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

Click Next


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

Click Next


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/

Click Extract


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

Click Accept


Detail Settings

Adjust:

• Model Detail
• Landscape Detail
• Effects Detail
• Tree Detail
• Texture Quality
• Shadow Quality
• Water Quality
• Draw Distance

Click Back
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/

Open VideoOptionsConfig.xml


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: