Why TF Do I Need DirectX 8.1?

I have DirectX 11.

Long story: I tried to take advantage of the 4 free days. Updated POL, fired up, keep getting a you need DirectX 8.1 msg.

My machine: Dell DELL Special Edition Notebook Inspiron 17R, i7-3630QM, NVIDA GeForce GT 650M, 8 GB RAM, WIN 10 home, NVIDA graphics driver 358.87

Do I perhaps need to roll my graphics driver back?

You can try this if you haven't already. Search your computer for "Turn Windows features on or off", scroll down to Legacy Components, and check the "DirectPlay" box. Hope this helps.

You don't need directx 8.1 or 9 for FFXI.

You also don't need to have it run for an older version of windows. (Compatibility mode).


You do need to have directplay enabled, but 10 should enable it for you (at least it does on 10 pro).

I'm too lazy to look it up, does that model have both integrated and dedicated video? If so, it could be an issue.


What's the error you are getting?


lolDell.

turning on directplay should do the trick but if it doesn't for whatever reason, the official client package has directx8.1 installer as the game was released on pc with that version iirc.

Has nothing to do with your drivers.

FFXI use's the Direct X API, each version is specific and in this case it's 8.1. Microsoft stopped releasing binaries for DX8 back with Windows XP and instead DX9 emulates DX8 via a wrapper library, and on modern systems DX11 is emulating DX9, which is emulating DX8. This is why FFXI can act screwy and unstable for some people.

Chances are your OS is missing some of the wrapper DLL's that do all that translation. Here is the link to the DX9 binary which contains all the legacy DX components. I've never tried this on Windows 10 so YMMV.

June 2010 binaries, this is the most current version.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

March 2009 binaries, some people need to use this because the June 2010 doesn't install right.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=19743

Yeah, that's not necessary either.

It did, I can get into the game.

But for only moments. I keep getting a "Lost full screen" message and get booted. Nothing is saved.

I mean I can't even get as far as the OH NO where did all my macros go phase.

Do you have any bloatware that likes to give messages?

Are you by chance hitting ctrl+alt+del? alt+tab?

the windows key?

plugging in an external monitor? sleep mode?

basically anything that causes directx to lose fullscreen will crash ffxi, even in windowed mode. I'll be up for a bit if you want to receive some teamviewer assistance.

I would suggest closing all other programs before launching FFXI to see if its a conflict with an existing program. To include everything in your system tray. Might be an overlay or something trying to take focus.

Have you tried running it in windowed mode? This would narrow down whether there's an issue with the game or a software conflict.

@Jet. No, no, no, It is already pluged in, no.

@Ayasha. I will try both of those.

Thanks both.