Arcanum?

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S4ur0n27
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Arcanum?

Post by S4ur0n27 »

Worth playing? I played the demo a while back and the character creation screen and system charmed me, but the game kept crashing at the beginning, in the screen after the Zep crash.

I've heard the game was plagued with bugs, but did the patches make it playable?

What should I expect if I play it?
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Post by VasikkA »

It's a lengthy one to finish, but definitely worth playing. Patched, of course. The story starts kinda slow, but it's one of those few games that get better towards the end. Lots of quests and places to visit. The semi-fantasy setting doesn't bother too much, as they've managed to bypass most fantasy RPG clichés. Kind of what you'd expect from the Troika trio. I suggest a magicky character if you want to finish it the easy way.
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Post by Wolfman Walt »

I - unfortunetly - couldn't get past the combat, but the setting was pretty interesting and the story seemed pretty good from the length of time I played it. Plus you could probably easily get it for like 2 bucks or something.
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Post by johnnygothisgun »

I got it and played it through this past summer, and I was really impressed. The combat seemed a little screwy at times, and switching between turn based and real time allowed you to get an edge in some battles, which was a little weird. But overall, I really enjoyed the story and setting. I only played through as a technologist, so I don't know about the magic oriented characters, but the magic system seemed pretty deep.

Occassionally I'd crash to desktop, but it wasn't anything unbearable, and I don't think I even patched it, so I don't think you'll have a real problem.

It may not be the absolute best RPG I've ever played, but all said and done, I think it's up there, certainly worth playing.
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Post by VasikkA »

Well, Troika is dead, so you can just download it. Sierra doesn't deserve the money.

Combat is the weakest part of the game and there's a lot of it. I switched to turn-based during the trickiest battles. Battles were quite easy after I summoned 2 ogres to fight for me. I never finished the game with a technology character, but found it more challenging.
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Post by baby arm »

It never crashed on me the 3 times I played it so Susan probably just sucks or has a possessed computer. The games has flaws, but it's still one of the best RPGs in the past 5 years or so.

edit: It's worth buying (instead of dling it) because of the kickass manual. Of course, I have a creepy manual fetish so you might want to ignore this.
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Post by S4ur0n27 »

I actually already have it somewhere on my HD. I was just being too lazy to try it out myself. I just hate spending like 2 hours to unzip the ISOs, install a game, create a character, play for say 30 minutes and discover the game sucks.

I rather keep them on my HD and just think that they're good.
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Post by Thor Kaufman »

I tried it twice, but I didn't really get the hang of it. The endless wandering in the cities from point A to B and to never really know where to find certain quest people or whatever since the map doesn't automatically show important NPC houses and one has to click every house to see who lives in it, besides one gets only street numbers from quest npcs and wouldn't know where to find them or have to wander around endlessly and whatnot.

I wouldn't know how to level up fast either, I gave up at lvl5 in Tarant or whatever the name was.


Maybe someone give me a few hints for a better gaming experience?
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Post by VasikkA »

Yeah, that's what I meant with a slow start. Especially the ugly color palette and crappy combat system fighting against wolves and shit was depressing, but if you start doing the quests in Tarant, you'll find new and interesting locations, monsters, dialogue, dungeons and phat lewt.
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Post by Stainless »

I found it fun till it rail roads me into the BMC, then it gets awefully shitty for about 2 hours.
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Post by atoga »

The combat is a bit horrible; it's difficult and boring when you do it in real time, and it's horribly monotonous when you do it turn based. There's hundreds of dungeon crawls to be found throughout the game, and they are all basically the same. Character building, while full of options, is also shitty, because I found that as my character leveled up there were never enough points to distribute for skills, attributes, etc. and so I found the whole thing unsatisfying and clunky.

