Font files

FF8 character are part of a font file. A font file define what are the characters that the game understand, and which hexa correspond.

There is several different font files for FF8, depending on the language. Mainly known there is:

The FF8GameData repository contains lots of data from the game and should be up-to-date with all new knowledge.

Char

There is 4 types of char

TextChar

Correspondant to a letter, number or special character in the alphabet

Hex value Char Size
0x03 \n 1
0x21 0 1
0x22 1 1
0x23 2 1
0x24 3 1
0x25 4 1
0x26 5 1
0x27 6 1
0x28 7 1
0x29 8 1
0x2a 9 1
0x2b % 1
0x2c / 1
0x2d : 1
0x2e ! 1
0x2f ? 1
0x30 … 1
0x31 + 1
0x32 - 1
0x33 = 1
0x34 * 1
0x35 & 1
0x36 「 1
0x37 」 1
0x38 ( 1
0x39 ) 1
0x3a · 1
0x3b . 1
0x3c , 1
0x3d ~ 1
0x3e ” 1
0x3f “ 1
0x40 ‘ 1
0x41 # 1
0x42 $ 1
0x43 ’ 1
0x44 _ 1
0x45 A 1
0x46 B 1
0x47 C 1
0x48 D 1
0x49 E 1
0x4a F 1
0x4b G 1
0x4c H 1
0x4d I 1
0x4e J 1
0x4f K 1
0x50 L 1
0x51 M 1
0x52 N 1
0x53 O 1
0x54 P 1
0x55 Q 1
0x56 R 1
0x57 S 1
0x58 T 1
0x59 U 1
0x5a V 1
0x5b W 1
0x5c X 1
0x5d Y 1
0x5e Z 1
0x5f a 1
0x60 b 1
0x61 c 1
0x62 d 1
0x63 e 1
0x64 f 1
0x65 g 1
0x66 h 1
0x67 i 1
0x68 j 1
0x69 k 1
0x6a l 1
0x6b m 1
0x6c n 1
0x6d o 1
0x6e p 1
0x6f q 1
0x70 r 1
0x71 s 1
0x72 t 1
0x73 u 1
0x74 v 1
0x75 w 1
0x76 x 1
0x77 y 1
0x78 z 1
0x79 À 1
0x7a Á 1
0x7b  1
0x7c Ä 1
0x7d Ç 1
0x7e È 1
0x7f É 1
0x80 Ê 1
0x81 Ë 1
0x82 Ì 1
0x83 Í 1
0x84 Î 1
0x85 Ï 1
0x86 Ñ 1
0x87 Ò 1
0x88 Ó 1
0x89 Ô 1
0x8a Ö 1
0x8b Ù 1
0x8c Ú 1
0x8d Û 1
0x8e Ü 1
0x8f Π1
0x90 ß 1
0x91 à 1
0x92 á 1
0x93 â 1
0x94 ä 1
0x95 ç 1
0x96 è 1
0x97 é 1
0x98 ê 1
0x99 ë 1
0x9a ì 1
0x9b í 1
0x9c î 1
0x9d ï 1
0x9e ñ 1
0x9f ò 1
0xa0 ó 1
0xa1 ô 1
0xa2 ö 1
0xa3 ù 1
0xa4 ú 1
0xa5 û 1
0xa6 ü 1
0xa7 œ 1
0xa9 [ 1
0xaa ] 1
0xab ■ 1
0xac ○ 1
0xad ♦ 1
0xae 【 1
0xaf 】 1
0xb0 □ 1
0xb2 『 1
0xb3 』 1
0xb5 ; 1
0xb7 ¯ 1
0xb8 × 1
0xbb ↓ 1
0xbc ° 1
0xbd ¡ 1
0xbe ¿ 1
0xbf ─ 1
0xc0 « 1
0xc1 » 1
0xc2 ± 1
0xc3 ♫ 1
0xc5 ↑ 1
0xc9 ™ 1
0xca < 1
0xcb > 1
0xe2 ® 1

CompressedTextChar:

To limit the space, some “char” are actually 2 chars. It means that for one hexa value, the corresponding char is 2 chars. To differentiate those one from the previous one, {} are put around

Hex value Char Size
0xe8 {in} 2
0xe9 {e } 2
0xea {ne} 2
0xeb {to} 2
0xec {re} 2
0xed {HP} 2
0xee {l } 2
0xef {ll} 2
0xf0 {GF} 2
0xf1 {nt} 2
0xf2 {il} 2
0xf3 {o } 2
0xf4 {ef} 2
0xf5 {on} 2
0xf6 { w} 2
0xf7 { r} 2
0xf8 {wi} 2
0xf9 {fi} 2
0xfa {EC} 2
0xfb {s } 2
0xfc {ar} 2
0xfd {FE} 2
0xfe { S} 2
0xff {ag} 2

SpecialCommand:

Correspond to 2 hex values that are replaced by a long string. For example, 0x0c60 correspond to “Quezacotl”. We also surround the string in {}. The list can be found in FF8GameData sysfnt info In this sub category, there is several subsection (with some not yet discovered)

Location and generic text (changing depending of languages)

This values are full word that are shorted in just 2 bytes of data to compress. Location are variable that depends of the language. Hex value: 0x0e List of possible values:

Hex value Char Size
0x0e20 {Galbadia} 2
0x0e21 {Esthar} 2
0x0e22 {Balamb} 2
0x0e23 {Dollet} 2
0x0e24 {Timber} 2
0x0e25 {Trabia} 2
0x0e26 {Centra} 2
0x0e27 {Horizon} 2
0x0e28 {East Academy} 2
0x0e29 {Desert Prison} 2
0x0e2a {Trabia Garden} 2
0x0e2b {Lunar Base} 2
0x0e2c {Shumi Village} 2
0x0e2d {Deling City} 2
0x0e2e {Balamb Garden} 2
0x0e2f {East Academy Station} 2
0x0e30 {Dolet Station} 2
0x0e31 {Desert Prison Station} 2
0x0e32 {Lunar Gate} 2
0x0e33 {Restores} 2
0x0e34 {status} 2
0x0e35 {learns} 2
0x0e36 {ability} 2
0x0e37 {Magic} 2
0x0e38 {Refine} 2
0x0e39 {Junctions} 2
0x0e3a {Raises} 2
0x0e3b {command} 2
0x0e3c {Magazine} 2
0x0e3d {Ultimecia Castle} 2
0x0e3f {Deling} 2

Icons

Hex value: 0x0e List of possible values:

Hex value Char Size
0x0500 {Selector} 2
0x0501 {Selector} 2
0x0502 {Selector} 2
0x0503 {Selector} 2
0x0504 {Selector} 2
0x0505 {Selector} 2
0x0511 {Selector} 2
0x0512 {Selector} 2
0x0513 {Selector} 2
0x0514 {Selector} 2
0x0515 {Selector} 2
0x0516 {Selector} 2
0x0517 {Selector} 2
0x0518 {Selector} 2
0x0519 {Selector} 2
0x051a {Selector} 2
0x051b {Selector} 2
0x051c {Selector} 2
0x051d {Selector} 2
0x051e {Selector} 2
0x051f {Selector} 2
0x0520 {L2} 2
0x0521 {R2} 2
0x0522 {L1} 2
0x0523 {R1} 2
0x0524 {Circle} 2
0x0525 {Triangle} 2
0x0526 {X} 2
0x0527 {Square} 2
0x0528 {SELECT} 2
0x0529 {0x0529:None} 2
0x052a {0x052a:None} 2
0x052b {START} 2
0x052c {CrossTop} 2
0x052d {CrossRight} 2
0x052e {CrossDown} 2
0x052f {CrossLeft} 2
0x0530 {L2} 2
0x0531 {R2} 2
0x0532 {L1} 2
0x0533 {R1} 2
0x0534 {Circle} 2
0x0535 {Triangle} 2
0x0536 {X} 2
0x0537 {Square} 2
0x0538 {SELECT} 2
0x0539 {0x0539:None} 2
0x053a {0x053a:None} 2
0x053b {START} 2
0x053c {CrossTop} 2
0x053d {CrossRight} 2
0x053e {CrossDown} 2
0x053f {CrossLeft} 2
0x0540 {0x0540:None} 2
0x0541 {MagicJunctioned} 2
0x0542 {LimitBreakArrow} 2
0x0543 {GreenStar} 2
0x0544 {YellowStar(InMainTeam)} 2
0x0545 {JunctionAbility} 2
0x0546 {CommandAbility} 2
0x0547 {CharacterAbility} 2
0x0548 {CharacterAbility} 2
0x0549 {PartyAbility} 2
0x054a {GFAbility} 2
0x054b {MenuAbility} 2
0x054c {Potion} 2
0x054d {GFPotion} 2
0x054e {TentItem} 2
0x054f {MagicStoneItem} 2
0x0550 {PistolItem} 2
0x0551 {BookItem} 2
0x0552 {RockItem} 2
0x0553 {Dead} 2
0x0554 {PoisonStatus} 2
0x0555 {Petrify} 2
0x0556 {Darkness} 2
0x0557 {Silence} 2
0x0558 {Berserk} 2
0x0559 {Zombie} 2
0x055a {Death} 2
0x055b {Death} 2
0x055c {Death} 2
0x055d {Fire} 2
0x055e {Ice} 2
0x055f {Thunder} 2
0x0560 {Earth} 2
0x0561 {PoisonType} 2
0x0562 {Wind} 2
0x0563 {Water} 2
0x0564 {Holy} 2
0x0565 {Death} 2
0x0566 {PoisonStatus} 2
0x0567 {Petrify} 2
0x0568 {Darkness} 2
0x0569 {Silence} 2
0x056a {Berserk} 2
0x056b {Zombie} 2
0x056c {Sleep} 2
0x056d {Slow} 2
0x056e {Stop} 2
0x056f {Curse} 2
0x0570 {Confuse} 2
0x0571 {Drain} 2
0x0572 {StatusAttackYellow} 2
0x0573 {StatusDefenseYellow} 2
0x0574 {ElementalAttackYellow} 2
0x0575 {ElementalDefenseYellow} 2
0x0576 {HPYellow} 2
0x0577 {StrengthYellow} 2
0x0578 {VitalityYellow} 2
0x0579 {MagicYellow} 2
0x057a {SpiritYellow} 2
0x057b {SpeedYellow} 2
0x057c {EvadeYellow} 2
0x057d {HitYellow} 2
0x057e {LuckYellow} 2
0x057f {Selector} 2
0x0580 {LimitBreakArrow} 2

Colors

Hex value: 0x06 List of possible values:

Hex value Char Size
0x0620 {Darkgrey} 2
0x0621 {Grey} 2
0x0622 {Yellow} 2
0x0623 {Red} 2
0x0624 {Green} 2
0x0625 {Blue} 2
0x0626 {Purple} 2
0x0627 {White} 2
0x0628 {DarkgreyBlink} 2
0x0629 {GreyBlink} 2
0x062a {YellowBlink} 2
0x062b {RedBlink} 2
0x062c {GreenBlink} 2
0x062d {BlueBlink} 2
0x062e {PurpleBlink} 2
0x062f {WhiteBlink} 2

Characters

Hex value: 0x03 List of possible values:

Hex value Char Size
0x0330 {Squall} 2
0x0331 {Zell} 2
0x0332 {Irvine} 2
0x0333 {Quistis} 2
0x0334 {Rinoa} 2
0x0335 {Selphie} 2
0x0336 {Seifer} 2
0x0337 {Edea} 2
0x0338 {Laguna} 2
0x0339 {Kiros} 2
0x033a {Ward} 2
0x0340 {Angelo} 2
0x0350 {Griever} 2
0x0360 {Boko} 2

Guardian force

Hex value: 0x0c List of possible values:

