V-Gears Roadmap

Here you can learn about the current state of V-Gears, so you can know what to expect.

I try to summarize what is working, what isn't, what is being done, what is left, what is blocking development...

Most of it is grouped by sections, and this is a simple legend to understand it.

Comments by the developer.
Implemented and working, if not in full, at least just enough. Some superfluous details may be missing, but in general, playable.
Partially implemented, can be played or skipped, or maybe it's annoying, but it doesn't block gameplay.
Unimplemented, it probably blocks gameplay.
Debug tools available, for developers.

The easiest part to implement. I'm implementing menus as needed, and they don't take too much time, so expect them to be done soon.
All the menu icons and images are extracted from the original game during installation.
The initial menu is working. It can start a new game, load a saved game, and even has some debug options to test various contents, such as specific maps, battles...
The main menu is working. It's fully navigable, and the submenus that are currently implemented can be accessed from it.
The item menu is almost done. Both the normal and the key item windows are fully navigable, and healing objects can be used. For now, items are not sortable, and source items can't be used on characters.
The equip menu is working. Weapons, armors and accessories can be equipped to party characters, and their stat changes are applied to the characters.
The materia menu is almost working. Materia can be equipped to party characters, and their stat changes are applied to the characters. Support materia is not working yet, and the menu advanced functions (sort, exchange...) are not implemented.
The status menu is not implemented yet.
The limit menu is not implemented yet.
The config menu is not implemented yet.
The PHS menu is not implemented yet.
The save menu is working. Games can be saved. Save points are not implemented, though, so the game can be saved anytime.
There are debug tools to isolate individual windows. Not very useful though. The beginning menu includes several debug shortcuts.

Most of the work is done. There is always some obscure instruction, or some tricky map that may give headaches but, slowly, all those problems will probably be fixed.
Most field maps are extracted during installation, and can be played (via console). A few of them still give problems and are skipped.
All field models are extracted during installation. All of them work, with textures, animations...
All dialog data is extracted during installation and shown correctly, including colours, transparencies, choices...
Some rare opcodes are not working, which can prevent some paps from being played, effectively softlocking the game.
Random encounters are not implemented. When triggered from the console, the battles do not correspond to the ones in the field map.
Some triggers (hidden "lines" that trigger scripted events) are not properly calibrated, and some can be skipped or triggered from too far.
In some maps, the walkmesh is way off from the background, preventing the player from moving.
FMVs are not played. They are just skipped, so they don't block the gameplay.
Map music is implemented, and plays the correct one for each map. Sounds are also extracted during installation, but some of them are wrong.
There are some useful debug tools here. The walkmesh can be made visible, and model names, positions, and current animation names can also be displayed.

I have barely touched this part. I have the feeling that, once the data is extracted from the original game, it will be no harder than field maps, but I can't say for sure yet.
Unimplemented. Some data is extracted during installation, but it's still unusable.

Overall, the hardest part of the game to implement. Too many models, animations, cameras, attacks, AI instructions... Battles will probably take a while to implement in full.
Battle models for player, enemies, and backgrounds are extracted and useable. The backgrounds look a bit weird, and animated backgrounds are static, but for player and enemies, the models are fully functional, including textures, animations...
Attack models (magic, summons, items...) are extracted and shown, but they are not textured.
Weapon models are not shown.
The Battle UI is shown. Some menus are navigable (main menu, magic menu), other aren't (items, throw, target selection...)
Player abilities, such as commands, magic, summons... correspond to the materia equipped to the character.
The Battle UI is shown. Some menus are navigable (main menu, magic menu), other aren't (items, throw, target selection...)
Attacks or commands can't be executed, so the battle can not end (there is a shortcut to exit them).
AI is not implemented, neither for enemies, nor for allies (this includes counterattacks, cover... anything done automatically).
The camera is static, it doesn't move during the battle.
The spoil screens (exp, ap, gil, items...) are not implemented.
Some of the field map debug tools can also be used here. Model names, positions, and current animation names can be displayed.

The installer is a tool that extracts data from an original Final Fantasy VII PC game and converts it to a format readable by V-Gears. It's quite easy to use, you only have to provide the path to a previously extracted ISO. Over time, I would like the installer to work with the PS1 version of the game since is more ubiquitous, but for now, only the PC version works.
Field data completely extracted. This includes backgrounds, models, animations, dialogs... Some maps are skipped to prevent errors.
Multimedia data completely extracted. This includes images, icons, sounds, musics...
Game data completely extracted. This includes enemy data, character stats, item prices, static texts, and many other things.
Battle data partially extracted. Battle models for player and enemies are extracted in full, including animations and textures. Battle scenarios are also extracted, but the animated ones are not yet animated. Attack models (magic, summons, etc.) are extracted and animated, but not textured. AI data is not extracted
World map data partially extracted, but it requires further processing to be useful.
The installer includes options to skip certain time-consuming steps.