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 Final Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories

 
   
 
 
Final Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories

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==================================================================
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     D  E  S  K  T  O  P       A  C  C  E  S  S  O  R  I  E  S
==================================================================
=
                         F    A    Q
                version 0.87 == October 14, 1999
             ======================================

Final Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories (Windows CD-ROM) FAQ
ver.0.87
14oct99
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
0. Table of Contents.

0. Table of Contents.
1. Intro.
2. Installation, Part 1. - Mail and Card.
   -accessories
   -mail
   -card
3. Installation, Part 2. - Accessories.
   *or, how to get the accessories onto a machine that's running
    English Windows...*
4. What's Accessable on the Disk.
5. Descriptions of Selected Files.
6. The Card Game.
7. Mail.
8. FAQs.
9. Outro.
   -versions
   -sources
   -related sites
   -contact
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
1. Intro.

Final  Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories is a Windows 95/98  CD-ROM
that
Square released in Japan on Sept. 22, 1999 through their Digicube
subsiderary. It contains three main sections: The most  noteworthy
is a
version of the FFVIII card game, Triple Triad, for play on Windows
computers.  It also contains Final Fantasy Mail, a Final  Fantasy-
themed
email program, and FFVIII Accessories, which is a collection of 3
Windows Plus! themes (including 3 cursors, 8 .wav file sounds, and
a
collection of icons), 4 screensavers, 26 different desktop images,
6
startup/shutdown images, and more.

Unfortunately,  there  are  a number  of  problems  that  will  be
encountered
if  this  program,  designed  for use on  Japanese  computers,  is
installed on
an  English system. This FAQ will examine these problems and  look
for
solutions.  To  date,  I  have  everything  except   for   the   4
screensavers
working  on my English Windows 98 computer, so these problems  are
by no
means  fatal.  However,  if  you are considering  purchasing  this
program,
please  read  through this document to see what  all  you  may  be
getting
yourself into. (Please note that the only problems are with the
accessories portion of the program - the mail and card  game  work
fine.)
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. Installation, Part 1. - Mail and Card.

When you insert the CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive, it should auto-
play.
The first thing that you will see is a small FFVIII splash screen,
and
then  a box with three text-entry fields and some text (which  all
looks
like  "_________" if you don't have Win98/95J). Enter the 12-digit
serial
number  from the warrantee card (it's in the box at the bottom  of
one
side  and in the middle on the reverse side, and is formatted like
this:
XXXX-XXXX-XXXX  where  X can be a letter or number).  After  that,
you'll
see  a  dialog  box  asking  what features  you  want  to  install
(Accessories,
Card  Game, Mail, in order, and all in English). The rest of  this
FAQ is
written assuming that you install all three (which is what I did).

Accessories:
Next,  you'll  get to decide which wallpaper images  you  want  to
install,
and at what resolution (640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x960, and
1024x480  are  available, although only 4  WPs  are  available  in
1280x960 (1
of which is only available at this resolution), and the 6 WPs in
1024x480 are not available in any other size). Click on the images
that
you  want.  There will also be four buttons under  the  resolution
box. The
top is used to select all of the images, and the one under it to
deselect  all of them. The third box is accept, and the final  one
is
cancel.  Unfortunately, at this point my computer decided to  stop
the
installation...  So, this part of the disc has garnered  it's  own
section.
Move down to section 3...

Card Game:
Basically  just  keep clicking the (N) button and  you  should  be
alright.

Mail:
Same  here - just keep clicking the (N) button and you'll be fine.
The
final dialog box is asking you whether or not you want to read the
readme.txt file - click on 'no' unless you want to see a bunch of
jumbled  text (it automatically opens it in Notepad  even  if  you
have .txt
files  set to open in something else - you can always open  it  in
NJStar
or another Japanese WP later).
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
3. Installation, Part 2: Accessories

(or,  how  to  get the accessories onto a machine  that's  running
English
Windows...)

