Update #42: Avellone's Let's Play Arcanum

[pseudonymous]

poor update. I dont want to see someone playing a game like arcanum....hope for a better update next week

 

I don't know about that, watching MCA equip the shopkeeper at the beginning of the game made it worthwhile.

[Kissamies]

This got me playing Arcanum too. The first time, when the game was new, I didn't get very far actually. I guess I'm not very hardcore

Maybe I make it this time with the mods and some glances at guides. I already see that I could have designed my character better. Well, nothing that grinding the XP by hits system can't fix.

[Tigranes]

Video LPs are always boring, but hope Chris has fun with the game. Also hope he actually gets far enough to show the really fun stuff, e.g. the Siamese Twins, Appleby/Bates, Gentleman's Club, the Emporium & Stillwater Giant... 

[Enoch]

I only watched the first bit, but Chris appears to have built pretty much the same character I did the first time I played the game. 

 

The screwed up XP system pretty much dooms this kind of character to long-term ineffectiveness, unless he starts picking up some spellcasting.  Once he picks up some Ogres, they'll be doing most of the damage for him in combat, and he won't be getting nearly as much XP from combat unless the main character gets her hands dirty. 

[PrimeJunta]

This inspired me to give Arcanum another go. This time as a nearly pure diplomat (just spamming Harm for XP), a gnome named Arsène Lutin, Charlatan's Protegé. And... meh.

 

I like the little guy in his smoking jacket and top hat and all, but I still can't get engaged with the game. There must be something wrong with me, because I should like everything about it (except the combat which is atrocious), but I just ... don't. The place feels empty, lackluster. I just can't give a spit about the characters and quests and objectives.

 

So, once again, I let it drop somewhere between levels 10 and 15. It just doesn't do it for me.

 

I was getting worried that maybe I'm just jaded about gaming itself. So I started Planescape: Torment, for the first time in, what, ten years or so. And I'm hooked from the moment I get off that slab. I've forgotten most of the details by now so I can enjoy it almost as if it was fresh, but still remember some tricks of making it enjoyable. And with the widescreen mod, I'm really impressed by the visuals -- I thought they were a bit meh the first time I played, but that was clearly just because I couldn't properly see them. The combat isn't nearly as awful as I remembered either, or perhaps the sheer horror of Arcanum's made me feel better about it.

 

Go figure. I hope MCA gets more out of it than I do. He certainly pushed my buttons with PS:T.

[Agiel]

I do hope he goes full pelt mage so he can laugh his ass off when he has to jump through the hoops to hop onto a train (if he doesn't already know about it). And hopefully he doesn't get to a point where he can't use the train period before he manages to get the Teleport spell.

[Archmage Silver]

@MCA

Nice start, I got a few laughs out of your commentary. Castleburgers - made out of real castles!

 

Remember to check the equipped items on fallen enemies though, I think you missed the black robes on the elf whom Virgil kicked into mush.

Looting teh elf:

 

 

P.S. Remember to use your level up points via the character sheet.

Edited February 19, 2013 by Archmage Silver

[Iucounu]

Problem with Arcanum is, you level rather slow with a character who sucks at fighting, as every successful hit gives XP. You might want to put some points into melee or firearms.

[Shadenuat]

Diplomacy based character does't need a lot of XP. You can finish Arcanum at level ~30 without hitting anyone yourself with 6-7 companions in your party.

Edited February 21, 2013 by Shadenuat

[Amentep]

I never really did the Arcanum diplomacy character (I never liked enough of the companions to try to get large groups of them haranguing the countryside).

 

EDIT: Remembered what thread I was posting in.

Edited February 21, 2013 by Amentep

[Archmage Silver]

I never really did the Arcanum diplomacy character (I never liked enough of the companions to try to get large groups of them haranguing the countryside).

 

EDIT: Remembered what thread I was posting in.

I always went for a tech or magic-based character with Master Persuasion (the master quest is hilarious in its own right).

[Amentep]

The Let's Play made me want to play Arcanum again - may be I'll go diplomat! 

[Sacred_Path]

I do hope he goes full pelt mage so he can laugh his ass off when he has to jump through the hoops to hop onto a train (if he doesn't already know about it). And hopefully he doesn't get to a point where he can't use the train period before he manages to get the Teleport spell.

