Note about Windower for 14

[Aikar]

apparently a new site windowerxiv.com has popped up these past few days, we would like to officially state this website is NOT affiliated with http://windower.net. They have appeared to have copied our name....

Procede with caution in using that application. It might work just fine, and it may be 100% clean, but I am just stating that it was not created by anyone on the windower.net team, and is falsely named.

I did however create a basic psuedo windowed mode application while I was playing closed beta you can download here:

http://aikar.co/ff14windower.html

This app should never break, it doesnt do anything hacky, its nothing like the windower for 11. It simply hides borders off monitor so you get psuedo full screen.

Also as many know from IRC, I will not be playing Final Fantasy XIV, and I just got word from Cliff he also is not planning on playing or doing any applications for it. StarHawk and Nitsuj are unknown but to my knowledge StarHawk isn't planning on anything either.

So there isn't anything from us planned to come out for FFXIV any time soon... so if you see ANYTHING that says its related to Windower.net, it's 99% likely fake unless you see a topic on windower.net about it.

Be careful, this is a new game, and alot of new players unaware of the FF11 app dev community, so there will be risk of malicious software trying to peek its head in the 14 scene. I will open a 14 forum on windower.net if any of the app devs from our 11 community will be venturing into 14 too.

[Sonomaa]

Made as per my instructions. Thank you Aikar.

[Aikar]

and if the author considers my post 'hostile', I don't mean it to be, but the app was pulled off very suspiciously...
1) copying the name of our software
2) not listing any author on the website or application.
3) not referencing/announcing it on the well established communities

Pretty shady :/ so therefor, for the good of the community i am making this post as a 'warning'.

[nitsuj]

I would like to add that the windower4 codebase has a branch that can be adapted to other games and it's not 100% that windower4 won't make the transition to 14 some day.

Just currently, I don't know that anyone is planning on doing it.

[StillerBaum]

Hi,

first I want to apologize if some of you are offended by the similar names. I was once a member of the windower community (but had nothing to do with it itself) and left when Cliff left.

My understanding was that no one of you wanted to code a proper windower for FFXIV, so I did.

Btw in case you wonder while the timing is so strangely perfect: It took just a week to fix the problems that were making the game unplayable for me, afterwards I decided to share it.
There is a big thread @ffxivcore where you can see how this thing has developed.

So please, I know you did not meant it that way, but don't implicate that everyone who is not known to your community is untrustworthy, as I can still rembember that back at FF11 we used to use tools from ppl we also didn't knew.

Feel free to contact me if you have any problems or questions, we'll sure sort it out.

[Shuvo]

Hey Aikar, when the new windower is out, any chance you guys can set it so you can swap the IJLK camera control keys with the arrow control keys (used for action bar). The arrow key bindings cannot be unset so theirs no way to do this on our own. Very annoying, I'm used to doing camera control + movement with 1 hand and pressing macros with the other D:

[Cjskater]

Hey Aikar, when the new windower is out, any chance you guys can set it so you can swap the IJLK camera control keys with the arrow control keys (used for action bar). The arrow key bindings cannot be unset so theirs no way to do this on our own. Very annoying, I'm used to doing camera control + movement with 1 hand and pressing macros with the other D:
Wont work. If you hit IJKL while typing, with it set like that, its going to fuck with you. Up/Down cycles through what you've said and Left/Right will go through what you're currently typing.

[Taube]

Hi,

first I want to apologize if some of you are offended by the similar names. I was once a member of the windower community (but had nothing to do with it itself) and left when Cliff left.

My understanding was that no one of you wanted to code a proper windower for FFXIV, so I did.

Btw in case you wonder while the timing is so strangely perfect: It took just a week to fix the problems that were making the game unplayable for me, afterwards I decided to share it.
There is a big thread @ffxivcore where you can see how this thing has developed.

So please, I know you did not meant it that way, but don't implicate that everyone who is not known to your community is untrustworthy, as I can still rembember that back at FF11 we used to use tools from ppl we also didn't knew.

Feel free to contact me if you have any problems or questions, we'll sure sort it out.

