As the third installment of the Fable series, you can play as the Prince or Princess to save the Kingdom from your evil brother. Play mini-games to earn coins, explore forests, caves, dungeons and even bandit camps. Quests range from typical go-get-me-this-item and save us from the zombie boss, to silly re-enacting ghost plays. There is always something to do in Fable III.
Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Fable III in Linux with PlayOnLinux.
Note: This guide applies to the Retail DVD version of Fable III. Other versions may require additional steps.
Tips & Specs:
To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux Explained
Mint 17.3 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.10
Wine: 1.8.5
Wine Installation
Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"
Look for the Wine Version: 1.8.5
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right
Click Next
Downloading Wine
Extracting
Downloading Gecko
Installed
Wine 1.8.5 is installed and you can close this window
Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install
Click "Install a non-listed program"
Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
Click Next
Name the virtual drive: fable3
Click Next
Check all three options:
- Use another version of Wine
- Configure Wine
- Install some libraries
Select Wine 1.8.5
Click Next
Select "32 bits windows installation"
Click Next
Wine Configuration
Applications Tab
Windows version: Windows XP
Note: It is important to leave Windows XP as the default. Otherwise GFWL activation will not initiate at first launch.
Graphics Tab
Check "Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows"
Check "Emulate a virtual desktop"
Desktop size: 1024x768
Click OK
PlayOnLinux Packages (DLL's, Libraries, Components)
Check the following:
- POL_Install_corefonts
- POL_Install_d3dx9
- POL_Install_msxml3
- POL_Install_tahoma
- POL_Install_vcrun2008
- POL_Install_vcrun2010
Note: All packages will automatically download and install
Installing Fable III
Select "Select another file"
Click Next
Click Browse
Navigate to your DVD
Select "Setup.exe"
Click Open
Click Next again...
Click "Custom Install"
Uncheck Shortcuts
Click Next
Click Accept
Enter KEY
Click Next
Click Finish
PlayOnLinux Shortcut
Select "FableLauncher.exe"
Click Next
Name the shortcut: Fable III
Click Next
Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
Click Next
PlayOnLinux Configure
Select Fable III
Click Configure
General Tab
Wine version: 1.8.5
Note: Click the + to download other versions of Wine. Click the down-arrow to select other versions of Wine.
Display Tab
Video memory size: Enter the amount of memory your video card/chip uses
Close Configure
Games For Windows Live Work-around
Before we launch Fable III, we have a work-around for GFWL since the service no longer exists.
Go to: http://timeslip.users.sourceforge.net/
Click: GFWL remover (0.11)
Save to your Desktop
Open with Archive Manager
Click Extract
Navigate to:
Code:
/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/fable3/drive_c/Program Files/Microsoft Games/Fable III/Note: This will extract an xlive.dll that will override GFWL, but the game will still need to activate
Launching Fable III
Select Fable III
Click Run
Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs
GFWL Activation
Click Continue
Click Next
Click Activate
Click Start
Optimization
Rule of Thumb:
High settings = More detail, lower frame rates
Low settings = less detail, higher frame rates
Before you can change in-game options, you will need to start the game up to the character select screen.
Click Options
Click "Game Settings"
Adjust:
- Aspect Ratio
- Screen Resolution
- Full Screen Mode
- Gamma
- Vertical Sync
Detail Settings
Adjust:
- Model Detail
- Landscape Detail
- Effects Detail
- Tree Detail
- Texture Quality
- Shadow Quality
- Water Quality
- Draw Distance
Click Accept
Blur and other options
To further improve the game performance you can manually adjust some features.
Go To:
Code:
/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/fable3/drive_c/Program Files/Microsoft Games/Fable III/There is a nasty blur with animation in-game
Reduce blur at these three lines
Try setting them all at zero
Save and make read-only (otherwise the game will reset the values)
Conclusion:
Once I realized that Windows XP had to be initially set in order to activate the game, it ran perfectly. There is a nasty blur effect that looks really bad, but it can be adjusted. Also, I noticed an outdoor pillar asset that would appear as black squares. Otherwise, my GeForce GTX 950 handled the game really well.
Gameplay Video:
Screenshots:
