[Steam] Steam to 1998 conversion - Game Converter (Beta V0.11)

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The Game Converter is is actually an idea of DLPB.
But he rejected the project again, probably because the German text was not really integrate into the English exe using touphScript. (probably my fault)

The purpose was to get mods for the German, French or Spanish OLD version to run, which are actually only work with the English version.


The second reason is that Kranmer has its "new to old patch" designed with disabled UAC.
Thousands of people have never heard of what UAC is, turn off by them no question.

Nah, I'm not a fan of it, protection mechanisms (and UAC is something) just turn off, and so I looked closer and picked out the needed registry keys.


EDIT:
Thanks for the pictures with the keys, but you had already sent me and come from bootleg, not the Steam version.

The English text in the installer is NOT confusing
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On English text, I've also changed nothing.
You can unpack my GC with WinRar. In the folder "sprinkles" you'll find three text files, one of which is inserted later in the game.
That is the only text (and a few other Bytes) that will be changed in the game, thanks to "Hext.dll" without manipulating the FF7.exe  :)

People with Steam versions can skip her step 0 GC install and people can turn UAC back on after installation is complete if they use the feature to guard against guest users.
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I fear that's not that simple.
Since the key for UAC & FF7 missing, the game will probably crash when you turn on UAC again.
But I have not tested ...


EDIT2:
...to fully integrate with the Reunion Menu Overhaul for the European rerelease.
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Actually, it works with it, apart from a few minor errors.
The text boxes are of course intended for English text, the German text does not fit in there often.
I have corrected a few boxes, but not all. (see "MO_ger_Patch.zip")
 
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Oh, you fixed it for STEAM! Bravissimo! I will test tonight, most likely.

Edit: OK, here's my one issue with the GC. No clue what could be causing this, and it's so small a detail it hardly seems worth mentioning: it results in a very short, high-pitched, glitch-like sound being emitted across my speaker output when the game opens, just prior to opening FMV. Is that a known issue or not been seen?
 
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I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with my GC, but will try to find the error.

Have you installed another Mod's after GC?
What videos do you use? (Rerelease ones, DLPB's ones, Rumbah's one)
Can you play the videos flawlessly with a media player? (if not, you may should update the Sounddriver)
Do you play via HDMI cable?

Can you make a video of it?
 
I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with my GC, but will try to find the error.

Have you installed another Mod's after GC?
What videos do you use? (Rerelease ones, DLPB's ones, Rumbah's one)
Can you play the videos flawlessly with a media player? (if not, you may should update the Sounddriver)
Do you play via HDMI cable?

Can you make a video of it?
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No mods after GC, tested it directly after install and this has been the case every time I've installed it. It was hard to get rid of, too. I had to use your remove-ff7-keys tool (it finds 3 keys instead of 2) :-D

Videos work fine, not video related, i think. Was using rerelease vids just now, because no mods, but stayed that way after bootleg and switching vids before with .7, too. It happens before the videos come on. It blips when the GC finishes and it prompts you to run ff7config, also.

I am playing via stereo speakers output right now, I can switch to HDMI out.

If you want a vid of it, itl be a cell phone video lol.
 
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It blips when the GC finishes and it prompts you to run ff7config, also.
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That explains ALL  :roll:

I have installed a few beeps at key locations in the script so that the user is more attentive.
Otherwise he might overlook the last lines in the dos window... ;D
 
That explains ALL  :roll:

I have installed a few beeps at key locations in the script so that the user is more attentive.
Otherwise he might overlook the last lines in the dos window... ;D
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I'm not sure if those are related? It is maybe causing an audio blip when opening the game for some hardware configurations. If I use GC on any installation type I get this high pitched blip when I open the game every time after. I'll send you a video if I get a chance this evening.
 
I get the audio blips as well. During the GC installation and then when I'm launching the game.
 
I do not know what you mean with "audio blips".
I can hear nothing like that with me.

If you could make an audio file or a video of it, that would be very helpful for me.
 
There's something going on with regions or something. This works well for Europeans. Not so much for North American region. Lately when I try again my videos don't work afterI needed to restart my computer it had been months. Some files are being changed names, very strange.

EQ2Alyza where did you download your version from? Is your computer set up in the US or Europe?

New version that asks for language is pretty slick! I think this is gonna help some folks out for sure.

Edit: Something I want to point out about Kompass's Game Converter: you can literally make your own CD image and name the VOLUME FF7DISC1 to get going, put a single file in so the imageburner will make the ISO for you. You'll have to get a program like UltraISO to mount it (these are free to use) and then you should be good to go. Or like Komp says you can use a USB stick or even a floppy disk!  :-D
@Komp Can you just include a tiny ISO volume like that with the installer and have it do it's own disc check? People are thrown off track by this maybe.
Also: I have managed to remove the audio glitch that I talked about. I took the multi.dll out and just changed to load_library=FF7anyCDv2.dll (which I moved to the main game directory).
 
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The audio 'blip' at the game start is only a sign that DLPB's hext.dll is working
 
I was warned against using a blip for this reason, but it is just a harmless call to the PC's speaker. As kaldarasha said, it's just to let you know that hext.dll is loaded.  The same thing happens for RaW.dll unless I removed the blip.
 
