[PSX] Final Fantasy VII - Retranslation Project (R06g)

[PresidentLeever]

Magic defense bug & W-item bugs are fixed, plus:

I don't know anything about the hard type mod, but probably it's not compatible.

Ok, thanks for the reply. I was really hoping it would be as I'd been putting playing the hardtype hack on hold for this translation. Oh well, maybe at a later date. 


Edit: Can I read more in-depth about each bug fix somewhere? I've beaten the game a few times but still didn't understand a lot of stuff in the list.

[Burnt Lasagna]

I used this extension patch: http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=11541.20
which moves the kernel.bin and scene.bin into the MOVIE folder, probably that is causing your problems.

Perhaps it would be best if you inserted your new movie files using PSX-MODE2 (instead of me trying to insert the originals back in).
http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/848/
I'll send you a PM with my batch file for inserting them.

[Green_goblin]

Perhaps it would be best if you inserted your new movie files using PSX-MODE2 (instead of me trying to insert the originals back in).
http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/848/
I'll send you a PM with my batch file for inserting them.

In fact I used PSX-MODE2 to insert the 2 retranslated movies, so I don't really know what happens with the bad sectors stuff.

Edit: Can I read more in-depth about each bug fix somewhere? I've beaten the game a few times but still didn't understand a lot of stuff in the list.

No, sorry, I just did what the author's of the PC version did. You can ask them in their thread: http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=14914.0

[Burnt Lasagna]

In fact I used PSX-MODE2 to insert the 2 retranslated movies, so I don't really know what happens with the bad sectors stuff.

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree with this, but what were the names of the two re-translated movies (their filename on the disc1)?

[Rodimus Primal]

I was skimming through the qhimm pages and noticed talk about an option for classic naming of characters. Aerith I am perfectly fine with, but certain characters like Elena, Reno, and Tseng I'd like to remain the same. Is it this way with the PSX translation or only with the PC version?

[Green_goblin]

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree with this, but what were the names of the two re-translated movies (their filename on the disc1)?

jenova_e.mov (disc 1) and ending2e.mov (disc 3).

I was skimming through the qhimm pages and noticed talk about an option for classic naming of characters. Aerith I am perfectly fine with, but certain characters like Elena, Reno, and Tseng I'd like to remain the same. Is it this way with the PSX translation or only with the PC version?

The PSX always uses the new translation, and that includes new names.

[gblues]

jenova_e.mov (disc 1) and ending2e.mov (disc 3).

The PSX always uses the new translation, and that includes new names.

It looks like the retranslated movies are the culprit. There's clearly something funky going on because IsoBuster can't extract the movies successfully even from the original, unpatched image.

I was able to get it sans-patched-movie by doing this:

To start, you will need a valid image of the disks where GG's patch applies successfully with no checksum errors. You should make a duplicate of each, because we're going to modify them and you want to keep the original in case something goes wrong.

1. Apply GG's patch and rename to beacause-1.bin, beacause-2.bin, and because-3.bin (for discs 1, 2, 3 respectively).
2. Extract /MOVIE/KERNEL.BIN and /MOVIE/SCENE.BIN from each of the beacause images. Name them kernel-1.bin and scene-1.bin for disk 1, etc. for remaining disks
3. Apply the FFVII Disk Extension Patch to the UNPATCHED bin file for each disk. Rename these to target-1.bin, target-2.bin, and target-3.bin respectively.
4. Use PSX-MODE2 to replace /MOVIE/KERNEL.BIN and /MOVIE/SCENE.BIN on the target image made in step #3 with the files extracted in step #2.

Code Select Expand


REM assumes kernel/scene files are named kernel-1.bin/scene-1.bin for disk 1, etc
ren kernel-1.bin kernel.bin
ren scene-1.bin scene.bin
psx-mode2 target-1.bin /MOVIE/KERNEL.BIN KERNEL.BIN
psx-mode2 target-1.bin /MOVIE/SCENE.BIN SCENE.BIN
ren kernel.bin kernel-1.bin
ren scene.bin scene-1.bin
REM increment all the '-1' to '-2' for disk 2, then '-3' for disk 3.


5. Rename the target-1.bin, target-2.bin, and target-3.bin to your liking, and rename/edit the corresponding CUE files to match.

Load up the CUE file in Mednafen and it should work.

[Burnt Lasagna]

It looks like the retranslated movies are the culprit. There's clearly something funky going on because IsoBuster can't extract the movies successfully even from the original, unpatched image.

I no longer think they are the culprit.
There is only two re-translated movie files, with one on disc1 and the other on disc3. Disc3 is the only disc that can actually start in mednafen without crashing, with disc2 being the only disc that has all original movies but still crashes.