Needed: a computer with Japanese Windows 98 or 95
        one of the following:
           - a Zip drive or other large media storage, on both
              computers
           - WinZip or a similar file-compression program, on both
              computers, and a single blank floppy disk
            -  Internet access on both computers with a site  that
you
              can upload data to (minimum of 2.75MB of free space)

Well, this was quite a hassle. In order to get the Wallpapers,
Screensavers,  and  whatnot installed,  you  need  access  to  the
Japanese
version  of  Windows 95 or 98. Install the Accessories  onto  this
computer.
Now,  locate the files in the following places (where 'C'  is  the
letter
of the JapaneseWin98 computer's hard drive):

   - C:\Program Files\DigiCube\FF8Desktop\FF8Acces\
        this folder should contain: FF8Acces.exe
                                    Readme.txt
                                    WPInst.exe

   - C:\Program Files\Plus!\Themes\
          this   folder   should  contain:  FINAL   FANTASY   VIII
theme1.theme
                                        FINAL     FANTASY     VIII
theme2.theme
                                        FINAL     FANTASY     VIII
theme3.theme
                                        FINAL     FANTASY     VIII
Windows.theme

   - C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\DigiCube\FF VIII Desktop
Accessories\
         this  folder should contain the Start Menu Shortcuts  for
the
         program.

   - C:\Windows
        this folder should contain: FFVIII saver.ini
                                    FFVIII screen saver 1.saver
                                    FFVIII screen saver 2.saver
                                    FFVIII screen saver 3.saver
                                    FFVIII screen saver 4.saver

   - C:\Windows\DigiCube\FF8da
        this folder should contain: DigiCube.ico
                                    FF8icons.dll (hidden file)
                                        FINAL     FANTASY     VIII
theme1.theme
                                        FINAL     FANTASY     VIII
theme2.theme
                                        FINAL     FANTASY     VIII
theme3.theme
                                        FINAL     FANTASY     VIII
Windows.theme
                                    Winstart.bmp
                                    \SysBitmaps
                                    \ThemeRes
                                    \Wallpapers


Once  you've  found  them all, get ready to do some  transferring.
First,
how  to  transfer. A mass-storage device like a Zip Drive or  CD-R
drive
with  a  drag and drop method is probably your best bet here,  but
not all
computers  drives such as these. At worst, transferring the  files
over
the net is possible, but very inconvienient.

Probably the most convienient, and also fairly easy, method  is  a
regular
floppy  disk,  which is what I used. Many of the files  are  under
1.44 meg
(the  size of a normal floppy) in size - some, however, are a  bit
larger
(up to babout 2.5 meg for the largest .bmp and screensaver files).
This
is  where  WinZip comes in. Compress the files into Zips that  are
under
1.40  meg in size, and then transfer to the floppy. Then, transfer
them
onto  your  end product computer. It's pretty easy (and  it's  the
easiest
if you actually have both computers there side-by-side. It took me
about
3  hours  to  do  all  of  the files except the  smallest  bitmaps
(although I
was  doing  other things at the same time, so maybe 2 hours  is  a
better
estimate).  A  few side thoughts: I found that  I  was  getting  a
better
compression  rate for the bitmaps when I did them one  to  a  zip,
instead
of  multiple  files  in the same zip. The 4 screensavers  and  the
screen.ini
compress from 10 meg into about 500k total, so don't worry  there.
The
biggest bitmap files compress to about 700k, so again, no worries.

Another floppy disk alternative is changing the larger .bmp images
into
.jpg files and then transferring them. The .jpg file will make the
images  much,  much smaller (from about 400k and  under),  so  the
transfer
process  will be greatly sped up. I know that Paint in Windows  98
can do
this   -   it   cannot,  however,  in  W95.  There  are   probably
freeware/shareware
programs  that can do this as well, but I don't know  of  any  off
hand. Of
course, anything that isn't an .bmp will still need to be zipped.

