Tolkien vs the Industrial Revolution.What if a somewhat conventional fantasy world – replete with elves, orcs, and magic – was given a steampunk makeover? That’s the fundamental question that lies at the heart of Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, and by the time the game is over you will become genuinely interested in uncovering the answer.
Arcanum is a slowly seductive game, a deep and demanding affair with a steep learning curve and a voracious appetite for your spare time. It’s all the more impressive that the more time you devote to the game, the more time you will be willing to surrender.Decisions are an integral part of the experience from the very beginning, with an intricately detailed and somewhat intimidating system of character creation. Want to play a cursed wizard who sold his soul to the Darker Powers in exchange for arcane secrets? Arcanum has you covered.
Or a spoiled rich kid with an unhealthy interest in firearms? Again, a definite possibility. Perhaps you are more in the mood to play the mad scientist? You can be that too. The game subtly acknowledges your choices; people will call you either sir or madam, or elves will react to a dwarven character differently than they will to a human character.The game gives you almost too many choices right out of the gate, in fact, and that may sour some players on the whole experience before they even get started.
A window that pops up during installation recommends that you take a look at the manual, and you’ll probably want to go even further and read it all the way through, perhaps more than once, before you fire up the game. Unlike Fallout’s elegantly simple character system, Arcanum presents you with an awful lot of data to remember.
Magick HappensThe premise of Arcanum, at least at first, is both very simple and universally compelling. You are a passenger on IFS Zephyr, an experimental dirigible that is shot down on its maiden voyage by a pair of orcs in fighter planes. Stumbling through the wreckage you find a mortally injured gnome, who implores you to find “the boy” and gives you a ring bearing the initials “G.B.” just before he dies, leaving you as the last survivor of the crash. After that you’ll find yourself dodging a constant stream of assassins, quests and item hoarding.As with real life, certain events are out of your control, but the game never fails to offer the opportunity to choose how you will react to those events.
A group of ruffians have set up an impromptu tollbooth just outside the town of Shrouded Hills. Do you pay them their outrageous fee to use the bridge, or do you do the townsfolk a favor and kill them? Perhaps you could sweet talk your way past them, or even cut a deal and gain passage by helping the ruffians destroy a cache of supplies that the townsfolk plan to use to build a new bridge further downriver. The remnants of the IFS Zephyr.This isn’t your standard high fantasy adventure.Arcanum is a big place.A brilliant backdropThough your character’s antics will steal the spotlight, it helps that those antics take place against a highly compelling backdrop.
Temple Of Elemental Evil Pdf
The setting is a clever conceit that turns the tired Tolkien-inspired fantasy genre on its ear, a Victorian-era fantasy world in which gaslights cast their warm glow on the cobblestone steps of the local magick shop, where half-ogre servants dress in coattails and bow ties and orc factory workers protest poor wages by threatening to unionize. The contrast between magick and technology is the basis of both the setting and the story. Every element of the game (right down to the manual, which is written with an infectious nineteenth century formality) is infused with consistent character and style.You can travel pretty much anywhere you want in the land of Arcanum, though certain areas of the continent can only be unlocked by accomplishing specific goals.
You will need a ship if you want to travel to any outlying islands, for instance, and you’ll need to find a way to get past the mountains if you want to visit the northwestern portion of the continent. Still, there are many interesting locations that you can discover, sometimes by following up on rumors, sometimes by accident. Seting sail to new adventures.In light of its non-linear nature, the game does an excellent job at keeping you from wandering aimlessly (though you can do that if you want) or losing track of your overall goals. The length of the game varies greatly depending on how you play it, but it’s not a short game by any metric, and the degree to which it manages to sustain interest and present new challenges is impressive. The game even gives you a multiplayer mode, along with a special multiplayer scenario and the complete game editor (so you can create your own).
It’s the gift that keeps on giving. You stop worrying about the game’s minor quirks and start marveling at the story and setting that unfolds before you.System Requirements: Pentium II 233 Mhz, 64 MB RAM, 1.2 GB HDD, Windows 95.
.: October 3, 2003,Mode(s)The Temple of Elemental Evil is a. It is a remake of the classic adventure using the 3.5 edition rules. This is the only video game to take place in the campaign setting, and the first video game to implement the 3.5 edition rule set. The game was published by, who then held the interactive rights of the Dungeons & Dragons.The Temple of Elemental Evil was released in autumn of 2003 and was criticized for stability issues and other. The turn-based tactical combat, however, was generally thought to be implemented well, and is arguably the most faithful representation of the then-current ('3.5e') rules in a video game. A radial menu is used for choosing a character's actionsThe game focuses on a party of up to five player-controlled characters.
