Chris Beddoes Hard-Arcanum.

DOWNLOAD
http://chris.terra-arcanum.com/polished_CARCANUM.zip

Taken from
http://chris.terra-arcanum.com/

This patch does a lot of things to Arcanum.

1) It balances tech-magick-melee in combat .You should now have equally difficult times in advancing your character as a melee fighter mage or tech. This have happened by improving certain tech items as the charged ring , capping speed that you can achieve with spells like haste, putting new items that help tech chars more and see 4) you have to rely on many spells now if you are a mage not just in say harm , or fireball. This adds variety to the game.

2)It eliminates what are really exploits in the game mechanics' . For example you cannot now play a mage get fire flash and then go to the wilderness start killing things and become level 40 in just one hour. And agility of fire now increases speed instead of dexterity . No more i cast it then put points in melee that stay when spell is not cast.

3) Random encounters are now much more difficult and more here and even more here are scaled by your level happen less frequently near the start area and stop happening from level 35 until 48.

4) Monsters now have elemental immunities . A lot are immune to fire and many are immune to harm .

5)The X-Files quest(2 skulls) now comes to a much more satisfactory conclusion.

6)A new limited form of Teleportation now available to every character in game. It requires items and is limited in destination and departure. You can teleport to Tarant, Caladon, Qintara only from almost all the gods shrines and a few other locations.

7) A few areas like the starting area, Shrouded hills and 2 more have been changed completely.

8) More than 12 new areas compared to normal Arcanum. Most of those areas are extremely challenging.

9) New class of items. Charms of the gods here and more here that work like the charms in Diablo LOD . They give you benefits when they are equipped.

10) New class of items . Divine weapons that have a chance to cast new cool spells if you have the requirements.

11)A few quests have been added.

12) You can now change all your followers professions . Than means that you force them to spend their characters points the way you want not their way .For example you can force Virgil to level like Raven or Virgil to level like Sogg.

 

hey

I'm not sure if anyone can help me out but I keep getting a message line error it's something like mes/gd_rce_f2m.mes the line missing is I think 1499 & 1500 I'm not positive but it occurs when I get to Quintarra and just after where I've talked to Raven and she tells me to go talk to her mother the Silver Lady at that point when I try to talk to her I keep getting this message error and it prevents me from finding out what happened to the BMC and I can't get to Caladon and I'm stuck I can't get any further in the game. Does anyone know how or what I can do to remedy this problem? I've already uninstalled and reinstalled the mod like 2x's already and nothing has worked the error keeps occurring. I would really appreciate any help anyone can pass along. And since I have other mods installed along with Hard Arcanum, like Troika's mod for one and The Killer Inside. Could either of these mods be causing this error but I can't see how since they use a different dat file and folders but it was just a thought. Please could someone help I would hate to have to start over and play the reg Arcanum version again because I'm about to just chuck the whole game out.

 

My mod is NOT compatible with the other mods .
Look at the third line here in italics

http://www.terra-arcanum.com/~chris/download.htm

This patch is only compatible with level 127 patch .It is NOT compatible with any other modification.

This means any other .


I suggest you do this .

Copy your savegames to a new location.
Uninstall Arcanum
Install Arcanum to a different directory
Install 1.7.4 patch
Install my patch .
Copy your savegames to the new save folder.
Try if it runs .

Post here to tell me if this has fixed the problem .



Chris.

 

Good Work!

Congratulations Mr. Beddoes. You have given the Arcanum community another reason to pick the game up again and rekindle their love for it. I had already typed another message before this one but the browser crashed, so now you'll get the summarized version ;P.

1) Charms are too heavy and the bonuses they provide are too small. You should increase the bonuses or reduce the weight to make the usable.

2) Were rats shoot fireflash too fast.

