Final Fantasy VIII (8) Mega Compatibility Technique Thread Type X50388

[ScaryBugThing]

There has been found a new and simple way to solve the crash problems.
Just change the game id into SLPS-01222 and it'll be 100% crash free. The downside is that it will have slowdowns at start of battles and when entering areas. Nevertheless this is definatly worth it.

I just updated to 3.40 OE-A to see if it would fix the freezing. I am using SLPS-01222 for the game/save ID. I converted the save file so I know I'm using the 3.40 pops.

The slowdown is REALLY bad for me. When I go between screens, it takes about twice as long as it did before, and the music starts chopping up and lagging.

Then, when I get into battles, it is slowed down and glitchy the entire time. The battles are thus basically unplayable, with the sound and battle speed lurching along unpredictably, which takes all the fun out of 'em. Even in the 3D overworld, the speed is somewhat lurchy and slow.

So to reiterate, the only time the game runs at full speed now is in a city or fixed area, after the area has transitioned. That's it.

Is this how it is for other people? Even if it doesn't freeze, this is worse than the freezes by far...

[nk_blu]

Hello all. After couple of experimentation with Final Fantasy VIII and playing it on PSP, I've found some interesting discoveries.

I was able to get past the boss at Comm. Tower without any freezes, here is what I used:
- 3.40 OE-A custom firmware (big thumbs up to Dark Alex)
- cwcheatspop, with couple cheats enabled
- All "Normal" PS1 settings for PSP. So like, Normal disc loading speed, view mode, black level adjustments, etc.

What I did:

I think there is a relationship between number of menu windows opened and "type" of magic being cast by ally/enemy.

I realized that, my previous game crashes happened when the boss' "Storm Breath" spell animation was being cast and at the same time, I was trying to perform various game functions (choosing items, Selphie's Slot, spamming to get limit breaks).

So what I did was, I had to do my battles very slowly, I waited until the boss did his attack, then quickly decided and executed my three guy's actions. So basically, when "Storm Breath" was being cast, I had no extra menu windows opened other than my "Attack/Draw/GF/etc." command window.

It also got my game frozen when I had limit break menu windows opened when Mega Elixer spell animation was being cast (yes, I cheated =P)

So for future "known" crash battles, try using my method: close off any extra command menu windows when the enemy is about to or attacking.

Hope this helps you guys~ :thumbup:

[BelmontSlayer]

Anyone found any new fixes yet? I'm using the SLPS-01222 fix, but it slows the loading horribly...

[BelmontSlayer]

I get the weird beeps with the SLPS-01222 code. The loading time is also horribly slow...

[Narcotize]

Huge bump for this to find out if anyone using the Slim has seen if this has been fixed at all?

[Gene]

Huge bump for this to find out if anyone using the Slim has seen if this has been fixed at all?

If you are still having this freezing problem, try remaking the Eboot and changing the Game and Save ID to "SLPS02180". I have beaten the entire game on my psp with this code and the only problems are there is a slight slowdown when using gf junctions, but as far as freezing goes, the only freeze I had encountered was one time when I was on the 3rd disc battling a blitz. I don't quite remember the circumstances, but I do remember that I was running multiple plugins and that could have caused the crash. But yes, final fantasy 8 is definitely playable and works about 99.7% with this code.

[Narcotize]

By GF junctions, are we talking summoning a GF, or in the junction screen of the character menus?

Also, will I need to move to M33 firmwares or should this be a generic all firmware fix?

Finally, can you point me to where the eboot creation discussion is going on? I've got an ancient popstation and it doesn't seem to work with 3.40OE from what I've seen. Been out of the loop so long that I haven't got a clue about changing game and save IDs.

Thanks for the help!

[Narcotize]

Bump. Just want pointers on the above so I can go sort myself out with FF8!
I tried the Biohazard version and that is way clunky on loading between scenes....

Not necessarily on the slim btw, I'm on a fatPS

Running 3.52-4 since this weekend now too.

[Jokemonky]

Hey, I don't know if anyone pointed this out, but the top three battles for bugging are the Comm tower boss, the fake Deling and NORG. All of these bosses use mid-battle 'transformation'. Biggs and Wedge 'transform' into the Comm tower boss, Deling transforms into the zombie-thing, and NORG 'transforms' out of that machine. Now, I'm no expert, but I'd say that this could be the problem. If it is, then I think a coder with a lot of spare time could debug it and find a fix.

~JM~

[Narcotize]

Well, I'm going to try that game code above (when I get my act in gear and get my FF8 disc out of archive and get the latests Popstation)... failing that, fingers crossed that a m33 3.72 comes out with extra compatibility.

Also noticed that since going m33, my FF7 glitches whenever a fight finishes. What a pain.