Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

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Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Developer(s)	Troika Games
Publisher(s)	Sierra Entertainment
Designer(s)	Jason D. Anderson, Leonard Boyarsky, Timothy Cain[1]
Engine	Arcanum engine
Version	v1074
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date	NA August 21, 2001 EU August 24, 2001
Genre(s)	Computer role-playing
Mode(s)	Single player, LAN multiplayer
Rating(s)	ELSPA: 11+ ESRB: M (Mature) OFLC: MA15+ USK: 12+
Media	2 CD-ROMs
System requirements	200 MHz Intel Pentium CPU, 32 MB RAM, 8 MB video card VGA card (minimum 4 MB RAM), 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 7.0, 16-bit Directx compatible sound card, 1.2 GB available hard disk space, Windows 95
Input methods	Keyboard, mouse

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (aka Arcanum) is a computer role-playing game with a cult following. Developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra Entertainment, it was released in August 2001. It is played in isometric perspective and takes a steampunk-high fantasy setting. The player's main objective is the completion of a central quest, which may be aided by a party.

Debuting at fourth position on NPD Intelect's best-seller list,^[2] 234,000 copies of Arcanum have since been sold,^[3] with takings of $8.8 million.^[4] Despite these lukewarm figures, it remains Troika's best-selling title.

Critical response to the game could best be summed up as "flawed, but still very good", with IGN scoring it 8.7^[5] and conferring the IGN Editors' Choice Award on 24 August 2001. PC Gamer and GameZone awarded Arcanum 90 out of 100,^[6] with the latter also conferring its Editors' Choice accolade. The Electric Playground awarded the game 9 out of 10, calling it "the most diverse and open-ended RPG to date."^[7]

Contents 1 Story 1.1 Prologue 1.2 Non-linear design 2 Steamworks and magick obscura 3 Gameplay 3.1 Character system 3.2 Combat system 4 Setting 4.1 Races 4.2 Locations 4.2.1 The Unified Kingdom 4.2.2 Kingdom of Cumbria 4.2.3 Kingdom of Arland 4.2.4 Glimmering Forest 4.2.5 Stonewall Range 4.2.5.1 The Dwarven Clans 4.2.6 Grey Mountains 4.2.7 Vendigroth Wastes 5 Development 5.1 Modification 5.2 Unofficial patch 6 Sequel 7 Soundtrack 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] Story

[edit] Prologue

Arcanum begins with a cutscene of the IFS Zephyr – a luxury zeppelin, on her maiden voyage from Caladon to Tarant. Two monoplanes, piloted by Half-Ogre Bandits, shortly close in on the craft and commence attack runs, succeeding in shooting it down. A passenger aboard the IFS, an odd-looking gnome, now in his death throes under charred debris, tells the player to bring a silver ring to "the boy", and promptly dies. A robed figure walks among the debris to the player.

Virgil, a robed wayfarer, appears. In utter exasperation, having to rationalise the idea to himself first, he gingerly confirms that the player is the "Living One".

[edit] Non-linear design

Arcanum is an example of a non-linear role-playing game. At various points throughout the game, players may take the story in different directions, sometimes permanently removing different paths of action. The game's central quest ultimately develops according to how players navigate its dichotomies, the most apparent being that of magic and technology.

[edit] Steamworks and magick obscura

The basic premise of Arcanum is one of the game's most exceptional aspects. Hinted to in its subtitle, Arcanum's is a world recently emerged from an industrial revolution.^[8]

An important in-game dynamic maintains that while Technology utilizes physical law to produce a desired result, Magick manipulates physical law to do so. Thus, the two are incompatible to the point that they overwhelm each other – technological devices will become inefficient or even permanently inoperative in the presence of powerful magicks and vice versa. Much of the population (aside from most Elves) has chosen to embrace technology for its efficiency, accessibility and permanent results. To further impress upon the player the opposition of these forces, a player-character with high scientific skills will have little to no success using spells and enchanted items and will be less or even completely unaffected by them; one with similarly high magical skills will have have similar problems with technological devices. This is an important factor in combat – Opponents of opposing inclinations will actually have greater difficulty inflicting damage upon each other(though this effect is less noticeable when using the most potent resources).

