Before Crisis - Remake
A downloadable game for Windows
Before Crisis tells the story of the Investigation Sector of The General Affairs Department, also simply known as Turks, a organization working for the Shinra Electric Power Company, a famous name in the world of Final Fantasy 7. 
Before Crisis starts seven years before the events of FF7, and you get to see the daily life of the turks, making missions for the company, fighting against the first group of mercenaries known as AVALANCHE, who are trying to protect the planet from ShinRA, who is little by little destroying it, taking the mako energy from the earth (That in this case, is the planet Gaia).
You basically play as the villain, seeing their perspectives of what they do, even though it may look wrong for everyone else.
Famous characters of the FF7 universe are present, as Reno, Rude, and Tseng. But you play as Shotgun, a rookie starting your first day working for the turks, and you see her journey in those seven years, meeting all the new turks, looking for a reason to keep fighting, and witnessing events that will lead to the beginning of FF7.
*This is a remake of the game Before Crisis released only in Japan.
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Development log
- Improvements!Jul 18, 2020
- Last moment updateMay 10, 2020
- Added Tseng EpisodeMay 09, 2020
Comments
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Hi Richterwilker, I've just started playing this as my boyfriend and I are looking into the Compilation of FFVII content. I can't begin to express how grateful I am to you for having made this.
That being said, I wanted to offer my services; I've noticed that even after the proofreading, there are quite a few typos left (Like the shop menu saying "itens" instead of "items," for example, or the inconsistent way Shinra/Shin-Ra/Shin-RA is spelled).
Would you be willing to collaborate so I could fix the remaining typos, etc.? I've done work on similar projects in the past. You can look me up as FlamePurge on ROM hacking dot net.
Let me know what you think. Thanks!
Hi. Thanks for the kind words.
About the game, i agree. It certainly needs a little more polish here and there. If i had the time, i would probably rework the whole battle system and retouch the pixel art more carefully.
I'm grateful for the offer, but i don't know if i myself can be of much help in a collaboration, as i am busy at the moment, doing online courses, a full-time job and other stuff from real life.
If you want to go forward and do it, i think the best i could help would be input on how some of the stuff was made, or specifics parts where you may want an explanation of why something was worded a certain way. Nonetheless, i appreciate your interest.
My idea was that I would just edit the text files for typos and such. The thing is, I don't know how to do that with the completed game. I don't see a way to edit them easily.
The game can be opened in "edit" mode by using Rpg tsukuru 2003 (or Rpg maker 2003).
Text is stored within events (that are either a sprite or pink squares on the map), and these can be edited easily. The thing is: This is legit a massive amount of text, That would take quite a while to be finished. And there is a catch: Some events are repeated in certain maps. Like, sometimes the player can walk up, left or right, so the same event to trigger dialogue may be repeated 3 times. Probably just editing one event and copy-pasting it in place where the other two are could work.
I imagine that the most practical process for finding and fixing typos would be like:
- playing the game until a typo is found > going back to the editor and finding the map where the event with that specific text is > fixing it and play-testing to see if nothing is broken.
Seems simple enough, but i have to emphasize that it is a time consuming task. For being a cell-phone game, this has so much more text that one would expect.
Hey man i'm playing on windows 10 and does this work with a xbox one controller? It's like the game just doesn't respond to it being on at all. Also had a curious question how much story does the remake cover including the reno episode and tseng episode.
I'm not sure about the controller, never used one on this game.
About the story, if i remember right, the only thing missing is Special Episode - Legend, and the post game where the player would have to hunt Zirconiade Along other players.
i can't find much about these anywhere, so i basically don't have resources or a basis on how to recreate them faithfully. It is pretty much lost media, even in video form.
I'm trying to play this game on Windows (11), and i got to the part where Sephiroth is being called by Reno in chapter 2, and the game just... Stops. The music still plays but nothing happens, i just have a (cool looking) picture of Sephiroth in front of a dead behemoth (?) and nothing i tried does anything. i tried both the exe in the rar and using easyRPG, it happens with both
From the top of my memory, there is an event there that should move to the right. Press right and it may works.
