Black Screen

[molamola]

Hello,
Returning player from a very long time ago. I've spent many hours trying to figure this out. When I launch the game from the playonline viewer the game runs but its covered by a black screen called "PlayOnlineMaskUs". I can hear the audio working as well. Anyone know how to fix this?

[Sirmarki]

You need to list details as stated in the Tech Support template, because nobody has anything to work from in order to begin even looking at your issue.

[molamola]

Okay, hopefully this helps if you need more info let me know. Sorry im brand new to this forum.

Every time I press play in the playonline viewer it launches the game, but it also launches this thing called PlayOnlineMaskUs. Its just a black screen that makes me unable to do anything. The game and the audio run just fine but I can't select anything with the mouse. I can use the arrow keys and num pad (i was able to make a character, but it is unplayable because i cant use the mouse.)

I installed the latest driver for my graphics card and tried it again, still does the same thing.

I am on PC, windows 7.
graphics card: 4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (MSI)
I use DSL.

Below is a screenshot

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MYWlGcuheENvvugXVhclrqgNiVPdnpOE/view?usp=sharing

[molamola]

Okay i fixed it but its a rough fix. I had to download a program called windower. It plays but if I alt + tab it crashes.

[Sirmarki]

Are you using the steam version or the direct downloaded package from playonline.com?

If it is the steam version, try running a file check/repair within the steam client.

If not, maybe considering firstly uninstalling the game (via Programs and Features), and then re-installing it again from afresh.

[Alhanelem]

YOu don't need windower to fix that, you can also use windowed settings in the FFXI config program. Be aware that as a third party tool, it can put your account at risk (In practice, people tend to only get trouble if they actually cheat, but it is against the terms of use. Any such app is at your own risk.

That "playonlinemask" thing isn't supposed to be visible. It might be fixable as well by using windows XP compatibility mode (right click on shortcut to playonline -> properties and go to compatibility tab)

FFXI is a very old game and doesn't always play nice with newer machines, though usually those issues can be fixed.

Also remember that windows 7 is unsupported. You can still get tech support but any resolution from SE will not be guaranteed. SE only maintains official support for the most current versions of your operating system (i.e. windows 10... 8/8.1 support is either already dropped or due to be dropped as well)

[Cleao]

I am having the same exact problem but windower did not help me. My screen is still completely black and will not let me play but I can hear the music

[Cleao]

All I had to do to fix mine was uninstall and reinstall POL