Final Fantasy VII Demo README File ---------------------------------- The Final Fantasy VII demo is a stand-alone demonstration of the battle system of Final Fantasy VII. The demo will put you directly into the Battle Arena area of the game. You will have to win a series of battles in order to "win" the demo. This README file contains the latest technical information about playing the demo of Final Fantasy VII. This README file covers the following topics: 1. System Requirements 2. Game Controls 3. How To Play 4. Technical Info 5. Final Fantasy VII Technical Support and Web Site Information ====================== 1. System Requirements ====================== The Final Fantasy VII demo has the following minimum system requirements: Pentium 133 w/ supported 3D accelerator card (4Mb video memory or greater) or P166 w/out supported 3D accelerator card (see below) Intel or 100% Intel-compatible CPU 32 Mb RAM Windows 95 DirectX 5.1 (see below) DirectMedia 5.2 (see below) DirectX-compatible video and audio cards (see below) ================ 2. Game Controls ================ You can play the demo of Final Fantasy VII with the keyboard or a game controller supported by DirectX 5.1. The default keyboard commands all revolve around your Numeric Keypad. KEYBOARD (default) NumPad 8 (Up) - Menu selection Up NumPad 2 (Down) - Menu selection Down NumPad 4 (Left) - Menu selection Left NumPad 6 (Right) - Menu selection Right NumPad Enter - [OK] (Accept command) NumPad 0 - [CANCEL] (Cancel command) NumPad 9 (PgUp) - [PAGEUP] (Page up in menu) NumPad 3 (PgDn) - [PAGEDOWN] (Page down in menu) NumPad 1 (End) - [TARGET] (Highlights targets in battle) NumPad 5 - [START] (Pause during battle) NumPad - - [ASSIST] (Help window during battle) CTRL+Q - Quit GAMEPAD (default) Direction Pad - Menu Selection Right Button - [OK] (Accept command) Bottom Button - [CANCEL] (Cancel command) L1 - [PAGEUP] (Page up in menu) R1 - [PAGEDOWN] (Page down in menu) R2 - [TARGET] (Highlights targets in battle) Start - [START] (Pause during battle) Select - [ASSIST] (Help window during battle) ============== 3. How To Play ============== To install the Final Fantasy VII demo, locate the directory in which you downloaded the FF7DEMO.ZIP file. Extract the demo files from this file by using any unzip program. Make sure that you have the unzip program extract the files into subdirectories instead of to just a single directory (see the unzip program documentation for more information). Double-click on FF7DEMO.EXE to start the demo. The FF7 Configuration program will run prior to entering the demo. Please read the information in the Technical Info section below for information regarding the video and audio settings of your computer. Click on OK to exit the Configuration program and enter the demo. In the Battle Arena, you will control Cloud, the main character in Final Fantasy VII. In Final Fantasy VII, the ATB (Active Time Battle) system is introduced. Whether ally or enemy, the character whose Time gauge fills up first is given priority for entering commands. In the battle menu, choose any of the following commands in order to best attack or to defend yourself from the enemy. ATTACK Cloud will attack with his sword. LIMIT The Limit gauge starts filling up with each enemy attack. When the gauge is full, it blinks, indicating Limit Break status. At this point, the "Attack" command changes to the "Limit" command. By selecting the Limit command, Cloud will be able to perform his unique attack, called a Limit Break. If the battle ends without using the Limit Break, you can carry it over to the next battle. In this case, the Attack command will remain as the Limit command. The more damage you sustain from the enemy, the faster the Limit gauge fills up. MAGIC Select the magic you want, and select whom you wish to cast it on. For instance, if it is attack magic, select the enemy to attack, and if it is curative magic, select one of your allies. Magic effective on all enemies is indicated by a red arrow next to the name of the spell. If magic cannot be cast due to reasons such as insufficient MP, the name of the magic will be displayed in gray. SUMMON Summon monsters will come to your aid and perform spectacular special attacks. In the demo, you have two Summon monsters, Shiva and Hades. ITEMS Items that affect attacks and recovery can be used in battles. Select an item and decide who will use it or against whom it will be used. If it is an attack item, select the enemy. If it is a recovery item, select one of your allies. CHANGE This command will appear if you press the left Directional Button at the left edge of the battle command window. With this command, you can change the position of Cloud from the front line to the rear. A character at the rear will incur less damage from the enemy, but his damage to the enemy when attacking will be less. Placed at the front, the effect will be reversed. DEFEND This command will appear if you press the right Directional Button at the right edge of the battle command window. If you use this command, damage incurred will be reduced by half