Arcanum .

[HarveyBirdman]

That's the thing, I was sucked in by those. But it felt like I was hitting too many walls which prevented me from getting sucked in much further after that.

Arcanum is full of walls that make you not want to play it, chief among them the horrible combat. I enjoy it the same way I enjoy PST: engage with the themes, seek secrets, and inhabit the world (i.e. LARP).

 

[octavius]

Any way to wake up NPCs in a way that don't aggro them? Or do I really need to curl up at the end of their bed until sunrise like an old dog/servant?

 

[Humbaba]

Arcanum has a lot of good ideas but nothing else. The combat and plot are so utterly shit, I can't blame anybody for not liking it.

 

[curds]

Arcanum has a lot of good ideas but nothing else. The combat and plot are so utterly shit, I can't blame anybody for not liking it.

Come on man, the plot is pretty good.

Combat is awful, though.

 

[Humbaba]

Arcanum has a lot of good ideas but nothing else. The combat and plot are so utterly shit, I can't blame anybody for not liking it.

Come on man, the plot is pretty good.

Combat is awful, though.

I could write a book about how shit the plot is.

 

[octavius]

How feasible is it for a spell caster to invest in enough Tech to be able to make Restore Fatigue potions? Is it counter productive?

 

[†††]

How feasible is it for a spell caster to invest in enough Tech to be able to make Restore Fatigue potions? Is it counter productive?

You can make the potions but they won't work on magic inclined characters, and the opposite happens with magic potions on tech users. It's better to recruit tech companions that can make the stuff you want.

 

[octavius]

So I'm in Tarant, just having had a long conversation with Mr. Burns Gilbert Bates.
I have several places I can go, but some don't appear on the map:
Dernholm
Stillwater
Ashbury
Blackroot

I assume the latter two will appear if I take the train there, but what about the others?
Taking the train to a town, and get Expert training in Melee is probably the safest choice, but the game seems to steer me towards the Black Mountain Clan.

 

[Darth Canoli]

So I'm in Tarant, just having had a long conversation with Mr. Burns Gilbert Bates.
I have several places I can go, but some don't appear on the map:
Dernholm
Stillwater
Ashbury
Blackroot

I assume the latter two will appear if I take the train there, but what about the others?
Taking the train to a town, and get Expert training in Melee is probably the safest choice, but the game seems to steer me towards the Black Mountain Clan.

Some specific NPC give you the locations of cities, in Blackroot (if i'm not mixing up names) the melee + dodge expert trainer gives you some directions and i think you get some at the tavern as well.


Get someone skilled with detecting traps before the mines, also, at least expert in repair if you have melee characters.

 

[Tihskael]

I have started this game twice from scratch, enjoyed it thoroughly and when I finally get to Black Mountain, I lose the will to continue.

 

[jackofshadows]

So I'm in Tarant, just having had a long conversation with Mr. Burns Gilbert Bates.
I have several places I can go, but some don't appear on the map:
Dernholm
Stillwater
Ashbury
Blackroot

I assume the latter two will appear if I take the train there, but what about the others?
Taking the train to a town, and get Expert training in Melee is probably the safest choice, but the game seems to steer me towards the Black Mountain Clan.

Yeah, melee expert is pretty important, get it asap. You cannot visit Stillwater yet unless you know exactly where it is on the map as far as I know. I'd advise go to Dernholm anyway and then to Ashbury. BMC is a big dungeon which require at least some preparations, better to get there a bit later rather than earlier.

 

[octavius]

The ship captain in Tarant gave me directions to Blackroot, so I went there on foot instead of using that climate gas producing monstrosity the train.
Blackroot is a rather rough place, thoug, being a frontier town.

 

[visions]

I remember I went everywhere on foot because the stupid train people didn't allow me to board the train with the doggo. I never completed the game with any of my chars (ended up losing the saves around 15 years ago iirc) but the char I played with the longest (reached Tulla/Vendigroth, whichever was later) had around 15 in game years of playtime. Though the fact that I often trekked around the world map to try and find locations on my own must have contributed to it as well.

Maybe I avoided the ships too because they cost money. Not sure how else I could have spent 15 in game years walking around everywhere.

 

[octavius]

I'm tempted to aim for Teleportation myself.

