HD texture and map packs, one toggle away

Launcher 0.20.0 gave you XIPivot, the overlay loader that layers mod files over the stock game without modifying a single file. What it did not give you was the mods themselves — finding a good pack, downloading it from the right place and dropping it into the right folder was still on you.

As of 0.26.0 it no longer is. Settings has a new Alternate graphics panel with two switches:

• NextHD Textures — a community HD overhaul of the world, characters and interface. About a 3.5 GB download, 7 GB on disk.
• XICombinedMaps — every zone map redrawn and labeled, combining the updated 2020 maps, the FFXI Remapster project and Moop's labeled Remapster. About an 0.8 GB download.

How it behaves, because the details are the feature:

• Off by default, and off means off. Until you flip a switch, every launch uses exactly what is in your client folders today. Flip it off again and the next launch is stock — nothing to repair, nothing to verify.
• Downloaded once, on demand. The launcher itself stays small; a pack is only downloaded when you ask for it, and a download that gets interrupted resumes where it left off. Turning a pack off keeps the files, so turning it back on later costs nothing. A Remove download button gives you the disk back when you want it.
• Your own overlays are respected. If you already run XIPivot mods you installed by hand, they stay exactly where you put them — and they keep priority over anything the launcher adds.
• Only your screen changes. Overlays change what your client draws, never what the server records. Verify Game Files stays green with packs on.

Credit where it is due: these are community packs, made by their authors, not by us — the map pack combines work by RadialArcana, the FFXI Remapster project and Moophorizon. If something on screen looks wrong, turn the packs off before reporting a bug.