FFVII: Shinra Archaeology Cut

Version 1.421 IRO Download​

Vanilla Mode now also available on PS1!​

About the Mod

This mod for Final Fantasy VII has been created to accomplish two things:

First, it offers a full retranslation of the game's text that fixes mistakes in the original English translation; improves tonal accuracy using idiomatic language; and conforms to the localization choices of the Compilation and Remake trilogy where applicable to ensure continuity through the Final Fantasy VII series. The goal of this retranslation is to give English players a narrative experience and foundation of lore that is as close as possible to that of Japanese-speaking players.

Second, and optionally, this mod restores numerous events, maps, animations, puzzles, and lines of dialogue that were cut from the final release. In 99 cases out of 100, this content has been mined from the original game files themselves. Only when absolutely necessary have the authors of this mod supplied the minimum amount of additional assets to ensure the functionality of the official scrapped elements. A full spreadsheet of this mod's script is available on Google drive, with unofficial dialogue clearly demarcated.

This mod requires the 7th Heaven mod loader to be used.

Custom facial expression system only works with vanilla models and Ninostyle models (with the facial animation fix mod).


Example Images of Contents [CONTAINS SPOILERS]

Main Contents

Fully Retranslated Script

Spoiler

         

         

         

         

         

Parity With Compilation of FFVII, Remake and Rebirth Localizations

Spoiler

As mentioned, in spots where the Japanese is the same or partially the same between the original FFVII and Remake / Rebirth, we have opted to use the official localization of those lines to create a sense of cohesion akin to what the Japanese side of things has. This also extends to the other Compilation entries, but Remake—as the most recent FFVII entry—gets priority.

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Restored Unused Scenes

Spoiler

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

Restored Unused Puzzles

Spoiler

         

Restored Facial Expression System

Spoiler

This system existed in the PSX version but was almost never used. It was unfinished in the PC version but has been restored by TrueOdin in recent FFNx canary builds, and I took the liberty of porting over the textures and incorporating new expressions into scenes on top of what few were already in the game. A full list of scenes affected can be found in the iro. Eyes work perfectly but custom mouths are a bit of a work in progress.

         

         

         

         

Bonus Features

FMV Options

Spoiler

Several FMVs got changes during development, and these options allow those earlier renditions to be used.

         

         

Beta-style Menu Icons

Spoiler

Early in FFVII's development, the characters had pixel art portraits reminiscent of prior entries in the series. The textures for Cloud, Aerith, and Barret's portraits remained in the Tobal No.1 FFVII sampler demo, and with this option you can use them in the final game. Additionally, the incredibly talented pixel artist Prism has provided stylistically-consistent custom sprite portraits for the remaining members so this mode can affect the whole party.

         

         

Red Yuffie Costume

Spoiler

In the planning stage of FFVII, Yuffie's outfit was red and white rather than green and orange. This option allows you to use a costume for Yuffie based on that original design, with a battle model provided by the incredible UpRisen.

         

         

Option to Restore JORG Backgrounds

Spoiler

The original Japanese release (JORG) of FFVII had a handful of prerendered backgrounds that got revised for the international release, generally to make it clearer where the player needs to go. This option restores the original versions.

JORG                                                                                                Post-JORG​

         

         

         

         

Mod Credits

This mod is a production of the Shinra Archaeology Department, an FFVII fan group dedicated to translating Japanese interviews and guidebooks and making them available to English-speaking audiences.

Restoration, Implementation, and Logo Graphics: Odysseus (TheStrifeIsRife)

Translation and Localization Continuity: TurquoiseHammer

Data Mining, Organization, and Annotation: Shademp

Original Script Mining: Herman1134 (Jason Maltz)

Cait Sith Regional Dialect: M. J. Gallagher (FFVIINovels)

Custom Sprite Portraits: Prism

Red Yuffie Battle Model: UpRisen


Acknowledgements

NPC blink animation fixes provided by Orichalcon.

Unused custom eye and mouth texture system restored by TrueOdin.

The tile set for the TRAP field was decoded by BrutalAl.


Tools used

Makou Reactor and Vincent Tim: myst6re

WallMarket and ProudClod: nfitc1

Black Chocobo: sithlord48

KimeraCS: LaZar00

Scarlet: petfriendamy

Landscaper: Mav

 

There's hasn't been any one big update in a while, but I've released a bunch of micro updates over the past month that I've neglected to mention.

Added some content from the FFVII Sampler demo from March 1996, spruced up some textboxes a little (mostly adding spaces after ellipses or adding new commas), and I fixed a bug with the base PC port of FFVII in the big scene in the Northern Cavity where you're supposed to see Sephiroth flicker on screen briefly but his model isn't placed in a spot where you can see him.