And to avoid other bugs like this, do not skip text boxes too fast. Wait for the text to fill in and the event to finish, then skip it.
I don't know if anyone will see this, but I can't launch the game, I've tried the website version and itch.io embedded version. All that happens is it launches, the goes to desktop not allowing me to open the game. I've tried image scaling disabled and enabled and still can't get it to work. Am I just missing something or what?
Are you trying to run on windows? Maybe using EasyRPG may fix it.
Controls - arrow keys = movement
z = fire
x = menu
space is interact/talk
esc = cancel
using dxwn to run in fullscreen, which works fine except videos still play in windowed mode.
PLayed Tseng's campaign a bit, worked fine. Then the Rpg advocate started being cool. No idea who the rpg advocate is, but they are full of themselves and need to relax. No sir, it is not cool.
For some reason my directional keyboard keys don't work when I boot up the game. Shotgun immediately runs upward at the beginning and on the title screen, it just cycles between the three options. Any way to fix this? I even tried using my Xbox One controller to see if that would do anything.
PROOF:
it didn't happen before, as far as i know. Maybe it has something to do with your keyboard? I guess trying a different kind of input may help.
Hi, such a question. I was interested in the game and the engine on which it was created. I would like to know if I can translate your project into another language?
It was made in rpgmaker 2003. You can translate it, sure. Someone translated it to spanish some time ago. I warn you that it is alot of text.
yes i saw it, thanks
Hey, for some reason it starts for me at the Tseng Episode. Is there something I've done wrong?
if you talk to Tseng, he will give you the option to play Episode Tseng. To play the normal game, you have to pick the cellphone with Veld and go out from the south door.
Hello there, I've started playing the game and I'm now stuck at Episode 7's fortress. There are two boms that are blocking the corridor that takes me to the next area. When I fight them, they don't disappear and they are not moving. Is there a way to solve this or am I in a dead end?
you just need to get some distance from them. They're running from you, if you give them space, they'll go somewhere else.
I tried that, walking to the farther part of the map and the enemies were still blocking the way when I came back to check if they moved. I also stayed still away from them just to see if they move, but it's no use either. It seems all enemies on that level stay still once you fight them 2-3 times
they're set to escape from the hero direction after defeated. I guess if two of them got to the end of the corridor and the map doesn't have an area for you to manipulate their movement backwards, so you really may be stuck.
The best way to prevent this is probably just keeping more than one save, in case something like that happens.
Hey man, loving the game so far. Great job on this remake!
Just wanted to ask, what's the song on the title screen? It's lit, but what's the name?
nvm, I found it.
Theme of Elfe, for anyone else who might be wondering.
Thank you for making this. It was the only part the compilation that I was never able to play before. I actually expected to hate Before Crisis, but contrary to my expectation, I really love it. I love how it ties together some of the subplots in the FF7 compilation and simultaneously gives us a better impression of the Turks.
Hi, i'm loving the game so far, but during the mission where you do recon on Reno I appear to have gotten stuck before the going down the manhole in sector 8. It keeps saying 'unknown event with id 5'. It seemed to be scripted up until this point so not sure how I would've gotten around it otherwise. Any help is appreciated, keep up the good work!
maybe you're skipping the dialogue boxes a bit too fast. Try going a little slower. I've made this game some time ago, so there is some visible inexperience by my part in the way it was coded, like some bugs that could be avoided, but i let pass.
Hello, I'm french, and I like to know if there's a way to access text files in order to translate them ? I would be ok to give you back all the translate work if you want to take and distribute by yourself. Let me know please.
if you have rpgmaker2003 or rpgtsukuru 2003 on your pc, you can access the text files on the game and edit them. If you feel like translating it, feel free to do it. You can post it too, no problem. It would be alot of work, though.
Hello i found a rpgmaker 2003 but i don't know how to open the project : if i try to open it says that datas are corrupted.
Maybe i don't have the good version. Would you have a link to download the good one ? Or maybe it's when i wanted to open that i got a problem. Thanks by advance.
