Difference between revisions of "Configuring Your Client"

Revision as of 20:24, 17 January 2013

This guide is NOT intended for people with buddypass, or illegally downloaded versions of FFXI. We have the bought and paid for the game, and will never recommend that you use anything different. If you somehow managed to get it to work using the buddypass or an illegal version of FFXI then keep it to yourself. Discussion of obtaining software through illegal means is not tolerated.

Installing FFXI

In this section we will install and update Final Fantasy XI from Retail Discs.

You can download the retail Disks here Client Download

For users on Windows Vista or newer, download the Vista PlayOnline client from the PlayOnline Support Site and install that instead of the version on the retail discs.

Install PlayOnline, Final Fantasy XI, and then ALL of the expansions up to and including Wings of the Goddess. You do not need to have the mini-addon packs installed.

Run PlayOnline and let it update.

Close PlayOnline viewer.

Download the following file: FFXI Patch

Extract its contents to your PlayOnline/Squareenix/Final Fantasy XI directory.

Run PlayOnline again and choose For PlayOnline Members

At the Add Member page enter anything you like for the Member Name.

Enter ABCD1234 for the PlayOnline ID

Select Register, Yes, OK.

Select Check Files on the left of the screen.

Updating FFXI via the PlayOnline Viewer

This option is safer and is the one supported by Dark Star Project

Go back to your Check Files screen and select Final Fantasy XI from the drop-down menu.

After 7 hours or so of updating, FFXI should be up to date.

Close the PlayOnline Viewer.

Updating FFXI via manual patch download

This option isn't supported by Dark Star Project, but may be faster than updating through PlayOnline

If you don't have something that can extract RAR archives, download and install 7zip.

Close the PlayOnline Viewer

Go to tehkrizz's FFXI Patch Download Page

Download the MOV, ROM, and Sound archives. Extract the files into your FFXI install folder. Usually C:\Program Files (x86)\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI on 64-bit Windows or C:\Program Files\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI on 32-bit Windows Extract the contents of the FFXI Patch you downloaded earlier into the FFXI install folder again, overwriting all files. If you skip this step, your client probably will not update properly.

Run the PlayOnline Viewer

Select Check Files on the left of the screen.

Click on PlayOnline Viewer then select Final Fantasy XI from the drop down, then Check Files. If there have been any updates since the archives posted on tehkrizz's site, this may take an hour or more.

Close the PlayOnline Viewer

After updating

Copy the data folder at PlayOnline\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\data to the Final Fantasy XI directory at PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI.

Afterwards you should have the directory PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\data.

Setting up the Launcher

In this section you will configure FFXI to connect to a DarkStar Server

You can use Ashita, FFXI-Boot Mod, FFXI-Boot, or mXI to connect to a Dark Star server. Ashita and mXI have more features, but take longer to set up. FFXI-Boot/Mod usually work with minimal configuration. They can all co-exist on your system, so if in doubt, try several!

Ashita

This is the most maintained and feature-packed option.

Prerequisite: MSVC 2012 Update 1 Runtimes x86 version

This comes with the below FFXI-Boot. As such, IT WORKS PROPERLY WITH DNS NAMES out of the box.

Download Ashita - DarkStar Edition

Create a folder in a convenient location and extract the archive into it.

Run Ashita.exe and click the "Updates" tab. Once the update list displays, hit "UPDATE ALL FILES".

If you don't have an account, skip to the next section for creation instructions.

If you already have an account, click on the "Launcher" tab and select the appropriate profile for the server you use.

Click "EDIT CONFIG". Inside, on the "Boot Command" line, edit the account and password to match your own.

Tweak any other options you want while in here, including resolution. You do not need to click on the "Test Server" check box. If you would prefer to be prompted for your password, take out the --pass parameter entirely.

If you need to be able to log into a public server hosted on your own computer or LAN, add the --hairpin option to the Boot Command!

The package contains profiles for the main test server and the classic server. See the DarkStar Servers page for additional servers you can use.

You can find a lot of additional plugins and help for Ashita at [1]

FFXI-Boot Mod

This is the most maintained simple loader. It does not support plugins but it is used with the Ashita package above which does provide plugins.

A vc11 and vc10 build are both provided. You will need one of:

MSVC 2012 Update 1 Runtimes x86 version

or

MSVC 2010 Runtimes x86 version

This is a special version of the below FFXI-Boot. This version takes command-line options and was designed to work seamlessly with Ashita. It is also included in the Ashita package we provide. There is no INI file with this version. IT ALSO WORKS PROPERLY WITH DNS NAMES unlike the original ffxi-boot!

Download FFXI-Boot Mod

Extract the FFXI-Boot Mod's "pol.exe" somewhere convenient.

To play on a local server, just run pol.exe and you will be prompted for a username and password to login with.

To play on another server, open up a command prompt, navigate to the folder you extracted to, and type in:

pol.exe --server server-ip --user username --pass password

The username and password options are optional here and will be prompted for if not provided. See the Readme in the archive for more information.

