60fps+ overhaul, UW, layer edges...

COMPLETE CHANGELOG HERE

Features

• High Framerate (60/120fps) overhaul (by @SamsamTS)
  • Battles -> Position/rotation/scale of camera, actors, shadows, 2D sfx and skies
  • World map -> Position/rotation/animation of camera, moving objects and shadows
  • Fields -> Position/rotation/animation of camera, actors, shadows and objects
• All resolutions (16:10 to ultrawide) can now be widescreen (16:9 still recommended)
• Edges between foreground layers and 3D objects/effects are now clean #352 (thanks to @EricHu33)
• Turn-based re-balance: removed the wait when enemies act, closer to vanilla in difficulty
• Worldmap rotation with R-Stick
• +10 backgrounds and +6 scenes are now widescreen

Fixes

• Many bugfixes (60fps+, UI, battles, smooth cams, widescreens, turbo dialogs, truncated names, Fossil Roo path, sounds, layers, launcher...)
• Launcher: changed some defaults settings

Modding

• Moddable shaders, gil symbol
• DoubleCast improved and Mix command feature added

Patch 2024-06-10: Fixed sometimes disappearing shadows
Patch 2024-06-12: Fixed 3 bugs: stuck scene on disc 3, broken translations, and a shader problem
Patch 2024-06-13: Fixed a visual problem with Parallax
Patch 2024-06-14: Fixed flashing worldmap on the way to Oeilvert, shader problem, 2 scenes widescreen problems

@SamsamTS @snouz @Tirlititi @DV666 @EricHu33, @Albeoris

QoL, UI and bugfixes

COMPLETE CHANGELOG HERE

Features

• Turn-based mode improvements
• Option for more columns for items/ability
• Fast menu navigation and save/load
• Controller captured when game is unfocused
• Hold RB/Shift + Confirm for fast dialogs
• Holding Confirm works in battle
• Launcher: UKR translation (@DragonOfTheEastUA)

Fixes

• Fixes bugs: music, cloud save, text, UI and settings
• Backgrounds: Fixed 45 layer orders, 12 smooth movements, 1 animation, 2 border lines, 2 camera bugs
• Lots of backend/modding updates and fixes

@Tirlititi, @Albeoris @SamsamTS @DV666 @snouz

Smooth Camera, new launcher, better audio, controllers, bugfixes...

COMPLETE CHANGELOG HERE

Features

• Smooth movement: camera moves, scrolling backgrounds and parallax unrestricted from their grid
• Player camera stabilization (configurable)
• New launcher/Mod manager, 9 new options, 5 new translations
• Better audio quality (new audio backend) and bugfixes
• Extended controller support (DS4, DS5 and Switch)
• PSX font embedded
• Widescreen support for 16:10 (e.g. Steamdeck)
• Widescreen support for 19+ more backgrounds
• New cheat: No time limit for Excalibur II
• Anti-Aliasing

Bugfixes

• Many gameplay fixes
• Many many visual fixes (widescreen, 60fps, parallax, cropped layers...)

Modding

• Many mods-specific features, support, options...

EDIT: hotfixed the exe, as there was important library missing
EDIT2: hotfixed again, as there is a bug with saves that wipes the configuration of abilities between saves

@Tirlititi @SamsamTS @DV666 @snouz @barkermn01 @Felipefpl

Interface, Triple Triad, Menu in battles and many more

Features:

• It is now possible to change the battle UI's size and positions, either from the launcher or with a control panel shown by pressing Alt + F1 in battles.
• Also, a PSX-like menu mode can be used in which the Defend/Change commands are accessed with the left/right buttons.
• Tetra Master can now be played using 2 other modes: a Triple Triad mode very similar to the card game in FFVIII (extra rules are not implemented yet) or Tetra Triad that is a kind of mix between both card games. Shout-out to DV666 for creating these modes. He also worked on other features of the release.
• Also, an external mod "Triple Triad" made by DV666 has been added to the catalog: it changes the interface of the card board and the card pools.
• An option can be enabled that allows accessing the menu in the middle of a battle. The most restrictive option is an individual access that only allows changing equipments and/or supporting abilities and that use up the character's turn.
• Various other Memoria.ini options are added: Break damage limit, a section [Control] (it allows quality-of-life improvements and several of its options are enabled by default), a section [Speedrun] (see there), more [Interface] options (including the improvement of the interface of Scan that is enabled by default), MaxCardCount to increase the max number of cards you can have...
• The "Mod Catalog" and the launcher's "Check for updates" now both get updated from this Github repository.

