Hi All,

Another question ...

I have DL and tried to install the HiRes patch (prior to other unofficial patches) and this patch fails to recognise my Arcanum version as the correct version.

Patch is correct and I have tried from official installer and the batch file ... No joy.:(

Any reason this does not install ... and if I ignore this, will the other patch files be "compatible" with my version that appears to reject this HiRes patch?

Thanks in advance,
Lance.

This is odd. The hi-res patch is supposed to work fine without the UAP, even though it's somewhat safer to install the UAP first.

Just to make sure: your game is not installed into Program Files, right? Because otherwise all patches will need admin rights to install properly. Keeping old games there is not a good idea. Also, tell your AV software to ignore Arcanum.exe, as some antiviruses are known to interfere with the patches (because the file gets modified, so they might interpret it as a virus attack).

Hi YnK,

The game installed into the "C:\GOG Games\Arcanum" folder, and that is the directory I pointed the HiRes patch to. However, I have also noticed some different behaviour depending on the method of install used with this GOG game. I am relatively new to GOG and have noticed you can install games in one of two ways:-

Allow the interface to install the game or dowwnload a "backup" and allow that to install the game. Interestingly. using thefirst method, I had to use the -no3d fix. However, after the HiRes patch and Towns patch failed (which I also later tried), I decided to wipe the last install and use the "backup" method. This latter method of installation did not require the -no3d fix to play the game!

So, something a little odd varies here on how the game installs dependant on method. Furthermore, after trying the patches on the previous install, I noticed that my "maps" folder was emptied, which did not look good to me, which is why I then reinstalled using the "backup" method.

Suffice to say, I am now quite "nervous" about what the HiRes, Town and Unofficial patch are doing (especially as the last one also says you will not be able to use any save games). And even though I am barely moved on from the first scene, I did not want to risk anything "long term" ... or perhaps, I am setting myself up for a concern later on in the game if I stumble onto one of these "bugs" that the unoffical patch is supposed to fix? If that happened, (I encounter a bug that stops the game), I would not be happy about restarting the game. :(

So, at this stage, I am still feeling a little uncertain about the whole thing at the moment ... :( .... even the patches that are supposed to "fix" or "improve" things.

I appreciate your feedback,..... Note, I may not be able to respond for a few hours now.

Regards,
Lance.

Ah. Right. Galaxy. Well, I'm not using it currently, but from what others posted, it can make things difficult on occasion, as it's still new and needs a bit of improvement. Since I honestly can't recommend playing without the UAP, I would suggest another alternate solution if you absolutely can't get the patches to install correctly: manually downloading the standalone Arcanum installer and using that directly, bypassing the client completely. In case you have never done it this way, the installers are always available through your website account's library page. I suspect Galaxy is capable of overwriting files after they're changed, so avoiding it might be a safer installation method at the moment.

Oh, and the game subfolders being emptied in the process is normal, those files are usually just its cached data that will regenerate on game start. In fact, after installing patches on a game that's already been played, deleting the cached files such as protos is often required for the changes to apply, as you want the game to use the new, modified data. So if this happens, run the game first, and if it looks okay, then the patches likely worked properly. An easy way to check if the UAP is applied at all when you're not sure what differences it's supposed to make is to start the game as a half-elf: if your character looks like an elf (as opposed to a human), then the game is patched.

If you have to drop some of the patches, drop anything except the UAP, and install the UAP first to make sure it works, as it affects far more than just display quirks. It's still possible to play the game without the Hi-Res patch if you set your video card to preserve aspect ratio by default. It's better than nothing, really, this game deserves a try even if it's going to have black borders on its sides. Widescreen patches tend to be the buggiest of the set, regardless of the game.

Turning off AV is recommended either way, there've been cases specifically involving Arcanum. Though I suppose it would've deleted Arcanum.exe on patching if it really cared. :/ But it's still something to keep in mind.

MANUALLY DL: I think that is the"backup" method of installation I was referring to as the second method of install. That's how I have it installed at the moment. Thanks for the heads up on how to tell install went OK. I may try installing them one more time then. That's always feels a step to far for me ... ;)

Thanks for the feedback again ... I'll give it another try then and let you know.

Regards,
Lance.

Hi YnK,

Well that was a *completely* different experience altogether!

Patches all worked ... and worked completely differently to last install.

I had different options and it looked like different programs even!

Anyway, just a couple of quick questions:

1) What responses are best to give for the HiRes patch ... after the screen size? I can guess what the font size do, but I was not sure what the other option did ... I tried both but did not notice any difference.

2) I loaded the game "NEW" and started an elf, but my character was too small to see clearly ... was it that ingame character that I was checking to see if they were an elf or not to confirm unofficial patch installation?

Thanks in advance,
Lance.

1) Compact Options Screen, IIRC, just makes the Options screen display the same way as other such screens (split from the rest of the UI). Not important to gameplay.

2) It's half-elves that change. Try to be a human, then an elf, you'll see that they use different sprites. In the vanilla game, half-elves use human sprites, but in the patched game they use elven. Another check, then: start the game, let Virgil join you, then talk to him again right away and ask "What do you know about this place?". If he gives the full reply ("I don't know much about these mountains..."), the UAP changes are there, because that line is not available otherwise.

(Yes, and for future reference: "manual download" means "not running Galaxy at all", the files are all available through the website interface - Account > Library > select game and look for the Game downloads section. Galaxy is a relatively new feature here, and many long-term users choose to not install it and download the files the old way. So if it's acting up, there are always browser links for every game you own.)

OK. Hmm ... I tried restarting the gama a couple of times with a half-elf and talking to Virgil, but I am not sure I have noticed either of these two differences. ie. Hard to tell sprite and did not see the question available. Is there any other way I can tell ... directory file check?

EDIT: Scratch that ..... I DO HAVE THE PATCH as the line is there when I chat to Virgil. I found it a node down. :)

Thanks in advance. OK

I may not get to respond for a few hours again.

Regards,
Lance.

So, I assume most issues are sorted out, then, that's good. Enjoy the game, but be aware that while the UAP kills most bugs, you might still run into some unusual behavior, usually caused by the game's mechanics. So if you're not sure if what happens in the game is normal for it, post; Arcanum subforum is pretty active.

Regarding the patch: it adds extra datafiles in the main folder (Arcanum#.dat; vanilla game has 4, if I'm not mistaken, so the extras are from patches). However, I'm not sure if the game bothers to throw an error if it fails to read those extras for any reason, so it's usually better to check the in-game changes just to be on the safe side; the patch should technically wipe the cached files on install to prevent the game from using unmodified data, but who knows...