ATI Video Cards and MIP-Mapping/Trilinear Filtering

[Elesirdur]

So, after getting back into the FFXI saddle from a well-enjoyed break with Oblivion, FFXI just isn't looking as good as it used to. Now, this isn't just about the amazing graphics in Oblivion, but about switching from a nVidia video card to an ATI one. With the FX 5900 I had before purchasing Oblivion I was running 8xAF and 4xAA to really boost the graphical quality of FFXI on my PC. In particular, the AF really helped with the super-crappy bilinear filtering that comes stock with the FFXI graphics engine. However, now with my new Radeon x1600 FFXI looks just as crappy as it ever did. Even though I apply forced AF and AA settings to my card (which apply in other games) they just won't take in FFXI. The MIP-mapping limit is very noticable now and is pretty painful to look at (especially in Al'Zarebi with all the brickwork textures).

As for drivers, I've tried using the Catalyst 5.13 drivers which SE say are compatible with no luck, and the newest Catalyst 8.xx drivers or the Omega Radeon drivers won't apply the forced trilinear filtering or AF+AA settings I put in for bothe Direct3D and OpenGL applications - even though FFXI is a D3D only app.

So, anyone have any suggestions or experience with ATI cards and FFXI? I would really like to get those post-processing effects applied because I can remember just how good they can make FFXI look.

PS: This problem is evident with both the POL version and Windower versions of FFXI.

[S.SubZero]

I honestly was never aware that FSAA worked in FFXI at all with any card. The usual way of "faking" FSAA was just to jack up the texture resolution beyond what your screen resolution is.

The way FFXI does it's graphics is unusual and isn't done in a way that videocards can really do much with as far as postprocessing.

[Jei]

I'm using Nvidia here myself. I think the AA really makes a huge difference.

I only play the game at 1024 and didn't tweak the graphic settings beyond what the game let me.
Normally I can really see the jagginess in every lines and edges in this game... as if they are made out of small little squares. Having only 2xAA turns most edges from complete square-ish looking into some smooth line.

And the flickering backgrounds and tree... turing on V sync really helps. A lot.

I have ATI on my laptop. But it can barely run the game without anything turned on already so I never go around to find how the setting works ^^;

[neighbortaru]

forcing AA does NOTHING for the game. it doesn't support AA (because of the way they do their rendering). To get an AA effect, you need to hack the registry and bring up the background res.

AF will work however and does make a bit of difference.

Mip-mapping on the game is set for a ridiculously low amount. If you've enabled it on the FFXI config panel, you'll have to (again) hack the registry to increase it. IIRC it is key '0.' I have mine set at 3 and it's a noticeable improvement.