FF13-SpeedrunPractice

日本語のREADMEはこちら/Read in Japanese

A mod for the PC (Steam) version of FINAL FANTASY XIII, with features that make speedrun practice easier.

Requirements

• Windows
• FINAL FANTASY XIII on Steam (PC)
  • Any region should work, though this is unverified.
    (The Japan-region and international releases share the same executable, and this mod touches only the executable in memory and the save files.)
    The mod speaks Japanese when the game runs in Japanese, English for every other language.
    Developed and tested on the Japan-region install; reports from other regions are welcome.

How to use

1. Download the zip file

Click FF13-SpeedrunPractice-x.x.x.zip on this page.

2. Extract the zip file and place the four files other than LICENSE and README in the same folder as ffXiiiimg.exe

Example folder path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIII\white_data\prog\win\bin\

Can be used together with FPSFix and FF13Fix-4GB.

File	Description
dinput8.dll	The mod itself
ff13-srpractice.ini	Settings file, editable with Notepad or any text editor. OK to delete if you keep the defaults
ff13-practice.bat	Batch file that starts the game WITH the mod. Details under "Notes for timed runs"
ff13-run.bat	Batch file that starts the game WITHOUT the mod. Details under "Notes for timed runs"

3. Launch the game

4. Use each feature with its hotkey (F1 shows a description of each feature)

Note: when updating (installing a different version), replacing the ini file is usually unnecessary. However, the per-version release notes on the Releases page may mention changes to the ini file, so do check them.

Notes for timed runs

On Speedrun.com, the rules forbid using mods that are not allowed for the game or category.
While timing a run for submission to Speedrun.com or elsewhere, do not use any feature of this tool (mod).
Be especially careful with the battle overlay: even when it is ON, it only shows during battle.
If no text is shown in the top left and no hotkey has been pressed, the game is in a state equivalent to running without the mod.

If you want the mod itself unusable while timing

The smoothest way is to start the game by running the two bundled .bat files (batch files).
ff13-run.bat: starts FF13 WITHOUT the mod
ff13-practice.bat: starts FF13 WITH the mod

• They work by renaming dinput8.dll to an inert file name (dinput8.dll.off) and back, which switches the mod on and off
• You do not have to use the .bat files: moving or renaming the dll file by hand, or launching from your usual shortcut icon, also starts the game normally
• The .bat files can also be run through shortcuts you create for them
• The .bat file names can be changed, as long as the extension stays

A request when sharing

When you share footage or images of anything that does not appear in normal play, please make it clear that a mod was used.
This is so it is not mistaken for a bug in normal play.

Hotkeys in short

• Each feature has a hotkey assigned to it
• Pressing F1 shows an in-game list of every feature and its current hotkey
• With the default settings, they only work while the game window is active
• Setting require_focus = 0 in the ini file makes them work while the window is inactive too

Features

Every feature stays OFF unless you press its hotkey.

For features of the ON/OFF-toggle kind, the ON/OFF state carries over across game restarts.

• Hotkey list — help

  • Hotkey: F1
  • Shows the list of every feature and its current hotkey; pressing it again closes the list
  • If you change a hotkey in the ini file, the list shows the changed key

• Game speed — game_speed

  • Hotkey: F2
  • Changes the game speed. Everything changes with it: field movement, battle, ATB speed and so on
  • Default game speed: 3.0
  • Can be changed in the ini file, 0.1~10.0
  • The ini file also takes a list like 2.0,3.0; the hotkey then switches through it in order, 2.0x → 3.0x → OFF

• KILL mode — kill_mode

  • Hotkey: F3
  • The hotkey switches through "instant win at battle start + one-hit kill" → "one-hit kill" → OFF, in that order
    • Instant win at battle start
      • Turning it ON mid-battle does not affect a battle already running. It takes effect from the next battle start
      • The battle ends in victory the moment it begins
      • No items drop except guaranteed drops
    • One-hit kill
      • An enemy's HP becomes 0 the moment you deal damage to it
      • Item drops work the same as in a normal battle
      • Do not summon an Eidolon while this is ON — it has only been tested against ordinary enemies. Turn it OFF before summoning

