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Current best way to play FFIX?

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Feep

Feep

Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,596
I know Square-Enix has had some issues with ports. Notably, these things are important to me:

1) The use of the original font
2) Fast forward and other QoL options
3) No music glitches
4) Maybe that crazy BG AI-based upres mod?

What's the best way to play? Switch? PS4? Steam? Steam with mods (which mods)? Or the original PS1 version?
 
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No Depth

No Depth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
18,266
Music glitch was patched on Switch. It has all the QoL features as well, so pretty safe to go that route I think.
 
ZeroX

ZeroX

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,266
Speed Force
The music has been patched on the remastered FFIX. Played on both Switch and PS4 and it's fine on both. I found the font fine, but if it's your number one priority, emulate the PS1 version and force speed up I guess (which will fuck up the sound).
 
mordecaii83

mordecaii83

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
6,860
Don't all the newer ports lack analog movement? I'm thinking about just playing the OG PS1 version because of that.
 
OP
OP
Feep

Feep

Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,596
mordecaii83 said:
Don't all the newer ports lack analog movement? I'm thinking about just playing the OG PS1 version because of that.
Click to expand...
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Ugh. How hard is this, SE?

Apparently the "Moguri Mod" on Steam is nice...has original font + upres options. May try going with that.
 
Bradford

Bradford

terminus est
Member
Aug 12, 2018
5,423
Play it on PC and just mod it with AI upscaled art and the font. Believe it is called "Memoria Mooglemod" or something like that.

Easily the best way to play at the moment.
 
chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,071
Final Fantasy IX with the Moguri mod. Music glitch fixed and you get the benefit of some really nice AI-upscaled backgrounds and high resolution font.

sites.google.com

HOME

What's Moguri Mod ? Moguri Mod is a faithful revamp of the PC version of Final Fantasy IX helped by deep learning techniques (ESRGAN). The most important changes are in the background arts, that are now cleaner, more detailed and higher resolution. Moguri Mod also includes a custom implementation
sites.google.com sites.google.com

EIL-oRPXYAAIppi


EIL-oRMXYAALcFc


EIL-oRMWsAAwEId
 
Magnus

Magnus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,363
Earlier today, I felt stupid impulsively buying this on sale two nights ago for PS4 when I didn't see that it was also on sale for the Switch for even LESS, and almost impulse-bought it there. Now I'm glad I held off, realizing that I actually already own the Steam version (can't even remember buying that, lol) and should use this Moguri Mod. Fuck. I've bought this game fucking four times.
 
Grahf

Grahf

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,664
chandoog said:
Final Fantasy IX with the Moguri mod. Music glitch fixed and you get the benefit of some really nice AI-upscaled backgrounds and high resolution font.

sites.google.com

HOME

What's Moguri Mod ? Moguri Mod is a faithful revamp of the PC version of Final Fantasy IX helped by deep learning techniques (ESRGAN). The most important changes are in the background arts, that are now cleaner, more detailed and higher resolution. Moguri Mod also includes a custom implementation
sites.google.com sites.google.com
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This ! Surprised it didn't come sooner.
There's more examples and sliders and stuff at the URL but the quality difference is spectacular.
 
chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,071
Oh also, another notch for Moguri is that it comes with 15 optional orchestral tracks for the game.

The team put in some real effort with the mod and it deserves a lot of praise and usage.

Here is a flipbook hosted on the mod site with detailed breakdowns and a lot of background samples:



This is probably the best fan-mod I've seen for a PSX era game, followed closely by the RE2/3 HD mods.
 
OP
OP
Feep

Feep

Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,596
The Moguri Mod is great but I just *cannot* get it to use the original PS1 font, even though it seems like the documentation implies it's possible. The "new" font it uses is similar to FFVI's font, which is better, but...egh.
 
mrmickfran

mrmickfran

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
26,727
Gongaga
The PS1 Classic version on PSN is fantastic, although it doesn't have the QOL improvements.

If they fixed the Music glitch on Switch then I say go with that.
 
Jonovision

Jonovision

Member
Oct 30, 2017
79
If you care for couch co-op I think the PS1 version is the only one that has it, so you could assign characters to different controllers, I know its a pretty niche option but it matters to me lol.
 
chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,071
Feep said:
The Moguri Mod is great but I just *cannot* get it to use the original PS1 font, even though it seems like the documentation implies it's possible. The "new" font it uses is similar to FFVI's font, which is better, but...egh.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's definitely possible and that's how I played it earlier this year as well, the high resolution font felt a little too smooth to me too:

Instructions on how to enable/disable it (high rez font) are on this page:

Make the Memoria.ini read-only to avoid any conflicts after making your changes.

 
AgeEighty

AgeEighty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,383
Feep said:
Ugh. How hard is this, SE?

