Is this a horrible bug or a punishment for picking pockets

This has happened to me twice now. I am in Dernholm picking pockets from shopkeepers. (different shopkeeper each time) As I try to transfer the money, the game shifts me to locatioin 0 west, 180 south on the world map. (The world map actually shows me to be all the way to the east on the map border.) I am in a big field, naked and standing by a shopkeeper also naked. I am no longer my character, but a starting male with 5 points to spend. I can loot the shopkeepers chest which is in the field with us, but I can't go anywhere on the world map as I am not even really on it. If I try to reload my game, its empty and says corrupted file if I try. After this happened the first time, I loaded the latest patch and started over. This time I saved backup games. Happened again and all games are empty. Does anyone know what causes this and how to fix it. Can't be much of a thief if I can't pick pockets...

Thanks in advance...

 

Yes it is a terrible bug and as far as I know there's no cure for it, sorry.

 

So, do I need a different type of character?

Should I use a different race, sex, or whatever? It seems like other people are using theives. I want to build a non tech, non mage, fighter thief...

 

Re: So, do I need a different type of character?

You can try but this bug just happens. I played different character and fortunately never had it. People were very advanced in the gameplay and they ended up naked in the middle of nowhere (I think this should be labeled "Las Vegas bug"). You might try reinstalling but there's really no guarantee this won't happen again. You could however delete all your savegames, begin new game, and for example every hour or two quit to windows and copy your saved gamed to another folder.

 

Thanks Dragoon, I'll try that.

I had been thinking about saving my game directory. Kind of a pain in the butt, but I'll try it. I'll also try a different race and sex. Thanks...

 

what is the game file directory labeled as? i have done some minor digging for it, but nothing full fledged. and as for picking pockets in dernholm, i didnt find it worthwhile, by the time i get to dernholm, ive already stolen rizztees key and gotten tons of stuff.

 

You mean the saved games dir? ...\Sierra\Arcanum\modules\Arcanum\Save
Provided you installed to default Sierra\Arcanum that is.

 

I later found the workaround for this bug. Just leave the game, reload it, and start a new character. Save the new character, leave the game, reload and load your old character. (saving a new one apparently rewrites the table of contents and you corrupt games come back) This doesn't always work for every game, so I save in each city and the wilderness. I may not get my last save back, but I have always gotten my second to last back under another name, that way I have never lost more than 10 minutes of play.

 

On the instal disk there is a repair option. It is worth a try. While many have reported this bug, I have never seen it (thank goodnes) & I am starting to wonder about the hardware / OS of those who have.

 

Congrats :thumbup: I never before read a resipe for beating corrupted saved games bug. You could even start a new topic with a title being something like corrupted saves solution. Or you can notify Calis about it - perhaps he will find it worth of its place on TA site.

 

standing naked in a field

I've just started working with the world editor, and in the place where they save town maps, etc., the first file is for a shopkeeper, and according to the literature on the net, I believe that it is used for the initial inventory at the very beginning of the game, when you pick out your starting equipment. When I loaded the map, it showed a generic man in his underwear (or naked, as the case may be) standing in a grassy field next to a chest. I wonder if something in your game is mysteriously transporting you to this particular map? Has anybody else seen this?

 

So you mean that bug is becuase it thinks the shopkeeper is the one in the beginning? Interesting...

 

Hey, I ran into this bug today, but not by pickpocketing!!!
and I got away unscathed... YES!!!
when I got to dernholm from the world map, I got a wierd bug that caused the time passing clock to keep flashing on my screen and everything froze up - I could only click on an area once every few seconds and it takes like ten minutes to get the pc there as the screen keeps blinking. I let him get to an area where the world map icon showed up and then hit it --- I was able to travel out of dernholm, but he stopped world map traveling and ended up in a field with a chest and one other npc - both naked. Needless to say, I just dont go to dernholm anymore and it doesnt/hasnt occured again(yet).

 

That bug is not about Dernholm. But I don't know what it is about.

 

I only had this bug when I tried to reload some files.....
it happens (maybe among other causes) when you want to save and there is no space left on your HD. I think it tells you that the file couldnt be saved ( I think), but it is still there. When I then load this corrupted file, I am in this location, without followres, male human, naked, with a guy and a box nearby. Obviosuly, since the game wasnt saved....

 

Ahhhh.... :thinker: that's why I have never seen that bug. I was starting to feel left out.

 

Aha, I'm glad I haven't had the bug... Heh, strange... can you open the backpack? does the man have a "nice suit" and 100 gold in his pack?

Just wondering... Still holding to my theory :thumbup: