Unofficial Arcanum Patch (Original Thread)

[Drog Black Tooth]

If they are retrievable it is less of an issue.
It would require the player to carry a backup weapon, in case of swarms of enemies, but for most enemies, 2, 3, 4 shots with the blade launcher will take them down.

This is actually possible through scripting (once the weapon fires, it destroys a specific object (a throwing dagger) in a wielder's inventory and creates the same object in triggerer's inventory if a successful hit was made, and it's even possible that on miss it would create a dagger just around a wielder). It's actually an interesting idea, that would find some use for now useless throwing daggers.

I actually went ahead and coded it, since it's simple. And I have to tell you, this was an awesome idea.

Basically, the blade launcher now uses no ammo and does zero damage on its own. But if you have throwing daggers in your inventory it will use one when it shoots, and if a hit was successful then it will do the standard damage (D:30-60 FT:5-15) by script and put a dagger in a victim's inventory. And if it was a miss then a dagger will appear somewhere near the user and no damage will be done.

It's a lot of fun to shoot NPCs and see them take daggers out of their own bodies and throw them at you. After a battle you can collect all daggers from bodies (works with all types of creatures) and on the ground. This way the blade launcher seems overpowered, since daggers rarely get lost. But it somewhat brings realism to Arcanum. And it's really funny. Maybe I'll make daggers appear in bodies and on the ground in 70% of cases though.

You can get the file here. Extract the file into your Arcanum folder and run CleanCache.bat (which is supplied with the UAP) to wipe proto folder. This mod is actually compatible with any version of the game, since it's so simple.

Anyway, this was for a comic relief. Let's move on with the patch.

 

[Ander Vinz]

- Line 13 with Roseborough Innkeeper is cycled.

- Jason C. Guy, line 21 is repeatable, givin' you xp each time.

- Ring of Protection from Ruins of Szabo doesn't give DR bonus.

- Bow of Ecclesiastes has empty spell panel.

- When you choose line 182, Kietzel Pierce says "I thank you for this magnificent bow" even if you lied him about bow not being in ruins (line 13). And you can take line 161 and kill Kietzel for the bow he doesn't have. So I think line 13 should disable 161 and his responce for line 182 should be corrected by removing "I thank you for this magnificent bow" sentence (there's line 157 if you give him the bow).

- Kietzel Pierce doesn't have master degree in archery, Clarissa Shalmo - in throwing.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

Could he have a different set of lines if you didn't hire him first?
There's no reason he shouldn't have stopped to take on water & fresh fruit etc and offer you a lift to Caladon (if you can pay).

It still doesn't make much sense, I'm afraid. What would a captain with a nice boat do on an isolated island? I think, it'd be better to just lock the place from teleportation. Who knows, gnomes may have installed a powerful magick barrier to protect their secrets.

 

[Faceless]

It's a lot of fun to shoot NPCs and see them take daggers out of their own bodies and throw them at you. After a battle you can collect all daggers from bodies (works with all types of creatures) and on the ground. This way the blade launcher seems overpowered, since daggers rarely get lost. But it somewhat brings realism to Arcanum. And it's really funny. Maybe I'll make daggers appear in bodies and on the ground in 70% of cases though.

Another possibility is for a 30% chance of the dagger breaking on impact. You'd have to make it so you can only shoot ones that aren't broken, and unless you're a master of repair you're going to have to make the trip to Caladon to get them fixed. Edit: On second thought, 30% seems pretty high... given that you can only carry a limited number, places with lots of enemies would become extremely frustrating. Maybe 10% would be a better number?

I'll be downloading this right away. :D


On barring Teleportation:
I think this is the only solution to the problem, but I'm not sure it's necessary to fix it at all...

 

[OracleX]

If I were to teleport with a teleporation scroll, wouldn't I get stuck on the island that way if the ship/captain was removed?

a teleportation block would seem the most logical fix I guess

 

[ninja_felix]

Could he have a different set of lines if you didn't hire him first?
There's no reason he shouldn't have stopped to take on water & fresh fruit etc and offer you a lift to Caladon (if you can pay).