Now, let's go through the folders one by one:

   - C:\Program Files\DigiCube\FF8Desktop\FF8Acces\

FF8access.exe is the setupper program, and is a limited edition of
Microsoft  Plus!  This lets you switch between  the  three  FFVIII
themes and
the  regular  Windows default theme. As far as I know,  this  file
isn't
really  needed  if  you  already  have  Plus!  installed  on  your
computer.
Readme.txt  is a readme that is entirely in Japanese, and  can  be
safely
skipped  (it  is  openable  in  NJStar  and  other  Japanese  word
processors,
though).  WPInstall.exe lets you copy more  wallpapers  onto  your
hard
drive  - this is another file that really can be skipped,  as  the
computer
will crash if you try to import more WPs.

   - C:\Program Files\Plus!\Themes\

This  folder will probably only have contents if you already  have
Plus!
installed on your computer (although I'm not sure). The files are
duplicates  of those found in the folder in the Windows directory,
so you
only need to rename and copy them once. Anyway, these are some  of
the
files  that have Japanese characters in them, so they need renamed
so
that  your  computer will recognise them. To  be  safe,  when  you
rename,
retype  the entire name of the file - some things that  look  like
they
should  be  readable, like the 'VIII', actually aren't. Also  copy
the
files into C:\Windows\DigiCube\FF8da\

   - C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\DigiCube\FF VIII Desktop

This  folder is just part of the Start Menu, and all the  programs
can be
safely  skipped. In fact, I deleted them right away (the  computer
that I
was using was one at work, and I wanted to hide all obvious traces
of
the program), so I can't even tell you what all was in there...  I
think
some  renaming is needed though - any time that there is a  'VIII'
or any
Japanese characters, rename them before copying.

   - C:\Windows

Well,   this   is  the  last  remaining  problem  child   for   my
installation. The
names have Japanese characters in them, and so does the .ini  file
that
goes  along with them. OK. Let's get them on the English  computer
first.
Rename  them,  same  as  above  - the  'VIII's  and  the  katakana
(Japanese
symbols) in the names need renamed. Copy to disk, copy to English
computer.  Simple. Unfortunately, now you have an .ini  file  that
has a
bunch  of jumbled symbols in it, and some screensavers that  don't
know
what to do.

Problem #1: The .ini  - OK. Open the .ini file in NJStar and  save
it as
rich text format (.rtf) (this format will allow you to open it in
Wordpad  or  another  English  word processor  with  the  Japanese
intact) but
make  sure  to type .ini at the end, or you'll have  a  .rtf  file
instead of
an  .ini. After doing this, the system still saw an .ini file, but
it had
the original Japanese characters in it as well. All is good in the
world
until...

Problem  #2:  The changed file names - This is where I  get  stuck
(although
I  haven't  really  tackled  it much...)  I'm  guessing  that  the
screensavers
refer  back  to the .ini file, but with it's original name.  Since
you had
to change the name to copy the file, it's all confused... Possible
solutions  are  to  rename  the  .ini  using  the  correct  double
characters
(which would make it look something like this: 'FFu% W%-du&%w.ini'
-
those  are  just  random  symbols, though,  and  not  the  correct
ones...) -
this  is a long shot, though... The other possible solution is  to
find a
program that creates and alters .scr files - again, I haven't even
tried
to  do this (but will sometime in the future...). Anyway, I'd copy
the
files anyway, as zipping them greatly reduces the size (over 10meg
of
files  into about 500k - if you're worried about hard drive space,
this
will _easily_ fit on a floppy...), and you never know if they will
eventually become usable.

   - C:\Windows\DigiCube\FF8da

This  is  the  meat  and potatos of the programs  install.  You'll
pretty much
want  everything  in here. Let's start off with  the  root  \FF8da
directory.
I don't know if you really need the Digicube.ico, which is just an
icon
of  the Digicube logo, but I copied it anyway (I really doubt that
you
need  it...).  If  you  were following my instructions,  the  four
.theme
files should already be here - if not, rename them to remove the
unreadable characters and copy them. I'm not quite sure what the
Winstart.bmp  is,  but I copied it anyway. The FF8icons.dll  is  a
hidden
file  -  to  be able to see it, you can do two things -  make  the
system
files  unhidden  by  opening  up  Explorer,  and  then  going   to
View\Folder
Options...\View. From there, click on 'Show All Files',  which  is
in the
Hidden  Files  folder, which is in the Files and  Folders  folder.
Copy it
to the English computer. Now, on to the sub folders:

   - C:\Windows\DigiCube\FF8da\SysBitmaps

This folder should have six .bmp files, from Onoff_01.bmp to
Onoff_05.bmp,  and Onoff_07.bmp (there's no _06).  These  are  for
startup
and  shutdown  screens  (I  believe). However,  to  me  they  seem
rather...
disproportionate... Anyway, they're small (127k each), so I'd copy
them
just  for  kicks. I'm not sure if Windows will resize  these  when
they're
actually startup and shutdown pics (and for that matter,  I'm  not
sure
how to make them startup and shutdown pics)...

   - C:\Windows\DigiCube\FF8da\ThemeRes

These  are  the  parts of the themes. Everything is  name-friendly
(ie. no
renaming needed) and small enough to fit on a disk.

   - C:\Windows\DigiCube\FF8da\Wallpapers

These are the wallpaper images, and he files within will differ
depending  on which ones you installed.  To get one of everything,
you
need to install all of the 800x600s or the 1024x768s, all of the
1024x480s,  and  number  5 from the 1280x1024s.  Anyway,  this  is
another
pretty  easy  folder to do - you just need to either  zip  up  the
larger
files  (the  Wp_00L.bmps and the Wp_00r.bpms) or convert  them  to
.jpgs -
they're too large to fit on a disk any other way.

Once they're on the English Windows machine, you can place them as
desktop  images  easily, but they won't be able to  be  opened  in
Photoshop
or  any  other programs, with the sole exception of Paint.  To  be
able to
alter them/etc, you need to open them in Paint, save them as  .jpg
(only
available in W98, I believe), then open them in Photoshop (or  any
other
image  editor) and then resave them as .bmps, if desired  (I  only
resaved
the  ones that I really liked...). Also, you might note that  some
of the
files  aren't  of  the greatest quality - some  have  blacks  that
aren't
really  black (the pic of the Ragnarok was where I really  noticed
this)
and some of the colors are kind of faded... Anyway, this is pretty
easily  fixed in Photoshop. Also, note that saving them  as  .jpgs
degrades
the quality a bit, so if you're not going to alter them at all and
don't
care about the size, I'd leave them as .bmps.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
4. What's Accessable on the Disk

Well,  for  those  of  you that don't have access  to  a  Japanese
Windows
machine,  you  can still get at parts of the disc.  Unfortunately,
it's not
much. Here's a look at what you can still enjoy from the disc.

If  you  browse the disk you'll find four file folders. The 'Card'
file is
obviously  the Card Game. 'praa' and 'bbit' both seem  to  contain
parts of
the  Mail  program,  and  each  has  one  openable  archive  file,
ff8_0001.lzh
or  ff8_0002.lzh  (.lzh files are openable with  WinZip  with  the
proper
add-on  -  don't ask me where to get it, because I don't remember.
Just do
a  search for lzh...). Unfortunately, all of the bitmaps contained
within
are  scrambled... There are also a couple of .txt files, two  all-
Japanese
readme files and an English version file that doesn't have much in
it.
'Setupper' is the setup program for the Accessories, and  contains
six
folders.  'Data'  is  just that - a bunch  of  data  files.  'Res'
contains 8
playable .wav files, 13 cursors/animated cursors, and 3 unparsable
(non-
openable)  bitmaps. 'Sys' and 'SysL' each contain 6 openable  .bmp
files,
with  the  files in Sys being half as wid as they should  be.  The
files in
SysL  look  fine,  though. 'ThemeRes' contains 9  unparsable  .bmp
files.
'Wp'  contains  20  different  .bmp  files  in  what  is  probably
different
sizes, as they have different final letters (things like s, m, and
l).
Many  of  these  are  openable, but very  small.  There  are  also
matching .dat
files  for most, so I'm guessing that this will eventually enlarge
them
or  something.  None are nearly large enough  to  use  as  Desktop
images...
Note that all of the files ending in 'c' are unopenable... In  the
root
'Setupper' folder are three .exe files. FF8Acces.exe seems  to  be
or run
Microsoft  Plus!. Setupper.exe runs the Accessories setup  program
(not
the Mail or Card Game), and WPInst.exe goes right to the wallpaper
installer. Both of the latter two crash after selecting OK...
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
5. Descriptions of Selected Files.