 

Updated to version 1.315

Changes:

• Removed a few instances of the word "fuck" in the script. I know people were mostly fine with them but the fear of the project being perceived as juvenile got the better of us. There's still two instances in places we feel it's appropriate.
• Expanded "This guy are sick" option into "FFVII Cultural Heritage Mode" option that adds back even more strange lines from the original script.
• Changed line in the cave with fire in Wutai so Cloud says "crispy critters" as in the PS1 translation because funny. This is a main script edit and not part of the aforementioned Cultural Heritage Mode.
• Update dancing Vincent graphic.

 

I'm playing this right now and love it so far. But I just ran into a major bug. When you go up to the 68th floor of the Shinra Building without having the Keycard you get stuck there. You can't leave the Stairwell because you don't have the Keycard and if you try to go back down the stairs the escalator automatically takes you back up. It completely softlocks your game. I wonder why nobody mentioned this before since a lot of people probably go up there to get the Hardedge.

 

I'm playing this right now and love it so far. But I just ran into a major bug. When you go up to the 68th floor of the Shinra Building without having the Keycard you get stuck there. You can't leave the Stairwell because you don't have the Keycard and if you try to go back down the stairs the escalator automatically takes you back up. It completely softlocks your game. I wonder why nobody mentioned this before since a lot of people probably go up there to get the Hardedge.

I think this bug has something to do with a different mod rather than SAC itself. I've had it reported a couple times but I've never been able to replicate it.

 

Multi-linked slots option doesn't seem to be working. I'm not seeing the changes in weapon/armor slots. I have Postscriptthree's Gameplay Tweaks (Version 1.56)

 

Multi-linked slots option doesn't seem to be working. I'm not seeing the changes in weapon/armor slots. I have Postscriptthree's Gameplay Tweaks (Version 1.56)

I messed up the file path for it when i added Cultural Heritage Mode. It's fixed now in version 1.321.

 

Hi, I had SAC previously installed and tried to update, but can't get it to install. I tried removing the mod and reinstalling, and it downloads fine but won't install again. (never had a problem with older versions and other mods updated fine.) This was in the error log:

13:13:20|INFO|AppUI.ViewModels.MainWindowViewModel|Error installing Shinra Archaeology Cut - The mod is queued for install.
13:13:20|ERROR|AppUI.ViewModels.MainWindowViewModel|System.Exception: IRO archive appears to be invalid: corrupted download?

Thanks!

 

Upload got corrupted. It's fixed now.

 

[EDIT: Nevermind. Shinra Archaeology Cut and Aavock UI just don't mix. There are so many visual issues that it's not even worth trying. It looks fine in ESUI.]

Hi there. I'm seeing a small issue with Shinra Archaeology Cut + ESUI (+ Aavock UI):

When looking at the preview for buying a weapon/armor in a shop, the second line is supposed to say, for instance, "Materia Growth Normal." However, "Materia Growth" is so long that "Normal" appears over the top of it.

So... one possibility is to change the text to something shorter, like "Mat. Growth," "Growth Rate," "Growth," etc.

Another possibility is to change the x coord for where the value displays.

I'm not sure how feasible changing the x coord is. If it's shared with the first line, it might not be possible to move the start far enough right without having the slot graphics an 8-slot item  run past the right edge of the window.

I also don't know which file contains this x coord, but I have a bad feeling it's probably something that gets clobbered by both ESUI and Aavock UI...

 

[EDIT: Nevermind. Shinra Archaeology Cut and Aavock UI just don't mix. There are so many visual issues that it's not even worth trying. It looks fine in ESUI.]

Like?

As far as the materia growth thing, it's because SAC changes the text to say "Materia Growth" when the vanilla game just says "Growth". ESUI's rearranged menus doesn't account for this. It expects it to just say "Growth" like the regular game does and spaces it accordingly.

But I'm not aware of any other issues...

 

Like?

As far as the materia growth thing, it's because SAC changes the text to say "Materia Growth" when the vanilla game just says "Growth". ESUI's rearranged menus doesn't account for this. It expects it to just say "Growth" like the regular game does and spaces it accordingly.

But I'm not aware of any other issues...

Might not hurt to have a thing for the placement of that text like you do for the menu width, at least under the hood if SAC is being used. Otherwise I think Chris and I worked out most of the major kinks with SAC and ESUI, unless there's something else I don't know about.

 

Like?

As far as the materia growth thing, it's because SAC changes the text to say "Materia Growth" when the vanilla game just says "Growth". ESUI's rearranged menus doesn't account for this. It expects it to just say "Growth" like the regular game does and spaces it accordingly.

But I'm not aware of any other issues...

