Welcome to the forum, Wenar!



You're there.

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If you can't go through a problem, go over it, under it, or around it.

Double Virgil:

I refused to join Virgil after the crash, and upon returning to the crash site, a second Virgil appeared next to the first one, doing exactly the same line as the original one. This has never happened to me before the UAP, so I guess it's a genuine UAP bug.


Also one question, after the UAP treasure in the kite shaman's chest seems severely upgraded, was this intended and does it happen to other chests in the game?

I'm not complaining about this patch, but I do have a question about it and I would very much like to have an answer. The question is this: is there ANY CHANCE that this patch was the culprit in the murder of my computer?

My laptop is dead. Deceased. When I press the power button, the LED lights come on, and the backlight for the screen lights up but there is nothing. Just blackness. Today I handed it over to a repairman, or mortician depending on how it goes.



What happened was, I downloaded the game. I actually own a copy, but I borrowed it out a couple of years ago and now I've forgotten who borrowed it. My first download was corrupt, it couldnt transfer the file Arcanum1.dat, and I tried an unorthodox manual install. It didnt work, but it created a breathable atmosphere for my saved games when I had to reset my computer to an earlier point later on.

I deleted the folder, re-downloaded the install disc and installed the game. it worked perfectly. I installed the latest version of this patch, the high-res patch and the level cap raiser thingy.

In shrouded hills, speaking to the gnome wizard who wants to destroy the steam engine, everything froze. I couldn't alt+tab, ctrl+alt+delete or anything. I killed the power.

The computer was pretty much coughing up blood, it had so much difficulty getting back up. It restored to before the installation. By this time, I was hooked, and I realize now how incredibly stupid this was but I installed the game again. The saves were intact in the folder from the "manual install". This time I didn't use the level cap thingy or the high-res patch, hoping that one of these was the culprit. (It could have been something else entirely of course, like norton antivirus.)

The game functioned perfectly, I played for most of a day, but when I was surfing later on the computer spontaneously dropped dead, back to the black screen. I rebooted but nothing worked, so I found another PC and checked HP support. They recommended taking out the battery. This worked like a charm, and with almost unbearable stupidity I installed the game yet again.

I played it another whole day, shut it off, went to sleep, started it up, browsed a few webpages and had a look in the arcanum install folder when it finally died. Not even the battery thing worked anymore. I've handed it in.

Now I know that there's a chance I might get a hold of that saved game file if the repairman copies the hard drive. I'm itching to play. What do you guys recommend I do?

Nice forum btw.

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Arcanum killed my computer, everytime I played Vista had to reset to an earlier reset point just to save itself. But Vista made one mistake... it did not delete my saved game.

R.I.P. my computer.

Also I could report some bugs since that's what this thread is for. Provided my previous post describes what is actually a bug, then it's a huge one. Here are some minor ones.

I don't know if these things were in the original game since it's so long ago I played it. But Virgil is a pain. He refuses to heal Magnus until Magnus is so low on HP he is way past the threshold of being one-punched by anything larger than an ailing wolf.

Even out of combat, magnus is running around on half hp with virgil on a full fatigue bar, and he never gets healed until way way later. Once I had the time to do seven boring fetch quests in Tarant before Virgil suddenly noticed that Magnus was bleeding to death. Yet Virgil heals the others just fine.

Also sometimes, when I fireflash something, as I'm wont to do, as soon as combat is over my NPCs go haywire and start beating like crazy on a lamppost or a window or some other random piece of furniture, until it breaks or their weapons do or until I run away and they notice I'm missing.


Also this is probably not a bug per se, but the entire team pick up EVERYTHING. Broken swords and shields, CK sugar, mostly heavy bulky things that noone will buy. I've actually had to use the trashcans in Tarant just to get rid of rubbish. Oddly appropriate.

They make strange, inferior choices when deciding on what equipment in their inventory they should use as well. Sometimes I stick something vastly superior to their current gear in their inventory and they ignore it, sometimes they switch out a good sword for a cursed one with better max damage.

And this may be me not knowing a particular hot key, but I can't get the hud to stay up. It minimizes, and I have to press "I" or "M" or some other key to get it up and select a spell that's not in my minimal hud "bar" on the bottom.

Sometimes after saving or loading the hud wont come up at all, no matter what I press. This can be sometimes be solved by talking to an npc and asking to trade. Reloading also works.

Hope something here is helpful.

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Arcanum killed my computer, everytime I played Vista had to reset to an earlier reset point just to save itself. But Vista made one mistake... it did not delete my saved game.

R.I.P. my computer.

I had never of such problems with my Arcanum plus Patch, on my computer, or on the laptop. So I don't know what caused this.



Did you have the same problems when you installed the game with the actual discs of Arcanum, or was it because you probably have a faulty download of the game?



Alas, that's not a bug.



You can always try to press F5 that will make the NPC's to back off, and stop fighting.

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Ash: [talking to mirror] I'm fine... I'm fine...
[Mirror Ash jumps out of the mirror and grabs Ash]
Mirror Ash: I don't think so. We just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound "fine"?

