Final Fantasy XIII
Developers | |
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Square Enix | |
Engines | |
Crystal Tools | |
Release dates | |
Windows | October 9, 2014 |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 65 |
IGDB | 81 |
Taxonomy | |
Series | Final Fantasy |
Key points
- Includes the "Easy" mode from Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International version of the game.
- Ability to run at resolutions higher than 720p, and at 60fps.
- English and Japanese audio voice overs are included in most of the steam region versions of the game except for the Asian steam region version.
- Unfavorable to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions in areas such as:
- Pre-rendered cutscenes are re-encoded a bit differently resulting in them having some compression-artifacts and washed-out colors compared to the PS3 version.[1][2][3]
- Shadow rendering is a bit different compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, producing shadows that do not look good in most cases.
- No Controller vibration.
- Issues specific to the PC version:
- Display-resolutions other than 1280×720 cause certain graphical glitches and a portion of the text on scanning an enemy to not render.
- 60fps is inconsistent and the game regularly dips to the low 40s or locks itself to 30.
- Constant stuttering in game.
General information
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | XIII + XIII-2 double pack available in Europe | |||
Publisher website | European store | |||
Publisher website | North American store | |||
Amazon.com | ||||
Green Man Gaming | ||||
Humble Store | ||||
Steam |
Essential improvements
FF13Fix
- Mod that fixes low framerates on capable machines, and uncaps framerates. How this works:
- Removes aggressive frame pacer (works like a proper triple buffer implementation).
- Disables constant checks for input devices.
- Uncaps framerate, also properly utilizes the display's refresh rate.
- Fixes the slowdown when 2D elements are drawn in the HUD
- Fixes missing text on enemy scans.
- Enables vibration support.
- Works around the screen glitches when using 2560x1440 resolution
- This fix is NOT compatible with GeDoSaTo.
Remove unused cutscenes to free up space
- Features dual audio English and Japanese for the ROW release. Removing the cutscene files for either language frees about 20 GB of space.[4]
- Verification and updating by Steam will redownload the files.[5]
Remove English or Japanese cutscene files[4] |
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Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
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Windows | <path-to-game>\setup.xml[Note 1] |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/292120/pfx/[Note 2] |
- All in-game configurations are stored directly in the saved game data. Changes made while in the title screen are not preserved after loading a saved game.
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %LOCALAPPDATA%\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXIII\save\ |
Steam | <Steam-folder>/userdata/<user-id>/292120/remote/ |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/292120/pfx/[Note 2] |
- The Steam folder is used when Steam Cloud is enabled; otherwise, the Windows folder is used.[6]
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Steam Cloud | Up to 100 save files (29.3 MB) can be synced. |
Video
Graphics feature | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | Use Final Fantasy XIII Ultrawide Fix to force any screen resolution. | ||
Multi-monitor | Pillarboxed 16:9.[7] Use Final Fantasy XIII Ultrawide Fix. | ||
Ultra-widescreen | Pillarboxed 16:9.[7] Use Final Fantasy XIII Ultrawide Fix. | ||
4K Ultra HD | Use Final Fantasy XIII Ultrawide Fix to force any screen resolution. | ||
Field of view (FOV) | Use Final Fantasy XIII Ultrawide Fix. | ||
Windowed | Set in launcher or see Windowed. | ||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | Always borderless. Use Final Fantasy XIII Ultrawide Fix to force fullscreen. | ||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | Use the GPU control panel or a tool like GeDoSaTo. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | Up to 8x MSAA. DSR or VSR can be forced through the GPU control panel. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | Always on. See Vertical sync (Vsync). | ||
60 FPS | Frame rate is capped at 60 FPS. | ||
120+ FPS | Uncapping the frame rate causes facial animation bugs during in-game cutscenes.[8] | ||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. |
Windowed
Force windowed mode |
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Borderless fullscreen windowed
Force borderless mode |
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Vertical sync (Vsync)
Force Vsync off |
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Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | Movement and camera orientation keys are not remappable.[9] | |
