FF8 PC with Geforce card

[G-Pitts]

It seem the new official WHQL certified 28.32 detonator driver work perfectly with this game. I just installed ff8 pc and run it without using any patch and the graphic is great without any error. I cant wait to paly this game again using my geforce2 GTS and D3D hw acceleration :)

[G-Pitts]

The first screen shot

[sxamiga]

G-Pitts, if this driver is enableing FF8 to work correctly, then Nvidia must have enabled 8 bit Palatized Color texturing in the driver. That is what the Nvidia cards couldn't do that the Voodoo cards could do. If they have enabled it w/the new rereleased drivers then FF7 should work in hardware mode w/Nvidia cards as well. Thanks for the news.:)
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[G-Pitts]

Yes, I read in another board saying that FF7 already working without glitch :)

[Demigod]

Wow, I've gotta try those drivers. I had to refer to my Voodoo 2 for those games but to play them on my GeForce 2 would be just fantastic. Thanks for the news!

[G-Pitts]

Dont forget to enable 4xfsaa coz the glitch still appear if you play the game without it.
Try it yourself :)

[Zell]

Hey this are great news , thanks .

[Kellicros]

hhmm.. installed detonator 28.32, still having the same problem with the menu box color, maybe it's my tnt2 m64.

[Shiori]

How about the non-whql version of the 28.32s?

[G-Pitts]

Originally posted by Shiori
How about the non-whql version of the 28.32s?

I try it before but it didnt work.

[sxamiga]

Shiori, I think that WHQL certifed 28.32s have had some things fixed, added, or changed. The non WHQL ones had some issues so that is why Nvidia rereleased them.
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[G-Pitts]

More screenshot:

[G-Pitts]

Menu screen:

[G-Pitts]

Inside Balamb Garden:

[G-Pitts]

Lastly, In battle shot

[Shiori]

Originally posted by sxamiga
Shiori, I think that WHQL certifed 28.32s have had some things fixed, added, or changed. The non WHQL ones had some issues so that is why Nvidia rereleased them.
sincerely,
sx/amiga


Looks like another round of 8 MB downloads in a 33.6K connection. :cry:

[Demigod]

Just tried the new drivers and FF8 works great!:) It works exactly like my Voodoo 2 (except a lot less pixellated due to FSAA). The 8-bit palette textures pass in the config now. I'll try out FF7 tomorrow and post the results. Thanks again for the news:)

[Kellicros]

ohh.. gawd!
the 8-bit palette textures thingy is still failed on my riva tnt2 m64... Guess my card doesn't support it...

[Zell]

FF7 also works fine wth the 28.32 .

[Nameless]

Hurrraaahhh!!! Now I can get that Geforce4 without having any regrets :D

[sxamiga]

Demigod, thanks for the test. The lack of 8 bit palitized color texturing is the one thing that was still holding all the GF cards (yes even the GF4s) back. But now that Nvidia has fixed it in their drivers, it would seem that "the skys the limit" for the new Nvidia cards.
G-Pitts, thanks again for this great news. I am willing to bet that this feature wil help w/the GPU plugins as well.
Evil Squall, unfortunately, it has been demonstrated that the new, 28.32 Detonators don't work well with the TNT cards. Even though Nvidia has these cards on it's list of cards that work w/the 28.32s , it would seem that the TNT is a "mite" to old and the drivers are to new for the two to work properly together. Maybe it is time for a new Video card?
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[G-Pitts]

Evil Squall, maybe you should try detonator 12.43...I think that driver support 8 bit palletized color texturing for TNT2 card. Long time before I buy my G2GTS I`m using this driver to play FF8 with my TNT2 M64 and I never experience any graphical error in FF8. Older version of detonator driver should work fine with TNT2 and FF7&FF8. Maybe new version of detonator only optimized for GF card and drop compatibality with old TNT2.

[Kellicros]

I want a GF3/4 but I don't have the $$$. :p

I'll download detonator 12.43, also, I remember there's a registry hack to enable 8 bit palitized thingy, can someone tell me what is it?