The delicate relationship between the magickal establishments and the nascent technologies of industrialization affects Arcanum on social, geopolitical and legal levels.

This shift is dynamic to the politics of Arcanum. There is a great enmity between elves and dwarves, the former being naturally inclined towards magickally-defined society, the latter being forerunners of the technology race – and many of the former blame the latter for the rise of human technology. Scientists are unwelcome in magickal societies like Qintarra or Tulla, but will be respected if they are righteous and good folk. Conversely, a mage would be admitted onto a steam train only on the provision that he take a third-class seat on the last caboose, so as not to cause interference with the engine(despite there being no in-game mechanic by which even the powerful mages can affect it, making the custom similar to how electronic devices are treated on real-world aircraft). Powerful mages may be denied transport altogether. (There is, however, a teleport spell available to mages of sufficient power.)

Orcs and Ogres alike are looked down upon as savage, feral peoples by Arcanum's civilized folk, who own virtually all the industry of the major population centres. Half-breeds inhabit the world as a result of humanity reproducing with anything possible (and not always as willing participants).

[edit] Gameplay

The game involves much travel, with the player often making repeated visits to locations as quests and sub-quests develop over a large in-game timescale. There are sections of guaranteed combat, but it is possible to talk through large portions of the game without having to fight, and the player can use any combination of magic, technology and brute force en route. In addition to this are situations where the player must make moral choices that have lasting effects on the game world and his standing in it.

[edit] Character system

Arcanum is a role-playing game. Players play the role of their characters, who are either pre-generated or custom-created, the latter allowing diverse combinations of race and skill traits, and background. These three characteristics play vital parts in the ways the player interacts with the game world. The player is in control of such things as their character's reputation, and blessings and curses received. The player's actions have in-game consequences.

Characters are developed by fighting opponents and completing quests. In the game, there are any number of different approaches to solving a particular problem.

[edit] Combat system

Arcanum's combat design has received criticism, with claims that it is "poorly balanced"^[9] and "overly simplified". Two combat modes were included in the final release: real-time or turn-based. Again, the player's combat capabilities are in large part governed by the character he has chosen or created.

Deciding whether to use violence in the game sometimes carries consequences for the player's party. Some AI-controlled allies the player makes will find their character's conduct morally objectionable, and leave, or even attack the player.

[edit] Setting

Arcanum is the toponymic fantasy world in which the game unfolds. It consists of a continental mainland and three islands. The player is at liberty to explore the mainland, their coverage partly being governed by the quests they choose to undertake. The three islands—the Isle of Despair, Thanatos and Half Ogre Island—become available only upon initiating particular quests.

The game's races are typically Tolkienian in design, but the way they relate to the world and its other inhabitants imbues them with great degree of realism. The dwarven clans are prone to factional infighting; the elves are separated into two societies due to a political schism ages past. Ethnopolitics features in subquests, NPC dialogues and in-game literature.

[edit] Races

The dwarves of Arcanum are typically Tolkienian in their portrayal – thick beards, short, stocky frames, a preference for axes and hammers as weapons; however, Arcanian dwarfs also take overwhelming interest in technology. The dwarves were the fore-runners in the technological race long before humanity had mastered industrial machinery such as the steam engine. Due to the destruction technology caused by human misuse, the dwarven clans have recluded (although many city dwarves pride themselves on their cosmopolitan nature).

