Arcanum Beta Thread

[Phil26]

For my first post here on BetaArchive I want to present you a real gem for all RPG fans.

~ Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura ~

[Preview Beta] [Build 27] [9th October 2000]



This build of Arcanum was given out to only a few people for a closed beta test and is nearly one year older than the retail version.
It includes the first chapter (about 20% of the final game) and differences to the retail version include:

- Different/left out art and objects
- Many different/placeholder interfaces
- A lot of resources that were later reduced in quality or left out (Apparently because they had to fit the game on 2CD's)
- Many more bugs (Obviously)

Download:

• https://mega.co.nz/#!RAEQBCTI!JEA0BBqps ... t6FpJ7p4VE
  https://mega.co.nz/#!xZtBna4Y!UFpollKCu ... rRrjD--Hm0
  https://mega.co.nz/#!oMcUzaDJ!MNxXGwm6g ... rYOHMT-BIo
  https://mega.co.nz/#!NEVGWKpC!KHgknUWCD ... kO0lmgWwPg
  https://mega.co.nz/#!EcdhkQYZ!WwLiFAQy5 ... ObPxrmjUwU
  https://mega.co.nz/#!BI92kCTJ!Upo2AxAZ8 ... NF5rugsov0
  https://mega.co.nz/#!NZFDEbQI!Xtn7P1Jfz ... fZHzQB239c

Important: This build is protected with SecuRom, so in order to play it you need a tool like Alcohol 120% which can emulate/burn subchannel data!
In newer versions of Windows you have also to enable WindowsXP compatibility mode

[Demo] [Build 55] [13th March 2001]

Demo included in various magazines. This build is three months older than the retail version.

Download:

• https://mega.co.nz/#!VQ8yAZbD!fOhd10EHw ... Arb1ch5OMw
  https://mega.co.nz/#!EMVjxL4S!SzWmqE6i_ ... CSDiTdvUgU
  https://mega.co.nz/#!YVchQJAJ!X6gMvTCHF ... Kz8eSpgjMQ

If someone gives it a try let me know what you think of the builds.

[Hallfiry]

Nice to see this beta

Build 55 from 14th of March, 2001 was published on magazine CDs back in the days:
http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... &descr=&o=

What Build Number was retail?

Offtopic Comment

That's something like 5.5 builds per month. Blizzard on the other hand had about 120 Warcraft III builds per month (that's 4 builds per day) between August 2000 and January 2002
Seems like companies handle dramatically differently what they call a "build".

EDIT: There seem to be multiple variants of Build 55. PC Games DVD 08/01 contains an installer that contains a different readme than the Secret Service version and also does not have "Arcanum Manual.doc". Binaries and assets seem to be identical, though.

[dezodor]

part2 and 5 cant be downloaded, tried at home, at work, all the others come down with max speed, but that 2 parts wont even start. could you plz reup them somewhere else or again to mega?

[Phil26]

For me the links work correctly but here are the two parts on Mediafire:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/pjnc2 ... .part2.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/download/d14gm ... .part5.rar

@Hallfiry
Just put my old retail copy of the game to work, unfortunately it does no longer show the build number anywhere.
But the exe is from 15th June 2001 so if they kept on with 5 builds per month it should be around 70.
Thanks for pointing out the 55 build didn't know there was a demo of the game this early.
Any chance they are still somewhere downloadable?

[Hallfiry]

Any chance they are still somewhere downloadable?

Well, I linked it. When you are browsing a CD in my catalog (not the search view) you can see a list of mirrors at the top. If a CD has no mirror, it will explicitely tell you so at the top of the page.

I can upload the PC Games installer later. It's more "solid" than the loose folder mess of the Secret Service version.

[Phil26]

Thanks I haven't seen that there are mirror links on the site.
Just found the installer version myself on PCGames. I will add it to the post since it's still prerelease stuff with differences.

[Hallfiry]

Thanks I haven't seen that there are mirror links on the site.
Just found the installer version myself on PCGames. I will add it to the post since it's still prerelease stuff with differences.

Have I missed an online mirror of old PC Games DVDs or are you German(-speaking)?

[Phil26]

Yes I am German speaking but only the demo was downloadable from their site not the complete DVD from the month's issue.

[nightshade89]

One of the best games ever. Only parts I hated trying to do was getting the buzzsaw from the blind monk and trying to complete the god quests