Introduction: How to Get Better/newer Graphics for Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy VII is one of those games that you love to play even though the graphics are all outdated. But what if you could play the same old FF7 that you know and love with enhanced graphics? That's right, thanks to the dedicated hard-working people over in the Qhimm Forums there are unofficial 'patches' that you can get to enhance your FF7 experience.
Before I start I would like to let it be known that I did not create any of the mods in this instructable nor do I credit for them.
Some of the mods that I would recommend are:
1) Aali's Custom Graphics Driver (Allows you to increase the game resolution. It's also needed for most of the other mods)
2) Phoenix Rejuvenation Project (Changes most characters in the game from their blocky sprites to more lifelike ones)
3) Team Avalanche's Graphical Overhaul (Improves both 2d and 3d game backgrounds, GUI's, etc.)
There are a lot more cool mods that you can get (such as 9999 Limit Breaker, that allows your HP/MP/Damage go beyond 9999) but this instructable will only cover these four. If you want to look into more mods have a look at the Qhimm forums or go to FinalFantasy7PC .
Okay, so what you will need for this instructable is:
1) A PC. (Not a mac or Linux)
2) Software to decompress .zip files. (WinRAR is free and easy)
3) An official FF7 game for PC (Not the Ultimate version)
4) The official 1.02 Final Fantasy 7 PC Patch
Step 1: Aali's Custom Graphics Driver
Aali's custom graphics driver is essential for many of the ff7 mods out there. It allows you to edit some aspects of the game.
Firstly, you need to make sure that you have installed the game in it's default location which should be something like 'C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\'. Then run the install the official 1.02 Final Fantasy 7 patch . It's best to turn off the user account control for this but you don't need to. If you're having a bit of trouble in later versions of windows using compatibility mode and change to windows 98 (I know this game is that old.)
Also, for some reason you need to make sure that you have filled all the save slots filled (i.e save00.ff7 to save09.ff7) and the ff7input.cfg (this file is created when you first play the game). An easy way to this is play to the first save point then copy that file 10 times and rename it accordingly (i.e they will all be save00.ff7 so change to save01.ff7, save02.ff7, etc.)
Okay so know you're set up to start modding!
The .zip file containing Aali's custom Graphics Driver can be found here .
This mod is actually quite easy just extract all the files into your Final Fantasy 7 folder in Program Files. Once you've done this run the FF7Config and you should get a message saying something like 'pass'. In the ff7_opengl.cfg file you can manually edit your preferences for the game.
Now let's move onto some fancy looking mods!
Step 2: Phoenix Rejuvenation Project
This one is one of my favorite mods for FF7 it replaces most of the old blocky NPC sprites and replaces them with nicer more realistic ones.
You can find the installer needed here .
After running the installer, you can delete the two new icons on your desktop, they're useless. Go to Final Fantasy VII folder and find the data folder and look around for ffprp. In the folder, change the 00.lgp to char.lgp and 01.lgp to world_us.lgp. Replace the existing char.lgp with the new one in the field folder and replace the world_us.lgp with the new one in the WMRP folder. Both the folders can also be found in the data folder. Once you are done, delete ffprp and run the game.
You should now have some new pretty awesome sprites!
Step 3: Team Avalanches Graphical Overhaul
This another very good mod in which many of the backgrounds and GUIs have been greatly improved. The world map has been retextured and there's even a new cool battle sprite for Barret.
There's two different installers you can use for this, either high quality or low quality it depends on what size resolution you want to use.
Both can be found here .
Again, this mod is pretty easy all you need to do is run the installer and decide what you want to install and what you don't. It's pretty straightforward.
Step 4: More Mods...
There are a lot more mods available for your new and improved Final Fantasy VII and I would definitely recommend installing some of them, especially the APZ Cloud project where the Cloud battle sprite is replaced with an awesome new one (as shown above!) but it's a bit trickier and requires a bit of knowledge using the Highwind tool. Go to FinalFantasy7PC for a detailed description on this project and for more instructions on different FF7 mods.
Also, I would like to add again that I take no credit for any of these as they were all created by the talented and dedicated people at the Qhimm Forums.
It may not be PS3 quality graphics but at least you can relive one of your favorite old games with jazzed up new graphics!! Enjoy!
