Arcanum:WIP 6.0 now available

Thanks, Vorak.

I checked this out both in my hack and the stock game with UAP and got the same results.
I've forwarded this to Drog.

 

Building inspectors needed!

Before I go any further...
I recently resurrected a brick building that was left out of the original game and then went a bit further in my structure creation and made a stone building with a prison interior. I've placed one of each of these new structures just south of Tarant as you're leaving via the south exit.

Although the stone building is just there for this test, it too, is something that wasn't used in the stock game, and I'd rather know now than later if these new structures will show up like they're supposed to on someone else's computer.

So - What I need is one or two people to download and install this:
*Link removed* , then report back if all is well or not.
Perferably, it should be one replacement and one new install, but I'll be happy with whatever way you choose.
Note: Old saves are not supported. You can try a one prior to going to Tarant, but no promises it'll work.

In case anyone is wondering - This the 5.1 version with the bug-fixes in place. Also, you'll also discover the Wolfsbane farm in the same area, and the scene is playable, but the quest flag-setting isn't in place yet.

Thanks in advance.

 

Edit: The building worked fine, and looks great, no issues.

Randomly, I'd like to point out that the Old Mine has a couple graphical issues to the right of the cave entrance.

 

Appreciate the info, frosted ambassador, and thanks for refreshing my memory about the mine.

 

I hate to be critical after all the work put in here, I really do, but I'm now going on my fourth attempt...

...I've just had the most ridiculous amount of trouble really getting into this mod. I really have. There's any number of things that kind of put me off-guard, but the biggest by far is new dialogue options.

Most of the dialogue options in Arcanum are fairly basic, fairly generic, and short. This, for me, has actually been beneficial, because if there's any gaps in how something is said my mind can fill those in. By "getting to the point", as it were, it makes getting into the dialogue a lot easier.

So far all of the added dialogue options I've seen, by contrast, are extremely lengthy and rambling. Long enough that they stretch the options box wider than normal, which really threw me the first time I saw it. And so much of what is in there is unnecessary, and distracts from what you're actually saying, and disrupts any attempt at filling in the blanks with your own imagination. It clashes *horribly* - so horribly that it's like I'm travelling along in this fun little world and then suddenly I'm kicked in the face.

So I keep trying to push this aside and keep going forward, but frankly it's just too jarring every time I run into this stuff. And then I found Brandybuck for the first time, heard the Shire music from LOTR (which is not string quartet and doesn't have the same sort of "somber and subdued" feel, and thus disrupts the audio theme), and I just gave up altogether - because it doesn't blend in enough. It has a very definite "bolted on" feel to it, and that takes away from what made the game so enjoyable for me.

I wish this weren't the case. I really do. I gave it my best try each time, but it just keeps on jarring me every time I run into it, and so it just ends up being not fun.

Alas.

 

As the old saying goes: You can't please everyone.
Thanks for trying the hack and being honest about this.

 

Y'know, I hate being critical and then walking away. Just annoys me. So I figured I'd unpack the mod and do a little poking around to see if there was anything productive I can do.

So I went through and just cleaned up the grammar and such for the background descriptions. The resulting file's at http://nwcs.com/~jvc/gameback.mes. (I've also replaced the Brandybuck music with the "In Memoriam" extra track that was never used in the stock game, but that's more for my own edification than anything else).

I'm considering whether or not I want to try going through the dlg files and working on the dialogue options. Doing that, however, would be... decidedly less trivial.

Hope this helps.

 

Oh, and while I'm at it - the last eighteen backgrounds (descriptions 1103 thru 1121) all had a different idea of what the "normal starting wealth" is supposed to be as compared to the other backgrounds in the mod - $400 instead of $600 (i.e. an earlier background's "quarter of the starting wealth" resulted in $150; in this group, a "quarter of the starting wealth" was $100). So I adjusted them upward.

Those files are here: http://nwcs.com/~jvc/awip-wealthadjust/

Again, hope this helps!

 

Thanks!

 

Some of the new schematics cause my PC to crash. Create sheet metal, dwarven ore, dwarven steel


Is there a fix to this?

Otherwise cool mod so far

 

Welcome to the forum, Monkeybutler!

Glad to hear you like the hack.

Found the problem and here's an updated patch to fix it:

*Link removed*

(OP has been updated as well)

Assuming you're not wanting to start a fresh game, this worked for me:
Delete your existing Arcanum6.dat and download this one into its place.
Double-click the Drog'sCleanCache.bat.
Now start the game with a save made prior to going to Blackroot (or earliest).
Run around for a minute or so, then switch to your most recent save and try the schematics.

I had no problems and hope the same for you.

 

I almost started the game all over because I miss read you post. That was a close one.

Thanks for the fix, I will give it a try. Are there any other bugs or fixes I should be aware of?

 

The patch listed above will correct all the scripting problems that's been found so far.
There's still a thing or two with the scenery or NPCs that haven't been dealt with yet as they require a full release rather than a patch.

The rest of the problems are listed in the first post. They're fairly minor, I'm happy to say. There's no other fixes for the 5.1 at this moment.

If another big problem pops up, I'll probably do release (5.2) rather than a patch.

 

I just tested this one out and I still get a crash. Here is what I did.


Overwrote my Arcanum6.dat. Used the Drog'sCleanCache

Loaded a game just leaving Shrouded Hills and hiked on over to Black Root.

Bought sheet metal schematic from the blacksmith. Tried to learn it and then crash.

Then I tried starting a new game (after recopying A6 and using Drog's)and going straight to Black Root to learn the sheet metal. Same crash

 

Well I tried reinstalling and then using the mod on a fresh game. It works now. However, when I got to the option screen during a game it crashes.

If I go to the option screen without a game running, it doesn't crash but there are no works above each slider.

Wierd

 

Monkeybutler: I really hate to say this, but something in your computer is seriously screwing with the game. Software probably, although a hardware addition isn't completely out of the question.

Unfortunately, I'm not computer tech savvy enough to help you debug it over the internet (much less in person). If you know of someone who is and he'll help you, then get a hold of him.

Wish I could have been more help.

Vorak: No it doesn't, but there is a couple ways around that.

One - A couple pages ago I made a post about the new buildings and included a download link. It's the actually the complete 5.1 with the bug-fixes that were available at that time in place. You could replace your existing 5.1 game with it and add the latest patch to get the best of both worlds.

*Links removed*
Two - Wait a couple weeks until I finish what I've got started at the moment and you can get the 6.0 version.
I've come to the conclusion that between bug-fixes and the three new towns, there's enough to justify a new release.

(I was feeling a bit lazy over the holiday so I built the towns instead of adding new thieves' quests....)

 

Well other than the options screen thingy, the game is working pretty good so far. So its no big deal.

Thanks for the help

 

Which option? The patch or the replacement downloads?