I'm  including descriptions of some of the files not to taunt you,
but in
case  some people are thinking of purchasing the disc and want  to
know
what's on it...

   - C:\Windows\DigiCube\FF8da\SysBitmaps\

Onoff_01.bmp  - A pic of Squall and Rinoa having a 'moment',  with
the
                "If you wait for me..." dialogue from the opening
                surrounding them. It's really a shame that this is
out
                of proportion...
Onoff_02.bmp  - A side view of Rinoa falling into Squall's arms.
Onoff_03.bpm  - Squall holding his Gunblade, hiding  half  of  his
face,
                with the lion on it flaming.
Onoff_04.bpm   -  This  is the split 'screen'  Squall  and  Laguna
portrait,
                where they are both looking up at the moon...
Onoff_05.bpm   -  A  pic of the lion head from  Squall's  necklace
(although
                just the head itself - it's been cropped...)
Onoff_07.bpm   -  Squall's gunblade, side view, with  the  flaming
gunblade
                logo.

   - C:\Windows\DigiCube\FF8da\ThemeRes

Wp1.bmp        -  The render of Squall from the FFVIII  US  cover,
with the
                lion, in red tones, in the background. This is one
of
                the pics on the cover of the package.
Wp2.bmp       - Same as above, but Rinoa in blues. Feathers and a
                single wing in the background.
Wp3.bmp        -  See above, substitute Seifer. Black tones,  with
black
                feathers and his cross sword in the background.
FF1_xx.cur     - A series of five cursors, with Squall's  gunblade
as the
                central theme. You have normal, waiting, thinking,
                help, and prohibited versions.
FF2_xx.cur     -  A  series of four cursors. Tonberry  this  time,
though...
                 Again,  normal,  waiting,  help,  and  prohibited
versions
                (no thinking, as this one is probably the same for
all
                of the three themes...)
FF3_xx.cur    - Another series of four cursors, this time  of  the
hand
                 from  the  FFVIII menus. Same as above -  normal,
waiting,
                help, and prohibited versions are included.
FF_0x.wav      -  Of the 8 .wav files included, I  know  that  the
fanfare
                 is  one,  and  that some of the menu  sounds  are
included
                 as  well...  I'll go through and  list  them  all
later,
                perhaps...

   - C:\Windows\DigiCube\FF8da\Wallpapers

(note - unless specifically listed as being different, images with
the
same  number  are  simply  different  sizes:  ie,  Wp_01L.bmp  and
Wp_01m.bmp
are  the  same  image, but L is 1024x768 and m  is  800x600.  This
basically
only  applies to the L, m, and s images. For further reference,  s
is
640x480, C is 1024x480, and r is 1280x1024)