You're not known like the Windower team, that's the difference. Until you've made a name for yourself as a trustworthy 3rd party app developer, you'll be regarded with distrust. {Fact.}

[StillerBaum]

Thats true, but then again FFXIV has a new community (which, I agree, contains ppl from the old one). The windower team is well known to ppl who played FF11, but unknown for ppl who just start with 14.

[Kirb]

Thats true, but then again FFXIV has a new community (which, I agree, contains ppl from the old one). The windower team is well known to ppl who played FF11, but unknown for ppl who just start with 14.

Eh, don't take it too hard, bud.
Cliff and the windower community weren't trusted right off the bat for XI, either. (Or even for a few years, for that matter.)

For what it's worth, your app has made the beta much more enjoyable for me, so I hope you continue working on it.

[Deadgye]

Wont work. If you hit IJKL while typing, with it set like that, its going to fuck with you. Up/Down cycles through what you've said and Left/Right will go through what you're currently typing.
Except there already is a fix for it. Currently the guy has it so that you press a button to activate it and turn it off, but I believe he was working on making it automatic.

[Shuvo]

Except there already is a fix for it. Currently the guy has it so that you press a button to activate it and turn it off, but I believe he was working on making it automatic.

What guy? Where? lol

Only reason I'm not playing beta atm is cause of this annoying problem.

[Cooleko]

http://ffxivcore.com/topic/13828-use-arrow-keys-as-camera-controls/
this might be what he is refering to.

[nitsuj]

Thats true, but then again FFXIV has a new community (which, I agree, contains ppl from the old one). The windower team is well known to ppl who played FF11, but unknown for ppl who just start with 14.

I can't speak for everyone, but the only problem here is the unfortunately general name that FFXI "Windower" has. Calling your project "Windower XIV" will automatically, being a final fantasy game, elicit trust from the community (which isn't bad if you're a good dude) but will also associate your work with ours.

It's really not a huge deal, because we can't expect to own the word "windower" (since it's so vague) even though I as well wish you had picked a name that didn't cause the confusion.

(But honestly, I don't know what else you could have picked, which brings us back to the circular logic haha).

[Sonomaa]

no offense, but I dont trust xivcore after their shady dealings during alpha and beta. Ill wait till somone from BG vets this new windower before I play with it

[Sign]

no offense, but I dont trust xivcore after their shady dealings during alpha and beta. Ill wait till somone from BG vets this new windower before I play with it

Shady dealings? Apparently I missed some things during the early phases. What happened? I don't want to be supporting people that aren't trustworthy.

[StillerBaum]

@nitsuj: Hehe right, when I started with it, it was a plain window-mode-maker, so windower was describing it pretty good. Well, I guess its like the old windower: Started as "windower" and could now be called "game enhancer" or "needs to be used to have fun with FF11" :P
Oh, as for the point of contacting the author: the page now has a mail adr and a small board :O

[Snowknight26]

You have some grammar errors for the override window position tooltip and the image on your home page is stretched in such a way that some horizontal/vertical lines of pixels are displayed twice.

[KoRnpedo]

I'm confused, why do I have to change the settings to Window mode and set it to my desktop resolution? my resolution is 1920x1080, but I play the game @ 720 cuz my graphic card can't handle the game that good @ 1080p..
Can I still play full screen if I run my desktop with higher resolution than the game using WindowerXIV? or will i just have a borderless box floating on my desktop ?

[StillerBaum]

Hmm right, currently you will have a floating box.
But I'll fix that today for next version :)

[Olo401]

no offense, but I dont trust xivcore after their shady dealings during alpha and beta. Ill wait till somone from BG vets this new windower before I play with it
So far as I can tell there's no connection between StillerBaum/WindowerXIV and anyone at Core/Curse. In fact the first place I saw this app was over at Kyrra's FF14News site (via my XIV beta channel on IRC).


Shady dealings? Apparently I missed some things during the early phases. What happened? I don't want to be supporting people that aren't trustworthy.
http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-88842.html

[StillerBaum]

We are not associated with ffxivcore.com or the curse network. Neither did we know about their "shady dealings". It was simply the first community in which we decided to advertise the Windower XIV.

