Fable III.

[Mario]

Here is the official Fable III readme file.

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FABLE III PC README 1.1
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Last Updated: 21 April, 2011

For the latest version of this Readme, please visit: http://lionhead.com/Fable/FableIII/readme.html

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Fable® III is a graphically demanding game and is designed for next generation hardware. It is important that you have a powerful CPU (processor) and graphics chipset combination, particularly if you intend to play on a laptop; for those fortunate enough to have such systems, we have added control sets that favour laptop keyboard layouts. Please make sure to update to the latest video card drivers to ensure the greatest level of performance and compatibility between Fable III and your computer hardware.

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1) INSTALLATION & SET UP
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Please note that Fable III does not support Microsoft® Windows® 95/98/NT/2000, Beta/Release Candidate versions of Windows 7, or 64-bit versions of Windows XP operating system.

1.1 MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

• OS: Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7
• Processor: AMD® Athlon™ 64 Processor X2 4000+
• Intel® Pentium Core™2 Duo 2 GHz
• Memory: 2 GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® 7600 GT graphics card
• ATI Radeon™ HD 2600 Pro graphics card
• DirectX: DirectX® 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 12.5 GB of free space
• Sound: 100% DirectX 9.0c compliant sound hardware
• Network: Connection to the internet for first-time licence verification and for multiplayer features

1.2 RECOMMENDED SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS

• OS: Windows 7
• Processor: Intel® Pentium Core™2 Duo 2.9 GHz processor or higher
• Memory: 4 GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 GPU 896 MB graphics card or higher
• ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB graphics card or higher
• Hard Drive: 12.5 GB of free space
• Sound: 100% DirectX 9.0c compliant sound hardware
• Network: Connection to the internet for first-time licence verification and for multiplayer features

1.3 DIRECTX DETECTION & INSTALLATION

Before installation, Fable III will check your computer for the currently installed version of DirectX. If it detects an older version, it will install an up-to-date version automatically.



1.4 COPY PROTECTION

Fable III uses SecuROM piracy prevention, and this application may install additional components required for proper functionality of the copy protection. In order to protect the game, any tampering with the copy protection or renaming of the game’s executables may cause issues when loading or playing the game.



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2) TROUBLESHOOTING
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2.1 INSTALLER/UPDATE

A. Interference from Anti-Virus Programs

Some anti-virus software can interfere and corrupt the installation process of new software. You may want to disable your anti-virus software for the duration of the install.

B. Modifications

Any modifications to Fable III may result in the inability to play or update successfully. It is recommended that you do not modify Fable III in any way that is not an officially released and supported update, as it may result in the need to re-install the game.

C. Install

The installation is determined by the format in which you have purchased the game, and while there are some differences, you will need to fully install to a specified location to play. If you have a disc-based version, then installation is achieved by placing the DVD into the disc drive and following the on-screen prompts. If you have a digitally-distributed version, then you have the option to download, install, and play from within the client application. This requires that you are logged in and connected to the internet.

Once installed, you will need to connect to the internet at least once to verify your license validity. After this has been done you may play at any time without an internet connection. Re-installations will require that this process is repeated. You are allowed to authorise up to five machines per month. If this limit is met, you will need to contact SecuROM or Microsoft support to get an additional authorisation or to de-authorise a previous machine. See Section 7 of this readme for customer support contact information.

You need to be signed into the same Games for Windows – LIVE profile that purchased or verified the licence in order to play online.

D. Uninstall

The uninstall process for Fable III can be different depending on how you installed the game. To uninstall the disc-based version, go to the Windows Control Panel, open Programs and Features, select Fable III, and then select uninstall. If you have a digitally-distributed version, then you may need to uninstall from within your client game library.

There may be some user files left over such as saves or extra downloadable content which are left in case you wish to continue your progress at a later date.

E. Starting the Game for the First Time

If an error message is displayed referencing any of the files below, re-run DirectX\DXSetup.exe included on the disc.

DLLs:

xinput1_3.dll
d3dx9_42.dll
x3daudio1_7.dll
xaudio2_6.dll


2.2 VIDEO

A. Latest Recommended Drivers

For best performance and video quality, please make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card when running Fable III. If you have an ATI or NVIDIA video card, you can find drivers on their websites.

http://ati.amd.com

Driver: Catalyst 11.1 or newer

http://www.nvidia.com

Driver: ForceWare Graphics Driver Version 270.22 WHQL or newer

All of our testing has been performed with the latest official driver sets available at the time, so if you experience poor performance or graphical anomalies then this should be the first thing to check.

B. Playing in Windowed Mode

Some users may find that running Fable III in windowed mode results in a reduced frame rate; this is due to the design of some graphics cards. For the best experience, it is recommended that users switch to full screen mode.

C. Using Below Minimum Specification Video Cards

Preliminary tests with video cards that do not meet the minimum specifications have shown poor performance, and in some cases, more severe issues can be observed. This may not be your experience, and performance may improve further with each driver revision that is released, but we are unable to support video cards that do not meet the minimum specification provided.

