Improving FFXI's Graphics

[Runespider]

Thought I would post something I put up on Alla a while ago on here, many people complain how dated FFXI's graphics look but it's quite easy to make them look a lot nicer.

http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/finalfantasy11/ss-02.jpg

Picture above is an idea how FFXI should look on a decent pc.

To change the graphics settings you have to edit the FFXI registry settings.

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Graphics

Click on start in the bottom left hand corner of windows, type regedit in the search bar and it will run, navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI
or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineEU\SquareEnix\FinalFantasyXI

Each value there is listed below (bold items are the most important).

0000 MIP mapping
0001 Screen resolution width (in pixels)
0002 Screen resolution height (in pixels)
0003 Background resolution width (in pixels)
0004 Background resolution height (in pixels)
0007 Music and Sound effects (0=Off, 1=On)
0011 Environmental Animation (0=Off, 1=Normal, 2=Smooth)
0017 Bump Mapping (0=Off, 1=On)
0018 Texture Compression (0=High, 1=Low, 2=Uncompressed)
0019 On-Screen Maps (0=Compressed, 1=Uncompressed)
0022 Intro Movie (0=Disabled, 1=Enabled)
0034 Window Mode (0=Full Screen, 1=Window Mode)

---
Mip mapping has a kind of blur effect to background scenery, it helps to counter sparkle effect.

Values are 1-4, I have mine set to 3 currently which seems to work pretty well.

0001 Screen resolution width (in pixels)
0002 Screen resolution height (in pixels)

List of normal screen modes below, whichever of these you pick you need to put into value 001 and 002 (ie. if you use 1920 x 1080 it will appear like this 001=780(1920), 002=438(1080)). Enter the amount shown in brackets using the decimal button.

Standard (4:3)

* 640 x 480
* 800 x 600
* 1024 x 768
* 1280 x 1024
* 1600 x 1200

Widescreen (16:10)

* 720 x 576
* 800 x 480
* 1280 x 768
* 1440 x 900
* 1680 x 1050
* 1920 x 1200

HDTV (16:9)

* 720 x 480
* 1280 x 720
* 1920 x 1080

If you change from one monitor type screen res (Standard (4:3), Widescreen (16:10), HDTV (16:9))to another you will have to change the aspect ratio within the FFXI menus (config>misc2) to the numbers above in brackets, if you don't everything will look distorted and stumpy. Make sure you actually have the monitor type for the screen res you are trying to use also, using 1920 x 1080 if you don't have a HDTV 16:9 monitor won't work too well.

0003 Background resolution width (in pixels)
0004 Background resolution height (in pixels)

You will want to set this to double whatever settings you use for the above, so for instance.

1600 x 1200 = 3200 x 2400
1920 x 1200 = 3840 x 2400
1920 x 1080 = 3840 x 2160

If you used 1920 x 1080 then you enter 3840 and 2160 in 003 and 004.

Texture compression should always be set to 2 (uncompressed).

Assuming this is not against the rules, since it's a simple regedit that makes FFXI look a lot better.