Maybe it is the version of rpgmaker that you have. I originally made this game in rpgtsukuru 2003. After you've download, you're probably going to need to download the RTP package too.
Hello, thank you very much, RTBs worked well. This done, I realized the work I was going to have to accomplish... But yours must have been enormous !!!
Bravo to you ! Now I still have a problem when I modify the texts :
It works but if I export the folder to another computer everything goes back to English. Do you know why it does not stay in French when I have saved the maps? Thank you in advance.
you prpbably have to playtest and keep multiple saves at multiple points of the game, to be sure that what you translated is working properly when testing in other computers.
Also, you know we're probably getting an official before crisis remake some time in the future with Ever Crisis, right? Just saying that in case you want to rethink all the work you would have to put on this translation.
I love the game seen it all over youtube. The only problem I'm having with running the game after I finaly downloaded it is an error that states "the rpg maker 2003 runtime package is not present or not registered" I have windos 10, and the game looked top notch. The closest game to the sorce game I've ever seen. Help🤷♂️
So I've figured out how to get it running but the character is invisible durring combat. I've tryed multi versions of something called ezrpg but it still happens.
I've played a major portion of the game already, I've been wondering if the whole game is Shotgun by herself or if you gain party members. I just got up to seeing Zack for the first time. Feels like i'm playing breath of fire with no party members lol.
I have same problem with easy rpg ,invisible player..i download both the site version and the playstore and problem no solve...Thanks so much!! I love FFVII!!Zack is the best!
Hey Richterwilker, I’m a journalist writing a piece about fan translations. I’d love to talk to you about your work on Before Crisis! If you want to reach out send me an email at madsenhayes@gmail.com.
Looks good just a shame you need to download another program to play it
It is a pc game, it works on pc just fine. In case you want to play it on android, then you install easyrpg.
I tried to install it on pc but it only takes me to a page on firefox to download something. I assume it's what it needs to play but I can't even install it either.
you click rpg_rt.exe and it should just start the game, not open a web browser.
what is BC- Episode Reno. Is that a side story to Before Crisis?
it is an extra episode not included within the main game.
oh ok
Is it normal that i cannot see my character ?
Using easyrpg player on my galaxy s8.
I'm super excited to try this game :)
probably a bug for this version of easyrpg. Some work fine, and some have small bugs like this.
Just installed the beta version from the website (instead of the play store version) and it solved the problem.
Thanks !
Hi, I can't find anything in the playstore when I look for "before crisis", how did you get it on mobile ?
Thanks
There are numerous videos on YouTube showing you how, so i won't get into detail, but here are the steps :
1. Install EasyRPG Player. I use the beta version from their official website (not from the playstore).
2. Download and unzip the game from this website. (It is not on the playstore)
3. Load the game with the app on your phone.
Ok, thanks a lot. I try this.
Swinging back into this comment section in case someone comes across it who knows what to do/how easyRPG works on macOS:
The EasyRPG software runs and opens perfectly on my mac! But I'm unsure how to actually install the game – or any game for that matter – into the software so I can play them haha. I can't find anything clear online to help me 😭 I can only find Windows tutorials and it's very different. Thanks in advance to anybody who helps!
SOLVED: For anyone in the same boat that I was using MacOS!
After unzipping the Before Crisis game file, drag and place the EasyRPG Player application into that game folder and you should be good to go!
Hey Richter! I'm a big fan of this remake. The archival reasons, alone, make this one of the best fan projects on the web!
I do have a couple of questions, though. Are there any plans for the remaining pieces of story content (Episode Legend and Jade WEAPON) to be completed? Also, are there any plans to let you switch to one of the other player Turks besides Shotgun? Just curious! Thanks again for all of your hard work on this!
Glad you liked it. I did some more fixes this year and worked a few extra episodes (Tseng and Reno), but that's honestly all i'm ever going to do, as i don't have alot of free time anymore.
If you feel like it, maybe check the other games i made. They're all free, of course.
Dang, that's unfortunate. I understand life getting busy, though. If you ever change your mind, know you'll have at least one fan out there who'd play them! If not, thank you again for your dedication to recreating all of this!
