FF8/Variables

By Shard.

Game variables can be accessed using the PSHM family of script functions, and can be written to by using the POPM family of functions. Which one you use depends on the size of the variable. The variables are all stored in save files, with the save block starting at address 0xD10 on uncompressed PC saves. The parameter to access a variable in the game scripts is basically the offset from this point in the variable block. For example, getting main story progress (word 256, which is word 0x100 in hex) just gets the two bytes starting at address 0xD10 + 0x100 = 0xE10. The varmap is continuous in memory while the game is running as well. In the en-US version of the original and SE releases (and likely most other versions), the varblock begins at 0x18fe9b8. You can use this Cheat Engine Table to track them as you play.

Items in grey are unused by field scripts (some of them may be used in battle scripts).

Var type	Var Number	Description
Byte	0-3	unused in fields (always "FF-8")
Long	4	Steps (used to generate random encounters)
Long	8	Payslip
Byte	12-15	unused in fields
Signed Word	16	SeeD rank points?
Byte	18-19	unused in fields
Long	20	Battles won. (Fun fact: this affects the basketball shot in Trabia.)
Byte	24-25	unused in fields
Word	26	Battles escaped.
Word	28	Enemies killed by Squall
Word	30	Enemies killed by Zell
Word	32	Enemies killed by Irvine
Word	34	Enemies killed by Quistis
Word	36	Enemies killed by Rinoa
Word	38	Enemies killed by Selphie
Word	40	Enemies killed by Seifer
Word	42	Enemies killed by Edea
Word	44	Squall death count
Word	46	Zell death count
Word	48	Irvine death count
Word	50	Quistis death count
Word	52	Rinoa death count
Word	54	Selphie death count
Word	56	Seifer death count
Word	58	Edea death count
Byte	60-67	unused in fields
Long	68	Enemies killed
Long	72	Amount of Gil the party currently has
Long	76	Amount of Gil Laguna's party has
Long	80	Counts the number of frames since the current movie started playing.
Word	84	Last area visited.
Signed Byte	86	Current car rent.
Signed Byte	87	Built-in engine variable. No idea what it does. Scripts always check if it's equal to 0 or 10. Related to music.
Signed Byte	88	Built-in engine variable. Used exclusively on save points. Never written to with field scripts. Related to Siren's Move-Find ability.
Byte	89-103	unused in fields
Long	104	Seems related to SARALYDISPON/SARALYON/MUSICLOAD/PHSPOWER opcodes
Long	108	Music related
Long	112	unused in fields
Byte	116-147	Draw points in field
Byte	148-179	Draw points in worldmap
Byte	180-255	unused in fields
Word	256	Main Story quest progress.
Byte	258	not investigated
Byte	259-260	unused in fields
Byte	261	not investigated
Byte	262-263	unused in fields
Byte	264	not investigated
Byte	265	not investigated
Byte	266	World map version? (3=Esthar locations unlocked)
Byte	267	unused in fields
Byte	268	not investigated
Byte	269	not investigated
Byte	270	not investigated
Byte	271	unused in fields
Byte	272-299	SO MANY F***ING CARD GAME VARIABLES
Byte	300	Card Queen re-cards.
Byte	301-303	unused in fields
Byte	304-305	Timber Maniacs issues found.
Byte	306-319	Reserved for Hacktuar / FF8Voice
Byte	320-332	Ultimecia Gallery related (pictures viewed?)
Byte	333	Ultimecia Armory chest flags
Byte	334	Ultimecia Castle seals. See SEALEDOFF for details.
Byte	335	Card related
Byte	336	Deling City bus related
Byte	338-340	Deling Sewer gates opened
Byte	341	Does lots of things.5
Byte	342	Deling City bus system
Byte	343	G-Garden door/event flags.
Byte	344	B-Garden / G-Garden event flags (during GvG)
Byte	345	G-Garden door/event flags.
Byte	346-349	FH Instrument (346 Zell, 347 Irvine, 348 Selphie, 349 Quistis)
Word	350-356	Health Bars (Garden mech fight)
Byte	358	Space station talk flags, Centra ruins related (beat odin?).
Byte	359	Centra ruins related (beat odin?).
Long	360	Choice of FH music.
Byte	364-368	Randomly generated code for Centra Ruins.
Byte	369-370	Ultimecia Castle flags
Byte	371	unused in fields
Byte	372-376	Ultimecia boss/timer/item flags
Byte	377	Ultimecia organ note controller
