Final Fantasy VIII (2013): Does the re-release actually use MIDI?

[Guest]

NOTE: The only reason I'm posting this thread here instead of the appropriate wiki page's discussion section is because I'm presented with infinite loading as the site tries to add a new discussion thread despite efforts to prevent it (i.e. clearing my browser's cache, reloading the page, etc).

 

As I was reading through the wiki page for the 2013 re-release of Final Fantasy VIII, a thought occurred: does the game actually use MIDI files for the in-game music, or just recordings of MIDI music which are not using the wavetable instruments the original PS1 game used? As I know the original Final Fantasy VII PC release used MIDI files and provided the correct soundfonts for use with the music such that everything would sound correct, I was wondering if this is also true of the original Final Fantasy VIII PC release. If so, given the 2013 re-release of Final Fantasy VIII is merely a modified version of the original, if the re-release still uses the original MIDI files and comes with the original soundfonts, then it would hopefully be a simple matter of using either a freeware software soundfont MIDI device, such as BASSMIDI, or, if a player's soundcard supports soundfonts, a soundcard's soundfont manager application to restore the original music. The main reason I'm asking is I don't own the 2013 re-release of Final Fantasy VIII and, as such, have no way to confirm whether the game uses MIDI files for music and comes with the appropriate soundfonts or test whether or not my proposed solution would work.

[Newmansan 30]

From what I've read, it seems that originally the game used the original midi files, but most sounds cards these days didn't have some of the soundfonts and so the computer changed up the instruments and therefore the sounds sounded different.

 

There was an update in September of 2013 that came out that changed the music to PSX quality, but I'm not entirely sure what that means.

[Guest]

From what I've read, it seems that originally the game used the original midi files, but most sounds cards these days didn't have some of the soundfonts and so the computer changed up the instruments and therefore the sounds sounded different.

 

There was an update in September of 2013 that came out that changed the music to PSX quality, but I'm not entirely sure what that means.

EDIT: How could Final Fantasy VIII have gotten an update in September 2013 when it was released on Steam in December of that same year? Also, according to recent reviews of the game on Steam as well as the discussion thread linked to in PCGamingWiki's page for Final Fantasy VIII (2013), Final Fantasy VIII has yet to receive an update to add PSX-quality music (e.g. if the September 2013 update for Final Fantasy VII is any indication, replacing the MIDI files with OGG Vorbis-format recordings of the original PSX songs). Thus, I can only assume we're talking about two different things here.

[Newmansan 30]

Apologies, I missed the third I, and was looking for info for Final Fantasy 7. 

[Guest]

Apologies, I missed the third I, and was looking for info for Final Fantasy 7. 

Apology accepted. :)

 

Also, apologizes if my initial response came off as belittling or offensive in any way - I'm having a hard time waking up this morning, and it isn't doing my mind any favors.