Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
  1 / 3    
http://store.steampowered.com/app/345350/ The PC port of the concluding chapter of the Final Fantasy XIII saga unlocks in 3 days, 14 hours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2zfHLJ75D8 22 GB download, dx9
http://store.steampowered.com/app/345350/

The PC port of the concluding chapter of the Final Fantasy XIII saga unlocks in 3 days, 14 hours.



22 GB download, dx9

#1
Posted 12/07/2015 04:03 AM   
Absolutely stunning Visuals - I wish they would stop prerendering the in game movies though, so we could enjoy them in 3D... But more important - can we hope for a fix some day ? I have played the first chapter, and it was stunning in 3D even in 720P...
Absolutely stunning Visuals - I wish they would stop prerendering the in game movies though, so we could enjoy them in 3D...

But more important - can we hope for a fix some day ?

I have played the first chapter, and it was stunning in 3D even in 720P...

Win7 64bit Pro
CPU: 4790K 4.8 GHZ
GPU: Asus Geforce RTX 2080 TI Rog Strix OC
Monitor: Asus PG278QR
And lots of ram and HD's ;)

#2
Posted 12/07/2015 07:39 AM   
The first two are fixed. But i still hope someone fix the surround someday...:), i tried with cheatengine but I had no success :(
The first two are fixed.
But i still hope someone fix the surround someday...:), i tried with cheatengine but I had no success :(

i7 4970k@4.5Ghz, SLI GTX1080Ti Aorus Gigabyte Xtreme, 16GB G Skill 2400hrz, 3*PG258Q in 3D surround.

#3
Posted 12/07/2015 09:03 AM   
Yah, I've never understood why some cut scenes/movies rendered in 3D and some in 2D if they are both using Bink Video from Rad Game Tools for encoding and playback. Games that never had any kind of official 3D support will have 3D cut scenes, so you wouldn't think that it's some kind of special encoding. I'm not sure if 3Dmigoto has had any success in this area, but their player is downloadable for free and has encoding/decoding features. The SDK is also available via e-mail AFAIK. Product Page http://www.radgametools.com/bnkmain.htm Developmental History http://www.radgametools.com/bnkhist.htm Player Download http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm
Yah, I've never understood why some cut scenes/movies rendered in 3D and some in 2D if they are both using Bink Video from Rad Game Tools for encoding and playback.

Games that never had any kind of official 3D support will have 3D cut scenes, so you wouldn't think that it's some kind of special encoding.

I'm not sure if 3Dmigoto has had any success in this area, but their player is downloadable for free and has encoding/decoding features. The SDK is also available via e-mail AFAIK.

Product Page

http://www.radgametools.com/bnkmain.htm


Developmental History

http://www.radgametools.com/bnkhist.htm


Player Download

http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm

#4
Posted 12/07/2015 03:25 PM   
Do you remember Witcher 3 - lots of beautiful cut scenes in 3D - and all the sudden a 20 sec cutscene prerendered in 2D and there was a mismatch with clothes etc. LOL.. ridiculous, why make such a great game and then "spoil" it with 2D cutscenes..
Do you remember Witcher 3 - lots of beautiful cut scenes in 3D - and all the sudden a 20 sec cutscene prerendered in 2D and there was a mismatch with clothes etc. LOL.. ridiculous, why make such a great game and then "spoil" it with 2D cutscenes..

Win7 64bit Pro
CPU: 4790K 4.8 GHZ
GPU: Asus Geforce RTX 2080 TI Rog Strix OC
Monitor: Asus PG278QR
And lots of ram and HD's ;)

