Final Fantasy VII (PC) always crashes during intro?

Question

My PC version of Final Fantasy VII always crashes at exactly the same point during the intro - as Jessie karate kicks one of the Shinra guards on the Sector 1 station. The screen goes black and I am given the standard "X has encountered a problem and needs to close...".

Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how was it solved?

(I am running the game on Windows XP, and have installed the official v1.02 patch as well as the Chocobo patch and the XP patch. I have the non-Ultima version)

Answer 1

I've never had that particular problem, but my guess would be that it is a problem with loading or playing the "thwock" sound that occurs at that point. I have had my game lock up early in the game (no later than the end of the first battle) repeatedly a few times, and for some reason I can't explain, was able to get past it by repeatedly re-installing FF7 without uninstalling it first.

My big concern is that you mention you installed the XP Patch, which is garbage. AnimeVamp's XP Patch is a collection of patches, some of which work and some of which don't, without giving the original creators proper credit. The only part that isn't a patch that is available seperately was done by AnimeVamp and it changed the way Windows plays MIDI files without giving any way of reversing the changes or warning you that is what it is doing. If the XP Patch is the problem for your issue, the only solution is to re-install Windows.

Normally, only the v1.02 patch (which is the Chocobo Patch) is needed.

I'd recommend checking the forums at Qhimm.com, a fairly technical site devoted to the PC versions of FF7 and FF8. They might be able to provide more assistance.

Answer 2

See that is the terrible thing about using the PC version of the game. The best thing to do with the PC version of the game is.... don't use it. Have you ever heard of roms and emulation... I am sure you have if you like FF7. Well you can download the emulator and the games and play them on your computer as if it were a playstation. I have FF1-FF9 on my PC using the emulator rather than actually installing them. Of course, it is illegal if you do not actually own the games, which apparently you own FF7. Email me if you want to hear more.