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[Arcanum] We were unaware of any activity in the general vasectomy!

scarlet st.scarlet st. Registered User regular
edited August 2009 in Social Entropy++
Arcanum.

The buggiest yet best game you've either never played or stopped playing halfway through because of the bugs. However! There is a patch out, made last year-ish, that helps keep the bugs at bay. There's also a high resolution patch that allows you to play the game on your monitor at higher than 800x600.

I mean, that might have cut it back on the ol' CRT monitors, but nowadays we demand widescreen, goddamnit.

To get started, here are some links to mods, and some general tips:
The official patch to 1.074 <- apply this before the unofficial patches
The big unofficial patch
High res town maps
High quality music
High res UI mod

- Use the arrow keys to move the screen around you. This will help keep your wrist from moving around so goddamn much.
- While there aren't the keyboard shortcuts you might have hoped there'd be, Drew and I have found four that matter:
W - opens the map. The map is nice because if you've rolled by a building with an address plate (i.e. a general store) it will appear on your map with a question mark.
F7 - Quick save. Arcanum is tough. It's hard to play this game and not get frustrated with dying every goddamn time you talk to someone. Save often, and maybe you'll live.
F10 - Changing the UI. Arcanum has a minimized UI and a regular UI. Some people prefer either, but for the most part I find that the regular UI has the best advantages because it simply has more buttons.
R - not as important as the other hotkeys, but R tosses you into combat mode so you can get a few hits off on enemies before they shit all over you.

While they are unofficial patches, the nerd that created them wanted to keep the game pure, so it wasn't changes to the game so much as fixes. Definitely the best unofficial patch I've ever seen.

Gameplay Tips, courtesy of one of the better walkthroughs:
You can put any objects you want into your hotkey slots, so it’s useful to
keep some slots available for large inventory objects (like armor) so you can
carry more items around.

Tarant makes a good hub for your adventures. There is a gypsy there to
identify your objects, and the junk dealer will buy most anything and is a
capable repairer.

The best two things to buy at the character creation shop: lockpicks and a
fine steel dagger.

Don’t use trash bins to store your objects. They get emptied periodically.
Do use trash bins to “throw away” objects you don’t want your party members
to pick up.

The easiest way to hear all the rumors for a town is to talk to a bartender.
You can get into a conversation loop and keep asking for rumors until there
are no more to hear.

If you need to pick up a large object, but you don’t have enough room in your
inventory and you can’t tell how big the object is (and therefore don’t know
how much room to create), try to pick up the object, and when that fails,
drop an object. You’ll create a “junk pile” with the large object, and
you’ll be able to see how big it is.

If you click on the sign or plaque identifying a building, the name of the
building will appear on the area map.

If you wear heavy gloves, they’ll adversely affect your pick pocketing skill.

Save your game before entering bars. Patrons will randomly bet you 500 gold
on trivia questions, insult you, ignore you, or even attack you.

When traveling on the world map, you can set waypoints any place on the map,
not just on known locations.

To identify an object using a scroll: select the scroll, move it to the hand
icon on the right side of the inventory screen, and then select the item you
want to identify.

At several points in the game, you’ll receive a note or a book, and a quest
will only be triggered once you read the item. So even if you’ve played
through the game once, be sure to read everything that comes your way.

Non-obvious items you should hang onto: shovel, kathorn crystal, Molochean
Hand amulet, mithril, scroll of shrink, offerings for the altars quest.


Character Creation
There are a bunch of background you can choose for each race and sex.

Screenshot-6_26_20093_20_26AM.jpg
You could even play Sling Blade :3

Here's what I've ended up with:
Screenshot-6_26_20093_21_23AM.jpg
Milly Tuppins, magickal debutante extraordinaire

Character Leveling
There are a bunch of choices to make for your character as the story progresses. Magick, as it's called in Arcanum, has many schools of knowledge, and all of them are helpful in their own right. The best way for a mage to compete with an armor-touting technology fag is Shield of Protection, which will boost your AC as long as you have it enabled.