D. Using Low Specification Video Cards

In an effort to keep the game as playable as possible on a wide range of hardware, you may notice that with lower specification/older graphics chipsets some display resolutions are greyed out and not selectable. Also, some of the post-processing performed on more powerful hardware may not be applied. In particular, on the GeForce 7000 series, shadows and some other graphical effects are not available.


2.3 SOUND

A. Latest Recommended Drivers

Please make sure you have the latest drivers for your sound card. Popular sound card manufacturer links can be found below:

http://www.realtek.com
http://www.creative.com/soundblaster
http://www.asus.com
http://www.turtlebeach.com
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/en

B. Sound Stutters While Playing

First, ensure that you have the latest drivers for your sound card. If the stuttering persists, try changing the audio performance settings in game. Open the Options panel in the Sanctuary and select the Audio tab, and then change the audio performance settings from high to low, or from low to high. If that still doesn’t resolve the issue, try reducing Hardware Acceleration. From your Windows desktop, click Start, and then click Run. Type "dxdiag", and then press Enter. This opens the "DirectX Diagnostic Tool". Click the Sound tab and reduce the "Hardware Sound Acceleration Level" slider.

C. Sound Does Not Play

If you have more than one sound device, Fable III should play through the default device. Go to the Windows Control Panel to manage audio devices and change your default settings.

2.4 OPERATING SYSTEM

A. Administrator Privileges

You must have administrator privileges to properly install the game on Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. However, you do not require administrator privileges to play the game after it has been installed. For information on how to change your user settings to obtain administrator privileges, please refer to your Windows documentation, or click the Start button and select "Help and Support".

B. Alt-Tab to Switch Applications

Although Alt+Tab is functional, it is recommended that you do not use Alt+Tab to switch to another program while Fable III is running, as this may affect game performance.



2.5 KNOWN ISSUES

A. Uninstalling with Windows Vista x64

Uninstalling on Windows Vista x64 machines can cause the system to appear unresponsive for long periods of time; sometimes fifteen minutes or more. If this occurs, wait for the process to respond again. Once it is responsive, it will resume and successfully uninstall Fable III.

B. Unsupported Video Modes on Startup

The game checks that its current resolution is supported on startup, and if it’s not supported, it will pick the closest supported one. Unfortunately, some setups will incorrectly report that a resolution is supported when it is not, usually causing the screen to turn black. This is often true for setups involving TVs, which only support a limited range of resolutions, but may report back many as available. If this is the case, quit the game (Alt+F4 or Control+Alt+Del) and run the external graphics settings applet to change the settings to something that you find does work. This applet can be found by right-clicking the Fable III game icon in Games Explorer and selecting Configure Video Options, or by running PCVideoOptionsApplet.exe located in the Fable III install directory.

If you change video settings in-game to an unsupported resolution, wait for the confirmation window to time out and it should revert to your previous settings.

C. Multiple Displays

By default Fable III will run on the primary display adapter, as configured in the display driver settings. If you have multiple displays and would like Fable III to run on another screen, you can use the PCVideoOptions applet to change the display adapter for the game (see previous section on how to run this applet).

D. Windows XP DLC Downloading

Trying to download a DLC package on Windows XP with the in-game Games for Windows – LIVE client may fail and report the error: “Client has not started properly.” To resolve this, start the main Games for Windows – LIVE desktop application; this will then direct you to a hotfix that can fix the issue.


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3. HOTKEYS AND CONTROLS
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3.1 DEFAULT KEYBOARD AND MOUSE CONTROLS
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Move Forward - W
Move Left - A
Move Backward - S
Move Right - D
Primary Attack - Left Mouse Button (LMB)
Special (Block/Aim/Surround Spell) - Right Mouse Button (RMB)
Switch to Melee Mode - 1
Switch to Magic Mode - 2
Switch to Ranged Mode - 3
Scroll through Combat Modes - Mouse Wheel
Interact, Select - E
Roll - SPACE
Sprint (toggle) - SHIFT
Go to Sanctuary, Back, Cancel - ESC
Pause - P
Quicksave - F5
Reset Camera Behind Hero - CTRL
Context-Sensitive Shortcuts - F1 - F4
Open Map - M
Safety Mode - BACKSPACE
Hold Hands with Villager - Q
Look at Important Events - TAB
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The list above describes the default keyboard settings. To change the key controls, press ESC to enter the Sanctuary. Access the Options panel, select Game Settings, and then click the Controls tab. Click the Keyboard Template name to remap the keys individually.



3.2 XBOX 360 CONTROLLER

An Xbox 360® controller can be used to play Fable III. The listings for the controls are provided in the game manual and within the in-game Options menu. Note: If you prefer a wireless controller, you must use an Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows.


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4. IN-GAME OPTIONS
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Game options are accessed in the Sanctuary. When playing the game, press ESC to enter the Sanctuary. Approach the Options panel on the back wall, and press E to open the Options menu.