3) a) It would be nice if you could right click on the profession books and they displayed the point distribution for each level (# level - 1 point in HP or ST or Conveyance, et coetera). The names for some of the professions are not helpful in getting you to choose (Joachim (?), Zen-Virgil (?), Human Guard (?)). Names like Druid: Nature-Earth, Necromancer and Pure Melee-Dodge are good names since they are very clear about their purpose. The point distribution thingie would be VERY helpful.

b) Some of the profession are bugged. The gunsmith one, doesn't learn all the schematics. This is unfair to techies since the mage professions DO learn all the spells (Arbalah in my case has mastered both Necromantic colleges). Also, you should include professions for each technological discipline since there are only two (Gunsmith and Herbology).

I know this sounds like a drunken telegram but my neurons refused to reteype the former message and I do think this one gets the point across. Keep up the good work Chris, your talent doesn't go unnoticed.

 

It looks like it sucks all the power out of magic and gives it to technology.
Plus, it makes Pure Melee-Dodge characters suck.

So I'm not going to download it.

 

Plus you actually voted that it is bad without even playing it.

Bravo .

 

Bug? or Disagreement?

Umm, why?
I don't want to start a debate about this, but this wasn't an unbalancing bug, just a storyline (that actually worked). Why change it? just because it bothered you?

Oh, and thanks for the awesome mod, you farkin rule.

 

The technical and balancing improvements are fantastic, much improved (I only played CB's first mod long ago in 2001).

The monsters' immunities, teleporting, firearms, and magic-tech balance are great. It would have been nice if Troika patched these things in 2 years ago to fix the glaring gameplay flaws,
but oh well.


The Bad?

The starting location. The old start wasn't very interesting, but it didn't need to be changed. The new start with the books all over the room and the marijuana zombies is just silly (and opium zombies would have been more 19th century Victorian).

The items you start with. I like the leaf, even though it would be better to be found. It's nice that you're trying to help us out in the beginning, but the plethora of magical items on the player at the start is just nonsensical.

Many of the new cosmetic items just look bad.

Your writing, also, could use some work. Virgil and his friend's dialog are grinding and really ruin the immersion. Your punctuation especially needs work. There are some sentences . They have punctuaction ,like this .

You may also want to go over the backgrounds (even those which are not yours) for technical, gramatical, and format errors. By format, I mean all of the default bg's say something to the effect of 'This resulted in very poor eyesight (-6 Perception)', while many new bg's in the mod are more like 'This caused you to lose 2 points of Endurance'. Some of them have pretty serious errors (one that is supposed to give you +4 in something gives you +10), some are unbalanced and some just suck.

The above mentioned XFiles quest didn't need to be changed. I like how it's bothered me over the years--kind of disalluding (you can kill the big monster threatening the earth, but you can't change the way the world works, and what kind of people run it).

Just a bunch of suggestions...
and it's nice that it's much harder now

 

Ii is my opinion that if you actually play it you will find that my additions has been true to the original.

 

Well, yeah. I'm only in Shrouded Hills right now. Just expecting the worst, as I often do. Sorry about that.

 

The starting location. The old start wasn't very interesting, but it didn't need to be changed. The new start with the books all over the room and the marijuana zombies is just silly (and opium zombies would have been more 19th century Victorian).

Well from a roleplaying point of view it is hard to justify yes.

But keep in mind that this mod is targeted to the person that has played Arcanum before.

I am just changing the starting location for someone that has been bored listening to the same Virgil dialogue .
As for the book they document almost all the changes that I have made plus outside the house the way to use the gems to change your character professions.






The items you start with. I like the leaf, even though it would be better to be found. It's nice that you're trying to help us out in the beginning, but the plethora of magical items on the player at the start is just nonsensical.

Well this is only in the start and you can ignore what you do not want.
As for the fashion items well girls seems to love quantity in high heels.
(The love 6 colors) You gonna get them only if you start as a female.



Many of the new cosmetic items just look bad.


