ROM Hack FF7 Mod Porting Research And Releases

[D4X]

A graphical modder is working with me on trying to port his massive mod to the Switch. We are looking for anyone who has modding experience using layeredFS, has any knowledge on the switches texture limitations, etc. Here is a sample screenshot of some of his mod work running on the switch:

So far, this is all we have working since the game crashes as soon as I enter the first battle. If anyone is interested, leave a post here and we will get you into the discord for the project. Thanks!

Incredible. I'm loving seeing the work people have so quickly implemented. I remember modding my PC version with something very similar years ago, and it's crazy to think it's being done to a modern portable version. Very excited to see what's to come.

 

[Ryft]

I made an edit in my first post about the current mods available. You may run into issues that we don't know how to fix yet so use them at your own risk.

 

[cucholix]

keegokahgo can you confirm if the music loop bug is fixed in any build you use?

 

[Youffie]

Wouldn't it be better to actually ask the original modder to help them port their game to switch ?
If you go to Qhimm or Nexus, the creators of Chaos and NCM (NiNoStyle and Kaldarasha) are actually already trying to help porting on switch.
Project omnislash is just a bunch of MODS made by other people put together in one MOD, they haven't actually created anything and the original authors put a lot of work in those mods years ago !

 

[WolfMann]

And here we go with the negative comments. Hello Youffie. I’d like to start by saying there is no original modders. Number 2 I have been a part of this modding community for almost 10 years. I have “created” a large amount of the mods for the communities I have been a part of. I cannot think of more than maybe 5 handmade models that I have ever seen and one of them was my Red Werewolf mod replacement for RedXIII. a lot of people helped me with the code but I hand made the model. So when you say original modded I have no clue who you could be speaking of. Models are found through model resources all over the internet and made to fit as cannon as possible. Sometimes they are a combination of multiple models. Mr Effler came into the scene about 5 years ago and was ridiculed essentially for his ambition. I saw potential and took him under my wing showing him everything I knew about importing models. He has since taken off, importing countless NPC models and adjusting and at times reimporting some of the main characters that the whole ff7 modding community has put toward the bettering of the original. In the end we are doing this just to have another source to play and to continue to give back. If you would like I can teach you how to import as well if you think I’m nothing but a thief. Please do not drag down this topics excitement with your negativity or you will be reported. Thank you.

 

[Rahkeesh]

I wonder modders have any suggestions about lower-poly field models that are still an upgrade over chibi? CHAOS stresses the switch too much in many scenes. I'm trying to look into pure PRP but having trouble getting the files together so would like a hint about what might be worth the effort.

 

[Ryft]

I wonder modders have any suggestions about lower-poly field models that are still an upgrade over chibi? CHAOS stresses the switch too much in many scenes. I'm trying to look into pure PRP but having trouble getting the files together so would like a hint about what might be worth the effort.

We are still doing experiments on how upgraded models affect the slowdown. @MrEffler22 ported some of his models over for me to try and I was even getting the slowdown with his mod.

 

[Youffie]

I was not saying someone stole anything, I'm just saying that omnislash is a melting pot of different MOD that was put together, omnislash uses resource from Kaldarasha, videos from DrLilo, menu from The reunion etc. . . And from What I know DLPB doesn't really enjoy someone using reunion with other mods . .

 

[Rahkeesh]

I thought Kaldarasha didn't get around to updating all the character models yet, so CHAOS still contains PRP models which are themselves from various artists.

 

[Youffie]

If you check the GPU clock on the switch, It seems that when playing final fantasy VII, it's downcloacked so the switch doesn't heat up as much and save more battery in portable mode.
So I guess they must have put the exact clock so FFVII run smoothly as it is originally . . .
So I guess any MOD that alter the graphics will cause slowdown when playing.
Texture should be fine as long as you don't try 2K and such. . .

