The one advantage is Obsidian and Arcanum are now both owned by Microsoft (Arcanum was owned by Activision). So it's more likely now than in the past but, honestly, still unlikely.
Even just knowing that you still read all these comments means all the difference in the world, and, honestly, is a testament to how much earnestness you carry in general. Thanks, Tim.
@@CainOnGamesIf you're seriously considering launching an Arcanum Kickstarter, like I mentioned before, count me in with great enthusiasm! I've always had a soft spot for Arcanum, and having just wrapped up work on Baldur's Gate 3, I'm ready for the next adventure. If you're in need of a lead producer, I'm your person. Plus, I come with a bonus: a few incredibly talented yet surprisingly affordable contacts in 3D art, CGI, and programming. Just say the word! 🙂
@@CainOnGames Regardless, I'd be thrilled if you could keep me in mind for any future endeavors. I attempted to connect with you on LinkedIn some time ago; I'm not sure if you noticed. However, if you're ever interested in discussing potential collaborations, I'm all ears. Thank you for the videos you release - they're always something I look forward to! ☺️
@@CainOnGamesthis is fun to hear for me. Arcanum means so much to me and to hear that you think about a 2nd game when walking the dog just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to know one of its creators from over 20 years ago still holds it close to his heart.
I was such a Black Isle and Troika fanboy as a kid. Reading about Tim Cain , Leonard Boyarski, and having no idea what either looked like. Tim Cain is a living legend man, hearing him utter the words “Arcanum 2” gave me goosebumps
You totally should Arcanum is one hell of a ride and considering these days it can be bought full price on steam for like six bucks means there's very little reason not to.
In my opinion, the reason why people shut down certain conversations is because a lot of modern stuff mishandles the conversations to the point that we'd rather not hear it at all than to do it, but its bungled. It doesn't help that modern stuff treats the audience like they're small children that need to be guided to the "right" answer, whereas older media, it feels, treated the audience like they're mature and can be trusted to understand the material they're being shown/experiencing. But then again, there's probably people who think the Master from Fallout is right
Was just thinking about how awesome the world of arcanum was. The whole magic and technology balancing was so unique and gave such an interesting depth to character creation. Loved the Victorian Fantasy setting and the music. I just love everything you made and you seem like such a chill passionate guy
To this day I still want to give a big kiss to whoever came with the idea for the Half Ogre Mass Production quest. By far my favorite and to my knowledge the only one that truly surpass your "hero" status in the game. Hell even if you are a villain the quest itself is way above your payroll and points into an entire political system that if it truly wanted, it could eat you alive, regenerate you and then chew even harder. This is what made Arcanum special to me, even politics, the less touched or interesting side of any "grandiose adventure" in the CRPG realm (exceptions may vary), were full center and key factor to take into consideration. Just the Apple/Gates conflict of interests seems like a generic "choose your own -fuckup- aDvEnTuRe", but they force a change in both politics and social aspects in Tarant, which goes into a domino effect over the United Kingdom, not in the credits, but as you are walking the realms. An improvement on this kind of questing in an hypothetical Arcanum 2, would have been a monumental shift in how RPGs should be made.
Arcanum 2, but go in dwaf fortress direction with world and content procedural generation generation would be interesting. I really liked arcanum was moslty hand-made, but with generated bits to fill in tedious blanks.
Nah, I wouldn't want the same to happen to them as so many other once-reputable veteran devs with name recognition, who start well-meaning kickstarters that result in them making the worst games of their careers.
@@arcan762the current trend of games is sad indeed. But you got to swing for the fences if you want homeruns. It would be great to see the old Arcanum team swing for the fences!
Your insights are genuine and greatly insightful, and especially as a new indie game developer/publisher I really appreciate them. Thank you for sharing!
My dream is another story in the world of Arcanum - The mix of fantasy and industrial world, and how it really couldn't co-exist was awesome! Oh and the Victorian England Aesthetic was just sublime.
