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When manipulating the Plot Progression Value, PPV, of Final Fantasy VII one can uncover a great surprise...
The maps for Reactor No.1 and Reactor No.5 share each others' location names, FMV, scenes and Materia!
Introduction
Plot Progression Value as the name suggest is a value that goes up as the player progresses through the story. PPV sets the limits on when scenes can occur and when items can appear. The value can theoretically be set anywhere in and between 0 and 65535, although the game only makes use of 0-1999 with 0 being the start of the game and 1999 being the moments right before the final battle.
(A number of glitches can occur if you manipulate the PPV, or any other value for that matter, to go above 32767. These may be detailed in a later article.)
"Location name" refers to area designation readable by accessing the menu in-game. This is different from the map name, or file name, which the corresponding fields have if you open up and read the game files.
Here are the maps this article deals with in one way or another;
NMKIN_2: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/NMKIN_2a.png
NMKIN_3: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/NMKIN_3a.png
NMKIN_4: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/NMKIN_4a.png
NMKIN_5: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/NMKIN_5a.png
SMKIN_2: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/SMKIN_2a.png
SMKIN_3: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/SMKIN_3a.png
SMKIN_4: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/SMKIN_4a.png
SMKIN_5:http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/SMKIN_5a.png
ELEVTR1: The elevator shared by both these locations. Exiting this map at a lower PPV leads you to NMKIN_1 or NMKIN_2, while exiting at a higher PPV leads you to SMKIN_1 or SMKIN_2.
"Map" and "Field" hold the same meaning as they both refer to the pre-rendered backgrounds of the game.
Other maps are mentioned as well but they will be explained along the way.
Shared Location Names
At any point when the player normally roams the first reactor the PPV is below 27. When the PPV is set to 27 then the FMV of the reactor exploding is triggered. If you however use cheats to roam the first reactor when the PPV is higher than 27 you will find that NMKIN_2-5 are now called "No.5 Reactor" when opening the menu.
Another change that occurs is that no random battles can occur again in the 2, 3, 4 and 5 NMKIN maps when the PPV is higher than 27. Most likely the developers planned to include a specific set of encounters for when reactor #1 "turned" into reactor number 5 but they only got as far as creating a blank slate for the encounter data.
Only one map in reactor #5 can change its name to reactor #1 and that is SMKIN_4 which is the field with the save point right before you set the bomb. This happens if the PPV is below 27.
No changes in the enemy encounters happen in this reactor when you change the plot progression value.
Shared Reactor Explosion FMV and Timer
It may come as no surprise that in ELEVTR1, the field shared by both reactors, that the FMV of the No.1 Reactor exploding is triggered when the PPV = 27. The same is true for all NMKIN files.
However the FMV will also be triggered in SMKIN_4 and SMKIN_5 if these maps are entered when the PPV = 27.
SMKIN_4 also contains data for the same 10-minute countdown. One way this can be triggered is to activate the countdown in the first reactor, then transport myself to the fifth reactor.
Only SMKIN_4 in the reactor #5 files contain the data for displaying the timer but even when you enter other areas the timer is *still* counting down because it carries over from SMKIN_4, not because those fields contain any actual timer data.
Although SMKIN_5 can't display the timer it does react to when the counter reaches 00:00 and triggers the explosion FMV when this happens.
Shared Restore Materia
The Materia that Cloud picks up in NMKIN_5, the field where you set the bomb, is set to exist if the PPV is below 15. Amazingly, the Restore Materia exists inside SMKIN_5 as well as long as the PPV is below 15. Again, players will normally never see this as Reactor No.5 can't be entered when the plot progression value is this low.
Tidbit: Neither location has a dialogue box to prevent Cloud from picking up the Materia when his Materia list is full. Ergo if your list is full when you pick up the Materia it will be forever lost. The developers didn't expect anyone to acquire a full set of Materia at this stage in the game.
Shared "No. 5 Reactor" Scene
When gamers enter SMKIN_5 a scene from the Nibelheim event five years prior is triggered. The color tone of the screen turns red, you are transported to the map NVMKIN1 where you see Tifa and her murdered father, then transported back to SMKIN_5 where the screen turns back to its usual color tone.
All the dialogue in SMKIN_5 happens after Cloud's flashback and some of it is triggered by talking to Tifa or Barret.
