Arcanum Arcanum isn't especially flawed in any way

[V_K]

I am totally gay for Arcanum-like settings so I would lose my mind if they ever did a sequel. Even a FPS/RPG hybrid would have me poopin in mah pants.

Have you already played the glorious Shadowrun shooter then?

 

[Lhynn]

Oh cool, this again.

My yardstick is simple: If the combat sucks a bag of donkey dicks, then half the shitting game had better not be combat. Similarly, if there's an involved story and lots of it, it had better not fucking suck.

Arcanum's combat is completely shitty, and there's a whole lot of it, which translates to a big turd floating in the metaphorical punchbowl. What's more, the vast majority of the gear, stats, and skills are combat-related (this is true of most RPGs), and character creation and progression lose their shine when they're constantly rubbing up against a turd.

If you think of Arcanum as a great game, you're retarded. It's merely good. I have a mental list of "people who defend Arcanum because 'combat doesn't matter'" because it's a convenient filter for retards incapable of thinking anything through.

Yeh, prettty much. I wouldnt say the combat is completely shitty, but it is no good.

 

[No Great Name]

I spent most of my time in Arcanum exploring the towns/cities/locations and talking to NPCs rather than in combat. The first time I played through I discovered harm and got incinerate fairly early as well. This and having Virgil and Sogg Mead with me throughout the entire game made combat a complete non-issue and was something I breezed through as long as I kept it in turn-based mode. Because I spent more time doing everything else that was not combat, I got to see all the different things that made Arcanum an excellent game that I still remember to this day (and it certainly wasn't because of the combat).

 

[Bonerbill]

Ignored SCO.

Why you pussies on this forums always announcing that you're ignoring each other? I thought RPG codex was a place to fight their battle against other buy insulting one another for their stupidity, not running away.

 

[Monty]

Ignored SCO.

Why you pussies on this forums always announcing that you're ignoring each other? I thought RPG codex was a place to fight their battle against other buy insulting one another for their stupidity, not running away.

Er... FeelTheRads is actually mocking SCO here, he's not really ignoring him

inb4 Jaesun arrives to quote the expected

 

[Lhynn]

Ignored SCO.

Why you pus

Ignored Bonerbill.

 

[Zewp]

Why you pussies

Hit the road, mysogynerd.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

inb4 Jaesun arrives to quote the expected

pussies on this forums

Eeeew.

 

[Johannes]

Guys, I never got all the way through Arcanum because of the combat.

Is there a good build to use that is fun but not face-rollingly easy? I always enjoyed playing the gunslinger type, but for some reason I never got the hang of it.

Guys this was a serious post. I only trust Codex opinions on this shit.

There's no way to make Arcanum's combat fun without making it face-rollingly easy. Because it's thoroughly unbalanced.

You either kill stuff dead before it has the chance to get at you (via powerful guns and grenades as tech, via OP spells as mage, or via both plus strength in numbers as "diplomat"; and then there's also OP throwing skill for those of low-tech/low-magic inclination), or you fail, and then you get curb-stomped (anything you ouldn't kill fast enough), or just have your shit ruined (golems, elementals, etc).

And for the love of whatever god(s), do acquire appropriate means of detecting and possibly disarming traps. Before BMC.

You forgot the most straightforward face-rolling method, melee.

 

[Delterius]

Guys, I never got all the way through Arcanum because of the combat.

Is there a good build to use that is fun but not face-rollingly easy? I always enjoyed playing the gunslinger type, but for some reason I never got the hang of it.

Guys this was a serious post. I only trust Codex opinions on this shit.

So was mine Decado. Unfortunately, combat in Arcanum is mostly unfinished. Monsters are differing colour palettes whose major and mostly only strategy consists of melee attacks. So there's just no room for nuance here, you either kill them or you don't. And given that the game gives you a lot of tools for this job, the only difference is just how painfully slow it is to kill them. Or, you know, not. Combat in Arcanum is face rollingly easy as soon as you use points in abilities that matter, meaning those that are fully implemented into the game.

 

[T. Reich]

You forgot the most straightforward face-rolling method, melee.

