(personally i've been trying to do this for 4+ hours now and it keeps bugging so i'm well onboard with reverting back to my shortcut version, which takes like 5 minutes to implement. i don't know why Bootleg tries to force me to download so many extra things when i set it to minimal)
Shortcut version:
Below I give steps for lazy modding that gives one type of hd background with one type of hd/advent children style models (if you want them) and a re-translation (if you want it).
It does not give hd menu overhaul or music or weapon mods or bugfixes or gameplay improvements etc.
The NORMAL way of modding is to use an application called Bootstrap that lets you visually pick out what mods you want, provides links to download them, then installs them automatically for you.
The instructions are pulled straight from http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=13212.0 and modified a little. If you want to do a lazy mod then my instructions are fine but if you want to do it properly then go to that link.
As far as I know, modding FF7 PC version is 100% necessary just to upgrape the 480p backgrounds which look like someone spraypainted them in MSPaint.
Personally I will tick Incorrect character names and District = Sector so I get Aeris instead of Aerith etc. I also gonna turn off model overhaul this time. They are OK but not amazing.
Step 11
Open the file ff7_opengl.cfg (located for me at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII)
Step 12
Change the line mod_path to mod_path = FacePalmer
Step 13
Change the lines window_size_x = 1920 and window_size_y = 1200 to match your desktop resolution
Step 14
Run the game from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII\ff7.exe
Do NOT run the game from Steam - the mods won't work.
If you get some warnings about config options then, well, I just deleted them, whatever
You should now have "hd" backgrounds and optionally have a re-translation and "hd" character models. Menus will not be hd. This setup doesn't appear to work with Milena's weapon mods for me. I haven't tried anything else but you can probably get music mods working easily enough. The Melancholic FF7 soundtrack is pretty sick.
You can uninstall and reinstall the Renunion settings if you change your mind about wanting translation/hd models etc.
Remember, if you want to do the proper modding process just go to http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=13212.0 instead of my instructions. The benefit of that is you can mix and match a massive array of different mods (with presets for recommended options). The disadvantage of it is that you cannot trial each mod out to see if it works - you must batch install them which takes forever and then do a total wipe (uninstall the game and then delete your game folder) if something didn't work.
Pro tip: do NOT store backups of your mod files within your FF7 directory (e.g. texture or music packs) - they will be wiped whenever you run the Converter application and you will have to hunt them down and download them all over again each time.
tnx for the info , i had completely missed that in the commotion
here is the trailer for it
to make it clear:
there will be a ff7 hd overhaul version (for ps4 and maybe pc) released at the end of this year. im guessing people are pissed off about this coz they should have provided hd textures for the steam rerelease and now we are gonna all buy it again, for the 3rd or 4th time, another year later.
there will also be a ff7 complete remake (for ps4 and maybe pc) released in 2016 (or later)
can someone PLEASE repack a new ISO with the upscaled/HD facepalmer textures??? this is WAY too much work for EVERYONE to do every single time they want essentially 1 effect. someone PLEASE repack the 2012 ISO with textures filtered by facepalmer or w/e the best one is (why not xbrz 1.3??). oh yeah and add the anxious hearts sound that restores the full chorus in one winged angel at the end among other things. ff7 without that is unacceptable. and seed so all these awesome fans of FF7 and square enix don't waste their lives unsuccessfully trying to implement them. I love the modding scene etc and it would be lovely if we could all devote the hundreds of hours of learning it takes to fully understand it, but it is just ridiculous for us all to do all this work. :[ THANKS!
p.s. 99% of the mods are trash. (as much as I appreciate the effort and possibilities, the art could be WAY better. computer programmers are not necessarily artists...). I vehemently prefer the original design from square-enix. there is something awesome to be said of low-spec design. good examples: final fantasy four heroes of light. final fantasy 4 Nintendo ds remake. just as there is something to be said of sprites. and I guarantee we will continue to see new titles with low spec low res polygon design in the future just as we continually see new pc etc games with sprites. because there is an interesting aesthetic quality going on. the ps4 remake is for "new" graphics. the original ISO is for original graphics, which, I agree look like trash on modern systems. they used to be filtered by the old school TVs they were designed for. you're actually just seeing them in higher quality on new lcd/plasma screens in way higher resolution, which, ironically makes them look worse (in a way. the colors are better). but upscaling is needed. and do it in directx please opengl doesn't run on my 3dtv. ah wishful thinking. end of rant. THANKS!
