DCFFVII Research Thread

[Shademp]

Actually it turns out that the event IDs as written in the evlist.bin don't correspond to what I'm viewing in the game's memory. However, this still motivated me to do some more research in the field.

I found where to change the tutorial message displayed when you pick up the first Potion in Chapter 1. In the adjacent areas of the code I found a message called "MESERROR00", so I decided to unlock that.

Nice.


EDIT: Found a string of hidden, already translated Multiplayer text in the file "inststr.bin"! The file is only present in JORG, US and PAL.

"ing with your fellow soldiers. Gather friends or foes to compete in customizable battle modes. Once all the participants have arrived, you will automatically jump to the battlefield and the mission will begin. Jungle: An impermeable, green jungle sets the st"

The Jungle part must belong to this installation screen image, but I can't guess with confidence where the earlier string belongs.

The text in the Japanese inststr.bin is...

した密林を舞台にしたマ
ップです。

木々に遮られ、周囲の見通しが悪
い為、茂みを利用した奇襲や敵
部隊との鉢合わせなど、緊張感
のあるバトルが展開されます。

バトルルールとしては、敵の撃破
数を競うモードや、魔

(Google Translate)

It is a map set in a dense forest.

Because it is blocked by trees and the surrounding perspective is bad, a battle of tension, such as a surprise attack using a bush and a colleague with an enemy unit, is deployed.

As a battle rule, there are modes competing enemy's defeat number, ma[ko]

Most of the text belongs in the Jungle image linked to earlier, but it then leads into the Skull image paragraph.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

There's no end to this rabbit hole, is there?

 

[Shademp]

REALIZATION! When online players discarded items, such as ammo or coins, they literally left behind the item on the field! Presumably this means that the item could be picked up again, either by a co-player or by the one who dropped the items. In the Single Player, discarded items don't show up on the field after discarding them.

Observe this video from 1:06 to 1:23. The player discards ammo and once the task is done we see this rotating, glowing pie right where the player stood. Perhaps the player left behind the ammo for his co-player to pick up or maybe he just created the ammo disc for the fun of it (or both).

I had long assumed that this glowing disc signified a player waiting to re-spawn, but there were ultimately too many inconsistencies with that assumption.

This also explains how players could form patterns of ammo and gold.

Spoiler: Examples

A cat emoji. I tried for over half an hour to find the exact symbols to replicate the above emoji, but this is the closest I can get:

( ¯･ω･¯ )

The golden pie. My guess is that the player created this by dropping several "coins" first when they kneeled and then when they stood, so to create the two-layer pie.

Handgun bullets, rifle bullets and finally a dropped Ifrit Flag.

Lots and lots of discarded machine gun ammo on the player's head.

There's no end to this rabbit hole, is there?

Not as long as I'm the rabbit doing the digging!

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

"Two-layer pie" sounds like a porn title.

 

[ForceStealer]

Really speaks to how much everyone enjoyed playing the multiplayer

 

[Shademp]

At 5:38 in Nekomimi's Decisive Dual Horn Battle video, the player descends onto a platform that act almost as a perfect safe spot where the enemies can't reach you unless they also happen to descend from above.

Just observed that the game absolutely refuses to let Vincent land on this platform.

Try as you might, there is a definitive invisible wall here. Even just touching the invisible wall makes it negate you from mid-air jumps and mid-air melees. There is a second platform, albeit a bit shorter, that is also present beneath the same stone arch. You can't land on top of this one either, though I'd guess that it was reachable in the online mode.

Clearly accessibility was removed because this safe spot made missions a bit too easy.


While playing around in the Extra Missions that use the wastelands map I found an alternate way of clearing the "Wastelings" mission. This Extra Mission is exactly like the "Decisive Dual Horn Battle" recorded by Nekomimi, except with Vincent and without a time limit. Your goal is to defeat the Dual Horn.

Spoiler

When you start out, there are four Guard Hounds on the ground and nine Guard Hounds on the stone arch. They will not move until you've walked beyond a certain area. Just the same, Dual Horn won't spawn until you've reached a spot even further away.

From your starting point, you can calmly kill all the available Guard Hounds and acquire a 12-killchain.

After this is done, run to where the Dual Horn spawns. As it runs over the small hill and reveals its weak spot, which is its belly, a perfectly placed shot will remove 2/3 of its HP thanks to your killchain!

Now this is nowhere near the fastest or most efficient method of clearing the mission. I just found it interesting to learn that the option is there to start out the mission by sniping, rather than dashing immediately into the chaos.

