Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Forum

First, let me say that I'm not very computer savvy, but I really want to play Arcanum on my mac laptop. I have the GOG version of the game, and I have added the -no3d -doublebuffer command when running it. If I don't add those commands, I get a white screen that freezes my computer, when I run it with the -no3d -doublebuffer, I get a black screen that then crashes to the desktop.

I'm not sure if I'm missing something or what. I installed the bottle as a winxp--maybe I should have used a different version? This is my first time using crossover (trial version), so I'm not sure of what I am doing at all.

Thank you for any help you can give me!

Did you check the tips and tricks? Check Halle's tip "How to install a playable Arcanum in Crossover Games 7.0 and up". I believe I also had to manually copy the DAT files from the installation CD to the game folder.

Try that first and let me know if it works.

Take a look at this thread as well. There may be some other things that got my game working for me.

http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=4196;forum=1;msg=34546

I'm sad to say that I've had no luck with the GOG version either.

None of the tips here seem to apply to the GOG version. My guess is the supporting files used to make the game compatible with Windows XP and Vista/7 have changed in a way that makes it incompatible with CrossOver Games.

If anyone knows what we need to do to get this working, please let us know.

My install routine went like this:
I installed the GOG.com Arcanum installer in a Windows XP bottle. I got the steamtrain loading screen, then the menu, but mouse control did not work.
I installed it in a Windows Vista bottle. I got pretty much the same results, but it loaded faster and seemed to be a bit smoother.
In the Vista bottle, I then proceeded to install the patches I found around the web, as they are still compatible with the GOG version (according to members of the GOG forums), and they improve stability, playability, and reliability. I installed the following patches in the listed order:

UAP091225.exe
HQ_Townmaps.exe
HighRes1.1a.exe
13_New_Riddles
(I skipped the Complex Shadows Tweak, since it seems to be included in the GOG package.)

I then created a safe mode shortcut with command line options of: -window -no3d -doublebuffer

The game started up and ran smoother than before the patches, showing the intro logos and the 3d short of an armoured person bringing a sword to a gunfight (bad idea, as one finds out at the end of the clip), but once it gets to the menu, graphics tiles are cut out of where they ought to be and are placed where they don't belong, elsewhere on-screen. And the mouse still doesn't work. I have tried it with and without each of the command line flags, to no avail.

The overall problem seems to be a combination of some graphics glitches and the mouse not working at all, with or without patches.

Also, comparing the HighRes1.1a install on a windows machine to the same install on CrossOver, it doesn't seem to work right on CrossOver, since it involves an interactive commandline prompt which does not show up on CrossOver.

I'm half-tempted to just find the original game iso files online and download them so I can play, since people seem to have great luck with that method. It's mental that a game updated to support newer versions of windows works worse than an older version.

Hi,

If you're interested, grab a debuglog as described on the following page;

http://www.codeweavers.com/support/wiki/SubmitTechSupportLog

Once you have the logfile, gzip it (if not already so) and upload it
to a free public repo like rapidshare or the like...post the download
URL back here so I (and others) might grab it to have a look - perhaps
it will disclose something useful wrt getting the GOG version running.

Cheers!

Dash_Merc wrote:

Also, comparing the HighRes1.1a install on a windows machine to the
same install on CrossOver, it doesn't seem to work right on
CrossOver, since it involves an interactive commandline prompt which
does not show up on CrossOver.

If a program requires a console for text-based input and output, you can run it with the "wineconsole" tool. So, you'd use the Run Command window, select the .exe you want to run, and then insert "wineconsole" and a space before the path to the .exe in the command edit field.

You can also just run the command "wineconsole cmd" to run the command interpreter in a console window. This is just like Command Prompt on Windows.