***edit***
I have successfully applied the facepalmer textures using this method. definitely looks amazing. just wish there was an addendum to this process that showed how to apply the world map and battle textures which I was expecting but are missing. also, it broke stereoscopic 3d as I was expecting because it now runs in opengl. so this is a no go for my 3dtv, but it will however look great on my laptop. ran into a few snags with this process:
-I had to apply this process before activating my game -step 8 is uneccesary it is on that by default -there should be a step that says "click clear configuration" ... to remove all the other crap. I just wanted upscaled textures only like you. and this method as described installs a bunch of other crap (from the default standard install, if clear config is not selected)--even if directions are followed precisely. -I had to open the "ff7_opengl.cfg" and manually rewrite the confi, to disable a bunch of other CRAP that was installed... EVEN with clear configuration selected. -EVEN after configuring everything to omit uneccessary mods, what is supposed to be called Fury effect from Hyper items is now called Anger ~_~; -ps3 controller/motioninjoy xbox controller profile no longer works. must use ps3 now. and the ff7input.cfg and save files etc. are no longer exclusively in the documents folder, they're also now in the main directory. and not linked to the original ones. -the new input config in main directory doesn't work. config from documents doesn't apply to modded .exe. that's fine. I can make a controller profile in ds3.exe or joy2key. -there is a new broken shortcut on desktop called FF7+.exe (in addition to the new "final fantasy vii" shortcut to modded version). no idea what it does. but i'll probably just delete it next time (when I install windows 10 final version on july 29th). or if deleting it breaks something i'll just hide the file. -there might have been a couple more issues, nothing major. oh yeah. if your screen resolution > "make text and other items larger or smaller" (a.k.a scaling) is activated, like on my system, at 150% ... you will not be able to see the last few options in the resurrection configurator. "disable display scaling" does not work. have to reset scaling to 100% in windows, reset computer, and then the resurrection window displays properly and everything is configurable now.
CONCLUSION:
I deeply appreciate your process. please modify it to add the following:
-add battle and world map textures http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=14469.0 (^ this, plus your pre-rendered backgrounds, would be the crowning achievement visually, in my opinion. I have heard glitches arise like in the crater where that lightning strike happens with upscaling, hopefully you have that fixed?
p.s. if anyone has trouble with their ff7 game saves being deleted by the cloud / sync issues making continue take forever while playing in normal mode from the launcher, be sure that ff7_en.exe, ff7_launcher.exe, and the new ff7.exe from this process, are all added to be allowed by windows firewall. THEN uncheck the box so that they're not allowed by windows firewall. THEN go to "advanced settings" (firewall) > inbound rules > right click every single item having to do with ff7 > click properties > click block > apply. THEN right click them all (still in firewall > advanced > inbound rules) and click enable to activate the rule. THEN go to C:\Users\Name\Documents\Square Enix\FINAL FANTASY VII and delete the app notepad file, and the proxy and network files. go to C:\Users\Name\Documents\Square Enix\FINAL FANTASY VII/rld and bring your save game in from wherever you backed it up (hopefully). right click save00.ff7 > properties > read-only > apply. ALMOST DONE. boot up the game. the CONTINUE option is no longer greyed out. hit continue! :D save to slot 2. exit game. go back to C:\Users\Name\Documents\Square Enix\FINAL FANTASY VII/rld and now delete the read-only save file called save00.ff7. boot up game . . . load that slut 2 save you just made. save to slut 1. back to windows > rld directory, delete save01.ff7. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY (don't make them read only. that's only for the fix so the cloud doesn't delete them. you won't be able to save over them if they're read only lol).
^ that will only ever need to be done once with the firewall rules. (I think). back up that save file to your desktop or whatever just in case, periodically. also, that only applies to running the game the normal way without mods (I think). if you want to copy your save file from before your modding to load with mods, you need to copy save00.ff7 from your cockuments/squeenix/rld folder to your main ff7 directory where it is now located from this modding process. those two save files are not linked. playing in normal mode and saving will not load from the same spot in modded mode. you'll have to copy your save files back and forth if you're switching back and forth (like me. between normal mode which allows stereoscopic 3d if you have 3d monitor/tv and 2d mode for the awesome filters on your non 3d screen). and since I am feeling particularly generous, here are my .nip 3d profiles for NVidia inspector. crap I don't see an upload button. well basically. ctrl+t works on this game (to activate 3d). using control+f5/f6 you can adjust convergence values. save adjustments with ctrl+f7. your convergence values should look like this:
ff7: StereoConvergence=522.02679443 (440281b7)
ff8: StereoConvergence=587.88653564 (4412f8bd)
you can check where your convergence values are at in C:\Users\Name\Documents\NVStereoscopic3D.LOG (after you have activated 3d and adjusted the convergence values to try to match mine, and hit ctrl+f7 to save a profile) ...then everything will look as good as possible. believe me I have a BFA in 3d animation and spend all day configuring stereoscopy with iz3d.exe, tridef, and NVidia 3d vision. that's as good as it's gonna get with this game. and it looks pretty freaking cool in 3d! :D just wish we could get upscaled textures going in direct3d mode :\ in pre-rendered textures, battles, AND world map. and fixed sound to bring back the chorus in one-winged angel... sorry for any repetition I tried to convey the info as concisely yet thoroughly as possible. THANKS! <3
wow what a post lol. you sure had some issues. this probably isn't the place to post asking for repacks/anything though (no one here has any affiliation with ff7 modding including myself. infact i deleted the game the next day so i could play some dota).
i agree, i had a playthrough in the past with the advent children character mods and ultimately prefer the original blocky designs. they are cool for 1 playthrough tho for a different experience.
in the future if i play the game i would probably play the playstation emulated version (epsx?) because afaik you can just click 1 button and the emulator upscales the game resolution for you , rather than having to mod anything. i actually done a whole playthru like that in the past but completely forgot about it (whoops). altho i do prefer the pc version dialogue