FFFFFFFFFFFFFF FFFFFFFFFFFFFF 77777777777777 FFFFFFFFFFFFFF FFFFFFFFFFFFFF 77777777777777 FFFF FFFF 7777 FFFF FFFF 7777 FFFF FFFF 7777 FFFF FFFF 7777 FFFFFFFFFFF FFFFFFFFFFF 7777 FFFFFFFFFFF FFFFFFFFFFF 7777 FFFF FFFF 7777 FFFF FFFF 7777 FFFF FFFF 7777 FFFF FFFF 7777 FFFF FFFF 7777 FFFF FFFF 7777 *=======================================================* FF7 MOVIES TWEAK DOCUMENTATION 1.1 By EmperorSteele (Emperorsteele@hotmail.com) http://www.ff7-universe.com *=======================================================* ******************** Version History: ******************** 1.1: You're readin' it! Added a bit more tech info, and fixed some typos =/ 1.0. Initial release. *** "WTF IS THIS?": A document explaining how to get movies in the PC version of FF7 to play off your HardDisk instead of the CDs by editing your registry. For 99% of users, this will result in a sizable gain in performance. While the movies and their "quality" themselves will be unchanged, movies will now play almost instantly (instead of there being a wait, or worse, mis-synching of audio/video which occurs on some systems), and there will be seamless interaction between the FMV backgrounds and the field model characters. This, of course, is all dependant of whether or not your HD is faster than your CD drive =P Note that this is a hand-holding guide catered to newbies and other non techy people, so if a lot of this info seems redundant to you, then I apologize =) This has been proven to work in the american retail version of FF7 PC 1.00, as well as the unofficial 1.02. In the international version, some things may be labled differently, but the same basic procedure still applies. REQUIREMENTS: YOU need a brain -plus the ability to follow instructions-, and your computer needs about 860 Megs of free space. Having the FULL INSTALL of FF7PC helps, too. NOTE: This is NOT a No-CD hack! You will STILL need the CDs in order to play the game! And no, I *haven't* figured out how to make the CDs totally useless. Also, the game will NOT read compressed/better/effed with versions of the movies, ONLY those which came with the game (it's a codec issue), so you'll need all three game disks to do this, anyway. WARNING: While this is a relativly SIMPLE procedure, doing something wrong may cause your game or even your computer to stop working correctly! I take no responsibility for anything you do to your own machine! I do NOT suggest skipping any steps, nor do I suggest that you play with any other settings not listed here. LEGAL: This document is (c) Steele O'Day. Feel free to distribute this file, but do NOT edit it in any way, shape, or form. Final Fantasy VII (FF7) is (c) Square-Enix, ltd. *** OKAY, onto the meat. STEP ONE) First, make a new folder ANYWHERE on your HD, and name it. I suggest *your FF7 directory*\movies\ , but you can put it in ff7\data\movies\ , or windows\sucks\ , or even a different DRIVE. HOWEVER, your best bet is *Your FF7 Directory*\movies\ . *Optional* You don't have to follow this suggestion, but make sure the folder you use won't have anything else in it. So no sub folders, other files, etc. STEP TWO) Now, plop Disk 1 into your cd drive, and COPY/PASTE ALL the FILES in the "movies" subfolder (CD DRIVE\FF7\Movies\) into thier new home on your HD. Simple so far, right? Now, repeat with play disks 2 and 3. A LOT of the files are going to be the same, so either hit "yes to all" when asked to overwrite, or just find the files you don't already have and just copy those. I suggest the former, though, as missing only one file will cause your game to stop at a possibly critical juncture. Note also that there's more than just movies in the movies folder. Make sure these files make it to your HD, as well! Okay, that was all basic stuff. NOW we need to tell your computer and FF7.exe where to find the movies. This is where things get a liiiiiitttttle techy. On later Operating Systems (2000, ME, XP...) you -may- need administrative access to do the following, so log on to the main account (or get your parent/whoever owns the machine) and try again if the following doesn't seem to work. STEP THREE) The "hard" part. Click "Start", and "Run". Type "regedit" in the little box that pops up and hit "OK". On the list on the left, EXPAND the folder titled "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE". Expand the folder labled "SOFTWARE". A llllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg list will be exposed. Scroll down to the folder called "Square Soft, Inc." Expand it. There you'll see "Final Fantasy VII" (along with any other Squaresoft games you have). CLICK it (dont expand!). A bunch of values will appear in the big area on the right. At the bottom of this list should be an item named "MoviePath". Right-click this item, and select MODIFY. A box will pop up with two text fields in it. The lower one will say something like "E:\ff7\movies\" (Or whatever letter your CD drive is assigned). First, WRITE THIS DOWN in case you need to change it back! Then, CHANGE this value to relfect where you put the movies on your HD. For instance: C:\program files\SquareSoft,inc\Final Fantasy VII\movies\ or C:\Games\FF7\Movies\ or D:\ff7movies\ or wherever you put them. Notice that the slashes are \, NOT / like you may be used to. Also, REMEMBER TO PUT IN THAT FINAL SLASH!!! Note that this is CaSe SeNsItIvE. So if your folder is named "movies" but you typed "Movies" in the registry key, it might not work. Still, only one way to find out! Close regedit. If you're working in Win 9x, you may need to restart your machine first. Otherwise, load up FF7 and see if it works! Now movies will play better, the sound will synch, you can move your characters without chop, and you don't have to stare at a black screen waiting for cutscenes! **************** TROUBLESHOOTING: **************** If you get a black screen and nothing happens, something may have gone wrong. Exit FF7 (either Ctrl+Q or ALT+TAB, then do a ctrl+alt+del), and open the folder you put the movies. COPY the location in the address bar, run regedit. It should show exactly where you were last time. MAKE SURE you're in the main Final Fantasy VII registry folder, NOT the 1.00 folder. Now, edit the MoviePath again, but this time, just paste the location you copied. Again, MAKE SURE YOU PUT IN THE FINAL \ ! Just to be certain, exit regedit, and restart your machine, and try again. Also, make sure ALL the movies are in that folder: if the game can't find eidos.avi, it won't start! If, for some reason, it STILL doesn't work, restore the MoviePath to what it was before (you DID write that down like I told you, riiiight?!) and try everything over again. And like I said before, make sure you have admin access. Also, if you put the movies anywhere besides in ff7\movies\, try putting them there. In THEORY, you should be able to put them anywhere, but in practice, some people have had troule getting it to work in any other directory. The movies play upside-down either in-game or in winamp/media player etc: This is an all-too common bug. Go to http://support.eidosinteractive.com/GI/CustomerSupport/FaqSearchResults.jsp?problemType=13&searchText=&game=79&platform=3 and download the upside-down movie patch. *************** Known bugs: *************** Some movies may play TOO fast. For some reason, the scene where Barret and Dyne get their hands blown off is never synched correctly. *************** THANKS! *************** To the guys and gals at the qhimm.com forums who pretty much told me this was possible! And especially Contra for a suggestion and pointing out that I missed a step, Jedimark for a good suggestion, and Srethron Askvelhtnod for spell-checking!