Going technology? Make sure you have at least one point in Melee in addition to your Firearms skill so you're not shit out of luck at the beginning of the game. Unfortunately, it takes some time to get techs up and running in this game, so be prepared to save often, because you'll bite the dust very very quickly unless you're smart about things.

The guides say to be careful with your leveling points (you get 1 every level, and 2 every 5 levels), but I've kind of been frivolous with them. Unless you're mastering a skill, it's almost useless to put points into them, though.

Throughout the game, you can meet people who will help to train you as an apprentice, expert, and eventually a master in certain skills, such as melee, haggle, persuasion, firearms, bow, etc. etc. Getting these apprenticeships and expert...ships are helpful because they boost your skill even though you may only have one or two points in the skill. Definitely worth the 500 gold you'll pay for expert rank.


We start out on the IFS Zephyr. Like the Titanic, only super burnable.
Screenshot-6_26_20093_25_53AM.jpg

Oh woe as me! Why did I book passage on a damned airship!
Screenshot-6_26_20093_26_55AM.jpg

Fuckin' orcs.
Screenshot-6_26_20093_27_24AM.jpg

He has the biggest nose, but you've gotta help him out.
Screenshot-6_26_20093_27_50AM.jpg

You meet your first party member at the crash site. He sticks with you for a decent amount of the game
Screenshot-6_26_20093_33_45AM.jpg

Ghosts!
Screenshot-6_27_200910_45_15AM.jpg

Characters with an amazing vocabularity!
Screenshot-6_27_200911_47_53AM.jpg

Screenshot-6_27_200911_48_24AM.jpg

Screenshot-6_27_200911_48_42AM.jpg

Screenshot-6_27_200911_48_47AM.jpg

Screenshot-6_27_200911_59_30AM.jpg

Second try D:
Screenshot-6_27_200912_00_02PM.jpg

Screenshot-6_27_200912_01_27PM.jpg

Screenshot-6_27_200912_03_18PM.jpg

You can even ransack ancient Elven ruins for the sake of 300 gold pieces :o

As you can see here, this is the high res UI as compared to the old UI in the other screens. Definitely worth the download.
Screenshot-6_29_20099_14_10PM.jpg

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If you didn't buy this game while in high school like the rest of us, you can find it pretty cheap on Amazon.com (under $20!!)

Drew-B, scarlet blvd., and scarlet ave. are all currently playing through the game, and all of us are definitely willing to help answer your questions!

The game has a lot of weird tiny problems that can get in the way of an enjoyable playthrough, but it's so worth it. If you get frustrated, take a break from it if you need to, because uninstalling this game is the biggest mistake. This game is worth it!!

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scarlet st. on
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Posts

  • scarlet st.scarlet st. Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Also, I can't stress enough that the unofficial patches stay true to the game without changing it in some preconceived notion that the changes will make the game better.

    Everything that was Arcanum continues to be Arcanum with the unofficial patch. Or something.

    scarlet st. on
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  • Drew-BDrew-B Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    I don't understand why this game isn't available on any of the digital distribution sites like Steam, Gamersgate or Direct2Drive.

    Drew-B on
  • MorivethMoriveth BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    I have not played Arcanum since it first came out.

    I did beat it, though.

    Moriveth on
  • scarlet st.scarlet st. Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Definitely worth a second playthrough if you've only seen it through the eyes of a tech or a magick user. Thieves are also really fun to play!

    scarlet st. on
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  • Macro9Macro9 Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    So those patches will let me play at 1680x1050? Does it work on Vista 64bit? I might install it and finish it this time around.

    Macro9 on
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  • MorivethMoriveth BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    If I remember right I was a gunslinger who also stole shit from guys.

    Moriveth on
  • scarlet st.scarlet st. Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Yep, Vista 64 supports it just fine. I've heard of issues with XP 64, however.

