Arx Fatalis

Arx Fatalis

Developers
	Arkane Studios
Publishers
	JoWood Productions
Current	Bethesda Softworks
Release dates
Windows	June 28, 2002
Linux	Arx Libertatis
Reception
Metacritic	77
IGDB	78
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Immersive sim, RPG, ARPG
Themes	Fantasy

Arx Fatalis is a singleplayer first-person immersive sim, RPG and ARPG game.

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.

Demo

A demo is available from Steam.

Monetization

Type	Notes
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service	Available via Xbox Game Pass for PC.

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 using the Steam version, the community Steam Play compatibility tool Luxtorpeda can be used for easier integration with Steam and simpler setup.

Install Luxtorpeda

Close Steam Download the latest version of Luxtorpeda from Luxtorpeda GitHub Open ~/.local/share/Steam/ Create folder compatibilitytools.d and open it Unpack the downloaded archive here Start Steam. In the 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.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\cfg_default.ini
Linux	$HOME/.config/arx/
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1700/pfx/

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

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save
Linux	$HOME/.local/share/arx/save
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1700/pfx/

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	State	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

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. Game will crash at horizontal resolutions of 2560 or above. If problems persist or to play at QHD/4k resolution 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 the 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
EAX support		EAX 2. Disabled by default. Required EAX Unified before patch 1.21
Royalty free audio

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

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese				Not available on Steam.
Czech				Fan translation - v1.15
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 it is inclear whether it is a user-created or official profile. Arx Libertatis is required.

Issues fixed

HUD doesn't scale at higher resolutions

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

Use Arx Libertatis[citation needed]

Invisible text

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

Use Arx Libertatis.[citation needed]

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

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	ARM	Notes
Windows				Use Arx Libertatis for 64-bit.
macOS (OS X)				Use Arx Libertatis.
Linux				Use Arx Libertatis.

HD Textures - Arx Neuralis

Original game textures upscaled with neural networks. Download from Nexus Mods or ModDB

HD Textures - Texture Overhaul

Upscaled textures, two years after the previous attempt. Seem to be of higher quality. Download from [1]

System requirements

Windows

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98 XP (Steam)	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 DirectX 8 compatible	32 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 8 compatible
Other	4X CD-ROM