It still doesn't make much sense, I'm afraid. What would a captain with a nice boat do on an isolated island? I think, it'd be better to just lock the place from teleportation. Who knows, gnomes may have installed a powerful magick barrier to protect their secrets.

Fair enough - I was really trying to give a valid(ish) reason why there would be a captain there (given we can't rub out the boat) that didn't change any of the game play/balancing.
As to what a captain with a nice boat would be doing on a remote island - I've sailed for 30 years and there's nothing quite so pleasant as a BBQ and a bottle of wine spent anchored in the lee of some peaceful deserted island. Having said which the gnomes thing fits too but changes game play slightly.

 

[Ander Vinz]

I think, it'd be better to just lock the place from teleportation.

Hands off, you teleportation nazi! And I demand restoring possibility to teleport from the Pits even if it means no dialogue with Tollo.

Who knows, gnomes may have installed a powerful magick barrier to protect their secrets.

Metagaming?

 

[Langolier]

I still can not agree with you. You may be right about Torian Kel but Z'an Al'urin deserves her alignment if only for her egoistic nature. Gameplay reasons are inessential: what do you get for killing demon? +5 alignment? And what do you get for killing Vincet? -1?
Read the book about L'anamelach: not only this elven mage sealed the demon in his body, Vincent keeps fighting him for control over it and even archieved temporal victory by immuring himself in Caladon's catacombs.

I see your point.

Any other opinions on this matter?

I'm a little late to the discussion but I'll throw in my 2 pents anyway. I don't think that making Vincent have an evil alignment is right within the lore of the game. However for gameplay reasons it seems like the easiet solution to the issue of followers getting angry when you kill him. Another possibility however might be to alter Vincent's dialog so that he asks you to have your followers leave. Perhaps he doesn't want an audience looking on when he dies. You know, keep it as private as possible, something personal between he and the PC.

I actually went ahead and coded it, since it's simple. And I have to tell you, this was an awesome idea.

Basically, the blade launcher now uses no ammo and does... (cut to save on space)

That does sound interesting. Such a thing would make sense for arrows too, though that might be pushing it. Who can say (well I suppose you can). That does spark an old question of mine that I've wondered about for a long time. If I'm going off topic or into game balance here then I apologize and I won't bring this up again, but...

Would it be possible to make it so that the Electric Light casts an illumination effect on the PC's current target instead of the PC? Basically, could it be made to function like a flashlight? Such an ability would set it apart from the lantern and actually make it useful for a gunslinger (as many technologists happen to be). Considering a spell exists in the game to do just that, I've always wondered if this was possible.

Anyway, it's great to see someone taking the time to fix all these bugs. I only wish I had the knowledge to help out. I look forward to the next patch.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

I'm a little late to the discussion but I'll throw in my 2 pents anyway. I don't think that making Vincent have an evil alignment is right within the lore of the game. However for gameplay reasons it seems like the easiet solution to the issue of followers getting angry when you kill him. Another possibility however might be to alter Vincent's dialog so that he asks you to have your followers leave. Perhaps he doesn't want an audience looking on when he dies. You know, keep it as private as possible, something personal between he and the PC.

Adding my own lines to his dialogue would be considered "custom content", which I don't tolerate in this project. Changing his alignment fixes gameplay, some people were just confused with this part (followers getting angry at such a trivial thing), and now it's no more a problem.

Would it be possible to make it so that the Electric Light casts an illumination effect on the PC's current target instead of the PC?

It's possible to make the item work similar to the Illuminate spell, i.e. you will have to use the item and click on a critter.

Anyway, there will be a separate thread for another project, so I'd appreciate if everybody would wait until then. Although, it will be nowhere soon, since the UAP is my main priority.

 

[Ander Vinz]

-The Ring of Protection from Ruins of Szabo now gives you DR+10 bonus, just as its description says.

Other "rings of protection" have the same problem, I stole one from someone in Roseborough Inn and it doesn't give DR bonus as well.

Arcane Ring gives +10 ER, not +20 as supposed.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

-The Ring of Protection from Ruins of Szabo now gives you DR+10 bonus, just as its description says.

Other "rings of protection" have the same problem, I stole one from someone in Roseborough Inn and it doesn't give DR bonus as well.

