Welcome, and thank you for choosing to preview Arcanum: of Steamworks & Magick Obscura. We at Troika have worked hard these past two years to develop a truly in-depth CRPG that would allow you, the end-user, to create and develop a character uniquely yours, to role-play as you saw fit, and to enjoy unique experiences in the world of Arcanum based upon your choices. It was our goal to allow you as much freedom as possible, while providing a deep story and rich tapestry of events to enhance your gaming experience.
Arcanum has been designed to work with multiple styles of characters. A few of these include, but are not limited to, thieving, diplomatic, technological, magickal and fighting character styles. All styles of play are available regardless of the race and gender choices you have made. For instance, an elf, being more magickal, would have a more difficult time mastering technology than a dwarf, but the option is available if you wish to pursue that type of character.
Below are just a few examples of the types of characters you may want to try out while playing the Arcanum Beta and Press Demo:
- magickal or technological thief
- pure thief with no magick or technological abilities
- assassin
- debutante or gentleman assassin/thief
- debutante or gentleman with no violent tendencies
- socially savvy, charismatic gambler
- super good or super evil (mage or technologist)
- warrior with no magick or technological skills
- balanced character using equal amounts of magick and tech
- gunfighter
- inventor
- a very dumb character
- a very ugly character
- a very persuasive character
- a very charismatic or uncharismatic character
You will find that the world reacts differently to these various character types and that alternate paths as well as quests are available to them throughout the game.
While playing the game, if you come across a particularly difficult combat situation, you may wish to switch to turn based mode.
TROIKA GAMES
2. How to START the DEMO
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Install the game.
The AUTOPLAY feature of your CD-ROM will bring up the Setup program. After you have installed the game start the game from the Start Menu. If for some reason this fails, the setup.exe program can be launched from the CD-Rom directly using windows explorer.
Selecting Start\Programs\Sierra\Arcanum Preview\Arcanum from your Start Menu will start the game.
3. How to Play Arcanum
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Create a character and start the game.
4. System requirements
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Minimum:
Pentium 2(R) 300, 64 MB RAM
650 MB HD Space
Windows (c) 95/98
Windows (c) 2000
Windows (c) ME
DirectX 7a
4x CD-ROM Drive
DirectX certified video card with at least 8 MB of video RAM
16-bit DirectX(R) compatible Soundcard
Preferred
Pentium 2(R) 450+, 128 MB RAM
650 MB HD Space
Windows (c) 95/98
Windows (c) 2000
Windows (c) ME
DirectX 7a
8x CD ROM
DirectX certified video card with at least 16+ MB of video RAM
16-bit DirectX (R) compatible Soundcard
TCP/IP LAN, or Modem TCP/IP Internet Connection
NOTE: Arcanum REQUIRES DirectX 7a. If you do not have DirectX 7a, please copy and paste the following link into your browser. This will take you to the Microsoft download site so that you can download and install it. You must have DirectX 7a installed in order for Arcanum to run.
Arcanum will try to detect your video card and use the appropriate settings for it. If a 3D accelerator is present as the primary display adapter, Arcanum will attempt to use it. If you have any problems, please be sure you are using the latest drivers from your chip manufacturer's website.
If the game begins, once character creation is complete, and your top and bottom menu bars are visible, but the main game window is black or distorted, this would constitute a 3D video card problem.
If you are experiencing video card related problems, you can disable 3D acceleration by exiting the game and launching Arcanum's Software Rendering Mode. The Software Rendering Mode (safe mode) is available via your Start Menu.
Using the Detonator3 drivers from Nvidia may cause a problem. Arcanum will work properly when using the Detonator2 drivers.
6. Legal
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Sierra's end user license agreement, limited warranty and return policy is set forth in the EULA.txt, found on the CD, and is also available during the install of the product.
