Arcanum: Of Steam Engines and Magic
| Arcanum: Of Steam Engines and Magic | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Original title | Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura | ||
| Studio | Troika Games | ||
| Publisher | Sierra Entertainment | ||
| Senior Developer |
Jason D. Anderson Leonard Boyarsky Timothy Cain |
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
 August 21, 2001 August 24, 2001 |
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| platform | Windows | ||
| genre | Computer role playing game | ||
| Subject | Steampunk , fantasy | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Keyboard , mouse | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
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| medium | 2 CD-ROMs , download | ||
| language | German English | ||
| Current version | 1.0.7.4 (2001) v091225 (2009, community patch ) |
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| Age rating |
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Arcanum: Of steam engines and magic (engl. Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura ) is a by Troika Games developed computer role-playing game with Steampunk -elements that in August 2001 by Sierra On-Line was released.
Game world and storyline
Arcanum is set in a world that has all of the typical role-playing content. So live in this world people , elves , orcs , ogres and dwarves . But in contrast to other role-playing games, an industrial revolution is taking place in this world , so that besides magic there are also technical inventions such as trains and firearms . The other natural sciences are also quite well developed.
The player takes on the role of the only survivor of an airship crash . Since the airship was shot down, it is important to find out why. You follow the trail of a mysterious ring.
The total playing time is over sixty hours.
Gameplay
Role play system
At the beginning the player has the choice between different races. Among other things, halflings , dwarves, (half) orcs, humans and (half) elves. There is no class system. During the game, the player decides whether he would rather fight, do magic or sneak. The group of the player depends on the attributes and the alignment. For example, if you meet a good-natured magician and want to include him in the group, you mustn't be bad-tempered. If the attitude changes in the course of the game, it can happen that a character separates from the group. It is possible to play the game through without a group.
The game is particularly attractive due to the contrast between technology and magic that runs through the entire game. This additional dualism ensures, in addition to the typical role-playing opposites of “good and bad” and “swords or sorcery”, a high level of complexity in both the character system and the story.
Magically gifted characters receive advantages when using magic spells, but cannot use technological aids, for example not taking the train. With technologists it is exactly the opposite: the use of physical principles prevents magic from working safely. Nevertheless, it is possible to take a middle path: Then the character will benefit neither from increased magic nor from technology-related magic resistance, but can use and combine both disciplines to a limited extent.
In addition to the character system, the plot of the game is also permeated by the conflict between technology and magic, and the player is often forced to choose a side. Since these decisions sometimes have very different effects, this also increases the replayability .
Combat system
The player has the choice between two combat systems, round modes and combat in real time . You can only control the main character, the other characters act independently. There is no pause button in real-time mode. Fights can be fought with both magical means, for example spells and magical weapons, and technological means, for example firearms and explosives. The player can often avoid fights entirely through diplomacy or "sneaking around" the enemy.
history
development
Arcanum: From Steam Engines and Magic was developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra On-Line in August 2001 . The music for the game was composed by Ben Houge . A version dubbed in German was also created.
synchronization
| role | German speaker | English speaker |
|---|---|---|
| Virgil | Jan Reinartz | Rino Romano |
| Raven | Tasia Valenza | |
| Simeon Gate | Dwight Schultz | |
| Silver princess | Diane Pershing | |
| Kan Hua | Kay Kuter | |
| teller | Kay Kuter | |
| Z'an Al'urin | Phillese sampler | |
| Loghaire | Barry Dennen | |
| Kerghan | Jeff Coopwood | |
| Gilbert Bates | Nick Jameson | |
| Magnus | Julian West | |
| Arronax | Jim Ward | |
| At all | Jim Ward | |
| Joachim | Jim Ward | |
| Nasrudin | Jim Ward | |
| Franklin | Michael Gough | |
| Torian | Mark Klastorin | |
| M'in Gorad | Gisselle Loren | |
| Geoffrey | Richard Tatum |
Patches
The game is notorious for its numerous bugs in the software after its release. Troika published patches to correct this , but due to the closure of the studio, many problems remained in the game even with the last available patch. For this reason, further patches were developed by the game community, so-called community patches , which could fix many of the problems that existed with the last official version.
