Arcanum - Mad as hell at Sierra...

Epona · 09-28-2001, 01:23 PM

Well, Arcanum looked great, very tasty, so I went this afternoon and paid my £30 for it.

According to the system requirements on the box, it should run on my system, no problem. But of course it doesn't (otherwise I would be playing it now, not posting here about it

) So I download the patch, I dl the latest drivers for my video card. Still no joy.

So next I go to the Sierra Studios forum. There is a troubleshooting thread, and there I find my problem. Arcanum will not run on a Voodoo 2 video card because the resolution isn't supported.

SO WHY DIDN'T IT SAY SO ON THE D*** BOX!!!! GRRRRRR
I am fuming. There is no mention of no support for Voodoo 2, or screen resolutions on the packaging at all! I AM NOT PSYCHIC!!! It doesn't even say anything about this in the manual - which I always read in full before installing, being the sad nerd that I am.

GRRRRR.
Good job I can afford a new video card - the Voodoo 2 is fairly crap now anyway, and does tend to have these problems, so this is just a great excuse to go buy a new one.
Please no-one tell me how juicy this game is until my new card is installed!!!

------------------

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

Epona of The Laughing Hyenas
Proud winner of the 'Most Useless Post 250 Has Ever Seen' Award 2001. "I'd just like to thank my friends and family, without whom none of this would have been possible..."

Father Bronze · 09-28-2001, 01:35 PM

At least graphics cards have come down a lot in price. You should be able to find a GForce2 MMX for less than $75. Of course you might go for one of the newer cards.

I know your frustration. I have a Stealth S540 video card and it barely made the grade when I was installing Anachronox (BTW, cool game). I spent 4 days adjusting the Windows graphics acceleration settings, the AGP settings, and the 3-D settings. I finally got it to work, but I had to disable the screen saver or my computer locks up.

------------------

Most Subtle Official Straightman of the Laughing Hyenas -- Grammarian Brigade.

"The only medicine for suffering, crime, and all the other woes of mankind, is wisdom." -- Thomas Huxley

Ramon de Ramon y Ramon · 09-28-2001, 02:00 PM

What an impressive rant ! For some reason I always find (almost) all of your posts especially interesting and enjoyable to read ! You just have a very unique and personal style I guess.

And how I can relate to your frustration: shortly before christmas I replaced my old reliable 8 MB video card with a new - highly praised - 32 MB video card, because I thought that I'd miss on interesting details with advanced games like BG II: let's just that the result was that my main occupation for the entire January became fixing my computer (I even had to flash my Bios twice !)

And even now I strongly suspect that video card to be the main suspect for most of my still only to frequent crashes ...

------------------
So long !

R³ aka "The Ramonster"(thanks Sir Tainly) - proud to be the official spokesman for the most noble Lady Bilqis, Desert Rose of Ironworks - equally proud to be Moiraine's "permanent advocate" !

Btw, the cow is queuing in the slaughterhouse right now !

[This message has been edited by Ramon de Ramon y Ramon (edited 09-28-2001).]

Dakkon · 09-28-2001, 03:28 PM

heh..I learned not to trust Sierra products long time ago..
I bought lots of their old products (king quest 5 , 6 and much more) and every one of them had a strange bug somewhere in the game...
I wont buy a single Sierra' game anymore ('specially after readin' this thread) even if they'll develop BG3 or somethin'...LOL...

Lifetime · 09-28-2001, 10:48 PM

The thing that gets me about Sierra is that they keep installing Sierra Utilities on your computer EVERY TIME you install one of their products. Plus their products often lack an uninstall feature so you have to use the Add/Remove Progams to get rid of it..

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No-Name Face

Neb · 09-29-2001, 01:19 PM

Uh oh, if Epona is this made BEFORE trying the game, imagine how many she'll slay when she finds out it's not NEARLY as good as you'd expect with all the attention it's gotten, it's HUGELY unbalanced, with magic beating technology EVERY TIME, also, at many points, the evil way of doing things seems to be missing, besides these little things, it's also got a few unsolvable quests, some of it's cities and towns are also FAR too small, for example, the city of Tarant is supposedly a LARGE city with lots of factories and smoke, why does it then only have about 30 houses? And since it's such a technological town, why do they have a magical armorer and two mage shops only 2 blocks from the tech shops? Sierra could have done FAR better with Arcanum than they did, their product quality sure has deteriorated lately, luckily, they managed to create such masterpieces as Starsiege, Earthsiege, Police Quest and King's Quest first.

------------------
Worshipper of Tiax.

Wielder of the ancient Lawyer spells.

Member of the HADB clan.

Ally of the Fluffy Queen and the Dreaded Red Fluffy

General of the highest class and Leader of the Legal Department and Jumprope Compound in the IW Peacekeeping Force.

I've also got a pretty long sig.

Fljotsdale · 09-29-2001, 02:42 PM

I've just checked and I don't own a single Sierra game. Looks like I lucked out!

