Final Fantasy VII - Improvements

DLPB

Banned Flunky
AKA
Seifer Almasy, DanielReturns
As some of you might be aware, FFVII PC is being improved by a few programmers and modders over at Qhimm's forum.

Whilst some of these changes are not very good (such as changing avatars to be from advent children), others really have made a big difference. Final Fantasy VII was always graphically superior for the PC because it does not use dithering and the 3D models are rendered much better.

The main gripe with the PC version was the bugs. Luckily though, Aali's driver has eliminated all these bugs and improved stability ten fold. He has also made it so you can use the game on 64bit windows and the driver also supports FFVIII PC.

The changes Aali's driver has made to VII are:

1. Uses stable driver which is not dependant on graphic card
2. H264 and other video formats are now supported (I am updating the FMV's with Sony vegas and another resize tool to be 1280 pixels wide with H264 encoding]
3. 64bit vista also supported.
4. Bugs fixed, chocobo racing bug for example, and minigame frame rate
5. Allows window mode and full screen.
6. Internal timer has been updated
7. dialogue box transparency
8. battle menu transparency, black areas also drawn to
9. Higher resolution supported, unlike the 640*480 original

among other changes. I will upload a video shortly showing these things.

Other mods in operation:

1. Retranslation project (mine, this month for the non dialogue part probably)
2. Updating spell graphics (make them smoother or appear higher res)
3. Font changer. Games font is improved
4. Battle menu GUI change
5. NPC model change. Many models updated to high res models. Square arms and hands removed also.
6. Battle models used for the field and world map as well.
7. High res cloud model from the final battle used by default
8. Get rid of cait sith (another of my projects, less liked)
9. FMV updater. Size changed and improvements. Someone has already made one using divx, mine will use h264 and AAC and be a much more professional job. Of course for slower PC's, divx will probably be a better option. Uses the superior PSX FMV's
10. Music updated. MP3's and PSF are allowed to be used in game replacing midi
11. Difficulty mod. Someone has already made one of these, though I am making my own.

The days of FF7 PC being some ugly twin of the PSX are well and truly over.

I will post some examples soon on youtube, for now, this was one I made earlier (some more improvements since this one > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvshhfV7FKg
 

Max Payne

Banned
AKA
Leon S. Kennedy,Terry Bogard, The Dark Knight, Dacon, John Marston, Teal'c
I remember some dood was completely rebuilding the low res backgrounds in 3d using sketchup, haven't anything about it since though.
 

DLPB

Banned Flunky
AKA
Seifer Almasy, DanielReturns
yeah that won't be happening I am afraid...because the backgrounds would need to match exactly the ones that exist and I don't think his did (also would take 100 years for 1 man to replace all those backgrounds)...any case, they have redone the world map but I think it needs more work. It is still beta stage for some of the mods but definate improvements in some.

I will upload a nice vid soon :)
 

Max Payne

Banned
AKA
Leon S. Kennedy,Terry Bogard, The Dark Knight, Dacon, John Marston, Teal'c
yeah that won't be happening I am afraid...because the backgrounds would need to match exactly the ones that exist and I don't think his did

I think they did, he was rebuilding them from the originals, and exporting them to images.
(also would take 100 years for 1 man to replace all those backgrounds)

Not really, if someone paid me enough I could get most of it done in a year :monster:
 

Turk 0

Just a Fool
AKA
iNSOMNiAC013 [Somni], Vin/Vince/Vincent, Reno.
Sounds good to me, I'll have to keep an eye out for this!

Though, I've gotta wonder...Why get rid of Cait Sith? :/
 

Lord Noctis

Harbinger of Darkness
AKA
Caius Ballad
Sounds good to me, I'll have to keep an eye out for this!

Though, I've gotta wonder...Why get rid of Cait Sith? :/

A lot of people hate him. Honestly I do to, but I wouldn't get rid of him. He's part of the OG so I wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much if they removed him.
 

DLPB

Banned Flunky
AKA
Seifer Almasy, DanielReturns
Sounds good to me, I'll have to keep an eye out for this!

Though, I've gotta wonder...Why get rid of Cait Sith? :/

because I find the character totally out of place in the world...and rather silly. I am creating my own story for an employee of Reeve's who spies instead....no fortune teller stuff or anything., We already have a battle model made but this retranslation project is eating all my time atm to complete it

ff7menup7.png


Forget a movie, here are some images (they have some of my retranslations, the actual dialogue was done long time ago and is subject to change):

1. These are from the reunion patch. Field and world map models replaced with battle models. This is definately one of my favourites:


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/FFVIIIReunion/802aa564.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/FFVIIIReunion/ef5b38dd.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/FFVIIIReunion/cd3a1b01.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/FFVIIIReunion/06302a50.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/FFVIIIReunion/43b53bc8.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/FFVIIIReunion/60203c21.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/FFVIIIReunion/fa738930.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/FFVIIIReunion/fb382ef8.jpg

