FFVIII coming to PC with some resolution upgrade

[Drax]

Probably not as much upgrade as FFX, but FFVIII will be coming to PC again with a higher resolution.

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/05/1...m_campaign=Feed:+siliconera/MkOc+(Siliconera)

Not confirmed, but I guess it would be nice if they did something with the pocket station stuff.

 

[JBedford]

I imagine it's just using a better rendering engine for the models, and upscaled and improved FMVs. I.e. Like they did with FFVII 2012. I doubt they treated the 2D field backgrounds.

 

[Lex]

Famitsu apparently confirms a VIII PC Re-Release.

I still don't believe for a second that it'll be released on Steam though, unless SE are planning to close their own store completely.

First high-res shots from new FFVIII port

As expected, the same one released in 1999 with graphics upscaling. Only they're not even that upscaled, because there are better filters available through the Qhimm graphics driver (look at the state of the number font in battle). I highly suspect they've piggypacked Aali's driver again.

Not knocking you for creating the thread, just reposting for the relevance factor. These were originally posted in the weekly roundup thread 2 days ago.

 

[Hisako]

Square Enix already have plenty of items available on Steam, though. It wouldn't be unreasonable for them to release it for digital distribution there

 

[Lex]

The PC version comes with a small program that emulates the functionality of the Pocketstation btw, I only just noticed you had mentioned that in your opening post.

 

[Lex]

Um

FFVIII was just released on Steam

wut

as far as I know there was no release date or anything, they just shat it out on Steam about an hour ago. Wow.

EDIT: Trailer

Looks like they've used the graphical enhancements from the Qhimm forums this time aswell. Bizaree, bizarre times:

Spoiler

 

[Kuroto]

^It looks fantastic. Must resist the urge to buy it. Must resist!

 

[Shademp]

Bizarre times indeed. Makes me chuckle.

"Now with a host of new features and enhancements".

I reckon these "features" are just trophy-support and then some retarded character booster like in FF7.

 

[Lex]

They are.

However, graphically the menus (fonts and avatars), models and a few other things are superior to the original.

The thing I'm curious about though - this needs a bit of explanation before I mention it:

There are two versions of the world map in FF8, a low res and slightly higher res version. Have you ever noticed when you step out of a town on the Playstation version there's a short delay where everything is a tiny bit more pixellated? In the old PC version the game was supposed to permanently choose between these two versions before the game was launched, but a bug in the system caused it to only display the low res version (so you were walking around on a super ugly world map).

Someone on Qhimm might have fixed this after I brought this to their attention 4 or 5 years ago, but if not I hope they fixed it for this release.

The problem with FF8 for PC is things that requite button input (like Zell's limit) become confusing because "

[B3]" or "[B5] [B3]" is a lot more difficult to interpret than "<- <- O" etc. if you're using a controller.

EDIT: That world map thing is visible at the very start of this video - notice how things like the lines on the side of the paths are missing:

 

[Flintlock]

Such weird behaviour from Square Enix. No less than I've come to expect from them though.

A list of achievements was discovered earlier in the year. I'd be interested in knowing if that's what has been implemented in the end. Just like the VII achievements, there's a severe lack of originality. The only one that interests me a little is "FINISH_THE_GAME_INITIAL_LEVEL", which presumably means without levelling up. Also, I want to know how the percentage of players who get Quezacotl is higher than the percentage who get Shiva. Power cut in between naming the two GFs, maybe?

 

[Tetsujin]

The 3D models with the smoothened textures really stand out on that pixelated background.

 

[Selphie Tilmitt]

They've possibly made a modicum of more effort for this one, people/sites are saying Chocobo World is in, and there's also something called a "Magic Booster" which boosts the power of spells.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I think Chocobo World was in the previous PC release as well.

 

[Lex]

Yes, yes it was:

The PC version comes with a small program that emulates the functionality of the Pocketstation btw, I only just noticed you had mentioned that in your opening post.

 

[Shademp]

Ok I have to admit, this Kotaku article about FFVIII was amusing without going too overboard with a negative attitude.

Squall is so funny.

 

[Farron]

ooh Squall !

I love you, but you're so Drama Queen sometimes

 

[Shademp]

Btw somebody should check if there's an easter egg in this new version. FFVII PC2012 had the "Secret Cow Room" easter egg in the Northern Crater. Maybe FFVIII has something similar?

 

[Drax]

Since a remake's not likely, I wish they'd orchestrate it like this for Steam. Imagine how awesome it would be if they'd use the Distant Worlds fanfare

seamless!

 

[Ivette]

Ok I have to admit, this Kotaku article about FFVIII was amusing without going too overboard with a negative attitude.

Squall is so funny.

+100000

 

[Jason Tandro]

FFVIII now on Steam

My friend Brendan tells me that it is an inferior port of the game, and that the music has been MIDI-fied. Is this the case with the Steam version? I mean, I know the PC versions were pretty bad, but I figure Steam doesn't usually do that. Plus the ads promise new features and enhancements.

Frankly I've been dying for a port of this for a while as, truth be told, FFVIII is my personal favorite Final Fantasy. Is it the best? No, that'd be VI. Does it have the most in-depth story, no that'd be VII. But something about Final Fantasy VIII really sticks to me, mainly because I was the first person in my family to play this Final Fantasy, whereas our brother introduced us to VI (then III). But yeah, not sure why but VIII is my favorite.

Anyways, anybody planning on getting this baby on Steam?

 

[Ite]

Think there are a couple of other threads about this. Not sure if it is out yet. When they re-released FF7 it was the same bunky PC version we got in 1998 but they've since replaced the MIDIs with the original game music.

FFVIII's original port was pretty terrible.

 

[Claymore]

Yep. The Steam release has some updated visuals, MIDI music (though I'm sure they will fix that at some point like they did with the VII release), a magic booster to start you off with lots of magic so you don't have to draw, achievements, and the Japan only Chocobo World game for the Pocketstation.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

It was released about a week ago to little (i.e. no) fanfare. It was just suddenly there. I'll move this thread into the relevant existing thread.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Thanks! Didn't see this one there. Still learning to maneuver these boards, lol!

So, it has the pocketstation game huh? That might be worth the expense, just for the cultural experience.

 

[Lex]

FFVIII's original port was pretty terrible.

Not really? It was the exact same game with non-pixellated text and MIDI music, as well as the addition of the pocketstation minigame. Hardly a "terrible" port.