    The patch lets you put in a custom resolution, and I'd recommend sticking with the native res of your monitor.

    scarlet st. on
    japsig.jpg
  • ArtreusArtreus I'm a wizard And that looks fucked upRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    I found this at goodwill for like $3. It seemed really awesome but I have no attention span and stopped playing it pretty quickly

    Artreus on
    http://atlanticus.tumblr.com/ PSN: Atlanticus 3DS: 1590-4692-3954 Steam: Artreus
  • Drew-BDrew-B Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Macro9 wrote: »
    So those patches will let me play at 1680x1050? Does it work on Vista 64bit? I might install it and finish it this time around.

    I'm running on Vista 64 bit with what's more or less a brand new machine and I was able to reinstall Arcanum, all the patches/unofficial updates, as well as the high resolution patch.

    Drew-B on
  • A Dabble Of TheloniusA Dabble Of Thelonius It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    I need to play through this again. I went melee/magic the first time and it got really cheap.

    Tip! If you are a magick character, and you are getting your ass kicked, STUN. STUN STUN STUN. It breaks the game, but if you get stuck in a bad save situation it can get you out.

    A Dabble Of Thelonius on
    vm8gvf5p7gqi.jpg
    Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
  • MorivethMoriveth BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Stupid high res patch, download

    Moriveth on
  • Macro9Macro9 Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    I will be reinstalling this then. Hopefully I can finish it.

    Macro9 on
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  • Macro9Macro9 Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Is there another place to download those files? I am getting them super slow from the links.

    Macro9 on
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  • The Sneak!The Sneak! Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    scarlet i love you so fucking much for making this thread

    The Sneak! on
  • MorivethMoriveth BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    I am installing it now. Yaaaay!

    Moriveth on
  • MorivethMoriveth BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Also this makes me want to make a Morrowind thread

    but I think we have too many game threads right now

    Moriveth on
  • Drew-BDrew-B Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Tarrant is a pretty big place, so this really helps.

    http://www.gamebanshee.com/arcanum/walkthrough/tarant.php

    Drew-B on
  • OrikaeshigitaeOrikaeshigitae Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited June 2009
    time to find my discs and reinstall! woot!

    also, doesn't this have co-op? am I just imagining that?

    Orikaeshigitae on
  • MorivethMoriveth BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    time to find my discs and reinstall! woot!

    also, doesn't this have co-op? am I just imagining that?

    It had a poorly-implemented option for multiplayer modules, I think

    but no co-op in the main game

    Moriveth on
  • scarlet st.scarlet st. Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Like Mori said, there is a Multiplayer, but not only does it make you play now-defunct game modules, it also only allows you to play in Real Time battle (they liken it to Diablo 2), which is totally gay. It's not like Diablo 2 at all. Magick characters would have a terrible time trying to click on the individual creatures.

    scarlet st. on
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  • scarlet st.scarlet st. Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Macro9 wrote: »
    Is there another place to download those files? I am getting them super slow from the links.

    There are a couple of mirrors for each patch, but I found that the initial download mirror was the best. Here's a forum post with a few diff mirrors for each patch
    http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=23720

    Not sure if all of them are still live, though.

    scarlet st. on
    japsig.jpg
  • Macro9Macro9 Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    I am downloading the HQ town maps right now. It's all I have left.

    Macro9 on
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  • DE?ADDE?AD Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    I really should get this again - The computer I had at the time it came out couldn't run it, so I never managed to play through it.

    Hmmm.

    DE?AD on
  • ArtreusArtreus I'm a wizard And that looks fucked upRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Moriveth wrote: »
    Also this makes me want to make a Morrowind thread

    but I think we have too many game threads right now

    Fuuuuuuuckk. Yeessss. But yeah it would probably get overshadowed if you posted it now and it deserves all the attention it can get.