successor
In 2000, developer Tim Cain announced in an interview with the Italian game magazine that Troika had plans for a successor. The game had the working title Journey to the Center of Arcanum , but development was never completed. According to Troika founder Leonard Boyarsky in September 2006, the project should be based on the Source Engine and take up concepts from the Troika title Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines . However, disagreements between the Arcanum rights holder Sierra Entertainment and source developer Valve led to the early termination of the work.
reception
Game magazines received the game very well, for example the American magazines PC Gamer and Computer Games Magazine named Arcanum the best RPG of 2001 , and the New York Times also favorably reviewed Arcanum. The game's soundtrack was also well received and was retrospectively listed as one of the twelve best computer game soundtracks ever by Forbes Magazine in 2012. The main points of criticism were the outdated graphics at the time of publication, the combat system, an extremely makeshift multiplayer mode and the countless bugs in the software.
The game was Troika's most economically successful game, after its debut it landed in 4th place on NPD Intelect 's bestseller list. Overall, it sold 234,000 times with revenues of 8.8 million USD .
Performances of the soundtrack
The soundtrack of the game was interpreted by a classical orchestra at the GC 2005 in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and by a string quartet in 2008 in Moscow.
Web links
- www.troikagames.com/arcanum.htm ( Memento of December 4, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) Official Arcanum site of Troika
- www.sierrastudios.com/games/arcanum ( Memento of August 15, 2000 in the Internet Archive ) Official Arcanum site of Sierra
- Arcanum at MobyGames (English)
- Arcanum-Engine Remake Project (2012, English)
- terra-arcanum.com ( Memento from August 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) - Terra Arcanum Fansite (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Unofficial Arcanum Patch v091225 Released . In: gamebanshee.com . December 27, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
- ↑ Antonino Tumeo: Interview to Tim Cain ( English ) NextGame.it. April 23, 2000. Archived from the original on March 25, 2004. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
- ↑ seorin: Arcanum - Part 1: Introduction ( English ) lparchive.org. May 18, 2007. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
- ↑ Arcanum Manual (English; PDF; 4.9 MB)
- ↑ Ben Houge: Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura ( English ) September 11, 2001. Accessed January 21, 2011.
- ↑ Nextgame.it: Interview to Tim Cain - Intervista . In: Nextgame.it . Archived from the original on March 25, 2004. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 6, 2006.
- ↑ Jonathan Strickland: What are the best video games that were never made? ( English ) In: HowStuffWorks . Discovery Communications . May 2, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013: "Journey to the Center of Arcanum" was meant to be a sequel to the computer role-playing game (CRPG) "Arcanum" by Troika Games. [...] Unfortunately, the company faced financial troubles and dissolved before developers could complete the game. "
- ↑ Tim Cain : We are Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, and Josh Sawyer from Obsidian Entertainment. AMA ( English ) In: Reddit . May 2, 2013. Retrieved on August 30, 2013: "I have often thought of making a sequel to Arcanum, especially since Troika designed a sequel called" Journey to the Center of Arcanum "back in 2001, but I don't own the rights and there doesn't seem much interest from the publisher to back such a project. "
- ^ Journey to the Center of Arcanum . Terra Arcanum. Archived from the original on October 15, 2006. Retrieved October 18, 2006: "Journey to the Center of Arcanum" was our original plan for the Source Engine. There's not much to tell, really. We hadn't gotten that far in the planning stages before there was some sort of problem between Sierra and Valve which scrapped the whole thing. Our general idea was to try to do alot of the same things we tried to do with Bloodlines, but in the Arcanum setting. "
- ^ IGN editors: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura . IGN . August 24, 2001. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ↑ Editor: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Reviews . GameRankings . August 22, 2001. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ Robert Gerbino: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Review . Gamezone. August 30, 2001. Archived from the original on December 22, 2006. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ GameRankings editorial team: GameRankings: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura . GameRankings. August 22, 2001. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ↑ Charles Herold: GAME THEORY; Yielding (or Not) to the Magic of Exotica ( English ) www.nytimes.com. October 4, 2001. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
- ↑ Erik Kain: The Top 12 Video Game Soundtracks Of All Time ( English ) forbes.com. September 8, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
- ↑ Trey Walker: Arcanum debuts at number four ( English ) Gamespot . September 6, 2001. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ↑ GameBanshee newsroom: Troika Games' Sales Figures ( English ) GameBanshee. March 1, 2005. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
- ^ 2005 Symphonic Game Music Concert at the GC - Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany ( Memento from January 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) music4games.net