Hex value Char Size
0x0c60 {Quezacotl} 2
0x0c61 {Shiva} 2
0x0c62 {Ifrit} 2
0x0c63 {Sire} 2
0x0c64 {Brothers} 2
0x0c65 {Diablos} 2
0x0c66 {Carbuncle} 2
0x0c67 {Leviathan} 2
0x0c68 {Pandemona} 2
0x0c69 {Cerberus} 2
0x0c6a {Alexander} 2
0x0c6b {Doomtrain} 2
0x0c6c {Bahamut} 2
0x0c6d {Cactuar} 2
0x0c6e {Tonberry} 2
0x0c6f {Eden} 2

GenericCommand

Correspond to 2 or 3 hexa values that activate a certain code from the game, so that does a specific action.

Control opcode overview

Every byte in the range 0x00-0x1F is a control opcode rather than a printable glyph. The game’s text engine reads a byte, and if it is below 0x20 it is treated as a command; most commands consume one following parameter byte (noted “size 2” below). Bytes 0x20 and above are normal glyphs (see TextChar).

The table below is the full opcode map as interpreted by the shared battle/menu text engine (ProcessBattleTextExpansion and Text_FetchNextToken in the game executable, see the Reference addresses table). The field/world text uses the same opcode numbering.

Opcode Size Name Description
0x00 1 EndOfString Terminates the string.
0x01 1 NewPage Ends the current page: waits for input, clears the window, then shows the next page.
0x02 1 NewLine (\n) Line break. Some windows ignore it.
0x03 2 CharaName Inserts a character name. Param selects which name (see Characters).
0x04 2 Var Inserts a numeric variable read from the active text layer. Param selects slot & format ({Var0},{Var00},{Varb0}).
0x05 2 Icon Draws a symbol from icon.tex (controller button, status icon…). See Icons.
0x06 2 Color Changes the text color / blink for the rest of the line. See Colors.
0x07 1 NewPage (variant) Handled identically to 0x01 by the engine: a page break / page terminator.
0x08 2 (unused) Consumes a parameter byte but produces no visible output in the known engines.
0x09 2 Wait Pause. Param = number of frames to wait ({Wait000}).
0x0A 2 Value (context) Inserts a context-specific value (number or string) filled in by the active screen. See Context value.
0x0B 2-3 CursorLocation Marks a cursor stop / choice position. See Cursor location ID.
0x0C 2 GuardianForce Inserts a GF name. See Guardian force.
0x0D 2 (unused) Consumes a parameter byte but produces no visible output in the known engines.
0x0E 2 Location/Word Inserts a location or generic word (language-dependent). See Location and generic text.
0x0F 2 (unused) Consumes a parameter byte but produces no visible output in the known engines.
0x19-0x1B 2 JP glyph page Two-byte Japanese glyph; the lead byte selects font table 1/2/3.
0x1C 2 AddJp Japanese text variant ({Jp000}).
0x1D-0x1F 2 Extended glyph Two-byte extended/Japanese glyph pages (mostly unused on the western build).

Note on the “unused” opcodes 0x08, 0x0D, 0x0F: the battle and menu text engines still read and skip their parameter byte, but no glyph is emitted. They are not referenced by known text and should be treated as reserved. If you meet them in real data, keep them untouched.

End of string, New page

The new page is a special one on himself, I don’t know for sure what it does exactly, but should create a “new page” The end of string is an empty character, but that is stored in hex as 0x00 to tell the game the string is over. See FF8 String for more info

Hex value Char Size
0x00   1
0x01 {NewPage} 1

Cursor location ID

In the game the cursor can be placed at many places. There is one ID per different text possibility, considering all game possibilities. So even though you can see only few in a single page, on each page the different possible position have a unique ID.

The hex value for a cursor location ID is 0x0b, followed by either 1 or 2 bytes depending on the complexity of the ID (there is one byte for the Yes No question, and 2 when multiples choices) If used with only 1 byte, the value is not unique (wouldn’t have enough value possible), it is used for example for Yes/No question in the test seed for example. For seed test, it is always id 0x20 and 0x21 for yes/no.