------------------

Dubbed Queen of the Illuminati by Diogenes.

Neb · 09-29-2001, 03:21 PM

Even though some of their newer games suck, Sierra has still made some good ones, like Starsiege.

------------------
Worshipper of Tiax.

Wielder of the ancient Lawyer spells.

Member of the HADB clan.

Ally of the Fluffy Queen and the Dreaded Red Fluffy

General of the highest class and Leader of the Legal Department and Jumprope Compound in the IW Peacekeeping Force.

I've also got a pretty long sig.

WOLFGIR · 09-29-2001, 03:55 PM

Well if youhave downloaded the patches the game will still "supply" you some fun hours to play. Once you get used to its flaws, the game can be entartaining at least. Not a bad game, but well not the best.

I also hate underestimated or not clear spec for games. Thats why I liked Max Payne, they had oversized their spec, and it ran good on computers not up to thoose standards!

Another thing, If you build a game that requieres hech of a lot drivers, send in an extra cd with the game with patches for the major graphics cards (all geforce would do with one detonator driver) and some for the others, soundcrads etc.. A CD xosts less than paper to make.. :S

Just getting annoyed with installing a game, says that a complete install wont need a cd in when you plays it.. Well you do have to have that anyway.-. YOu have to download updates, and on a modem and all, Buying a game and sit and wait for 70 minutes to install, update everything and to that price.. GRRRRR I feel that all games except the really really good ones are worth it.. Maybe I´m just having a bad day.. I can really relate to what you are saying Epona!

------------------

Be vevvy qwiet..I´m hunting wabbits...
Wolfgirs lair
once-upon-a-paper

Lifetime · 09-30-2001, 02:49 AM

Oh come on Neb its not THAT bad..
Most of the game issnt really a straight out one on one magick v tech fight. Its all about one character playing the game, and it might be easier or harder depending on how you play.
I'm a technomage and I'm kicking arse with an elephant gun and a Bolt of Lightning spell. I'm in the 1st quarter of the game and i'm already level 40+ (the cap is 50)

------------------
No-Name Face

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09-28-2001, 01:23 PM	#1
Epona Zartan Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: London, England Age: 53 Posts: 5,164	Well, Arcanum looked great, very tasty, so I went this afternoon and paid my £30 for it. According to the system requirements on the box, it should run on my system, no problem. But of course it doesn't (otherwise I would be playing it now, not posting here about it ) So I download the patch, I dl the latest drivers for my video card. Still no joy. So next I go to the Sierra Studios forum. There is a troubleshooting thread, and there I find my problem. Arcanum will not run on a Voodoo 2 video card because the resolution isn't supported. SO WHY DIDN'T IT SAY SO ON THE D*** BOX!!!! GRRRRRR I am fuming. There is no mention of no support for Voodoo 2, or screen resolutions on the packaging at all! I AM NOT PSYCHIC!!! It doesn't even say anything about this in the manual - which I always read in full before installing, being the sad nerd that I am. GRRRRR. Good job I can afford a new video card - the Voodoo 2 is fairly crap now anyway, and does tend to have these problems, so this is just a great excuse to go buy a new one. Please no-one tell me how juicy this game is until my new card is installed!!! ------------------ Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. Epona of The Laughing Hyenas Proud winner of the 'Most Useless Post 250 Has Ever Seen' Award 2001. "I'd just like to thank my friends and family, without whom none of this would have been possible..."

09-28-2001, 01:35 PM	#2
Father Bronze Baaz Draconian Join Date: January 8, 2001 Location: Northern Illinois Age: 55 Posts: 719	At least graphics cards have come down a lot in price. You should be able to find a GForce2 MMX for less than $75. Of course you might go for one of the newer cards. I know your frustration. I have a Stealth S540 video card and it barely made the grade when I was installing Anachronox (BTW, cool game). I spent 4 days adjusting the Windows graphics acceleration settings, the AGP settings, and the 3-D settings. I finally got it to work, but I had to disable the screen saver or my computer locks up. ------------------ Most Subtle Official Straightman of the Laughing Hyenas -- Grammarian Brigade. "The only medicine for suffering, crime, and all the other woes of mankind, is wisdom." -- Thomas Huxley

09-28-2001, 02:00 PM	#3
Ramon de Ramon y Ramon Red Dragon Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Age: 52 Posts: 1,517	What an impressive rant ! For some reason I always find (almost) all of your posts especially interesting and enjoyable to read ! You just have a very unique and personal style I guess. And how I can relate to your frustration: shortly before christmas I replaced my old reliable 8 MB video card with a new - highly praised - 32 MB video card, because I thought that I'd miss on interesting details with advanced games like BG II: let's just that the result was that my main occupation for the entire January became fixing my computer (I even had to flash my Bios twice !) And even now I strongly suspect that video card to be the main suspect for most of my still only to frequent crashes ... ------------------ So long ! R³ aka "The Ramonster"(thanks Sir Tainly) - proud to be the official spokesman for the most noble Lady Bilqis, Desert Rose of Ironworks - equally proud to be Moiraine's "permanent advocate" ! Btw, the cow is queuing in the slaughterhouse right now ! [This message has been edited by Ramon de Ramon y Ramon (edited 09-28-2001).]

