Xim: Browser-based Client Simulator

is a from-scratch implementation, written in Kotlin/JS, compiles to Javascript, and uses WebGL for 3D rendering. It does not use any game/graphics engine.

downloads asset files on-demand & stores them in the browser's cache. Currently, the assets are hosted on Cloudflare (essentially copy/paste of the client installation)

uses copied data-files from LandSandBoat when server-side information is needed (NPC configuration, item->model mapping, etc.)

"Client Version" refers to the age of the hosted asset files. Currently, the hosted asset files are from the June 2024 update.

I don't plan to update these files. The project can be downloaded & run locally to view newer asset files.

The reverse-engineering process was a mix of DirectX hooks (built using this project), constraint analysis, and (mostly) brute-force guess & check

I did debug the FFXI client a few times (mainly to figure out encryption/obfuscation, and for a few bit-flag fields), but I tried to avoid this because reading assembly is so time consuming

I didn't reference the data-mined debug symbols (didn't know they existed until very recently...)

WYSIWYG!

The code for this is not included in the linked source (since it would require importing ffmpeg).

There's a comment on POLUtils describing almost exactly what I ended up doing.

Because of this, local-project runs will need to download the preprocessed audio files separately (available here)

The simulation should work on mobile devices, but I haven't tested it aside from Firefox on Android.

If you'd like to use Firefox, disabling "Lens Flare" effects under the "Environment" section helps with performance

This is also my first experience with 3D graphics & game development, so there are certainly some questionable choices/designs

I didn't try to optimize code for performance unless there was a built-in feature (zone-terrain culling, particle batching, etc) or it contributed greatly to latency

Particle z-fighting - I couldn't figure out how the draw-order works :/

Collision resolution - FFXI's terrain collision meshes are... challenging. I think I must be overlooking some flags in the collision mesh.

Cloth physics - for example, Aldo's cape. These use vertex-based spring-physics, which was cumbersome to implement in the current setup.

Ships in general - I didn't put much effort into these

NPCs in weird positions/poses - these aren't configured on the client-side, so I didn't focus on them

the following keys have debug-related functionality: , . / (speed-up, anti-gravity, collision-clip)

'p' will pause the simulator, and 'space' will set the simulator to 25% speed (this is also available in the game-mode)

using "check" on an actor will display its routines, which can then be selected & executed

fog and draw-distance can be disabled under the "Environment" section. This can be useful if the simulator can't detect a good default entrance for a zone (ex: in "Silver Knife")

the "appearance-state" of the targeted actor can be adjusted under the "Animation" section. This is useful for various NPCs, like toggling auras on Naakuals, adjusting the standing state of maroliths and iron giants, etc

add items to your inventory via the "Items" section. If you add & equip a fishing rod, you can fish if you're nearby water.

many effects are associated with invisible doors. For example, the fountain effect in Ro'Maeve is toggled by Door[_3e6], and can be triggered via check->[evst] (event start), and ended via check->[eved] (event end) ('tab' around the fountain to find the door npc)

other effects (generally cutscene related) can be triggered manually under the "Zone Routines" section. For example, in "Hall of the Gods", the lower platform effect is "wt_s/effe/sc_w/open"

to change the player model to a NPC model, use the "Costume" setting under the "Player Look" setting. This is useful for running mob-skill-animations. For example, B41->Dragon Quest slime and use "Frizz"

there are some dummy monsters at the entrance to "East Sarutabaruta". These can be used as targets for spells, abilities, etc.

under the "Position" section, there's a "Copy Link" button which will place a link in the clipboard that corresponds to your current zone & position

talk to the NPCs at the various docks to make ships appear

Hold the right mouse-button to strafe (imo, more natural than target-lock)

Avoid binding macros to 'ctrl', since 'ctrl+w' closes the browser window and can't be disabled :/

Mining is optional - the game is balanced around not having accessories

In the equip-menu, hover an empty slot to see the bonus summary window. Mouse-over the bonuses to see tool-tips.