Final Fantasy XI Online

What works

...Not the installer, so it seems. I can't give this thing anything higher than a Garbage Rating as a result.

...However, on my existing testbed install, it runs well, and has only a minor issue with cursor movement lag.

What does not

...The Installer ... FFXI Itself didn't seem to want to work on my existing testbed install... but that's outside the scope of this page

Workarounds

What was not tested

Just about everything. The program itself runs well. The installer, though, is a different story altogether.

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU:
• Driver:

Additional Comments

So, On a hunch, I decided to mv .wine wine-bak and re-run winecfg to set up a new testbed for FFXI, since my existing FFXI Install didn't seem to work. I'll be trying this with different settings later, but for now - NO GO. Notably, I'm using gitwine, so if something fixes (or breaks), I'll be the first to know.

Installation

The PlayOnline Viewer and Final Fantasy XI installation/data files can be downloaded from the PlayOnline website(s):

• EU: http://www.playonline.com/ff11...
• US: http://www.playonline.com/ff11...
• JP: http://www.playonline.com/ff11...

During the installation process of Final Fantasy XI, a window with only borders, and no rendered content may be seen, and the 'msiexec' process can be using up to 100% of a single CPU core while possibly processing the 'FINAL_FANTASY_XI.msi' file probably. This can take up to at least four (4) minutes, but should eventually complete.

Last updated until this point: 2019-06-14

Gameplay

Windows 7 needs to be set as the reported Windows version, or the game client will crash after accepting the licence agreement.

Everything imaginable in-game works, though the game can be quite heavy, depending on settings (especially due to the shadows).  Using CSMT from Staging helps with FPS by allowing more CPU to be used.

Gamepad

A PS2-controller via a simple USB-converter works flawlessly (aside from sometimes when entering the game, and the analog mode is off, the player character and the camera will start moving by themselves, but they stop when the analog mode is enabled (whether or not this would happen on Windows as well is unknown at this time)).

Japanese Input

Requires the Japanese PlayOnline Viewer software, as is intended (using 'uim' to switch input methods).

Works while in PlayOnline Viewer, but not while in-game.  This may be due to how things are built-in.  It is possible to paste text from outside the PlayOnline Viewer into it, but the same is not true for the actual game client.

Known Issues

• The PlayOnline Viewer splash image is "transparent" (works with Wine Staging).
• The opening movie does not play correctly, but the audio can be heard (for about 10 seconds, then it's skipped).  This seems to be regression (bug 42008).
• Sometimes, usually only after having gone back to the PlayOnline Viewer from the game, the application will crash when re-launching the game from the viewer (backtraces speak of the (proprietary) nvidia-drivers).
• The PlayOnline Viewer graphics are not updated when moved to a secondary monitor, looking like a hang (audio still plays, and it is possible to interact with buttons and such).  The actual game client doesn't have this issue.
• Using the Japanese client, typing Japanese in-game doesn't work via 'uim', probably because the thing is heavily built-in (text can't be 'pasted in' even).
• Using the Japanese client, having the opening movie enabled will crash the client when launched from the PlayOnline Viewer. 

The following information may be largely out of date since 2016-12-19 or earlier.

HOWTO - Final Fantasy XI: The Ultimate Collection 2011

This HOWTO will help you get Final Fantasy XI setup on your machine using "The Ultimate Collection 2011" retail package, or equivalent media. Here you will also find a guide to get the PlayOnline Viewer running. This HOWTO is complete to the best knowledge of its creators, however, there may be some errors that have not been resolved.

Please note that in order to run this game, you will most likely NEED the proprietary drivers for your graphics card(s). Open-source drivers are known to have problems with 3D rendering, and may render many things incorrectly or slowly. Please bear this in mind when submitting test results, as well.