It is said that gnomes evolved from dwarves due merely to natural selection. This gives them no bias in favour of the arcane, and they are just as ready to try their hand at technology. Gnomes tend to organise themselves into strong family units, often running large businesses or syndicates. They are the foremost capitalists of Arcanum, naturally good with money, banking and commerce. Tarant, for example (the largest industrialised city in Arcanum) is run by a gnomish oligarchy. Gnomes are distinguished by fleshy, crooked noses and while not fat, they tend to grow pot-bellied in their senior years.

The most dimunitive of all the minute races, halflings are practically indistinguishable from Tolkien's hobbit. They live and work in agrarian capacities. They relish their food, and are alleged to be the most hospitable race on Arcanum. Like all races, halflings have recently seen more of their kinsmen move to industrial centres such as Tarant and Caladon. Halflings make ideal thieves due to their natural dexterity and small, agile frames. Elves are unusually fond of halflings.

Arguably the most common of all Arcanum's races, humanity has capitalised on the industrial revolution sweeping the world, their populations having experienced a boom as a result. With no natural bias toward either magick or technology, they are nonetheless more likely to turn to technology due to comparatively short lifespans and the favourable quick returns technology provides on investment. Humanity interbreeds with Median and Gigantic races. Humans are the stock race from which all of Arcanum's other median races derive.

The elves are the foremost magickal race in Arcanum, the supernatural agent which split them off from humans several thousand years ago still present in their blood. Due to their magickal nature, they have a hard time becoming technologists and elvish characters take severe penalties when trying to develop their technological skills (in fact it is easier for a dwarf to become a mage than it is for an elf to become a technologist). Like the dwarves, they have gradually receded in wake of the destruction of their forests at the hands of humanity. Their only remaining sizeable settlement is Qintarra, home to their Mother-Queen, the Silver Lady. Elves are characterised by their slender build and handsome demeanour.

As their name suggests, half-elves are human-elven crossbreeds. Whilst sexual intercourse between these races will produce a half-elf, two half-elves can also have half-elvish children, proving that the blood links between humanity and elvenkin are far stronger than many care to admit. Although they are subject to "half-blood" social stigma, half-elves are lucky in that they lose both the greed of their human bloodline and the arrogance of their elvish blood, and are generally well liked by all. They can bear the varying traits of their parentage, such as ear shape, to any degree. Typically half-elves resemble humans more than elves.

The orcs of Arcanum differ from the orcs found in most fantasy games. Whilst widely regarded as feral and bestial, they are not innately vicious or evil. For millennia they have lived as nomads, scouring the plains of Arcanum's west for subsistence. Not exempt from the effects of the new industrial age, many orcs now reside in city slums, employed largely as factory slave labour. Despite their highly magickal heritage (which some assume is even more powerful than that of the elves), they are prevented from undertaking any study of the arcane due to their naturally poor intelligence. Orcs are distinguished by green-purplish skin and bear traits such as upturned snouts or porcine tusks.

Unlike half-elves, half-orcs have borne the brunt of the recent spout of interbreeding. Despite a broad diaspora, they are treated no better than their orcish brethren, as they are usually the product of a male orc raping a female human. Half-orcs are considered natural criminals, yet it is due to this stigma that half-orcs can often be found working as thugs or hitmen, the higher echelons of society denied to them. Half-orcs are more intelligent than their full-blooded cousins.

Ogres are the largest of Arcanum's races, having diverged from the human line during the Epoch of Enchantment. It is widely believed that they are descended from the giants, who became extinct some several thousand years ago. They tend to live out in the wild in semi-tribal systems, often seen as no better than animals. Elves are naturally hateful towards ogres, seeing them as the embodiment of all the characteristics they find repulsive – eg. stupidity, brutishness, rage, ugliness, foulness. Ironically, ogres are also natural enemies of the dwarves, as the two races often compete for territory in the mountains. They've a fairly low intellect; usually the most advanced weapons they fashion are rudimentary clubs.

The origins of the half-ogre are shrouded in mystery. They are often employed as bodyguards by wealthy gnomes and humans, given their outstanding combat ability combined with a gentle domesticity around children and halflings. Due to their imposing nature, half-ogres also find employment as factory guards or doormen and receive scarce social discrimination, if any.