Byte	378	Centra Ruins timer (controls blackout messages from Odin)
Byte	379	unused in fields
Word	380	Squall health during mech fight.
Byte	382-383	unused in fields
Byte	384	Something about Laguna's time periods and GFs.
Byte	385	Laguna dialogue in pub. Only the +2 bit is ever set. Don't change the +1 bit.
Byte	387	Winhill progress?
Byte	388	Timber Maniacs HQ talk flags (main lobby)
Byte	389	Timber Maniacs HQ talk flags (office room)
Byte	390	Edea talk flags at her house
Byte	391	Laguna talk flags (in his office, disc 3)
Byte	392	unknown (used in Edea's house and in the Balamb Garden computer system)
Byte	393-399	unused in fields
Long	400 and 404	Related to monsters killed in Winhill, but I don't think it actually does anything. Will investigate.
Byte	408	unused in fields
Byte	409	Balamb Garden computer system
Byte	410-431	unused in fields
Byte	432	BG Main hall flags
Byte	433	Flags. Switches are assigned all over BG. No idea what any of them control.
Byte	434	Flags. Switches are assigned all over BG. No idea what any of them control.
Byte	435	Flags. Switches are assigned all over BG. No idea what any of them control.
Byte	436	Moomba friendship level in the prison? Some actions cause these flags to be set.
Byte	437	In BG on Disc 2, keeps track of who's in your party. In the prison, it's the current floor you're on.
Byte	438	Cid vs Norg event flags
Byte	439	Cid vs Norg event flags
Byte	440	Event flags. (+1 Quad ambush, +2 quad item giver, +4/+8 Infirmary helped, +16 Nida, +64 Kadowaki Elixir, +128 Training center)
Byte	441	Cid vs Norg event flags
Byte	442	Rinoa Garden tour flags
Word	443	Zell Health in Prison (Hacktuar)
Byte	445-447	Propagator defeated flags
Word	448	Unknown
Byte	450-451	Various magazine/talk flags
Byte	452	Lunatic Pandora areas visited?
Byte	453-455	Moomba teleport variables
Byte	456-457	unused in fields
Byte	458-459	Used with MUSICSKIP in some Balamb Garden areas
Byte	460	Random flags (some used for Card Club)
Byte	461-473	unused in fields
Byte	474	Random flags (some used for Card Club)
Byte	475-478	CC Group variables
Byte	479	If set to 0, disables all random battles during area loading.
Byte	480	State of students in classroom (what they're doing).
Byte	481	Controls a conversation in the cafeteria.
Signed Word	482	Error ratio of missiles
Byte	484	Missile Base progression? (+12 after first fight, +128 bomb timer set, +1 error ratio, +2 data upload)
Byte	485	ToUK Progression (initially 0b111010101, +2 on finish quest. No other pops)
Byte	486	ToUK room? (used to control map jumps in the maze)
Byte	487	Missile base progression (also does something in BG2F classroom)
Byte	488	Alternate Party Flags. Irvine +1/+16, Quistis +2/+32, Rinoa +4/+64, Zell +8/+128.1
Byte	489	Random talk flags?
Byte	490	Cafeteria cutscene
Byte	491	ToUK stuff
Byte	492	I think this is a door opener for the missile base if you choose a short time limit.
Byte	493	Missile base timer related?
Byte	494-527	unused in fields
Signed Word	528	Sub-story progression (it's a progression variable for individual segments of the game)
Byte	530	X-ATM related (defeated it in battle?)
Byte	531	Functionally unused. Read from at dollet, only manipulated in debug rooms.
Byte	532	Controls footstep sounds at dollet (sand to concrete)
Byte	533	not investigated
Byte	534	not investigated
Byte	535	not investigated
Byte	536	not investigated
Byte	537	not investigated
Byte	538	not investigated
Byte	539	not investigated
Byte	540-591	unused in fields
Byte	592-593	Seems to control angles and character facing.
Byte	594	unused in fields
Byte	595	not investigated
Byte	596	not investigated
Byte	597	not investigated
Byte	598	not investigated
Byte	599	not investigated
Byte	600	not investigated
Byte	601	not investigated
Byte	602	not investigated
Byte	603	not investigated
Byte	604	not investigated
Byte	605	not investigated
Byte	606	not investigated
Byte	607	not investigated
Byte	608	not investigated
Byte	609	not investigated
Byte	610	not investigated
Byte	611	not investigated
Byte	612	not investigated
Byte	613	not investigated
