Game doesn't detect DX 10 and 11

[Silirien]

I'm attempting to make the game playable on my laptop (Windows 11, RTX 3050 Ti).

The game doesn't seem to detect DX 10 or 11. I've installed the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer 9.29.1974.1 (on reinstallation attempt wizard claims its already installed).

Out of the bat I was getting 105 and 128, fixed it with help of this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/lotro/comme..._install_help/

But in settings, I do not get the option to enable DX 10 or 11.

[Tralfazz]

First thing, let's be sure that the game is using your discrete graphics card rather than integrated graphics. To do so:
1- Run the LOTRO Launcher application.
2- Click the little caret/down-arrow symbol two spots over from the close button in the upper-right.
3- From the dropdown menu that appears, choose OPTIONS.
4- Click on the REPAIR tab.
5- Look at the SELECT DISPLAY ADAPTER dropdown menu. It probably is currently set for AUTOMATIC. Use it to select your graphics card instead of the AUTOMATIC setting.

6- Click the OK button.
7- Proceed to enter your credentials and log in to your chosen server.
8- When you reach the character creation/selection screen, go to OPTIONS->GRAPHICS and try to change your GRAPHICS HARDWARE LEVEL to DX11.

[Silirien]

Hey Tralfazz, thanks a lot! This allows me to launch the game and play, which already makes me very happy.

Unfortunately, the client doesn't seem to detect DX 10 or 11, Graphics Hardware level is still grayed out.

[Tralfazz]

OK, great! Next step: Use your graphics card’s control panel to force it to handle LotroLauncher.exe and lotroclient64.exe (you shouldn’t be using lotroclient.exe anymore, the 32-bit client, but you can add that, too, if you wish). Don’t rely on some general setting which instructs your graphics card to handle “everything” by default, add those applications specifically. Do this while neither the LOTRO Launcher application nor the LOTRO client are running.

I can’t give you exact instructions or screenshots because it depends on the version of Windows you are running and the brand of video card in your laptop. You can get pretty good general directions here, which are at least a bit more detailed than what I provided above:
https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answ...anel/related/1

[Silirien]

I've followed the instructions, but still no option to select anything other than DX9

[Tralfazz]

Alright, that means you need to install a version of DirectX that will overwrite what you already have installed. You might have all sorts of modern games working fine with the DirectX components currently on your computer but due to its age, LOTRO is very particular about the DirectX components it needs to work.

The problem here is that many of the DirectX installers will not allow you to proceed with the installation if they detect that an installation of DirectX is already present. This is the case for dxwebsetup.exe found in */StandingStoneGames/The Lord of the Rings Online/ as well as many others. There is one which will allow you to proceed with an overwrite install and that usually repairs the problem you are reporting:

Go to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp...?view=msvc-170 and download from the "Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022" part of the page the X64 Redistributable package. Install the package. Restart your PC if needed.

Here is a link to the specific file, but I suggest you download from the page linked above because sometimes the link to the latest installer changes:
https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe

[Laura_of_Dor-lomin]

However, through trial and error, it can be determined that only three files are actually necessary in order to enable DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 in LotRO. . .

• The d3dx10_42.dll extension is necessary for DirectX 10 in LotRO.
• The d3dx11_42.dll extension and the d3dcompiler_42.dll is necessary for DirectX 11 in LotRO.

Those files apparently first became available in the August 2009 DirectX Runtime Update but the LotRO Installer only installs the dx9 extension CABs from the August 2009 update and not the dx10 or dx11 extension CABs.

Though having these files present should enable DX10 and DX11, I do not advise manually installing them alone. There may be more subtle needs for the other extensions installed by the Runtime installers. So, please continue to implement the recommended fix.

See above quote (from different thread, link is embedded in top of quote). Check for those three files in C:\Windows\SysWOW64.

Incidentally, the last DirectX 9-era redistributable release that includes everything and will install regardless of current DirectX installation state is located here (official MS site): Link.

Note that it will first extract to a folder (it asks you where to put it), then you need to go into that folder and run "dxsetup.exe".

Good luck!

[Silirien]

Installed the package, but Lotro is still not detecting DX 10 or 11 :/

[Laura_of_Dor-lomin]

Installed the package, but Lotro is still not detecting DX 10 or 11 :/

Hmmm. I know this sounds like a step backwards, but my next step would be to delete my UserPreferences.ini file from Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online.

And then, after rebooting just to make sure you haven't had launcher running in the background, etc., I'd try again.

If that doesn't work, you may need to repeat what Tralfaz showed you in his first post above, where you select your discrete nvidia gpu. Then, try yet again.

[Silirien]

Laura_of_Dor-lomin, thanks!

I have all 3 files, in both SysWOW64 and System32

The d3dcompiler file is capitalised differently though.

As for launcher possibly using the integrated, I am pretty sure that's not the case any more: I specidfied both the launcher and the client to use the NVidia in invidia control panel, and if I run the game on integrated, it crashes with 105 and 128 (although it does load character select).

[Laura_of_Dor-lomin]

Sorry to say, I'd delete your Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online\UserPreferences.ini file to get a fresh start on all settings. Believe it or not, this has helped others in the past. But even if it doesn't help, we know we're starting from defaults for any future troubleshooting. Just be aware that this will undo what Tralfazz led you through at the outset.

[Silirien]

Sorry to say, I'd delete your Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online\UserPreferences.ini file to get a fresh start on all settings. Believe it or not, this has helped others in the past. But even if it doesn't help, we know we're starting from defaults for any future troubleshooting. Just be aware that this will undo what Tralfazz led you through at the outset.

Woah.

I did that and it did work!

Before turning the client on for the first time, I selected the right display adapter.
First time the client booted up, it detected DX10 and DX11 and asked if I want to use it.

Thanks <3

[Silirien]

I've compared the two ini files and there's an option in the new one that's not in the old one (I searched both files for D3):

HavePromptedForD3D10AtStartup= False

I believe this option is only set if the client detects the GPU is capable of rendering D10 or D11 when it first generates the ini file, but not if it's already generated.
This would explain why deleting ini file worked.


There's also D3DVersionPromptedForAtStartup , which equaled 0 in old ini and 11 in new ini

The setting that seemingly manages the DX used is

GraphicsCore=D3D11 (was D3D9)

I might test it when I have the time.

Thanks guys <3

[Laura_of_Dor-lomin]

Awesome! Congrats!

Yep, there's a few types of entries that, once set, can get in the way. Rather than figure out which one it was via text from afar, sometimes the simplest fix/test is just to nuke the file (or, rename it).

Glad it's working. And, Tralfazz, I don't mean to steal your thunder! Thank you for all the help you give around here too!