find any pre-built tool that does it, but you you'd have to use Makou Reactor and modify the md1stin map, add a new script group in that map, there are codes to increment specific items, materias, and gil.  But like I said, it's both complicated and you won't find anything that does this already, it'd be a completely custom hack.

IIRc you could use walmarket to set the initial data if you wish to have the game start with this data for every new game. i would think that would be faster then using makou reactor.

[SerathDarklands]

Thank you so much for your help, I got it to work. As you suggested, I just saved it in its usual folder (where all the other saves are) under a name similar to all the other file names (in this particular case, "save08"), and when I opened the file in game, it booted from the very beginning of the game with my modified stats.

[DFR66]

You can not control him that is normal. If you want to control him you need to look for a mod that does it. It is not possible to change this via the savegame.
 

Do you know where I can find a mod like this for 7th heaven?

[sithlord48]

Do you know where I can find a mod like this for 7th heaven?

I do not know if there is a modpack made for 7th heaven or not. i only remember seeing a mod for that around here somewhere.

[kidcore3]

ok , this is a long shot. no one has posted here in.....quite some time. Black Chocobo won't launch. It keeps saying "the code execution cannot proceed because MSVCR120.dll was not found. reinstalling the program may fix the problem" No matter what i do, this error keeps showing up. i'm on winows 10. please help

[sithlord48]

Make sure you have the newest version of black Chocobo v1.9.91 version from https://github.com/sithlord48/blackchocobo/releases

Its odd you should get that error at all if your using a build i did since I use mingw to build for windows and not msvc.

[LordUrQuan]

Make sure you have the newest version of black Chocobo v1.9.91 version from https://github.com/sithlord48/blackchocobo/releases

Its odd you should get that error at all if your using a build i did since I use mingw to build for windows and not msvc.

I had the same thing happen to me last week while I was toying around on a 32-bit Windows 7 install, rather than my usual 64-bit.  It was easy enough to install the MSVC redistributable package, but did an eyebrow since I hadn't had that problem with the x64 build.

[sithlord48]

Well good news everyone I've fixed the continuous build for windows so now  windows users can try the latest BC Pre release builds! 
https://github.com/sithlord48/blackchocobo/releases/tag/continuous

This is staging for the next ff7tk that is slowly being updated to C++17 along with the usual bug fixes and feature improvements

[LordUrQuan]

Don't.  Just replay, enjoy the upscales and improved models, and remember that most prescient of advice that stretches aaaaallllllllll the way back to "Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards"... Save early, save often.

(In all seriousness, though, I don't think that game progression counter's been fully documented, so who knows what you'll end up with by messing with it.  You can, however, use BC to edit yourself a gold chocobo, ultima, and stuff like that)

[sithlord48]

Unfortunately the progress stuff is the last remaining mystery in the save format. Some of it is known but the values for alot of specific events are not known. Currently in the progression tab there are a few options to select but not very many and when you using the "replay event" selection the game may not be completely playable after the selected event finishes.

In other news. Some changes to Black Chocobo since the last post include
 - Dynamic Language changing
 - Location Changes only write the game regions strings to the save
 - World map jumps have been added to the location viewer.
 - Other general improvements.
Download the continuous release if you would like to try the new features.

If anyone would like to help update translations please let me know.

[morningstar]

This is a new version of FF? a new mode? I had not heard about it before

[sithlord48]

Game progress is not fully known. The Little bit we know is in the "Game Progress" Tab.

[kbraman3347]

Howdy!  I read through this forum and I didn't see this question addressed specifically (but there's also a good chance I missed it despite my best efforts, so commence with mockery at your leisure!):

As indicated in the Party Mechanics FAQ by TFergusson, five of the six primary statistics has a sort of "grade" used to indicate the relative growth of each statistics for each character (under section 1.4 of that FAQ).  This was (I assume) the original programmers' way of trying to make some characters better at some statistics than others (although ultimately most are interchangeable with the right set up). 

As part of a personal enforced class challenge, I wanted to lower the starting stats of some characters in statistics they might normally be considered weak; that's easy to do in BC, of course; but I noticed that if I used BC to level those characters (to see where the stats would go upon leveling), the statistics "normalized" themselves back into the typical range found in the vanilla game; lowering the characters back down put their starting stats in the ballpark of where they usually start.  I know that's a little wordy, so here's an example:

Set Cloud to L1, set SPR to 1.
Use the "Status Info" tab to level Cloud to L99, his SPR manages nonetheless to grow to 97.  (I know it won't always grow to exactly 97, but it will be in the ballpark.)
Reduce Cloud's level to L1 again, and his SPR falls only to 11 (again, it won't always fall to exactly 11 under this process, but it'll be in the ballpark.)

So!  To my question:  is this just a function of BC using the stat grades to simulate leveling (but in-game, Cloud's SPR in this example would be lower than usual), or will FF7 itself correct Cloud's initially low SPR according to its stat grade as he levels?  I assume the latter, but will test with an emulator and uber-XP codes in a bit.

I suspect that if I'm willing to get my hands dirty, I could tweak an appropriate game file to adjust each character's stat grade to allow for better diversity in stat growth, in conjunction with initial stat tweaks.  But my question is this:  does BC support this sort of thing and I just missed it somehow, or is there a way to introduce "negative" sources?    I can dive into using the Wall Market kernel.bin editor, but I wanted to check here before I tried that and was subsequently defeated by the technology.   

Cheers!