These characters can be created by the player or can be one of the pre-made characters that come with the game. All, however, must be within one step of a party. Any player-made characters are created in a 13-step process; there is, however, an option to let the game deal with most aspects of character creation for the player. At any time, the party can have up to three followers, and all player characters can have a and/or animal companion as allowed by class.All characters have a screen that shows information pertaining to them. Five tabs—inventory, skills, feats, spells, and abilities—allow the player to manage equipment, change spell configurations, and compare character attributes.
This screen also appears when the party is bartering with an NPC or looting a body, but clicking out of the inventory tab will eject the player from the interaction. Additionally, small portraits of the characters appear on the bottom of the screen, along with a small red bar showing remaining health and icons depicting any status conditions, such as level drain, blessings, or paralysis.The characters are controlled via radial menus.
After selecting a character, the player right clicks to open a circular menu. From there, hovering over wedges brings out more options, such as specific spells, actions, or inventory items. The main radial menu, which encircles a picture of the character selected, has up to six sections, the number being based on class abilities. Specific actions are color-coded based on the type of action they are.Characters can use their skills throughout the game by selecting them on the radial menu. If a player wanted to pick another character's pocket, he or she would select a character with the Sleight of Hand skill, left-click on the skill from the radial menu, and left click on the victim.
Dialog skills, such as Intimidate and Gather Information, appear as options in dialog with an icon denoting the skill being used. Skills are increased every level at a rate derived from the character's class and Intelligence.Combat is turn-based, with characters going individually based on their. Each character can make five types of actions: free, no, full-round, move, and standard.
Characters can take a move action and a standard action each turn. Full-round actions count as a use of both actions. Free actions take a negligible amount of time to perform, so they count as neither actions. No actions also count for neither actions, but they require special circumstances in order to be performed. Characters can choose special attacks to perform or spells to cast, and they can also choose to attack or cast in specific ways.
Defensive casting and fighting, dealing non-lethal damage, tripping an opponent, and coup de graces are examples of particular actions in combat. Characters have a set yet semi-random number of hit points based on their level, class, and Constitution score. Upon being reduced to zero hit points, a character is staggered, and a full round action will cost him or her one hit point. A creature with hit points between −1 and −9 is unconscious, and loses one hit point a round. The character has a 10% chance of stabilizing, which will stop the loss of hit points but will keep the character unconscious. Other characters can stop this loss of life through a successful heal check.
If a character or creature reaches −10 hit points, it dies.Although most of the main rules from 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons are implemented, there are several exceptions. Some of them, such as applying a bonus to from the Dodge feat, are simplified to streamline play. Others, such as not letting prone characters attack, are implemented to reduce the number of required animations. The structure of the engine is also utilized, allowing encumbered characters to move at 3/4 their maximum rate, even if the resulting speed is not a whole number. Certain abilities, including Barbarian Rage, are modified to better flow with the game. A hybridization of some rules also occurred; the spell Doom is modified to reflect the first printing of the, and weapon sizes are a blend of 3 and 3.5 editions.
The game also has two difficulty levels, Normal and Ironman, with the latter intended to more closely mimic the. Plot Thirteen years before the start of the game, Hommlet was a peaceful town. Due to low taxes and safe roads, the area became prosperous, and the village flourished. This prosperity drew the attention of evil forces, who began slowly trickling into the area.
It is not known where these forces came from, but the Dyvers of and the inhabitants of the forestlands of the Wild Coast were the chief suspects. As the presence of bandits, and increased, a local militia led by Waldgraf of Ostverk was raised to defend Hommlet.
This only served to check the evil forces, however.Six miles from Hommlet, a group of hovels formed a center for the evil activity. The locals ignored this threat since it was in the marshes, and Nulb began growing. A small built to an evil god grew into a stone structure as the evil forces pillaged and robbed the lands around Hommlet. For three years the Temple of Elemental Evil served as a center for the swarms of vile creatures who plagued Hommlet. As the evil grew in power, the land around the Temple suffered from pestilence, famine, and a lack of commerce.The leaders of the Temple grew too power-hungry, and they were defeated in the after challenging the kingdoms of the north.
The evil forces were slaughtered, and their mighty Temple was destroyed and sealed with magic and blessings. In the years that followed, Hommlet became a destination for adventurers, who brought wealth to the city and returned the area to its peaceful origins. Eventually, stopped coming, and the village went back to life as usual. A year before the start of the game, however, bandits once again began trickling into the region, and the villagers appealed to the Lord the Viscount of Verbobonc for aid. He responded by providing funds for Burne and Rufus, two well-known adventurers from the area, to build a keep just outside Hommlet. Story The game begins with an opening that is determined by the of the party.
