The Ultimate Guide to Installing Final Fantasy VIII on Mac OS Using Codeweavers Crossover!

Hello,
this is Kaos Nova, and here is another one of my guides to getting a
Windows game working on Mac OS using Codeweavers Crossover. This time,
we will be getting into the Final Fantasy game series! This time, we
will be going into getting Final Fantasy VIII running. Final Fantasy
VIII, Final Fantasy 8, or FFVIII, was a JRPG originally released for the
Sony Playstation or PS1 back in 1999, almost two years after the
release of Final Fantasy VII. So far, The Remastered Version of Final
Fantasy VIII isn't running, but hopefully that will change. For now, we
will be going into how to install and run the original PC version of
Final Fantasy VIII for Windows using the Disc and the Steam Versions of
the game.
To get started, you should have the correctly installed version of
Steam on Codeweavers Crossover. I have a guide for Installing Steam right here.
If you are using the Disc Version, it's as easy as having the Discs or
their own related images on hand. Without further delay, let's get
started!

Disc Version

Installing the Game

So,
with the complete set of installation discs on hand, proceed to
"install a new application". Since the disc version is not the preset
for installation, or the CrossTie, Install an Unlisted Application, as
shown below. The preset or CrossTie is only for the Steam version now.

Now to set this up, select your Final Fantasy VIII Installation disc by booting it up and selecting "setup.exe" within the disc.

Now set the Bottle to be a Windows 98 Bottle. Title it "Final Fantasy VIII"

Now, with all the preferences established, install Final Fantasy VIII from the Install Disc

Now,
you will have a series of installation screens. This series of images
will guide you on how to go through the installation. Don't change from
the default on each of the screens.

There
will be a delay in the ending of the installation as a restart of the
virtual machine occurs. This can take 5 to 15 minutes. Do not quickly
assume the installer has crashed! This is a normal part of a successful
installation.


The Bottle should look like this after the Installation from the Disc has finished.

Installing Dependencies

Now
that the game has installed, your work is not complete yet! You have a
number of dependencies to install into the game bottle for Final
Fantasy VIII before the game can run! The direct media files have
failed to initially install, and without the proper libraries for audio
and music, the game may crash when entering the world map or a battle,
since the proper files for running the music of the world map or the
music of the battle screens are missing. This is how you fix this
defect!
First, Install Direct X For Pre-Windows XP Games. Select the App, then select the Final Fantasy VIII Bottle!

Now Install with all the proper preferences checked off!

After Installing DirectX in the older version, you should go and catch
some of the directmedia libraries. This will also happen with the Steam
Version, only here, you have to install into the Final Fantasy VIII
Game Bottle! So select wine configuration, followed by selecting the
"libraries" tab, shown here.

The following libraries need to be installed into the Wine Configuration Here are the .dlls so you can copy and paste them in easily.
dmband.dll
dmime.dll
dmloader.dll
dmstyle.dll
dmsynth.dll
dmusic.dll
eax.dll
Now
that you have installed the dependencies, make sure you have the Final
Fantasy game disc in your drive and start the game by double clicking on
the Final Fantasy VIII game icon!

Now
the game does not initially run, but rather ff8 configure is running,
you cannot access the configuration app, so quit configure and the main
game will begin.

Initially, the game will play in a tiny window, so click the screen and the game window will upscale into fullscreen mode.

Now
the game has begun and will run. Just remember to check your game
manual for the controls because the ff8configure app had the keyboard
control mappings for the game, but without it, you need a manual for the
game to see the controls.

Congratulations!
The game has begun. However, you cannot adjust the preferences for the
game past the default settings from 1999. This disc version gets a 3/5
compatibility rating for these limits on its functionality. You also
have to change discs with the gameplay in this version which the Steam
Version has a single complete install for the App. The Steam Version
runs far better, which is where we will take a look at how to run that
version of Final Fantasy VIII next!

Steam Version

With
the Steam Version of Final Fantasy VIII, the process gets a little
easier, since you can install the dependencies into the Steam Bottle
before Installing the game itself. The dependencies which you Install
also make installing the other early Final Fantasy games for Windows
playable as well. You should first install and set up Steam for
Crossover 24, which I have a guide for here on YouTube. If you have already Installed Steam, or after you have Installed Steam, proceed to the next step.

Direct Media Dependencies

There
are a number of Direct Media Libraries which don't install properly
into Steam or when Steam installs Final Fantasy VIII, or Final Fantasy
VII. However, unlike the disc install method, we install the
dependencies into the Steam Bottle instead of into the base game
bottle. So "Install a New Application" and type in "Direct Music". You should see this window

Then select Steam in the drop down menu for which bottle you will install Direct Music into

Now
Install. You may see a warning about incompatibility, but it will
still install just fine. The installation will end with a simulated
restart of the virtual windows machine

Now
go to the Steam Bottle and enter wine configuration to manually install
a few specific dependencies (.dlls) In wine configuration click on the
"Libraries" tab as shown below.

Here are the .dlls so you can copy and paste them in easily.
dmband.dll
dmime.dll
dmloader.dll
dmstyle.dll
dmsynth.dll
dmusic.dll
eax.dll

Otherwise, type in the names of the files and click the "add" button as shown below

After
you have added all the dependencies using this method, click the
"Apply" button to confirm, and then go into Steam and Install the game
with Steam. Start up Final Fantasy VIII, and you have a few more setup
options.
First,
there is a Final Fantasy VIII configuration. The very app that
wouldn't work in the disc version of the game! Here you can set up your
controller, which is primarily a Bluetooth XBox Controller when it
comes to Steam

Then
set up the graphics settings. Set it to your display's native
resolution. My native resolutions are 1440x900, 1920x1080 or 2560x1600,
but look in the "About This Mac" for "Displays" to see what your
computer's native resolutions are.

Now Begin the Game!