Making FFXI look better?

[Xanthu]

That's the maximum display resolution.

The maximum texture size for most newer nvidia cards is 4096x4096 last time I checked (2048x2048 for ati), although I'm trying to confirm this is still the case.

The best way to tell is to check your DX9 caps.

DirectX Caps Viewer will tell you your max texture size for your card (DirectX Graphics Adapters -> (your card) -> D3D Device Types -> HAL -> Caps -> MaxTextureWidth/Height

Edit: Downloaded the (500meg!) DirectX SDK from microsoft.com, extracted and put the 32 and 64 bit versions of DXCapsViewer up on my web site, so I know they're safe copies.

This helped out, unfortunately it looked like anything higher than double my display resolution was ass, maybe related to my piddly dual-core 2Ghz processor.

FFXI needs multi-threading support! .\/.

[Araelus]

Kryssan, thank you for the technical response. I'm already using a "compatible" driver and it does not work.

Approved Cards and Drivers (As of May 26, 2008) implies (175.16) is OK but it is not.

I am currently speaking with a LS member who bought a new PC five days ago, and no longer has the z-tearing issue.

I'll get back to you on what card/driver/settings she's running with.

Cheers.

It took a long time to actually get the feedback, and it doesn't help me because I'm on XP Pro 32bit and not Vista Ultimate 64bit, but:

NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Total Memory: 2544 MB
Display mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60hz)

Main Driver: Nvd3dumx.dll
Version: 7.15.0011.7783 (english)
WHQL Logo'd : n/a
DDI Version: 10

no flickering issue

[Issac]

Should I be setting my texture resolution the same as my aspect ratio, like 16:10 or just squared at 2048x2048? Does it make a difference?

[Carraway]

Should I be setting my texture resolution the same as my aspect ratio, like 16:10 or just squared at 2048x2048? Does it make a difference?

1x or 2x is the way to go. A disparate ratio will muddy things up.

[Isiolia]

That's the maximum display resolution.

The maximum texture size for most newer nvidia cards is 4096x4096 last time I checked (2048x2048 for ati), although I'm trying to confirm this is still the case.

The best way to tell is to check your DX9 caps.

DirectX Caps Viewer will tell you your max texture size for your card (DirectX Graphics Adapters -> (your card) -> D3D Device Types -> HAL -> Caps -> MaxTextureWidth/Height

Edit: Downloaded the (500meg!) DirectX SDK from microsoft.com, extracted and put the 32 and 64 bit versions of DXCapsViewer up on my web site, so I know they're safe copies.

4800 series are listed as having high res texture support of 8192x8192 ATI Radeon™ HD 4850 & ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 - GPU Specifications
Some Googling shows the 8800 GT to be the same. Not sure why they chose to omit that from the specs on the site.

[Pikarya]

Need a quick verification for my fiancee PC.

Shes running 16:10, 1280x800 currently. Her videocard only supports up to 2048x2048.

To get the best quality 3D-wise. She should be running 1280x1280 3D since its widescreen? Or should it be set to 1280x800 to match the overlay?

Sorry, just got a little confused reading the differences between the square dimension style setting on widescreen and 4:3 users.

edit: Also note, the reason why I don't set her 3D to 2560x1600 is because her ATi card won't support that high.

[Auspice]

To get the best quality 3D-wise. She should be running 1280x1280 3D since its widescreen? Or should it be set to 1280x800 to match the overlay?

I'm running 16:10 as well and am currently matching the 3D to my BG resolution although it seems jaggier than when I went squared with 3D. Maybe I'm doing it wrong or maybe I'm only imagining it but it definitely doesn't seem to look as nice.

[madpersian]

Keep your background texture proportional to your game resolution. So if you are running 1680 x1050 your texture resolution should be 1680 x1050 or 3760 x 2100.

[Kryssan]

This seems to be giving people issues so allow me to use images to demonstrate:

Resolution: 1680x1050


Square Background 2048x2048

Ratio Background 3072x1920

If these links don't resolve let me know and I'll put 'em on imageshack or something temporarily, my server and the name servers are still resolving the domain transfer and new ip addresses due to me moving/transferring commands.

If you can see the pictures, you'll notice at the high end of your graphics, the differences aren't very visible. On lower end cards or using lower graphic settings, they will become much more visible. Basically, the real difference you'll note between these two images is the jaggedness (which is most visible on the pants and sword) the square background res will give you, even though the bg res is decent and it is oversampling. This is because you're not respecting your ratio, even though you're technically oversampling the image. The problem is because you are technically oversampling more in one aspect than in another, which causes jaggies. The greater the difference in sizes between your game resolution and your bg resolution, the worse your jaggies will be. On a 4:3 screen, you won't notice this if you decide to use square bg resolutions... 4:3 is pretty close to a box. There weren't too many widescreens when FFXI came out for computers, hence probably why the bg ratios you can choose in FFXI Config are all square. On big widescreens though, it becomes very visible.


Keeping your bg res with your ratio will make it more visually appealing, 'specially if you're on the lower end.

[Rasantath]

This seems to be giving people issues so allow me to use images to demonstrate:

Resolution: 1680x1050


Square Background 2048x2048

Ratio Background 3072x1920

If these links don't resolve let me know and I'll put 'em on imageshack or something temporarily, my server and the name servers are still resolving the domain transfer and new ip addresses due to me moving/transferring commands.

If you can see the pictures, you'll notice at the high end of your graphics, the differences aren't very visible. On lower end cards or using lower graphic settings, they will become much more visible. Basically, the real difference you'll note between these two images is the jaggedness (which is most visible on the pants and sword) the square background res will give you, even though the bg res is decent and it is oversampling. This is because you're not respecting your ratio, even though you're technically oversampling the image. The problem is because you are technically oversampling more in one aspect than in another, which causes jaggies. The greater the difference in sizes between your game resolution and your bg resolution, the worse your jaggies will be. On a 4:3 screen, you won't notice this if you decide to use square bg resolutions... 4:3 is pretty close to a box. There weren't too many widescreens when FFXI came out for computers, hence probably why the bg ratios you can choose in FFXI Config are all square. On big widescreens though, it becomes very visible.


Keeping your bg res with your ratio will make it more visually appealing, 'specially if you're on the lower end.

yeah they are not working. try TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

and thanks for that explanation. even though i cant see the pics, i am going to adjust my settings to see if it looks better. i also run widescreen but currently have a square background res set.

your dns looks ok but your web server isnt responding. (and your post was 7+ hrs ago, and your dns cache time is 1h)

[Kaisha]

Does anyone know how to fix the lightmap oversampling when you crank the texture resolution? Places like Valkurm and Hux'zoi are unbearably white.

Kinda like the floor I'm standing on:

Spoiler: show

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ffxi222222.jpg

[Kryssan]

Wow that is bright. Can't say I've ever had that issue. Out of curiosity have you tried adjusting your gamma and color values? The whole picture seems bright to me, but that could just be because I'm used to my DLP which renders things differently than an LCD would.

[ringthree]

I play at 1920x1200 and I have tried to double that but I get a lot of slow down, so I play at equal resolutions.

My graphics card is an NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS, what should I be able to bump the BG up to?

[Vodou]

I have a Nvidia 260 and run it at 1920x1200 while oversampled (at least 2560x2560, iirc) with no problems.


I've never seen it super bright like that. I tend to think something else is off.

[SnickySnacks]

Brightness is a problem with certain monitors. In config -> gameplay turn down all 3 of the gamma sliders and it should help out quite a bit.

This happened when I switched from CRT to LCD, although I have no real idea why.