Byte	614	not investigated
Byte	615	not investigated
Byte	616	not investigated
Byte	617	not investigated
Byte	618	not investigated
Byte	619	not investigated
Byte	620	not investigated
Byte	621	not investigated
Byte	622	not investigated
Byte	623	not investigated
Byte	624	not investigated
Byte	625	Balamb visited flags (+8 Zell's room)
Byte	626	not investigated
Byte	627	not investigated
Byte	628	unused in fields
Byte	629	not investigated
Byte	630	not investigated
Byte	631	not investigated
Byte	632	not investigated
Byte	633	not investigated
Word	634	not investigated
Byte	636	not investigated
Byte	637	unused in fields
Byte	638	not investigated
Byte	639	unused in fields
Byte	640	not investigated
Byte	641	not investigated
Byte	642	not investigated
Byte	643	not investigated
Byte	644	not investigated
Byte	645	not investigated
Byte	646	not investigated
Byte	647	not investigated
Byte	648	not investigated
Byte	649	not investigated
Byte	650-655	unused in fields
Word	656	not investigated
Byte	658	not investigated
Byte	659	not investigated
Byte	660	not investigated
Byte	661	not investigated
Byte	662	not investigated
Byte	663	not investigated
Byte	664	not investigated
Byte	665	not investigated
Word	666	not investigated
Byte	668	not investigated
Byte	669-671	unused in fields
Word	672	not investigated
Byte	674	unused in fields
Byte	675	not investigated
Byte	676	unused in fields
Byte	677	not investigated
Byte	678	not investigated
Byte	679	unused in fields
Byte	680	not investigated
Byte	681	not investigated
Byte	682	not investigated
Byte	683	not investigated
Byte	684	not investigated
Byte	685	used in Esthar (progress tracking?)
Byte	686	not investigated
Byte	687	not investigated
Byte	688	not investigated
Byte	689	not investigated
Byte	690	not investigated
Byte	691	not investigated
Byte	692-719	unused in fields
Byte	720	Squall's costume (0=normal, 1=student, 2=SeeD, 3=Bandage on forehead)
Byte	721	Zell's Costume (0=normal, 1=student, 2=SeeD)
Byte	722	Selphie's costume (0=normal, 1=student, 2=SeeD)
Byte	723	Quistis' Costume (0=normal, 1=SeeD)
Word	724	Dollet mission time
Word	726	not investigated
Byte	728	Does lots of things.3
Byte	729	not investigated
Byte	730	Flags (+1 Joined Garden Festival Committee, +4 Gave Selphie tour of BG, +16 Kadowaki asks for Cid, +32 and +64 Tomb of Unknown Kind hints?, +128 Beat all card people?)
Byte	731	unused in fields
Word	732	not investigated
Byte	734	Split Party Flags (+1 Zell, +2 Irvine, +4 Rinoa, +8 Quistis, +16 Selphie).2
Byte	735	not investigated
Byte	736-751	unused in fields
Byte	752	not investigated
Byte	753-1023	unused in fields
Byte	Above 1023	Temporary variables used pretty much everywhere.

Notes

1. When the party splits in disc 2, each party member in the inactive party except Selphie has one of the eight bits changed for this variable. One member has a flag in the 4 most significant bits, and the other has a flag in the 4 least significant bits. It's done this way so that when the characters appear, they animate towards different locations in the field, rather than stacking on top of each other.
2. This byte contains flags for which characters are in Squall's party when the party splits in disc 2.
3. List of everything that 728 holds throughout the game:
   1. SeeD field exam "Conduct" score (lose points when you do something wrong at Dollet).
   2. Train job attempts (Timber)
   3. Tomb of the Unknown King student ID.
   4. Who you took to space in disc 3.
4. The field controlling restriction unlocking in Ultimecia's Castle uses this to figure out where to jump the party after they've broken a seal. It's unknown how SETPLACE actually sets this, it's not always related to the field ID or the SETPLACE parameter. This variable is also set at Balamb Garden's front gate manually.:5. List of everything that 341 holds throughout the game:
   1. First flashback team
   2. Selphie's current action when escaping from Deling's mansion (changes the dialogue)
   3. FH Concert Crappiness
   4. Something in B-Garden classroom during the paratrooper attack.