 

[Ryft]

If you check the GPU clock on the switch, It seems that when playing final fantasy VII, it's downcloacked so the switch doesn't heat up as much and save more battery in portable mode.
So I guess they must have put the exact clock so FFVII run smoothly as it is originally . . .
So I guess any MOD that alter the graphics will cause slowdown when playing.
Texture should be fine as long as you don't try 2K and such. . .

I tried overclocking using the sys-clk plugin and it didn't seem to make a difference.

 

[Youffie]

That's probably because the switch is actually running an emulator to emulate the PC version. You would have to overclock the emulator for it to work . .

 

[Ryft]

That's probably because the switch is actually running an emulator to emulate the PC version. You would have to overclock the emulator for it to work . .

Most likely. This is way over my head though.

 

[Rahkeesh]

I got the steam version and yeah, the exe sizes are very different. Like a lot is cut out of the Switch exe (probably DRM and such).

I tried porting a Reunion install but its kind of messy. The retranslated dialogue shows up, but the window sizes and fonts don't, so some dialog appears messed up. If you use the exe it even screws up the sizes on battle menus. The 60 FPS/pausing battle trick doesn't work either, it just plain runs at 4x speed.

 

[Youffie]

I got the steam version and yeah, the exe sizes are very different. Like a lot is cut out of the Switch exe (probably DRM and such).

I tried porting a Reunion install but its kind of messy. The retranslated dialogue shows up, but the window sizes and fonts don't, so some dialog appears messed up. If you use the exe it even screws up the sizes on battle menus. The 60 FPS/pausing battle trick doesn't work either, it just plain runs at 4x speed.

Yeah I guess we will have to wait for a team to port it to switch themself.
I guess reunion is already out of the question
Maybe Nino and Kaldarasha will help as they are very active on the scene for the moment
Lest hope they own a switch ! XD

 

[Ryft]

I don't think it will possible to port over any mods that change the ff7 exe until someone cracks the ff7_en file. Someone has been trying the New Threat mod and running into all sorts of problems. Eventually, they had a crash and it ruined their save... so use it at your risk. May wanna just stick with mods that edit only the lgp files for now.

 

[Rahkeesh]

I think the main Reunion problem I'm having is that the fonts aren't being overwritten. The switch seems to have a new slightly higher res font and its just ignoring what Reunion is trying to use. That in turn is causing spacing issues.

 

[Ryft]

I think the main Reunion problem I'm having is that the fonts aren't being overwritten. The switch seems to have a new slightly higher res font and its just ignoring what Reunion is trying to use. That in turn is causing spacing issues.

There is a fonts folder in the rom_fs. It's located under romfs\ff7\font. Contains a .fnt file and a .png. I'll try out the reunion mod and see what happens.

 

[Rahkeesh]

I saw that but it's a completely different structure/format from steam and the reunion mod. The U.S. eshop release does support full Japanese language if you set your system language. Looking at the font png there's only a handful of japanese kanji there, not nearly enough for the full game. So I'm suspecting that font set might only be used for the menu to start the game rather than in-game. Which would mean the in-game font is yet somewhere else.

According to the reunion docs menu_us.lgp is supposed to have font graphics, and kernel2.bin handles spacing. I did notice a spacing change using kernel2.bin, like extra space for "m"s, but the font clearly wasn't updated to match the spacing.

 

[Ryft]

I saw that but it's a completely different structure/format from steam and the reunion mod. The U.S. eshop release does support full Japanese language if you set your system language. Looking at the font png there's only a handful of japanese kanji there, not nearly enough for the full game. So I'm suspecting that font set might only be used for the menu to start the game rather than in-game. Which would mean the in-game font is yet somewhere else.

According to the reunion docs menu_us.lgp is supposed to have font graphics, and kernel2.bin handles spacing. I did notice a spacing change using kernel2.bin, like extra space for "m"s, but the font clearly wasn't updated to match the spacing.

I compiled my own Reunion mod and I'm noticing a few places where periods are on the next line but nothing too crazy yet. I'll keep an eye out.

EDIT: I am seeing where it cuts off some of the text. Bummer.