Installation

• Insert "The Ultimate Collection 2011" dvd into your dvd drive.
• In a terminal session, type in "wine /path/to/dvdrom/PlayOnline/setup.exe".
• From here, you will be guided by a setup wizard. Choosing all defaults is acceptable.
• After the PlayOnline Viewer is finished installing, click finish on the wizard if you haven't done so already.
• Type in "cd/path/to/dvdrom/INST1" to go into the install directory for Final Fantasy XI.
• Type in "wine setup.exe".
• A wizard will appear that will guide you through setting up Final Fantasy XI. Again, choosing all defaults is acceptable.
• After installation is complete for Final Fantasy XI, you may be given a choice to restart your machine. Choose "No, I will restart my machine later" and click finish.
• From here, type in "cd/path/to/dvdrom/INST2".
• Type in "wine setup.exe".
• Follow the wizard for setting up Rise of the Zilart, choosing all defaults, and selecting to restart your computer later, if prompted.
• Type in "cd/path/to/dvdrom/INST3".
• Type in "wine setup.exe".
• Follow the wizard for setting up Chains of Promathia, choosing all defaults, and selecting to restart your computer later, if prompted.
• Type in "cd/path/to/dvdrom/INST4".
• Type in "wine setup.exe".
• Follow the wizard for setting up Treasures of AhtUrhgan, choosing all defaults, and selecting to restart your computer later if prompted.
• Type in "cd/path/to/dvdrom/INST5".
• Type in "wine setup.exe".
• Follow the wizard for setting up Wings of the Goddess, choosing all defaults, and selecting to restart your computer later if prompted.
• You may now umount your installation media. Be sure to store it in a safe place.

Overriding DXDIAGN.DLL

• Obtain a copy of the file "Dxdiagn.dll" from a Windows XP install (It'll be in the System32 Directory)
• Copy said file into your WINE installation (.wine), place it either in the Windows folder or the System32 folder, either is fine.
• Open a terminal and navigate to the directory you placed Dxdiagn.dll into.
• Run the following command: "wine regsvr32 dxdiagn.dll". Additionally try running "wine regsvr dxdiagn.dll".
• Open winecfg and navigate to the overrides.
• Set a new override for Dxdiagn.
• You should be set to go.

Configuring/Updating/Running

• Here the PlayOnline Viewer will be updated. Follow the instructions to update the viewer.
• After PlayOnline Viewer is updated, the viewer will ask you to click next to restart it. Do so, and PlayOnline Viewer Should restart.
• Once logged in, you may run Final Fantasy XI. It will be updated upon running them for the first time, this is the perfect opportunity to eat some cheesecake, because the initial update could take hours. Do note that if you have registered the registration codes for any of the Abyssea expansions it will be automatically downloaded and installed in the update.
• Once the update has completed, Final Fantasy XI should launch with your desired settings.
• Go to a heavily populated area, and type "/yell Final Fantasy XI Runs In Linux!!" into Final Fantasy, and press Enter

Running more than one instance of FFXI:

• In a shell do:
  

  WINEPREFIX="/home/$USER/.wine-second" wine /path/to/first/full/FFXI/Install/pol.exe

• This will create a new instance directory for wine in your home folder. It will be named .wine-second
• You will get a few errors. You can dismiss all of them.
• Use your favourite file handling utility and copy the complete PlayOnline folder from your previous (/home/yourname/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/) wine instance to your new instance. (Yes you will need two installs of FFXI for this to work)
• Make sure you copy your original install from it's root folder in the Program Files directory to the Program Files directory of your new wine instance. The folder named PlayOnline is all you need to copy.
• Now you should have one original install in:
  

  /home/yourname/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/PlayOnline/
  and one copy of that install in:
  /home/yourname/.wine-second/drive_c/Program Files/PlayOnline/
  

• In a shell do:
  

  regedit
  

• Now make sure that the root of the registry is selected in the tree structure on the left hand side. In English the root is called 'My Computer'
• Now click the following sequence in the Regedit menu bar:
  'Registry -> Export registry file'
• Select a location to save your registry export. (Suggest saving to desktop for easy removal after you are done)
• Close the registry editor.
• In a shell do:
  

  WINEPREFIX="/home/$USER/.wine-second" regedit
  

• You are now editing the registry information for your new instance of wine.
• Once again; select the root of the registry (My Computer). Then click the following sequence in the registry editor:
  'Registry -> Import registry file'
• Select the file you saved in the previous regedit instance. (The one I suggested you save to your desktop)
• Once the file has been imported... (might take a while depending on size of registry) you are ready to start using two instances of FFXI at the same time on the same computer.
• You may now delete the .reg file that you saved to your desktop.
• To start the first instance of FFXI use:
  

  wine /path/to/first/full/FFXI/Install/pol.exe
  

• To start the second instance of FFXI use:
  

  WINEPREFIX="/home/$USER/.wine-second" wine /path/to/copy/of/full/FFXI/Install/pol.exe

• The default path to an install is: /home/username/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/PlayOnline/
• This guide is crude and in an initial stage. In time it will be >optimised.

Other Recommendations/Info:

• Disabling shadows altogether causes a speedup.
• Desktop Effects (Compiz) should be disabled if flickering of the screen occurs.
• Please use the latest version of wine if possible, if not, there is a list of known working versions at the bottom of this guide.

Christopher Strom