Little Problems with Arcanum that should be fixed in No. 2

Discussion in 'Arcanum 2 Suggestion Forum' started by DarkUnderlord, Jul 23, 2002.

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  1. DarkUnderlord

    DarkUnderlord Administrator Staff Member

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    I like Arcanum. I don't love it. It has a lot of things in it that make it an enjoyable game that's fun to play again a few times (I especially like the modding tools :D ). However, to me, it's only "average". In my opinion, it doesn't have that extra little bit that's required to elevate it above the masses and make it great. To that end, I've written this. These are a few things that, in my opinion, hold Arcanum back. The list of things that would've added just that little something extra to the game. Of course this is all my opinion, I'm a critic. :) Incidentally, what things did everyone else think brought the game down?


    1) Linear plot. At every stage of the game, I'm told what to do and I'm told where to go to do it. Here's a ring, go to Shrouded Hills. That ring might belong to Gilbert Bates, go to Tarant. Talk to Gilbert, go to the mines and repeat until final "go to the Void".

    2) Dumb AI. Really, really dumb AI. Enemies that run away six squares after one of their own dies, then turn around and run straight back at you. They either run away, or they stay to fight. Not both.

    3) Slow downs. Cast a spell, it slows down. Walk into Tarant, it chugs.

    4) No called/targeted shots. This makes turn-based combat almost pointless (in my opinion). In real-time, I click on my enemy and wait till they die. In turn-based, I click on my enemy and wait till they die shot by shot. The advantage of called shots is you can blow your enemies heads off with an aimed shot to the eyes, cripple them with a shot to the legs, make them stop attacking by crippling their arms or blind them just for fun. You could also do it nice and slowly and rather sadistically.

    5) Guns using silly ammo. The Rifle Cannon, a powerful weapon, uses 5 bullets per shot. Why? Either it's a powerful weapon because of the power it blasts a shot out at, or it uses it's own special ammo. Using 5 bullets not only seems silly, but it also means the weapon is almost a useless choice as their are other weapons that fire faster, use 1 bullet per shot and cause as much damage in the long run (I actually wasted everyone in Tarant twice. Once with the Rifled Canon, the other time with a simple pistol. I actually ran out of bullets with the canon, it used up all the 1000 I had). Also in this category is the "Blade Launcher". If it fires "blades", why does it need bullets? Why doesn't it shoot knives like it seems like it's supposed to or fire a blade attached to a rope which is recalled after every shot?

    6) Really bad sounds. If my Rifled Cannon is so powerful, why doesn't the shot ring out and reverberate around the area? How come all I get is the lowly sound of every other rifle (every other rifle which sounds pretty crap too by the way)? Also, why doesn't the repeater rifle sound like it's repeating? As well as that, I swear that I must have heard the same bird tweet in the background every 5 seconds on a constant non-stop tweeting spree. It gets old fast and makes me wonder about the health of the never-stopping tweety bird.

    7) Waiting for schematics. The really good weapons (tranquilizer gun, flamethrower) require extraordinary amounts of luck to get the schemetics for. So much that the only way to get them is too keep sleeping until you get a shopkeeper to sell them (then, in some cases, you have to keep sleeping somewhere else so you can get all the necessary parts). Personally I'd prefer the flamethrower to be a "learned" schematic, but if not, I'd like it to be available at some point in time, through ordinary play of the game. Or at least make it show up more often then it does.

    8)Useless guns/weapons. Charged Accelerator Gun, Long Range Pistol... There is a long list of weapons that fit in the category of "sounds good, but by the time I get it, it's completely useless". The weapons should all have their own advantage, disadvantage. Yes, there should be some partially "useless" guns in the game. Though if that's the case, why are they so rare that by the time you get them, you have far better weapons?

    9) Death animations. Everybody loses an arm when they get critically hit. No heads cut off, no arms flopping about, no violent "bullet-riddled and collapse" or "cut into little pieces" death scenes.

    10) Speed. Do you know how funny it looks when someone fires a "speed 17" pistol? It's way too fast. Plus that and the gun never has to be reloaded, even though it looks like it can only hold 6 bullets at a time. As long as you have bullets, you can fire to infinifty and beyond.

    11) How in the hell did the manual ever get released without an index or contents page?
     
  2. Ferret

    Ferret New Member

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    4) You can make called shots to either the head, arms or legs.

