FiFA [2006-2011] Next gen ports via RPCS3 and Xenia

[Sami 1999]

As of today what's the best way to enjoy FIFA World Cup 2006? I mean which Xenia build? Also in which format should the game come?

Latest builds of Xenia Edge so far works alright. If you want to be safe, the linked builds on the first page of the thread will work fine too.

Format of the game doesn't matter. You can boot the game in both iso format or from default.xex file if the files are extracted from iso/ dumped directly from xbox 360. Personally I prefer the extracted files because it's smaller and also allows me for potential modding.

 

[Sami 1999]

Stereoscopic 3D working in World Cup 06 as well.

 

[*aLe]

Spot the differences 😎



This is why EA at times are driving me mad. It took me one hour to create the adidas 2008 numbers and to find a suitable adidas 2008 font for names.
Surely they should have done that too, considering that the 2010 World Cup game was sold at full price back then, but no... They kept them generic.
(yes, the numbers should be bigger on France's kit... Unfortunately I cannot edit kit hotspots yet and I don't know whether I'll ever be able to).

 

[Walker™]

Latest builds of Xenia Edge so far works alright. If you want to be safe, the linked builds on the first page of the thread will work fine too.

Format of the game doesn't matter. You can boot the game in both iso format or from default.xex file if the files are extracted from iso/ dumped directly from xbox 360. Personally I prefer the extracted files because it's smaller and also allows me for potential modding.

Thanks, much more streamlined. I remember in the past that extracting the game files was necessary to disable some settings in order for the game to work.

Can't believe I can finally enjoy this masterpiece in the next gen version. Only played PS2 and PC version

 

[Geez]

With the amount of recomp and decomp games being released these days, hopefully we get some console FIFAs running natively on PC in the future

 

[Sami 1999]

Being that said, in my opinion, the definitive version of 2006 FIFA World Cup is probably the Xbox version.

The Xbox 360 version has so many limitations compared to old gen versions:

- International selection is missing.
- Unless you are in direct free kick/ close to goal, the camera won't get behind the players during other free kicks which makes it harder to aim and see what's infront.
- Game is designed to run correctly with only normal game speed. Setting the game speed to slow or fast results in skipping animations and stutters.
- The camera during gameplay is very jerky especially when you pass the ball or you make a sharp turn. There's no smoothness to it.
- Unless you play on dynamic and sideline camera, the game suffers from awful xbox 360 era bloom nonsense during Tele and Action camera which on some stadiums look like ass.
- You cannot play the world cup final match on day and dusk time and are stuck with night time only.
- Corner cutscenes are completely missing.
- The 2nd type of cutscene that is guaranteed on Final match scenario does not show on other match types at all unless you play a match for the first time ever/ delete your profile and start a fresh new profile to trigger the first time match cutscene. On old gen versions this cutscene can happen randomly on every other match types, adding variety to the intro scenes.
- Some of the cutscenes are missing, substitute cutscenes are missing too.
- You cannot set the game difficulty permanently, so every time you boot the game you have to change to difficulty to your preferred one for once for that session.
- Team mentality is missing and you cannot set your team mentality to defensive/offensive like old gen.
- Shirts do not get tucked out during WF final winning cutscene like old gen.
- Shirts and pants do not get dirty.

But the overall gameplay is near identical to old gen. So despite all of the above limitations, it's still a great game and is worth playing on x360 because overall it's still solid.

Also one positive aspect of the gameplay in NG version is that enemy players try to make more long shots unlike the old gen versions where I rarely see any long shots.




So if old gen version is the definitive and complete version, then which platform has it best? That would be Xbox. On Xbox all the visual effects remain intact. Namely the 3D grass, Xbox is the only platform where 3D grass is visible. And unlike FIFA 06 and particularly FIFA 07 where the 3d grass is barely visible, on this game the draw distance of the grass is actually great and really makes the grass during cutscenes look much better. It also has the depth of field, better texture compression and better color grading unlike the pc version. Unfortunately the latest version of XEMU [xbox emulator] runs like ass and makes that game a stuttery mess. You have to go all the way back to v 0.7.115
However, ref and linesman are missing on xbox and ps2 ports and is only visible on pc port.