until the Time gauge fills up. STATUS CHANGES After (and sometimes during) battles, Cloud's health status may fall into "abnormal" status, such as Poison or Frog (Toad). Abnormal status can be cured during battles using items such as Antidote or Maiden's Kiss. WINNING BATTLES Battles end when you have destroyed all the enemies in the battle. GAME OVER If Cloud wins enough battles, you will "win" the demo and see a special screen. However, if Cloud's HP goes down to zero, the demo will end. ================= 4. Technical Info ================= VIDEO CARDS Supported 3D Accelerator Video Cards The Final Fantasy VII demo currently supports 3D accelerator video cards that pass the criteria contained in the FF7 Configuration graphic card test. At release time, the demo supports the cards that contain any of the following chipsets: 3Dfx Voodoo 3Dfx Voodoo2 3Dfx Voodoo Rush 3Dlabs Permedia2 ATI Rage Pro Intel I740 In addition, the demo will support the following chipsets when they ship later this year: Matrox G200 NEC PowerVR2 Please use the latest drivers for best performance of your 3D accelerator video card. You can get the very latest drivers from the web sites of each of the 3D chip companies: 3Dfx: http://www.3dfx.com 3DLabs: http://www.3dlabs.com ATI: http://www.atitech.com Intel: http://www.intel.com Matrox: http://www.matrox.com NEC: http://www.powervr.com If you do not have a supported 3D accelerator video card (or do not have a 3D accelerator video card), you can still play Final Fantasy VII in the software rendering mode. The demo will automatically default to the software rendering mode if it does not detect a supported 3D accelerator video card. To play in 640x480 (Full Screen) in the software rendering mode, it is highly recommended that you have a Pentium 300 or better. Otherwise, please select one of the other two software rendering modes in the Configuration menu. If you experience graphic display problems while playing the game, please check to ensure that your 3D accelerator card has at least 4Mb of video memory. For ATI RagePro users, please run in 640x480 Full or Quarter Screen mode. These modes are faster than 320x240 Full Screen mode. A P233 or higher is recommended for RagePro users playing under hardware mode. For users of Matrox Millenium (not supported but can run in software rendering mode), if you cannot run the FF7 Configuration program, please uncheck the Bus Mastering box located in the PowerDesk settings in your Display Properties. AUDIO CARDS Final Fantasy VII supports all DirectX 5.1 supported audio cards. For a list of DirectX supported audio cards, please visit Microsoft's web site at: http://www.microsoft.com/directx/pavilion/hardware/soundcardlist.htm You should use the latest audio card drivers for your audio card. You can get the very latest drivers from the web sites of the various audio card companies: http://www.creativelabs.com http://www.ensoniq.com http://www.yamaha.com You can change your audio default device settings through the Control Panel (under Multimedia). DIRECTX, DIRECTMEDIA INFORMATION To play the demo of Final Fantasy VII, you must have DirectX 5.1 and DirectMedia 5.2 already installed on your computer. If you do not already have these installed, you can download them from http://www.microsoft.com/directx/download.asp and follow the directions provided at the Microsoft web site. For additional DirectX or DirectMedia information, please visit Microsoft's web site at: http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx Windows 95, DirectX, and DirectMedia are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. WIN95 CONTROL KEYS If you press ALT-TAB, ALT+ESC, CTRL+ENTER or the WINDOWS key on your keyboard while playing the demo, you may not be able to return properly to the game. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you do not use these Windows 95 functions while playing the game. OTHER NOTES It is strongly advised that you close all programs before playing the Final Fantasy VII demo. Windows 95 note: You need to have the Audio Compression component of Multimedia installed. Under Control Panel, click on Add/Remove Programs, click on the Windows Setup tab, click on Multimedia, click on Details, and check to see if the Audio Compression box is checked. If the box is not checked, check the box and click OK. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete installation. =============================================================== 5. Final Fantasy VII Technical Support and Web Site Information =============================================================== There is no technical support for the Final Fantasy VII demo. You can find general information about the game and the latest FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list and technical support information at the Final Fantasy VII web site. The official Final Fantasy VII PC web site is located at: http://www.ff7pc.com The official Eidos Interactive web site is located at: http://www.eidosinteractive.com The official Square Soft, Inc. web site is located at: http://www.squaresoft.com