Wp_01L.bmp    - The FFVIII logo on white.
Wp_02L.bmp    - The FFVIII logo, text only, on white.
Wp_03L.bmp    - Squall and Seifer standing in a field of  flowers,
with
                Rinoa diving for a feather in the middle.
Wp_04L.bmp      -  Squall  with  a  flaming  Gunblade.   Same   as
Onoff_03.bmp
                from \SysBitmaps\
Wp_05L.bmp    - Squall in the same pic as Wp1.bmp from \ThemeRes\
Wp_06L.bmp     -  A close-up of Squall, facing forwards.  Possibly
from
                the first FMV?
Wp_07L.bmp    - Side view of Squall from the raid on Dollet FMV.
Wp_08L.bmp     -  Squall  and Rinoa dancing,  looking  up  at  the
fireworks,
                from the SeeD dance FMV.
Wp_09L.bmp     - Rinoa, hair blowing, from one of the Garden  FMVs
from
                Disc 2.
Wp_10L.bmp    - Rinoa in the same pic as Wp2.bmp from \ThemeRes\
Wp_11L.bmp    - Rinoa in a field, looking up at a blowing  feather
-
                from the opening FMV.
Wp_12L.bmp    - Rinoa pointing, from the SeeD dance FMV.
Wp_13L.bmp    - Squall and Rinoa dancing, from the SeeD dance FMV.
Wp_14L.bmp    - Seifer in the same pic as Wp3.bmp from \ThemeRes\
Wp_15L.bmp    - Edea, from the FMV at the end of Disc 1?
Wp_16L.bmp    - Edea about to give a speech - from the FMV at  the
end
                of Disc 1.
Wp_17L.bmp    - Zell, with his fist clenched, pointing at himself.
From
                his introduction FMV.
Wp_18L.bmp    - Irving, gun resting against his shoulder, from his
                introduction FMV.
Wp_19L.bmp     -  Selfie, tongue extended, from  her  introduction
FMV.
Wp_20L.bmp    - Quistis, from her introduction FMV.
Wp_01r.bmp     -  A really nice collage featuring Squall,  Seifer,
and
                 Edea that I've never seen before (one of the  few
pics
                in the collection to have this honor).
Wp_02r.bmp    - The same pic as Wp1.bmp from \ThemeRes\
Wp_03r.bmp    - The same pic as Wp2.bmp from \ThemeRes\
Wp_04r.bmp    - The same pic as Wp3.bmp from \ThemeRes\
WP_01C.bmp    - A pic of Squall with the lion head and the words
                'Sleeping Lion Heart' in blue. Black background.
WP_02C.bmp    - A pic of Rinoa with her wing symbol and the  words
'Wing
                Heart' in blue. Black b/g.
WP_03C.bmp    - Seifer swinging his gunblade with his cross sword
                 symbol and the words 'Cross Sword' in blue. Black
b/g.
WP_04C.bmp     -  Squall's gunblade with the flaming  logo.  Black
b/g.
WP_05C.bmp     - A great render of the Ragnarok, with logo.  Black
b/g.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
6. The Card Game

Luckily,  this  is pretty easy to play, and works well.  When  you
boot the
game  up  it  will ask if you want to play the computer,  or  play
another
person  over  LAN. The next screen asks which rules  you  want  if
effect -
the instruction book shows this screen, so refer to it to see what
each
says  (a  translation is coming later). After that, the game  will
start.
You  start out with a pretty large dialog box that shows the cards
that
you  number of cards you own, both total and unique (how many  out
of the
total 110). Beneath that is the box that lists which cards you own
and
how  many of each. Click on the card title to display the  picture
to the
right.  To add the card to your hand for the next game, click  the
box
beneath  it.  To distribute a random (?) hand, click  on  the  box
beneath
that,  and  to  clear the entire field, click on the  box  beneath
that. To
clear  a  card that you've already selected, click the box beneath
it.
There are three buttons at the bottom as well - the leftmost is
obviously 'OK', the middle is to start a random hand, and the last
is
quit.

Now  the bad part about the card game. It's hard. Really hard. I'm
no
newcomer  to the game - I've acquired every card that is available
to me
at my current state in the full PSX game, and have a collection of
over
well  over  200 cards. The computer version is quite  a  different
story.
You  start with 13 cards (always the same ones) and you lose  them
pretty
fast.  Whereas  in the PSX game you can choose your opponents  and
reset if
you  lose a good card, you can do neither in the computer version.
Your
opponents  get  good fast, and always tend to have  more  powerful
cards
than you do. And if you shut down a game in progress, you lose all
five
cards  that  you were playing with. Ouch. Needless to say,  I  was
quite
disappointed.

If  you want a more in-depth guide to the card game, Triple Triad,
please
chek  www.gamefaqs.com for card game FAQs - there are  plenty  out
there,
and they are all applicable to the Windows version as well.