[sithlord48]

Black Chocobo levels your characters up or down based on how the game does, stat gain has some random to it. The game will try to conform the stats closer to each characters curve as they level. The total stat should be the same in BC as well as in game. I suppose you could try setting stats to a "Negative" you will need to use the hex editor or test tab to do so as the limits on the input will not allow you to go below zero.


Please check the Savemap to see where your characters data starts and the sources are within the Character Record. Remember the savemap does not account for any headers. You will want to view only the FF7 Slot data in the hex editor. (if you dont have a pc save)

[kbraman3347]

Thank you!!  I'll let you know what I find out. 

[Vegeta_Ss4]

Howdy!  I read through this forum and I didn't see this question addressed specifically (but there's also a good chance I missed it despite my best efforts, so commence with mockery at your leisure!):

As indicated in the Party Mechanics FAQ by TFergusson, five of the six primary statistics has a sort of "grade" used to indicate the relative growth of each statistics for each character (under section 1.4 of that FAQ).  This was (I assume) the original programmers' way of trying to make some characters better at some statistics than others (although ultimately most are interchangeable with the right set up). 

As part of a personal enforced class challenge, I wanted to lower the starting stats of some characters in statistics they might normally be considered weak; that's easy to do in BC, of course; but I noticed that if I used BC to level those characters (to see where the stats would go upon leveling), the statistics "normalized" themselves back into the typical range found in the vanilla game; lowering the characters back down put their starting stats in the ballpark of where they usually start.  I know that's a little wordy, so here's an example:

Set Cloud to L1, set SPR to 1.
Use the "Status Info" tab to level Cloud to L99, his SPR manages nonetheless to grow to 97.  (I know it won't always grow to exactly 97, but it will be in the ballpark.)
Reduce Cloud's level to L1 again, and his SPR falls only to 11 (again, it won't always fall to exactly 11 under this process, but it'll be in the ballpark.)

So!  To my question:  is this just a function of BC using the stat grades to simulate leveling (but in-game, Cloud's SPR in this example would be lower than usual), or will FF7 itself correct Cloud's initially low SPR according to its stat grade as he levels?  I assume the latter, but will test with an emulator and uber-XP codes in a bit.

I suspect that if I'm willing to get my hands dirty, I could tweak an appropriate game file to adjust each character's stat grade to allow for better diversity in stat growth, in conjunction with initial stat tweaks.  But my question is this:  does BC support this sort of thing and I just missed it somehow, or is there a way to introduce "negative" sources?    I can dive into using the Wall Market kernel.bin editor, but I wanted to check here before I tried that and was subsequently defeated by the technology.   

Cheers!

Hmm, I’m a bit unsure if we mean the same thing. So I’m going to clarify my point, even you may already understood.

With »reverse« I mean to switch the order of the stat gain:

Level up:            Difference   Stat Gain
                             0- 3          0
                             4- 6          1
                             7- 9          2
                            10-11        3

Level down:       Difference   Stat Gain
                             0- 3          3
                             4- 6          2
                             7- 9          1
                            10-11        0


The idea behind is, that at a level down the baseline decreases and thus the diff decreases, resulting in a different stat gain/lose need.


Stat Difference = Rnd(1..8) + Baseline - Current Stat

Let’s assume rnd = 4, baseline = 40 and current stat = 30.
When levelling up, the current stat needs to catch up the baseline, thus the difference of 14 needs a high stat gain.
When levelling down, the baseline needs to catch up the current stat, thus the difference of 14 needs a low stat gain/lose.
That’s why reversing.

That is a good approach. But instead of reverse the stat table, Baseline and Current Stat must be inverted generating a new Stat Difference formula.

...

Black Chocobo use the original game formula to calculate char stats on lv up/down.

To change the stat growth curves you need to mod the kernel file. The save file is only a memory snapshot where some
game vars are saved, but no mechanics are seved there.

So if you modify the kernel, edit the save file in BC, then lv up/down the chars; BC will use the game base formula for calcs and not your kernel mod.

But when you run your mod, the in-game lv will follow your custom growth curve.

For example: BC stat calc formula for str, vit, mag, spr, dex or luck

Code: (FF7Char.cpp) [Select]

    //now calc the diff, so we can send back a gain based on type
    if (stat < 6) {
        //str, vit, mag, spr, dex or luck all calculated the same
        //Vegeta_Ss4 lv down mod
        if (current_lvl < next_lvl) {
            diff = ((qrand() % 8) + 1) + (baseline_stat - stat_amount);   //is lv up
        } else {
            diff = ((qrand() % 8) + 1) - baseline_stat + stat_amount;   //lv down
        }
        if (diff < 4) {
            gain = 0;
        } else if (diff < 7) {
            gain = 1;
        } else if (diff < 10) {
            gain = 2;
        } else {
            gain = 3;
        }

P.S: Hi Chris, long time we don't see

[sithlord48]

WHOA!! Vegeta

[Vegeta_Ss4]

WHOA!! Vegeta

Maybe is time to add ff7tk kernel support?

[Zara9]

Hey

I would like to request to add in the key items for fort Condor please on this editor

thnaks

[sithlord48]

Hey

I would like to request to add in the key items for fort Condor please on this editor

thnaks

Oh good catch, Looks like i missed that one, Also missing the Underwater Huge Materia.
        - thanks

The Latest build has that fixed now.  https://github.com/sithlord48/blackchocobo/releases/tag/continuous