Epic Steampunk Arcanum

Well, its another dream-weaved topic (Used search. Twice.) with guessing and again dreaming. This is how I would want to see next Arcanum.



First of all, Arcanum 2 in my opinion should be epic. What I mean with that?
- Well. Continent is too small, it should be much larger world.
- Years passed and same it should look like late Victorian Era, even touchin diesel-punk genre (after all, in Arcanum there was fuel). Maybe it is because of my technological aptitude, but Arcanum could be more steam-punkish than first one.
- I mean, more countries/cities thus more train connections, more zeppelins, more airplanes, more quasi-First World War wars. Prototype steam-powered tanks, automatons serving everywhere on courts, etc.
- You may ask, what about other side of the Arcanum coin - magic? Yes. Magic also exists, powerful and hidden at borders of technological world. Hidden cities with traditions (like Tulia), virgin woods (elves) and quite untouched deserts (both sand and snow ones) and other outlands.
- I mean, victorian way isnt only steamwork. There should be some kind of large country, empire, especially with colonies on far lands. Another cultures based on arabian, indian, american, chinish, african cultures.. Marinistic stories can be amazing. Not necessary ironclad, but just a steamship. You read "Heart of Darkness", you know what I mean.
- Hard (not dirty) steam-punk without pulp heroes. It isnt world of greys, it has many colours. Grey and dirty are only proletariat, workers districts. By the way, XIX century was also time of socialism (when it wasn't viewed badly and changed capytalistic societies for ever). Maybe there should be one country in state of post-revolusion (Tarant was post-revolutional after regicide, but it was viewed as beautiful city).



Technology: GO ON
- This stuff http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/16-stea ... r-another/
- Ray guns, coilguns, steam-stream guns, advanced Tesla-based technology,
- Clock Punk. More clockworks, automatons, golems, spiders, tiny and large, flying and underwater.
- More ancient technology like Vendigroth legacy. This city was rebuilt and this way it can be a capital of new Britain-like empire. Vendigroth wastes again invested with agriculture, train tracks etc. And some mysticism: Think about it. Temple of Sacred Volt where people place sacrifices on upstream altar made of copper. --Bzzztt!-- Cow died and new electricity god is happy to bless city with another month of prosperity. This is still fantasy and new gods may emerged with new technologies. Gods not of earth, fire and beauty, but another things making human and non-humans life easier. Why not god of electricity? Anybody living without electricity is like withoud food and water. There is cold, dirt, darkness, illness, boredom, solace and finally death. Electricity is another human god..
- Flying cities? Cities on the oceans floor? I dont know. Maybe it is too much.



Fabularize:
- Fin de siecle Decadentism. Mood of end of century. There is something about to happen. Everybody feel that. Empire is too large. Small parts shoot off. Far colonies are pushed off by ununderstandable natives with their own thinking (ununderstandable much in the way of Heart of Darkness, technological "civilized" people cannot understand primal nature of human, savage human). The world we know, has to end somehow. In Arcanum setting it may be another turning of the technology-magic wheel.
- Maybe this Empire is past one huge War (like The Great War, IWW) which had to be "the last war in the world and there shall be only peace, prosperity etc."
- Maybe technology existed for too long in apogeum and magic has to come back.
- Distances are shorter, it changes peoples minds much in the way of 20. XX. City, lost identity of masses, automatisation of human life, popculture, too fast, too much. It is beginning and many are afraid of it.
- Of course, not everywhere it is felt so much. Look at the Europe:
- England, France, Germany dictated much of technological achievments other countries. Orient Express was destinated to connect Berlin with Bagdad (think about as if it were true!). And there are lands of my homeland (century-long occcupied Poland). My country in 20. was still rural and agricultural with not large technological aptitude. People didn't feared machines of new world like Germans or Czechs (who wrote dramas, where workers have been replaced hands with machine parts to automatize them into slavery). Our dramatist, Witkacy, written about mental automatization of society then, (he didn't wrote Utopias, but his works were of the first about automatization of society, not only in totalitarian way, but also much in western way. He was afraid of technocratism, technopoly etc. That should be the way of new Arcanum. Many differences in viewing the world.
- In this technocratic world, we can only escape outside its borders away, away, away. Many traveled across seas, explored unknown lands, met oriental cultures... only to taste another life. And there is no problem to make african-ebony-ivory, arabian glass-and-carpet, indian etc. cultures magical as an alternative for (cold) world of metal.
- Of course, there should be many visionaries and enthusiastics about technology. Visionaries made humanity into next century and conflict on axis magic-technology, still lasts.


My bad, there so few steam-punk rpgs (none but Arcanum) that I want more steam-punk than magical fantasy. Still, magic is cool. Love ya.

How do you feel that vision?

 

That's quite a sweet dream and this tesla gun(?) is just beautiful. However, as for reality it would probably be rather negative if some developer tried to make so epic. It would probably end like Gothic 3 and some others (among them our beloved Arcanum) which were just to big to be finished in production by the little means given.

I personally would object to the Automatrons being a normal sight in technologist cities. It just takes away too much of the Victorian atmosphere to me. I'd prefer their soldiers being clad in Napolionic era style and do without swords and chainmails but rather flintlock or bolt action rifles.