For  translations  of the different play styles,  for  now  please
refer to
the  FFVIIIDA instruction manual - there is a picture in  it  that
shows
the  style  selection screen. As for actually reading  it  if  you
don't know
Japanese,  look  on  yahoo.com or a similar search  engine  for  a
beginning
Japanese  tutorial or a kana chart - both are important, and  will
make
your  life  a  lot  easier,  if you're playing  lots  of  Japanese
games... I'll
try to add a translation chart in a later release (althoug I'm not
promising anything...)

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
7. Mail

Although it looks pretty, I can't get the mail program to actually
send.
Any  help  with this would be appreciated. (How do you enter  your
POP and
SMPT addresses? Ack! This might be an error on my part when I was
installing, though...)

Anyway, more in this section (possibly) in future releases...
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
8. FAQs.

Q: Do you have this disk/program/game?
A: Yes, obviously. This question is usually followed by...

Q: Where did you get it?
A: Family Mart (7-Eleven didn't have their copies out yet...).
Seriously,  I live in Japan, and bought it at a local convienience
store.

Q: How can I get it?
A: Well, the only way that I currently know of is to fly to Japan,
and
visit  a  Family Mart or other convienience store, and buy  it.  I
don't
know  what  online retailers, if any, stock the program.  I'd  say
that your
best  be  for buying it online is either NCS [http://www.ncsx.com]
or in
an eBay auction [http://www.ebay.com]

Q:  Can you post the card game on a website so that I can download
it?
Q: Will you zip the card game up and send it to me?
A: No. Two reasons - a: that would be piracy. Piracy is illegal. I
don't
want to go to jail (as AV of the late, great Square.net once said,
'Life
outside  of  a  jail cell suits me fine.') Besides, I  bought  the
program
(and  it  wasn't cheap for what you get) so you can too. Also,  b:
the card
game  needs the CD to load any cards, so even if I was to send  it
to you
(which I won't) you wouldn't be able to play it...

Q:  OK, so I need the CD to play the card game - will you burn  it
and
send it to me?
A:  See  reason a: of above question. Plus, I don't  have  a  CD-R
drive (of
course,  if  you  want to give me a CD-R drive (a decent,  working
one, to
keep)  to do the above operation, I'll even buy you a copy of  the
game
and send it to you... :)

Q: How much does the CD cost?
A:  4980  Japanese  yen, which is about US$46  as  I  write  this.
Although
this  seems expensive to those of you in the US, keep in mind that
all
computer  stuff is expensive here in Japan, and normal games  cost
about
8000-9000 yen (about US$75-$85), so it's really not _that_ bad...

Q:  You said that to get most of the accessories, I need access to
a
computer with Japanese Windows on it - how am I supposed  to  find
that?
A:  Well,  good luck... If there are foriegn exchange students  at
your
school  from Japan, ask them. Maybe a college in your area  has  a
Japanese
program - ask the professor... Just ask around, and see if you can
find
one. I can't really be of much help on this one... I can tell  you
this
much  - the accessories part of the program takes up about 85  meg
of hard
drive  space  (for everything except for the 640x480  wallpapers).
It's
easily  deletable/uninstallable, and  shouldn't  be  any  kind  of
problem to
have  on someone's computer for a few hours. Keep in mind that  to
be
legal,  you  should install the stuff and move  it  to  your  hard
drive, then
deinstall  and  delete  everything  from  the  original   Japanese
computer.

Q:  Is  there  any other way to get the stuff from the accessories
part of
the disk?
A:  As far as I know, no, there isn't. Sorry. If you come up  with
an
easier way to get to them, please let me know!

Q:  Will  this  be released in America/Canada/Europe/Australia/any
other
country or region that I haven't listed?
A: As far as I know, no, it won't be. However, with the popularity
of
all things Final Fantasy VIII related (not only the game, but the
figures/etc. as well), I wouldn't rule out the possibility...