• Warp — warp

  • Hotkey: F4
  • Record a spot and return to it instantly
  • Useful for practicing enemy avoidance efficiently
    • e.g. record just before the area with the enemies to avoid → attempt the dodge → warp back on success → run into an enemy to reset the state, and so on (example video)
  • Hold the hotkey to record your current position with no confirmation
  • Tap the hotkey twice in the field to warp to this zone's recorded point
  • One point can be recorded per zone
  • Records stay valid across game restarts
  • If the destination is far away, maps, objects and the like may not load

• Suppress enemy spawns on save load — enemy_suppress

  • Hotkey: F5
  • After loading a save finishes, the field's enemy groups are no longer placed
  • Turning it ON after a load has finished does nothing. It takes effect from the next load
  • Moving after the load can load a different map, and enemies can appear there

• Save anywhere — save

  • Hotkey: F7
  • Turn cloud sync OFF if you use this feature. Leaving it ON is untested
  • Lets you save away from save points
  • Loading such a save starts you from the spot where you saved
  • Only possible while moving in the field
  • In the save list screen, saves made with this feature get a mark after their number
    • Default: *
    • The mark text can be edited via [save] list_mark in the ini file (max 8 characters, any but digits)
      • A character the game's font does not have is drawn as a blank, so check how yours looks in the list
  • Depending on the save spot, objects and nearby enemies do not load
  • Depending on the save spot, you can become unable to progress after loading
  • If you move away or delete the DLL file or the ff13-mods\ff13-srpractice_slots.dat file, loading goes to the nearest save point instead
  • If your save data lives in a non-standard path, put that path into save_dir in the ini file

• Camera unstick — camera_unstick

  • Hotkey: F8
  • Puts the camera back into leader-follow mode
  • A remedy for the camera sometimes getting stuck while moving after loading a save made with the save-anywhere feature

