just curious if anyone has found a fix, permanent or temporary, for the whole fatal memory error msg that crashes the game at seemingly random times. i know some people were experiencing it when they try to enchant a weapon or any item (which is fairly important later in the game). i have given up on playing arx because of this error, sick of having to save every 5 seconds and hoping to god the game doesnt crash in the middle of something. and just out of curiousity for those of you out there that are experiencing the same problem as me are you running arx on vista or xp? just wondered if maybe its a vista problem, seeing as how vista has lots of problems lol.

Vista here. I think it is Vista specific. Running the game in Win95/98/Me compatibility mode seems to fix it for most people. It worked for me.
The one item you have to enchant will still work regardless. It's the only time enchanting an object won't cause it to crash.

so how do i run it in win95/98/ME mode?

Right-click on the shortcut. Click "Properties."
Click on the "Compatibility" tab.
Check the box that says "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
From the dropdown list, select "Windows 98 / Windows Me."
Click "OK."

Vista 64 bit here, and changing the compatibility to win95/98 has done the trick for me too - i still get long load times, but the fatal memory error has yet to rear its ugly head (6 hours in)..
To run it in win98 mode - find the Arx executable (if you're using default its c:\program files\GOG.com\Arx Fatalis)
Right click on the Arx.exe, go to Properties. Click on the Compatibility tab. Tick the box that says 'Run this program in compatibility mode for' and use Windows 98. Click Apply.
You can also do the same through the desktop shortcut, should you have one...;o)
dang it, too slow....;o)

The problem with this solution is that it, at least for me, disables widescreen resolutions, constraining me to the really shitty resolutions. D:

i havent been able to try it yet, i'm redownloading the game onto my netbook, and having trouble getting an uncorrupted copy. i might have to go use my friend's internet instead of my crappy wireless.

Use the GOG Downloader if your connection is unstable.