[edit] Locations

[edit] The Unified Kingdom

Despite its being called a kingdom, the Unified Kingdom is ruled by a council instead of a monarch, a misnomer attributable to Tarant’s old kingdom status. The UK lays claim to the Morbihan Plains, due south of the Grey Mountains and east of Stonewall Range. Membership in the UK brings rapid industrialisation, coverage by the Tarant-based UK rail transport network and free trade with other Kingdom members.

The most advanced city of Arcanum, Tarant is the capital of the UK. Ruled by the Tarant Industrial Council, its Vermillion Station is the interchange point for the UK rail network, and is the world's largest population centre. Tarant features basic modern amenities such as electric lighting, kept running by the largest power grid in Arcanum.

A homely seaside town (provided one ignores the nearby castle of the undead), Ashbury is fairly well-to-do, hosting a basic power grid and well-maintained buildings and public facilities. Economic activity is unsurprisingly centered on its port, which is the easternmost stop-over point on the maritime trade routes. The town was one of the first population centres to be linked with the UK rail network.

[edit] Kingdom of Cumbria

A decrepit husk of its former self, Cumbria retains whatever meagre districts of the south-eastern mainland not already claimed by the UK. Due to King Praetor's conservatism over issues of technological reform, he is regarded as old and deluded by those outside the ailing kingdom. Most of Cumbria's infrastructure has been long neglected, due not only to its industrial policy, but also a plague it suffered some years earlier.

The Cumbrian capital, Dernholm is crippled by a refusal to embrace industrialisation and as such no longer holds any power on the world stage. Its provinces are all attempting to leave and join with Tarant under the UK banner.

The central stopover point of the maritime trade routes, Black Root prospers from being a compulsory stop for ships, but due to Cumbria's poor infrastructure, local leadership is not to standard. A de jure Cumbrian entity, the mayor is conflicted over whether to pay Cumbrian taxes or UK taxes, given that the UK is in a position to offer it practicable military defence. Black Root is situated near a river delta, and maintains a robust agricultural sector.

[edit] Kingdom of Arland

A small but thriving monarchy west of the Stonewall range, the Kingdom of Arland is the only realistic rival to the UK, but nevertheless applying for UK membership, seeking the increased wealth and prosperity it brings.

Caladon is similar to Tarant, with the exception that it's still a monarchy. Situated at the mainland's southernmost point near Stonewall's southern terminus, Caladon is the headquarters of the Panarii religion, and said to house Nasrudin's corpse. It could well be said that the city was founded by the Panarii as their prime religious centre, akin to real-world Jerusalem.

The IFS Zephyr was built in Caladon, funded by Tarantian investors.

The seaside town of Roseborough houses the best, largest and most well-equipped inn in all Arcanum, as well as the mysterious Ring of Brodgar, a structure resembling Stonehenge. The locals know the Ring to be imbued with powerful magicks, as technological items malfunction if they're brought too close; otherwise the Ring is considered a tourist attraction.

[edit] Glimmering Forest

The Glimmering Forest is the largest forest in Arcanum. It also seems to be imbued with magickal forces, as even the most aggressive wildlife is passive unless attacked. Within it lies the cities of Qintarra and T'sen-Ang.

Arcanum's Elven centre, Qintarra's main entrance is protected by magickal wards, and the city itself is built high upon the forest canopy. In the city resides the Silver Lady, one of the oldest Elves at over 2000 years.

Home of the Dark Elves, T'sen-Ang is structurally similar to Qintarra, albeit of an ominous character and darker aesthetic. The camp somehow manages to look dark even during the day, and a magickal ward prevents mages from teleporting to within even walking distance of it.