Q:  If  I  send you money for the game, as well as postage  to  my
respective
country and any other costs, will you buy the program and send  it
to me?
A: Well, unless you a: are a personal friend or b: have done some
greater good for mankind, unfortunately, no, I won't. Although I'd
love
to help everyone out, I simply don't have the time or energy to do
so,
nor  do I want to become a clearinghouse for Japanese stuff. Also,
there
are only so many convienience stores in my area, and since all  of
them
only stock 1 copy of the program, my supplies would be extremely
limited... :) However, if you do think that you've done a  greater
good
for  mankind, will otherwise feel that you have a good reason that
I
should do the above (like, say, you want to donate a digital video
capture device, CD-R drive, ACID Pro 2.0 or other cool computer
hardware/accessories or programs... :), or obviously  are  someone
that I
already know well, feel free to give me an email...
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
9. Outro

ver.0.87 (14oct99):
  Finally got the bulk of the program installed, so finished the
    document,   cleaned  it  up,  and  prepped   it   for   public
consumption...
ver.pre  (22sept99):
  Prerelease. A total mess.

Needed:

If you can provide any of the following, it would be greatly
appreciated!

- A way to get the screensavers working.
- An easier way to get the accessories data from the disk.

Sources:

A  lot  of  fooling around with the CD on various  computers  (ie.
personal
experience.)

Related sites:

The  Gaming  Intelligence Agency [http://www.thegia.com]  -  Aside
from RPG
and  adventure game news and coverage, the GIA also has box, disc,
and
book  scans posted for FFVIII Desktop Accessories. (I believe that
they
are in the Sept. 1999 News Archive...)

Square  Co.  Ltd.  [http://www.square.co.jp]  -  Makers  of  Final
Fantasy
VIII.

DigiCube  [http://www.digicube.co.jp]  -  Distributors  of   Final
Fantasy
VIII Desktop Accessories.

GameFAQs [http://www.gamefaqs.com] - Hosters of this FAQ and many,
many
more...

WinZip [http://www.winzip.com] - Makers of the wonderous file
compressor,  WinZip.  One  of  the  programs  needed  to  get  the
accessories
data  from  the disk onto an English language computer. Also  good
for
lots, lots more...

Legal:

Square,  Squaresoft,  Final  Fantasy, Final  Fantasy  VIII,  Final
Fantasy
VIII Desktop Accessories, Triple Triad, Final Fantasy Mail, Squall
Leonhart,  Rinoa  Heartilly, Seifer Almasy, Zell  Dincht,  Quistis
Trepe,
Selphie Tilmett, Irvine Kinneas, Laguna Loire, Kiros Seagill, Ward
Zabac,  Edea,  Cid  Kramer, Fuujin, Raijin, Raine,  Ellone,  Sant'
Angelo di
Roma,  Balamb,  Dollet,  F.H., Esthar, Timber,  Galbadia,  Centra,
Trabia,
Garden,  SeeD, Ragnarok, GF, Guardian Forces, Ultimania,  and  any
other
FFVIII-related  names/etc.  that I  haven't  listed,  but  may  be
applicable,
are copyright 1998-1999 Square Co. Ltd. and/or DigiCube. Sony and
Playstation, are copyright Sony. Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98,
Windows  95J, Windows 98J, and Paint are all copyright  Microsoft.
WinZip
is  copyright  WinZip,  I  think.  Photoshop  is  copyright  Adobe
Systems. I
have no idea whose copyright Family Mart is. 7-Eleven is probably
copyright  7-Eleven, but I don't really know. All other trademarks
are
copyright of their respective holders.

This  document  is  copyright  J.T.Kauffman  1999  and  cannot  be
reproduced
for  profit  in  any form. It can be freely distributed  over  the
internet
as  long as it is unaltered and is only distributed on free  (i.e.
non-
subscription)  sites. If you do choose to post  this  document  on
your
site, please email me to let me know.

The  author  of  this  document can  not  and  will  not  be  held
responsible for
any damage that you may do to your computer hardware, software, or
accessories  through  the  use of any  techniques  found  in  this
document.
All  information is are provided for use AT YOUR OWN RISK, and  is
thusly
labeled as such. All information is provided at your own risk.

Contact:

J.T.Kauffman
stormwalker@hotmail.com

Since Sept.22, 1999
Shibata, Miyagi, Japan jt.

 

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