 

[piospi]

Spot the differences 😎

View attachment 433318 View attachment 433319

This is why EA at times are driving me mad. It took me one hour to create the adidas 2008 numbers and to find a suitable adidas 2008 font for names.
Surely they should have done that too, considering that the 2010 World Cup game was sold at full price back then, but no... They kept them generic.
(yes, the numbers should be bigger on France's kit... Unfortunately I cannot edit kit hotspots yet and I don't know whether I'll ever be able to).

Spot on. Even in newer versions they still neglected it, i.e. they used correct number typography, but wrong name font, or wrong colors entirely. In WC2010 they set red numbers for Spain away instead of yellow. Very annoying. But to be fair, I think 15 years ago not many of us noticed it. I know I started paying attention to this much, much later. Nowadays when I am looking for football fonts I tend to first look if EA has made them and many times I am surprised when I find out how many big teams in FIFA still has generic fonts.

Anyway, should you want to try adidas euro 2008 font I am uploading an attachment.

 

[Walker™]

Being that said, in my opinion, the definitive version of 2006 FIFA World Cup is probably the Xbox version.

The Xbox 360 version has so many limitations compared to old gen versions:

- International selection is missing.
- Unless you are in direct free kick/ close to goal, the camera won't get behind the players during other free kicks which makes it harder to aim and see what's infront.
- Game is designed to run correctly with only normal game speed. Setting the game speed to slow or fast results in skipping animations and stutters.
- The camera during gameplay is very jerky especially when you pass the ball or you make a sharp turn. There's no smoothness to it.
- Unless you play on dynamic and sideline camera, the game suffers from awful xbox 360 era bloom nonsense during Tele and Action camera which on some stadiums look like ass.
- You cannot play the world cup final match on day and dusk time and are stuck with night time only.
- Corner cutscenes are completely missing.
- The 2nd type of cutscene that is guaranteed on Final match scenario does not show on other match types at all unless you play a match for the first time ever/ delete your profile and start a fresh new profile to trigger the first time match cutscene. On old gen versions this cutscene can happen randomly on every other match types, adding variety to the intro scenes.
- Some of the cutscenes are missing, substitute cutscenes are missing too.
- You cannot set the game difficulty permanently, so every time you boot the game you have to change to difficulty to your preferred one for once for that session.
- Team mentality is missing and you cannot set your team mentality to defensive/offensive like old gen.
- Shirts do not get tucked out during WF final winning cutscene like old gen.
- Shirts and pants do not get dirty.

But the overall gameplay is near identical to old gen. So despite all of the above limitations, it's still a great game and is worth playing on x360 because overall it's still solid.

Also one positive aspect of the gameplay in NG version is that enemy players try to make more long shots unlike the old gen versions where I rarely see any long shots.




So if old gen version is the definitive and complete version, then which platform has it best? That would be Xbox. On Xbox all the visual effects remain intact. Namely the 3D grass, Xbox is the only platform where 3D grass is visible. And unlike FIFA 06 and particularly FIFA 07 where the 3d grass is barely visible, on this game the draw distance of the grass is actually great and really makes the grass during cutscenes look much better. It also has the depth of field, better texture compression and better color grading unlike the pc version. Unfortunately the latest version of XEMU [xbox emulator] runs like ass and makes that game a stuttery mess. You have to go all the way back to v 0.7.115
However, ref and linesman are missing on xbox and ps2 ports and is only visible on pc port.

Never played the original Xbox version, but have always been attracted to the next gen one. Not gonna lie, it's mostly for the additional bells and whistles, like the "better" UI. Still very similar to the old gen one, but it looks sharper and more polished, the globe behind, all the effects and everything. The camera pannings especially during corner kicks, the quick settings when the play stops where you can adjust things on the fly and meanwhile you see the manager giving instructions or some other player animations.

I know it's nothing gamechanging, but it gives the game more flair. More than it already has. I kid you not, I think FIFA World Cup 2006 is the game that captured the best the atmosphere of this competition. I love the seriousness of a World Cup game that's being captured and then the explosion of joy when the music starts for the pre match presentation with the line ups and the commentators. The crowd sounds and looks alive, with confettis, balloons and everything. It really gives you the feeling that this is the World Cup, this is where you want to be.