I feel like this channel is one day going to build up to an Arcanum game kickstarter and I am going to insta back it. In all seriousness though I love all of the insights and thoughts from this channel.
Sign me up for Arcanum 2 as well, I would back that in less than a second and make my friends back it too. I really appreciate your development insights Tim. Thanks for making this content.
I try not to indulge in “hype”, but without context, the title of this video made me grin from ear to ear and do a very subtle twirl in my living room this morning. That was an entertaining and exciting “what if”! Thanks as always, Tim.
I would pay both for membership or for a kickstarter that involves you. Your games and videos are some of my favorite content on the net, and of course some of my favorite games.
It´s interesting to me that you mention first person as a possibility for Arcanum 2. When I first learned that Fallout 3 would be 3D and include first person, I immediately started started thinking about how cool it would be for a possible Arcanum sequel to get the same treatment!
The world and concept of Arcanum is so fascinating and exciting that I've decided to try my hand at writing a book and I've even made it to 300 pages so far
Fargo and Wasteland II: kickstarted, so there’s certainly a parallel answer, and he probably had more resources to draw on than Troika. Smallness: When I came to Interplay, I was the last full-time employee when we were still in single digits (Tom Decker was 10 or 11 iirc). I wrote, I tested, I designed, I animated (well, my degree was in art), I did sound sequencing, I did just about everything except programming (not counting scripting as real programming). “Not in my job description” was not in my job description. Specialists are a luxury for larger companies. 14 employees is actually kind of fun - everybody knows everybody, and everybody has to pitch in to get the job done.
Hey I remember your name. I just wanted to say Star Trek 25th Anniversary and Judgment Rites are my favorite P&C adventure games ever, and I still replay them sometime.
Hey Tim. What a great video. It sounds awesome to have had kickstarter for Arcanum 2. In the same engine would have been fantastic. The amount of content (so much) the Arcanum team made for Arcanum still today baffles me. The game is huge for having been made by 14 people. What you did with the source engine and bloodlines was really good. And Arcanum 2 could also have used that if an open world could have been built with it. Love the ideas about expanding on orcs in the wild (and more about factories), more dwarven clans, the dark elves and elves. Gnomes and halfling villages etc. More everything! Sounds smart to have diffrent forum levels for a kickstarter. Yeah you made very interesting storylines and quests and it is really good to hear you enjoyed making Arcanum and that you did not feel censored. Censorship is hell for creativity. I love Arcanum and it would be fantastic to get an Arcanum 2 like we got New Vegas (it doesnt matter to me if it is isometric or 3d as long as the world and quests etc remain true the orginal setting). Have a good day mate
That raises the question for me: How many of your ideas influenced Wildstar, how many were implemented, and which ones were not? What would you have liked differently in "your AAA MMO," and what did you appreciate? Are there ideas from others that you initially didn't like but found to work better?
I always loved Charles Dickens, the industrial revolution is such an interesting time. The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling also stuck with me, there's so much potential for odd offshoots of science from the past. I watched a documentary on the steam tunnels under London, before electricity they had 'steam power stations' & tunnels that factory's where able to pull steam from to power machines. A steam power grid, such a cool artefact from anther time. The tunnels are now used for power/internet cables, still in use and videos of people exploring them online. There where also water and oil powered analogue computers, wiki says the 'Water integrator' was used in the USSR for large-scale modelling till the 1980s! Also in 1949 the Phillips Machine aka MONIAC (Monetary National Income Analogue Computer) was made to model finance, water powered and still on display I think.
I’d contribute to a kickstarter for Arcanum 2 in an instant Tim! The plans for first person were exciting but another isometric game (or trilogy!) would have been wonderful. It’s also great hearing how important you found tackling difficult subjects through the setting; that’s something which should still remain if there is a possibility of a new game 🙏
I've been making a D&D campaign in the world of Arcanum because I really wanted to dive into the stories of the world for the players - plus it helps they haven't played the game!