#5
Posted 12/07/2015 06:47 PM   
Unfortunately I have bad news so far: whereas FF XIII and FF XIII-2 offered a good S3D experience out of the box and only needed some minor fixes and tweaks this game is unplayable in S3D without a fix! The reason is the new lighting system because of the introduced day and night cycle. I'm looking at the game and will try to make a fix that makes the game at least playable. But I have no idea how to fix shadows :( And disabling shadows makes the game playable but not really enjoyable. So I can't recommend to buy this game at the moment... Regarding cut scenes: as You can customize Lightning's outift most of the cut scenes are in S3D and not prerendered in 2D :)
Unfortunately I have bad news so far: whereas FF XIII and FF XIII-2 offered a good S3D experience out of the box and only needed some minor fixes and tweaks this game is unplayable in S3D without a fix! The reason is the new lighting system because of the introduced day and night cycle. I'm looking at the game and will try to make a fix that makes the game at least playable. But I have no idea how to fix shadows :( And disabling shadows makes the game playable but not really enjoyable. So I can't recommend to buy this game at the moment...

Regarding cut scenes: as You can customize Lightning's outift most of the cut scenes are in S3D and not prerendered in 2D :)

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#6
Posted 12/17/2015 08:37 PM   
[quote="3d4dd"]Unfortunately I have bad news so far: whereas FF XIII and FF XIII-2 offered a good S3D experience out of the box and only needed some minor fixes and tweaks this game is unplayable in S3D without a fix! The reason is the new lighting system because of the introduced day and night cycle. I'm looking at the game and will try to make a fix that makes the game at least playable. But I have no idea how to fix shadows :( And disabling shadows makes the game playable but not really enjoyable. So I can't recommend to buy this game at the moment... [color="green"]I really hope the game will be playable in S3D, but I agree - it will be a shame if wee have to disable shadows.. I wish I could offer some help, but I'm just an wannabee shaderhacker, and I have just recently downloaded "The Ball" and has planned to look at Bo3b's Scholl in my christmas vacation, as a Humble start. Regarding cut scenes: as You can customize Lightning's outift most of the cut scenes are in S3D and not prerendered in 2D :)[/quote][/color] That sounds like sweet music in my ears :) I love 3D cutscenes :) I hope you manage to make it more or less playable - may the shader force be with you...
3d4dd said:Unfortunately I have bad news so far: whereas FF XIII and FF XIII-2 offered a good S3D experience out of the box and only needed some minor fixes and tweaks this game is unplayable in S3D without a fix! The reason is the new lighting system because of the introduced day and night cycle. I'm looking at the game and will try to make a fix that makes the game at least playable. But I have no idea how to fix shadows :( And disabling shadows makes the game playable but not really enjoyable. So I can't recommend to buy this game at the moment...

I really hope the game will be playable in S3D, but I agree - it will be a shame if wee have to disable shadows..

I wish I could offer some help, but I'm just an wannabee shaderhacker, and I have just recently downloaded "The Ball" and has planned to look at Bo3b's Scholl in my christmas vacation, as a Humble start.

Regarding cut scenes: as You can customize Lightning's outift most of the cut scenes are in S3D and not prerendered in 2D :)


That sounds like sweet music in my ears :) I love 3D cutscenes :)

I hope you manage to make it more or less playable - may the shader force be with you...

Win7 64bit Pro
CPU: 4790K 4.8 GHZ
GPU: Asus Geforce RTX 2080 TI Rog Strix OC
Monitor: Asus PG278QR
And lots of ram and HD's ;)

#7
Posted 12/17/2015 09:09 PM   
I've tested with iZ3D and it seemed to work on my end. In iZ3D "In-Game Settings", make sure Render shadows in mono is checked. Enjoy. :))
I've tested with iZ3D and it seemed to work on my end. In iZ3D "In-Game Settings", make sure Render shadows in mono is checked.