[edit] Stonewall Range

A snow-capped mountain range that spans from the sea at its southern terminus to the Grey Mountains at the northern, Stonewall Range, as per the name, isolates south-east Arcanum from the rest of the world. Stonewall's topography is harsh, with the few traversable routes inhabited by aggressive wildlife. Some of the dwarven clans have made homes in the caverns along the range, and believe themselves blessed, for in the common Arcanum creation myth, their god Alberich is the land itself, and they are special for being the first and only people to live exclusively within Him.

Lying before the western face at the southern end of the range, Shrouded Hills is a rural town with a largely agrarian work base. It is the nearest town to the crash site of the IFS Zephyr.

[edit] The Dwarven Clans

The ancient site of the Black Mountain Clan was once home to a proud city of dwarves, who seem to have grown rich from trade with the elves of neighbouring Glimmering Forest and the humans of Stillwater. Arcanum's most prominent industrialist, Gilbert Bates, took the idea of the steam engine from the Black Mountain Clan and adapted its design for industrial utilities. However, shortly after this, the Black Mountain Clan disappeared entirely, the issue of their disappearance being part of main quest of Arcanum.

The Stonecutter Clan is one of the smallest dwarven settlements, the site of this clan is also somewhat deserted. The Clan is home to the remains of a laboratory belonging to Kerghan the Terrible – the sole human mage on Nasrudin's elven council. Kerghan was renowned for his research into dark magick (in fact he founded Dark Necromancy), and his laboratory is not without remaining evidence of sadistic projects. Upon its discovery, a visiting dwarf studied his research notes and attempted to apply them in a scientific manner. He ended up accidentally reanimating a horde of the undead.

Home to the earliest and greatest of the dwarves, the Iron Clan is now nothing more than a small, deserted hall and a throne room. Whilst most early dwarves focussed, like humanity, on hunting, farming and fishing, it was the dwarves of the Iron Clan who invented the first great marvels of dwarven technology.

[edit] Grey Mountains

While the Grey Mountains haven't the breadth of Stonewall Range, they are absolutely impassable with no overland routes available. It is home to one dwarven clan, the Wheel.

Stillwater is a provincial pocket between the junction of Stonewall, the Grey Mountains and the tributaries of Hadrian River. Its most prized export is a high-quality sword, known titularly as the Stillwater Blade; the town is also home to a local legend, the Stillwater Giant.

As the location of the dwarven royal family (the Thunderstones), the Wheel Clan is to Dwarven society what Tarant is to the Unified Kingdom. King Loghaire Thunderstone currently lives in self-imposed exile in the Dredge – a deep, perilous mine running beneath the site. His son, Prince Randver Thunderstone, has assumed the title of King-in-waiting, and despite a well-meaning character, his rule is regarded as shaky and indecisive. The Wheel Clan is technologically and scientifically advanced, to the extent where the dwarves are able to cultivate crops underground. Although a deeply isolationist settlement (it takes a fair amount of effort and ingenuity on the player's behalf to find it), Wheel Clansmen respect and admire those who aid in their endeavours.

[edit] Vendigroth Wastes

The Wastes is the name given to the site remains of an advanced civilisation, now extinct, known as the Vendigroth. Now a desolate wasteland, overland access to the Vendigroth Wastes is only possible via a bridge built two millennia ago, called the "Gateway".

Protected underground, the ruins of Vendigroth are littered with the miscellany of a bygone era. Vendigroth appears to have been more modernised at the point of its demise than the current Arcanum status quo, to the extent of having mastered meteorology, for instance. Unlike most of the modern-day technological powers, Vendigroth retained religion, as the only altar in the world for Velorien (All-Father of the gods), resides within the city.

Concealed from view, Tulla is the premier institution of the magickal colleges, accessible only via a special gate. Founded several millennia ago by Pelojian—a noble mage disappointed by the short-sighted corruption of his peers—Tulla is renowned throughout the world for housing exceedingly powerful arcane artifacts.

