I wrote an addon/plugin called xipivot for both Ashita v3 and Windower 4;
It allows anyone to load DAT mods in controlled way from a separate folder structure without having to overwrite or modify any of the original game files.
Features:
all mods are structured into subdirectories
mods can be enabled / disabled at will
there's a load order that manages which mods take precedence
no meddling with the game's actual files
supports replacing DAT files as well as music and sound files
Installation:
Manual and Windower Install:
Head over to the Releases page and pick the ZIP that matches your launcher
Follow the README.md inside the archive for setup and configuration instructions
Ashita v3 Install
The latest version of XIPivot can always be installed from the plugins list in Ashita and will be updated automatically.
Configuration - Ashita v3
Create a subdirectory inside the DATs/ folder for each overlay you want to use
Add /load xipivot as the first line to your setup script (before any /wait or other lines)
Start FFXI and once logged in type the command /pivot to open the in-game configuration UI
Click the plus-button next to each addon you want to enable, in the order you want them to be loaded
Once done, close the UI and restart FFXI
Example - XI-View, XI-Vision:
Directory structure:
<Ashita Install>
+-- config/
| +-- XIPivot.xml
|
+-- plugins/
+-- XIPivot.dll
+-- DATs/
+-- README.txt
+-- XI-View/
| +-- ROM/
|
+-- XI-Vision/
+-- ROM/
+-- ROM2/
+-- ROM3/
+-- ROM4/
+-- ROM4/
generated XIPivot.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<settings>
<setting name="overlays">XI-Vision,XI-View</setting>
</settings>
XIPivot defaults to look for your overlays inside the DATs/ directory next to the XIPivot.dll.
If you prefer a different path you can add the key 'root_path' to XIPivot.xml like so:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<settings>
<setting name="root_path">C:/my/awesome/addons</setting>
<setting name="overlays">XI-Vision,XI-View,FFXI-HD</setting>
</settings>
This instructs to XIPivot to search for overlays inside "C:\my\awesome\addons" instead.
(If you're unsure don't set this parameter and things should just work).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Configuration - Windower
Copy the XIPivot folder into your Windower addons folder.
Create a subdirectory inside the `data/DATs` folder for each overlay you want to use
Edit `data/settings.xml` (see `settings.sample.xml`)
- add the directory names from 2) for each overlay that should be enabled, separated by ','
- order matters - overlays will be used in order, with the
Example - For XI-View and XI-Vision:
Directory structure:
<Windower Install>
+-- addons/
+-- XIPivot/
+-- XIPivot.lua
+-- README.md
+-- libs/
| +-- _XIPivot.dll
|
+-- data/
+-- DATs/
| +-- README.txt
| +-- XI-View/
| | +-- ROM/
| |
| +-- XI-Vision/
| | +-- ROM/
| | +-- ROM2/
| | +-- ROM3/
| | +-- ROM4/
| | +-- ROM4/
+-- settings.xml
settings.xml:
<?xml version="1.1" ?>
<settings>
<global>
<overlays>XI-View,XI-Vision</overlays>
</global>
</settings>
Windower Limitations
As a result of how Windower loads this addon some DAT files will already be loaded before any redirects can happen.
Currently this affects Mods that try to replace the initial menu textures or fonts. (Ashita v3 does not have this limitation to that extend; Ashita v4 won't have it at all)
updated July/2020 to be up to date with the last releases
