ARCANUM POLL

[hanut]

Just wanna see if ne1 plays Arcanum.

[Omuletzu]

I played it, but i soon got bored, and erased it :bye:

[Yobor]

I played Arcanum.
I beat the game like three different ways. I had a half ogre that ran away from the circus, so he had god-like strength and could kill the head boss at level 5. But the only actually hard part is fighting all of those zombies in the necromancer's tower in Ashbury. This game is great! :ok:

[Tulac]

I can't vote for any of those options, I've heard of it but I haven't played it...

[wormpaul]

Never heard of it..

Can i download it somewhere??

[Wired]

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura

Started playing it once but since I had such a huge backlog of games (I still do) I figured it'd be stupid to start playing another. Sure seems like a cool game with nice atmosphere.

[Anovich]

I've had to start over like 5 times, because of bugs, but finally finished it last month after owning it for several years. I think it's exellent and it's great to play more than once because of the many different options and possibilities in the main- and subquests. I made virgil evil because I made him wear the dark helmet to maximize his magic abilities. liked him better when he was good though, hehe

[Borodin]

Tried playing it twice, got about halfway through, then quit. That whole "hey, you're no one from nowhere, but I'll tell you all my intimate secrets and send you on a quest" kinda RPG just got to me, after a while.

[wormpaul]

any link for me??? :blink:

[Anovich]

It's not abandonware

[wormpaul]

Alright...

Then i will look in the shops for it :ok:

[Anovich]

Yeah you should, it is really a good game, I saw it in a shop where it cost practically nothing cause it's kindda old , so you might be able to get it cheap

[Mad-E-Fact]

Well, I played it once, but didn't finish it. I have the problem with many games, I lose focus about halfway through and go about doing other things or playing other games, and after few months of not playing it, it's hard to get back into the game. So I have tons of unfinished games waiting on my HD, but I'll get to them eventually. ;)

Anyway, Arcanum is a great game, with interesting story and gripping atmosphere. If you are into RPGs you have to give this one a try.

Oh and btw, I haven't experienced any bugs with the game while I played, did you make sure you had the patches applied?

[Anovich]

No, I didn't at the time, cause I didn't have access, would have saved me a whole lot of cursing and screaming, though

[rabadi]

I have only played the demo. I like it. Unfortunately I have not been able to obtain it in local game stores since it is a bit old already (so it's no longer available in local stores). Since I also have no credit card, ordering over the internet or buying used one in e-bay and such are not an option for me. Not to mention the custom officers in my country post office would mess the package if I order with money order or bank draft from overseas.

So unless the game becomes abandonware in the next several years or few decades, I won't be able to play the full game :cry:

[Kon-Tiki]

Played it, got bored after a week. Pace of the game goes terribly slow and the quests're always the same. You'll always have to turn against the one that gave you the assignment, or in the end, things'll turn against him/her anyways.

[Gun Man]

Well i dont play it...but if i remember is from the creators of Fallout. :ok: :evil:

[The Fifth Horseman]

Busted the demo a few times.
Considering to buy a legal full version, and this means something!

[Yobor]

I did encounter some problems, and downloaded a patch, but i dont remember where from.

[hanut]

Too bad mate. I can tell ya even though its old the games graphics can really grow on you.

[Mats]

Yea, I got this game, and loving it, the game feels "old" somehow, not in technical, but the music and story sort of makes it feel that you actually are in that world.

I play as a female elf magician, with a master degree in white necromancy, black necromancy and clairvoyance (so that I can teleport, it helps alot.) Oh, now that I'm talking about it I want to go home and play it NOW!


///MJ

[Yobor]

The best Discipline ever is Lightning. You just open up with level three shock and WHAM. Disintegrate is awesome on monsters too. Poof!

[Dreadlord]

I found magic confusing in this game and decided to just go with Technology, my dwarf was able to make all kinds of shiz by the end of the game.

[Yobor]

The only problem with technology was that the really good schematics are incredibly rare. Some of the mediocre ones are too! In one, game, all of the stores and drops never had any bullet schematics!!

[Dreadlord]

I'm a patient player, so I went out and did everything I possibly could to obtain more schematics, even if it meant sitting in a desert killing mechanical arachnids over and over.

[Yobor]

Now that is dedicated :ok:

[Lizard]

I want play this game!!! :cry:
Must visit some old gamestores :ph34r:

[Yobor]

Well here you go: Arcanum of Steamworks and Magic Obscura (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004TTHT/qid=1109710492/sr=52-1/ref=sr_52_1_etk-vg/103-7947359-9958268?v=glance&s=videogames&n=468642)

[Dreadlord]

Not really a old game, you can find it lots of places.

[Yobor]

I had it just a few days ago, but then I threw it out. It loses some of its charm after you suck the life out of it. Don't all games?

[Dreadlord]

You threw a game out? That's something I would never do...

[Yobor]

I thow out a lot of games, but I have stopped since I met abandonia, because now I know where to put them in a few years!