This is amazing! I just found out about this. I've wanted to see the story of this game forever. How many episodes are present in this version? Is it the complete game or just partial?
I believe it's everything except Episode Legend and the Jade WEAPON post-game.
This is really cool of you to make, and I've been wanting to play it for some time now! Is there a way this is playable on a mac os? (unfortunately all of my devices are apple 😭)
I'm mostly sure you can play it if you use easyrpg on mac. Not 100% sure, tho.
Thanks! I'll try it out :D
Hi, I'm a huge fan from Japan. I really would love to play this game but I'm not good at English. I know this maybe asking too much from you but would there any way that you could upload a japanese version? Thank you very much.
Hi. I'm sorry, but that would be too much work, and i honestly don't speak japanese well enough to retranslate it.
The game doesn't work. When I try to launch it, this error comes up
Not sure why this would be happening. Maybe you should try playing on your phone with easyrpg.
I tried EasyRPG, and the game works now. Thank you
how do i battle? i can't seem to figure out the controls... is there a manual for the game... excuse my noobness
I started the game and spoke to a guy who tells me about His mission . the game tells me that the battles are real.time...but then I can't hut the enemies...I keep dying no matter what I press...
Also, is there a way I can play this game on my phone?
Or at least on my PC, how do I make it not full screen? I'm on windows 10 and my screen is massive the game looks horrendous compared to YouTube videos on my phone.
So ... Is there a way i can rescale it?
Thank you so much for your hard work!
You may be playing tseng episode. You have to press z to shoot from a distance.
If you have an android phone, you can install easyrpg and play the game there.
Thank you for the quick reply you lovely human!
Im loving the game on mobile however the movies can't be played ... are there loads of movies? Will it effect my experience?
I think movies were not implemented on easyrpg, but the rest of the game can be played with no problems. The movie is only the intro.
you don't need the rtp, it should work as is. Anyway, if you have an android phone, you can install easyrpg and play the game on your phone.
I know this game was probably abandoned 20 million years ago butI was playing it for lore reasons and I'm stuck in the Shinra manor bc the enemies have literally barricaded me in.what do I even do
It depends, the enemies got you stuck into a corner? Well, i guess you either have to fight them or try to find your way around. keeping multiple saves is also a good idea, in case something like this happen.
Do you have episode legend??
I’m dying to play!!
When i start the game, it launches full screen in a little window. I don't know how to fix this to go fullscreen, compatibility options don't work, could you help?
Nevermind, to anyone with similiar issues, check scalling options in your graphics driver :)
Are all 3 dls here? How to run an episode of Tseng, please tell me, because I can not. I have already passed the game. And the last question is whether it is possible to leave the episode to the headquarters.
tho play the episode Tseng, you probably need to download the latest version of the game, as it is something i implemented recently. You just need to talk to Tseng at the beginning of the game to play the extra mission.
About getting to base, you get there when you finish the game. There, you can go to a chapter select room.
Thanks for the answer, I had to create a new game, and I came in from the last save and started 1 episode. Is this the only special episode? You are not planning to add Weapon mod?
Sadly, there's no visual archive of how Weapon functions in the game, at least as far as i know. I usually work by recreating scenarios and sprites through screenshots, video footage and a description of how it plays, to make it as close to the original as possible.
Itch.io forbids me from downloading the game if I have too many network errors. My connection is bad and I know it's standard practice to forbid downloads after too many errors, is there an alternative way to download?
sure, you can also find it on rpgmaker.net and gamejolt. A google search may take you there, i think my username is also the same in there.
Thanks I hope I can play this, been looking forward to playing in some capacity for years
Thanks heaps, have been looking for an emulator to play this for years. Is this all of the games they released for the mobile phone?
Thanks! thanks! thanks!
Unofrunatly, game crash "call an event that missing" in chapter... 5 I think... when Shotgun need to ho in sector 8 after that Rude is gone to "bar" in Midgar
You probably just need to pass the dialogue boxes a little slower.
It's work! thanks!
You are a hero.