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Arcanum, any thoughts?
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EverythingXen
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Joined: 01 Feb 2002
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Arcanum is... weird. It's more for ultima fans than BG fans. If you like Ultima 7, you'll probably like Arcanum. If you like the Victorian age, you'll probably like Arcanum. if you like steampunk settings, you'll probably like Arcanum. If you like dying as soon as anything hits you, you'll definately like Arcanum.

The game has one of the brutalist learning curves there is. You just... die. A lot. Save very very often.

The combat is not dominant... and a lot of it is optional. With the right skills you get the non-violent options in many cases. The non-violent solutions ALWAYS give you more experience in this game.

(On an unrelated note, I played a pure solo evil character through to the end. I killed everyone in the world. I was level 44... so I don't know how people hit or pass 50.)

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Post Mon Mar 11, 2002 1:52 pm
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Joey Nipps
Orcan High Command
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Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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quote:

On 2002-03-11 07:52, EverythingXen wrote:
If you like dying as soon as anything hits you, you'll definately like Arcanum.

The game has one of the brutalist learning curves there is. You just... die. A lot. Save very very often.



Wow! This is VERY dependant on (I think) in your choice of styles of play. I played through twice completely (and a couple of extra times part way) and had less of a problem with dying in Arcanum than in most games. What Arcanum provided was the ability to run away from your enemy and survive a battle that would have resulted in death in most other games. However, it is true that if you attempt to "stand in there to the bitter end" all the time - you will die a lot like any other game.

But more importantly (as EverythingXen pointed out) there is more to play that is non-fighting oriented than most other games.

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Post Mon Mar 11, 2002 4:33 pm
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Seth
Last Man Standing
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Joined: 23 Jan 2002
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IMHO Arcanum is one of the best games I played in the recent years. The only thing I wish would be done different is the combat (hey, nobody is perfect). Real time too fast, turn based too slow it's like there was always missing something.

I know that this game got not so good reviews because of graphics, people it's an RPG, the graphics are the least of your concern, but that again it's my opinion and you may feel free to disagree. Come to think about it this is perfect new topic "importance of graphics for RPG".


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Post Mon Mar 11, 2002 9:05 pm
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Danicek
The Old One
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Joined: 15 Dec 2001
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Location: Czech Republic
   

I think, I will go for it and buy it...
I will get nice discount.
Post Mon Mar 11, 2002 9:07 pm
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EverythingXen
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You can't really run very well in Arcanum... and at the beginning you face opponents a lot stronger than you are. At the end NOTHING is as strong as you are, but there are a lot of them. Doing a lot of damage.

Of course, it can go the other way easily. My weenie-mage rarely died because nothing lived to reach him. My dedicated melee fighter didn't die often because he could dice anything that closed.

My thieves and technologists and negotiators died hideously if faced at close quarters in combat... but then, that's what happens when a non-combatant gets pinned to the wall by an Ore Golem.



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Post Tue Mar 12, 2002 4:16 am
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Danicek
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If everything goes right, I will try this game today .
Post Tue Mar 12, 2002 8:18 am
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Val
Risen From Ashes
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Joined: 18 Feb 2002
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Good luck, it's big, but rewarding.

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Post Tue Mar 12, 2002 5:08 pm
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EverythingXen
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When it's not crashing to desk top. Get the patches and save often in different slots... and do NOT alt-tab out of it at all costs.



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"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"

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Post Tue Mar 12, 2002 5:12 pm
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Danicek
The Old One
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I play it...
No crashes... (without patches)
No unstability...
Alt+TAB works perfectly with my XP and GForce2GTS,
Post Tue Mar 12, 2002 5:49 pm
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EverythingXen
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Really? That's the first I've heard of alt-tab working without turning parts of the background white and causing sprite deteriorization. Cool.

Hope your luck holds. I made it about half way through the game before I got a persistant crash that corrupted my only save for that character. I wasn't impressed. But I started saving in multiple slots and it's been fine.

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"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"

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Post Tue Mar 12, 2002 6:50 pm
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Danicek
The Old One
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So after some time in this game I must say: "it is very good".
Begining was hard and I am still not sure how to develop my character (so many possibilities how to invest my single exp. point).
But this game is very good and I am glad that I have it.
Post Sat Mar 16, 2002 2:36 pm
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EverythingXen
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That's the beauty of Arcanum. No two characters HAVE to be the same. Sure, the most powerful melee characters can be cut from the same sheet...

(Half-Ogre, Run Away with Circus, 2 points in Str to get the all powerful 20, 1 in dex, two in melee.... spend the next three levels smashing stuff to get your int to 5 so you're sentient... level 5 put a point into melee and dodge... then get your dex to 12... then max out melee/dodge... then dex 15... melee/dodge... dex 18... melee/dodge... and you're done. All other points optional.)

... but they don't HAVE to be. I was in no rush to get level 5 weapon master, so I threw in some charisma and persuassion. With one human I took Educator, and ended up with five melee NPCs... all with Expert melee and dodge(since I taught them, and I was a master). If I wanted, I could just hit auto fight and let THEM win every battle.



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"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"

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Post Sat Mar 16, 2002 3:21 pm
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Danicek
The Old One
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Yes, some battle are very difficult for me (2 ogres and human guarding bridge from first town, 3 mages in factory...). I am sometimes force to go away and earn more skills before I am able to encounter them.

But I guess it is as it should be .
Post Sat Mar 16, 2002 3:25 pm
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EverythingXen
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That first fight (two ogres and the human) is HARD. No matter what you have for characters. It's worth having a 9 charisma just to get Sogg to join your party (Soggs the best NPC fighter in the game, anyways, so it doesn't hurt to have him along no matter what.) for that fight.

The grendades you (probably) found in the cave with the ghost at the beginning of the game work wonders as well.

Do you play in real time or turn based?

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Estuans interius, Ira vehementi

"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"

=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word=
Post Sat Mar 16, 2002 3:34 pm
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Danicek
The Old One
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I started twice:
- first time I had not enough stats to force Sogg to join me at begining and then he had not enough time to level up and I was not able to defeat them (he was level 3)
- second time I ran from crash site to inn and spoke with Sogg, he joined me and then I did all quests around with him and it was still difficult but I was able to defeat them (Sogg was level 6)

I am switching between turn based and realtime (when I fight rats, I do it in realtime - turnbased is too slow for such thing, when I fight "main" fights (for example that creatures guarding bridge), I use turnbased).
Maybe 90% of "fighting time" I am in realtime mode.
How about you?
Post Sat Mar 16, 2002 3:42 pm
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