Ive been unable to play this gem of a game because it crashes all the time. One of my friends who swears by this game says that i should download it from steam. My question is what is the difference and should i go with steam? I really want to play this game. I like the storyline and the world much better than oblivion and morrowind.

The patch used on Steam isn't integrated into the GOG release yet, but it's available separately right here. Installing this patch on the GOG version will make it identical to the Steam release.

The patch is fully compatible with the GOG version but its installer is set up to target the retail version's default folder; you'll need to change the installation path to where your GOG version is located.

Also note that if you have Vista or Windows 7 you'll need to run the patched game as an administrator if you installed it within Program Files or Program Files (x86) (or else change the install folder's security permissions to "Full control"). Moving the game to a non-protected location (e.g. C:\Games) is another option.

Buy the GOG version for the extras and no DRM. :)

Ok i just bought the game right now. Theres a problem though. The game wont let me install the patch. It states that i need to make sure it is installed to the right folder. Does anyone know what that means. I have the game installed to gog.com folder and then arx fatalis. Can someone help me with this, i am trying to install the english version of the game.

Click Browse and go to where your Arx Fatalis install is. Don't select the Arx Fatalis folder itself but the one that is one step above it (in the default location this will be the GOG.com folder).

Hey, I only read this thread by accident but your answer was most helpful, thank you very much! I was playing the 1.19 GOG version I downloaded in December and that still has the "length of cinemascope bars" issue, for example, and I didn't even know there was a newer patch. Apparantly it's now been integrated into the GOG version, I only wish they'd have informed people who bought it when it wasn't. Anyway, thanks to you I've got my game patched up now, too!

The GOG version of Arx was updated to include the latest patch on January 18th. If you have a version of the game installed prior to this , just delete and redownload from GOG to get all the latest patch goodness.