Your fastest method is to immediately run straight forward as your Manasoul charges your MP, get a high killchain with Thunder Lv3, increase the killchain with further Guard Hound kills, then finish Dual Horn with two shots from Ultima Weapon.

 

[Shademp]

Once Assembler Games is back online I'll ask krHACKen how to rip the TIM images from the DoC disc, just like how he ripped the installation screen artwork. I have already identified bin files and sections in the game's memory that contain TIM files related to the game's menu textures- and icons, I just need to extract them properly. For now, the best I can do is making them all show up in the game's map menu by changing the referenced file.

Spoiler: Menu TIM previews

How it looks when you replace the "Map" texture with those of other menu textures.

Repeats now removed for easier viewing.


JORG vs INT

　　

The wings being replaced by the skull matches the change in the icon that shows up when you use Phoenix Pinion in JORG vs post-JORG.


JORG vs INT

　　

The clock icon was replaced by the flag icon, which never shows up in JORG.

One of my primary hopes is that we can rip these textures while still preserving transparency, since some icons appear to be partially transparent and thus take on the color of the background.

Unless the other menu icon/texture files form a more complete collection of icons, a true restoration of the online mode would require a patch that takes icons from both the JORG and post-JORG versions.

 

[Shademp]

The mobile game Final Fantasy: Record Keeper is holding a Dirge of Cerberus event. It began on March 3 and will end on March 13. The sprites posted on the site, and the accompanying movesets, look quite juicy.

Spoiler: Event Banners & Sprites

Scroll down in this link to see a video of Vincent using a move that appears to be called "Lucrecia's Regret". The video may take a while to load.


- Battle against Shelke

- Battle against Guard Hounds

- Battle against Azul
^you destroy explosive barrels to cause great damage to Azul, just like in the original game.

EDIT: Scroll down in this link to see Shelke kick some Deepground ass.

 

[ForceStealer]

Oooh, might have to boot up record keeper

 

[Shademp]

Exciting progress. I figured out how to change the gender, mask, face and body/suit of the online player character model!

Spoiler: Image Dump

The female Magic Suit is just as overly sexualized as it looked in recordings and snapshots... Actually even slightly more so, because now I have the screen resolution to observe how her butt cheeks move as she runs. >___>

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Wow. That really is exciting progress.

 

[Shademp]

Replacing Vincent with o099 (Online Player Character model) in JORG is more cumbersome in JORG than it is post-JORG, as the cheats have a great tendency to fail and even cause the game to freeze. This follows the general pattern of the original release being less cooperative with Cheat Engine.

I observed now that a few masks received redesigns between JORG and INT. From the looks of things, these masks as they appear in JORG represent the beta stage.

Spoiler: Mask Comparisons

JORG to the left, INT to the right.

This one I already knew about: The mask referred to as "Combat Brain" in the beta phase has a different color and texture to its visor and horns in the 2006 era footage. This mask was only ever available to Square Enix employees who played the game.

　　

Beta version of the gas mask versus its 2006 version.

　　

The three following masks I have never spotted in screenshots from the beta phase. It is very possible that these masks were never available to normal players at that time.

　　

　　

　　

　　

Current limitations:
- I can only deactivate o099 masks, faces and bodies. Because replacing Vincent with o099 means that ALL the masks, faces and bodies/suits are activated, all I have to do is deactivate aspects of the model until I am left with only single variations. In other words I can't (yet) change the online player character as they appear in cutscenes, apart from making their body and/or head invisible.

- I can't change the color/design of the suits nor the color of the player character's hairstyle or their cap (which is sometimes included as part of their "face" and is not actually a mask/cap found in your inventory). At present I can't confirm if the alternate designs and colors of the suits are even available on the disc. I would really, really like to unlock the metal-scales version of the soldier suit:

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

JORG to the left, INT to the right.

JORG to the left of me
INT to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you

 

[Shademp]

Testing out the HDD in my SCPH-50000 PS2 was quite exciting. The console makes more sound with the HDD in the Expansion Bay, presumably because the fan is working harder to cool the system.

I'm not sure yet if this screen I'm seeing IS BB Navigator or not. Will figure out later if I have to use the BB Navigator installation disc.

For whatever reason the game screen turned way brighter when I had the HDD installed. It might be a screen setting in BB Navigator that is causing it.