[edit] Development

Arcanum's public beta testing commenced in September 2000.^[10] It is the debut title of now-defunct development house Troika Games, which consisted of former Interplay Entertainment staff—most notably Tim Cain—responsible for 1997's critically acclaimed Fallout.

On release, the game was found to be incompatible with some video cards such as Voodoo2, and drivers such as nVidia's Detonator3. Furthermore, the game's copy protection software, SecuROM, caused system-component conflicts with particular brands of sound cards and CD-ROM drives.^[11]

[edit] Modification

The game comes packaged with an editor, allowing players to create their own maps, campaigns and NPCs, called WorldEdit. The program allows any game-world object to be input into existing and newly created environments via GUI menus. Editing can be done in either isometric or top-down views. Players have charge over the game's variables, such as the skill level required to pick a certain lock, or the precise time that an electric light will turn on. Players are also able to create brand new objects via the scenery creator.

[edit] Unofficial patch

The latest official patch, 1.0.7.4 was released in 2001 and leaves many bugs unfixed and a large portion of game content unused.

The best known comprehensive fix package is Drog Black Tooth's unofficial Arcanum patch series at RPG Codex, which fixes many of Arcanum's remaining issues without altering the game's balance. The patch also restores a substantial amount of lost content, including endings, audio, artwork and animations. One of the patch's most notable features is the removal of sprite mirroring, restoring more than 200 megabytes of previously unused animations to the game. The project is on-going and currently at version 080604 (as of 4 June 2008). ^[12]

[edit] Sequel

In a 2000 interview with Nextgame.it Tim Cain announced plans for an Arcanum sequel,^[13] but these plans would not come to pass – Troika Games filed for dissolution on September 30, 2005.^[14]

In September 2006, one of Arcanum's lead programmers and tri-founder of Troika, Leonard Boyarsky, divulged that the studio had originally commenced work on a sequel, going by the working title of Journey to the Centre of Arcanum, which would use Valve's Source Engine. Development was curtailed by disputes between Sierra and Valve, resulting ultimately in the project being shelved.^[15]

[edit] Soundtrack

Arcanum features an unusual soundtrack for any RPG, let alone computer game. Composed by Ben Houge, it is scored almost entirely for string quartet. It follows the conventional RPG soundtrack format: short, impressionistic vignettes which are looped in-game. The soundtrack was produced by Ben Houge and Jeff Pobst, with Leonid Keylin on first violin, Kathy Stern on second violin, Vincent Comer on viola, Susan Williams on cello, Evan Buehler on marimba and Ben Houge on djembe, rainstick and synthesiser.

The soundtrack was not commercially released, but is available for free download^[16] here, courtesy of Sierra On-Line and Troika Games. The sheet music is also provided.

1. "Arcanum" - 2:37 2. "The Demise of the Zephyr" - 1:33 3. "Wilderness" - 2:12 4. "Tarant" - 2:07 5. "The Tarant Sewers" - 2:13 6. "Caladon" - 2:39 7. "Caladon Catacombs" - 2:55 8. "Dungeons" - 3:00 9. "Battle at Vendigroth" - 1:34 10. "Tulla" - 3:11 11. "Towns" - 2:01

12. "The Isle of Despair" - 2:27 13. "Mines" - 2:41 14. "Cities" - 2:20 15. "Radcliffe's Commission" - 1:35 16. "The Vendigroth Wastes" - 3:05 17. "Villages" - 2:46 18. "Qintarra" - 1:56 19. "The Wheel Clan" - 2:06 20. "The Void" - 0:50 21. "Kerghan's Castle" - 2:25 22. "In Memoriam" (bonus track) - 2:45

The track "In Memoriam" was unused in the game itself and was later released by Houge in an interview.^[17] It can be downloaded from here.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Computer role-playing game
• Black Isle Studios
• Fallout
• Tim Cain

[edit] External links

• Official website – Appears to be down as of August 2006. Archived version available here
• Terra Arcanum

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