[Sonomaa]

I know BG hasnt been the bright shining example of good people doing good things (Taj and his magical parade) however we never profited from any of it (as in taking donations, etc). Thats why when something starts on one of the shadier websites I always am more concerned. The endgame community calls BG its home so the bulk of them are going to be wary because of all the account stealing.

Maybe there is something we can do to make the community here more comfortable with your program, maybe a member or app developer from the windower dev team (or maybe Ragns since he is a coder but always busy) can take a look at your stuff with your supervision to make sure everyone feels safe and secure.
Up to you guys, send me a PM if you are up for it.

[Ratatapa]

I've been using this Windower since it came out, and as for now I have yet to get problems

Mouse going fine and Alt tab too, so as for now i am happy

[Olo401]

BTW heads up to a problem I discovered - if you go to run this remember to unload other window hook utils that you may have been running!! Having them loaded at the same time as this will cause the taskbar to stay in front, the window to not quite be positioned properly and the game to severely stutter when you try to do anything.

[Kurokikaze]

So thats what that was... Got a ton of stutters dropping me to single digit FPS. Much much worse than the ATI stutter as this seemed to freeze the game for a short time.

[Cobb]

Cease and desist by Square Enix? Really?

[LidenbokValour]

Argh didn't take them long :(

[Kenichi]

maybe this means they'll fix the alt+tabbing themself...soon? It's kind of a joke that after FFXI I still can't alt tab out of fullscreen in XIV lol...

[Damane]

maybe this means they'll fix the alt+tabbing themself...soon? It's kind of a joke that after FFXI I still can't alt tab out of fullscreen in XIV lol...

This is a joke right? I didnt play FFXIV yet (Not in beta or alpha) but dont tell me FFXIV has the same issues with fullscreen like FFXI (i. e. crashing when doing Alt-Tab) because if thats the case, then I am not gonna play it. Went through enough crappy UI etc etc with FFXI (and got used to it but), if they didnt learn it by now they wont learn it later.

[Priran]

This is a joke right? I didnt play FFXIV yet (Not in beta or alpha) but dont tell me FFXIV has the same issues with fullscreen like FFXI (i. e. crashing when doing Alt-Tab) because if thats the case, then I am not gonna play it. Went through enough crappy UI etc etc with FFXI (and got used to it but), if they didnt learn it by now they wont learn it later.

Yes, FFXIV actually crashes if you tab out of fullscreen mode.

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8756/timewarp.jpg
etc.

[Lucavi]

This is a joke right? I didnt play FFXIV yet (Not in beta or alpha) but dont tell me FFXIV has the same issues with fullscreen like FFXI (i. e. crashing when doing Alt-Tab) because if thats the case, then I am not gonna play it. Went through enough crappy UI etc etc with FFXI (and got used to it but), if they didnt learn it by now they wont learn it later.

Well, they haven't learned. Perhaps they started working on FFXIV before FFXI had implemented windower, and never got around to updating their "new" game.

CRYSTAL TOOLS, YO! BRAND NEW SHIT!

[Damane]

Yes, FFXIV actually crashes if you tab out of fullscreen mode.
etc.

well guess it can wait then for 2-3 years (time estimated until they fix it halfassed), FFXI ftw.

[Hyan]

ITT: The Last Remnant and Mass Effect are same games!

[Ksandra]

Figured I'd throw this in here. Someone in the random thread mentioned using shiftwindow to window-mode the game (so you can maximize it I'd assume?)

I d/l and it looks like rocket sciences to get it to work. I am computer illiterate. Anyone use it that can tell me what to input for 14? D:

[Oshin]

Figured I'd throw this in here. Someone in the random thread mentioned using shiftwindow to window-mode the game (so you can maximize it I'd assume?)

I d/l and it looks like rocket sciences to get it to work. I am computer illiterate. Anyone use it that can tell me what to input for 14? D:

I just use this.

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/10729-borderless-window-script/

Simplest solution I've found for the alt+tab problem.

[Izzy]

Figured I'd throw this in here. Someone in the random thread mentioned using shiftwindow to window-mode the game (so you can maximize it I'd assume?)