0:00 - 0:26 → Without BB Unit
0:26 -1:21 → With BB Unit

I did not edit out any of the loading times. It takes 8-9 seconds for the "BB Unit required" screen to load. Meanwhile, the beginning of the PlayOnline Viewer takes 25-26 seconds to load!

I really did not expect to be instantly led to a "PlayOnline Settings" page. Then again, the "PlayOnline Service Has Ended" screen could not possibly have triggered because I hadn't connected a network cable to the BB Unit.


In the future I will make recordings comparing the loading times of Dirge of Cerberus on the SCPH-50000 both with- and without the external HDD.

 

[Shademp]

The list of observations I've made while researching the items and equipment of the online mode could cover many pages. Here's the jist of it so far.


- The on-disc items in the Japanese Original have stats that match the beta phase.

- Post-JORG the item- and equipment stats match the 2006 era. After extensive documentation and comparisons, I am yet to find any differences in the items when you compare the US, PAL and INT versions between each other.

- Multiple equippables which have placeholder names (never accompanied by item descriptions) actually have stats and features that perfectly match named items from the Multiplayer.

OF29 - Auto Lock Handgun
OF30 - Auto Lock Machine Gun
OB9 - Broken Barrel
OS5 - Sniper Scope+
OS6 - Sniper Scope-
OA14 - Quickturn
OA15 - Auto Shot​

Then there is the machine gun named "Revis". While it keeps this name from JORG to post-JORG, the changed item stats reveal that it was turned into the "Broken Machine Gun".


The only broken equipment that the NPC Soar would hand over to you in the beta version was the Broken Handgun. In the 2006 era, this was expanded to the Broken Barrel and Broken Machine Gun. There is no mention anywhere of a broken rifle ever existing.


- Items did have their stats changed both during beta and during the 2006 era. In the earliest days of the beta, the elemental materia had a WT (weight) stat of 20. This was then at some point changed to WT400. During 2006 the WT was 150.

Early 2006 screenshots of the Power Booster Revo show its only visible stat as being WT1650. Later screenshots, and the on-disc version, now reads that the equipment decreases your shooting speed by 15.


- In DCFFVII:International and in PAL, under Japanese setting, ALL of the online equippables have had their Japanese names and descriptions removed. The names are now replaced by placeholder names such as OA (Online Accessory), OF (Online Frame) and so on. I will soon see if this also applies to quest items, restoratives, coins etc.

 

[Shademp]

A great victory has been achieved! Using translations from English > Japanese by Tres and mecorx, I got in contact with Cloze! Their old player diary for the multiplayer has long been a great source of info. Sadly, none of the video download links work anymore and I addressed this in my reply to Cloze.

While Cloze informs that the recordings of matches together with other people no longer remain on their harddrive, they still have some videos of solo-play. There are 12 recordings from the Promotion Exam missions, and a few other videos. Cloze has now created a YouTube channel and will gradually be uploading these videos.

Cloze is adamant about privacy. Since some Japanese players dislike their character name being published on the Internet, Cloze will only be uploading some videos in an edited form, with the player names blurred out. I'm generally getting the impression that Cloze will not be sharing the original video files, so we'll be left to downloading the YouTube versions of their uploads. I am thankful for what we can get!

時間があるときに編集してアップロードしますので、気長にお待ちください。

(google translate)

Please wait patiently as I edit and upload when there is time.

Many thanks to Tres and mecorx for making this happen!

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Woohoo! I'm glad we could make this happen.

 

[Shademp]

The set is complete! We previously learned the pre-release names of the Short Barrel and the Long Barrel in the Single Player. Here is the earlier version of the Normal Barrel.

ヘルハウンド [Hell Hound]


On one hand, it makes very much sense to call this barrel "Hell Hound". Its design consists of three hound heads, with three holes for bullets to propel through. In contrast, the actual grip of the gun has no motif that relates to Cerberus. The grip is quite plain and some players will remember that there is no difference in design between the grip of the Cerberus, the Model Gun and Ultima Weapon.

However when you have these two components equipped, Cerberus + Hell Hound like in the pre-release screenshot, it looks a bit silly because you are essentially reading Cerberus (or Hell Hound) TWICE. "Let me equip the Cerberus to my Cerberus!"


Let's compare the written stats of the Hell Hound and the Normal Barrel of the Japanese original.

Hell Hound → Normal Barrel
WT: 550 → 600
POW: 108 → 55
SPD: 40 → 60
RNG: 70 → 65
LOW: 120 → 90
MED: 125 → 100
HIGH: 65 → 65


In summary, these are the barrels and their original names versus their final names.