It's a lot of fun just mucking about in the big cities and just looking at the scope of the game - there's a lot of good dialogue and there are zillions of things to do, both in terms of story and side quests. The steampunk atmosphere is also great, a really well executed mish mosh of magic and technology. Over all, a really good premise poorly executed. If you play it you should try to make a character that can stay away from combat as much as possible (if that's at all an option?)
suppose you're thinking about a plate of shrimp. suddenly somebody will say like 'plate' or 'shrimp' or 'plate of shrimp', out of the blue, no explanation.
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Post by jetbaby »

Combat sucks. Balance between magic and technology sucks. Combat is seriously just bad.

Good plot, well written, etc etc though. It's meh. If you're bored try it out, if you're only kinda bored play something you know and love.
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Post by Koki »

It's the best cRPG, dude.
Serious Business.
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Post by Urizen »

it's a great game. the character building is better than FO, giving you just the right options.

I usually play as a gentleman thief, since so many good skills depend on dexterity. combat is crappy, so i always up my CH and get lots of strong ogres and stuff, letting me forget all about the combat part. Fights are usually over in two seconds anyway.
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Post by Blargh »

It has flamethrowers, top hats and gargantuan spiders. How could it not be necessary playing material ?
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Post by VasikkA »

Aren't bugs, stability issues and poor balance Troika's trademarks? But the story, dialogue, quest design and immersive gameworld are pure gold. This applies to Bloodlines as well.

Makes you feel at home. :joy:
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Post by Urizen »

when compared with other troika crew games, arcanum is practically bug-free. if you managed to crash\reload, crash\reload your way through FO2 and bloodlines, arcanum is a stroll.
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Post by Koki »

Just stay the fuck away from real time. It's... on the other hand, go for it :drunk:
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Post by Redeye »

The combat can be worked around. Just get some meatheads.
(I recruited a squad and added 3 Automatons and 2 spiders.
Very unwieldy, but entertaining. Sticking those metal bastards in
inventory to get them repaired required a complicated ballet of
inventory swapping, since with an automaton in inventory you
can't move and you must be right next to the repair guy. Dropping
stuff means the NPC prick picks it up! Arrrgh!)

The only time I finished it was with a con artist/serial murderer/
beloved champion.

I figured out "drugnology".
No, I didn't bother with the Pharmeceutical Path or whatever it is called.
Just that if you have INT of 9, you can just use a potion to temporarily
get up to 19. While it lasts you can buy tech skills normally forbidden.
The catch is you can only use those skills when also under the
effects of an intelligence potion. They're greyed out the rest of the time.
This actually doesn't matter, since tech skills are used to build things.
Then you just use them when you're dumb again.
Yes, you have to time it so the stuff is made before the potions wear off, and there is a complicated way to use the enhancement-books because the order of usage is very important. Spend points right and you can start using dynamite pretty early in the game. Always buy it when you can, and stockpile the components. You can use it to murder through walls and take out tough doors. Just be careful with the guards seeing the bodies and don't kill vendors who sell INT potions.
Don't leave dynamite on the ground where it can be seen- npcs pick it up!
Damn I had fun blowing people up.

Tee hee!
And with charisma of 20 eventually, I could convince my way through the game.
Everybody thought I was a Hero. Prim and proper in a fancy dress.
Too bad there wasn't a parasol available.
(I took off the dress when it could be damaged, just don't try that in town)
:)
Muhuhaha.
There are a few other tricks, some almost essential to reduce frustration due to combat wonkiness, but I won't bother listing unless asked.
Just remember the Molotovs are overpowered and the game seems to let you throw a ton of them every turn. Even w/bad dex and little or no throw skill, these hit pretty often. Anyone can buy the skill to make 'em.
I like burning people.
Yesh.

cheers.

Arcanum was maddeningly quirky and also quite good.
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Post by Urizen »

Koki wrote:Just stay the fuck away from real time. It's... on the other hand, go for it :drunk:
hell yes. since combat is so crappy, why not get it over with quickly? just get some ogres, automatons, whatever, and let them do their job. you can recruit your first ogre after just 5 minutes of gameplay.
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