All of these require the player to start in the town of Hommlet. After arriving in town and completing minor quests for the townsfolk, the player is directed to the moathouse, a small, fortified outpost to the east. The moathouse is home to bandits, and the player is asked to clear them out. However, in the dungeons of the moathouse, the player encounters a large force of led by an named Lubash and a priest of the Temple of Elemental Evil, Lareth the Beautiful.After defeating Lareth, the player can then go to either the Temple itself, or to Nulb, a town in the swamplands nearby.
If the player goes to Nulb, many of the citizens will talk of the Temple. Spies for the Temple are living in the town, and the player can gain passage into the heart of the Temple by pretending to be interested in joining. The Temple is divided into four factions:, and Temples. Each Temple is at war with the other three in a perpetual struggle for supremacy. The player is asked by all four to provide assistance, and can gain access to Hedrak, the leader of the Temple of Elemental Evil, by performing quests for the sub-Temples.
Most of the sub-Temples require the player to kill a leader of an opposing Temple to gain access to Hedrak.Upon meeting Hedrak, the player has two options: kill him, or accept his quest. If the player accepts the quest, which is to kill Scoorp the Hill giant, Hedrak will make the player a part of the Temple of Elemental Evil, thus ending the game. If the player kills Hedrak, the way to four nodes of elemental power will be available. Inside each of these nodes is a gem. These gems can be inserted into the Orb of Golden Death, which is hidden inside the Temple, to form a powerful artifact. Deep inside the Temple, the player must then deal with Zuggtmoy, the of fungus.
The player can, based on choices made, fight Zuggtmoy, fight a weaker version of Zuggtmoy, or avoid a fight altogether. This can lead to one of three endings if the player succeeds: Zuggtmoy is banished for 66 years, Zuggtmoy is destroyed permanently, or Zuggtmoy lives on, but the player is well rewarded.Development The Temple of Elemental Evil was intended as re-creation of the classic Dungeons & Dragons module of the. The publisher was, who then held the interactive rights to the Dungeons & Dragons.
Its developer was, who began the project on February 1, 2002 with a development team of 14 people. The game was first announced on January 9, 2003 under the title Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil. It was developed with an enhanced version of the game engine.Originally the designers intended to use the Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition rule set, but decided in mid-development to use the 3.5 edition rule set instead. In order to complete this adaptation, Atari gave Troika an additional two months of development time, extending their deadline to August 1.
Temple Of Elemental Evil Save Game Editor
However, the game was not completed until August 30. Some of the reasons for this included the need for extensive testing and the creation of unique play experiences for characters of different alignments. The game went on September 4, 2003, 19 days before it was originally intended to be shipped. Reception The Temple of Elemental EvilAggregate scoresAggregatorScore71%71/100Review scoresPublicationScore7.9/107.5/1079%With sales of 128,000 copies and revenues of $5.2 million by February 2005, The Temple of Elemental Evil was less commercially successful than Arcanum, Troika Games' previous release. Characterized both games' commercial performances as substandard, and as contributing factors to Troika's closure in 2005. The Temple of Elemental Evil 's critical reception was 'mixed or average', according to the website.The game was reviewed in 2004 in #321 by Clifford Horowitz in the 'Silicon Sorcery' column. Horowitz comments: ' The Temple of Elemental Evil computer game is about as classic Dungeons & Dragons as you can get.'
's Desslock called it 'a game by D&D fans and for D&D fans, and it provides all RPG fans with the opportunity to experience one of the genre’s classic adventures.' 's echoed those sentiments; it gave the game a 7.9 out of 10, calling the game 'one of the most authentic PC Dungeons & Dragons experiences of the past few years.'
Jamie Madigan of gave the game four out of five stars, but he made note of a lack of multiplayer options. Tal Blevins of gave it a 7.5, saying ' ToEE isn't perfect, but it's certainly not a stinker.' GameZone gave an 8.4 out of 10, saying it 'is a game that those who are serious about D&D-based RPGs should have in their library.' John Breeden II of complimented the game's graphics, particularly the animated scenery, and also said that 'monsters appear suitably gruesome'. According to GameSpy, 'players who persevered were rewarded with an ultimately fun and satisfying experience – just not the mind-blowing one they had hoped for.' Adam Fleet of wrote, 'That this game is still recommendable in its current state is a testament to just how good this game could have been, as well as the barren state of the current RPG landscape in general.' The nominated The Temple of Elemental Evil as its pick for 2003's best computer role-playing game, but ultimately gave the prize to.