I have the detonator 28.32(downloaded recently) installed but I'm not sure whether it 's the rereleased one or not, can someone tell me the modified date of the drivers? mine is "Saturday, March 09, 200, 10:53:00 AM" .

Thanks in advance.

[G-Pitts]

No registry hack needed to enable 8 bit palletized color. If you use tnt2 m64 with det 12.43, just play the game with it. I do that a long time ago and I didnt need any registry hack to make FF8 work.

As for the driver modified date, here it is, all files are modified on 09/03/2002 except for nv4_disp.cat (modified on 09/04/2002).

Hope that help :)

[Kellicros]

Originally posted by Zell
FF7 also works fine wth the 28.32 .
With no patches? with no Odin's glitches???:confused:


** installing detonator 12.43...

[Kellicros]

Actually, the game is already running well on my system, it's just I want the color glitch on menu box(see screenshot) to be fixed, I know it's not a big deal it but can be annoying sometimes, and I heard that enabling 8-bit palletized texture can help. Any suggestion would be appreciate.

*BTW, same problem with Detonator 12.43.

[zrepiV]

G-Pitts... those are nice screenies.
ugh... too much temptations to beat ff8... but firstly, i gotta beat ff9.

i was gonna be ff8 like 2 years ago but... seemed like my friend had a faulty 4th disk, since it froze at the end of the game :cry: AFTER i beat the "first" boss" :cry: last summer, i decided to get the game and try to beat it but, brother just had to format my memory card. ugh.

[sxamiga]

Evil Squall, the best and safest way to make sure that your 28.32s are the latest ones, is to go to Nvidia'a site directley and download them from there. The drivers state that they are WHQL certifed.
As for your TNT card, I remember that bought FF 7 for PC when it first came out, because I didn't have a PSX and PSX emulation was just a dream at that time. I also had a Diamond Monster Voodoo 2 8mb card that worked properly w/FF 7. But I heard about the new Nvidia TNT cards, so I went and checked them out. I like them so much that I bought one and discovered that it was better than my Diamond Monster. So I started using it, but it wouldn't do 8 bit palatized color texturing, so I had to locate a patch tha would enable it to work w/FF 7. That was the only way that my TNT card would work was by using a patch.
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[REi_FoX]

well im a tnt2 user and im using 7.42 detonator 3 (i think its detonator 3) drivers and it runs better than any other drivers
it recently gives me a 40 fps on CS with 12 number of BOTS...
which is rather faster than any other driver

[Demigod]

I also used the Nvidia patch for FF7 when I first played it. I had a TNT2 then and FF7 was incompatible with it. It worked pretty well, although there were some minor graphical glitches (transparencies and such). The patch didn't work with my GeForce 2 though, both the Riva 128 and the TNT patch. Still, my Voodoo 2 works better with FF7 anyways. Maybe the new drivers will help with the game.

Evil Squall: I encountered that same problem when I played it with my old TNT2. The graphics were horrible, and the gameplay was slow. The new drivers are doing wonders for it though. Maybe you can try re-installing the drivers or installing them manually.

[Kellicros]

sxamiga: Thanks for the information, but I was told that my card does support 8-bit palletized color, it's just nVidia disabled it on their older drivers, not sure if this true though.

Demigod79: Actually the game is running well and with full speed, the only glitch is the menu box color i mentioned. Reinstalled my 28.32 but no help at all. Is there a detonator destroyer for winXP?

G-Pitts: Can't find the detonator 12.43 anywhere, I can only get 12.42.

