FF9 Launcher Replacement v1.1 & Cinna's Hammer v0.1 (Beta)

Guide update in progress, check back tommorow afternoon (GMT)

Widescreen / Stretch to Screen Mod for FINAL FANTASY IX (2016 STEAM RELEASE)
Compiled 14/04/2016 at 20:13 GMT
(C) Jake Jackson (patternjake @ steam)
Support Email: [e-mail]
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DOWNLOAD LINK
{LINK REMOVED}https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=AB5014064C240947!24419&authkey=!AADGo-wH4p5KwwE&ithint=file%2czip

I'm uploading to other sites in the mean time.

What is this mod?
-----------------

This mod replaces the launcher and adds debug mode to Final Fantasy IX's Unity based
engine, allowing further modifications in memory.

This mod allows the game to stretch properly to widescreen displays and removes
the very annoying fixed aspect ratio borders Silicon Studio Thailand and the Square
Enix Honolulu team put in place.

How to install
---------------

Installation is simple.

1) Launch the game as you would usually, and from the options, set it to 800x600 and uncheck Windowed option. Click Play.

2) Now the game is running, quit the game.

3) From inside the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY IX
RENAME (DONT DELETE) the FF9_Launcher.exe to FF9_Launcher2.exe or whatever pleases you.

4) Copy all files included within this mod to where FF9_Launcher.exe used to be. Make sure to overwrite settings.ini and make sure settings.reg is included.

5) Start the game as you would usually from steam. You'll now see the new version of the launcher. At first, it looks almost indentical, with two tiny changes. 1, it will only let you select 800x600, and two, it won't let you allow windowed mode, this allows the stretching.

6) Click FIX SETTINGS to import the included registry.reg file, this makes double sure the game is set internally to 800x600 non windowed. Changing this in the settings.ini won't work on it's own, this is explained later.

7) Click the big old play button. The game will now launch in true stretched full screen mode, getting rid of those awful bars once and for all.

What it requires
----------------

It requires the {LINK REMOVED}Microsoft.Net Framework 4.5.1, which is already installed when you install
Final Fantasy IX from Steam.

It requires that you set your video driver's graphic settings to STRETCH, or an option
that does not preserve the aspect ratio when this mod launcher switches to 800x600, thus
allowing the game to stretch completely to the reset of your LCD, LED or TFT screen / monitor.

What it does not do
-------------------

It doesnt add actual widescreen mode, it just stretches the game to your display, removing
the forced aspect ratio.

Bugs
----

If the game is in windowed mode, you will see it's titlebar cutting off some of the display.
The most easiet way to fix is to click 'Fix Settings' within the mod launcher or apply the
included settings.reg file included, and then start the game again. Upon analyis of the game
Silicon Studio got really lazy and decided to include a settings.ini from thier (crap) launcher
and an actual registry entry that the FF9.exe (unity program) changes itself, making thier
launcher the worst thing ever.

So yes, make sure that the games resolution is set to 800x600 (NOT WINDOWED!) by applying the
settings.reg file by double clicking on it, or by using your renamed FF9_Launcher2.exe (the original game's one) and setting it there.

Future Updates
--------------
As far as I am aware Final Fantasy IX will recieve future updates, but I can almost gaurantee
that this mod will work for those updates. simply copy over the files once more with this mod and it *should* work. If not, i'll make sure to update the mod in the future.

I'm also working on a big texture update that doesn't involve ripping open Square's copyrighted work. For this, I'll be using Texmod, which I have already achieved some results from doing. By the way, don't bother using sweetfx or enbseries, as it breaks the game.

Any questions, please feel free to contact me ASAP.
Enjoy playing the game as we all wanted to. Lov J.

Screenshots

Screenshots of the mod

Future Updates

Future updates coming to the launcher-

v1.1 Coming shortly

-Complete control over unity options, and more resolutions to choose from (including ones that will stretch the screen if needed). Options such as Texture quality, native unity shaders, and choice of renderers without having to result to command line.

-Updated XINPUT plugin, allowing full controller support without additional third party software required. The xinput plugin will also show a GUI allowing you to test all of your controller and create a system log for it making deubgging easier.

-UnityDebugger which will allow on the fly texture injection (DirectX mode only)

Launcher will be required for most future mods from myself.