2. NPC changes (unfortunately incomplete, but still better than nothing)

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup8.png

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup9.png

3. Cloud on world map as battle model

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup6.png

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup2.png

4. World map upgrade

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup5.png

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup4.png

5. Map Upgrade (original higher)

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup10.png

6. Menu upgrade including higher res avatars

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup11.png

7. Battle menu upgrade

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup7.png

8. Dialogue box and playable character upgrade

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup1.png

9. Item upgrade

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup13.png

10. Materia upgrade

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/SeiferAlmasy2008/ff7menup12.png

and improved (external source, not mine):
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3347/ff72010012909104881.png

 
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The Twilight Mexican

Ex-SeeD-ingly good
AKA
TresDias
because I find the character totally out of place in the world...and rather silly. I am creating my own story for an employee of Reeve's who spies instead....no fortune teller stuff or anything.

Agreement that he's silly and out-of-place, but won't that idea revoke Reeve's status as an actual member of the team?


Nifty screenshots, by the way.


EDIT: Also, meant to ask: Is the Vincent glitch at Aerith's death fixed?
 
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looneymoon

they/them
AKA
Rishi
I actually really liked Cait Sith. I got really said when he "died" the first time :( then he came back and I was like OH YAY! I thought the same thing would happen with Aeris, which made the whole thing even worse.

I guess it's needless to say that I was 10/11 when I first played FF7 :monster:
 

Max Payne

Banned
AKA
Leon S. Kennedy,Terry Bogard, The Dark Knight, Dacon, John Marston, Teal'c
I don't see how Cait Sith is anymore out of place than Cloud taking a bath with a group of naked gay men, cross dressing and getting hit on by a fat pervert, the golden saucer, or Red XIII wearing a sailor suit.

The whole point of the character is to offset a group of very grim, and hardened revolutionaries, isn't it?
 

DLPB

Banned Flunky
AKA
Seifer Almasy, DanielReturns
Agreement that he's silly and out-of-place, but won't that idea revoke Reeve's status as an actual member of the team?

Yes.

Also, meant to ask: Is the Vincent glitch at Aerith's death fixed?

I don't know of any bug but I could check?

as for Cait, Suspension of disbelief is a great thing, but he crosses all boundaries.
 

The Twilight Mexican

Ex-SeeD-ingly good
AKA
TresDias

:(

Dan said:
I don't know of any bug but I could check?

If Vincent is in the party when Aerith dies in the PC version, his leg is stuck sticking up. He first kicks Aerith's body in the head, then kicks Cloud in the nuts, and then hops away. No, really:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JqMgYYbKQc

Here's enhanced Vince doing the same thing:


Dan said:
as for Cait, Suspension of disbelief is a great thing, but he crosses all boundaries.

But Reeve ... :(
 

DLPB

Banned Flunky
AKA
Seifer Almasy, DanielReturns
hahahahaha that's fucked up...

Well no that won't have been fixed cause game code (model animation) will have to be altered for that I am guessing....

I will talk to someone about it and see if anything can be done!
 
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Max Payne

Banned
AKA
Leon S. Kennedy,Terry Bogard, The Dark Knight, Dacon, John Marston, Teal'c
Cait, Suspension of disbelief is a great thing, but he crosses all boundaries.

Yeah no. You're just using the excuse of "he's out of place, and breaks the boundaries of suspension of disbelief" to justify your dislike of the character.

There are dead people in this game manipulating aliens older than 2000 years, and a fucking talking fiery lion creature. Crossing boundaries my ass.
 

DLPB

Banned Flunky
AKA
Seifer Almasy, DanielReturns
Yeah no. You're just using the excuse of "he's out of place, and breaks the boundaries of suspension of disbelief" to justify your dislike of the character.

There are dead people in this game manipulating aliens older than 2000 years, and a fucking talking fiery lion creature. Crossing boundaries my ass.

My dislike of the character is a direct result of not being able to suspend disbelief.

Red XIII is hardly believable on our planet but he is a biological creature with a history.

Cait is a stuffed white toy with a mechanical cat on top, roaming around with your party for seemingly no reason (no reason given to cloud and party) and actually being remote controlled by reeve who is spying on you. Why would a Shin-Ra operative use that thing for infiltration?

Call me crazy but that is a pill too large to swallow :lol::awesome: Obviously you must love the character, but in every poll I have seen he comes last. I can't have that thing in the middle of a serious plot, and yes the plot addresses serious issues, death, suicide, evil, struggle...

And then cait comes along bouncing away through the story...now maybe you can deal with that, but I certainly can't.

His story is "I am joining you no matter WHAT you say"

"I am a fortune teller"

"I will kill Marin if you don't do as I say"

"Hello I am cait sith 2"

It isn't good enough

"I have information Shinra"
:whistle:
:)
 
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ForceStealer

Double Growth
That's actually much more believable than what the real story is now. That is, a mere plush toy that Reeve animated through some innate, inexplicable, unprecedented ability.
 

