1) Create a folder on your hard drive.
Name this folder: Final_Fantasy_VIII_DVD. This will be the name (Label) of our DVD.

2) Copy the contents of the “Install Disc” to the Final_Fantasy_VIII_DVD folder.
Note: You might as well keep the DirectX 6.1 and the Yamaha MIDI synthesizer, even though they are extremely out dated, so they can be deleted if you wish.

3) Create another Temp folder on your hard drive. Name this folder FFVIII_Temp.
4) Copy the files from all the other disc”s (CD”s 1,2,3 and 4) into the FFVIII_Temp folder.

5) Next we will do a file check. In the FFVIII_Temp folder you should have the following files:
DISCX.pak (X = 1,2,3,4), DISCX (X = 1,2,3,4), FIELD2.FS, FIELD.FL , FIELD.FS and FIELD.FI
Note: FIELD.FS, FIELD.FI and FIELD.FL are the same on all CDs so you only need to extract them once, if you do you can just overwrite the files.

6) Now we need to compress all the files in the FFVIII_Temp folder into a SFX archive (SelF eXtracting archive).
To create an SFX archive you will need WinRAR. Download a trial version of WinRAR from http://www.rarlab.com/

Once you have installed WinRAR open the program and then browse to the FFVIII_Temp folder and highlight all of the files inside the folder and then click add. In the new dialog box make sure the archive format selected is RAR, then go to the Archiving Options and select Create SFX archive. Now make sure to name the archive FinalFantasyVIIISFX.exe.
Important!: The filename has to be written exactly as it is written otherwise the custom installer will not work. Now click OK and WinRAR will begin compressing the files.

Note: WinRAR can take up to 2 hours compressing the files, so be patient!

More advanced users might want to click the Advanced tab and then click the SFX options and change some these options like changing the path that the SFX archive will extract to, change the icon, change the log used and other options, however this is NOT required.

7) After the SFX archive has been created move the archive from the FFVIII_Temp folder to the Final_Fantasy_VIII_DVD with the other files. You can now delete the FFVIII_Temp folder.

8) Create a folder within the Final_Fantasy_VIII_DVD folder. Call this folder: Update.
Place the 1.02 update in this folder. It can be downloaded from Gamespot.

9) Create another folder within the Final_Fantasy_VIII_DVD folder. Call this folder Crack.
Place the 1.02 crack in this folder.
Note: Using Google search for: Final Fantasy 8 v1.2/GeForce [10.4 MB] No CD Executables.

10) Download my Final Fantasy Custom Install Menu from here and extract the contents of the RAR file to the Final_Fantasy_VIII_DVD folder overwriting any files if prompted.
(Custom Installer created by Shinyrory)

11) Burn the contents of the Final_Fantasy_VIII_DVD folder to a DVD using the label (name): Final_Fantasy_VIII_DVD.

Install and Play Instructions:
1) To install the game place the DVD into your DVD tray and wait for it to start. If it does not start by itself then double click My Computer, right click the DVD icon select explore and double click FFVIII_autorun.exe.

2) Once the custom installer has started click Install FF VIII and follow the instructions.

After Click Install SFX follow the instructions.
Note: Make sure that the SFX archive is extracted to the same root directory as the other files you just installed. By default it is:
C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc\FINAL FANTASY VIII

3) Next install the 1.02 update. Make sure to choose the correct update as is stated in the RAR file.
Note: Overwrite any files if asked.

4) Finally extract the correct crack to the install directory.
Note: Overwrite any files if asked.

Now you can play the game without the CD’s!

NOTE: This conversion was recreated from the original conversion by Leiw & VanTokkern.

Conversion by: Shinyrory