[G-Pitts]

Opps sorry :stupid: its det 12.41 I`m talking about. :emb: . BTW if det 12.42 still cant fix your problem I didnt have any other solution, maybe you should try the official patch for ff8 provided by Eidos http://www.eidosinteractive.co.uk/support/search.html?gmid=52 :)

[sxamiga]

Evil Squall got to 3dguru.com (I'm not sure of the actual url) and look for the 12.41 drivers there. i used that driver a long time ago w/my TNT and GF2 GTS and it is quite good. Also, I believe it is WHQL certified.
Your card might support it, but if the drivers won't enable it for you, then there is nothing you can do. Case in point: The new Detonators allow new cards, such as mine, to do 8 bit palatized color texturing. So, it would seem, that the cards have had this ability all along, but with out the drivers to enable the ablity (tell the card to do it) the cards won't and the program says that 8 bit color palatized texturing is not supported.
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[G-Pitts]

This is just a correction to Sxamiga link, download it from www.guru3d.com , the link to "www.3dguru.com" didnt work.

Alternately you can go to www.entcity.com and try searching the driver there.

[Kane]

It may be like FSAA tho, in the GeForce 2. nVidia didn't have the feature, so to compete with 3DFX, they wrote an algorithm wich used the T&L unit to perform FSAA. The 8-bit palletised textures thing maybe a software produced soloution, not done in h/w

[sxamiga]

Lord Kane, that makes sense. The card has the ability, but needs the software to do it.
G-Pitts, I took out the link because I was not sure of what it was. Thanks for correcting it. I do not wish to mislead anyone.
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[Kellicros]

I have the patch installed, Installed 12.41 whql but no help, I'll just play it that way. But please notify me if somebody found a fix.

Also, if you guys are playing FF8 pc now, be sure to get the soundfont/dsl midi patch over HERE (http://ffsf.cjb.net/), highly recommended, play the game with superb music! Samuel Slight one is the best for me. Also they have a fan-made configuration utility over there, much better than the official one. ;)

[Goku7]

Yes, but be aware that the server that the site is on (hosted by a college student in the U.K.) will go down from time to time, according to the server host.

If any of you have any questions concerning the FF8 PC MIDI patches, its best to check out http://forums.qhimm.com/ for answers, since the members of the project (including myself, I'm known by the same handle over there) hang out there, and are still working on the patches to make them better. I might add that they do that on their own time, so its not like they're working on it 24/7 or getting paid for it.

[sxamiga]

G-Pitts, I tried out FF7 for PC w/the 28.32 WHQL certified drivers and my card. As you and Demigod said, the 8-bit Palatized texturing passed. But the weird thing was that I was unable to enable hardware rendering. It would only let me do software rendering. Everything passed but no hardware. Any idea why this is? Anyway, I uninstalled it after testing since I have FF7 for PSX and it looks much better on ePSXe. At least to me it does.
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[G-Pitts]

I`m afraid I didnt have any idea either...maybe Demigod can answer this :)

[sxamiga]

Thanks for the reply. Maybe Demigod can answer this, Demigod?
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[Demigod]

FF7 does not have 3D accelerator support for Nvidia cards out of the box. You have to download the Nvidia RIVA 128 or TNT patch (from Eidos' website: http://www.eidosinteractive.com/) to get it to work. There were some problems with GeForce cards but I believe the RIVA 128 patch should make it work.

Update: I tried it just now and although you need the Riva 128/TNT patch to make it work in 3D acceleration you have to uncheck the Nvidia box (at least on my system). Otherwise it works great! Finally, FF7 PC with FSAA:)

[Demigod]

Here are shots from FF7 PC running on my GeForce 2.
Settings: 640x480x32 w/ 4xFSAA

Shot #1:

[Demigod]

Shot #2:

[Demigod]

Looks much better than on my Voodoo 2, thanks to FSAA:)

Shot #3:

[G-Pitts]

Nice shot, better than it look in ePSXe :) the prerendered background and 3d character sprite looks so smooth.

[Kellicros]

heh, I wish my card could do FSAA.
Also, I remember I read on some place, the 8-bit palletized thingy has been bumped to 16-bit on the nvidia patch.

[sxamiga]

Thanks Demigod. I'll go get the patch this evening, right after I get home. Your shots are amazing and w/my card I should see the same results. Thanks again.
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[Cless]

i love looking a threads after everything gets answered becuase this way i don't have to wait for the answers to my questions.