DLPB

Banned Flunky
AKA
Seifer Almasy, DanielReturns
That's actually much more believable than what the real story is now. That is, a mere plush toy that Reeve animated through some innate, inexplicable, unprecedented ability.


What on earth? Where does that come from? (havent played any FF7 spin offs)
 

Max Payne

Banned
AKA
Leon S. Kennedy,Terry Bogard, The Dark Knight, Dacon, John Marston, Teal'c
My dislike of the character is a direct result of not being able to suspend disbelief.


There is something seriously fucked up if you can accept all of the other retardation in the game, but can't buy a remote controlled robot.
Red XIII is hardly believable on our planet but he is a biological creature with a history.

And Cait Sith is a fucking robot. You know, on a planet full of robots and technology?


Call me crazy but that is a pill too large to swallow :lol::awesome: Obviously you must love the character, but in every poll I have seen he comes last. I can't have that thing in the middle of a serious plot, and yes the plot addresses serious issues, death, suicide, evil, struggle...
[/QUOTE]
You can't swallow a robot that I guy is using to spy on the party with? That's retarded. FF7 is full of some really silly shit, like snowboarding down a fucking glacier, Cloud dressing up like a she boy, a GIANT AMUSEMENT PART IN THE SKY. I'm not overly fond of Cait Sith, but your reasons are idiotic.
His story is "I am joining you no matter WHAT you say"

"I am a fortune teller"

"I will kill Marin if you don't do as I say"

"Hello I am cait sith 2"

It isn't good enough

His story is, he meets Cloud and co. undercover, he forces them to let him spy on them, he sacrifices his body to get the black materia, and then Reeve learns to like the part and does everything he can to help them be successful.

That isn't all his story is, way to gloss over everything. Cait Sith's character is really Reeve, Cait is just a surrogate.
 

ForceStealer

Double Growth
What on earth? Where does that come from? (havent played any FF7 spin offs)

The 10th Anniversary Ultimania, I think.

EDIT: Yup:

By utilizing his special ability, “Inspire”, he is able to cause inorganic things to emit life; his “child”, the “cat”-shaped robot, Cait Sith can be controlled from a great distance.

Stupid.
 
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Cat Rage Room

Great Old One
AKA
Mog
Whether or not Cait Sith is believable or not is irrelevant compared to the fact that you're basically switching up characters in the official canon of the game. I mean seriously??? Fixing core gameplay issues and improving it is fine, but leave the narrative untouched dude.
 

DLPB

Banned Flunky
AKA
Seifer Almasy, DanielReturns
He is a stuffed toy (ok cait is the robot but they come as a package), dude ;) And there is no way that I can suspend disbelief to Reeve remote controlling it in order to infiltrate your party. As a main character extra scrutiny is placed on it.

The snowboard event is a gameplay element. I can just as easily pretend that they walked it. I can't do that with Cait. He is there bopping about in the middle of the story.

As I said, maybe you can turn a blind eye to it, but some of us can't. I respect that you differ with me on this, but all I am doing is giving people the choice whether to swap him out for a story I created.

Imho a much more plausible one where reeve sets a human operative into the party. There are no robots in VII behaving like living creatures in the same way as cait sith. It is completely different thing.

If cait showed up and said "I am joining your party no matter what you say" < that is how he joins. You would say "no"

Whether or not Cait Sith is believable or not is irrelevant compared to the fact that you're basically switching up characters in the official canon of the game. I mean seriously??? Fixing core gameplay issues and improving it is fine, but leave the narrative untouched dude.


Giving people a choice is fine by me. It is separate project to the translation and yes this is a personal project. But I don't see the issue if you don't hve to use it.

It is no different to changing the dialogue or graphics.
 
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Cat Rage Room

Great Old One
AKA
Mog
I don't know. It's your choice, but it's dumb to do so and try to assume that it's official. Just don't try to pass it off as the original game, improved or not.
 

Max Payne

Banned
AKA
Leon S. Kennedy,Terry Bogard, The Dark Knight, Dacon, John Marston, Teal'c
He is a stuffed toy, dude ;) And there is no way that I can suspend disbelief to Reeve remote controlling it in order to infiltrate your party. As a main character extra scrutiny is placed on it.

He's a freaking robot. Reeve IS Cait Sith and whether or not you can suspend your very particular disbelief or not, that's what it is. This is silly.
The snowboard event is a gameplay element. I can just as easily pretend that they walked it.
Not when the story says you have to snowboard to get where you're going. No reason to assume they didn't do it.

Imho a much more plausible one where reeve sets a human operative into the party.
A human who says, does, and acts how Reeve wants him to?
There are no robots in VII behaving like living creatures in the same way as cait sith. It is completely different thing.
BECAUSE CAIT SITH IS REMOTE CONTROLLED. What is so hard to understand about this?

If cait showed up and said "I am joining your party no matter what you say" < that is how he joins. You would say "no"
He didn't really give them a choice did he?

I seriously don't see how Reeve using a robot as a surrogate to journey with the party is so unfucking believable with all the bizarre shit going on in the game. That's ridiculous.
 
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