Pastique and Time Bomb Observation

Okay so for the first time ever I'm playing through a character who's good enough with explosives to make both plastique and time bombs and I've noticed something ridiculous: people in arcanum love to pick up plastique, which you'd think some people in the world would know about and hence would also know that it can be detonated remotely so approaching it is highly dangerous, and yet time bombs - which are disguised appealingly as a present - people never look twice at! Why on earth would a person approach something that looks like a dangerous explosive and yet there's no love for the present shaped time bomb?! I'm curious as to why it is an in game feature that people pick up plastique and yet leave time bombs well alone - why would the developers ever choose to include something so bizarrely counterintuitive?

 

Plastique looks odd and unique, and people have never seen something like that before, and pick it up, so they can inspect it at their leisure, while odd presents making ticking noises aren't as interesting.

 

Don't think there's much of a plan behind that. NPCs simply pick up everything they can, random boulders included. They would pick up an activated time bomb as well, were it made a pickable object.

 

Well I guess that explains the craziness then! It just struck me as odd that they wouldn't pick up something like that but I guess if it's not pickable then that'll be why. I've also noticed that no one cares if you plant a time bomb on them, they just stand there smiling like idiots not caring about their swift impending doom! The people of Arcanum need to get their priorities sorted.

I suppose that makes sense - a person might think that a random present is too good to be true, especially if it's ticking; yet with plastique they become overly intrigued by the unusual technological trinket, and when their curiousity gets the better of them they approach it and... BOOM! My character blows their face off.

 

They wouldn't be smiling if they knew it is a time bomb. They get hostile when you plant a dynamite on them, after all. Here, the thought in their head is probably "A present? For me? Thanks, I'll check it out a bit later".

 

I guess so, but then following that train of thought you'd think that when you drop a time bomb people would think "Whoa lookie there, that chump dropped a gift that he'd bought for someone. Well sucks to be him, I'm gonna get me some free stuff" or at least "Oh dear, that mans dropped a present he bought for someone. I better pick it up to give back to him next time he's in here again" but no! Apparently people hate gifts when they've been dirtied up by the floor, they're just so choosy!

 

If, instead of planting the time bomb on the ground (hand icon), you will drop it there (red arrow icon), they will be more than happy to pick it up, showing that they want to pick the pretty present up - it's just the sinister game mechanic that makes it impossible for them when the bomb is activated.

 

I guess that makes sense, maybe they are just put off by the loud ticking it makes when when you arm it and place it on the floor, something that is muffled when you give it to them and then they stick it in their jacket or bag. I feel like now I understand the people of Arcanum's wierd relationship with presents a little better, thanks!

 

By the way, does the time bomb actually tick in your game? In the versions I currently have (1.0.7.4 + UAP v091225 and 1.0.7.4 + A:WIP 6.0) it makes a hissing sound, identical to that of a dynamite. Needless to say, ticking would be much more fitting, considering the mechanical nature of the time bomb's fuse.

 

No it doesn't, I just called it ticking seeing as that's what TimothyXL described it as originally. You wouldn't think it would be too hard to mod though, as in giving it the same noise as when you boot up Hasten. Not that I'd know how to do such a thing, but I guess you wouldn't think changing the sound it makes with a pre-existing sound in the game would be too tricky.

 

A hissing sound effect? Of course! They think it contains snakes. And they're sick and tired of these goshdarned snakes in these goshdarned presents.

 

Well if it's snakes in the presents then people would probably be wary, especially if they're getting on a train. No one wants snakes on a pl... erm I mean train!