Enjoy. :))

Asus VG23AH Passive - GTX 660 - i5-4670K@4.6Hz - 8GB RAM - Win7x64

#8
Posted 12/18/2015 04:49 AM   
Interesting... I have tried it with iZ3D in anaglyph and "Render shadows in mono" mode but for me the shadows are as broken as in 3DVision :(
Interesting... I have tried it with iZ3D in anaglyph and "Render shadows in mono" mode but for me the shadows are as broken as in 3DVision :(

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#9
Posted 12/18/2015 09:26 AM   
Could someone who owns this game do me a favor and test if the actual debug.dll of Helixmod works with FF-LR on his system? Just download DllsModPack1.zip from here [url]http://wiki.bo3b.net/index.php?title=HelixMod_Feature_List#List_of_features_supported_by_HelixMod.2C_and_all_versions_available[/url] or use the direct link [url]https://s3.amazonaws.com/-HeliX-/DLLS/DllsModPack1.zip[/url]. Then extract d3d9.dll from ...\DllsModPack1.zip\DLLs\DEBUG to the folder where LRFF13.exe is located ( e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\LIGHTNING RETURNS FINAL FANTASY XIII). Start the game and check if there is a red debug HUD visible. Even if not load a save game and press Numpad 1 several times to check if parts of the secenery blend out. If this doesn't happen I can be sure that the newer dlls from Helixmod dont't work with this game...
Could someone who owns this game do me a favor and test if the actual debug.dll of Helixmod works with FF-LR on his system? Just download DllsModPack1.zip from here http://wiki.bo3b.net/index.php?title=HelixMod_Feature_List#List_of_features_supported_by_HelixMod.2C_and_all_versions_available or use the direct link https://s3.amazonaws.com/-HeliX-/DLLS/DllsModPack1.zip. Then extract d3d9.dll from ...\DllsModPack1.zip\DLLs\DEBUG to the folder where LRFF13.exe is located ( e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\LIGHTNING RETURNS FINAL FANTASY XIII). Start the game and check if there is a red debug HUD visible. Even if not load a save game and press Numpad 1 several times to check if parts of the secenery blend out. If this doesn't happen I can be sure that the newer dlls from Helixmod dont't work with this game...

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#10
Posted 12/18/2015 12:58 PM   
Just tried it briefly.. The debug doesn't kick in :/ I have only tried the first battle with the 2 hairballs.. It seemed allmost perfect to me, only issue was some haloing around enemies.. The haloing only ocours when there's ice/fog in the background.. Maybe there's more issues outdoors ?
Just tried it briefly..

The debug doesn't kick in :/

I have only tried the first battle with the 2 hairballs..

It seemed allmost perfect to me, only issue was some haloing around enemies..
The haloing only ocours when there's ice/fog in the background..
Maybe there's more issues outdoors ?

Win7 64bit Pro
CPU: 4790K 4.8 GHZ
GPU: Asus Geforce RTX 2080 TI Rog Strix OC
Monitor: Asus PG278QR
And lots of ram and HD's ;)

#11
Posted 12/18/2015 10:38 PM   
Thank You for the testing. So it's common that only the old version of the debug.dll works. In the intro level You play at night within a building so You don't have many dynamic shadows and issues. The halos can be fixed and I did it allready. But at daytime outside buildings You have many issues with the shadows :(
Thank You for the testing. So it's common that only the old version of the debug.dll works.
In the intro level You play at night within a building so You don't have many dynamic shadows and issues. The halos can be fixed and I did it allready. But at daytime outside buildings You have many issues with the shadows :(

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#12
Posted 12/19/2015 10:05 AM   
OK - please keep us postet if you do any further Progress, I really hope so, the game is gorgeous :)
OK - please keep us postet if you do any further Progress, I really hope so, the game is gorgeous :)

Win7 64bit Pro
CPU: 4790K 4.8 GHZ
GPU: Asus Geforce RTX 2080 TI Rog Strix OC
Monitor: Asus PG278QR
And lots of ram and HD's ;)

