Installation

Installation

Buddypal is made up of two pieces that work together: a desktop app (Windows) that you sign in to with Discord, and an in-game addon that runs inside FFXI through Windower. You install the desktop app first, then use it to install the addon — no manual file copying required.

This guide walks through the whole process, in order, from a fresh download to seeing the addon load in-game.

Buddypal is unofficial third-party software, not affiliated with or endorsed by Square Enix. As with any third-party tool, using it carries some risk under the game's terms of service.

System Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit — the desktop app is a native 64-bit Windows application.
• Windower already installed and able to run FFXI, since Buddypal's in-game component is a Windower addon.
• A Discord account, used to sign in to the desktop app.
• An active Buddypal subscription (Tier 1 or higher) on the associated Discord server. You can install and open the app without one, but you'll be stopped at a subscription screen before you can use it.

You don't need to separately install anything 32-bit. FFXI itself is a 32-bit game, and Windower handles loading the addon's in-game component correctly — that part is automatic and requires no extra download or action from you.

Step 1: Download and Run the Installer

1. Go to the Releases section of this repository and open the latest release tagged desktop-v<version> (e.g. desktop-v0.1.0).
2. Download the installer file — it's named Buddypal_<version>_x64-setup.exe.
3. Run the installer and follow the standard Windows install steps (choose a destination, install, launch).

You will likely see a "Windows protected your PC" SmartScreen warning. This is expected — the installer isn't code-signed with a recognized publisher certificate, so Windows flags any unrecognized app this way. To proceed, click More info, then Run anyway.

Once installation finishes, launch Buddypal.

Step 2: First Launch and Discord Login

When Buddypal opens for the first time, you'll see a Sign in to continue panel with a single button: Login with Discord.

1. Click Login with Discord. The button shows a spinner ("Connecting…"), and the app displays a short confirmation code (e.g. A7C-9KP) right underneath it.
2. Your browser opens to Discord's normal authorization flow — log in and approve as usual.
3. After approving, the browser shows a "Confirm sign-in" page with a code of its own and a "Yes, that's my code — sign me in" button. Check that this code matches the one shown in the desktop app before clicking it.
4. Once confirmed, the browser shows a success page and the desktop app finishes signing you in on its own — just switch back to it.

This confirmation-code step exists to make sure it's really you completing the sign-in your desktop app started. If the two codes don't match, or you didn't start a sign-in from Buddypal yourself, close the browser tab instead of confirming it.

If sign-in fails for any reason, a plain error message appears under the button — try again, and see Troubleshooting-and-FAQ if it keeps failing.

Subscription check. After signing in, Buddypal checks your subscription tier. If your account doesn't have at least a Tier 1 subscription, you'll land on a subscription screen instead of the main app, showing your Discord avatar/username, your current tier ("No subscription"), and a Set up subscription on Discord button that opens the subscribe link. Once you've subscribed, come back and click I've subscribed — re-check to re-pull your Discord roles without logging out. A Log out button is also available if you need to switch accounts.

For more on what each tier unlocks, see Getting-Started.

Once you're past sign-in (and, if needed, the subscription check), you're in the main Buddypal app.

Step 3: Install the FFXI Addon (In-App)

The in-game addon is installed from inside Buddypal — you don't download or copy any addon files yourself.

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to the Commonly Used section and find Install / Update Addon.
3. Click Install Addon (this button reads Update Addon instead if a copy is already installed).

Buddypal downloads the addon files and writes them straight into your Windower addons/bpx folder. Your Windower path is normally detected automatically once you've connected a character; if detection fails, you can set it manually under Settings → Windower Path.

While installing, a progress bar walks through: Preparing… → Downloading addon (bpx.lua)… → Downloading DLL (bpx.dll)… → Installing… → Done. On success you'll see a message like "Installed the [branch] build to [path]. In-game: //lua load bpx" — that's your cue for the next step.

If the Install/Update button isn't clickable, it's because Windows won't allow overwriting the addon's files while FFXI has it loaded in memory. You'll see one of these messages instead:

• "Windower path not found. Set it in Settings or connect a character first." — set the path manually or connect a character so Buddypal can detect it.
• "N character(s) still connected. In-game run //lua unload bpx on every character, then re-check."
• "bpx.dll is still loaded in memory. Run //lua unload bpx in-game, then re-check."

There's also an Unload All button, which sends //lua unload bpx to every currently connected character for you, and a Re-check button to re-run the check once you've resolved the issue.

Step 4: Load the Addon In-Game

With the addon files installed:

1. Make sure Buddypal is running on your desktop before you load the addon in FFXI — the addon needs it to connect to.

2. In FFXI, load the addon with Windower's standard command:

   //lua load bpx
   

That's it — the addon is now running for that character.

How do I know it worked?

Watch your chat log for a colored line like:

★[BPX] Core loaded v<version> (<channel>)

That confirms the addon loaded successfully and tells you which version/channel is running.

If Buddypal isn't open yet (or hasn't connected) when you load the addon, after about 30 seconds you'll see a chat message letting you know the desktop app isn't connected, prompting you to start Buddypal and run //lua reload bpx. Just start (or reconnect) the desktop app, then run that command in-game. Any other startup issues will appear in chat prefixed [BPX] WARNING:.

Don't want to type //lua load bpx every session? Turn on Load BPX on Start under Settings → Commonly Used — it adds the load command to Windower's own startup script for you, so the addon loads automatically every time Windower starts. Turning it off removes it again.

Once you see the "Core loaded" line, you're fully set up — head to Getting-Started for a tour of what to do next. If something isn't working as described here, check Troubleshooting-and-FAQ.