Imagine a place of wonder, where magick and technology hold equal sway, and an adventurer might just as easily wield a flintlock pistol as a flaming sword. A place where great industrial cities house castle keeps and factories, home to Dwarves, Humans, Orcs and Elves alike. A place of ancient runes and steamworks, of magic and machines, of sorcery and science.
Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Arcanum in Linux with PlayOnLinux.
Note: This guide applies to the GOG version of Arcanum. Other versions may require additional steps.
Tips & Specs:
To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux Explained
Mint 17.3 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.10
Wine: 1.8.2
Wine Installation
Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"
Look for the Wine Version: 1.8.2
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right
Click Next
Downloading Wine
Extracting
Downloading Gecko
Installed
Wine 1.8.2 is installed and you can close this window
Download Arcanum unofficial patch and widescreen patch
Go to: http://www.terra-arcanum.com/downloads/
Click Unofficial Patch
Download patch: UAP091225.exe
Click High Resolution Patch
Download patch: HighRes1.1a.exe
Note: Wait until the first patch is completely downloaded before clicking the next patch.
PlayOnLinux Setup
Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install
Click "Install a non-listed program"
Click Next
Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
Click Next
Name your virtual drive: arcanum
Click Next
Check all three options:
- Use another version of Wine
- Configure Wine
- Install some libraries
Select Wine 1.8.2
Click Next
Select "32 bits windows installation"
Click Next
Wine Configuration
Applications Tab
Windows version: Windows 7
Click Apply
Graphics Tab
Check "Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows"
Click OK
PlayOnLinux Packages (Components, DLL's, Libraries)
Check the following:
- POL_Install_corefonts
- POL_Install_d3dx9
- POL_Install_gdiplus
- POL_Install_tahoma
Note: All packages will automatically download and install
Installing Arcanum
Click Browse
Select "setup_arcanum_2.0.0.15.exe"
Click Open
Click Next again
Check "Yes, I have read and accept EULA"
Click Options
Uncheck "Create desktop icons"
Click Install
Click Exit
PlayOnLinux Shortcut
Select "Arcanum.exe"
Click Next
Click Next
Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
Click Next
PlayOnLinux Configure
Select Arcanum
Click Configure
General Tab
Wine version: 1.8.2
Arguments: -no3d
Note: -no3d eliminates graphical artifacts. Click the + to download other versions of Wine, click the down-arrow to select other versions of Wine
Display Tab
Video Memory size: Enter the amount of memory your video card/chip uses
Installing Patches
Miscellaneous Tab
Click "Run a .exe in this virtual drive"
Select UAP091225.exe
Click Open
Click Next
Check "Townmap Fixes"
Check "Extra Content"
Click Next
Click Install
Uncheck "Show Readme"
Click Finish
Click "Run a .exe in this virtual drive"
Select HighRes1.1a.exe
Click Open
Type Destination folder:
C:\GOG Games\Arcanum
Click Install
Readme?
Press n
Press Enter
Install High Resolution Patch?
Press i
Press Enter
Type width
ex: 1920
Press Enter
Type height
ex: 1080
Press Enter
Follow the rest of the instructions about Dialog and Logbook fonts
Successful
Press Enter
Close Configure
Launching Arcanum
Select Arcanum
Click Run
Note: Click Debug to see errors and bugs
Conclusion:
Arcanum ran perfectly after adding the High Resolution patch and using the -no3d argument. It is an old school game, but very detailed in character development. There seems to be endless options for skills, strengths, spells, items, disciplines and more.
Screenshots:
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