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Am I doing it wrong? (Arcanum)

Slobbergoat

Novice
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
84
Fallout 1/2's combat is pretty average (and terrible when compared to a game with a competent TBS system like JA2), but in Fallout once you get powered armor or even combat armor you pretty much become a walking tank (Strange that wearing a suit that's designed to make the wearer like a walking tank would make them a walking tank) which evens out the combat a bit - plus your opponents don't know how to make targetted shots to the eyes or have the sniper / finesse perks.

Comparatively, the best armor I found in Arcanum was Bronze Platemail (there was some dwarf armor, but dwarves suck so no) which is pretty much the same as what most other strong characters already have, and called attacks seem to make up much less of the game's combat dynamics / cheapness, making individual characters less powerful to a degree.

Also no bozars.
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
Staff Member
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,878,405
Location
Djibouti
Mighty Mouse said:
Arcanum realtime are contenders for horrible combat. Begin combat and both games' parties rush off whacking away.

After a while of playing I just gave up and kept playing on realtime only. At least it made things faster and easier to abuse with guns...
 

Torquemada

Educated
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
336
Arcanum combat is shit but the other parts of the game are so good you just overlook the mess. The steampunk setting, the freedom and the story won't let you down.

Also it does not matter much but I found it had the best video game music ever. Beats everything else to a pulp.
 
Joined
Jun 14, 2008
Messages
6,927
Slobbergoat said:
but dwarves suck so no

Thankfully this line renders your entire post irrelevant, because it's such a pile of bullshit that I'd have to spend whole evening if I wanted to answer
 

Hoaxmetal

Arcane
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
9,157
Emotional Vampire said:
Slobbergoat said:
but dwarves suck so no

Thankfully this line renders your entire post irrelevant, because it's such a pile of bullshit that I'd have to spend whole evening if I wanted to answer

Don't get so emotional...oh, wait.
 

xuerebx

Erudite
Joined
Aug 20, 2008
Messages
1,001
Emotional Vampire said:
Hobo Elf said:
I was overwhelmed at how shitty the combat in Arcanum was when I first played it. I'm no RPG expert who has played every single dungeon crawler from the 70's and 80's, but I can't imagine there being an RPG with worse combat than Arcanum.

It's pretty much identical to Fallout's.

No it isn't. Fallout's combat was fun and probably the first reason why I continued playing. Arcanum's combat is atrociously bad.
 

GeneralSamov

Prophet
Joined
Jul 8, 2007
Messages
3,647
Location
Karantania
Darth Roxor said:
Mighty Mouse said:
Arcanum realtime are contenders for horrible combat. Begin combat and both games' parties rush off whacking away.

After a while of playing I just gave up and kept playing on realtime only. At least it made things faster and easier to abuse with guns...
Pretty much this. Especially when you waltz unwaringly into the sealed off part of the Tarant sewers or the Ashbury castle, gore guards/lord's slaves and even putrid walkers early on tend to be a huge buttplug for techies.
 

GarfunkeL

Racism Expert
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
15,463
Location
Insert clever insult here
IIRC, there was some talk that Sierra had wanted RT and MP in the game - meaning that precious crunch time had to be devoted into creating those systems instead of polishing/bugfixing. I wonder why Troika didn't refuse? Probably Sierra had them by the balls by that point.

Anyway, forget the RT-combat. TB is the WAY.
 

Secretninja

Cipher
Joined
May 30, 2009
Messages
3,797
Location
Orgrimmar
inwoker said:
You should equip the ring.
Fuck, I already sold it to that midget.
Anyways, its not that I find Tarant or the quests boring, I just find it the obnoxiously boring reload festivals in between that pass for combat to be awful.
 

Double Ogre

Scholar
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
765
All people bitching about Arcanum's combat are probably playing it real time. That's like stabbing yourself in the balls with a rusty knife.

And, yes, PS:T had much, much worse combat.
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
Staff Member
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,878,405
Location
Djibouti
OgreOgre said:
All people bitching about Arcanum's combat are probably playing it real time. That's like stabbing yourself in the balls with a rusty knife.

Unlike TB which is like stabbing yourself in the balls with a rusty knife reaaaaaaaaaaaaally slowly.

Both modes fucking suck and both for different reasons.
 

Double Ogre

Scholar
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
765
Fast TB is often actually faster than RT, since no walking/running animations are played.

Besides, the animation speed in RT is way overdone. It's almost impossible to aim properly and plan anything ahead (no pause). Oh, and you can't even backstab in RT. It's only OK for pure melee characters, really.
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
Staff Member
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,878,405
Location
Djibouti
OgreOgre said:
It's only OK for pure melee characters, really.

and ranged, because you can do hit'n'runs and your attacking speed for many guns goes to the stratosphere.
 

MetalCraze

Arcane
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Messages
21,104
Location
Urkanistan
OgreOgre said:
All people bitching about Arcanum's combat are probably playing it real time. That's like stabbing yourself in the balls with a rusty knife.

I've completed the game in TB and it was basically a horrible Eschalon clickfest, especially in melee.
 

Carceri

Arcane
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Messages
1,404
Location
Transylvania
Yes, guns really do work better in RT, however I'm playing almost exclusively in TB mode(even with ranged weapons) and I don't feel combat is such a pain in the ass as to make me abandon the game. Sure it has its flaws, but it does not make Arcanum unplayable. I think people make too much fuss about it.
 

Slobbergoat

Novice
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
84
Emotional Vampire said:
Slobbergoat said:
but dwarves suck so no

Thankfully this line renders your entire post irrelevant, because it's such a pile of bullshit that I'd have to spend whole evening if I wanted to answer

thats nice bra
 

Murk

Arcane
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
13,459
I'm really surprised that so many people thought the Tech path of the game was a giant mess - I played both routes and have always found the Tech route to be not only viable but way more enjoyable.

So many fond memories of digging through trash cans /single tear
 

DriacKin

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 9, 2008
Messages
2,588
Location
Inanescape
Carceri said:
Yes, guns really do work better in RT, however I'm playing almost exclusively in TB mode(even with ranged weapons) and I don't feel combat is such a pain in the ass as to make me abandon the game. Sure it has its flaws, but it does not make Arcanum unplayable. I think people make too much fuss about it.

I agree that the combat certainly isn't bad enough to warrant abandoning the game. I (as well as most of the Codex) definetely played through the game despite the shortcoming with the combat.
However, I never really enjoyed the combat and would have abandoned the game had the rest of the game not been as enjoyable.
 

1eyedking

Erudite
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
3,591
Location
Argentina
The bad thing about Arcanum is that combat gets easy fast. Very fast.

Before you know it you're level 50 and wielding a Pyroaxe or Balanced Sword you pickpocketed spending a fate point early in the game and you're pretty much destroying everything in sight.

The game needs a steeper experience curve, and follower experience redistribution, or something of the like. Make some spells cost more mana, and make them require much higher levels and voilá.
 

Murk

Arcane
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
13,459
I think part of the problem is that experience level has almost no bearing on a character's fighting power. A level 12 character can be a melee monster while a level 50 character misses 80% of the time.

Perhaps an integration of fighting mechanics into level by experience would help - but it would also go very much so against one of the biggest draws to Arcanum - it's character creation.

Also, the encounters and enemies are shit. Even when facing "strong" enemies, your strategy usually boils down to drink haste potion and spam attack of your choice.

I did however find the fight with the bridge bandits very fun, I was usually physically weak at that time (and never used NPCs or followers) so I'd have to dig for some MacGuyver style shenanigans to deal with them.
 

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