[SmashManiac]

Did some investigating. I was able to verify that the FF7 Disc Extension Patch is not the culprit.

However, I found that both Hack7 and Makou Reactor have such issues when attempting to save directly to the disc image according to quotes I found here and here. I believe that's the cause of the issue.

EDIT: Looks like I was wrong about the FF7 Disc Extension Patch, see my next post.

[Green_goblin]

Did some investigating. I was able to verify that the FF7 Disc Extension Patch is not the culprit.

However, I found that both Hack7 and Makou Reactor have such issues when attempting to save directly to the disc image according to quotes I found here and here. I believe that's the cause of the issue.

I have not used Hack7 nor MakouReactor to insert the files. Instead I used this tool which re-organizes the disc sectors:



http://lasyan3.free.fr/progs/ff7/MassIsoUpdate.zip

[gblues]

I have not used Hack7 nor MakouReactor to insert the files. Instead I used this tool which re-organizes the disc sectors:



http://lasyan3.free.fr/progs/ff7/MassIsoUpdate.zip

I suspect that this tool is not correctly adjusting the XA subchannel data on the *.MOV files (the same reason IsoBuster fails to rip any of the *.MOV files).

There's a tool called PSX Imager that at least claims to leave XA data intact, but I can't test it because it's only distributed as source and building it on Window is a huge pain in the arse.

If anyone has the re-translated *.MOV files handy, I can give it a shot and see if it works.

[Gemini]

IIRC IsoBuster fails to extract not because the data is corrupted, but for a much simpler reason: can't deal with data stored as mixed modes. If the EDC for those sectors is correct, then there's no problem with movies. I'd be more concerned with how Mass Iso Update works. That fragmentation isn't good for cd seek.

[SmashManiac]

Did more investigating, and it appears that I was partially wrong in my previous post.

First of all, I used Virtual CloneDrive to mount the Beacause version of Disc 1. Turns out that Windows can't open the FIELD and MOVIES directories due to corruption. This doesn't occur with the original disc.

Next, I did the same thing with a version that only had the FF7 Disc Extension Patch applied on it, and I had a really weird result. First, Windows could not open the BATTLE directory due to corruption and I was still seeing the old KERNEL.BIN instead of the extended one... but when I tried to patch KERNEL.BIN with a fake one using Mass Iso Update, it was able to find the extended file and patch it.

And finally, I tried patching a fake 64 MB KERNEL.BIN on a clean Disc 1 using Mass Iso Update. No obvious corruption in Windows after mounting the disc, but it was the wrong KERNEL.BIN showing up. I was able to confirm that something changed though because attempting to patch the same file again resulted in Mass Iso Update thinking that the file size was the same.

So yeah, it looks like both of these tools just messes up everything. A different solution is most likely required.

[Green_goblin]

I am very busy now, but when I have the time I'll try to create a new patch without the extension thing. I only need to delete some unused attacks in the scene.bin file to have the proper size in that file.

Meanwhile I recommend you all to use ePSXe or Xebra.

[Tom]

IIRC IsoBuster fails to extract not because the data is corrupted, but for a much simpler reason: can't deal with data stored as mixed modes. If the EDC for those sectors is correct, then there's no problem with movies. I'd be more concerned with how Mass Iso Update works. That fragmentation isn't good for cd seek.

Gemini, this is Tom. I've been looking to get in touch with you again. I tried to send you a PM, but it says you're not accepting them. My e-mail has changed, but I would like to message you about our work! Send me a PM!

PS: On topic, I'll say that FF7 certainly deserved a re-translation. Bravo!

[GrammerPants]

Getting some odd text formatting issues in wonder square. Makes buying anything besides a potion with GP impossible.

[Green_goblin]

Ok, thanks for letting me know.
Will fix that in the next release.

[fosterpants]

This is very cool, but I have two questions. Could this patch be made compatible with the Spirit Bug Fix by Gemini? As I understand, that's fixed in the original patch on qhimm, but this one is only the translation component.

And my second question is, are save files transferable from the unpatched game?

[Green_goblin]

This is very cool, but I have two questions. Could this patch be made compatible with the Spirit Bug Fix by Gemini? As I understand, that's fixed in the original patch on qhimm, but this one is only the translation component.

And my second question is, are save files transferable from the unpatched game?

I fixed many bugs in my patch, including the spirit bug.

And yes, the old save games should work well.

[fosterpants]

Thanks bruh, that sounds good. That makes this more of a hack than a translation, right? I'll definitely try it out when it gets updated to work in Mednafen.