Yes I had to draw them myshelf for copyright reasons (and of course the very low resolution and 256 colors limitation is bad)



Your writing, also, could use some work. Virgil and his friend's dialog are grinding and really ruin the immersion. Your punctuation especially needs work. There are some sentences . They have punctuaction ,like this .






You may also want to go over the backgrounds (even those which are not yours) for technical, gramatical, and format errors. By format, I mean all of the default bg's say something to the effect of 'This resulted in very poor eyesight (-6 Perception)', while many new bg's in the mod are more like 'This caused you to lose 2 points of Endurance'. Some of them have pretty serious errors (one that is supposed to give you +4 in something gives you +10), some are unbalanced and some just suck.


I like to know which has some serius errors to fix it .

As for the backgrouinds being unbalanced I would say that in the original game they would make an already easy single player game extremely easy.
But now with the speed capped in 18 and by not being able to farm random enqounters well they mayby make the game easier but they are not so unbalanced.

Finally if you feel that the extra backgrounds suck then feel free to totally ignore them.

 

Yes, that's true. I play Arcanum for the atmosphere though, so I must be biased.

In that case they look pretty good :thumbup:
Still, they'd be better found in a nearby chest or something.

I believe the one before the "playtest" bg is pretty bad. Almost all of the new bg's are off-format in their descriptions. I'm at work right now, so I can't check.

I thought they were pretty nicely balanced. I can't think of one that gave a benefit that wasn't offset by it's penalty.

Many of them were good, like your vampire trait. This made the sucky/erroneous bg's seem even more out of place. I'll comment on them one-by one later today (when I have Arcanum in front of me).

 

Yes, that's true. I play Arcanum for the atmosphere though, so I must be biased.

Well no you are not .
But people compllained in the forums ..
You have changed that and that !!! And we are confused !!!!
And of course a lot of peple do not even read the installations instructions .
So I had to put this information somewhere.
There are no books elsewhere.

I believe the one before the "playtest" bg is pretty bad. Almost all of the new bg's are off-format in their descriptions. I'm at work right now, so I can't check.


Oh that would be the primitive one
{396}{st +12,speed +12,wp +12} //Primitive background ch -6,be +4,st +2

I will fix it in next edition. The problem is that the Arcanum engine provides limited effects . So if i want to test something I really have to destroy or alter one background . I will fix that . As for the writing style well English is not my first language so it is quite difficult for me to use the same language style as the one that Troika used.
What happens is that occasionally I beg for English Speakers please proofread this and that

I thought they were pretty nicely balanced. I can't think of one that gave a benefit that wasn't offset by it's penalty.

Oh yes . Troika ones are balanced. I am speaking for my own .
You see I had created all that extra backgrounds and at the start I offered them as standalone modification.

 

Congratulations my friend!

I haven't played Arcanum in almost 2 years... and JUST decided to pick it up again.

Lo and behold, I hear about yourm od and gave it a try.

It certainly breathed new life into my Arcanum!

I disagree with most of the critics, and i find myself appreciating your mod more and more. I wish people would remember that they don't HAVE to use EVERYTHING in the mod. If they don't like something... ignore it.

If you would like, i can give you a much more detailed report over E-mail. I don't want to set-up another "Thread-debate". Just some friendly user-feedback.

ps : one small thing... i can't seem to find the entrances to the Panarii Temples. I can only find the one in Shrouded Hills. AND... ehh.. i seem to have forgotten the location of Virgils/Athlea's House.

 

I would love a more detailed report via e-mail .

Things that you do not like are more valued over things that you do because i can hopefully change them in the future.

The Althea home is in Shrouded Hills.

If you can find the new farm with the pigs there is a dirt road that leads to it.

In most cities the entrances are very close to were buried people are.

In places where cemetaries does not exist like Black root is is in the park close to the mayor office.(a statue)

Finally the ghost can be found in the void and will teleport you in the crypt even after it vanishes ( when you get the last level 50 bonus)

So fights in the void are harder to reflect this .