[lype]

*deleted* :-beta
sorry sony and nintendo. In this site there are great roms, psx biosetc

[Snake785]

Hmm....I should really get these new drivers. Thanks for the news.

[Laguna Loire]

How did you get FF8 to look so nice? I have a VooDoo 3 3000, and it doesn't look that good on mine. What kind of plug-in/configuration do I need?

[G-Pitts]

That screenshot is from PC version of FF8...This thread only discuss about PC version of FF7 and FF8, thanks.

[Cless]

Oh did you get FF7 to look like that I get boxes al over when i use FSAA. I guess not all of my question were answered.

[sxamiga]

Just downloaded the Riva TNT patch. Can't wait to try it. If it works, and it should, I'll post a few screens myself. Thanks again Demigod and you too G-Pitts for discovering all this.
Delita, are you talking about the PC version of FF VII. If you are, did you download the patch, if you needed it? What kind of card do you have? Answer these questions please and then we can help you better. However, if you are talking about the PSX version of FF VII, as G-Pitts said, this thread is only about the PC versions of FF VII and FF VIII.
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[Cless]

I am talking about the pc version I downloaded the patch and I get d3d but I get box around everything when FSAA is on. I use geforce 3 ti 200.

[Laguna Loire]

Originally posted by G-Pitts
That screenshot is from PC version of FF8...This thread only discuss about PC version of FF7 and FF8, thanks.

Guess I'm going to have to buy that now...

[G-Pitts]

Delita: Are you use 4xfsaa or quincunx fsaa, try using 4xfsaa or 2xfsaa.

[sxamiga]

Delita, thanks for the explanation. Do listen to what G-Pitts says, because I think that one of the replies in this thread does, in fact, mention that FF VII does not look right w/Quincunx FSAA enabled.
If you are using Quincunx FSAA that is.
sincerely,
sx/amiga

[Cless]

I tried 2x 4x and quincunx FSAA it still looks wrong.

[Eddy]

Guys i dont understand, i wanna get ff7 running with FSAA, i cant find the riva patch in eidosinterctive

[Eddy]

ok i found the riva patch :-) and the game is running with anti aliasing :-D now ima go test ff8 :-D

[G-Pitts]

What your gfx card? if you had a Geforce2 card, you dont need to use rivapatch to play FF8. Just enable 4xfsaa and run the games, it should run fine :)

[Eddy]

ff7 runs great, 4xfsaa is killer! now ff8, i installed the 28.32 whql certified drivers, by the way geforce 2, with 4xfsaa option true, i used that updated nvidia geforce users patch from eidos, and the game still fails to run, it starts but shuts down back to the desktop after it presents the squaresoft lcc thing, can anyone tell me a possible soultion? btw windows xp

[Eddy]

a pic of my ff8 configuration

[G-Pitts]

No need to use the patch with FF8. It should run fine without it.

[Eddy]

i installed it in my d drive, ill try my c, you never know, it might work, max payne did that to me

[G-Pitts]

So, whats you want to do now?

[Eddy]

lol g im a hick, i had the ff7 cd 1 in, instead of the ff8. thats why it was crashing! :-) lol that **** was soo stupid, i seem like a n00b

[G-Pitts]

:D :D :D :D
Better be more careful next time, post a screenshot here if you manage to get that game to work OK ;)

[Goku7]

Wait, that shouldn't crash it. It doesn't check the cd until you try to load a savegame or start a new game, so it's possible to run the beggining of the the game (up to the title screen) without the cd.

I've don't it several times on accident, and all it does is ask for the correct cd when I load a game.

[G-Pitts]

Yep, I remember now, that shouldnt crash it, maybe you must uninstall and reinstall that game. Do not use the patch now because it can crash the game. I manage to make this game work without using any patch. Just enable 4xfsaa and run the game. It should run fine without any crash.

[Eddy]

ok i cant run this, can someone here send me a save so i can continue, g-pitts if you will be super generous :-D i would appreciate if you would send me a save from the starting point

[Eddy]

whenever i try to run the game, i can access the starting menu, but i press new game, and the screen goes and stays black, i have the cd inside.