キマイラ [Chimaera] → Short Barrel
ヘルハウンド [Hell Hound] → Normal Barrel
ヲロチ [Woloti]* → Long Barrel

*Woloti probably refers to a serpent of some type and/or the wrestler.

EDIT: See posts below. Woloti is likely a different way of writing "Serpent".

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

*Woloti probably refers to a serpent of some type and/or the wrestler.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamata_no_Orochi

 

[Shademp]

Indeed. I was at first confused about that wikipedia article, hence why I didn't link it, but it looks like the word "Orochi" is used to refer to the "Yamata no Orochi". So "The Serpent" is naturally assumed to be the "Eight-Forked Serpent". The reference thus makes sense.


Only very recently did I experiment with changing the maximum MP value of Vincent. If you're not using cheats, his max MP is always 100. Changing it is just as easy as changing max HP.

In JORG, a line marks when you've reached 51MP: Enough to transform into Galian Beast.

Empty bar vs Filled bar

　　

As I changed the maximum MP, so did the "51MP-marker" move position. The requirement for 51MP to transform into Galian Beast always remained.

Spoiler: Changing Max MP

Max MP: 75

　　

Max MP: 200

　　

Max MP: 500

　　

Max MP: 40

At values lower than 51, the 51-MP marker starts migrating outside of the actual MP bar.

In the beta phase, the online player characters had the same limit break mechanic as Vincent does in the Japanese original. However their "limit break ready" markers have different placements compared to Vincent.

If the 51-MP marker is the same between Single Player and Multiplayer, then we could deduce the maximum MP of the characters in these screenshots. The max MP in the first image would be around 70 and the second would be around 60.

However we can't confirm these MP values, and how they changed between suits, until we fully unlock the online player characters. My bet though is on the idea that suits changed your maximum MP, rather than changing how much MP each magic consumed.


EDIT: If you look closely in the post-JORG MP bar, you will see how the 51MP marker has been moved to the very end of the bar.

Changing max MP in the post-JORG games does not move the position of this marker. It would be interesting to move around the marker and see if this unlocks the old limit break mechanic where MP is consumed, or if other parts of the code would have to be hacked.

 

[Shademp]

The marathon of unlocking every online mode item and writing down their properties for all versions of Dirge of Cerberus, plus comparing English and Japanese language settings, is finally done. Only took me two weeks of heavy work.

Like I said before, after the original Japanese release, the item names were replaced with placeholder names and the descriptions were erased. There was only one exception to this: The Chocobo Coin. Perhaps the editor wasn't sure if the Chocobo Coin would be available in the single player or not.

Spoiler: The Chocobo Coin

JORG:

チョコボコイン
銅貨。表面にはチョコボを模したレリーフが刻まれている。

(google translate)

Chocobo Coin
Copper coin. Relief imitating chocobo is engraved on the surface.

PAL/INT in Japanese:

チョコボコイン
流通量が少ないため、希少価値の高いコイン。
チョコボを模したレリーフが刻まれている。

(google translate)

Chocobo Coin
Because the distribution volume is small, coins with high scarcity value.
Relief imitating chocobo is inscribed.

All versions in English:

As you can see, the localization reflects the description in the Japanese original. Please point out any mistakes I made in the transcriptions of the Japanese text.

Many items had their Japanese descriptions changed between beta and retail, so I'm betting that the above differences in item descriptions will be the same if I acquire screenshots of these for both versions of the online mode.

Being aware of these changes, and how the English localization matches the beta version of the multiplayer, can help clear up confusion. The aforementioned Revis machine gun has the following translation:

Spoiler: Revis

"This machine gun frame has one of the largest magazines anywhere." The magazine size of 22 isn't particularly impressive though. All but one machine gun, the Grogono, in the post-JORG data has a larger magazine than that. The description is there because in JORG, this item had a magazine size of 55. In the beta, only the Terashima's clip size was bigger.

The reduction from 55 to 22 happened because the Revis was changed into the Broken Machine Gun.

 

[Shademp]

ヴィンセントのグローブ
[Vincent's Glove]​

I'm not one who is generally interested in wearing clothing with symbols on, but these FF Record Keeper gloves with the cerberus motif quite appeal to me. If I ever look to have personalized gloves, I will consider using them to express my interest in Dirge of Cerberus.

Back to the items and equipment research...