#13
Posted 12/19/2015 02:04 PM   
[Update: version with shadow fix on the way so better wait and don't use the WIP version] DarkStarSword was so kind to give me some hints regarding a fix for the shadows but now it looks more complicated to me than before. So without further assistance from experienced modders I don't think that I can fix the shadows. At least it will take some time - something that I won't have during the holiday season. So as WIP (and probably final version) I can only offer You the fix I haved used to be able to play the game. I did so far the main missions and visited the big areas like Luxerion, Yusnaan, Wildlands and Dead Dunes. I hope that I discovered and fixed most of the halo issues in these areas. I have also pushed the HUD from 2D to the depth of the character. This makes it more comfortable to look at the minimap and the usually 2D interaction icons get closer to the objects and persons (see [url]http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/3d4dd/image/567591bde7e5645a0200003c/[/url]). Unfortunately the old version of Helixmod doesn't allow me to separate different elements by the texture CRCs. So moving the HUD to depth causes issues with other game elements especially effects during fights. I have made 3 different presets for HUD and convergence and You have to choose which offers the best results for certain situations. Regarding dynamic shadows: in this version of the fix I had to disable it and try to find a way to create an atmosphere which makes it "natural" that there are no hard shadows on the ground. This happens when it is night or You have hazy or cloudy weather. As this was the usual weather for me in the last weeks I had many chances to observe a "shadowless" atmosphere in real life ;) I also found a way not to disable the shadows (which makes the scenery very bright) but to remove the direct sunlight so that everything in the near distance looks like covered by a shadow. The darkness of the shadow can be changed and I have made 2 presets for it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to isolate a shader for the sunlight on distant sceneries. So in open areas (Wildlands, Dead Dunes) You can observe a border between the shadowed and sunny areas. For the Wildlands and Yusnaan I have also discovered a way to turn the blue sky with only a few clouds into a hazy or cloudy sky (see comparisons between the fix with only disabled shadows and the fix with general shadow and changed sky in [url]http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/3d4dd/album/56759149e7e564a75a0002d2/[/url]). Only for the Dead Dunes I couldn't find an acceptable solution so I suggest to do the quests in this area during the night. Personally I have also used a game trainer that allowed me to freeze the in game time. So I could play as long as I wanted during light situation which offered the best results for the fix. I hate the introduced time pressure element in this game anyway ;) I wasn't able to isolate and disable the lighting shadows for Lightning's hair. So depending were she stands the hairs can change their brightness according to original shadowing. I also tried TexMod, SweetFX, GemFX, etc. to change the sky textures or overall brightness and tone of the game but either the game crashed or they didn't work together with the old Helixmod dll. Hotkeys (change them by editing DX9Settings.ini and the key codes from http://www.asciitable.com/): x: shadows disabled 3: middle brightness (Luxerion, Wildlands) 4: dark (Yusnaan) 7: original sky (night, Luxerion) 6: hazy (Wildlands) y: inverted (Yusnaan at day) 0: high convergence, HUD 2D 9: high convergence, HUD at character's depht 8: low convergence, HUD 2D (for cut scenes and fights) You can change the convergence and depth preset by pressing the hotkey of the fix and then the hotkey for saving Your 3D settings (Ctrl+F7). Installation: Download the zip file ([url]https://s3.amazonaws.com/3d4dd/FFXIII-LR.zip[/url]) and extract it to the folder where LRFF13.exe is located ( e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\LIGHTNING RETURNS FINAL FANTASY XIII). Tipps: If S3D doesn't activate for the game (it doesn't use real fullscreen mode): add LRFF13.exe to the profile for "World of Warcraft" (or 3DHubplayer, thx Blacksmith56!) using Nvidia inspector. If animations and sound during dialogs are not synchronous and so the last word often is cut off use the speedhack function from Cheatengine to run the game with 0.95 speed.
[Update: version with shadow fix on the way so better wait and don't use the WIP version]
DarkStarSword was so kind to give me some hints regarding a fix for the shadows but now it looks more complicated to me than before. So without further assistance from experienced modders I don't think that I can fix the shadows. At least it will take some time - something that I won't have during the holiday season.
So as WIP (and probably final version) I can only offer You the fix I haved used to be able to play the game. I did so far the main missions and visited the big areas like Luxerion, Yusnaan, Wildlands and Dead Dunes. I hope that I discovered and fixed most of the halo issues in these areas. I have also pushed the HUD from 2D to the depth of the character. This makes it more comfortable to look at the minimap and the usually 2D interaction icons get closer to the objects and persons (see http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/3d4dd/image/567591bde7e5645a0200003c/). Unfortunately the old version of Helixmod doesn't allow me to separate different elements by the texture CRCs. So moving the HUD to depth causes issues with other game elements especially effects during fights. I have made 3 different presets for HUD and convergence and You have to choose which offers the best results for certain situations.
Regarding dynamic shadows: in this version of the fix I had to disable it and try to find a way to create an atmosphere which makes it "natural" that there are no hard shadows on the ground. This happens when it is night or You have hazy or cloudy weather. As this was the usual weather for me in the last weeks I had many chances to observe a "shadowless" atmosphere in real life ;) I also found a way not to disable the shadows (which makes the scenery very bright) but to remove the direct sunlight so that everything in the near distance looks like covered by a shadow. The darkness of the shadow can be changed and I have made 2 presets for it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to isolate a shader for the sunlight on distant sceneries. So in open areas (Wildlands, Dead Dunes) You can observe a border between the shadowed and sunny areas. For the Wildlands and Yusnaan I have also discovered a way to turn the blue sky with only a few clouds into a hazy or cloudy sky (see comparisons between the fix with only disabled shadows and the fix with general shadow and changed sky in http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/3d4dd/album/56759149e7e564a75a0002d2/). Only for the Dead Dunes I couldn't find an acceptable solution so I suggest to do the quests in this area during the night. Personally I have also used a game trainer that allowed me to freeze the in game time. So I could play as long as I wanted during light situation which offered the best results for the fix. I hate the introduced time pressure element in this game anyway ;)
I wasn't able to isolate and disable the lighting shadows for Lightning's hair. So depending were she stands the hairs can change their brightness according to original shadowing. I also tried TexMod, SweetFX, GemFX, etc. to change the sky textures or overall brightness and tone of the game but either the game crashed or they didn't work together with the old Helixmod dll.