Modding

• Even more hard-coded limitations are removed: it is possible to create new items, spells, commands, supporting abilities, shops, etc... without replacing existing ones.
• It is now possible to start a field creator mode or to show the walkmeshes in-game (both are options in the section [Debug] of the INI). This feature needs improvements and documentation.
• The option [Mod] UseFileList aims at speeding-up the loading times in-game (basically to avoid too many calls to hard drive file checks).
• Improve the usage of Memoria.Compiler.exe.
• It is now possible to create multiple levels for supporting abilities, contextually break the damage/HP/MP limits, change the SFX colors, the weapon/enemy textures, have custom supporting ability features for enemies or for player characters that transform into enemies, give trance to enemies...

Bugfixes

• Added an option PSXEncounterMethod that reverts the random encounter checks to be the same as the PSX version of the game. The technical difference between these versions has finally been found: surprisingly, it was most likely an unwanted feature of the remaster to drastically lower the random encounter rate.
• Fix tents and healing springs not applying to the extra party members (Beatrix, characters from the Playable Character Pack mod...).
• Equipments are not lost anymore when a character is hacked in the party before s/he should actually join.
• Fix cameras being stuck after some specific enemy attacks.
• Added commit c03cda6 in the patcher to fix the issue #243

DV666 made a video presenting this release.

Note: gameplay mods need to be updated after updating Memoria.

@Tirlititi @barkermn01 @DV666 @FlameHorizon

Playable character functionalities, modding extension and bug fixes

Modding

• All the characters now have separate slots: Blank/Cinna/Marcus don't share their character slot with Amarant/Quina/Eiko anymore and can thus be used simultaneously and have their own ability learning sets
• It is now possible to create new full-fledged playable characters without replacing any existing one; a mod introducing Kuja, Fratley and Lani as playable characters has been added to the mod manager
• It is now possible to define Active Ability features in AbilityFeatures.txt, controlling things like Meteor's missing conditions, Fenrir/Carbuncle's variation conditions and other things
• Other datas have been externalized to CSV or TXT files; since the last version, these were added: CharacterParameters.csv, BattleParameters.csv and the optional InitialItems.csv, ItemEquipPatch.txt and LocalizationPatch.txt; several CSV can now be incomplete in mod folders in order to modify only some entries without messing with the others; some hard limitations like the number of abilities a character can learn have been removed
• The API for external formulas has been extended, both for NCalc formulas (eg. StatusDurationFormula) and for the C# scripts of Memoria.Scripts.dll
• The mod manager improved to allow mod options, preview images and a few other things
• A model viewer debugging tool is now available as the option [Debug] StartModelViewer of Memoria.ini; it can be used to see a couple of model animations that were dummied and never used in-game
• The Voice Acting system greatly improved, having a better behaviour, allowing ambiant dialogs during battles and having its own Memoria.ini section (with the options Enabled, LogVoiceActing, StopVoiceWhenDialogDismissed and AutoDismissDialogAfterCompletion); shout-out to barkermn01 as always
• The option [Audio] PriorityToOGG eases the usage in mod folders of custom sounds and musics that replace existing ones
• the patcher now updates your Memoria.ini with the new options/comments instead of replacing it entirely. It also makes sure that FF9_Launcher.exe gets patched correctly by disabling the Steam Overlay fix during the patching process.

Bugfixes

• Many fixes
• a bug when Beatrix/Cinna/Marcus/Blank were added to the party reserve. 8890f97

@Tirlititi @barkermn01

FPS Manager and other new options

Features

In Memoria.ini:

• The framerate at which the game runs can be customised, in order to have a smoother game and menus; shout-out to Iamgoofball for preparing the groundwork for it
• The standard speed of the game ("Ticks per second") can be changed per module (field / battle / world map)
• A new section [SaveFile] gives options to control auto-saves and automatic Cloud saves
• A new option [Battle] LockEquippedAbilities changes the abilities available to be only those on currently equipped gears
• A new option [Battle] PersistentDangerValue prevents the danger value (for random encounters) to reset in screen transitions
• The option [Export] Battle now generates the enemy attack sequences as .seq files; see there

Modding

• The Voice Acting system got improved and allows to play voice sounds for battle dialogs; shout-out to barkermn01 as always; see there
• A BattlePatch.txt file can be included in mod folders in order to modify battles on top of the binary database and with extra features; see there
• The mod manager improved a bit
• A part of the world map database has been externalised to the folder StreamingAssets/Data/World/: these files allow to define custom ambiant colors, custom vehicle specifications and custom conditions for the world map changes and effects
• The options WorldMusicList and MoogleFieldList are added to DictionaryPatch.txt; see there
• The option [Memoria] LauncherLanguage in Settings.ini allows to pick the language for the launcher window independantly of the system's language
• The application's name displays the current map informations more accuratly (mainly visible in windowed mode)
• The damage figures are always displayed in the frame of the screen, similar to the PSX version's behaviour

