Japanese import input not switching

[Falquan]

I finally did it. I finally broke down and bought the import.

Which begins my problems.

I am decent at Japanese, obviously no master, but, in general I can stumble my way through enough to read the menus and whatnot.

I was under the impression that I could use this without the purchase of a Japanese keyboard. I have the IME and everything installed -- I'm able to switch languages in Word, Outlook (I send Emails to my Japanese teacher in poorly written Kanji all the time) , etc. However, inside of FFXI, I cannot switch input methods. (I read on a post that Alt-` --the tilde key switches the input, but it causes XI to crash for some reason or another, then again, POL refuses to run in a window as well..).

Need I purchase a Japanese keyboard? Or am I just doing something wrong?

As far as I can tell hiragana input in POL works fine, it only fails in-game.

Could anyone who plays the import help? I picked this up both for entertanment and as a cultural immersion tool to actually make me learn the language. If at all possible I'd prefer to not have to buy another keyboard, however, if necessary, could you give me recommendations?

[Aeolus]

Alt+LeftShift to change to Jp, then Alt+` That should allow you to type now, otherwise I don't know any other way to sort it.

[Falquan]

Well, as it turns out I was doing something wrong...

The Japanese import is extremely picky about being installed first. Once I uninstalled both versions, deleted any extra files and cleared out the HKLM\Software\PlayOnline(US) keys, the install went fine, and PlayOnline even started up in a window. Alt+` worked fine to switch input methods.

Thanks for your help all! I'll try and remember to repost on how the reinstallation of the NA copy side-by-side goes.

[Falquan]

NA version also works great once reinstalled into a seperate (obviously) folder.

[Falquan]

Falqy's Import Guide, incomplete.

This originally was posted by me at /panic, but I thought I'd bring it back here in case anyone was interested. As I said in a follow up, I'm still unsure of how to keep the game in Hiragana mode, as well, as other small nuances, so I'll try to keep both parties informed. I assume that there's little interest amongst Arcanumites, but, considering my passion for the language, would like to try to inspire as many people as possible.

EDIT: All forward slashes are meant to be backslashes. However due to PHP and MySQL escape characters, backslashes are not shown right.

Well, I finally broke down and bought the import copy of FFXI. I personally got it because I wanted a way to practice my Japanese in a setting that's a little more demanding than a college course. Hopefully I won't irritate the other players, and hopefully SE won't ban me for wanting to attempt to bridge the communication barrier. I'm still annoyed there's no way to even use just either Hiragana or Katakana in the NA version. However, I assume that was out of compassion for the Japanese players, so they didn't have a bunch of English speakers shouting with the "pretty letters".

Of course, I had a little trouble installing it. I'm decent in Japanese (my Kanji is lacking), but by no means an expert. Anyway, I wanted to give a small guide to anyone who would like to try the import version.

Installing the IME in Windows: (I only have XP running, and the 2000 version is slightly different. If someone has instructions for that, it would be appreciated!)

• Open your Control Panel and switch it to Classic View.
• Open Regional and Language Options.
• Switch to the Languages tab and check "Install files for East Asian languages". (You will need your Windows XP CD)
• Click OK and let it restart your computer.
• Go back to the same Control Panel tab and this time click "Details".
• On the "Settings" tab, click "Add...".
• Change the Input language and "Keyboard layout/IME" to Japanese.
• Click OK, and let it install, and restart your computer if necessary.
• Go back into the same Control Panel, but this time go to the "Advanced" tab.
• Change "Language for non-Unicode programs" to Japanese. If you don't do this, the FFXI install program will not run correctly, and also causes FFXI itself to display "?" instead of the Japanese characters. Click OK, and let it restart your computer.
• It may be necessary to change your Default input language (seen in the "Details" button to Japanese in order for FFXI to install also)

Keep in mind that there will be many changes to your system when you change non-Unicode default to Japanese. For example, on my computer, the backslash is now displayed as a yen symbol. It doesn't hurt anything, but does look funny. Also, any older applications may display gibberish text. If anything runs weird, switch the non-Unicode default back to English. However, you must change it to Japanese for use in FFXI.

Installing FFXI:

• The next step is to uninstall the NA version of FFXI and PlayOnline. Remember to save your macro files (found in the "C:/Program Files/PlayOnline/SquareEnix/FINAL FANTASY XI/USER/xxxxxx" folder, where xxxxxx is a seemingly random string of letters and numbers corresponding to each of your characters) and remember that PlayOnline data such as email will be lost when you uninstall. You must uninstall the NA version first--if you do not, PlayOnline does not work right, and the game will crash when you try to switch input methods.
• Simply run the uninstall program for FFXI, all expansion packs, and Playonline.
• Start regedit.exe. Find the key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/PlayOnlineUS". Delete that entire key.
• Now, make sure the Uninstaller removed all FFXI files from C:/Program Files. If any still exist, delete them.
• Install the FFXI Import first. I leave it to you to stumble through all the menus. I'd recommend installing the Japanese version in the default location.
• You may or may not have to update all the files before installing the NA version. However, if you're taking this much time to do this, you might as well do it now.
• Change the name of all the shortcuts so that they are not overwritten by the NA version.
• Install the NA version to a SEPERATE LOCATION. I used "C:/Program Files/PlayOnlineNA". The expansion packs will automatically install themselves to the correct, changed location.

Again, I leave you to set up your accounts yourself. I'm posting this guide for those of us who want to actually try to talk to the Japanese, not just run around making silly smiley-faces and shouting jibberish.

Before you're in-game, make sure to use the Language Bar to switch your input method to Japanese. You can't change it once you're inside the game. To switch input methods once in the game, use the key combination Alt+` (the tilde key). That should change the indicator on the right side to a hiragana "a", and you'll be able to use it just as you would the IME in Windows XP.

Currently I am still having trouble with getting the macros set up and getting the Romaji->Hiragana translation system ingame to not switch into Japanese Romaji input. Oddly, there are three modes I've stumbled upon--one being Off->English characters, second being On->Hiragana (IME) input, and On->Romaji input. It's the third I can't get it out of, and I can't seem to switch it out once it gets stuck in that mode. And, the manual is either over my head or doesn't mention it. Or both.