Custom graphics driver for FF7/FF8 [v.1-.7.6]

  • Thread starter Thread starter halkun
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Turn off compatibility mode if you have it on. That's what prevents the process from closing if you're in Windows XP.
Click to expand...
If I turn off compat mode, FF7 Music stops working.
 
Turn off compatibility mode if you have it on. That's what prevents the process from closing if you're in Windows XP.

By the way, the frame rate is dropping considerably in areas that have too many models together. It doesn't matter what resolution I play at, the performance hit is always the same. A good example of this is the house full of cats in Wutai. This sort of thing never happened with the default D3D driver.
Click to expand...
Vista X64 SP2, Geforce 7900 GS Latest drivers, Latest fraps, 640*480 window mode (full screen makes no difference either), vsync


Since you brought this up I will bring up some issues I have with graphics, these didnt occur in XP like this.  But for reference:

XP x86.   All graphics fine, except field graphics i.e in towns. 

In town/field:  Played at 29-30 fps but stuttered all the time.  Refresh rate of monitor had no affect.  Recorded at 27-28 with fraps and stuttered all the more.

Vista X64:

All graphics fine except field graphics.

In town/field:  refresh rate seems to matter a lot....

Anything other than 60 Hz and the field frame rate is 25.  It will also record at 25.  Funnily enough it seems to play smoother like this but obviously it is too slow anyway. 

At 60 Hz:  Plays at 30 fps with same stutter issues as Xp, but again will record at 25 fps.

----------

I am baffled.  It seems now that vista doesnt like vsync with refresh rates not divisible by the original frame rate ??

Maybe it is just my gcard?? I dunno....
 
Last edited:
Finally got it working on the laptop 1280x800

1. I upgraded the driver to the latest from Intel.com
2. intalled ff7_opengl-0.6.7b

use_shaders = true

window_size_x = 1280
window_size_y = 800
preserve_aspect = true/false
fullscreen = true

prevent_rounding_errors = false ; when I set this to true the image at the top gets messed up when I start to move and the screen scrolls or I open the menu.
Setting it to false made the game work very good.

enable_vsync = true

Thanks a lot Aali for the new driver. This driver just keeps getting better and better.
use_shaders switch nice nice nice :-D
The laptop is fine now

The only problem left is on the PC with GeForce FX5500 where
preserve_aspect = true doesn't work.
I already checked that I have the latest drivers.
Overall it works fine.
 
Last edited:
Slight problem on my laptop. Even with battleswirl_framelimiter and vsync set to true, the swirl isn't working.

Most of the time the game flickers from black to the last rendered frame rapidly while the swirl is meant to be displayed. Other times, it'll just be skipped as if it wasn't there.

It is probably another limitation with my GL, but I thought I'll mention it in case it is fixable.
Click to expand...
That may already have been fixed actually, there was a problem with GLs that don't have FBO support that would cause all framebuffer effects to fail.
Click to expand...
Just tried your latest version, while the "ERROR: GL_INVALID_OPERATION" is no longer in the log, the swirl still isn't displayed.
 
[/quote]

Just tried your latest version, while the "ERROR: GL_INVALID_OPERATION" is no longer in the log, the swirl still isn't displayed.
[/quote]

Try patching it with YAMP, I did it on the laptop where
battleswirl_framelimiter = true didn't work
and you can't almost see the swirl because it's too fast.
 
So, I start up the the config after unsucessfully trying 0.6.7b on my system......

Overreact_config.jpg



Gee, something's a little strange. :-D

Does it look like this on everyone else's system, or am I just special?  I would think that running the config program at least auto-set it to software mode if it does not recognize the registry value.....
 
Last edited:
Your config is version 1.00 download the 1.02 patch and replace it.

After replacing it, you can then try 0.6.7b. again.
 
Last edited:
Just thought you might like this in case you haven't seen it. I made a video fighting Emerald Weapon using this mod and a few others. I give credit to everyone. I play the game in 1280x720 and record using Fraps. The battles run at 15 FPS, except when recording they are at 14 FPS. I have to increase it when editing, which is fine. I don't expect anything you could do to the driver could make it stay at 15 while recording, seeing as I have a Phenom II Quad Core and 4 GB of 800 Mhz RAM and it still slows it down.