Yeah, I confused it with a unique item. I already see, that it's not.

Arcane Ring gives +10 ER, not +20 as supposed.

You're playing a neutral character.

 

[Ander Vinz]

Arcane Ring gives +10 ER, not +20 as supposed.

You're playing a neutral character.

What do you mean? I'm 100% mage and 100% evil.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

Arcane Ring gives +10 ER, not +20 as supposed.

You're playing a neutral character.

What do you mean? I'm 100% mage and 100% evil.

Then you're wearing a chainmail or another metal armor that has ER penalty. The ring is perfectly fine, I've just checked it.

 

[Ander Vinz]

Then you're wearing a chainmail or another metal armor that has ER penalty.

Mystic Platemail. But it doesn't show standart platemail penalties. I find this utterly annoying. Can anything be done about this?

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

Then you're wearing a chainmail or another metal armor that has ER penalty.

Mystic Platemail. But it doesn't show standart platemail penalties. I find this utterly annoying. Can anything be done about this?

Well, yes, magic plate armor's descriptions are not full, so they may be confusing. I know about it and will fix it later.

One more thing. I'm sure that many of you are anticipating the release of the next version of the UAP, since, honestly speaking, it will include the most important and crucial update to Arcanum since 2001 - sprite mirroring will be turned off, so the number of creatures' animations will be almost doubled (200mb of unused animations will be back). This may be considered one of the most ridiculous cut out content as well. Anyway, the next version will be released this saturday (which is my birthday) at the noon GMT +9 (or 3 a.m. GMT). Look forward to it!

 

[puppyonastik]

Happy early birthday you beautiful son of a bitch you.

 

[OSK]

It's been a while since I last played Arcanum, so I don't know if this has ever been fixed.

There's a point in the game when Virgil leaves the party when exiting the dark elf village. Sometimes he'll get stuck in the trees and will remain there even if you leave the area.

I remember experiencing this one. It was a pain in the ass because I had to reload a previous save and play through a couple hours again.

 

[Ander Vinz]

Caladon's high security prison.


Blackroot's railway.


Castle of S'nel N'fa, left wing.


Blackroot.


Mr. G.B.

Hint: pay attention to where the cursor points.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

Caladon's high security prison.

The guy is sleeping, what's wrong?

Blackroot's railway.

That's how all mountains are in the game.

Blackroot.

That's just a graphical error in the way the engine works. The wall is there (if you go inside you see it), it just doesn't show properly from the outside in such a corner. The similar glitch with a guard post building in Tarant (near a wise woman) was shown before in this thread.

There's a point in the game when Virgil leaves the party when exiting the dark elf village. Sometimes he'll get stuck in the trees and will remain there even if you leave the area.

As it is random, I'm unsure how to fix it.

 

[Ander Vinz]

The guy is sleeping, what's wrong?

pay attention to where the cursor points.

The circle is too far.

That's how all mountains are in the game.

Look at Bessie Toon's mine, Stillwater mountains - they're ok.

There's a point in the game when Virgil leaves the party when exiting the dark elf village. Sometimes he'll get stuck in the trees and will remain there even if you leave the area.

As it is random, I'm unsure how to fix it.

I heard it was fixed in one of the official patches.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

The guy is sleeping, what's wrong?

The circle is too far.

That's how all sleeping people in the game are handled.

That's how all mountains are in the game.

Look at Bessie Toon's mine, Stillwater mountains - they're ok.

There's simply no art for mountain tops in the game.

 

[Ander Vinz]

There's simply no art for mountain tops in the game.

What's this then?

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

There's simply no art for mountain tops in the game.

What's this then?

This is a small hill, slope tiles just connect with each other.

 

[Ander Vinz]

This is a small hill, slope tiles just connect with each other.

All necessary tiles to fill black area are in, as you can see.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

This is a small hill, slope tiles just connect with each other.

All necessary tiles to fill black area are in, as you can see.

It's a hill. As you can see there are only 4 tiles in the middle, which are on the same level, they just connect all slopes. Mountains are mountains, they go up, they will look like walls if we use this art. Anyway, I don't see a problem with it, obviously this was intentional in the first place, you're just nitpicking.