I d/l and it looks like rocket sciences to get it to work. I am computer illiterate. Anyone use it that can tell me what to input for 14? D:

http://a.imageshack.us/img18/8481/captureauu.png

Open FFXIV
Click "Grab" next to the filename box.
Click "Final Fantasy XIV" in the list.
Make sure "Fullscreen (Client Area)" is selected.
Make sure "Only Manually" is selected.
Click "Trigger it".

Make sure your FFXIV resolution is the same as your desktop.

[Evanos]

Anyone have any solutions for a fullscreen mode that will allow crossfire (mine only works when I boot the game in full screen mode, not when I modify my window to be borderless after the fact) and alt tabbing?

[Eanae]

Why does no one just use Aikar's simple program you only have to use once, is undetectable, will never break, and is made from someone from the ff11 windower team? >_>

[Ksandra]

ty izzy!

[Oshin]

Why does no one just use Aikar's simple program you only have to use once, is undetectable, will never break, and is made from someone from the ff11 windower team? >_>

Yeah, you are right. Just tried this and it works like a charm. Also, the "set it and forget it" in the Startup folder tip is awesome.

[Izzy]

I'll have to try that when I get home.

[plue]

Anyone have any solutions for a fullscreen mode that will allow crossfire (mine only works when I boot the game in full screen mode, not when I modify my window to be borderless after the fact) and alt tabbing?

I used this method to get my SLI going, maybe it'll give you some ideas for your Crossfire build: Core Link (http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/10596-nvidia-sli-fix-25896-drivers/)


As for Alt-Tabbing I was able to run the game full screen yesterday, and Alt-Tab completely perfectly. Did they fix it?

[Evanos]

I used this method to get my SLI going, maybe it'll give you some ideas for your Crossfire build: Core Link (http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/10596-nvidia-sli-fix-25896-drivers/)


As for Alt-Tabbing I was able to run the game full screen yesterday, and Alt-Tab completely perfectly. Did they fix it?

Yeah, I have a method to get my crossfire going (using RadeonPro), but for it to work I must be in full screen, and then I keep accidentally alt tabbing out and crashing, which is very annoying considering how long it takes to get back into the game. Looking to remedy that latter part mainly. I am open to non-RadeonPro versions of enabling Crossfire that allow full screen also.

[Jojimbo]

What settings do you use in RadeonPro to get CF working? Mine works w/o tweaks but can get stuck at 50% usage after a while. And the game won't boot when messing around with different CF profiles.

[Caestus]

The Windower.exe made the game "choppy" for me. Not using it the game runs smooth. (using a 470 GTX)

[Aevis]

same stillerbaum as the one who basically released a free version of ffxiapp back in ye ol' days?

[Deadgye]

The Windower.exe made the game "choppy" for me. Not using it the game runs smooth. (using a 470 GTX)

Same here, I just run it before I launch the game, and then turn it off after I get in; best of both worlds.

[Nirokun!]

The only complaint I have about the pseudo-windower is the fact that, at least on my computer, it keeps the mouse cursor on the screen. You can make it fade for less than a second on controller or escape key, but it pops itself right back.

[Rai]

The only complaint I have about the pseudo-windower is the fact that, at least on my computer, it keeps the mouse cursor on the screen. You can make it fade for less than a second on controller or escape key, but it pops itself right back.

I had the same thing, disabling hardware mouse fixed it for me. (Not using the mouse anyway)

[Deadgye]

The only complaint I have about the pseudo-windower is the fact that, at least on my computer, it keeps the mouse cursor on the screen. You can make it fade for less than a second on controller or escape key, but it pops itself right back.

Ah, so that's what was causing that.. luckily I have dual monitors so I just move the mouse away since I don't use it- but that was pretty annoying also.

[Nirokun!]

I don't want to disable the hardware mouse, it's too good for crafting right now because going down a long list of items sucks with controller :|

[Franzer]

I have a question, if i run in windowed fullscreen, will i be utilizing SLI?

[Crayfish]

Franzer

I have a question, if i run in windowed fullscreen, will i be utilizing SLI?

No only fullscreen support sli.