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | Can confirm with the left button and cancel with the right button, but it may require alt-tabbing first. | |
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support | ||
Full controller support | Launcher needs mouse or keyboard. Cannot exit the game normally using the controller. | |
Controller remapping | Confirmation and cancellation buttons can be swapped via the -decidebuttonreverse command line option of ffxiiiimg.exe . With it enabled (default for Asia) B becomes confirm and A cancel, disabling it does the reverse.[10] |
|
Controller sensitivity | ||
Controller Y-axis inversion | X-axis inversion also available |
Controller types |
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XInput-compatible controllers | Only through DirectInput. | |
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Xbox button prompts | Manual toggle in the settings: On-screen Button Explanations. | |
Impulse Trigger vibration |
PlayStation controllers | BT support through DS4Windows or Steam input. | |
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PlayStation button prompts | See Controller button prompts. | |
Light bar support | ||
Adaptive trigger support | ||
DualSense haptic feedback support | ||
Connection modes |
Generic/other controllers | No rebinding. | |
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Button prompts |
Additional information | ||
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Button prompts | The game comes by default with its own gray color Xbox styled prompts on PC. Alternatively, the Xbox 360 version colored button icons can be used as well, see Console button prompts. For DualShock button icons, see Console button prompts. |
|
Controller hotplugging | Has to be disabled for Haptic feedback through FF13Fix | |
Haptic feedback | Can be modded back using FF13Fix. | |
Digital movement supported | ||
Simultaneous controller+KB/M |
Steam Input | ||
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Steam Input API support | ||
Hook input (legacy mode) | ||
Official controller preset(s) | ||
Steam Controller button prompts | ||
Cursor detection |
Console button prompts
- The game comes only with gray Xbox button prompts, without differentiating colors. This mod restores PlayStation and colored Xbox prompts.
Unlock Confirm/Cancel button configuration
- By default only Asian version of the game has this option available. By patching the launcher, it can be unlocked for all versions of the game.
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | See audio volume is low. | |
Surround sound | Up to 5.1. No in-game option. | |
Subtitles | ||
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | Loses focus by minimizing in windowed mode. |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | Worldwide (audio not available in Asia) | |||
English | Mod which restores English subtitles to any version of the game. Download here. | |||
Traditional Chinese | Asia only | |||
Traditional Chinese | Mod which restores Traditional Chinese subtitles to any version of the game. Download here. | |||
French | Not available in Asia | |||
French | Mod which restores French subtitles to any version of the game. Download here. | |||
German | Not available in Asia | |||
German | Mod which restores German subtitles to any version of the game. Download here. | |||
Italian | Not available in Asia | |||
Italian | Mod which restores Italian subtitles to any version of the game. Download here. | |||
Japanese | Worldwide (UI and subtitles only available in Asia) | |||
Japanese | Mod which restores Japanese subtitles to any version of the game. Download here. | |||
Korean | Asia only | |||
Korean | Mod which restores Korean subtitles to any version of the game. Download here. | |||
Spanish | Not available in Asia | |||
Spanish | Mod which restores Spanish subtitles to any version of the game. Download here. | |||
Polish | Fan translation, download. | |||
Russian | Fan translation by «FFRTT.ru» |
Issues fixed
Missing effects and text at resolutions higher than 1280x720
- Display resolutions other than 1280x720 can cause certain UI effects and the notes portion of the text after scanning an enemy to not render.
Use FF13Fix |
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Right analog stick doesn't move camera and wrong controller bindings
- The right analog stick doesn't move camera, or other buttons assignments/bindings are completely wrong.
Enable Steam Input for the game.
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Inconsistent 60 FPS
- While there are several workarounds and fixes for inconsistent FPS (an issue not entirely unique to the PC port[11][12]), this may be due to issues within the game engine itself.[13][14]
- As the game was originally designed for the PlayStation 3's Cell processor, this port incorrectly processes all game logic on a single thread, making single-core responsiveness imperative.