Bunches of text boxes are borked b/c Aavock's chunky font doesn't fit. The first two examples are Jessie's instructions on how to mount a ladder, and the item pickup on the screen after meeting Aerith for the first time. These are fine in stock ESUI; it's just Aavock that doesn't play well will SAC. I've just given up on Aavock entirely. Stock ESUI looks perfectly fine, and a better translation is much more important to me than a 1:1 UI remake.

 

FYI: The download for v1.3291 is corrupted.

Also, do you know how to contact htp314? The latest Ninostyle Fixes (v2.2) messes up Vincent's 60fps battle animations.

Edit: A couple more questions:

- 60/30 Gameplay has some field animation fixes, but cautions that they're likely not compatible with translation mods. Are these fixes incorporated into SAC? Is compatibility OK if SAC has higher priority than 60/30 Gameplay?

- I applied your retranslated subtitles to SYW's latest generation of upscaled videos. (With some help from Satsuki getting a clean enough copy of Jenova_E to remove the existing subs.) Would you be interested in using these?

- About that troublesome line in Ending2, how about "Yeah. Let's go meet there."? That preserves 会うwhile eliding its direct object by substituting an adverbial phrase, and sounds fairly natural.

 

FYI: The download for v1.3291 is corrupted.

Also, do you know how to contact htp314? The latest Ninostyle Fixes (v2.2) messes up Vincent's 60fps battle animations.

Edit: A couple more questions:

- 60/30 Gameplay has some field animation fixes, but cautions that they're likely not compatible with translation mods. Are these fixes incorporated into SAC? Is compatibility OK if SAC has higher priority than 60/30 Gameplay?

- I applied your retranslated subtitles to SYW's latest generation of upscaled videos. (With some help from Satsuki getting a clean enough copy of Jenova_E to remove the existing subs.) Would you be interested in using these?

- About that troublesome line in Ending2, how about "Yeah. Let's go meet there."? That preserves 会うwhile eliding its direct object by substituting an adverbial phrase, and sounds fairly natural.

Upload is fixed now. I think I must have thoughlessly closed filezilla before it finished uploading lol. And I can pass that along to htp314. [EDIT] He says it's fixed altready in 2.3
.
- SAC does not incorperate those fixes, no. frankly I'd rather the 60fps mod accomodate it with a SAC setting, which could also fix some of the other issues 60fps creates with it, but I'm not sure those guys are around anymore.

- Our version of Jenova_E is already upscaled so I don't need that but I wouldn't mind the opening variants and ending variants if you've got them, as long as they're still the original framerate (higher FPS versions should be added to that mod instead imo). I was thinking the quality looked poor on our version of those. Also if you do want to give us them, please change it from "O, lady luck" to just "O lady luck" on Cid's line. That's an edit I've had in the docket for a while.

- I can ask Turq but I think he has it where he wants it. [EDIT] Yeah he doesn't want to change it. Hope is that Remake 3 gives us an excuse to have a less literal translation anyway lol.

 

SAC does not incorperate those fixes, no. frankly I'd rather the 60fps mod accomodate it with a SAC setting, which could also fix some of the other issues 60fps creates with it, but I'm not sure those guys are around anymore.

Fortunately, their readme does include detailed notes on how to apply the fixes to mods like SAC that alter the field scripts. Assuming I didn't botch anything, these chunk files are the 60 fps fixes applied on top of SAC v1.3291's chunk files. Plus one experimental fix of my own. None of them are tested yet. See the included readme for details. (Sorry for the external link; apparently I'm not allowed to attach files to posts here. Link expires in a week.)

[EDIT: Also, what "other issues"? My skills at field script editing are pretty limited, but I could give it a try.]

as long as they're still the original framerate

They're 30fps, but I can make a 15 fps set if you'd like. Shall I?

Our version of Jenova_E is already upscaled so I don't need that

It seems like SYW sourced his latest Jenova_E from some apocryphal source, since the quality is waaaay better than the usual PS1 upscales. And, more to the point, waaaaay better than yours.

but I wouldn't mind the opening variants

I didn't do that one. (Since I personally find the extra text hokey and meddlesome.) The only tool I have for masking baked subtitles that fade in like these do requires a clean copy of the same video as a reference. I'm not sure I've got a version similar enough to that video that it will work.

and ending variants... Also if you do want to give us them, please change it from "O, lady luck" to just "O lady luck" on Cid's line. That's an edit I've had in the docket for a while.

I can do that.

While I'm at it, I think "lady luck" should be capitalized "Lady Luck," because (a) the general rule is that anthropomorphic personifications of abstract concepts are capitalized (e.g., Lady Liberty, Death, Britannia, Uncle Sam, etc.), and (b) I can't recall ever seeing it elsewhere not capitalized. (Aside, I rather like this translation and would probably favor keeping it over whatever remake3 does.)

I can ask Turq but I think he has it where he wants it. [EDIT] Yeah he doesn't want to change it. Hope is that Remake 3 gives us an excuse to have a less literal translation anyway lol.