Apparently the "Moguri Mod" on Steam is nice...has original font + upres options. May try going with that.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

"Original PSX Font" in Moguri Mod is not the game's original font and it's not even from any of the PSX games. It's the font used in FFV, FFVI, and Chrono Trigger ("Chicago", which also was used in old Macs), and in the context of FFIX it's hideous. The remaster's font is far less jarring.

I haven't actually seen the real original FFIX font anywhere.
 
OP
OP
Feep

Feep

Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,596
Ugh, this is infuriating. Many custom fonts *do* work, but the only FFIX font I could find online ("Zidane") mysteriously does not. If I try to open up fonts that work in a font editor and then resave them, the newly saved versions do NOT work. I have no idea what's causing it to fail.

I may have to give up on this holy quest.

Edit: I did not give up, see below
 
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skeezx

skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,131
chandoog said:
Final Fantasy IX with the Moguri mod. Music glitch fixed and you get the benefit of some really nice AI-upscaled backgrounds and high resolution font.

sites.google.com

HOME

What's Moguri Mod ? Moguri Mod is a faithful revamp of the PC version of Final Fantasy IX helped by deep learning techniques (ESRGAN). The most important changes are in the background arts, that are now cleaner, more detailed and higher resolution. Moguri Mod also includes a custom implementation
sites.google.com sites.google.com

EIL-oRPXYAAIppi


EIL-oRMXYAALcFc


EIL-oRMWsAAwEId
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

knew of this but damn those pics are getting me in the mood

sigh... *clicks on steam store tab*
 
Original PSX Font Achieved!
  • Index
    • OP
    OP
    Feep

    Feep

    Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
    Verified
    Oct 25, 2017
    4,596
    HECK YES I DID IT

    r5pwMC6.png


    iO1vh4k.png


    Had to literally load up Unity and code a few lines to figure out that the font isn't recognized unless you install it to all users as an admin. You can grab this font here. In Moguri Mod's "Memoria.ini" file, use the following settings:

    [Graphics]
    UseGarnetFont=0
    Enabled=1

    [Font]
    Size=24
    Enabled=1
    Names="Zidane"

    jschreier might be interested in such a thing. I know he loves that OG font like I do.
     
  • Index
    • Encephalon

    Encephalon

    Member
    Oct 26, 2017
    5,855
    Japan
    Most PS1 games, especially those that aren't action games that require the use of L2/R2 are best played and viewed on Vita.

    Edit: Holy shit at getting the OG font working.
     
    Vimes

    Vimes

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    2,276
    Feep said:
    HECK YES I DID IT

    r5pwMC6.png


    iO1vh4k.png


    Had to literally load up Unity and code a few lines to figure out that the font isn't recognized unless you install it to all users as an admin. You can grab this font here. In Moguri Mod's "Memoria.ini" file, use the following settings:

    [Graphics]
    UseGarnetFont=0
    Enabled=1

    [Font]
    Size=24
    Enabled=1
    Names="Zidane"

    jschreier might be interested in such a thing. I know he loves that OG font like I do.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    DUDE
     
    exodus

    exodus

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    9,944
    My biggest gripe with the remasters is the horrendous input lag. It feels so much worse to play than FF VII because of that. It's like 200ms.

    There's also the fact that you can't speed up with a hot key, and the speed is just too fast to walk around normally, so you'd normally just want to use it in battle. You have to wait through 15 seconds of loading and battle intro just to be able to pause the game to speed it up.
     
    AgeEighty

    AgeEighty

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    11,383
    Any notable bugs using that font? I saw something in one discussion about the forward slashes not showing up in the character menu and a few other things not looking right.

    EDIT: The original font was anti-aliased a bit, so I guess that's the next step to try to replicate. Although the only letter that looks noticeably wonky with this duplicate is the lowercase W.
     
    Last edited:
    Quinton

    Quinton

    Specialist at TheGamer / Reviewer at RPG Site
    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    17,256
    Midgar, With Love
    I'm glad you found the ideal way to play, OP. But personally, my ideal is on the Switch. In bed. Cozy beside my beloved cat. With a glass of wine to the left of me and some pretzels to the right.
     
    OP
    OP
    Feep

    Feep

    Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
    Verified
    Oct 25, 2017
    4,596
    AgeEighty said:
    Any notable bugs using that font? I saw something in one discussion about the forward slashes not showing up in the character menu and a few other things not looking right.

    EDIT: The original font was anti-aliased a bit, so I guess that's the next step to try to replicate. Although the only letter that looks noticeably wonky with this duplicate is the lowercase W.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Actually, you're right; that does occur. I loaded a font in the editor and both the slash and backslash look okay, so I'm not sure why it wouldn't be working, except for a sizing issue. I'm gonna try shrinking it by a touch...
     
