Camera Control Mod?

[Nihilo]

I found some videos on YouTube a couple weeks ago showing somebody who wrote a PCSX2 script for the original version of Final Fantasy X, and it let him rotate the camera around. I was wondering, if that can be done for the PS2 version of the game, how likely is it that a similar mod will come out for the PC version? I know that most of the environments weren't designed for a player-controlled camera, but it would still be neat to see areas from a new perspective, or see how things were put together.

I've been trying to find the PS2 version, and even asked the guy who made the video about the mod, but haven't been able to find anything. I'd just love to look around on my own. I already have the PS2 version (original on-disc, not emulated), and to be completely honest, camera control would make this totally worth getting again.

[Plex]

its possible using farplane http://steamcommunity.com/app/359870/discussions/0/364043054118773804/

it only rotates the camera in 360 degrees around the player though, you can't fly around the map.

where did you find the pcsx2 script, can you link me to it?

[Nihilo]

I only managed to find a video showing off the PCSX2 version. I tried contacting the person who made the video, but never got a reply. If you want, here's the link to the video. There are two versions by the same person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHG-PsUgAgQ

Anyways, I looked at the Farplane program, and I can't find anything that talks about camera control. I figured you couldn't fly around the map, but can you at least zoom in and out as well as rotate?

[Plex]

it is in debug options when you have FFX running and use the program.

I also made a cheat engine script for this.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CheatTable CheatEngineTableVersion="19">
<CheatEntries>
<CheatEntry>
<ID>1</ID>
<Description>"Free Camera"</Description>
<LastState Value="1" Activated="1" RealAddress="0153A8FC"/>
<VariableType>Byte</VariableType>
<Address>FFX.exe+D2A8FC</Address>
<Hotkeys>
<Hotkey>
<Action>Set Value</Action>
<Keys>
<Key>96</Key>
</Keys>
<Value>1</Value>
<ID>0</ID>
</Hotkey>
<Hotkey>
<Action>Set Value</Action>
<Keys>
<Key>17</Key>
<Key>96</Key>
</Keys>
<Value>0</Value>
<ID>1</ID>
</Hotkey>
</Hotkeys>
</CheatEntry>
</CheatEntries>
</CheatTable>

numpad 0 activates the camera, control+0 disables it.

[Kaldaien]

Originally posted by Tom:

its possible using farplane http://steamcommunity.com/app/359870/discussions/0/364043054118773804/

it only rotates the camera in 360 degrees around the player though, you can't fly around the map.

where did you find the pcsx2 script, can you link me to it?

It's also possible using UnX. It's been in there for about a week now.

Ctrl + Shift + F.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/359870/discussions/0/364043054118773804/?ctp=3#c357287935545713683

There's a byte 1 address higher than was discussed there that controls whether the camera stays this way during map transitions. I have chosen to ignore that byte because the game is COMPLETELY unplayable if the camera does not restore itself to original behavior periodically.

[E_ZRO_Joka]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

Originally posted by Tom:

its possible using farplane http://steamcommunity.com/app/359870/discussions/0/364043054118773804/

it only rotates the camera in 360 degrees around the player though, you can't fly around the map.

where did you find the pcsx2 script, can you link me to it?

It's also possible using UnX. It's been in there for about a week now.

Ctrl + Shift + F.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/359870/discussions/0/364043054118773804/?ctp=3#c357287935545713683

I use UNX, but I play with Steam Link. So I want to ask if it would be possible to make this feature usable with the controller?

My system:
Asrock 970 Pro3 R2.0
Amd Fx 8350 @Stock (Turbo disabled) (looking forward to AMD's Zen)
Enermax ETS-T40F-TB CPU Cooler
Gainward GTX 970 Phantom
8Gb 1866 GSkill
ADATA SP900 SSD for Windows
1TB Western Digital for Games
Sound Blaster Z

[Kaldaien]

Not really, it's so useless that I want it to be something you have to do with a keyboard. If you could accidentally turn this on/off while playing it would screw up cutscenes really badly.

Once engaged, the camera stops moving the way it is supposed to and there is no way to put it back where it's supposed to be. The game's not even recognizable as a game if you turn it on accidentally.

[Fraggoso]

As soon as another camera transition occurs after you turned it off, the camera reposition itself though.
I enjoy it for gameplay elements only. cutscenes are almost screwed by it, so turning it off in a cutscene is way better. ^^

[Kaldaien]

Yeah, as soon as I identify a way to determine while the game is in a cutscene, I may re-evaluate my policy.

With texture caching more or less finished, it's full steam ahead on cutscene stuff now.

[Plex]

is there also a way to move the camera freely around like fly through the map?
since you hook DX11 I think thats the only way to do it, outside of the FFX engine.

[Kaldaien]

DX11 is not a scene graph :)

The fact that I hook D3D11 doesn't mean a whole lot. I still have to reverse engineer the engine to figure out how it does matrix transformations. There's no such thing as a camera in D3D or OpenGL, but if you know what you're doing you can usually spot the matrices / quaternions used to implement one in the engine.

I'm not big on doing this though, because it's going to suck without collision detection. That's the problem the current code Square-Enix already wrote has, it'll be worse if I start manipulating the camera matrices.

But you never know.

[Nihilo]

I know absolutely nothing about the process behind all of this, but would finding out how to tell when the game is in a cutscene allow you to figure out how to determine the camera's current location? I was just thinking that if we were able to rotate, zoom in and out, and snap back to default position, that would be amazing. I mean, even though there isn't collision detection, the default position is always good enough to get through the game, and if all else fails, the player can always just go back to normal.

Originally, I figured that camera control would be awesome for a bit of behind-the-scenes playing around. I mean, pre-rendered areas like inside of buildings would obviously break if the camera was moved in any way.

[Kaldaien]

Yes, it would. But I'm stretched thin reverse engineering a million different things in the game right now ;)

I have cutscene skipping, possible 60 FPS mod, 2x/4x/8x speed with sound (I just finished this) and soft reset (finished for FFX) going on. Then I'm expected to repeat the process for FFX-2. So, while it sounds good on paper, it'll be a while before I have the time to work on this feature.

[Nihilo]

Oh, take your time. I wasn't demanding anything immediately, I don't mind waiting. Most of those things (especially cutscene skipping) sound fantastic on their own. Besides, like I said earlier, I don't even have the game yet - I still have my copies of the originals! I'm waiting to see if this pops up during the Summer Sale before I buy the remastered version.

Even so, the stuff that you've got finished so far sounds amazing, and I can't wait until I get the remaster, since there's going to be so much stuff already set up. I was just asking about a camera mod so I knew whether or not to look forward to one. Since I already have the PS2 version, the mods are the main reason I'm anticipating getting to grab the remaster. I'd get it now, but it seems rather spendy for a game I already have, and I'm in college right now so I'd like to try and save a bit when I do buy it.