The Saboteur is one of my favorite games ever made. So I recently bought the GoG-Version and wanted to give it another shot. But boy, was I dissapointed.

When you play the game right out of the box you're in for a pretty rough ride. For me, the game only ran on a 800x600 resolution and somehow was capped at 40 fps with terrible stuttering on top of it. But when you put some elbow grease into it, it is possible to get it to run buttery smooth at 1080p/60 fps. Here's a step-by-step tutorial what you have to do for it:


1. Let the game create the config file in your user directory

After installing fire up Saboteur and start a new game. Don't bother with screen resolution etc, just play it through until the first autosave happens (usually when you leave the belle). Only then, the conifg-files are generated (at "%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\The Saboteur™\SaveGames\"). Now leave the game to desktop.


2. Video-Settings

Go to the game main directory and start "VideoSetup.exe". Set your desired resolution and put all the details to maximum. Leave the refresh rate at 60 Hz, the game engine cannot handle higher settings. If you don't like motion blur, turn off "Post-Process-Filter".


3. Replace the main-exe

Go to "https://mega.nz/file/gA1mBZLR#qr7lUxuaNJr_-Ietgw9ARxZ_4j7_TRUp6UFdaNcf95M" and download the patched Saboteur.exe provided by jackfuste from WSGF (wsgf.org). Replace the original exe in the main game folder with it. As far as I know this file is safe to use. It solves the problem that the engine cannot handle more that 4 CPU-cores. For me it also solved all the stuttering and low fps shenanigans.


4. Skip intro videos

Go to "https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/402-the-saboteur-intro-skip/" and download the archive which contains a blank bink-video-file named "saboteur.bik". Replace it in the directory .../game/bink/. If you play other languages than english, also replace the localized file (for example saboteur_de.bik for the german version) with a renamed copy of it.


5. Field of View

It is very easy to change the FoV, but you have to use the program "Cheat Engine" to do it. Head over to "https://cheatengine.org/", download and install the latest version. Then go to "https://www.wsgf.org/dr/saboteur" and download the cheat engine table file (Saboteur.CT). You probably should read the manual or watch a Youtube-Video about how to use the cheat enginge. It is a bit daunting at first, but trust me, it is only a few mousclicks here, once you know how to do it.


6. Anti-Aliasing (Nvidia cards)

Go to "https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/nvidia-inspector-download.html" and download the program NvidiaInspector.
Then go to "https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/nvidia-anti-aliasing-guide-updated.357956/" and follow the instructions there. The Inspector-Profile should look like the printscreen I attached.


There you go, all of this worked out perfectly for me. There is no guarantee of course that all the tweaks will work on your system too. But I think this marvel of a game is worth all the hassle.

I can verify that this works, even with the super non working version from EA that many of us have from Xbox Gamepass. Specifically, step 3 worked for me. Thank you so much! I've been wanting to play through this game again!

感谢你整理的文章！2014年玩过这款游戏，印象非常深刻，但是当时电脑并不好运行很糟糕。这些年我总有个遗憾，就是现代化多核心电脑性能好太多了，却并不能直接运行它，我认为第3点的修复文件将会帮我弥补这一遗憾！

By Google Translator:
Thanks for putting together the article! Played this game in 2014 and was very impressed, but at that time the computer was not very good and it was very bad. I've always had a regret over the years that modern multi-core computers are so much better that they can't run it directly. I think the repair file in point 3 will help me make up for this regret!


You're welcome, my friend. Glad to see that this fantastic game is also played on the other side of the globe. Greetings from Switzerland.

I have been unable to the game to run even after trying all the tips an tricks suggested like creating the config file. Game still gives the error with initializing graphics hardware. Can't even open the video settings. Any suggestions?

I'm hoping you'll see this post one day. Thanks for this guide. For years I had given up on playing this game due to the CPU cores issue, but it appears to have been fixed. The game is now fully playable, and following your guide has made it so much better. Thanks again, you just made my day.

Im glad to see the game works for now you and I'm glad I coulöd provide some help.

Although I really did nothing of importance. I just collect some information that was already out there. I just brought it together in this GoG-Forum-Post.

The main appreciation must go to Jackfuste from WSGS.COM, who recoded the main Saboteur.exe, so it could handle modern multicore processors.

Just want to clarify, I saw this in official changelog from GOG:
Changelog for Internal Hotfix (added 11 July 2018):
- [WIN] fixed game not starting on certain multi-core CPUs (credits to jackfuste)

So do I stil need to follow the "3. Replace the main-exe" step from this article ?

Thanks a bunch for your post. I got this game back in the days on Origin and it wouldn't even run under Win 11.
Now I'm able to play it again on 1920x1080, I only had to manually edit the config.ini because my changes from the VideoSetup wouldn't affect anything.
Anyway, I'm a happy camper now. :)

The GOG build had a hotfix in 2018, the changelog of which includes the following line: I assume that means the above step shouldn't be necessary for the GOG version. (I can't test this, because my current computer doesn't haven't any problems running the game properly even without any fixes.) If, however, there's since been a newer version of the fixed executable which solves other problems, then fair enough.

It's ironic to me that the month after I gave up searching for a fix/when my old rig died that FINALLY a fix was found. Thank you for figuring this stuff out and doing what EA support couldn't/wouldn't... Hopefully this leads to others not having to deal with the frustration of searching all over creation for a fix...

It seems the link you provided to download NVidiaInspector wasn't correct. I found the correct link to be https://nvidiaprofileinspector.com/

The link still works fine for me.

Thanks for the tutorial, it's nice to see people sharing their knowledge to help others.

I just have a point to make about the 6th step.
For anti-aliasing the link leads to "NVidiaInspector" but in fact it's not the right software, it's "nvidiaProfileInspector" that you need.

I don't know if the software has changed its name in the meantime or what happened, but there must have been a change that makes the link not correct anymore.

Anyway, I give you the correct link, the author of the original post can change it if he sees my message.
https://github.com/Orbmu2k/nvidiaProfileInspector/releases

I also attached to this message, three screenshots of the parameters to put for "The Saboteur" when using the latest version of NvidiaProfileInspector,
-The first is just with MSAA " Great"
-The second with MSAA + OGSSAA "Best" which seems to give better results but more costly in performance,
-The last one is the settings I use for me after some tests : OGSSAA x16 + activation of antialising on transparency effects (visible on glasses, car doors etc...).
Hoping that this can help.

If anyone else is doing tests on anti-aliasing, I'd be curious to know their findings.
That's it, I'm done, good game to everyone :)

I am getting crash to desktop after setting the brightness on first launch.
I'm on an i7-1255U and Win 11, using Origin to GOG version.
not any particular fix.
VS2008, DX9 and .NET3.0&4.5 are installed