Bugfixes

• Various fixes

Tips: Before running the patcher, make sure to (1) make a backup of your Memoria.ini file, as the new version may replace the older one and erase your custom settings, and (2) first disable the option Fix Steam Overlay in the launcher in order to update the launcher application as well (and then you can re-enable it afterwards)

@Tirlititi @barkermn01 @Albeoris

SFX Rework and Mod Manager

Features

• Added a Mod Manager in the launcher, allowing to download, install and activate different external mods. This feature used a part of 7th Heaven's mod manager as a basis, but it doesn't use the iro formats (at least not yet).
• Add a DoubleCastCommand for Dictionary Patch, allowing to define a command to double-cast
• Change reflect sound path; it is now installed directly by the patcher and doesn't require an update of the MetaData anymore
• Improve a bit the target's take off during a Water spell effect
• Improve D-pad's movement orientation

Bugfixes

• Fix Wraith's casting animations
• Fix Eiko flute sound in SFXRework mode (#188)
• Fix the double music bug in Alexandria Castle
• Fix turn-based battle mode for the Ozma battle: in turn-based, Ozma has 50 speed instead of casting every turn
• Fix fast/turn-based battle mode when a character is sleeping
• Fix the command "Change" sometimes not working in turn-based mode (a bug that was introduced by SFXRework)
• Fix the weapon sounds "weapon hit": they don't play anymore when the attack misses, which was the behaviour in the PSX version
• Fix Auto-Potion not taking Chemist into account
• Fix Choco's beak sound in the Lagoon
• Fix a couple of other visual/sound hitches in battles
• Included the commit 3ceceac to avoid issue #196

I hope this version doesn't introduce any new bug compared to the last stable Memoria release. The rework of the SFX system seems to be stable enough now. Having a better control over the battle cameras would be a nice improvement but it will be hard to do.

Among the couple of small differences in the ways the characters are animated during battles, there is the player characters' death sequences that now occur directly when they die and not after the killing attack is over (same for the Auto-Life). In practice, that could make a difference in term of gameplay in very specific situations: consider Zidane to be doomed with Auto-Life while Eiko casts Phoenix. If the countdown ends at the right time, Zidane could die and revive in the course of Phoenix's animation and Phoenix would miss on him (in earlier versions of Memoria, Zidane's Auto-Life would not be wasted in that situation as Phoenix would revive him before he would fall KO). I don't think there are many differences of that type though.

@Tirlititi @DV666 @FlameHorizon @Albeoris

SFX Rework n°2

• Added Memoria.ini options [AnalogControl] UseAbsoluteOrientation 2 and 3, and [Icons] HideSteam
• Changed the behaviour of CMD_DATA.effect_counter: it only increases on multi-hit SFX now, not for each target anymore
• Fixed a script event bug resulting in unexpected behaviours (mainly random black screen on start of battles)
• Fixed several choice windows not selecting the correct choice when the player's input is too fast
• Fixed Tetra Master custom card images not applying everywhere
• Fixed a couple of end-game dialog textures having an incorrect aspect ratio in widescreen
• Fixed spell effect 80 (double-cast) used with self-targeting spells
• Fixed a bunch of SFX Rework-related bugs

Things are getting more stable. This is however still a pre-release because it needs more tests and adjustments.

SFX Rework

Reworked the battle SFX system. See 10409e3#comments
Informations will be filled in the Wiki eventually.

Note: the mod Alternate Fantasy v5.2 is incompatible with this update in the sense that there may be bugs (small ones, like 1000 needles not dealing 1000 damage, but maybe also more problematic ones). Use it with care.

Voice Acting, Widescreen effects & bug fixes

• Added support for voice acting mods. See 2499a25#comments
• Fixed battle SFX being off-centered and flash effects not spawning the whole screen in widescreen mode
• Fixed .psd importation
• Removed the limits of several script objects
• Switched the buttons O and X by default (X is now the confirm button by default)
• Removed turn-based for Ozma in order to make the fight winnable
• Fixed ambient sounds resetting on screen change
• Fixed misalignment of characters when Freya jumps

@Tirlititi @rebtd7 @barkermn01 @Albeoris @Caledor