Believe it or not the NMKIN_5 field also contains this scene! If you enter the field when the PPV is above 110 and below 120 then the scene of Cloud falling and the screen turning reddish will trigger. The game will freeze here however as it does not transport you to NVMKIN1. Perhaps the Nibelheim Reactor scenario had not been completed at this point.
Enter the field at exactly PPV = 120 and the follow-up scene of Cloud talking to Barret and Tifa starts. If this is your first time visiting the field then the view will be limited to the upper right part of the screen and your perspective will stay here as long as the scene is going on. You can view the scene as it was intended by having entered this field once before.
Naturally both Tifa and Barret has to be in your party for their respective dialogue to be triggered.
The scene in reactor #1:
The scene in reactor #5:
Shared "No.1 Reactor" Scene?
If you use the program "Loveless" to read which dialogue boxes are flagged you will find that SMKIN_5 contains the same dialogue as when Cloud and Barret speak in NMKIN_5 and that these dialogue boxes are indeed flagged.
A dialogue box being flagged implies that it could technically appear on the screen while a dialogue box which lacks a flag could never appear.
However manipulating the Plot Progression Value can't trigger this scene as it was never given a PPV interval to be triggered on.
This adds to the lack of No.1 Reactor data in this field as it does not contain the "No.1 Reactor" location name either.
In Conclusion
Given that four of the five No.1 Reactor Interior maps will change their location name to "No.5 Reactor" and that NMKIN_5 contains a scene which is otherwise seen in the fifth reactor I think it logical to assume that at an early point in development the NMKIN maps were to be re-used for the second bombing mission.
The developers decided to include maps for a second reactor and so they copied NMKIN 2, 3, 4 and 5 and gave the copied maps slight re-designs. In this process they forgot to remove some of the reactor #1 data in the newly created SMKIN fields as well as forgot to remove the reactor #5 data in the first reactor.
I have also speculated that the developers at one point did not know which reactor maps would be used for the first versus the second bombing mission but there is no way to confirm this.
Resources
- The FFVII viewing and editing software "Loveless" and "Makou Reactor".
- PPV cheat codes by BrutalAl
- GlitterBerri's FFVII map links.
The maps for Reactor No.1 and Reactor No.5 share each others' location names, FMV, scenes and Materia!
Introduction
Plot Progression Value as the name suggest is a value that goes up as the player progresses through the story. PPV sets the limits on when scenes can occur and when items can appear. The value can theoretically be set anywhere in and between 0 and 65535, although the game only makes use of 0-1999 with 0 being the start of the game and 1999 being the moments right before the final battle.
(A number of glitches can occur if you manipulate the PPV, or any other value for that matter, to go above 32767. These may be detailed in a later article.)
"Location name" refers to area designation readable by accessing the menu in-game. This is different from the map name, or file name, which the corresponding fields have if you open up and read the game files.
Here are the maps this article deals with in one way or another;
NMKIN_2: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/NMKIN_2a.png
NMKIN_3: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/NMKIN_3a.png
NMKIN_4: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/NMKIN_4a.png
NMKIN_5: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/NMKIN_5a.png
SMKIN_2: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/SMKIN_2a.png
SMKIN_3: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/SMKIN_3a.png
SMKIN_4: http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/SMKIN_4a.png
SMKIN_5:http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/SMKIN_5a.png
ELEVTR1: The elevator shared by both these locations. Exiting this map at a lower PPV leads you to NMKIN_1 or NMKIN_2, while exiting at a higher PPV leads you to SMKIN_1 or SMKIN_2.
"Map" and "Field" hold the same meaning as they both refer to the pre-rendered backgrounds of the game.
Other maps are mentioned as well but they will be explained along the way.
Shared Location Names
At any point when the player normally roams the first reactor the PPV is below 27. When the PPV is set to 27 then the FMV of the reactor exploding is triggered. If you however use cheats to roam the first reactor when the PPV is higher than 27 you will find that NMKIN_2-5 are now called "No.5 Reactor" when opening the menu.
Another change that occurs is that no random battles can occur again in the 2, 3, 4 and 5 NMKIN maps when the PPV is higher than 27. Most likely the developers planned to include a specific set of encounters for when reactor #1 "turned" into reactor number 5 but they only got as far as creating a blank slate for the encounter data.