- The engine's resource management could be broken, leaving the CPU and GPU either underutilized or utilized in an improper way.[15]
- The game also uses a custom frame rate pacer that locks the frame rate to refresh rate intervals similarly to Vertical Sync, but much more aggressively.[16]
Use FF13Fix to immensely improve the frame rate |
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In the GPU control panel set the power management mode to prefer maximum performance. Also Set triple buffering to on as well. this is required if you are using or not using the FF13Fix |
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- If not using the FF13Fix then do the following:
Turn off the mini-map in-game |
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The mini-map can drop the frame rate up to 10-20FPS depending on the area in game. You can toggle the mini-map off in-game to improve the performance. |
Constant stuttering in game
- This issue is the game's controller hot plugging function constantly searching if a controller is connected or not and timing out, thereby causing the stutters. It fires the event every one second.
Use FF13Fix |
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- Follow this below if you are not using FF13Fix
Play the game with a controller instead of mouse/keyboard, or fake using one with vjoy[17] |
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Shadows appear pixelated, jagged and blocky
- Shadow rendering is a bit different compared to the console versions, and they appear pixelated and jagged at lower shadow resolutions and blocky due to the lack of a soft shadow filter at higher shadow resolutions.[18]
Increase the shadow resolution in the game launcher |
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This helps in mitigating the issue to an extent but causes them to render quite blocky due to the lack of a soft shadow filter, at higher shadow resolutions. The optimal shadow resolution recommended is 4096x4096. |
Macroblocking like artifacts on character hair
- This is a bug that can occur on certain Nvidia cards where small macroblocking like artifacts will keep popping at some parts of the character's hair.
Use anti aliasing fix from Nvidia Profile inspector [19] |
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Abnormal eyelashes and hair
- MSAA is required for proper alpha-to-coverage on hair and eyelashes.[20]On certain PC's the option is disabled from the driver side, resulting in this bug.
Ensure Anti-aliasing mode is not disabled or set to Override in the graphic driver |
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For Nvidia Cards
For AMD Cards
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Game uses incorrect refresh rate
- By default the game forces a 60 Hz refresh rate in full screen mode.
Use FF13Fix |
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Pixelated screen bug when using 2560x1440 resolution
- 2560x1440 resolution breaks the game, making it look more pixelated than it should.[21]
Use FF13Fix |
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Audio volume is low
- The game has a low volume level that is about half as loud as a typical game, and there are no in-game volume options. The only thing a player can do is crank up their speaker volume.
Controller vibration doesn't work
- The game lacks the controller vibration support found in the console versions entirely.
Use FF13Fix[22] |
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Mouse cursor stays on screen
- The mouse cursor may appear on program launch and will not disappear.[23]
Use FF13Fix |
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Crash to desktop on Chapter 8: City of Dreams (Nautilus)
- The game crashes on certain resolutions when it begins playing the first cutscene in Nautilus.
- Here is a list of resolutions on which the crash occurs:
- 1366x768
- 1600x1050
- 2103x1183
- 2351x1323
- 2715x1527
- 3325x1871
Change the resolution temporarily to a lower supported one[24] |
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Launcher doesn't launch
Use Final Fantasy XIII Combined Custom Launcher |
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Use it instead of the official launcher. It also provides more options (e.g. more windowed mode resolutions) |
Bypass the launcher and run the program directly[25] |
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Run
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Other Issues that can arise
Could not secure sufficient VRAM
- This issue occurs when launching the game due to the inability to allocate the required VRAM.[26]
- Check if you meet the system requirements through Steam. It can be done directly by entering
steam://checksysreqs/292120
in a web browser. There are additional checks such as Can You RUN it available.[26] - Run "dxdiag.exe" and ensure at least 256 MB is shown under "Approx. Total Memory" under the "Display" tab.[26]
Close other applications and services using VRAM[citation needed] |
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Assign more RAM to the GPU[26] |
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This is a method for just one particular setup. Other setups may vary.
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- Symptoms of this issue include continuous cursor cycling through menu entries as if the user was pressing a directional button.