    Rats

    Rats

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    8,111
    Feep said:
    HECK YES I DID IT

    r5pwMC6.png


    iO1vh4k.png


    Had to literally load up Unity and code a few lines to figure out that the font isn't recognized unless you install it to all users as an admin. You can grab this font here. In Moguri Mod's "Memoria.ini" file, use the following settings:

    [Graphics]
    UseGarnetFont=0
    Enabled=1

    [Font]
    Size=24
    Enabled=1
    Names="Zidane"

    jschreier might be interested in such a thing. I know he loves that OG font like I do.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Megaton, good job!
     
    b00_thegh0st

    b00_thegh0st

    Member
    Nov 6, 2017
    1,017
    Recent port has noticeable input lag and no analog controls. It's a botched work.

    Your best bet is PSN version or emulation.
     
    OP
    OP
    Feep

    Feep

    Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
    Verified
    Oct 25, 2017
    4,596
    AgeEighty said:
    Any notable bugs using that font? I saw something in one discussion about the forward slashes not showing up in the character menu and a few other things not looking right.

    EDIT: The original font was anti-aliased a bit, so I guess that's the next step to try to replicate. Although the only letter that looks noticeably wonky with this duplicate is the lowercase W.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Update: I modified the font to fix the forward slash bug! This occurs because in Unity, if a character exceeds the programmed width for a UI element in a Canvas, and the "Overflow" option is not checked, it doesn't render the character. So, I just loaded up the Zidane font in a font editor and reduced the kerning a bit on the forward slash, and now it renders! (Luckily I am a Unity dev.)

    zHJsP5C.png


    You can get the modified font here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2m8z7ho8eufafn/zidane.otf?dl=0 Keep in mind the name of this font is "ZidaneThinSlash" and the Memoria.ini needs to be updated accordingly.

    There are a few hardcoded font elements on the page (like "Lv", "HP", and "MP") that would require more extensive hacking to fix, but they're pretty minor.

    Indeed, the original font does use aliasing and it's the cause of the lowercase w looking a bit wonky, which is a letter that relies more on the aliased pixels than others to read super well. However, I am not well acquainted with font editors and it would likely take me far too much time. If there are any font-lovers out there, this may be a good project to take on for a few hours! However, I am more than happy with the current sharper version and I'm pretty psyched to play with all these beautiful up-rezzed BG's and the OG font.
     
    Professor Beef

    Professor Beef

    Official ResetEra™ Chao Puncher
    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    22,499
    The Digital World
    exodus said:
    My biggest gripe with the remasters is the horrendous input lag. It feels so much worse to play than FF VII because of that. It's like 200ms.

    There's also the fact that you can't speed up with a hot key, and the speed is just too fast to walk around normally, so you'd normally just want to use it in battle. You have to wait through 15 seconds of loading and battle intro just to be able to pause the game to speed it up.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You can pause the game literally as soon as the camera starts panning around the battlefield, you don't have to wait until you're in control of the characters. I know it's not the same as a hotkey, but it saves on waiting.
     
    Flandy

    Flandy

    Community Resettler
    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    3,445
    Guess I'm using your font edit whenever I get around to playing this. Thanks feep
    btw does the mod have any scanline options out of curiosity? I imagine the assets might look better with them
     
    Listai

    Listai

    50¢
    Member
    Oct 27, 2017
    5,657
    The PSOne Classic on a Vita running adrenaline.

    You get a version faithful to the original with the ability to fast forward in battles/loading screens.
     
    AgeEighty

    AgeEighty

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    11,383
    Feep said:
    Update: I modified the font to fix the forward slash bug! This occurs because in Unity, if a character exceeds the programmed width for a UI element in a Canvas, and the "Overflow" option is not checked, it doesn't render the character. So, I just loaded up the Zidane font in a font editor and reduced the kerning a bit on the forward slash, and now it renders! (Luckily I am a Unity dev.)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Fantastic! Thanks for the update! I will be sure to use this instead of that horrific FFVI font. Great work!

    Tekku said:
    Any version where you can mod out the battle loading times.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    The remaster does this if you check off a menu option for it, but it only works on non-scripted battles. Still, it's pretty huge since those are the bulk of what you will be fighting.
     
    SilverArrow20XX

    SilverArrow20XX

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    5,453
    As an extra bit of info.
    The PSP versions of II, and IV Complete Collection also have the music bug where it restarts after every battle.
    However, the PSP version of FFI does NOT have the bug.
     
    OP
    OP
    Feep

    Feep

    Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
    Verified
    Oct 25, 2017
    4,596
    This game is so, so pretty, though. The HD background art is absolutely incredible in almost all cases.

    KWAzx9a.png
     
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