And to have my gear broken by the automatons, golems and elementals, and other assorted hard-hitting critters? I don't thinks so!

Though, undeniably, the damage output is exceptional.

 

[eremita]

Combat has nothing to do with this game being great you idiots. It's like bashing NV for its combat which is also completely shitty. If fucked up combat mechanics are the deal breaker for you in games like Arcanum, then you don't get that game.

In case of world, quest design and narrative, I get everything I wanted after the disappointment which Fallout2 turned out to be.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Why you pussies on this forums always announcing that you're ignoring each other? I thought RPG codex was a place to fight their battle against other buy insulting one another for their stupidity, not running away.

I think I started ignoring people after I realised that I spend way too much time getting into flamewars.
I was internet warrioring for 7 years and then suddenly in 2011 my ignore list simply exploded. I still spend too much time on that stuff but not as much as before.

 

[FeelTheRads]

It's always interesting hearing about Awor's experiences with people and his ignore list.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Combat has nothing to do with this game being great you idiots. It's like bashing NV for its combat which is also completely shitty. If fucked up combat mechanics are the deal breaker for you in games like Arcanum, then you don't get that game.

In case of world, quest design and narrative, I get everything I wanted after the disappointment which Fallout2 turned out to be.

storyfag detected.

If you want a good story, read a fucking book. If you want good "quest design", play a fucking adventure game.

 

[Jagged Appliance]

If you want a good story, read a fucking book. If you want good "quest design", play a fucking adventure game.

I guess I could play Arcanum too though, right?

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Combat has nothing to do with this game being great you idiots. It's like bashing NV for its combat which is also completely shitty. If fucked up combat mechanics are the deal breaker for you in games like Arcanum, then you don't get that game.

A big gameplay element has nothing to do with how fun a game is, yeah, sure.

 

[Decado]

So I'm getting the hint that melee is the way to go. Which sucks, because I like the idea of rolling a tech-focused and/or gun slinging dude.

 

[FeelTheRads]

So I'm getting the hint that melee is the way to go

In what way?

 

[Decado]

The fact that a few people have just said "melee is OPd."

ETA: I'm happy to be wrong, BTW. If I can roll a gunslinger and not get gimped mid-game, I'm all for it.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

So I'm getting the hint that melee is the way to go. Which sucks, because I like the idea of rolling a tech-focused and/or gun slinging dude.

Nothing stopping you from rolling a tech-focused melee guy or a tech focused bow guy for example, there's much, much more to technology path in Arcanum than just guns.

Edit: You could also bug Cassidy to give you a link to his firearms Arcanum mod, it changes nothing drastic but gives them a decent boost which makes gunslinger playthrough a bit smoother.

 

[Declinator]

Combat has nothing to do with this game being great you idiots. It's like bashing NV for its combat which is also completely shitty. If fucked up combat mechanics are the deal breaker for you in games like Arcanum, then you don't get that game.

In case of world, quest design and narrative, I get everything I wanted after the disappointment which Fallout2 turned out to be.

New Vegas is probably at least 2/3 combat...you want people to ignore what is easily the biggest part of the game simply because it is not the good part of the game?

When evaluating the greatness of NV the combat should certainly be taken into account and to say otherwise is foolish. It is a big con and if and only if the pros offset it by a humongous amount could the game ever be considered great and even then there should be a big caveat what with most of the game being unejoyable crap. In the original Fallouts the bad quality of the combat (your mileage may vary) is mitigated by the fact that there is much less of it (especially in the case of Fallout 1.)

I don't remember much of Arcanum but I do remember some (especially that godawful mine with a significant amount of enemies) and the combat part of the game is considerable.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

storyfag detected.

If you want a good story, read a fucking book. If you want good "quest design", play a fucking adventure game.

And if you want good combat go play a fucking strategy game or a fucking tactical war game.

Fucking edgy combatfag.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

And if you want good combat go play a fucking strategy game or a fucking tactical war game.

JA2 and CK2 are the best RPGs ever.

 

[Delterius]

And if you want good combat go play a fucking strategy game or a fucking tactical war game.

JA2 and CK2 are the best RPGs ever.

CK2 doesn't have good combat.