 

So fuckin' gay.

 

Lunar: Great ideas, I would love to see more technology in Arcanum as well, especially those Golems, tanks, mechanical horses, (or any other drivable vehicles), and other new stuff. Some new magic and fantasy creatures might be added too, like dragons, so magic/technology gets balanced again. Another cultures, cities, cuntries will be great too. Actually, its possible to expand Arcanum world map to suit that ideas, now it have 2000x2000 sectors, and still its lot of empty sectors, just repeating terrain without life.

That's actually pretty hot, I mean that asian looks like she could teach you couple of things :lol:

 

Its sonic rifle in the picture

Cosplay is always quite gay

I mean.. not a normal sight in town, but in courts and estates, palaces of the rich. Queen Victoria court should have grasp of automaton (of course lesser, civilian version from manufacturing belt) servants carrying tea on salver during conversation of our Hero with Important-NPC about Issues-Of-The-World. Conversation of course takes place on Ironclad or Zeppeling. Think about intro to the SC: Brood War and talk between Alexei and Dugall - interiors of their Battlecruiser are so retro that it could be for sure steam-punk zeppeling for officers and other high-ups

Think about this photo: Imagine that behind windows is pure/smoked (factories, huh) air, sky, 500 feets above surface.

Yup.

I wonder how to not make Arcanum pulp steam-punk. I mean pulp s-p heroes are Alain Quartemain, Indiana Jones and Sherlok Holmes and I dont like to see steam-punk this way. And the same thing would do for example Harley with steam-engine, which our sheriff-hero uses to travel all around Victorian England. It's awful pulp (;


Mechanical horses? Who knows.. Look at newer version of Time Machine movie. It made me laughing when I saw these roads FULL OF carriages like in modern highway.

Even if this is not so real, it looks awesome. How much mroe beautiful would be Tarant streets?

- Well, maybe it is because of that I am Polish, that I dont see steam-punk as domain only of Victorian Age of XIX British Empire (with capital of the world's most powerful city - London) or America (Wild Wild West huh?).
- I am also very interested in other cultures (especially Arabian, look, there was huge Ottoman Empire that influences this century all the time) and also in eastern Europe which is... I would say, overlooked in many victorian settings. More rural, more social issues than technological, but still rational Positivistic thinking was there, struggling with Romanticism.

- Also I just LOVE trains. I hurts if they are only meant for transport. I think there should be option to walk inside Orient Express to meet cool people (very diffrent each time with couple of passengers of course). Gentlemen reading newspaper in pub car, lady protected by half-ogre in her own luxurious compartment..

 

I can only hope that by "this" you didn't mean the photography. I prefer non-existent Arcanum 2 to kitsch steampunk Arcanum 2.

 

geez, intellectuals.. can you talk about something more than stupid photo?

 

I was planning to do exactly what is quoted here for my module, Bertland. Besides simulating naval warfare and travel, one can also simulate air-ship travel....except without art for it. One would pretty much be limited to making a room and surrounding it with black.....hmm....unless one fills the background with Quintarra trees or some other far-off-looking background?

I don't know about the "hard" steam-punk thing. It crosses the line from playable, interesting, and intellectually creative to intimidating, scary, and ugly somewhere when you start using that theme for the basis of your work.


Take the Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vORsKyopHyM), for example. I think that particular mood or theme is quite befitting of any steampunkish endeavor.

 

Who would have believed what wonders are known to Runaway Scientists? Thank you very much for sharing this gem.

 

I am as much an internet and gaming veteran as you, Mr. Muro. I have many tales to tell and things to share...provided they are of interest. You do as well, I suspect.

 

That guy was the worst navigator I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of navigators, trust me. I thoroughly enjoyed it though.

 

Really dirty and gloomy steampunk it is. Too glomy even for Tarant sewers.

 

havent found any other crpg with the elements and atmosphere such as arcanum, sophisticatedly hit the spot with its tech and magic thingy, and i mean, heck, what year is it? caladon & tarant, nothing like any other city on any crpg...
all i want (perhaps) on Arcanum2 is (just) graphical overhaul and gameplay refinement, anything else, the city, monster, complex skill tree and so on follows, just dont stray away too far from the arcanum world i remember from the first one, its unique in its way, and thats why i like it..

 

Vision in the OP sounds pretty horrible IMO.

I'm all for a prequel. The conflict magick/science has been played out pretty thoroughly in Arcanum, what with the city states waging war. The underlying mood in the entire game was that magic was on the decline. Moving further along the timeline would force you too much down a certain path if you wanted to play a mage character.

A prequel may even predate Bates and the steam engine, at least in the human realms. 18th century technology, or even Renaissance technology, in civilization centres would suffice. This would allow the Dwarves to play out their role as technological afficionados even better than in Arcanum 1. Their mountain homes would house the most sophisticated machines in the world, but they are sworn to secrecy and only rumors leak into the outside world. How cool is that.

Aw man, there are so few Renaissance themed fantasy games, I get all dreamy over it. Blame it on my playing Lionheart recently and thinking about what that game could have been.