Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura
![]() |
|
Developers | |
---|---|
Troika Games | |
Publishers | |
Sierra Entertainment | |
Activision | |
Release dates | |
Windows | August 21, 2001 |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 81 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time, Turn-based |
Perspectives | Bird's-eye view, Isometric |
Controls | Point and select |
Genres | RPG |
Themes | Fantasy, Industrial Age, Steampunk |
Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view and isometric RPG game.
General information
- Terra Arcanum Forum - a large fansite
- GOG.com Community Discussions
- GOG.com Support Page
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | SecuROM 4 DRM disc check. | |||
GOG.com | Patched to official patch v1.0.7.4. | |||
Steam |
- A demo is available from Archive.org and PCGames.de.
Essential improvements
Patches
Official patch
- 1.0.7.4. Not needed for the GOG.com release.
Multiverse Edition
- Complete overhaul with all the patches listed in this article, as well as others, bundled together in one installer that offers a lot of options.
- For a widescreen monitor, it is recommended to use a 1366x768 resolution. Higher values can make the UI and dialogue difficult to see.
- Arcanum Multiverse Edition [ENG] by the Multiverse Team.
Unofficial patch
- Highly improved townmaps and soundtracks (from the vanilla 128kbit/sec to 320 kbit/sec) can be found alongside this patch.
- Not compatible with older savegames.
- 200611 (2.0.2) by Drog Black Tooth. Highly recommended bug fixes.
High Resolution Patch
- If you are unable to pan the camera past the edge of the screen with the high resolution patch enabled, add
-scrolldist:0 -scrollfps:70
to the target line in the shortcut of the game. - The High Resolution Patch is already included in the Unofficial Arcanum Patch. For a separate installer check out 1.5 by Drog Black Tooth. Allows any user-set resolution, UI tweaks, larger fonts.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\arcanum.cfg[Note 1] |
Steam Play (Linux) | <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/500810/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\modules\Arcanum\Save\[Note 1] |
Steam Play (Linux) | <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/500810/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
GOG Galaxy | ||
Steam Cloud |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | Use the High Resolution Patch. | ||
Multi-monitor | |||
Ultra-widescreen | |||
4K Ultra HD | |||
Field of view (FOV) | |||
Windowed | See Windowed. | ||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | |||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS |
Windowed
Set windowed mode[citation needed] |
---|
|
If the game stops responding with windowed mode[citation needed] |
---|
|
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | For hotkeys, see here. | |
Mouse acceleration | No option. Follows Windows default behavior. | |
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support |
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | Effects, voice and music | |
Surround sound | ||
Subtitles | ||
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
Royalty free audio |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
German | Retail only. Patch for digital release here. | |||
Polish | Retail only. Patch for digital release here. | |||
Russian | Grand Fix Download and Readme | |||
Spanish | Fan translation by Clan Dlan, download. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Local play | ||||
LAN play | 8 | Co-op, Versus |
||
Online play | 8 | Co-op, Versus The official WON service has been shut down. |
VR support
3D modes | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
vorpX | 2D Game is 2D only. Play 2D with DGVoodoo2 and vorpx default DGVoodoo2 profile. |
Issues fixed
Files not installed properly
- Recommended to avoid default installation folder, as this can lead to issues where certain files are not properly installed.
Run installed as administrator[citation needed] |
---|
When running the installer, be sure to right-click on the .exe, and select "Run as Administrator". |
Loading screen freezing
- Freezing known to happen on systems with multi-core CPUs.[citation needed]
Set CPU affinity[citation needed] |
---|
Setting CPU affinity should solve this problem. Create a shortcut, and in the shortcut's "Target" field, insert |
Graphical issues
Set target field[citation needed] |
---|
Adding |
Delete or rename ddraw.dll[citation needed] |
---|
Delete or rename |
Performance issues
Modify the SierraLauncher.ini file[citation needed] |
---|
|
Use Aqrit's DDrawFix for Infinity Engine games[1] |
---|
|
Launches with black screen
If you use third-party tools like Rivatuner Statistics Server (RTSS), deactivate it. |
---|
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
DirectDraw | 7.0 |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Multiplayer | WON (World Opponent Network) | Was shut down in 2008 |
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | ||
Operating system (OS) | 95, 98, ME, 2000 | |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium II 300 MHz | |
System memory (RAM) | 64 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 1.2 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | VGA capable Card 8 MB of VRAM |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMDATA%
, or%WINDIR%
might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details). - ↑ 2.0 2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in
~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/500810/
in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (500810) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
References
- ↑ Fix for slowdown on Windows 10 - last accessed on May 2023