 

[AwesomeButton]

What is the definitive installation procedure, mods and all? I'm going to be installing the GOG version.

 

[jackofshadows]

I'd say all you need is the latest of. patch which I'm sure included in GoG version already. That way you can run the game with -fullscreen option, mods are unnecessary. The general situation with the mods is similar to one with VTMB: unofficial "patch" improves a lot of stuff but changes way too much at the same time (see: Arcanum multiverse edition, for example).

 

[AwesomeButton]

I'd say all you need is the latest of. patch which I'm sure included in GoG version already. That way you can run the game with -fullscreen option, mods are unnecessary. The general situation with the mods is similar to one with VTMB: unofficial "patch" improves a lot of stuff but changes way too much at the same time (see: Arcanum multiverse edition, for example).

I've played it a lot on release, but never to the end. If there is a resolution and full screen fix in this unofficial patch, then I want it. Need to peddle the game to my casual gamer wife.

 

[jackofshadows]

I'd say all you need is the latest of. patch which I'm sure included in GoG version already. That way you can run the game with -fullscreen option, mods are unnecessary. The general situation with the mods is similar to one with VTMB: unofficial "patch" improves a lot of stuff but changes way too much at the same time (see: Arcanum multiverse edition, for example).

I've played it a lot on release, but never to the end. If there is a resolution and full screen fix in this unofficial patch, then I want it. Need to peddle the game to my casual gamer wife.

I'm pretty sure multiverse has that and much more (and it has a convenient laucher with all the options) but you can install just the resolution patch on vanilla, too. Can't say more since I usually play just vanilla.

 

[octavius]

It's too bad there's no in-game way of finding out more about the towns in Arcanum and how dangerous they are.
Blackroot's NPCs are all around lvl 30, so it's obviously a town you are not supposed to visit early. Going into a bar
you face certain death in the form of
1 Dwarf

Even if we have just befriended the fastest draw in Arcanum and she loves us neither she nor the guards make any move to help an upstanding citizen who is being attacked by a rabid midget.

The GOG version comes with a map that has every location in the game marked. I assume this lame map was not included with the original physical version?

All in all, I'm a bit disappointed that it should not be possible to play the game blind, but either rely in advice or lots of reloading.

I knew the combat was crap (but at least it's quick), but the way NPCs behave is probably my biggest beef with the game right now.

 

[Grauken]

The GOG version comes with a map that has every location in the game marked. I assume this lame map was not included with the original physical version?

My version has a paper map of the continent and region names, but none of the cities are shown on it.

 

[Shadenuat]

It's too bad there's no in-game way of finding out more about the towns in Arcanum and how dangerous they are.
Blackroot's NPCs are all around lvl 30, so it's obviously a town you are not supposed to visit early. Going into a bar
you face certain death

Divination, 1st spell is usually enough to show you trouble because these NPCs are usually low karma, others neutral.
disarm, stun, there is billion ways in Arcanum to avoid reloading, it's even pacifist-runable (minus 1 encounter).
Also,

Spoiler

do no tell everyone around you're a survivor of Zephyr, especially not to the newspapers.

 

[octavius]

[
Divination, 1st spell is usually enough to show you trouble because these NPCs are usually low karma, others neutral.
disarm, stun, there is billion ways in Arcanum to avoid reloading, it's even pacifist-runable (minus 1 encounter).

You mean spells like Disarm and Stun actually work when you really need them? I'm not used to that kind of game design.

Anyway, mums the word.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

It's too bad there's no in-game way of finding out more about the towns in Arcanum and how dangerous they are.
Blackroot's NPCs are all around lvl 30, so it's obviously a town you are not supposed to visit early. Going into a bar
you face certain death in the form of
1 Dwarf

Graphic supplied:

 

[rusty_shackleford]

The GOG version comes with a map that has every location in the game marked. I assume this lame map was not included with the original physical version?

Physical edition comes with a map, but it wasn't marked with locations. Also, at least a few editions came with a short novel but I don't know anything about it

Oh, and the manual has a recipe for halfling banana bread in it

 

[octavius]

I reloaded an old save and decided to invest in more spells instead, so now I don't have enough skill points for Expert Melee and thus no reason to go to Blackroot. So I decided to investigate the Elven Ruins instead, which was a fun excursion with enemies that scaled to my level around lvl 8-10.