Disable offending HIDs in Device Manager[27] |
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Go into Device Manager and start disabling your Human Interface Devices (HIDs) one by one until you find which one is causing the issue. It's been reported that redundant HID-compliant gaming controllers are usually the issue, often created by third party accessories such as DolphinBar. |
Crashes when saving
- The game can crash on certain configs when saving with Steam Cloud synchronization active. This can also result in corrupted save files.
Disable Steam Cloud synchronization for the game[citation needed] |
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- This issue seems to happen when using the controller in wireless mode.
Try using the controller plugged in via USB |
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Use Final Fantasy XIII Fixer[28] |
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Pillarboxing on ultrawide monitors
- Pillarboxing (black bars) will appear on ultrawide monitors.
Use the Ultra wide fix |
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Forcing Anisotropic Filtering breaks some textures
- Forcing Anisotropic Filtering appears to break some textures in the game like trees and branches.[23]
Additional mods
FF XIII HD Full Motion Video
- This mod aims to improve the visual quality of the pre rendered cutscenes through modern image upscaling techniques. More information about it can be found on the nexus page of the mods.
The mod has to be downloaded in parts from the pages |
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The FF XIII HD Project
- This mod is a texture pack that improves the overall texture quality of the game.
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 9 |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Cutscenes | Bink Video |
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | XP SP2 | Vista, 7, 8 |
Processor (CPU) | 2 GHz dual core | Intel Core 2 Quad (2.66 GHz) AMD Phenom II X4 (2.8 GHz) |
System memory (RAM) | 1 GB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 60 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce 8 Series ATI Radeon HD 2000 series 256 MB of VRAM | Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 AMD Radeon HD 5870 |
Sound (audio device) | DirectX 9.0c compatible | DirectX 11 compatible |
Other | XInput controller (map DirectInput controllers using drivers)[29] |
Notes
- ↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMDATA%
, or%WINDIR%
might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details). - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in
~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/292120/
. - Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (292120) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
References
- ↑ PC vs. PS3 cutscene comparison
- ↑ Bittercup on NeoGAF on modding the PC cutscenes with the PS3 versions
- ↑ Steam Forums :: Concerning The Quality OF FMV Cutscenes
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 How to cut down game size to 29GB
- ↑ Square_Jason on Steam forums on deleting cutscenes: "FYI/Note - if you verify your game at any stage it WILL redownload these files."
- ↑ Steam Forums - Lost Save Games or Saves from other sources
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 View topic - Final Fantasy XIII | WSGF
- ↑ rebtd7/FF13Fix: Performance and bug fixes for the PC versions of FF13 and FF13-2
- ↑ Game's manual on Steam
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Some starting options for ffxiiiimg.exe
- ↑ Face-Off: Final Fantasy XIII | Eurogamer
- ↑ Tech Analysis: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3 vs 360) | IQGamer
- ↑ Durante Presents: FFXIII resolution unlocking (GeDoSaTo plugin) released - pre-alpha : Page 32 | NeoGAF
- ↑ NeoGAF Forums - Knurek on resource usage vs. FPS problems
- ↑ FFXIII Series Outside Developer POV
- ↑ Square Enix forums - Frame rate pacer pros/cons
- ↑ Stuttering / laggin cutcenes - FPS FIX
- ↑ In-game shadow issues highlight
- ↑ Guru3D Forums - Final Fantasy XIII anti-aliasing Guide
- ↑ Durante on MSAA for alpha-to-coverage
- ↑ 1440p glitch highlight (Image is 200% the original size so that the glitch is more noticeable)
- ↑ Release FF13Fix 1.4.0 · rebtd7/FF13Fix
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Steam Forums :: Is the mouse cursor suppose be on screen? Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name "cursor" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Chapter 8 - Force close/bug
- ↑ Steam forums - Launcher has stopped working
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Steam forums - Could not secure sufficient VRAM when booting the game
- ↑ Steam Forums - Game starts scrolling through all menu options randomly
- ↑ Fix: Xbox One controller in menus :: FINAL FANTASY XIII General Discussions
- ↑ Verified by User:MetalPlateMage on 7 August 2015
- System requirements recommend an XInput controller but this game does not use XInput drivers. See NeoGAF Forums - Knurek on FFXIII not using xinput.dll.