Final Fantasy VII

What works

NOTE: Please read "Additional Comments" --Final Fantasy VII (unpatched) doesn't even work on recent Windows.

Assuming basic patching, the following behaves the same on Windows & Linux:

1. Video at default (800x600) and high-quality (1280x1024) resolutions
2. Sound using Timidity & ALSA
3. Game plays fine, battles and minigames are fine.

For advanced patching, the following works:

1. High-quality FMVs
2. "Hardcore" mod
3. High-quality Cloud & Barret battle models
4. High-quality walkabout models
5. 2-D Overhaul mod
6. Sound using MP3

What does not

Can't close the game in fullscreen mode; have to force kill. I neglected to test this on Windows, so I cannot say for sure if it is a Wine-specific bug.

NOTE: It is possible to wrap wine ff7.exe in a shell script and do some modesetting to workaround this bug. Otherwise, I’d recommend running FF7 at your preferred desktop resolution in fullscreen mode so that when you kill it you don't have to fiddle with modesettings on an 800×600 desktop. Because this bug is easy to workaround, I kept the "Gold" rating that the previous reviewer assigned.

Workarounds

What was not tested

Played through about 10 hours of the game; the remainder is untested.
Haven't tested some of the minigames: snowboarding, etc.
Haven't tested summons.

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU:
• Driver:

Additional Comments

I would like to make it clear that FF7 works flawlessly with a bit of tweaking, but that patching is _absolutely_ mandatory. Without patching the game, it will fail to run on Windows XP or higher. The following patches are required to get the game to start (installation is fine): FF7 v1.02 official patch Aali's OpenGL Driver v0.7.3b I tested a "minimal" install of just these 2 patches, and also the "FF7 Remix" patch-set, which includes the minimal as well as several high-definition patches: http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=8915.0 More information on getting the game to run: * To install the game, put Wine into Windows 98 compatibility mode. (I am not sure if it's also required to run the game with Win98 compatibility, but it doesn't hurt). * The default input _requires_ using the Numpad, so laptop users might have to install FF7 on a desktop, start the game, change the keymappings in-game, save, and then copy the file "ff7input.cfg" to their laptop's install directory. * FF7 relies on the registry for many settings. Make sure you run the game once BEFORE patching it (even though it will crash) because it will start the "config" dialog the first time it is run. Opening the FF7Config.exe will over-write your Registry settings for Aali's openGL driver. * One of the patches requires winetricks's "vcrun2008", but I haven't been able to isolate which one. Make sure you switch wine's compatibility to "Windows XP" before you install this. Just a word on the FF7 remix patch: it requires the game to be installed in "C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII", or it won't update the registry for you. In addition, I found the PATCH's installer buggy on wine. (You can still install the patches manually.)

http://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/599-truemotion-2-codec/

Install with: wine tm20decSetup.exe

Aali OpenGL driver allow Wine to use a native OpenGL backend instead of the (old) Direct3D one.
(Works for FF8 too)

Source & Download
Direct Download
Alternate Download

1. Make a backup of the FF7Config.exe
2. Unzip it into the FF7 installation directory
3. Run the modified FF7Config.exe and pick the correct driver in the list
4. Change your settings in ff7_opengl.cfg

Download:

• English
• French
• German
• Spanish (1.03b)
• English, Spanish, French and German (Alternate)

Just replace files (after backup) ff7.exe and FF7Config.exe

You can apply the method describe in this Venezuelan blog (in Spanish) ->

https://inukaze.wordpress.com/juegos-wine/final-fantasy-vii-7-pc/jwff7pc-05/


On English :

now edit with root permissions , the file
" /etc/modules "

and add the lines

    #MIDI For FinalFantasy 7
    snd-seq-device
    snd-seq-midi
    snd-seq-oss
    snd-seq-midi-event
    snd-seq

if you dont have installed any soundfont , you can do the follow in a terminal

    sudo rm -rf /etc/sounds
    sudo mkdir /etc/sounds/
    sudo cp /etc/timidity/timidity.cfg /etc/timidity/timidity_original.cfg
    sudo cp /etc/init.d/timidity /etc/init.d/timidity_original
    cd $HOME/.wine/drive_c/"/Final Fantasy VII/data/midi/sf2″
    sudo cp FF7.sf2 /etc/sounds
    sudo chmod 777 /etc/sounds/FF7.sf2
    sudo chmod o+rw+x /etc/sounds/FF7.sf2

now edit with root permissions , the file
" /etc/timidity/timidity.cfg "

and just add the soundfonts and the config file

    soundfont /etc/sounds/FF7.sf2
    source /etc/timidity/freepats.cfg

now edit with root permissions , the file
" /etc/default/timidity "

and modify the line " TIM_ALSASEQPARAMS "

For this one :

TIM_ALSASEQPARAMS="-iA -B5,10 -Os1l -s 44100"

if you dont have started the daemon for timidity or timidity binary , you can run it explicit with

$ timidity -iADl -Os1 - -module=16 -cache- -audio-buffer=200%

if you wanna you can install timidity like daemon for start with the boot

if see in FF7Config , using wine , in the music tab , something like
"14:0 Midi Trought" , and you see , dont play music , you can disabled temporally

you can check in a terminal with

    $ pmidi -l
     Port     Client name                       Port name
     14:0     Midi Through                      Midi Through Port-0

if you wanna delete it , in the same terminal with root permissions use

$ rmmod snd_seq_dummy

    $ pmidi -l
    Port     Client name                       Port name
    128:0     TiMidity                          TiMidity port 0
    128:1     TiMidity                          TiMidity port 1
    128:2     TiMidity                          TiMidity port 2
    128:3     TiMidity                          TiMidity port 3

and now you can set Timidity inside the game and hear the original music from the game