    Read the manual (may take some time due to point number 11).

    You really like Fallout don't you? However, I agree with you about point 5. In fallout, each gun had specific ammo types and needed reloading. since Follout came before rcanum, then it is obviously not hard to do, and makes the game so much more tactical and enjoyable.
     
  3. xento

    xento New Member

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    I agree with you on most of those ideas, DU. Especially the thing about "useless guns". If you are a techie, you have next to no advantage over magick users because half the stuff you make (guns) are useless. The stuff about the Cumbrian War makes guns seem awesomly powerful. Usually, I just trudge around with my charged sword and testla rod and do just fine. I NEVER use guns becuase of their drain of ammo for 1hp/shot. Alot of time, even if you are master of firearms, the shot doesnt even hit! Even when the enemy is only 2-3 squares away! The dumb AI thing is true too. I hate how, when I shoot something to death with my testla rod, my followers go and touch the body. This leads them (and me) into a whole bunch of trouble.
     
  4. Josh

    Josh New Member

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    so, baiscally you want to give Arcanum a more Fallout kind feel......sounds good to me!
     
  5. Ferret

    Ferret New Member

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    Not really no, but when they made Arcanum, they appear to have 'over-simplified' some of the qualities that mande Fallout great!
     
  6. Josh

    Josh New Member

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    thats true, i do miss fallout and it's loveable wastland ways , oh I rember the way thier bodys would jerk around after being filled with bullets, of chuncks would fly of....head exlpodeing.....doing the firey dance of death...those where the days
     
  7. xento

    xento New Member

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    That would be nice. But, I dont like turn-based combat. It would be nice if they could fit that part of Fallout into Arcanum without the turn-based combat.
     
  8. Josh

    Josh New Member

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    nah nah, you got to have the turn based, it works for this kind of game
     
  9. xento

    xento New Member

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    Whatever. You play turn-based combat mode, and I will play chess. You play street fighter, and I will play real-time combat mode
     
  10. Josh

    Josh New Member

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    but....I like Chess....and Street Fighter
     
  11. xento

    xento New Member

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    So do I... Except I have never played Street Fighter. :)
     
  12. Josh

    Josh New Member

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    thats a crime in some countrys
     
  13. xento

    xento New Member

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    *sigh* At least I raise my avatar from posting to all these senceless threads.
     
  14. Notharah

    Notharah New Member

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    *pushes spam out of the arc. 2 suggestion forum* go... nbroz.. and josh.... off you go to the general discussion
     
  15. xento

    xento New Member

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    Nooo! Dont kick me out! I'll be a good boy! I promise! :cry:
     
  16. DarkUnderlord

    DarkUnderlord Administrator Staff Member

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    WHAT!?? You mean all this time.... ALL this time... I could've had called shots? God damn! How did I miss that one? Am I the only one who missed this?!? Egads!!

    *runs off to grab the manual*

    :nod:

    :nod:
     
  17. Rat Keeng

    Rat Keeng New Member

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    No, you're not the only one who missed the called shots function. I only found out about it a few months after buying the game by sheer coincidence when someone mentioned it.

    Y'know, i wonder about that too. I even wrote my own contents for the damn thing. No joke, i actually did. And by looking at it, i'd say criticals are explained somewhere between page 53 and 61, most likely page 57. And yes, i'm too lazy to check 3:)
     
  18. DarkUnderlord

    DarkUnderlord Administrator Staff Member

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    The answer is Buried in this forum as well...
    http://www.terra-arcanum.com/phpBB/view ... lled+shots

    No wonder I missed it, it's a keyboard shortcut, not an interface option like in Fallout (damn I love that game). Apparently it also provides nice little animations too. Although, I would prefer to slowly pick the option from my weapon, click on my victim and then very slowly clicking on the body part I want to aim for... (Hmm.... I do like Fallout a lot, don't I?)
     
  19. quamper

    quamper New Member

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    Arcanum should have had the option to target the eyes and the groin.. my 2 fav targets in fall out.

    It was always great hitting women in the groin and seeing what they had to say...

    Targeted shots in Fallout were a little too easy to land though.. once you had an energy weapon and a realtivly high skill all you had to do was make all of your targeted shots at the eyes and the fight would be over.
     
  20. xento

    xento New Member

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    In Arcanum, it is almost impossible (or at best rare) to make a called shot and actually hit that area.
     
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