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How do I use DirectX 10 or 11 graphics in the game?

Updated

To be able to utilize DirectX 10 or 11 Graphics in game (DDO or LOTRO), your system needs to meet the following criteria:

  • Your Operating System needs to be either Windows Vista or Windows 7.
  • DirectX 10 or 11 has to be installed and updated.
  • Your Graphics Card needs to be a model that supports DX10/11 graphics in games.
  • The game needs to be able to detect the three items above as available to be able to allow the option to use them.

How to confirm the above:

  • Click on the Windows "Start" button and click into "Start Search" and type "dxdiag" (no quotes) and hit Enter.
  • The "DirectX Diagnostic" panel that opens will list the "Operating System" and installed DirectX Version.
  • To determine if your graphics card is a model that supports DX10 or 11, check with the card or "chipset" (e.g. NVIDIA or ATI) manufacturer's website.

If your system meets those criteria above, the game should detect this at launch and ask if you want to enable them. Also, you can enable these options manually (only if they are available) using these steps:

  1. Log into the game to character select and open the Options menu.
  2. Click "Graphics" on the right.
  3. Click the drop-down next to "Graphics Hardware Level" and choose either DirectX 9, 10 or 11 mode. (Click "Accept" and restart the game to have it apply the change.)
  4. Note: You will not be able to change this if your system does not meet the criteria.

I enabled DirectX 10 when the game asked if I wanted to, but now when I get to character select I can't see my characters?

If you enable DX10 mode and cannot see the character models at select, and only the "2D" items like menus etc. and/or during character creation you cannot choose any of the "Race" options, this may be due to the issue detailed here.

After I enabled DirectX 10/11 the game crashed or now it doesn't launch. How can I change it to not use DX10/11 if I can't get to Options?

If you enable DX10 mode and now cannot launch the game, you can revert the game's graphics settings at the launcher:

  1. Bring up the game launcher.
  2. Click the button in the row in the upper-right corner that has the single "down-arrow" on it.
  3. Select "Options" and under the "Repair" tab click to select "Reset game display settings" and click OK.
  4. Continue to log into the game and when prompted "Are you sure you want to reset the graphics?" choose "Yes". If you are then prompted to enable DirectX 10/11 graphics, choose "No".

I cannot enable DirectX 10/11 mode, and I don't get prompted by the game that it was found, but I know my system should be able to support it.

If you are sure that your system meets the criteria to support DirectX 10 or 11 graphics modes in games, but do not get prompted to enable it, and the option is "greyed out" in Options, you may be running one or more of the game files in "Compatibility Mode" and most likely for an operating system that does not support DX10/11 (e.g. Windows XP).

If you enabled Compatibility mode for any of the game files or the "shortcut" you launch the game from, disabling this option should remedy the game not finding support for DX10/11 graphics.

I have a graphics card that supports these, but I have Windows XP. What can I do?

Windows XP does not support DirectX 10 or DirectX 11 mode.

Note: There are third-party "ports" that purport to allow DirectX 10 to be installed and run on Windows XP. These do not still allow the game to choose DX10 mode and are incompatible with the game, which will lead to significant stability loss when the game is run (e.g. crashing). If you installed one of these ports, we strongly recommend uninstalling it and reverting to using Microsoft DirectX 9.0C, as doing so will remedy stability and compatibility issues running the games.

Followup Items:

Remember to keep in mind that DirectX 10/11 add significant resource needs to the games functions. You may still see a minor to major reduction in performance in the game when enabling these options, even with a newer and more powerful PC.

There are currently some DirectX 10/11 known issues. We recommend reviewing the release notes/known issues forums threads below if you encounter any issues with rendering when using DirectX 10 or 11 mode:

DDO Release Notes/Known Issues
LOTRO Release Notes/Known Issues

Related or helpful links:

LOTRO System Requirements
DirectX Web Installer
NVIDIA
ATI

If you need further assistance, please follow up with Technical Support.