Arx Fatalis

Key points

Arx Libertatis updates and improves support for modern systems, porting the game to new systems as well as eliminating bugs and limitations.

General information

Arx Libertatis Wiki

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM DRM
GOG.com		Patched to 1.21.
Microsoft Store		DRM-free after being copied to any other folder. Included in Xbox Game Pass for PC
Steam		Patched to 1.21.
Bethesda.net (unavailable)		Patched to 1.21.

A demo is available from Steam.

Essential improvements

Patches

Arx Fatalis Patch 1.21 (2011) fixes some issues with running the game on modern systems. This patch will update any version; no previous patch is required.

Digital distribution versions usually include this patch but disc versions do not.

Arx Libertatis port

Arx Libertatis is a modern port for Windows and Linux that fixes numerous issues (install Arx Fatalis Patch 1.21 first if using a disc version).

Steam Play / Luxtorpeda (Linux only)

If you own the game via Steam you can use the community Steam Play compatibility tool Luxtorpeda^[1] for easier integration with Steam and simpler setup

Install Luxtorpeda^[2]

Close Steam
Download latest version from Luxtorpeda GitHub
Open ~/.local/share/Steam/
Create folder compatibilitytools.d and open it
Unpack the downloaded archive here
Start Steam.
In game properties window select Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool
Select Luxtorpeda.

Notes Luxtorpeda will install into and use Arx Libertatis from the Steam game folder but not install the port system wide

HD Textures - Arx Neuralis

Original game textures upscaled with neural networks. All game textures are upscaled. Download on Nexus or ModDB

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\cfg_default.ini^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1700/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Arx Libertatis settings are stored in %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Arx Libertatis\cfg.ini

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1700/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Arx Libertatis saves are stored in %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Arx Libertatis\save

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Requires Arx Fatalis Patch 1.21. See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor		Use Arx Libertatis.
Ultra-widescreen		Use Arx Libertatis.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)	Use Arx Libertatis. Has 10 increments up by a value of 5° from 75° to 125°.
Windowed	See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	Use Arx Libertatis with Borderless Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Force in graphics card control panel or use Arx Libertatis (enabled by default).
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Forcing in the graphics card control panel will cause Invisible text.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	Use Arx Libertatis (enabled by default).
60 FPS
120+ FPS	Arx Libertatis has no frame rate cap.

Widescreen resolution

Some resolutions may not work when selected in-game but can still be used by editing cfg_default.ini directly.

Set unsupported resolution in cfg_default.ini^[3]

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open cfg_default.ini (cfg.ini if using Arx Libertatis).
Set resolution= to match the resolution you want.
Save your changes. The in-game setting may show 640x480 but the manual resolution will still be used.

Notes

Changing video settings in-game may reset the resolution change. Repeat these steps if necessary.

If problems persist use Arx Libertatis.

Windowed

Enable windowed mode^{[citation needed]}

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open cfg_default.ini (cfg.ini if using Arx Libertatis).
Change full_screen=1 to full_screen=0
Save your changes. Reverse this change to go back to fullscreen mode.

Notes

Arx Fatalis has a fixed-size window; for a resizeable window use Arx Libertatis.

Input

Input settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		None by default. Arx Libertatis allows this to be enabled, as well as having the option to enable raw mouse input (to bypass Windows desktop mouse acceleration) in the options menu.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Master, SFX, Speech and Ambience sliders.
Surround sound		Up to 7.0 output with DirectSound3D restoration software, or OpenAL Soft if using Arx Libertatis
Subtitles		Conversations and cutscenes only; all other speech has no subtitles.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		true
EAX support		EAX 2. Disabled by default. Required EAX Unified^[4] before patch 1.21^[5]

Arx Libertatis replaces deprecated DirectSound3D API with OpenAL Soft, which can be used for binaural HRTF mixing.^[6] No EAX reverb calls are used in-game.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese				Not available on Steam.
French
German
Italian
Japanese				Not available on Steam.
Korean				Fan translation, download.
Polish				Fan translation, download.
Russian
Spanish
Turkish				Fan translation, download.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		Z3D Game is not on official list but on the factory profile list, so its not clear wherether its a user created or official profile. To get the game running you first need to install the original, then patch 1.2 and Arx Liberatis.

Issues fixed

HUD doesn't scale at higher resolutions

Arx Fatalis 1.21 interface elements are very small at higher resolutions.

HUD scaling^{[citation needed]}
Use Arx Libertatis

Invisible text

This is caused by forcing anti-aliasing through your video card's control panel.

Use Arx Libertatis^{[citation needed]}
Use Arx Libertatis.

Set application controlled anti-aliasing^[7]
Go to the video card control panel. Set anti-aliasing to "application-controlled". Enable anti-aliasing in-game (optional).

Other information

API

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	ARM	Notes
Windows				Use Arx Libertatis for 64-bit.
Linux				Use Arx Libertatis.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98	ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	500 MHz Pentium III or compatible	900 MHz Pentium III or compatible
System memory (RAM)	64 MB	256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	750 MB
Video card (GPU)	16 MB of VRAM	32 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1700/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (1700) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

[gamedir-3] 1.0 ^1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Proton_path_note-4] 2.0 ^2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1700/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (1700) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[1] ttps://luxtorpeda-dev.github.io/

[2] ttps://github.com/luxtorpeda-dev/luxtorpeda/#installation-using-tarball

[5] Arx Fatalis | WSGF

[6] EAX not staying active - Nordic Games GmbH Forum

[7] News - Arx Fatalis Update Released

[8] Arx Fatalis w/ 3D spatial sound in Arx Libertatis 🎧 (OpenAL Soft HRTF audio)

[9] No text in Arx Fatalis - Guru3D.com Forums

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[Note 1]

[Note 2]

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Developers

	Arkane Studios
Publishers
	JoWood Productions
	DreamCatcher Interactive
Current	Bethesda Softworks
Release dates
Windows	June 28, 2002
Taxonomy
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Immersive sim, RPG
Themes	Fantasy