about to play Arcanum for 1st time...

Some laptops have funky CD-Drives that don't work properly. I remember hooking mine up to a DVD Burner and using it to play Dungeon Siege at one point.

You could try getting a CD-Image. They ARE out there.

 

I know the level cap can be a pain, but it is a good way to balance the game. With a level cap you have to be very particular where you put your points. I understand if you don't know about it and then all of a sudden you are stopped at 50 it sucks.

For me, I knew about it from the beginning, so I planned accordingly. And it made the game more exciting for me. I knew going into it that melee and magic were overpowered compared to firearms and technology. So I chose a gun toting technologist modeled after 'Doc Holiday' in Tombstone just for the challenge. And I plotted continuously as to where to put my points. I ended up a Master of Firearms with a Doctorate in Mechanical, Electrical, Gun Smithy and Smithy, and a Novice in Explosives for the brokeness that is thrown Molotav Cocktails (I wanted a challenge not a death wish lol)

Every time I think about this game I can't get over what a fantastic and original idea it is. I usually play mages or druids in fantasy rpgs because the fighters seem so vanilla to me. In this game magic has not interested me to this day, even though is so rich and varied! The Technology and Schematics have captured my heart, and maybe I have bought into the struggle between tech and magic a little too much - and have become a hater of magic because of it!