FFXI Display Issues

[Yajirobe]

Hey all. I played FFXI for many years with no issues. Then when I upgraded to a new computer, I ran into display issues that really made it a real pain to play the game. As a result, I stopped playing for about six months. I'm trying to see if I can get playing again, but it's kinda painful seeing as there are plenty of newer games where not only do I not have any issues at all, but the graphics are are just stunning on my computer.

I have attached an example picture of me just standing in my mog house. It may not look that bad, but:
1. the pixels on my character move with my character, and
2. the moogle in the background is pretty close yet looks very blurry. Try this in dynamis with 40+ blurs that are further away. Not only do the characters get blurrier, but their names do as well.

I would play on my old computer which ran FFXI just fine, but one of the reasons why I upgraded to a new computer was because it bluescreened on average once every couple of hours. Below are some of my system specs:

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3
Version of DirectX: DirectX9.0c
Memory: 4GB (3GB registered)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT x2 (SLI)
Motherboard: MS-7380

I have tried all sorts of different drivers including "old" drivers that supposedly worked well with FFXI. I have also played with the resolution settings: increasing and decreasing the settings and they appeared to have little to no affect.

Edit: Added second screenshot

[Tythera]

Are you running the unofficial windower? When you edit the resolution settings, are you using the registry or the SE configure tool?

[Yajirobe]

Are you running the unofficial windower? When you edit the resolution settings, are you using the registry or the SE configure tool?

I have tried both ways. They look identical to me.

[Tythera]

Hmm, the only thing I can figure is that if you're using the unofficial windower the primary resolution settings are actually stored in an ini file and not controlled by either of the above. Beyond that, I'm not sure what to tell you; it reminds me of when I'd play 640x480 with 256x256 background textures at camps.

[Kryssan]

Something going on here with your settings. This isn't an issue with your computer or FFXI in general. Those kind of display issues are caused by your resolutions being out of whack, which in and of itself is not the games fault. When I first started reading it I thought you were suffering from z-fighting but this is a case of the textures being horribly undersized and showing up as negative aliasing.


Provide pictures of your registry settings for FFXI please.

[Yajirobe]

Here's the registry settings from the POL config app:

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnline
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnline\SQUARE
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnline\SQUARE\FinalFantasyXI
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS	CommonFilesFolder	C:\Program Files\Common Files\
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\InstallFolder
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\InstallFolder	0002	C:\Program Files\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\TetraMaster
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\InstallFolder	1000	C:\Program Files\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\InstallFolder	0001	C:\Program Files\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\Interface
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\Interface	0002	0008b946
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\Interface	1000	0008b7a0
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\Interface	0001	001070cc
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0000	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0001	0x00000080(128)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0002	0x000000b0(176)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0003	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0004	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0007	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0011	0x00000002(2)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0017	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0018	0x00000002(2)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0019	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0020	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0021	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0022	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0023	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0024	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0028	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0029	0x0000000c(12)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0030	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0031	0x000000a6(166)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0032	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0033	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI	0034	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer	FirstBootPlayMovie	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer	SPS000	3b 6 4d 31 f0 44 46 a3 14 19 40 6d 8f bf e4 83 52 2 37 95 c4 14 e2 71 dd 63 83 20 6d 37 22 de f2 37 97 69 fb e5 8b b5 91 3e a9 ab c1 63 15 f8 a2 59 92 4b 87 4e da 74 bf b0 90 f4 17 88 36 56 54 c3 74 73 83 9 4d 16 1d 3b 4a 18 b0 a1 5f d9 1 e9 16 8a eb 82 6b 42 76 a8 fe 37 68 1d 80 68 9b 4 c5 4a fb 6f b0 e2 b7 3a 76 0 42 84 78 ee a5 b9 a6 43 b0 3d b3 49 dd b4 6 a5 5a c6 95 96 d0 58 54 b2 71 5c 9 64 29 1 cf 74 19 74 81 be df a7 49 96 2e 7c 3 32 8a f6 dd 98 23 23 12 d0 6e 7c 8b 35 e d6 d8 d4 4b 23 6b b 3f 3a 2a 27 2c 1d 7f dd 57 14 6b 44 37 d0 89 e5 ce 18 60 7 e3 c4 99 96 7f 45 6f 37 
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	SupportLanguage	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	WindowH	0x000000e0(224)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	WindowW	0x00000080(128)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	WindowX	0x0000002c(44)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	WindowY	0x000000cb(203)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	ResetSettings	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	PlayOpeningMovie	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	FullScreen	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	PlayAudio	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings	UseGameController	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	AnchorUp	0x00000030(48)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	AnchorRight	0x00000032(50)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	AnchorLeft	0x00000036(54)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	AnchorDown	0x00000034(52)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	ChrCsrNext	0x00000007(7)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	ChrCsrPrev	0x00000006(6)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	PageNext	0x00000005(5)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	PagePrev	0x00000004(4)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	Navi	0x00000003(3)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	Menu	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	Ok	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	Cancel	0x00000002(2)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\Settings\Controller	ID	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\SystemInfo
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\SystemInfo\QCheck
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	SOUND	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	B_07MENU	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	B_06FRIENDLIST	0x00000004(4)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	B_05PLAYONLINE	0x0000000a(10)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	B_04CHAT	0x00000009(9)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	PAD	0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	JOYPADGUIDENABLE	0x00000001(1)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	B_00OK	0x00000002(2)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	B_02PAGEDOWN	0x00000005(5)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	B_01CANCEL	0x00000003(3)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	B_03PAGEUP	0x00000006(6)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster	LOADDIR	C:\Program Files\PlayOnline\SquareEnix/TetraMaster/
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}		FFXiVersion Class
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}\InprocServer32
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}\InprocServer32		C:\Program Files\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\FFXiVersions.dll
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}\InprocServer32	ThreadingModel	Apartment
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}\ProgID
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}\ProgID		FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion.1
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}\TypeLib
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}\TypeLib		{75AA93EE-48B1-4A54-B570-6E717178C49F}
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}\VersionIndependentProgID
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}\VersionIndependentProgID		FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion		FFXiVersion Class
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion\CLSID
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion\CLSID		{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion\CurVer
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion\CurVer		FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion.1
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion.1
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion.1		FFXiVersion Class
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion.1\CLSID
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FFXiVersions.FFXiVersion.1\CLSID		{E636B693-A5A7-4161-9F02-D769178DE989}

Also added second screenshot to OP

[Cantide~]

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEn ix\FinalFantasyXI 0001 0x00000080(128)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEn ix\FinalFantasyXI 0002 0x000000b0(176)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEn ix\FinalFantasyXI 0003 0x00000000(0)
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEn ix\FinalFantasyXI 0004 0x00000000(0)


These are why 0001 & 0002 are screen resolution
0003 and 0004 are BG resolution

at least thats how mine are setup

[Tythera]

Yeah, something is definitely off. Assuming you have a WS monitor (this is all in hex) set 0001 to 690, 0002 to 41A, 0003 to D20, 0004 to 834 and give that a try.

[Kryssan]

Yes, as noted above, your BG resolution is currently nothing. This requires much fixing. Let us know how it goes.

[Yajirobe]

wow what a difference... this is really weird that my FFXI config wasn't setting these values properly. I changed the resolutions to 1920x1200 manually in the registry similarly to how you suggested and changed the BG resolution. The game looks much better than it did even on my old computer!

Thanks for the help guys ^^