But I might be biased, a lot. I know many regard FIFA World Cup 2010 as the best World Cup game ever (I've only played it for too little to have an opinion of it), but 2006 has a special place in my heart. It's the first World Cup of which I have memories, the best memories since we went on to win the Cup, but in general I love it as a competition. I think it captures perfectly the style of the early-mid 2000s, it's the last World Cup with great legends of this game and at the same time it's the first World Cup of players that now are legends of this game, like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. It's the last World Cup with that unmistakable late 90s early 2000s flair

 

[zkhxy]

Spot the differences 😎

View attachment 433318 View attachment 433319

This is why EA at times are driving me mad. It took me one hour to create the adidas 2008 numbers and to find a suitable adidas 2008 font for names.
Surely they should have done that too, considering that the 2010 World Cup game was sold at full price back then, but no... They kept them generic.
(yes, the numbers should be bigger on France's kit... Unfortunately I cannot edit kit hotspots yet and I don't know whether I'll ever be able to).

Have you achieved parsing for the main database and graphics files on the Xbox 360 platform? This also covers decryption for competition system files such as LUA and TXT. Do you have a development team on your side? We are considering creating patches for new tournaments built upon the base of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

 

[*aLe]

I'm using...

• The graphic files from the PS3 version (as File Master extracts them "unpacked" while File Master extracts the files from the Xbox 360 version but they're still compressed, and can be opened by FIFA Converter but not by RX3 Master)
• the DB from the Xbox 360 version (because data0.big isn't encrypted in the Xbox 360 game, and it is in the PS3 one)

There's no "team" on my side, I 'm just a man that started playing the 2010 World Cup game and got annoyed at teams having generic kits, so tried to find a way to license them. I'm not planning on doing anything else (especially because I've got very limited spare time and I can only afford to do things without being on a schedule, considering that this is a very old game it doesn't hurt anybody).

If you mind a suggestion, though, consider also using the 2014 World Cup game for your project, as kit textures are easier to retrieve in the layout used by that game (it's the same used from FIFA 12 onwards).
The one used by the 2010 World Cup game have a different layout so you'd have to design them from scratch or convert them.

 

[*aLe]

Anyway, should you want to try adidas euro 2008 font I am uploading an attachment.

Thanks pal, it's the same I've used for the preview!
I'm now trying a couple of other things out (namely minikits) to make sure I can edit them too, then I'll be (almost) ready to start adding kits.
Still not sure if I'll ever be able to license all the teams but hey, I'll try to do at least something.

 

[Sami 1999]

Never played the original Xbox version, but have always been attracted to the next gen one. Not gonna lie, it's mostly for the additional bells and whistles, like the "better" UI. Still very similar to the old gen one, but it looks sharper and more polished, the globe behind, all the effects and everything. The camera pannings especially during corner kicks, the quick settings when the play stops where you can adjust things on the fly and meanwhile you see the manager giving instructions or some other player animations.

I know it's nothing gamechanging, but it gives the game more flair. More than it already has. I kid you not, I think FIFA World Cup 2006 is the game that captured the best the atmosphere of this competition. I love the seriousness of a World Cup game that's being captured and then the explosion of joy when the music starts for the pre match presentation with the line ups and the commentators. The crowd sounds and looks alive, with confettis, balloons and everything. It really gives you the feeling that this is the World Cup, this is where you want to be.

But I might be biased, a lot. I know many regard FIFA World Cup 2010 as the best World Cup game ever (I've only played it for too little to have an opinion of it), but 2006 has a special place in my heart. It's the first World Cup of which I have memories, the best memories since we went on to win the Cup, but in general I love it as a competition. I think it captures perfectly the style of the early-mid 2000s, it's the last World Cup with great legends of this game and at the same time it's the first World Cup of players that now are legends of this game, like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. It's the last World Cup with that unmistakable late 90s early 2000s flair

2006 WC is actually a very good game, in terms of gameplay too. It's not PES 05. But its not like those older FIFA games which had no depth. FIFA 06 [old gen] and WC 06 [both old and next gen] have really decent and engaging gameplay, even if it's a bit on arcadey side. It's a good kind of arcadey gameplay.

And yeah, despite all of it's flaws, the next gen version is still good enough overall and the visuals of this game just holds up. Technically it's downgraded compared to RTWC 06, and a lot of the assets are much lower res than later x360 FIFA games, but the artstyle is done so well it looks like a CGI animation.

And it's not even nostalgia. Because I had nostalgia for FIFA 07, 08, 09 too. And while the visuals of those games aren't that bad, I can see how those games look aged- especially FIFA 08 onwards. But not World cup 2006, that game still looks like a CGI cutscene. Now that's what I call a good artstyle.