No, and besides that was years ago, on a different computer. That was on XP.[/quote]

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Arcanum killed my computer, everytime I played Vista had to reset to an earlier reset point just to save itself. But Vista made one mistake... it did not delete my saved game.

R.I.P. my computer.

Okay, this case is a bit strange indeed. I installed and played this game (+Patch) on my own computer, and on the laptop of my father without any problems. They both have XP.

Perhaps you can play the game without any patches first, and then try to play the game with only the official patch. After that, install Drog's patch and play to game with the patch of Drog. Therefore, you can find out who the real culprit is.

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Ash: [talking to mirror] I'm fine... I'm fine...
[Mirror Ash jumps out of the mirror and grabs Ash]
Mirror Ash: I don't think so. We just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound "fine"?

I think your computer died more because of cooling problems, and it just happened to be that the extra stress added by a game (yes, even Arcanum can do that) trişggered the first symptome. After that, it was only a matter of time before your computer died.

...enough beating, I'll talk, I'll talk! You're all wrong. Arcanum was created for a reason. And the reason? It was Tim Cain's plan to kill your computer from the very beginning. Its immune system has proven to be too strong though, so he ordered his two henchman - Bill Gates and Drog Black Tooth - to do something about it and voila, with their powers combined, the master plan is finally fulfilled! Can I go home now?


In the unpatched version Vigil was known for getting his fatigue nearly to zero because of trying to heal the PC even when he/she had a high tech aptitude and was pretty much immune to his spells. It's impossible to satisfy everyone, yet surely it's sound more reasonable to not try to heal tech followers with magic rather than doing it even if only a small fraction of the spells work.


It's not a random piece of furniture. When you attack an enemy, the followers help you and attack him as well. Logical? Yes. Bug? No. When you attack an item, the followers help you and attack it as well. Logical? Yes. Bug? No. As we all know, fireflash does area damage, so when you cast that spell and damage any object with it, the followers help you and attack it for you. Don't blame them for trusting that you know what are you doing. Use F5 instead, just like Arthgon already said.


Well, choosing a sword with a better max damage isn't that strange, is it? But yeah, we know what you mean and indeed it would be wisest to never allow followers to choose equipment, they simply don't know what's best for them. Virgil, could you please take off those Fancy Ladies Boots? People are staring at us, for Vel's sake!

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Nothing can stop the Smooze.

I don't know his motives and don't agree with removing all his pages but it IS his right to do it. But it doesn't mean I will write anything against him like many people (persons) do/did here.

I'm not a robber/despoiler. I contributed several times to his work in the last months and Drog accepted most of my bug reports (but not all). He also helped me with many things so our Czech version is playable now much better than before. Thanks to Drog.

I thought he was not interested in patching of Arcanum any more so I asked my question for the "upcoming list" to continue with patching of our Czech language version. Unfortunately I don't have enough language skills to work on English patch. Also I don't have a lot of free time (I'm trying to start building of my own house) so the "upcoming list" would help me to save the time. Otherwise I would need to browse, analyze and play-test many bug reports on this TA forum, RPGCodex forum etc.

I hope there will be more understanding for my attempts now:-) Any help appreciated...

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DDTerr.

Unofficial patch for Czech version of Arcanum:
http://www.volny.cz/ddterr

I shall have their heads! It is time someone pushed Bill Gates out of a window.

I suppose you are right. I hope it is a software issue in any case, because I can't afford a new computer. I forgot to mention all that business about me turning off UAC and then turning it on again in sheer terror after the first crash.



About it being cooling problems, I don't think so. I've had cooling problems, the computer is usually good at turning itself off if it gets too hot. And I've started having it on top of little jars to ventilate it. Besides, I've played much more demanding games before this.


One thing I have noted though is that the fire spells really bog down the system. after a couple of firewalls the game is way past laggy. This does seem strange.


Think I should give Magnus every healing salve I come across instead. Thanks for the F5 tip. Anyone know how to solve the problem I have with my hud?

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Arcanum killed my computer, everytime I played Vista had to reset to an earlier reset point just to save itself. But Vista made one mistake... it did not delete my saved game.

R.I.P. my computer.

Latest news from the coroner.


My PC would not reinstall Vista. Some kind of BIOS problem, so it's definitely looking hardware now. I have gotten my computer back, but it is a mere husk of it's former self, hollow except for a few documents and my Arcanum saved game, rustling in the wind like twigs in the dried out ribcage of some long-since thirsted to death wilderbeast.

I feel like I'm holding someones cremated ashes. At least I didn't have to pay.

Next move is to try to get this repaired somehow. It's past warranty, sadly, but perhaps the retailer made some obscure promise I can force it to keep. The reciepts should be somewhere in this dusty tome...

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Arcanum killed my computer, everytime I played Vista had to reset to an earlier reset point just to save itself. But Vista made one mistake... it did not delete my saved game.

R.I.P. my computer.