Honestly, I'd be really surprised if whatever remake3 does turns out to be an improvement. I guess we'll see.

 

Okay that's a lot to respond to.

I've changed blin70_2 since the last update so that will need to be redone, but maybe I could arrange for the rest of these to be added to the 60fps mod in a new SAC setting. There are also issues with Test 0 since the animations for it in 60fps are for the pyramid version.

Honestly if you're not doing my intros anyway, I don't want your upscales. It would just be inconsistent at that point. Maybe you can convince Satsuki to add them as an option in his mod instead. Capitalizing Lady Luck is fine btw.

 

Okay that's a lot to respond to.

Sorry. 

I've changed blin70_2 since the last update so that will need to be redone

OK. If you send me all four variants of the new blin70_2, I'll redo it.

maybe I could arrange for the rest of these to be added to the 60fps mod in a new SAC setting. There are also issues with Test 0 since the animations for it in 60fps are for the pyramid version.

Good news! Here is version 2 of 60-fps fixes for SAC. (Again with the lame file host because I can't do forum post attachments -- sorry!) Changed stuff:

• All it takes to fix Test0's 60-fps battle animations is to copy/paste/rename the guard dog's 60-fps animations. The renamed file is included. (Aside, I had to do a search to figure out what the heck Test0 even is.)
• After testing, I discovered that the 60 FPS mod's fixes for woa_2 and woa_3 aren't really complete. I've revised them, and added woa_1. These puzzles should now be completely correct at 60 fps. (However, you need FFNx with commit 3ab025d for stuff to continue working correctly after the scripted battle that happens if you fail.)
• I tested everything except the Shinra mansion safe (sinin2_1), and they all seem to be working correctly. I couldn't test sinin2_1 because I don't have a save file near that point. (Also, I only tested the cutcontent+controller variants, and I'm just assuming I didn't mess up applying the same edits to the other variants.)

Honestly if you're not doing my intros anyway, I don't want your upscales. It would just be inconsistent at that point.

I'll try to isolate and extract the beta subs from your intros, but I can't guarantee it will work.

 

Another update: SAC 60fps fixes files v3

I promise this is that last revision of the 60fps fixes until the new new blin70_2 is available.

It belatedly occurred to me to check whether FFNx is automatically doubling wait opcodes in field scripts. Indeed, it is. Which has a few consequences:

• I incorrectly doubled some waits in woa_1. woa_2, and woa_3, so I had to go back and undo that.
• The fix for the Shinra Mansion safe is not correct. We want the dial to move 1 number per 2 frames, but automatic doubling of the fix's waits results in 1 number per 3 frames. I was unable to find a hacky way to make a 1-frame wait and ultimately settled for increasing the time limit from 20sec to 30sec. I used Black Chocobo to hack a save file to test this. 20sec is just barely doable; 30sec is more reasonable.
• My fix for Nibel Reactor gears is not correct. We want them spinning at 30fps, but automatic doubling of the fix's waits results in 20fps. Unfortunately, without a real 1-frame wait operation available, I don't see a way to fix this without adding stutter. Oh well, it still looks better than 60fps. (Hmmm... would stuttering gears actually look... good?...)

 

Good news: I found a method for extracting the opening crawl text from your beta/demo opening FMVs so it can be overlaid onto SYW's latest and greatest upscales. Beta is already done. Demo will get done as soon as I find time. So you're going to get your upscaled 15-fps video set after all.

While I'm here, I've got two questions about the other FMVs:

[list type=decimal]
[*]I'm assuming that the change to lowercase "promised land" is intentional, so I shouldn't capitalize it. Is that correct?
[*]Fonts. Do we want to approximate the fonts used in the original videos, or try for some sort of consistency?

• It looks like the original jenova_e FMV uses the original menu/text font, which is a lightly bastardized Verdana.
• It looks like the original ending_2 FMV uses a Franklin Gothic clone. (Very similar, but lowercase 'a' is a bit different.)
• If we wanted to make all movies consistent with ESUI, it looks like ESUI is using Helvetica(/clone?).
• If we wanted to make all movies consistent with the original menu/text (even though ending2 wasn't in the original game), Verdana is a close match.
• Some other choice for consistency?
• (If you leave it up to me, I'm going to match the fonts used in the original videos.)

[/list]

 

Alrighty, here are 15-fps FMVs with SAC translations and beta/demo text crawls applied to SYW's latest and greatest upscales. (Link expires in 7 days.)

For the nonce, I'm planning on releasing the 30-fps versions of these FMVs and the SAC 60-fps fixes as a part of a compatibility-pack mod. They can be moved later if you decide you want them as part of SAC after all, or SYW or 60/30 Gameplay want those components as part of those mods.