09-28-2001, 03:28 PM	#4
Dakkon Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: July 3, 2001 Location: Israel Posts: 16	heh..I learned not to trust Sierra products long time ago.. I bought lots of their old products (king quest 5 , 6 and much more) and every one of them had a strange bug somewhere in the game... I wont buy a single Sierra' game anymore ('specially after readin' this thread) even if they'll develop BG3 or somethin'...LOL...

09-28-2001, 10:48 PM	#5
Lifetime Red Dragon Join Date: March 3, 2001 Location: Scotch College, Melbourne Posts: 1,503	The thing that gets me about Sierra is that they keep installing Sierra Utilities on your computer EVERY TIME you install one of their products. Plus their products often lack an uninstall feature so you have to use the Add/Remove Progams to get rid of it.. ------------------ No-Name Face

09-29-2001, 01:19 PM	#6
Neb Account deleted by Request Join Date: May 17, 2001 Location: . Age: 38 Posts: 8,802	Uh oh, if Epona is this made BEFORE trying the game, imagine how many she'll slay when she finds out it's not NEARLY as good as you'd expect with all the attention it's gotten, it's HUGELY unbalanced, with magic beating technology EVERY TIME, also, at many points, the evil way of doing things seems to be missing, besides these little things, it's also got a few unsolvable quests, some of it's cities and towns are also FAR too small, for example, the city of Tarant is supposedly a LARGE city with lots of factories and smoke, why does it then only have about 30 houses? And since it's such a technological town, why do they have a magical armorer and two mage shops only 2 blocks from the tech shops? Sierra could have done FAR better with Arcanum than they did, their product quality sure has deteriorated lately, luckily, they managed to create such masterpieces as Starsiege, Earthsiege, Police Quest and King's Quest first. ------------------ Worshipper of Tiax. Wielder of the ancient Lawyer spells. Member of the HADB clan. Ally of the Fluffy Queen and the Dreaded Red Fluffy General of the highest class and Leader of the Legal Department and Jumprope Compound in the IW Peacekeeping Force. I've also got a pretty long sig.

09-29-2001, 02:42 PM	#7
Fljotsdale Thoth - Egyptian God of Wisdom Join Date: March 12, 2001 Location: Birmingham, West Mid\'s, England Age: 87 Posts: 2,859	I've just checked and I don't own a single Sierra game. Looks like I lucked out! ------------------ Dubbed Queen of the Illuminati by Diogenes.

09-29-2001, 03:21 PM	#8
Neb Account deleted by Request Join Date: May 17, 2001 Location: . Age: 38 Posts: 8,802	Even though some of their newer games suck, Sierra has still made some good ones, like Starsiege. ------------------ Worshipper of Tiax. Wielder of the ancient Lawyer spells. Member of the HADB clan. Ally of the Fluffy Queen and the Dreaded Red Fluffy General of the highest class and Leader of the Legal Department and Jumprope Compound in the IW Peacekeeping Force. I've also got a pretty long sig.

09-29-2001, 03:55 PM	#9
WOLFGIR Bastet - Egyptian Cat Goddess Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Sweden Age: 50 Posts: 3,450	Well if youhave downloaded the patches the game will still "supply" you some fun hours to play. Once you get used to its flaws, the game can be entartaining at least. Not a bad game, but well not the best. I also hate underestimated or not clear spec for games. Thats why I liked Max Payne, they had oversized their spec, and it ran good on computers not up to thoose standards! Another thing, If you build a game that requieres hech of a lot drivers, send in an extra cd with the game with patches for the major graphics cards (all geforce would do with one detonator driver) and some for the others, soundcrads etc.. A CD xosts less than paper to make.. :S Just getting annoyed with installing a game, says that a complete install wont need a cd in when you plays it.. Well you do have to have that anyway.-. YOu have to download updates, and on a modem and all, Buying a game and sit and wait for 70 minutes to install, update everything and to that price.. GRRRRR I feel that all games except the really really good ones are worth it.. Maybe I´m just having a bad day.. I can really relate to what you are saying Epona! ------------------ Be vevvy qwiet..I´m hunting wabbits... Wolfgirs lair once-upon-a-paper

09-30-2001, 02:49 AM	#10
Lifetime Red Dragon Join Date: March 3, 2001 Location: Scotch College, Melbourne Posts: 1,503	Oh come on Neb its not THAT bad.. Most of the game issnt really a straight out one on one magick v tech fight. Its all about one character playing the game, and it might be easier or harder depending on how you play. I'm a technomage and I'm kicking arse with an elephant gun and a Bolt of Lightning spell. I'm in the 1st quarter of the game and i'm already level 40+ (the cap is 50) ------------------ No-Name Face

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