When you exit the crypt if you went from the void you get back to the void.

edit .

My e-mail is visible in my profile now.
woa !!! I had the old e-mail in my profile . I have the correct now.

 

I agree with the statement about grammar as mentioned earlier, but since english isn't your first language, and no one else is putting (any) effort into Arcanum, I can easily look the other way.

One of the things I liked most about some of the characters on Arcanum (mostly evil ones, I've noticed), is how when they join you, later on, they have something else to say. Like Torian Kel, and his comments about Kergan, or Geoffree (sp?), and his responses to Torian Kel and Kergan. Or Zann, and her reactions to Arronox. Virigl, and his response to Nasrudian. Etc.

It'd be cool if you could do that with a few other characters. I learned that Helena Sent was from Shady Grove, yet when I went there, with her in the party, and found lots of undead roaming, she didn't respond at all (not to mention that when I asked her to mark my map, she didn't).

As well, the plethora of new items (leaf, hats, high heels, etc) that your character starts with (not to mention all the rings, and boots, and crap in the chest, as well as Althea and Virgil's gear), I'd suggest seriously cutting it down. It makes it far too easy at the start of the game. And Virgil's aura (for lack of a better word), is very exploitable in turn-based mode. All you have to do is tell them to back off and attack over and over again until you're healed up.

 

You are right . I plan to do something about that in my next version.

Did you like the bonuses ? Assuming you have version 1.05

 

Which bonuses? If you mean the level-perks... some were nice, but for the most part, they made the game too unbalancing, or were too difficult to get. Yes, I know, at level 50, you should already be near the end of the game, etc etc. I just didn't like the thought of every hit doing a critical hit (kind of makes Kergan, and then Moorindal, too easy).


Oh, something else to keep in mind. If you go to Kree, then walk outside (to a place where you can sleep), if you sleep the whole day, you'll run into a fight 2-3 times a day, ever day. It'll be wererats, mountain lions, rock rats, or wild boars (used to be ailing wolves). This trick is one way to easily get past your "no random encounters" thing, especially considering that all such creatures yield a great ammount of exp.

As well, having played the game a lot... I'm curious. Where the heck are all the jewels at? I never found any of Makal's rings, I was missing one of Alberich's rings, Ghestina's Amulet, and I found all of Terel's set. Well hidden, all except for Terel's set, but none-the-less... after playing it about eight times, I'd like to be able to know where they all were found.

 

Overall, I'd have to say it's a really good mod. I don't like some of the things weighing what I think are unreasonable amounts, especially one bow that I found that no one can pick up - ever. Still, the new challenges and new sites make up for little things like that.

The new thieve's guild quests are really nice if you are into that area.

I'm not happy with the way that Sogg acts every time you try to pick a lock on a door and on many chests EVERYONE in the party yells at me. It gets old having them yell that I'm attacking a friend when I pick a lock on a chest. I don't get how that started, but it seems like maybe the chests got assigned to a faction and the party members are all assigned to the same faction.

If anyone is interested, Chris was nice enough to send me a copy of Hard Arcanum with the maps for Shrouded Hills in it and I have it set up on a file server at the Arcanum channel on Gamesnet in mIRC. All you have to do is type /ctcp Sinbad !Chris's Hard Arcanum and the file will send to you. Be sure that you have dccallowed me first or it might not send because it is an exe file. Having the map of Shrouded Hills does add a lot to the enjoyment of playing this mod and I want to thank Chris for being nice enough to send it to me and I want to share it with others.

:thumbup:

Sinbad

 

My email is Ron_lugge [At] comcast [dot] net -- feel free to add that to your contact list. I am always more than willing to be helpful when it comes to proofreading fanfics -- might as well expand and help out in mods.

Just be warned that A) I don't suffer fools -- at all -- and B) I don't "pad" my blows, I say what I think of a given piece, up to and including "this sucks".