It was also a finalist in 's special award categories for audio design and art direction that year. However, the game did receive Computer Games Magazine 's special 'Raid™ Post-patch Recovery Award' and 's 'Old School RPG Award' for 2003. The latter publication's editors wrote, 'No game brought back memories of the old pen-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons days the way Temple of Elemental Evil did.' Controversy Upon its release, The Temple of Elemental Evil created a small stir due to the availability of the option for a male character to enter a same-sex marriage. In the town of Nulb, a pirate named Bertram begins flirting with male characters in the party and offers a lifetime of love and happiness in exchange for his freedom. This relationship was noted as another example of video games 'pushing the boundaries'. Game developers and publishers generally did not object to the inclusion of a homosexual story option.
Criticism of the relationship came primarily from gamers who felt that gay characters should not be included in video games. Industry observer Matthew D. Barton commented on the irony of so-called 'geeky gamers', subject to stereotyping themselves, stereotyping gays in their opposition. Producer Tom Decker defended the move, saying in an interview with RPG Vault: 'I particularly felt strongly that since we had several heterosexual marriages available in Hommlet, we should include at least one homosexual encounter in the game and not to make it a stereotyped, over the top situation, but on par with the other relationships available in the game'. Bertram was named #6 on GayGamer.net's Top 20 Gayest Video Game Characters. Legacy As the release version of the game had many bugs, Troika released three which addressed some of the problems.
After the closure of the developer and consequent end of official support, the game community took up the patching efforts with and mods, providing many bugfixes, improvements, and new content. More recently, another improvement released in 2015, is called 'Temple Plus', similar in functionality to for and built using, in allowing for increased flexibility and avoidance of legacy coding limitations and issues.The game was re-released by, a, on October 13, 2010. Ian Williams of rated the game #6 on his list of 'The 10 Greatest Dungeons and Dragons Videogames' in 2015.
References. ^ Madigan, Jamie.
Archived from on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2007-02-19. Archived from on 2006-10-29.
Retrieved 2007-04-04. `Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil' will return players to D&D's roots with the genre-defining adventure that started it all while taking full advantage of the popular 3rd Edition rule set, party-based adventuring and tactical turn-based combat. ^ Kasavin, Greg. Retrieved 2007-02-19. ^. Infogrames And Hasbro Announcement.
Archived from on March 28, 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-26. ^. From the original on 2010-08-31. Retrieved 2007-07-11. ^ Breeden, John II (October 26, 2003). 'Reviews: The Temple of Elemental Evil: A Classic Greyhawk Adventure'.
– via (subscription required). 'Temple of Elemental Evil manual'. Cite journal requires journal=. Shaw, Ryan (January 1, 2004). Archived from on April 20, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2012. – via (subscription required).; (1987).
The Temple of Elemental Evil. Lake Geneva:. Retrieved 2012-11-28. Calvert, Justin (2003-01-09). Retrieved 2012-11-28.
Yans, Cindy (September 2003). 'Tomorrow's Dungeons; Greyhawk Revisited'. (154): 54–61. Decker, Thomas R. Retrieved 2012-11-26. Adams, David (2003-09-04). Retrieved 2007-07-25.
Retrieved 16 December 2013. ^ Blevins, Tal (2003-09-22). Retrieved 2007-02-19. Green, Jeff (January 2004). 'Reviews; The Temple of Elemental Evil'. (234): 124.
^ Desslock. Archived from on October 18, 2006. ^ Fleet, Adam (December 2003). 'Opinion; Die, Bugs, Die!'
(157): 82–84. Staff (February 25, 2005). Archived from on April 5, 2005. Horowitz, Clifford (July 2004). 'Silicon Sorcery'.
Dragon (321): 58–61. Lafferty, Michael (2003-09-16). Archived from on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
Rausch, Allen (2004-08-19). Retrieved November 17, 2012. Archived from on March 9, 2004. Staff (January 12, 2004). Archived from on February 13, 2004.
Staff (March 2004). 'Best of 2003; The 13th Annual Awards'. (160): 58–62. ^ Staff (December 2003).
Archived from on October 28, 2004. ^ Matthew D. Armchair Arcade. Retrieved 2007-02-14. ^ Krotoski, Aleks (2005-01-19). Guardian Unlimited.
Retrieved 2007-02-14. Archived from (Interview) on 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-14. Archived from on 2007-05-08. Retrieved 2007-02-14. Rose, Alan (2006-10-06).
Retrieved 2012-12-04. A group of dedicated Dungeons & Dragons role-playing fans have managed to accomplish something Atari and Troika failed to do three years ago – fix most of the bugs in The Temple of Elemental Evil. Rpg codex Who is Guido Henkel?. Retrieved 2018-08-29. on RPGamer.com (October 14, 2010).
Retrieved 29 August 2018.External links. at.
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