4.1 VIDEO OPTIONS

Aspect Ratio - Adjust the ratio to suit your display type.
Resolution - Adjust this for more detail (at the expense of performance).
Gamma - Adjust brightness level.
Full Screen - Choose to play in full screen mode or in a window.
Vertical Sync - Toggles vertical sync on or off. Turning this on will reduce screen tearing, but will limit performance.

A. Detail Settings

Overall - A simple way to set how detailed and elaborate you want Fable III to look. Lower settings increase frame rate (performance) and save memory, while higher settings increase visual quality.
Texture Quality - Sets the textures to look more or less detailed. Lower values use less video memory (helpful on laptops in particular), while higher values increase texture resolution and filtering quality.
Model Detail - Allows you to increase or decrease the number of polygons used to render characters and models in game, and the quality of character animations.
Landscape Detail - Change the level of detail of the landscape. Reduce for an improvement in performance.
Tree Detail - Alters the detail given to tree models and how they animate.
Water Quality - Higher settings give more detailed reflections in water.
Shadow Quality - Causes shadows to appear more or less detailed and draw closer or further into the distance. On the Very Low setting, shadows are disabled entirely, which gives a significant performance boost.
Effects Detail - Controls effects such as bloom, sun rays, anti-aliasing, and depth-of-field.
Draw Distance - Setting this higher allows you to see objects, villagers, creatures, and grass further into the distance. This setting can have a very significant effect on performance.
Auto Detect - This will automatically tune the detail settings based on the current hardware for the optimal quality and performance. This runs automatically the first time Fable III is started after a clean install.

B. Tips on Detail Settings

First use the auto-detect option; this will run the first time you play Fable III, and it can be run again by selecting the Auto Detect button in the Detail Settings screen. This runs CPU and GPU benchmarks and sets each slider based on the results. Note that the results are based on the standard resolution of 1280x720, so if you set the resolution much higher or lower, the calibration will be less accurate.

If Fable III is running too slowly, try the following:

- Reduce the screen resolution. This is especially helpful on weak GPUs, in particular on laptops.
- Reduce shadow quality. Changing the setting to Very Low will disable shadows entirely, which will increase performance significantly, often allowing other settings to be increased again.
- Reduce draw distance. This has a large effect on CPU performance.
- Reduce water quality. This has a large effect on CPU performance, although only matters when near water.
- Reduce post processing. This affects GPU performance.

4.2 CONTROL OPTIONS

Edit Keyboard Templates - Cycle through the available keyboard layouts. Click on the keyboard template name to remap key controls individually.
View Xbox 360 Controller - Show the controls for an Xbox 360 controller.
Mouse Sensitivity - Adjust the speed of the mouse input.
Mouse Smoothing - Adjust the amount of smoothing applied to the mouse movement.
Invert Y-Axis - Toggle the vertical movement to be inverted/non-inverted.
Sticky Targeting - Toggle whether the targeting cursor sticks to valid targets or body parts to help aiming.
Vibration - Toggle vibration on/off for an attached Xbox 360 controller.

4.3 AUDIO OPTIONS

Music - Adjust volume of music in-game.
Sound - Adjust volume of sound effects in-game.
Voice - Adjust volume of dialogue in-game.
Speakers - Choose Laptop/Small Speakers, Large Speakers, or Headphones. This sets the dynamic range appropriately, giving you the best audio experience.
Performance - Adjust quality of sound.

4.4 GAME OPTIONS

Subtitles - Toggles dialogue subtitles on or off.
Tutorials - Toggles the tutorial messages on or off.
Glowing Trail Brightness - Adjust the brightness of the glowing objective trail, or turn it off completely.
Difficulty - Adjust the difficulty of the game. This can be changed mid-game.
Language - Change the language the game is set to. This will be applied the next time the game starts.

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5. IMPROVING PERFORMANCE
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Ensure you have the latest drivers installed.

Shut down unnecessary software running in the background.

Try lower resolutions settings and/or reduced details settings.

Turn off Vertical Sync, which can significantly improve performance, but can also cause 'visual tearing'.


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6. DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT
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To download new content, you must be connected to the internet and signed in to Games for Windows – LIVE.

To find free content, press ESC to enter the Sanctuary, go to the LIVE room, and then interact with the Online Store on the right side of the room to view and choose content.

To shop for new premium content, check the Steam client for the latest details.


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7. CUSTOMER SUPPORT CONTACTS
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For Games for Windows help and support, please visit: http://support.microsoft.com and search for Fable.

For SecuROM copy protection issues, please visit: https://support.securom.com/pop_fable3.html


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8. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
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©2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, Fable, Lionhead, the Lionhead Studios logo, the Microsoft Game Studios logo, Xbox, Xbox 360, Windows, Windows Live, Windows NT, Windows Vista, and the Windows Vista Start button logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners.


8.1 SLIMDX COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Copyright (c) 2007-2011 SlimDX Group



Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:



The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.



THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.