• Tidy the save data — save_tidy

  • Hotkeys
    • Open the menu / close the menu: F9
    • Run the selected entry: Enter (menu_ok) or hold F9
      • While this menu is up the keyboard is kept from the game's own controls, so sharing the game's confirm key is safe
      • Leaving menu_ok empty in the ini makes the hold the only way to confirm
    • Choose an entry: ↑ ↓ keys
    • Choose which save the menu acts on, over the save list: A D (list_prev / list_next)
      • While this menu is up the keyboard is kept from the game's own controls, but the keys set here still move its cursor
    • Type text: the keys themselves
    • Delete a character: Backspace
  • Usable only while this game's Steam cloud sync is OFF.
  • The menu only appears on the title screen (the attract movie included) and on the save list
  • Each of those screens shows a different menu
  • As a rule, confirm (Enter, or the hotkey held) to run what is selected
  • What the title screen's menu can do
    • Which saves the list shows
      • A chapter filter for the load list
      • Only that chapter's saves are shown in the game's save list
      • Confirming the row resets the filter and shows every chapter again
      • No save is moved or renamed
      • It has no effect on the save screen inside a running game
      • The setting is remembered, so the next start opens on the same chapter (if that chapter has no save left, the whole list comes back)
    • Manage categories
      • Swaps the whole set of saves in and out, a folder at a time
        • The category in use sits in the save folder as always; every other one is parked in {save folder}\categories\{category name}\
      • Until you make one, you are treated as being in a category named "main"
      • Each category holds up to 99 saves
      • The rows
        • "using: {category name}"
          • ← → pick where to switch to, then confirm to switch
        • New category, and switch to it (a copy of the latest save / a copy of every save)
          • Name it, and the new category becomes the one in use
          • "a copy of the latest save": only the newest save comes along
            • The copy is there so the list is never empty, which would take LOAD GAME off the title screen
            • Delete it in the game's own list if you do not want it
          • "a copy of every save": every save in the category in use is copied
          • The input box
            • Single-byte characters can be typed straight in
            • Text copied elsewhere can be pasted with Ctrl+V
              • That way full-width, kana and other multi-byte characters work too
            • Up to 24 characters
            • \ / : * ? " < > | , cannot be used
            • Backspace deletes one character
            • A name a category already has cannot be confirmed (the error shows in red in the box)
            • Enter (or the hotkey held) confirms, a tap of the hotkey cancels
        • Rename the category in use
          • Renames whichever category the "using:" row has selected
        • Delete "{category name}"
          • ← → pick the category to delete, then confirm
          • A category holding one save or more asks again: confirm once more (the question lapses after 8 seconds)
          • The category in use cannot be picked (switch to another one first if you want it gone)
          • It goes to the Windows Recycle Bin with everything in it, so a mistake can be undone from there
            • If your save folder is on a drive with no Recycle Bin (a network or removable one), it is deleted outright
      • The save-anywhere bookkeeping files and the .bak backups travel with the saves
      • If a switch is cut short by a crash or a power cut, the next start finishes it
    • Sort the list
      • Sorts the saves in the category in use: story order (Chapter 1 first) / story order (endgame first) / by save number
      • The game orders its list by each file's timestamp, so this only re-stamps those timestamps
      • The dates the list shows stay the real save dates: each save's own date is recorded in a separate file and put back on screen
        • The timestamp actually written to a file is when the sort ran (the top one carries that time, each one below it a minute earlier)
        • Without the mod, or in Explorer, that is the date you see
      • A save made after a sort comes out on top as usual, until you sort again
    • Renumber the saves
      • Renumbers the saves in the category in use into story order (saves at the same point go by date)
      • If the renaming is cut short by a crash or a power cut, the next start either finishes it or puts the old numbers back
  • What the save list's menu can do (to whichever save the cursor is on)
    • The menu follows that cursor: A/D (or a pad) still move it while the menu is up, and every row switches to the save it lands on (the title line names it)
    • Note
      • Type a note and it is shown in the game's save list
      • It goes at the end of the first line, like "Save Data 05, Chapter 9 - text1"
      • The input box
        • Single-byte characters can be typed straight in
        • Text copied elsewhere can be pasted with Ctrl+V
          • That way full-width, kana and other multi-byte characters work too
        • Up to 24 characters
        • , cannot be used
        • Backspace deletes one character
        • Enter (or the hotkey held) confirms, a tap of the hotkey cancels
      • Saving over that save takes the note with it
      • The "make a new save" row on the save screen you open from the field cannot take a note
        • Once it is made, reopen the list and it can
    • Send to another category (the copy and move rows)
      • Copies or moves the save, or the whole marked range
      • ← → pick where it goes; the row says so ("copy -> {category name}")
      • Picking "" names a fresh one
      • It takes the first free number in the category it lands in (the number shown in the list changes with it)
      • If the destination has fewer free numbers than a range needs, nothing is sent and it says so
      • After a move, the row it came from is still drawn in the list you have open
        • Choosing it only says the load failed, which is harmless
        • Reopen the list and it is gone
      • Careful: if a move empties the category you sent it from, LOAD GAME disappears from the title screen
    • Range selection (work on several saves at once)
      • Run "select a range (save data N is one end)" and that save becomes one end
      • Move the game's cursor to the other end (A/D, or a pad): the copy, move and delete rows turn into "saves N-M as listed (x of them)" as it goes
      • The range is what the list shows between the two ends, both included (the numbers name the two ends, not every number in between); with a chapter filter on, only the rows on screen count
      • Clear the mark by running the same row again; sorting, changing the filter or leaving the list also clears it
    • Delete
      • Deletes every save a marked range covers -- to delete one save, the game's own list does that with E
      • With no range marked, it cannot run
      • Confirm once and the row asks ("confirm: delete N save(s) -- [Enter/hold] again to run"); confirm again and it runs
      • The question stands down after 8 seconds, or if you move off the row, move the cursor to another save, close the menu or clear the mark
      • Saves go to the Recycle Bin, each with its .bak file, so Windows can put them back
        • On a drive that has no Recycle Bin (a network or removable one) the shell deletes them outright
      • The rows stay drawn in the list you have open; reopen it and they are gone
      • Careful: deleting every save in the category takes LOAD GAME off the title screen, as an emptying move does

• Battle overlay — battle_overlay

  • Hotkey: F10
  • Shows the following during battle
    • TIME
      • GAME: in-game time
      • REAL: real time
      • ATB **s: the seconds until a paradigm shift refills the whole party's ATB (READY = the next shift does)
    • TARGET
      • HP: the target's remaining HP
      • ATB: the value of the target's ATB gauge
      • CHAIN: how long the target's chain gauge lasts -- the seconds left before the multiplier falls back to 100%
  • When the game-speed feature is also in use, in-game time moves with it