Cinna's Hammer [Mod Manager] 0.1

DEVELOPERS - If you want your mod to be easily integrated into game please send me it's files and I can export it for Cinna's Hammer and to keep everything in one easy to use program (and the catalogue database file). FULL CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN OF COURSE.

Guide update in progress.

Cinna's Hammer is a mod manager / downloader / unpacker / patcher for FINAL FANTASY IX Steam 2016 release.
It is included with the Final Fantasy IX Launcher Replacement, allowing custom mods (pjm files) to be installed on Final Fantasy IX effortlessly without breaking the EULA (modified game files are stored in encrypted archives, decompressed by the utility, and patched upon runtime by the FF9Launcher, which in turn means that the public DO NOT have access to the modified game data directly, which allows this mod to exist).

For those who would naturally be asking questions about this mod, basically it allows FULL CONTROL over all game assets, allowing in the future for the game to be completely upgraded in many ways possible, including graphics, field backgrounds, sounds, model data, animations, frame rates, text replacements, difficulty mods and much, much more.

Obivously the manager is only at it's earliest stages so it is only as time progresses that more of the FFIX data is understood and modded accordingly. Please don't expect the game to be magically upgraded to HD overnight, this is the first, needed step.

Also, the mod manager's GUI design has been designed similary to 7th Heaven's (FF7PC) for users coming from that program to not need to re-learn basic modding steps needed by the program.

Caveats
You can not run the mods managed by this program without my launcher replacement, as all patching is done on the fly but that program itself and FF9's DRM is required to be started from the Honolulu launcher otherwise the game will just freeze on black. (Well reported).

Technical Information for developers
Mods can be created by this program, simply place your modified asset files / Csharp data in a folder of your choice and Cinna will create an ecrypted zip file (PJM- different header to protect SE's assets) for placing in the mod folder, to be read by Cinna's Hammer. The archive will also need a digital signiture issued by myself in order to appear on catalogue.

DOWNLOAD LINK:
Not released yet, due tommorow.

Any questions please leave comments and I will do my best to answer them.

[Dan Lel]

Is this mod able to resize the menus in battle, that's really the only thing that really bothers me about this port. If that's a planned feature of the mod/launcher you've made please let us know so we can keep track of this guide.

[Isabelle Ende]

RIP Cinna's Hammer, fell by the wayside by a person who promised much and likely crumbled when he couldn't deliever.

Lesson learned: Don't release something unless a) you've already done it or b) you have enough reputation people don't mind waiting on you. It is saddening to see enthusiastic modders ground down by their own over-estimation of abilities/under-estimation of the task at hand. All of us that have made any kind of mod and published it has had this feeling at one time or another.

Also, keep it open rather than trying to control the ecosystem, so others can pick up the work if you had made progress that will save the community effort.

[Squeezit]

@PatternJake did you ever manage to get any texture mods working with this?

[Replicators]

I am on a 60 inch tv here and to be honest, this makes it look much worse.

[F-Lambda]

Thanks Rolllllllll for the recommendation of Shinobu's mod! So much better!

[Ottman]

How is the v1.1 mod coming along?

[Duke Von Rollington]

A lot of people had problems with this and the guy abandoned it after claiming he would add lots of stuff that he (obviously) never did. I recommend Shinobu's mod that you can also find here on Steam.

[The Mewtilator]

Alright... All of a sudden I'm getting the, "Description: Failed to Change the Resolution" message again.

It's as if this mod only works when it wants to...?

[The Mewtilator]

For those receiving an error with something along the lines of, "Unable to Set Resolution".

I was able to resolve this by doing the following:

- Go into my NVIDIA Control Panel.
- Then select "Adjust Desktop Size and Position" found under "Display".
- If you have multiple displays, select whichever display you intend to play your game on.
- Then under "Scaling" select "Full-Screen" and check the box next to "Override the scaling mode set by games and programs."
- Click apply and try running your game again.

If it worked your game should launch in 800x600 without the borders.

[The Mewtilator]

Noticed in the comments that someone says they think this is a FAKE mod.

After a little bit of tinkering with my NVIDIA settings, I was able to get this to work for me. So it's definitely not fake.

Uninstalling/Re-installing is also fairly simple.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look as great when compared to what it looks like with the borders. That should be obvious though as it's clearly stated:

"It doesnt add actual widescreen mode, it just stretches the game to your display, removing
the forced aspect ratio." - patternjake