Though I'd advice caution when it comes to teleport, I've found that it breaks the game if you teleport to the Elves instead of going through the pass (you'll never get an audience with the Elven queen)

[Shadenuat]

it breaks the game if you teleport to the Elves instead of going through

the pass (you'll never get an audience with the Elven queen)

It should't. What patch? I remember actually teleporting there when I played the game long time ago (without Drog's patch), never had the problem.

[Sacred_Path]

It should't. What patch? I remember actually teleporting there when I played the game long time ago (without Drog's patch), never had the problem.

Latest official patch + Drog's patches.

[Chilloutman]

Someone knows how often we should get these updates? I thought it will be once per week

[jamoecw]

hopefully it means they are working on the game.

[teknoman2]

pro tip for non combat characters

the first necromantic black spell "Harm" costs only 1 point, can be taken from the start and is the ultimate self defence skill in early game and even beyond if you dont raise tech skills. all those annoying wolves that keep eating you at the start of the game, are easy pickings with that spell (and a good stock of stamina potions can get you through any encounter even after that without the need for any other combat skill or spell)

Edited March 8, 2013 by teknoman2

[condottieri]

pro tip for non combat characters

the first necromantic black spell "Harm" costs only 1 point, can be taken from the start and is the ultimate self defence skill in early game and even beyond if you dont raise tech skills. all those annoying wolves that keep eating you at the start of the game, are easy pickings with that spell (and a good stock of stamina potions can get you through any encounter even after that without the need for any other combat skill or spell)

Oh come on. Arcanum is notoriously unbalanced, and I personally hate that the magic part of the game is so overpowered compared to the awesome steampunk devices one can make (what magic compares to the awesome sound of a tesla-coil top hat, or a flintlock pistol with silencer? (it's a useless gun, imo, but it's so cool). Let Avellone choose whether to go magic or tech or neither. Really, Avellone's problem right now isn't that he's underpowered, he's attempting to kill enemies that are beyond his reach. Most characters will have a hard time killing that pack of wolves. So get someone to teach him the world map and let's see what he does when he reaches the settlement. 

 

edit: that may come off as harsher than intended. My main point is: let's not give Avellone character build tips when one of the best things about Arcanum is its wide array of viable builds. It's one of the joys of discovering any new game: discovering the glorious skills and the crappy ones, creating a weird combination that shouldn't work but does. Except swimming. Worst skill in video game history. 

Edited March 10, 2013 by condottieri

[Kveldulf]

Ah Arcanum, oh the many hours I dumped in this game. I played it through at least 3 times, and God only knows how many attempts stopped at shrouded hills; I was too curious/unsure about all of the different builds.

 

First time I played through, I got rid of virgil and played solo like a real hero.. Went heavy into agility and dodge/melee. Wrecked a lot of stuff with my trusty Bangellian scourge... muahahahah! Yea to hell with throwing the one ring in the fire... err i mean sword.

 

Second time I played as a technologist and eventually managed to make the uber caliber pistol ( I think it was called the vendrigoth bore pistol or somthin). That was one of the most satisfying creations I could remember..... calling shots to the head and watching them pop off left and right heh...

 

Third time I used a trainer to see the magic schools.

 

Arcanum was the most enjoyable RPG expereinces I've ever had. I believe its "unbalance" was the reason why.

[milczyciel]

I've never finished Arcanum with female character, so I'm quite interested in Chris's playthrough. The reasons why I'm so curious about differences of femPC playthrough and why I I've never did it myself is quite "textwallish", therefore I apologize anyone not interested. Long story short - I did THE side quest that made me thinking "Hell no! I have to check out how it will resolve if I change my PlayerCharacter race! Later ma'am!"

 

And here's longer version plus additional sidetracking (I do that a lot, it's stronger than me) for those patient and curious enough:

Arcanum was the only crpg that allowed me to create an intelligent, eloquent, highly charismatic and on top of that quite nimble... half-ogre. It was that, not the steampunk setting, which made me love this game so much. Even though later I've realized, how this unique possibility ended right there - on character creation screen. Now it seems obvious that  they've lacked time and money for additional dialogues and script writing. Honestly, for most of the game this far_to_much_articulate_half-beast of mine was treated like "regular every day normal guy" by Arcanum's population far and wide. Plus I've really expected that my all time favourite side quest (Half-Ogre Island) would have stronger impact on the story of PC with specific race, which was after-mentioned reason I abruptly parted ways with my first (human female) PC.