Manufacturer, Model, production date. All upgrades you made to it. Stock installed operating system. It's hard to fix things remotely, but I'll see what I can do.

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DarkFool, really appriciate the helpful spirit. I'm not too good with a screwdriver, so I might end up having to hand it in no matter what is wrong, but any tip you might have would still be much appriciated.

The comp is a HP Pavilion Dv2699eo, without any hardware upgrades or modifications, shipped with Vista (I think home edition or whatever, definitely not ultimate vista). I'm not sure when the production date was, but I'm pretty sure I bought it about this time of year two years ago. I'm going to my parents house tomorrow to look for any receipts and stuff that might be lying around.

It has shut itself off from overheating a couple of times maybe a year back, ever since I've put it on top of some small jars to keep it ventilated. No such problems since then, however my fan has made a weird humming sound sometimes these last months, like a bee was stuck inside the computer, though it was still evidently working since I could hear it spinning and since the comp wasn't noticable hotter than before.

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Arcanum killed my computer, everytime I played Vista had to reset to an earlier reset point just to save itself. But Vista made one mistake... it did not delete my saved game.

R.I.P. my computer.

I would hit the holiday sales, and buy yourself a nice w7 replacement?

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dunno if this is a known one...

I know that not following the main plot line can cause Raven not to appear in Qintarra. I did, however, do all the main quests in order. What I also did though was teleporting pretty much everywhere, thereby skipping Hardin's Pass. Dunno if that's what triggered it.

Also, I got the Qintarra location by killing the Stillwater Elf, then taking the amulet to Shrouded Hills. By that time I had already killed most everyone in SH, but the Elven healer got resurrected automatically (I guess because she's vital) but was still hostile and attacked me. I killed her, conjured her spirit and so got the location of Qintarra.

Your point being that...? Raven isn't in Qintarra until she is needed it the plot, it's not a bug, it's how it's supposed to work.

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Nothing can stop the Smooze.

She is needed to get the audience with the Silver Lady, isn't she? And that's where the plot hangs right now.

Raven can't be found in Qintarra until the main plot's state is "Must go to Qintarra", just like Myrth who can't be found in Stillwater until the story state = "Must find the location of Qintarra", but both of them appear in their normal location when the main plot gets to the right stage. Visiting those locations earlier shouldn't corrupt anything (in fact, updating the story's state to "Must go to Qintarra" using Virgil's Debug Menu while standing next to the Silver Lady's chamber's door makes Raven appear on my very eyes). If the main plot state in your game is "Must go to Qintarra" and Raven isn't where she should be then indeed, it looks like a bug. You may try to leave Qintarra and return to see if that triggers anything.

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Nothing can stop the Smooze.

I handed my comp in to the retailer today. Turns out I had 300 dollars worth of insurance, for 3 years. My arcanum save is also intact. Bad news: repair time, 3-4 weeks. That's brutal. I borrowed my dads old laptop, with a puny seven inch screen.

getting arcanum back as we speak...

I suppose I'm gonna buy a stationary comp during the holiday sales.

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Arcanum killed my computer, everytime I played Vista had to reset to an earlier reset point just to save itself. But Vista made one mistake... it did not delete my saved game.

R.I.P. my computer.

Nope, I even went to Hardin's Pass and fought my way through there to make it a legit travel point on the map, but that didn't make Raven appear either. So the problem is either:

1. Killing the Elf Herbalist then using conjure spirit to get the Qintarra location

2. Having killed her before, so that she gets resurrected by the game so you have to kill her again before conjuring spirit (she's hostile when she comes back so you can't talk to her)

or

3. Teleporting around the world map causes problems. Especially, teleporting directly to Qintarra and thereby skipping Hardin's Pass could be the problem. Which is a bug because you don't skip anything storywise (both locations appear on your world map at the same time)

1 and 3 should not cause a problem because they were taken into account during the scripting of the game.

2 remains a possibility but as a glitch. A key flag failed to set when it was supposed to and now the "Raven Appear" flag can't be used.

If you have a save prior to your first trip to Qintarra, go to the Arcanum\modules\Arcanum\maps folder and delete all the oddly-named files there.
Start the game with the earlier save and try again.

If this doesn't work or you don't have the save, then I'm afraid you're out of luck.

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If you can't go through a problem, go over it, under it, or around it.

yeah, I think I read about problems with auto resurrection a long time ago.

I'm having a similar problem right now with the main plot. I get to Roseborough with the fake book but Virgil and everyone else still thinks Im looking for Victor Misk.

How do I acess Virgils debug menu?

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Arcanum killed my computer, everytime I played Vista had to reset to an earlier reset point just to save itself. But Vista made one mistake... it did not delete my saved game.

R.I.P. my computer.

1) Have the 1.0.7.4 official patch and the UAP installed.
2) Put this file in your Arcanum folder (the one with Arcanum.exe in it).
3) Follow the "Can I ask you some questions?" dialogue line with Virgil.

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Nothing can stop the Smooze.