Final Fantasy VIII

This page is for the original 2000 version. For the 2013 re-release, see Final Fantasy VIII (2013). For the 2019 remaster, see Final Fantasy VIII Remastered.

Final Fantasy VIII

Developers
	Square Enix
Publishers
	Square Enix
Europe	Eidos Interactive
Release dates
Windows	January 25, 2000
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Continuous turn-based
Perspectives	Cinematic camera, Third-person, Top-down view
Controls	Direct control, Menu-based
Genres	JRPG, RPG
Vehicles	Flight
Art styles	Pre-rendered graphics
Themes	Fantasy, Sci-fi
Series	Final Fantasy

Key points

Has a different MIDI compared to the PS1 version of the game.

Higher resolution of FMVs (480p) compared to the PlayStation version.

In some areas, it is inferior to the PlayStation version. Movement is limited to 8 directions instead of full circular motion.

The frame rate is capped at 30 FPS during gameplay and 15 FPS during fights and FMVs; making selection during battles sluggish.

General information

Qhimm Final Fantasy Mod Forums

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		DRM: Simple disc check, no physical copy protection.

A demo is available here.

Essential improvements

Patches

The patch v1.2 package fixes various bugs in the game:

• FF8SqeaNVPatch.zip: 1.2 patch for Nvidia GeForce users.
• FF8SqeaPatch.zip: 1.2 patch for other users.
• FF8_Yamaha_Fix.zip: Extra patch to fix a bug when using DirectX 7 only with the Yamaha software synthesizer.

Roses and Wine

Replaces the default MIDI music with the original PlayStation version music or optionally other music as well.

Aali's custom driver

See the corresponding section in Final Fantasy VII.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Square Soft, Inc\FINAL FANTASY VIII\1.00

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save

Video

Graphic configuration.

Supported resolutions: 320x240 pillarboxed in 640x480, and 640x480 (Full Screen).

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Aali's custom driver for a workaround, though it currently has a black bottom border.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		See Aali's custom driver
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS		Excluding menu screens, the frame rate is capped at 30 FPS. 15 FPS during combat and FMVs.
120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

Controller configuration.

Key configuration.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus		No in-game mouse support
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Movement restricted to the first two axes
Full controller support		Launcher has no controller navigation support. There is no way to exit the game with a controller.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Button prompts		For Xbox and DualShock buttons, use the FF8 Controller Buttons Mod
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio configuration.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Game pauses on focus lost, MIDI music and opening logo FMV do not.
EAX support		EAX 2
Royalty free audio
Red Book CD audio		Disc 3 only

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Japanese
Polish				Fan translation, download.
Russian				Fan translation by "ZOG", PC[1].
Italian

Issues fixed

Running from an ISO or another drive

By default, the game uses the first CD-ROM drive location for checking CDs. To use another drive, edit the registry.

Edit Windows Registry
Press ⊞ Win+R. Type regedit and press ↵ Enter. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Square Soft, Inc\FINAL FANTASY VIII\1.00. Open DataDrive and change its value to the drive letter occupied by the CD. Relaunch the game.

8-bit paletted textures fix

On modern systems, the game launcher will fail on video cards that do not support 8-bit textures.
This causes the game to use lower resolution textures.

Use custom launcher
Notes It's possible to run the game at higher resolutions.

Graphical issues

Use Aali's custom driver

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video	0.9d

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 200 MHz Intel Pentium II 266 MHz	Intel Pentium II 266 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	300 MB	600 MB
Video card (GPU)	4 MB/8 MB of VRAM DirectX 6.1 compatible	16 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectSound-compatible
Other	DirectMusic-compatible Software Synthesizer 8X CD-ROM