Hotkeys (change them by editing DX9Settings.ini and the key codes from http://www.asciitable.com/):

x: shadows disabled
3: middle brightness (Luxerion, Wildlands)
4: dark (Yusnaan)

7: original sky (night, Luxerion)
6: hazy (Wildlands)
y: inverted (Yusnaan at day)

0: high convergence, HUD 2D
9: high convergence, HUD at character's depht
8: low convergence, HUD 2D (for cut scenes and fights)
You can change the convergence and depth preset by pressing the hotkey of the fix and then the hotkey for saving Your 3D settings (Ctrl+F7).

Installation:
Download the zip file (https://s3.amazonaws.com/3d4dd/FFXIII-LR.zip) and extract it to the folder where LRFF13.exe is located ( e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\LIGHTNING RETURNS FINAL FANTASY XIII).

Tipps:
If S3D doesn't activate for the game (it doesn't use real fullscreen mode): add LRFF13.exe to the profile for "World of Warcraft" (or 3DHubplayer, thx Blacksmith56!) using Nvidia inspector.
If animations and sound during dialogs are not synchronous and so the last word often is cut off use the speedhack function from Cheatengine to run the game with 0.95 speed.

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#14
Posted 12/19/2015 05:36 PM   
Thanks a lot for sharing, I see this fix has been a struggle :) I'm sure I can live with the remaining issues - thanks Again 3d4dd - I hope you are back on the blog for good :)
Thanks a lot for sharing, I see this fix has been a struggle :)

I'm sure I can live with the remaining issues - thanks Again 3d4dd - I hope you are back on the blog for good :)

Win7 64bit Pro
CPU: 4790K 4.8 GHZ
GPU: Asus Geforce RTX 2080 TI Rog Strix OC
Monitor: Asus PG278QR
And lots of ram and HD's ;)

#15
Posted 12/19/2015 05:46 PM   
  1 / 3    
Scroll To Top