New to the Madness

Ok, it's been along time since I've played Arcanum, and all I remember about it is I used to watch my brother play it all the time along with fallout. I've played fallout several of times and loved it, but never got to play Arcanum. I just recently bought a copy on Amazon, and was wondering if you kind souls would be able to help me out with a few questions.

The questions are:
1.What races are decent, and should I go magic, or technology with them?

2. What is better Technology, or Magic?

3. Are there certain mods I should download for the game to help boost the experience?

4. Name one thing that is a DO NOT when playing Arcanum for the first time
For example: I would tell a newbie to fall to listen to the Junktown guards when they say put your guns away.

I you guys could answer these few things I would love it.

 

1. All races are great in their own ways. Elves are best at magic, Dwarves are best at technology

2. Magic by far, but I still love tech

3. A:WIP (can be found in the download section of this website

4. Do not play an unpatched version of the game

 

Thanks for the advice. Also if anyone could, my brother said one of the hardest parts about this game is that you level cap half way through it. Is there a way to go up a higher level, a mod, or something along those lines?

 

Yep, there's a mod that removes level cap, but it doesn't work with A:WIP.

 

Thing is... You don't need to remove the level cap. If you do, your character will become too powerful.

 

1. To me, the question of race doesn't seem like a big deal in this game, in that you can make any race perform any role if you want. The biggest distinction in my mind is that half ogres start with so much more ST, meaning that they're generally more powerful in combat, and having 4 IN means that unless you choose a background that makes them more intelligent, you're going to have the dumb dialog options (which are fun, though) and probably won't be using either magic or technology. Also, orcs are generally not well-liked, which means that you'll probably have different dialog there. Playing a dwarf or elf will very slightly change the dialog in certain parts of the game, but you wouldn't notice unless you've played the game a few times.

2. You should definitely try both, although doing them at the same time is pretty tough.

3. A:WIP is like an expansion, and as the name implies, it's a work in progress. I'd suggest not using AWIP until you've already played the game through a few times. You should definitely get the patch Drog Black Tooth just released, it can be found at

http://www.terra-arcanum.com/downloads/ ... 080415.exe

Note that you can't have A:WIP and that patch at the same time (they are installed to the same place) but AWIP will eventually include the data from this patch as well.

4. Don't rob the SH bank without saving first, but if you do, make sure you can get out of town safely.

Use quick save (f7) and quick load (f8 ) but don't forget that they're right next to each other, and you might accidentally press save instead of load when you die in combat. Make normal saves too.

 

I keep seeing A:WIP and can download it - but what is it exactly? There isn't a description alongside the mod on the download page ... could someone please offer a little info?

 

Browse through the mod discussion and you'll see what it's about.

 

my advice to someone that has never played is try to keep at least 1 of everything you find unless you see it sold by a merchant. as a new player you don't know what you may need later and some things only show up once in the game.

 

I don't agree with that advice at all! The things that seem useful like the "Camera damaged in the Crash" should be kept, but there's no need to keep 1 of all that little technological crap. Well, unless you play with a technological character. Inwhich case, horde every scrap you find. Playing either a technological or a magical character is expensive. Horde your gold. I'm currently playing a Half-ogre with an int of 4, and it's damn hilarious. I admit I've missed some quests, which is annoying, but I've done'em before, so it'sn't a huge loss. This game is infinately replayable. Make what seems like fun for now, and after you've beaten it, play it through with the complete opposite of that character. It's an amazing game. Explore it.

 

4. DO NOT not use the world map.

Damn RSI in my hand...