- Great amounts of information on the beta version can be found by looking at the earliest archived pages of the Japanese FFCheats site. Even though this archived page is from May of 2006, over half a year after the beta phase ended, the items page is mostly (perhaps even ONLY) dedicated to beta material even at this point. I am confident in this conclusion both because the given NPC names contradict what player diaries say about the 2006 era AND because in this archived main page they write the following:

マルチプレイヤーモード(βデータを元に修正&#20013
Multiplayer mode (being modified based on β data)​

Thanks to the archived pages I've been able to confirm much data that I already spotted when comparing the JORG and post-JORG game discs. New knowledge has also been acquired, confirming the exact use of beta-exclusive quest items, which NPCs were involved and so on.

The NPC names in the archived FFCheats pages match very well what was archived from dirgeofcerberus.net, to the point that I wonder if the content on the latter site originally came from the former.


- Recall the quest in the 2006 era where you gave Fuzzy Seed to DGSC Hiren, which she over a couple of days grew into a Dandelion that you then handed over to Este-D and then randomness would decide if Este-D rewarded you with a Gas Mask or not.

In the beta version the quest went like this: Give Fuzzy Seed to DGD Hiren, wait a few days, get Dandelion from Hiren, hand over the flower to West-D and then randomly receive a Power Kit, Speed Kit or a Weight Kit. These beta-exclusive kits were used for tuning up weapons.



- The handgun that is frequently seen in video recordings, and which is generally considered the most powerful in the online mode, is the "Scarlet Custom".

Spoiler: Scarlet Custom

JORG

English

The translation lacks the best part of the weapon's description.

極悪な破壊力のハンドルガンフレーム。撃った後、なぜか「キャハハ」と叫びたくなる。

(...)

Handgun frame with vast destructive power. After shooting, I want to cry for some reason "Kyahaha".

While both the JORG version and the archived FFCheats page uses the same description, I can't be 100% sure that outright reference to Scarlet and her laugh existed during beta until I either get a screenshot of the beta-version of the item or find a blog entry that pastes the weapon description as it was back then.

It is also possible that the translator omitted the "Kyahaha" bit because, quite frankly, it doesn't make sense. I get that you want to imbue some FFVII essence into the weapon by confirming its reference to Scarlet the character, but why would using a particular handgun make you want to laugh "Kyahaha"? The translation "I want to cry for some reason" seems to imply that the user (or "item-describer") is not necessarily aware of Scarlet and her signature laugh.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I think it's kind of funny.

 

[Shademp]

While unlocking the online mode items, I observed a change that was made to the "item-received" notification when moving from US to PAL.

JORG & US versus PAL & INT

　　

The notification received a window and a blinking effect to the item text.

This window-style exists across all versions, but more items are tagged with this notification design in PAL & INT.

For the online mode items, I have confirmed this change for the Plates (Mythril Plate, Orichalcum Plate, Adaman Plate), the Quest Items and two "usable" items called OI11 and OI12. Apart from this difference between US and PAL/INT, the items were consistent with having one set of traits for JORG and another set of traits & stats for post-JORG (then there were of course some items that never changed).


I observed this version difference also applies to items available in the single player adventures! The aforementioned change in the notification design applies to the following items and just like before the transition happens between US and PAL.

- Gold Moogle Doll
- Silver Moogle Doll
- Mine Detector
- Mini EX Medal
- Gigas EX Medal
- EX File ①
- EX File ②
- EX File ③​

　　

　　

Years ago, when I first picked up the Gold Moogle Doll in the Japanese original and in the US edition, I felt something was...off. Wasn't the item notification supposed to blink when I picked it up? For some reason I never looked deeper into this gut feeling. So rewarding to know that I was onto something!


EDIT: It is possible that this change to the 'item-received' notification was something that also happened along with a version update in the multiplayer, but I don't have the right recordings or screenshots to confirm this.

I think it's kind of funny.

I agree!

 

[Shademp]

Even the tiny victories are quite exciting. I found this banner for the "Last Shooting" event.

Originally used on the official PlayOnline website, it was never archived over there. Thankfully I just found this blog that had saved the banner, and I applied it accordingly to the Service & Timeline article.

Let me know if my transcription is incorrect:

イベント「ラスト・シューティング」​

The google translation is Event "Last Shooting", but I'm guessing that it's reasonable for me to change it to "The Last Shooting". Both work, but I feel the latter sounds more natural/complete.

EDIT:

HOLY SHIT THERE WAS ANOTHER EVENT BANNER IN THE BLOG!!!

タークス・オブ・タークス 〜残されし記録〜

Both of these images are new to me. So very exciting!