Speaking of Arcanum

[Avilan the Grey]

The Let's Play has made me dig this out from the basement. I have downloaded everything I need, I think, to make it run on Win 7 but:

Hints and tips for a Tech-based character? It was many years since I played this and I never had any luck with non-magic characters. I just kept dying because I ran out of money and couldn't arm myself.

[Ponce]

Even if you are tech-based... get Teleport.

[BRC]

How is this game? I heard it was great concept but poor execution, and very buggy.

[GolemsVoice]

How is this game? I heard it was great concept but poor execution, and very buggy.

I'd call it great concept, but mediocre execution. You can really see that they tried, and very often they succeed, but you can also see that the game could have been better. The bugs were there, but got fixed by fan patches, which also restore, and in some cases even add content.

[13_CBS]

The Let's Play has made me dig this out from the basement. I have downloaded everything I need, I think, to make it run on Win 7 but:

Hints and tips for a Tech-based character? It was many years since I played this and I never had any luck with non-magic characters. I just kept dying because I ran out of money and couldn't arm myself.

Aye, the trouble with Techies is that you often have to craft your own stuff, and getting money is a tricky thing in Arcanum.


What sort of tech build are you going for? Melee focused? Ranged focused? Something else?

[BRC]

I'd call it great concept, but mediocre execution. You can really see that they tried, and very often they succeed, but you can also see that the game could have been better. The bugs were there, but got fixed by fan patches, which also restore, and in some cases even add content.
So, worth picking up if I hunt down those fan patches?

[Terraoblivion]

I'd rather say that it was a fun concept, harmed by taking the least interesting angle on it and having it made by people who just didn't get video games. Looking aside from the godawful and utterly uninspired graphics and the technical issues, so much of the game just fell flat for me. It didn't quite have the freedom to feel free roaming, but it didn't have the aim and focus to feel plotdriven. Most, if not all, the characters were flat, non-entities and the worldbuilding was utterly wretched. There wasn't even an attempt at making the world seem coherent and large, everything was just sorta there where the writers needed them without explanation.

At least that's my take, BRC. I know a lot of people love it, even if i can't quite figure out why, it just came off as a vastly inferior version of Fallout without the atmosphere to me.

To the original question, i can't say. I only ever played as a magic character which isn't what you need. Also it's been ages since i played this thing, so i couldn't quite remember that amount of detail either.

[Avilan the Grey]

I am tempted to just run a save-game editor and keep my gold at "a lot", and just play for fun this time. It will be a side project anyway since I have four parallel characters in ME2 and three in Dragon Age to play through (I am currently pacing the characters to be ready for Sep 7 DLCs).

[Toric]

My primary way of drumming up gold as a techie is to spend a week's vacation in Tarant mass-producing fatigue restores, fine revolvers, anything that brings in more than it costs and selling it all. Your only enemies this way are time and tedium, and the game has no time limit to my knowledge.

Also, don't underestimate the value of arrows. The general store in Tarant buys them for 2 coin each. Trust me, it adds up. Other than that, just be frugal about what you buy and don't make duplicates that you don't need and can't turn a profit with.

[Avilan the Grey]

My primary way of drumming up gold as a techie is to spend a week's vacation in Tarant mass-producing fatigue restores, fine revolvers, anything that brings in more than it costs and selling it all. Your only enemies this way are time and tedium, and the game has no time limit to my knowledge.

Also, don't underestimate the value of arrows. The general store in Tarant buys them for 2 coin each. Trust me, it adds up. Other than that, just be frugal about what you buy and don't make duplicates that you don't need and can't turn a profit with.

Well that make sense. Thanks.

[Trazoi]

The tech character I played as (about halfway, didn't finish) was a loner half-orc thrown weapons, thievery, mechanical and explosives expert. Inventory was mostly full of molotov cocktails. Pretty fun and workable character.

[Tengu_temp]

Because of a bug, Molotov cocktails don't use action points in turn combat. Abuse as appropriate (and as a low level technologist, you'll need all the edge you can get).

My opinion on Arcanum is somewhere between Terra and GolemsVoice: the execution wasn't terrible, but it was certainly below average, and didn't use even a small part of the potential the idea had. It also had a lot of annoying little things that irked me - incredibly slow overland map travel! I didn't reach very far in this game though.

[Fleeing Coward]

I guess this money problem is all on the assumption that people do not rob a certain merchant in the very first town blind every few days?

[Avilan the Grey]

I guess this money problem is all on the assumption that people do not rob a certain merchant in the very first town blind every few days?

True, that helps a LOT.

[GolemsVoice]

I am tempted to just run a save-game editor and keep my gold at "a lot", and just play for fun this time. It will be a side project anyway since I have four parallel characters in ME2 and three in Dragon Age to play through (I am currently pacing the characters to be ready for Sep 7 DLCs).

The first hours may be tough, but my technological character didn't really have any problems with money. There is a certain point in certain disciplines where the materials are vastly cheaper than the finished product, and that's the sweet spot where you can make as much money as you wish. High Haggle skill also helps.


So, worth picking up if I hunt down those fan patches?

As a person who really loves this game, I'd say yes, though you must be willing to invest effort into it. It is not a streamlined game.

[Ozymandias]

I actually find Tech characters quite easy to play.

Get the first two smithing scematics at character creation, add a CHA point so you can get Sogg, and use balanced swords to kill the bridge guards without much trouble - you also get a bit of experience from the smith quest (although the dagger is pretty useless when you can make the swords).

Then grab Jaina, head to Tarant, buy a Pyrotechnic axe schematic and make a couple. The axes do stupid damage and don't ever degrade, which makes Golems a joke and lockpicking completely useless.

For money, build eyegear. It's a profit margin of like ~500 gold per piece, and you can do it fairly easily (you buy the parts from just one or two merchants). You can also buy herb stuff at the same time to build up a huge stockpile of healing salves. If you don't want to invest in the mech tree, Magnus gets the ability eventually (level 17-ish I think, but don't quote me)

Gun characters are much the same, except that you need to buy bullets/bullet ingredients at the same time, and steal the scoped rifle from the firearms master.

Really, 20 St 20 Dex pyro axeman is better than harmspammer because you kill everything anyway, but you don't need to keep waiting for fatigue to regenerate, too.

[Cogwheel]

Things

Look on his wisdom, ye casters, and despair.

In short, he's quite right, and the molotov thing helps a lot too. Just, you know, grab a point of herbology. You will drown in salves.

Oh, and another good way to get money? Bars. Trivia questions in them. There tend to be a few per bar, they're absurdly easy and you get 500 gold each. But yes, the shop-robbing trick is handy too. Can't say I ever turned a techie into a factory to make money, though. Oh, and I've never tried Mechanical, Therapeutics, Chemistry or a couple others, that might make it tricky to play. Can't say for sure.


Lastly, yes, the game has problems. Many of them, though fan patches fix it. It's still one of my favourite games ever. I'd say it's worth a try.