[Mad-E-Fact]

Bah, technology... I actually found it very rewarding to roleplay a wizard who strongly believes in the ancient ways of magic and fights the rise of technology whenever possible. I even tried to get on that steam powered mostrosity of a train undetected, figuring that the death of a few hundred people would teach the fools how dangerous these modern contraptions were, but unfortunately they always found me and polietly asked me to go away... :ranting:

[Dreadlord]

:), I had a half magic, half technology elf, and I don't think I'll ever manage to make a more powerful character ever, not one point in the game did my character ever need another party member to help kill a boss, or anything for that manner, without losing 1 fourth of his health, damn he was one strong bizatch...

[Yobor]

Earlier I mentioned my Ogre. He could kill any enemy in one hit. There was no need for any healing items or "Party" members. The only thing remotely resembling a party with them was "Voigal"'s guts splattered on the pavement.

[Dreadlord]

I kept party members so I could cast new spells on them, I didn't know how to see Spell properties back then...

I was so cruel.

[Yobor]

There are many intersting ways to get your party members to kill themselves. I had Virgil attack a door with his fists until he wouldn't lose any more health. A rat came along and nibbled his toes to death :evil:

[Dreadlord]

LOL, I sent Virgil to attack every town member in town until everyone was attacking him, seeing the "Help" above his head as he was running with his health down to 2 still makes me laugh.

[Yobor]

Did you ever do the half orc quest? I ended up killing everone in Tarant and even Gilbert too. Needless to say I couldn't beat the game after that LOL

[Dreadlord]

LOL, I accidently cast disentegrate on one NPC and had the whole town turn hostile, I killed everyone, leveled up (amazingly) then reloaded the game. :D

[Yobor]

Did you play the game as the Dark Elves? It is basically the same except you destroy the machine and have to use the falchion on the head boss.

[Dreadlord]

Once, never beat it though...

[Yobor]

If anything, this game was really good, but could have expanded a bit more. If they came out with an expansion, I'd sure as hell buy it :ok:

[Dreadlord]

True, it wasn't as replayable as Fallout...

[Yobor]

:ot: Fallout had so much replayability it was unbelievable. I remember killing the entire town of Junktown in one game just so I could see how much stuff was on the corpses total!

[Dreadlord]

:ot: Oh yeah? In one game I killed everyone in EVERY single town in the game, after I had beaten it...

[Yobor]

:ot: Well how about exploring the entire map and roaming until I got every random encounter :D

[Dreadlord]

There isn't a limit to the random encounters, although I have had all the different easter egg ones (The Cafe of Broken Dreams, the Monty Python one, with King Arthur and his Knights, etc.) and most of the random encounter bases, (Merchants, Hermits, Bandit camps, the Internet Spammer)...

[Yobor]

Correct! The best weapon is the BB Gun special model. Shoot em in the eyes! :rifle:

[Dreadlord]

Jackhammer is awesome, I always play with high gore and the "Bloody Mess" perk, just so I can see that gun rip people apart in it's automatic fire.

[Yobor]

The alien blaster is cool at first, but gets boring after a couple hundred kills. (Only one Animation!) :ranting:

[Dreadlord]

Yeah, it gets tedious watching them fry up then fall to the ground.

[Yobor]

The only way to get the coolest (I think) Animation is to kill them with more than a normal but less than a full body. You get them to rock back and forth as bullets rip through em :evil:

[Dreadlord]

On highest they step back as the gunfire shatters pieces of their body off, like in real life (If we had bullets that went at the speed of light.)

[Yobor]

Whats funny is that you can make multiple limbs fall off with one shot from a powerful handgun on bloody mess LOL

[Dreadlord]

Get the super hammer or whatever it's called, hit someone and watch part of their body explode.

[Yobor]

In arcanum I have become max level (40), so it was kind of over for me.


We'll probably get nailed for spam on this one too LOL

[Dreadlord]

Continue with Arcanum, :D .

What's the max level? Wait nvm...
I didn't really get the storyline, sorry, I'm not that smart, even if it was simple.

[Yobor]

Well, let me sum it for you then:
Ever watch LOTR? There you go. Take out the hobbits, add some other stuff, but basically thats it.

[Dreadlord]

LOL, I only saw the first movie, but I read all the books, so it's basicly one big evil dude that's cracking the whip? I skipped lots of dialouge, I'll have to play it over again.

[Yobor]

Yes. One big bad guy. He even looks like Sauron. It really is kind of lame.

[Dreadlord]

I noticed that, the game was good, but according to you it had a crap storyline?

[Yobor]

Not really lame, per say, but cliche. There were many individual turns and twists, but the overall plot of the game was just like any other clone of LOTR.

[Dreadlord]

Oh I see, just like Fallout mayhap?

[Yobor]

Actually, yes. Most every game is a cliche of the original fantasy man, JRR Tolkien.

[Dreadlord]

That means basicly everything is a ripoff of LOTR.

[Yobor]

Umm, Yes. That is what it means. He invented the Ranger idea. Gary Gygax stole it from him. Many people stole it from Gary Gygax.

[Dreadlord]

Ranger idea? Whasat?

[Yobor]

Ye olde Ranger. Like the Dunedain? In Dungeons and Dragons, there is a character class called the ranger. He is a woodsman and tracker, like a druid except less of a pansy.