Thanks for the clarification of the blib.

Apparently I'm a little hard of hearing, namely I can not hear blib with me...

@DLPB
Would it be possible that you compile a version without blib for me?
 
I think the blip is fine. We know what it's for now and it doesn't bother me at all. People will maybe wonder and never know why it's there, but other than that they will be totally unaffected. Would be a major pain in the ass to change it at this point. It's good to know Hext is working anyway.

Basically this is the Game Converter to use now. It is set up for the 4 languages SE put on the rerelease and Kranmer'sNew-to-Old Patch just doesn't always handle that correctly; I do not have a frikkin' clue why, cause it works fine for most people. Other than that they are about the same, so I just tell people to use this one now.
 
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Basically this is the Game Converter to use now. It is set up for the 4 languages SE put on the rerelease and Kranmer'sNew-to-Old Patch just doesn't always handle that correctly; I do not have a frikkin' clue why, cause it works fine for most people. Other than that they are about the same, so I just tell people to use this one now.
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The problem with my New to old patch is that it doesn't support UAC or Multiple languages (mine is English), other then that there is NO PROBLEM with it, it adds only the needed registry entries to run the game (and i mean only the needed ones, it doesn't add any that are not needed), Also the difference between my patch other then then the fact i don't support UAC or Multiple languages is that my patch actually converters the new game to the old game, Kompass63's converter just allows you to run the old 1.02 EXE with the new game files, it doesn't actually patch any files other then registry. This is currently only important in the Menu overhaul Mod since it requires the original "flevel.lpg", but once Lusky has fixed the problem with touphscript my patch will no long be needed at all since Kompass63's patch will be good enough to use all mods, So i am hoping Lusky can fix the problem soon since this converter is much better then my own with support for UAC and languages :).
And great work on this Kompass63 its really come along nicely.
 
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Bump for Kompass63's GameConverter.9b on the front page.
Some things to note:

This is now completely compatible with Steam Mover. You can also just cut and paste the entire FFVII game folder and move it where you want from the STEAM directory. The Game Converter will detect your installation type. It will ask you to type your game path manually if you have moved your STEAM FF7 install or if it can't find one. If you haven't moved your STEAM FF7 install, you can just hit enter and it will do its thing. It is fully compatible with Steam FF7 in all 4 languages. You can change your language in FF7 STEAM by right clicking on the Final Fantasy VII entry in your Library, and choosing the bottom selection, properties. Then select language and there is a dropdown box. You must do this before using Kompass63's GameConverter. It is still necessary to move your FFVII install outside of the Program Files(system) area.

GameConverter will ask for you what language you would like to use if you are using the 2012 version, E S F G
Game Converter is now compatible with 1998 PC version for backwards compatibility and future uninstall functionality.

Thanks for this utility, Kompass63. Some of you guys passing through just don't understand how much work goes into this stuff.
 
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Some of you guys passing through just don't understand how much work goes into this stuff.
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Maybe we can change that, if they take a look into the Batch-File :D


BTW:
I updated the Mirrors.
https://www.ff7catalog.com/posts/171394/

Mediafire have some strange problems with the sharing system. If you can't download the Converter with the Mediafire Mirror so please feel free to PM me. I'll try to fix it. (The MO_Patch doesn't have the problem... Strange world)
 
Japanese version converter is probably not possible at all because of file structure and language characters.

I want to make one note about Game Converter compatibility. Game Converter uses the files that come with the 2012 or STEAM FF7 release, and splices in the 1998 ff7.exe. Because of this, certain mods that are only compatible with other old ff7 files from 1998 (like Menu Overhaul) are not yet fully compatible. Once a new version of the utility ToughScript (which MenuOverhaul makes use of) is released, this issue will be completely addressed.   

As for the actual incompatibility--I am not sure what problems exist, but I think it is safe to say there will be problems somewhere in the game script if you don't use bootleg to put MenuOverhaul on after GameConverter. For English 2012 installs with MenuOverhaul in mind, GameConverter isn't necessarily needed, you can just run bootleg. For STEAM and foreign language installs, I think gameConverter is the way to go, but if you want to use MenuOverhaul, bootleg may be necessary.
 
Any chances for this to work with the japanese version?   :-\
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The probability is low, but if anyone can help me, I can try it.


I want to make one note about Game Converter compatibility. Game Converter uses the files that come with the 2012 or STEAM FF7 release, and splices in the 1998 ff7.exe. Because of this, certain mods that are only compatible with other old ff7 files from 1998 (like Menu Overhaul) are not yet fully compatible. Once a new version of the utility ToughScript (which MenuOverhaul makes use of) is released, this issue will be completely addressed.   

As for the actual incompatibility--I am not sure what problems exist, but I think it is safe to say there will be problems somewhere in the game script if you don't use bootleg to put MenuOverhaul on after GameConverter. For English 2012 installs with MenuOverhaul in mind, GameConverter isn't necessarily needed, you can just run bootleg. For STEAM and foreign language installs, I think gameConverter is the way to go, but if you want to use MenuOverhaul, bootleg may be necessary.
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Should I make a patch for it?
It would be somewhat provisionally, some English data must be inserted and the improvements by SE are gone.
 
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