Only one map in reactor #5 can change its name to reactor #1 and that is SMKIN_4 which is the field with the save point right before you set the bomb. This happens if the PPV is below 27.
No changes in the enemy encounters happen in this reactor when you change the plot progression value.
Shared Reactor Explosion FMV and Timer
It may come as no surprise that in ELEVTR1, the field shared by both reactors, that the FMV of the No.1 Reactor exploding is triggered when the PPV = 27. The same is true for all NMKIN files.
However the FMV will also be triggered in SMKIN_4 and SMKIN_5 if these maps are entered when the PPV = 27.
SMKIN_4 also contains data for the same 10-minute countdown. One way this can be triggered is to activate the countdown in the first reactor, then transport myself to the fifth reactor.
Only SMKIN_4 in the reactor #5 files contain the data for displaying the timer but even when you enter other areas the timer is *still* counting down because it carries over from SMKIN_4, not because those fields contain any actual timer data.
Although SMKIN_5 can't display the timer it does react to when the counter reaches 00:00 and triggers the explosion FMV when this happens.
Shared Restore Materia
The Materia that Cloud picks up in NMKIN_5, the field where you set the bomb, is set to exist if the PPV is below 15. Amazingly, the Restore Materia exists inside SMKIN_5 as well as long as the PPV is below 15. Again, players will normally never see this as Reactor No.5 can't be entered when the plot progression value is this low.
Tidbit: Neither location has a dialogue box to prevent Cloud from picking up the Materia when his Materia list is full. Ergo if your list is full when you pick up the Materia it will be forever lost. The developers didn't expect anyone to acquire a full set of Materia at this stage in the game.
Shared "No. 5 Reactor" Scene
When gamers enter SMKIN_5 a scene from the Nibelheim event five years prior is triggered. The color tone of the screen turns red, you are transported to the map NVMKIN1 where you see Tifa and her murdered father, then transported back to SMKIN_5 where the screen turns back to its usual color tone.
All the dialogue in SMKIN_5 happens after Cloud's flashback and some of it is triggered by talking to Tifa or Barret.
Believe it or not the NMKIN_5 field also contains this scene! If you enter the field when the PPV is above 110 and below 120 then the scene of Cloud falling and the screen turning reddish will trigger. The game will freeze here however as it does not transport you to NVMKIN1. Perhaps the Nibelheim Reactor scenario had not been completed at this point.
Enter the field at exactly PPV = 120 and the follow-up scene of Cloud talking to Barret and Tifa starts. If this is your first time visiting the field then the view will be limited to the upper right part of the screen and your perspective will stay here as long as the scene is going on. You can view the scene as it was intended by having entered this field once before.
Naturally both Tifa and Barret has to be in your party for their respective dialogue to be triggered.
The scene in reactor #1:
The scene in reactor #5:
Shared "No.1 Reactor" Scene?
If you use the program "Loveless" to read which dialogue boxes are flagged you will find that SMKIN_5 contains the same dialogue as when Cloud and Barret speak in NMKIN_5 and that these dialogue boxes are indeed flagged.
A dialogue box being flagged implies that it could technically appear on the screen while a dialogue box which lacks a flag could never appear.
However manipulating the Plot Progression Value can't trigger this scene as it was never given a PPV interval to be triggered on.
This adds to the lack of No.1 Reactor data in this field as it does not contain the "No.1 Reactor" location name either.
In Conclusion
Given that four of the five No.1 Reactor Interior maps will change their location name to "No.5 Reactor" and that NMKIN_5 contains a scene which is otherwise seen in the fifth reactor I think it logical to assume that at an early point in development the NMKIN maps were to be re-used for the second bombing mission.
The developers decided to include maps for a second reactor and so they copied NMKIN 2, 3, 4 and 5 and gave the copied maps slight re-designs. In this process they forgot to remove some of the reactor #1 data in the newly created SMKIN fields as well as forgot to remove the reactor #5 data in the first reactor.
I have also speculated that the developers at one point did not know which reactor maps would be used for the first versus the second bombing mission but there is no way to confirm this.
Resources
- The FFVII viewing and editing software "Loveless" and "Makou Reactor".
- PPV cheat codes by BrutalAl
- GlitterBerri's FFVII map links.
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