Anyway, awesome mod.

 
ok a thumbs up for me, I discovered why you worked on this.

The game worked fine on my laptop in D3D mode.

I then tried to play it on my desktop pc in XP with a 8800GT.

Result was a 10second+ pause at startup and once in game the colour depth was clearly below normal as I seen gradient lines in the menu screen.  Spent 10 minutes or so trying to fix but got nowhere then remembered this patch.  Installed it and now the pause is gone and I have the colour depth back, game also seems to run faster although that could be a placebo affect, nevertherless big thumbs up from me.

Only weird issue was when coming out of the game on my dual monitor setup all the windows which were open on my main monitor (the one ff7 ran full screen on) were moved to the other monitor.
 
Had anyone tried to run at 1024x768? The battle won't start if I the resolution 1024x768 both with shaders and without. It hangs right before the battle swirl not actually hang but lag so much that it won't finish the swirl. But works at 1280x960.
Click to expand...
did 1280x960 work for you full screen? I am using 1280x1024 as 1280x960 forces windows mode for me.

I am using nvidia scaling option that uses nvidia to scale and preserve aspect ratio in my drivers (so monitor still in native resolution).
 
Chrysalis : That dual screen issue happens to me also. I really didn't mind it to much but it is like the itch you can't scratch. Actually I found it so annoying I started playing exclusively in window mode. However now I only really need window mode so I lost interest.
 
Last edited:
Another issue... I can't Alt+Tab out of FF7 when using this driver. The screen just flashes and remains in fullscreen. I had to struggle with the Windows key to change the disc image in Daemon tools.
 
Well thats why it's not working, if you don't have any other windows open Alt-Tab will just switch back to FF7.
May be fixable by asking Windows to give the OpenGL window the same special treatment as fullscreen D3D apps but this is very low priority.
 
Chrysalis : That dual screen issue happens to me also. I really didn't mind it to much but it is like the itch you can't scratch. Actually I found it so annoying I started playing exclusively in window mode. However now I only really need window mode so I lost interest.
Click to expand...
it only happened once on my maximised window stuff, windows that arent maximised will move right a bit everytime I play the game and eventually if they move right enough they stay on the 2nd screen, since I now have it all setup good and I wont be frequently starting and closing the game I am satisfied now.  I dont get the slowdown issues some have mentioned either, like in the cat room in wutai no slowness at all for me, even tho I have pumped up antialiasing.

Am I the only one to notice that the videos look sweet using this driver also? on the d3d driver watching videos has the grainy affect especially the opening video, now all that is gone and it looks very sweet and clear on the video clips now.
 
Had anyone tried to run at 1024x768? The battle won't start if I the resolution 1024x768 both with shaders and without. It hangs right before the battle swirl not actually hang but lag so much that it won't finish the swirl. But works at 1280x960.
Click to expand...
did 1280x960 work for you full screen? I am using 1280x1024 as 1280x960 forces windows mode for me.

I am using nvidia scaling option that uses nvidia to scale and preserve aspect ratio in my drivers (so monitor still in native resolution).
Click to expand...
Yes, 1280x960 works very well full screen for me. 1024x768 won't continue the battle swirl. 960x720 forces me to window mode.
Another problem is that preserve_aspect = true doesn't work for me. No matter what resolution.

Currently the custom driver is still picky.

I noticed that the resolution that forces me to window mode is a resolution that isn't supported by my video card or monitor.
Like 960x720 I went to the display properties of my desktop and check if it is an available resolution on the slider and found out that it isn't there.
 
Last edited:
Well thats why it's not working, if you don't have any other windows open Alt-Tab will just switch back to FF7.
May be fixable by asking Windows to give the OpenGL window the same special treatment as fullscreen D3D apps but this is very low priority.
Click to expand...
I see... So it's works differently for OpenGL? I suppose I can leave something else oppened while running FF7.
 
Found a pretty bad texture glitch when using Quake 3:

glitchedtexture.jpg


That's very end of the animation. As you can see, it gets garbled with several random textures. I was fighting Jenova DEATH, I don't know if this glitch is exclusive to this fight.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top