• Battle picker — battle_picker

  • Hotkeys
    • Open/confirm/close the menu: F11
    • Move in the menu: ↑ ↓ keys
    • Page through the menu: ← → keys
  • Shows a list of the battle scenes for the current field; select one to enter that battle
  • The hotkey toggles the menu open and closed; holding it confirms
  • Holding it while the menu is closed immediately starts the last selected battle (or the top one if nothing has been selected yet)
  • Shrouds can be used before entering a battle this way: with a Deceptisol, for example, a fight that allows a preemptive strike to begin with still gets one
  • After the battle, items are not consumed, and TP and Libra information return to what they were
  • A fight marked ● is one an Any% run has to do
  • A fight marked △ is one an Any% run does in some circumstances
  • The row for the fight your last ordinary battle was reads "here"
  • This feature has a lot of particularly unstable behavior, so please keep the following in mind
    • After confirming, avoid inputs as much as possible. At worst the game soft-locks or crashes
      • The pause menu (Start) is the dangerous one: opening it between confirming and the battle appearing can crash the game. Keep off Start until the fight is on screen
    • If the battle begins with enemies missing, a message says btsc##### came up short -- pick it again; selecting the same fight again works
    • A picked fight is not the fight the game's script expects at that spot. One was beaten on hardware with story progress intact, but please treat unusual outcomes (symbols that do not disappear, chests, story flags) as possible
    • If confirming overlaps with the action of examining a save point, the confirm is cancelled
    • The direction allies face at the start of the battle can depend on the direction they faced in the field. Whether this can be fixed is unknown
    • Depending on the combination of battle scene and location, the background does not load correctly
    • Loading before and after the battle can take quite a long time
    • After the battle, your position may have moved, the map may not load, or the BGM may differ from normal
    • Some battles include a party-change step
      • The post-change party persists after the battle
      • If you would like a party change added to a battle that has none, please contact me
    • For technical reasons, some battles have a cutscene right before them
      • Battles marked "CS" in the list are the ones
      • Skip it as usual
    • For battles without a cutscene, the BGM may start at a different timing than the real one
      • bgm_delay_ms in the ini file adjusts the BGM start timing to some extent
      • If you would like the cutscene included for a battle that normally has one right before it, please contact me

Files created automatically

• The ff13-mods\ folder and the files inside it
  • Created on first launch
• {save data directory}\ff13-NN.dat.bak
  • A backup of the save data, created automatically right before the mod adjusts its checkpoint
  • If a save ever fails to load, renaming the .bak back to .dat recovers it

When something goes wrong, or the game crashes

1. Copy the log somewhere safe first

Copy ff13-mods\ff13-srpractice.log somewhere else -- your desktop, for instance.

Careful: starting the game again rewrites this log from scratch. Copy it before you restart or close the game (the log from right after it went wrong is the only thing there is to go on).

2. If you can reproduce it, reproduce it with verbose

Change the [log] section of ff13-srpractice.ini to level = verbose, start the game, and do the same thing again to bring the problem back. On verbose the log records the game's internals as well, which makes the cause far quicker to find. Once you have reproduced it, put that log somewhere safe too.

3. Sending the log helps enormously

Get in touch with what happened (what you did, and what the game did) and the log you saved.

Uninstall

• Uninstalling is just deleting dinput8.dll from the install folder
• The automatically created files and directories can be deleted too
  • Exception: the categories\ folder in your save directory holds the actual saves of every category not in use. Before deleting it, move the saves you want out of categories\ (into the save folder itself), or back the folder up
• If you uninstall after using the sorter, the dates the list shows become "when the last sort ran" (as described above; the saves themselves are fine)
• Leaving them as they are has no effect on the game
• Data created with the save-anywhere feature can also be deleted in the game screen as usual

Safety

• This mod performs no communication whatsoever and makes no network connections
• Among the game's own files, the only ones it rewrites are the save files created using the save-anywhere and tidy features

Disclaimer

This mod is unofficial, and is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Square Enix.

Use it only with a copy of FINAL FANTASY XIII that you legitimately own. Use at your own risk.

The author accepts no responsibility for lost save data or any other damage.

Credits

WhiteCryptTool by Surihix (GNU GPL v3.0) — the save-data encryption in this mod is derived from WhiteCryptTool. Since both projects are GPLv3, this reuse is fully license-compatible.

License

FF13-SpeedrunPractice is free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (see the LICENSE file). Copyright (C) 2026 Akiyoshi.