When Will You Guys Improve the PC Code?

[Elemmire]

It's ridiculous that the game crashes if I get a windows notification pop up for whatever reason (updating another software on the computer or so)? And will you guys please code it so I don't have to resign up for allied tags (ya, a bit old content, but it's what came to mind atm) or whatever thing I need to be a part of a thing and then get disconnected only to come back and have to reapply for it and lose ALL my progress. You shouldn't allow this crap :\

[Alhanelem]

Never, because it's not PC code, it's PS2 code (remember, the reason we're losing major updates is because they are running out of functional ps2 dev hardware to do the development on). It pretty much all runs inside a wrapper that allows them to port it with minimal modification. And while it would be nice to restructure the campaign system so it would be forgiving of disconnects, it's probably not a realistic proposition. Currently its a very simplistic system where information is tracked based on whether or not you have the buff active. Unfortunately as it's not a time based buff it is lost when you d/c. The only advice I can offer is to not DC.

Remember, they're winding down support for the game, so beyond the new storyline, you probably shouldn't expect more than minor internal improvements unless they are the sort of thing that can be done without a code change (new items, effects, in-engine scripts (stuff NPCs do), and balance/number changes).

It sucks, it really does, but that's pretty much the reality of it

[bungiefanNA]

The client is PC code. The audio and video assets are created on PS2 and then ported to PC, and that's what they are losing, the ability to make new assets, since they don't have an environment and tools to just create the assets for PC, they must convert to PC from PS2.

The crashing is because of a DirectX call they are making, that forces the program to crash when full-screen is lost (even in windowed mode, it counts as fullscreen lost if UAC pops up or you hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to switch to the secure option screen for locking the screen or logging out). They could turn off that call, but they'd need to upgrade to a newer version of DirectX, and thus would have to overhaul the client to make it use a newer version.

So no, it's not because it's PS2 code. FFXI for Windows is coded for Windows using DirectX. As such it has certain limitations, not from PS2, but from DirectX.

[Alhanelem]

The client is PC code.

Only to the extent that it's PS2 code directly ported, probably using a translation system even. If it were all 100% native windows code, it would be a LOT easier for them to change without being dependent on the ps2 dev hardware.

[Sephiran]

No excuse for not revamping the PC code. The fact that the game is ending over this reason is laughable. Kicking down fourteen years of legacy over something so trivial.

[bungiefanNA]

Only to the extent that it's PS2 code directly ported, probably using a translation system even. If it were all 100% native windows code, it would be a LOT easier for them to change without being dependent on the ps2 dev hardware.

Code and assets are different. Most of the code is on the server to determine what monsters do, what drops happen, and the success rate of abilities and attacks. Their dev kit environment is for making assets, like character models, cutscene animations, and sound effects. They convert the assets to DiectX-compatible formats after making them. The client can be improved, but when dev kits are dead, they cannot make new assets for the client to use. The program crashing when full screen is lost is a DirectX thing, not a PS2 code thing.