FFVIII PC Music: Misconceptions, Explanations and Solutions

[biggs]

I see quite a bit of misconceptions when it comes to the music of the PC release of the game and due to my experiences with audio programming I'd like to explain in detail and offer a simple solution.

Firstly, the PC release utilizes a component of the DirectX API called DirectMusic. Having used it for audio programming I find it extremely flexible and would use it more but unfortunately it has been deprecated for a while now. In the case of Final Fantasy VIII, it uses segment files which contain digital information that play back samples loaded by the DirectMusic synthesizer. Many of you refer to this as "MIDI" which in the case of MIDI sequence files it is similar to some degree. The misconception is that this is inferior to what the PlayStation release utilizes. This is wrong. The PlayStation release utilizes a format created by Squaresoft called "AKAO" that is similar to both how DirectMusic/MIDI works. Samples are loaded in to SPU's RAM of the PlayStation and played back based on information in the sequence.

The issue with the PC release is they did not perform a direct one-to-one conversion of the segments and the samples therefore the audio sounds different (worse to many) than the PlayStation release.

The solution? A simple replacement of the segment files and DLS file containing the samples used for instrument playback. There is really no need to use external programs or streaming audio files.

Here is my version with updated segment files and PS samples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttdjlT9NXBs
Solution:
There is a link to a zip archive in the video description containing the new DirectMusic files.

-Download the archive
-Extract and replace all the files that are located in the dmusic folder inside your FFVIII directory (typically located in steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VIII\Data\Music\dmusic)
-Run the game...simple as that

[Froey]

Sounds good, if the game goes on sale (for cheap) anytime soon I might look into this fix. Thanks!

[Luftwaffle]

Originally posted by Lady Froey:

Sounds good, if the game goes on sale (for cheap) anytime soon I might look into this fix. Thanks!

It won't go any lower than 8.03 or whatever it was listed for the other day when FF7 was a daily deal. At least not this sale unless somehow they do something different from any other time they've had these.

[Xilo The Odd]

10 mins. like a real man. lol. didnt see it happen in the vid but does quezt sound correct with this method as well?

[Tweak]

can u post a detailed decription of how to do this?

[Xilo The Odd]

well those SGT files in the zip following the link from the youtube vid, you just drop those and overwrite the files in the music folder from what i can tell.

[ErickRodrCodes]

chill out, there is a MOD for that playing High Quality music in OGG containers, look for Roses & Wine, or look here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/39150/discussions/0/648814213843615508/

[Xilo The Odd]

Originally posted by T.Bogard:

chill out, there is a MOD for that playing High Quality music in OGG containers, look for Roses & Wine, or look here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/39150/discussions/0/648814213843615508/

well the point of the thread (dunno if you read the whole thing or not but from that reply i'd assume you read the title and not much else) is to point out you dont need a program like roses and wine when its easiest to just drag and drop files from a zip yourself.

[blackbird9_au]

Nice stuff PJ Jones!

I was excited to see FF8 released on Steam, but I'm holding off so the crippling shipped music doesn't destroy my fond memories of the game. That's another notch against Square Enix for not doing this already to maintain high quality releases. Make that a deeper notch if it was so easy to do. And having not learnt from FF7's now tainted past.

Your audio implementation however is very pleasing. Would you mind explaining how you updated the segments and samples?

(Wonder if that might also fix Quetzalcoatls issue that others like Xilo have mentioned..)

[biggs]

Originally posted by Xilo:

well those SGT files in the zip following the link from the youtube vid, you just drop those and overwrite the files in the music folder from what i can tell.

Yes, I will edit more details I was just making sure people were interested in this method. Can you give me the generic folder path? I have the first release of the game (non-steam) which has the files in the dmusic folder.

[Xilo The Odd]

Originally posted by PJ Jones:

Originally posted by Xilo:

well those SGT files in the zip following the link from the youtube vid, you just drop those and overwrite the files in the music folder from what i can tell.

Yes, I will edit more details I was just making sure people were interested in this method. Can you give me the generic folder path? I have the first release of the game (non-steam) which has the files in the dmusic folder.

E:\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VIII\Data\Music\dmusic
is where the music is kept.

E:\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VIII\Data\Sound
is where i assume the rest of the sound is kept. the fact its in a .dat file and a .fmt file is whats been leaving me kinda doubtful a full sound fix by messin with the files themselves was possible.

[blackbird9_au]

Xilo - Thanks for pointing out the linked files from seeing the actual video post on YouTube. It wasn't evident within the forum thread player. Looks like that's it.

Very disappointing of Square Enix if this is how easy it is for them to have released a faithful rendition of their noble past.

Now when FF8 goes on a good special, I might jump in.

[biggs]

Originally posted by Xilo:

E:\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VIII\Data\Music\dmusic
is where the music is kept.

E:\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VIII\Data\Sound
is where i assume the rest of the sound is kept. the fact its in a .dat file and a .fmt file is whats been leaving me kinda doubtful a full sound fix by messin with the files themselves was possible.

Thank you! Updated the description. I have no idea about the quezt sound issue? I have the original release and haven't run into that issue. This probably won't fix it because the music runs through the DM synthesizer and the sound does not.

[Xilo The Odd]

hmm, then i guess the trick would be to figure out what the sound file runs through. the quetz issue is kind of a 2 part deal, it uses some sound from phoenix's summon (PSX version didnt.) and some of his other attack sounds aren't anything like the PSX version. i'll hunt down a comparison vid. but problems like that branch out to other summons as well.

[Xilo The Odd]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2CWw9N41b8 is how it should sound


Skip to 4:37
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OWhTWBsQaVk#t=272 is how his summon sounds on PC.

[biggs]

Originally posted by Xilo:

hmm, then i guess the trick would be to figure out what the sound file runs through. the quetz issue is kind of a 2 part deal, it uses some sound from phoenix's summon (PSX version didnt.) and some of his other attack sounds aren't anything like the PSX version. i'll hunt down a comparison vid. but problems like that branch out to other summons as well.

Just ran the game and can hear the difference. This is for both steam and original releases. So this is probably a sound coding error or just a design error. Most likely unfixable by simple file replacement.