Hex value Char Size
0x0b {cursor_location_id:0x..(..)} 2 or 3

Context value (0x0a)

The hex value for a context value is 0x0a, followed by one parameter byte (size 2).

It works like the 0x04 Var opcode, but instead of a fixed variable it inserts a value that the active screen fills in just before drawing the text. The parameter byte is a slot number; the engine converts the slot’s value into digit glyphs (for a number) or copies it as a string. Because each screen loads its own values into these slots, the same 0x0a code means different things in different places - the meanings below are per-context, not global.

Hex value Char Size
0x0a {0x0a..} 2

Known values in the SeeD written test screen (menu program 23). These are the slots read by Menu_SeedTest_ParseCursorStops and filled by Menu_SeedTest_Update:

Hex value Char/Signification Filled global (EXE) Size
0x0a20 {CurrentSeedTestLevel} SeedTest_TextValue_0A20_CurLevelOrAP 2
0x0a21 {0x0a21} SeedTest_TextValue_0A21 2
0x0a22 {NextSeedTestLevel} SeedTest_TextValue_0A22_NextLevel 2
0x0a26 {SeedRank} SeedTest_TextValue_0A26_RankStr (string) 2

For slot 0x0a20 the SeeD test reuses the same slot for two purposes depending on the page: the current test level/number, or the AP awarded on success (10 x number of correct answers).

Known values in other screens (the code number is the same, the meaning is not):

Hex value Char/Signification Context Size
0x0a23 {CardReceived} Card-received popup 2

Special characters

Some are mentionned earlier, here they are mentionned together as the start of image characters instead of normal characters

Hex value Char/Signification Size
0xc0 {«} 1
0xc1 {»} 1
0xc2 {+-} 1
0xc3 {MusicNote} 1
0xc4 {0xc4:None} 1
0xc5 {TopArrow} 1
0xc6 {VI} 1
0xc7 {II} 1
0xc8 {!Inversed} 1
0xc9 {TM} 1
0xca {<} 1
0xcb {>} 1

Word divided

Some words are divided in several characters, but need to be used together to correctly form the word (for example the “m” can be trunced between two “characters”

Hex value Word Size
0xcc 0xcd 0xce 0xcf 0xd0 {GAMEFOLDER} 5
0xd1 0xd2 {Slot} 2
0xd3 {Ing} 1
0xd4 0xd5 0xd6 0xd7 0xd8 {Steckplatz} 5
0xd9 0xda {Fente} 2
0xdb 0xdc 0xdd 0xde {Ingresso} 4
0xdf 0xe0 0xe1 {Ranura} 3

Reference addresses

The control-opcode behaviour above was recovered from the 2013 Steam release (FF8_EN.exe, base 0x400000). Addresses are given for reference only.

Name Address Role
ProcessBattleTextExpansion 0x4B8B30 Expands a raw string: resolves names/vars/items/GF/location into displayable text.
Text_FetchNextToken 0x4B9170 Tokenizer: returns the next glyph or (opcode<<8)\|param control token.
Text_RenderGlyphs 0x4A1570 Main glyph layout/rendering from the tokenized line.
someStringWork_4B8E40 0x4B8E40 Resolves the 0x04 Var opcode (numeric variable slots, decimal/hex formats).
Menu_SeedTest_ParseCursorStops 0x4D4A80 Parses 0x0B cursor stops and expands the 0x0A context values for the SeeD test.
Menu_SeedTest_Update 0x4D4D30 SeeD written test state machine; fills the 0x0A value slots below.
SeedTest_TextValue_0A20_CurLevelOrAP 0x1D7DAA8 Value inserted by {0x0a20} (current test level, or AP on success).
SeedTest_TextValue_0A21 0x1D7DAB0 Value inserted by {0x0a21}.
SeedTest_TextValue_0A22_NextLevel 0x1D7DAAC Value inserted by {0x0a22} (next test level).
SeedTest_TextValue_0A26_RankStr 0x1D7EABC String inserted by {0x0a26} (SeeD rank).