[Dreadlord]

I know what a Ranger is, what's a Ranger idea?

[Yobor]

The idea for the creation of the ranger. Tolkein made it up with the Dunedain.

[Dreadlord]

Oh, now I see, so Arcanum took the kill foozle idea basicly...

[Yobor]

Yes it did and that is why Arcanum is not the greatest game ever.


This is a jump I pulled from another thread, but it brings you right to the website for anyone who wants it.
Arcanum at Sierra (http://arcanum.sierra.com/us/news/news-overview.jsp)

[hanut]

nice to see that so many people have played Arcanum. Each person in this world is entitled to their views but as far as I am concerned, Arcanum wins hands down.


AMEN.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Sorry to revive theis thread back up, but I bought the full version of the game a couple of days back. Virgil and Magnus got wounded in some way, their PE and DX is decreased (red numbers), and I have no idea how to heal them back to normal. This sloppy excuse for a translation of a manual does no good either...

Anybody knows what should I do?

[Mad-E-Fact]

Haven't played it for a long time, but I think you need to visit a doctor then the stats will go back to normal, although it might leave some scars. ;)

[The Fifth Horseman]

But whenever I go to a doctor, there is only option for healing my character, not the other party members...

[Frank]

Played it 5 times, never finished it...
maybe one day :D

[Charmed]

Well, Arcanum happens to be one of my all time favourite CRPGs.

I didn't experience any of the nasty bugs people keep complaining about, at least I don't recall. I did have the bug where the game wouldn't start, but after the patch was released every thing seemed fine.

Arcanum was about the most perfect setting for a rpg I could think of. For me it is a combination of Fallout 2 and Balur's Gate. I loved the the in game music, the graphics were well suited(I prefer hand drawn 2D graphics in 3/4 rpgs and strategy games, I don't think 3D graphics are yet at the stage to win me over, although they are getting there)

I heard there was a skill balancing issue with regards to magic being over-powered. That didn't affect me though, I didn't play a magic user.

I found the game enjoyable - Not the best rpg, but one of my favourites.

I did hate those jelly things that damage your equipment though - highly annoying when you are trying to get experience.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Completed the game :D
Now playing with a No-level-cap modification. :w00t:

And with a slightly better thought-out version of my old character from the first play. Just that now I managed to get the game running in full english, it's much more enjoyable.

[Doc Adrian]

I finally found a bug, I heard about them before but this is the first time I ran into one. It was very minor actually, but with the exception of it getting alot slower when you have alot of activity going on I love this game.

Downloaded the patch from the main site, and so far so good except I couldn't loot one guy without it crashing..fortunatly he has nothing vital. I am going to play this game all the way through...normally I lose interest in the last third of the game, but I am determined this time :)

[troop18546]

I'm right at the end and stopped a bit. I want to check EVERYTHING out in the whole world of that rpg and only then finish it. I love it.
(for 5 euros, I couldnt resist...)

[Doc Adrian]

I finally got my Followers to finish end game with

You got me a Conveyance mage, The Reformed Virgil, The (not so) worthless mutt, and Raven the elf princess. I'm exploring the places before the end game too, and I am determined to finish this game on Hard Level :)

Then I will have to try it with a Technical character or a half-Ogre...I hear the dialog with a Half Ogre makes it hilarious

[The Fifth Horseman]

Myself I am nearing my second completion.

Just defeated Stringy Pete and his skeleton gang. One of the hardest fights in there.

PS. Did you know that you can have both Raven and Zan A'Lurin in your party at the same time? Odd but possible...

[troop18546]

Some news, if none of you knew. :blink:


The music from Arcanum will be performed with a full orchestra at the 2005 GC game music symphony concert in Germany this summer.

Details of the 2005 GC - Games Convention symphony concert are starting to emerge. The concert will take place at the Gewandhaus symphony hall in Leipzig, Germany on August 17th to coincide with the opening of the GC games convention.

The first titles to be revealed are as follows:

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind®
Arcanum® :Brain:
Spellforce 2
International Karate
Silent Hill 2™
Battlefield 2™

In total, 16 titles will be performed by the Prague FILMharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Andy Brick.


I'd surely love to go there... :whistle:

[Doc Adrian]

Originally posted by the_fifth_horseman@May 30 2005, 02:48 PM
Myself I am nearing my second completion.

Just defeated Stringy Pete and his skeleton gang. One of the hardest fights in there.

PS. Did you know that you can have both Raven and Zan A'Lurin in your party at the same time? Odd but possible...
Oh share the wealth now..don't tease. How did you get the dark elf and Raven in the same party? :D

[The Fifth Horseman]

First spoke (Expert Persuasion) to Zan in Tsen'Ang and asked her to join. She refused. Then I went on to speak with Min'Gorad, returned to Tarant for Master Persuasion quest and after completing it went back to Quintarra (easy for a Teleporting mage). After I recruited Raven, I went straight back to Tsen'Ang and asked Zan to join me. Worked. However now I cannot leave any of them out of the party or Raven will normally refuse hanging around with a Dark Elf.

[Doc Adrian]

Master of persuasusion...of course ...I should of remembered...they will never leave the party once you do that!

I feel silly now