    I just really wish I could get back into the game like my friends do. I played the hell out of it on the xbox back in the day, got it as a secret satan gift a few years back, and I just can't immerse myself in it anymore. It feels too much like.. just a game as opposed to the world it used to be.

    And really, the gameplay/combat left a bit to be desired.

    Artreus on
    http://atlanticus.tumblr.com/ PSN: Atlanticus 3DS: 1590-4692-3954 Steam: Artreus
  • Macro9Macro9 Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Installed and patched up. Going to eat and then start a game.

    Macro9 on
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  • scarlet blvd.scarlet blvd. Bebop Cola Goooood!Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    And who can forget the best part of any society

    Necromantic Slave Labor
    Screenshot-6_28_20093_11_15PM.png

    scarlet blvd. on
  • BucketmanBucketman Call me SkraggRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    god I loved this game so much, but I always wind up being a tech guy. Oh and the only time I beat it I
    took that super evil sword for my own, the one the dead pirate wants you to destroy and killed EVERYONE then went to that otherworld and took over from the big bad.

    Bucketman on
  • scarlet blvd.scarlet blvd. Bebop Cola Goooood!Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Follow the guard's advice... Don't go into the Boil

    Screenshot-6_27_200911_49_37AM.png

    scarlet blvd. on
  • A Dabble Of TheloniusA Dabble Of Thelonius It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Oh god. The Boil killed me so many times.

    A Dabble Of Thelonius on
    vm8gvf5p7gqi.jpg
    Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
  • scarlet ave.scarlet ave. Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Follow the guard's advice... Don't go into the Boil

    Screenshot-6_27_200911_49_37AM.png

    Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu



    uuuuuuu

    uck

    the Boil
    fuck that place

    scarlet ave. on
  • RepoxRepox Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Follow the guard's advice... Don't go into the Boil

    Screenshot-6_27_200911_49_37AM.png

    Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu



    uuuuuuu

    uck

    the Boil
    fuck that place

    It is so great to go back to that place later in the game as a force mage and disintegrate everyone
    Especially since this is what the game apparently wants you to do

    Repox on
  • MorivethMoriveth BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    So I got Gothic from GoG the other day

    good game

    controls are fucking bizarre and I have a weird bug with my video card where apparently there are no inventory item pictures

    but it's pretty fun/challenging anyway

    Moriveth on
  • augustaugust where you come from is gone Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    THIS GAME IS PRETTY OKAY RITE

    Except the UI is so horrible.

    august on
  • scarlet st.scarlet st. Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    The UI has so many oddities... ugh.

    but it's still, uh, charming? that's what fags say, right?

    scarlet st. on
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  • augustaugust where you come from is gone Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    How long does it take to repair all you party's shit at a smith: here's a hint too fucking long.

    Right now I'm playing what I hope will be a successful Half-Ogre technologist who says Pip Pip I say Old Bean and mows people down with his huge guns. All I've played before is a sword-magic person and that was so easy it was insane but goddamn tech is a pain in the ass.

    august on
  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited June 2009
    I got this game pretty recently but just couldn't get into it after reaching the first town.

    Druhim on
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  • MorivethMoriveth BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    To people who can't get in the game: If you use Goozex, it might be worth trying to trade it in on that. Last time I checked it had a pretty high value, especially considering its age.

    Moriveth on
  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited June 2009
    well I got it through Steam..


    edit: wait, Steam doesn't have it so now I don't remember where I bought it, but the point is I don't have a disc I can trade on Goozex

    Druhim on
    belruelotterav-1.jpg
  • MorivethMoriveth BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Well then nevermind

    Moriveth on
  • JasconiusJasconius sword criminal mad onlineRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Yes. Arcanum. We have a thread in G+T.

    I've beaten in thrice. Playing through again right now.

    Arcanum is the best RPG of this decade. The fan patch is great.

    You cannot judge this game until you get to about level 20, when you start having to do a bit more traveling and the story line actually starts fleshing out.

    The first 18 levels are pretty linear.

    Jasconius on
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