What is Arx Libertatis? I don't get it...

[Momo]

As I said in the title, is this a mod for the game or this is just a stand-alone version (free?)?
I am supposed to install it even if I bought the original game?
How many languages are supported?

Thanks ;)

[Beliar]

Now, i am not a developer of Arx Libertatis, but as far as I know it is an OpenSource implementation of Arx Fatalis. It is based on the original source of the game but is written so it better works on newer Windows versions and on other operating Systems, like Linux, too. The data files were, as far as as i know, not made free so you still need a copy of the game to play Arx Libertatis.

It is still the same game though, same story, same world and so on.

[Akien]

Basically I would say the same thing as Beliar, I would just add that Arx Libertatis corrects lots of the well-known bugs of Arx Fatalis.

Basically, anyone wanting to play Arx Fatalis as it's meant to be played, and with the best hardware and software support, should play Arx Libertatis. I wish the latter were distributed as a free DLC on Steam to ease its installation for Steam users :-)

[Momo]

So, as an implementation, I stil need the original game in order to play it?

I mean, I wasted my money buying it from the store or I still need it to play Arx Libertatis?

[Beliar]

Yes, as I said, you still need the original game. Here a quote from the Arx Libertatis website:

"Arx Libertatis is based on the publicly released Arx Fatalis sources and available under the GPL 3+ license. This does however not include the game data, so you need to obtain a copy of the original Arx Fatalis or its demo to play Arx Libertatis."

[Momo]

Ok, thanks!
So it improves the original game a lot? It is worth to download it? (I think it is XD)

[Akien]

Yes it's really worth downloading :-)

You can have a look at the detailed changelog if you want to know what are the new features and bug fixes in Arx Libertatis compared to the original Arx Fatalis: http://wiki.arx-libertatis.org/Changelog

[Momo]

I installed it but after the character creation, and the introduction, I see just for one second the cellar where the char lies, and then a black screen (with just a clear part at the bottom of the screen). I've tried to change some setting but nothing was useful...

If I run the vanilla game instead I can play normally without any issue...

[Lali]

It is currently the only version, which tries to carry on, what Arkane Studios left behind a long time ago. They have some very big plans for the game, you should check out the milestones:

http://wiki.arx-libertatis.org/Mission_statement#Project_Milestones

It is real interesting to see, that they plan modding support, better models and textures, etc. All these stuff I would have killed for 8 years ago, when I played this game actively. And if I could code in C++, I would help them, but sadly, I can't.

The makers of Arx Fatalis did not make the code open source earlier and after 8 years of no development in the game engine, it is really outdated today, so as I see, the current developments are mostly making the game stand up to the standards of modern games (most recent new features for the game are debug options and other switches for the game).

What I would really want to see, which is of course seems impossible today is cooperative multiplayer support.

As a 64 bit windows 7 user, the game only runs if I play Arx Libertatis, the original game has a lot of problems or just simply does not start for me.