[Franzer]

Franzer

I have a question, if i run in windowed fullscreen, will i be utilizing SLI?

No only fullscreen support sli.
That's what i thought, thanks

[Jaxzer]

Pseudo windower lagged me to hell, game runs fine with it off. Playing max settings 1920x1200.

[Caestus]

any updates on windower stuff?

[#686578]

No I think he's pretty much still not doing it

[Postal]

Franzer

I have a question, if i run in windowed fullscreen, will i be utilizing SLI?

No only fullscreen support sli.


Not true, you can force it into sli while windowed. (looking for the thread that explains how)

[Franzer]

Not true, you can force it into sli while windowed. (looking for the thread that explains how)

many thanks if you can find this

[Saroyan]

many thanks if you can find this

Import the custom SLI profile from core that Plue linked to in post #43.
I'm using that with my SLI GTX260's and get 97-99% GPU usage on both cards in windowed mode.
I'm also using the auto-hotkey script from core to move the frames off my display to have windowed full screen mode without any of the choppiness that the Aikar windower was giving me.

[Jaxzer]

Same here, I just run it before I launch the game, and then turn it off after I get in; best of both worlds.
Not sure how or why but tried this and it actually worked, had to kill windower from the task manager.

[Egon]

Someone needs to make Xfire work in windowed mode :(

[Olo401]

Just a reminder/heads-up...

If you still want to use WXIV (since I've yet to find any other window-hook thing that doesn't cause/prevent game stuttering), I'll be glad to share a copy with you. Just pop onto IRC and I'll send you the file. See my sig for server & channel info.

[neptunet]

I got ahold of this file (still not sure how.. hmmm) but when I launch the exe nothing happens. Presumably I can run this program from any directory? Any words of advice? Win 7 64.

[#686578]

I got ahold of this file (still not sure how.. hmmm) but when I launch the exe nothing happens. Presumably I can run this program from any directory? Any words of advice? Win 7 64.
What do you mean nothing happens? Like nothing appears to happen or when you start Final Fantasy XIV the borders dont get moved off screen?

For the record nothing is supposed to APPEAR to happen. It stays in the background using almost zero resources.

[neptunet]

Sorry that was vague. When I launch Windower, nothing happens. I'm left staring at my desktop. The instructions show a screen shot of a launcher utility which I don't see.

EDIT: Oh wait, I guess it's working. But where it that launcher utility?

EDIT2: Ok, Windower runs my game without borders but.. it runs super choppy. Like 10 fps. In full screen I get about 50-60 with no chop. Back to fullscreen it seems.

[Purrrfect]

I believe people a page or 2 earlier in this thread discussed that particular problem...

[G-Rod]

I got tired of running windower and killing it in task manager every time I play, especially since I crash pretty often, so I made a little batch file to do it for me.



cd\
cd windower
start FFXIVWindower.exe
ping localhost -n 60 > nul
taskkill /F /IM "FFXIVWindower.exe"


I have the FFXIVWindower.exe in the C:\windower directory, so replace "cd windower" with whatever directory yours is located in. The 60 in "ping localhost -n 60 > nul" is the wait time in seconds before killing the process, so set it to whatever you feel comfortable with. Paste it in notepad and save it as a .bat file, and run it instead of the FFXIVWindower.exe before you play. There is probably a more elegant way, but I'm lazy and it works.

[Olo401]

Sorry that was vague. When I launch Windower, nothing happens. I'm left staring at my desktop. The instructions show a screen shot of a launcher utility which I don't see.

EDIT: Oh wait, I guess it's working. But where it that launcher utility?

EDIT2: Ok, Windower runs my game without borders but.. it runs super choppy. Like 10 fps. In full screen I get about 50-60 with no chop. Back to fullscreen it seems.
If you don't get the WXIV launcher, then you're using Aikar's window-hook. The game's running choppy because it's nothing but a window hook and doesn't manage the CPU clock slices (which WXIV does do).

[sruon]

FFEvo windower supports dualboxing, I know a few persons asked about it a while ago.

[Drako]

FFEvo windower supports dualboxing, I know a few persons asked about it a while ago.

FFEVO + FFXIVwindower = win