 

I expected so much from the game only twice, and the second time happened when I've picked female city elf in DA:O. It failed just the same, only this time I realized it much earlier. Obviously, exceptions that are worth mentioning happens at  the very beginning, before the Battle of Ostagar (e.g. rather offensive conversations with King Cailan or Duncan). In fact the introduction for female city elf was brilliant enough to made me throw out my usual "lawful good" style by the window... Maybe that's why it turned out to be quite a disappointment when somewhere in the mid-game my PC turned out to just another bland hero for far to many npcs in Ferelden. Even though I used every sparse possibility in dialogues and gameplay itself, to show how much hate for human race is boiling inside this turned_out_to_be_knight_in_shining_armour...

I just hope that Obsidian will spend a lot of those gathered money (and time) to make gameplay/dialogues more varied and "aware" of decisions that we will make at Character Creation Screen... Because -frankly- They are the only ones who can do this seeings as Torment will be a very specific, one man/woman story* which very much imposes limitations...

 

* - not that I have anything against it, backed it all the way

[Lephys]

Watching the latest Chris-Playing-Arcanum video sparked my urge to go download the game and install it (I have the original disc, SOMEwhere at my parents' house, but there's no telling where, exactly).

 

I'm just curious, but, wasn't there some major bug in the original game that prevented the main campaign from being completed, perhaps even only if you did things a certain way? I seem to remember some canyon area or something, when I originally tried to play through the game (it's so long ago, it's all a bit fuzzy) that was supposed to load another area, or some NPC that was supposed to talk to you to progress something, and it just plain wouldn't do it. I remember giving up on the game because I literally couldn't figure out how to go any further.

 

Am I imagining things, and, if not, is this an issue in the 2.0.0.5(I think it's 5) version that's available on GOG? Oh, come to think of it, I think someone posted some patch tips for Chris in one of these Let's Play updates...

 

 

**EDIT**

 

Found the pcgamingwiki link on page 1. I probably should have looked for that before posting silly questions... *Feels stupid*.

 

Any tips specifically for the GOG.com release? Should I just install all the improvement patches (high res stuff + music improvement + shadows improvement, etc.?), and maybe the "Unnofficial Patch by Drog Black Tooth"? It says it includes lots of bug fixes and "restored content." Maybe that's the dead end I was thinking of from my original playthrough ~12 years ago.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Lephys

[milczyciel]

Any tips specifically for the GOG.com release? Should I just install all the improvement patches (high res stuff + music improvement + shadows improvement, etc.?), and maybe the "Unnofficial Patch by Drog Black Tooth"? It says it includes lots of bug fixes and "restored content." Maybe that's the dead end I was thinking of from my original playthrough ~12 years ago.

Maybe not specifically for the GOG release, but nevertheless that patch is a must. Everything else is optional IMO and depends on ones expectations (I for didn't care for enhanced graphics). Still I have to admit, that I have completed my adventure in heavily modified (no lvl cap, control over followers magic/technology development etc) environment.

I didn't got any game breaking bugs after that, maybe some glitches here and there, maybe an occasional crash, though none of them annoying enough to be remembered.

 

Have fun

[Lephys]

Ahh. Well, I appreciate the feedback, .

 

I just didn't want to get 60 hours in (I'm a slow RPG player, heh) and THEN find out about "Oh, hey, doing THIS or THIS before you started would have SIGNIFICANTLY enhanced your playthrough!". 8P

 

That, and the version discrepancy. The wiki page says that the GOG.com version has been patched to the 1.7.4 or whatever patch, but GOG.com shows a 2.0.5 (something like that) installer version. I was trying to make sure I wasn't going to break the game and have it spazz out 30 hours in by installing the wrong patches, since the patching info seems to be a bit out-of-date (at least in that it doesn't really say anything about the newest GOG version).

 

I know what you mean about the graphics. I personally LOVE the graphics. I mean, it COULD be nicer looking, without hurting anything, I suppose, but it's not at such a crude level that you can't tell what's what or recognize details in things (like if it were 8-bit and you were going for an immersive RPG experience, heh). I might try the sound one (I like pretty sounds, 8P), and I'll definitely go with the Unofficial Community Patch (originally from Terra Arcanum?). ^_^

[moozy]

hahaha never laughed so hard as when you put the cloak on the shop keeper hahaaha still laughing sorry not sure why its so funny huhhmmhmm. Probably a good thing anyway or otherwise you would have looked just like Virgil, and that would have been awkward.