If you need to be able to log into a public server hosted on your own computer or LAN, add the --hairpin option to the command!

See the DarkStar Servers page for servers you can use.

FFXI-Boot

This is the original FFXI-Boot, a simple loader without any bells or whistles. It uses an ini file instead of command-line options to work, and as such is not well-suited for use with several server configurations.

Prerequisite: MSVC 2010 Runtimes x86 version

This version does not handle DNS names properly and will cause searches and auctions to fail when using them. It also does not support hairpinning for accessing public servers hosted on the same system or your LAN.

Download FFXI-Boot

Extract the FFXI-Boot files (ffxi-boot.exe & ffxi-boot.ini) somewhere convenient.

Open ffxi-boot.ini in a text editor.

Change SERVIP to the IP address of the DarkStar server you wish to use. See the DarkStar Servers page for this info, or put in 127.0.0.1 if you are hosting your own server on the same system.

An example ffxi-boot.ini is below.

SERVIP = 67.41.45.115
AUTOLOGIN = 1
USERNAME    = username
PASSWORD = password

mXI

This is the original Windower loader for private servers. It is no longer maintained, and the Windower crew hasn't shown us anything new in a long time, but it is still a valid option.

Prerequisite: MSVC 2010 Runtimes x86 version

This does not handle DNS names properly and will cause searches and auctions to fail when using them. It also does not support hairpinning for accessing public servers hosted on the same system or your LAN.

If you prefer the MXI FFXI Loader, this is compatible with DarkStar servers as well. mXI windower features (light luggage, distance, etc.) can potentially cause you problems while playing. If you have issues, this is the first thing to disable. Windower itself seams to work fine on Dark Star.

Download mXI 0.91_Darkstar version

Extract the contents of the archive into the PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI directory.

Open Client.ini in a text editor.

Change SERVIP to the IP address of the DarkStar server you wish to use. See the DarkStar Servers page for this info, or put in 127.0.0.1 if you are hosting your own server on the same system.

You will also need to set X_RES and Y_RES to the resolution your game will be running at or it will look streteched or squashed.

If you plan to play on someone else's server, you MUST disable the Light Luggage plugin in scripts/init.txt or YOU WILL LIKELY BE BANNED. This plugin unnecessarily spams auto-sort on the server and can disrupt play for everyone.

If you have any problems, set WINDOWERMODE to 2, which will disable all of the windower plugins. If it works, try disabling all of your windower plugins in scripts/init.txt and then re-enable them one at a time to determine which one is causing a crash. It may also help to DISABLE windowed mode the the FFXI configuration utility and/or extract mXI to a directory other than the PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI directory and run it from that location instead.

An example Client.ini is below.

[SERVER]
SERVIP 		=  67.41.45.115
AUTOLOGIN  	=  1
USERNAME	=  username
PASSWORD	=  password
[CLIENT]
LANGUAGE 	= 1
## VERSION can be NA,EU or JP. This needs to reflect the POL version you have.
VERSION 	= NA
## MODE 0 = no windower, 1 = normal windower, 2 = windower light
WINDOWERMODE	= 1
X_RES 		= 1024
Y_RES 		= 768

I would highly suggest updating the Windower hook.dll version and all of the plugins in this package. You can obtain the newest hook.dll here: [2]

You can find additional plugins on that site as well.

Create an Account and Login

FFXI-Boot Mod

For FFXI-Boot Mod, run it with the server parameter and fail a login once and you will be asked if you want to create an account.

The username should be between 3 and 15 alphanumeric characters and the password should be between 6 and 15 alphanumeric characters long.

After creating you account the window will close. Simply re-run with (or without) the new username and password options. If you didn't provide them, you will be prompted for them.

Ashita

For Ashita, start Ashita.exe, double-click on the server profile you want to use and fail a login once and you will be prompted to create an account.

The username should be between 3 and 15 alphanumeric characters and the password should be between 6 and 15 alphanumeric characters long.

After creating you account the window will close.

Start Ashita.exe again and click the appropriate profile and click "EDIT CONFIG"

Within, on the Boot Command line edit account and password to reflect the appropriate values.

Tweak your window size and other options as you like and hit "SAVE CONFIG". You do not need to check Test Server.

Double-click the profile you edited to launch from now on!

FFXI-Boot or mXI

Run ffxi-boot.exe or mXI.exe and choose option 2; Create a new account.

The username should be between 3 and 15 alphanumeric characters and the password should be between 6 and 15 alphanumeric characters long.

You can now save the username and password into the ffxi-boot.ini or Client.ini if you wish to use auto-login.

Choose option 1; Login using existing account

Login with username and password.

FFXI should load and be on the splash screen. Choose Accept.

Create a Character, Select a Country, then choose Yes to Register and begin play.

Select the newly created character then login.

It should login all the way to the Country you selected.