Arcanum was the first game I ever decided to play an evil character. I remember Vergil showing his true colors as well as the change in the tone of his voice. I have fond memories of meticulously planning out my build in order to create an army of automatons, I later found an exploit in which you could keep resting and save scumming in I think it was Tarant, and the engine to build them would eventually restock. I began to build my army, and to my surprise, automatons did not take up party slots. I ended up building like 15 of them, I tried more but the game began to lag. I also built the healing spiders, and hauled their heavy butts inside of my parties inventories for when I needed healing. Then the time finally arrived when I thought that I needed to pay this Kerghan guy a visit, and Kerghan asked me to join him, and destroy this city. I agreed. After attacking the city, I went back to Kerghan, he decides to turn on me and had even recruited one or so of my party members (can't remember off the top of my head). Pretty sure Torian Kel turned on me. My army of automatons converged on them, and then I got the ending where I was sitting on a cliff as the last survivor on the planet. No other game has ever made an evil playthrough so enthralling. On my time off, I work on a UGC mod for Shadowrun: Hong Kong. And I decided to create party members that included misfits, criminals and anti-heroes, all because Arcanum had such an impact on me till this day.
An Arcanum sequel that is also a modern “remake” of the original that leads directly into the new content based on what you’ve talked about before would be the game of all games. In my head, I call it “Arcanum: There and Back Again”
It makes me sad that the timeline of Troika kickstarting Arcanum 2 never came to be... Just thinking what it could have been...😭 Needless to say but if you, Leonard, and Jason ever decided to kickstart something like this I suspect we could help fund you (I know that is not your plan, but if you ever changed your mind). Thank you for the video! Have a great day!😊
I would love to be part of your team, I may not be able to contribute monetarily much, but will love to work for you guys and support with work hours in anyway possible. Also I'm not someone who was nostalgic, I played most of your games only after , I can totally say they haven't been matched yet in terms of the depth of experience they offered. Like i want to say this without trying to compliment you guys or feel like over praising. I know the issues that are in these games as well but it really didn't matter to what it offered. If you guys feel like you can do it one more time certainly would be amazing. Also be sure of your and Leonard's health and finances , if you want to take the stress too, you guys are gems and will go all in once you get into it, even at the cost of personal well being , i could see it in the games scope despite all the issues you guys had last time. The industry nowadays is brutal. That said if you are ready and set to go, then let's go 🤘🤟😊
I'd jump on that in a heartbeat. Not just as a backer, but scrounging up everything I've ever done in my life and asking if I can work on it. Heck, I'm working on something Arcanum related even now. It's slow going but I'm wearing the inspiration on my sleeve. But I wonder if everyone from Troika is just too old and too different now for the original concept of Arcanum 2 to ever happen. At the very least, a lot of people believe you have a path to the IP now.
I know that its not happening, but I’m still waiting for Arcanum 2. For the last 20 years. If there was something like Kickstarter for Arcanum 2 I would back it immediately.
I would assume another major advantage to Arcanum 2 is that you just have to get an agreement with Activision, instead of ToEE 2 or Bloodlines 2 where Troika would have had to also get the IP holders to play ball.
Just teasing us with that title (: Got to the part about games trying to ignore societal issues. It is really frustrating to have that elephant in the room, and it ends up reinforcing oppression. As a side note, it makes me happy to see my fellow queer people in game dev
Tim, you NEED to make something else in the Arcanum universe, anything, hopefully a game. The Arcanum universe that you guys created is relevant and important in today's world. Your eyes light up when you talk about this game
I can see a 2024 Arcanum game being very cool and possibly more popular. With games like the ones coming out of CDPR which deal with a lot of difficult, adult and morally-challenging topics, there is absolutely a market for that kind of content. As long as the stories are told well and presented well, I think people would jump at the chance to play it. That being said, I know that marketing is incredibly challenging/expensive and just selling the concept to a new audience might be difficult.
You know what I'd like? Arcanum Tactics. Give us some choice and consequence, but mainly it's set-piece combat in gorgeous scenery. That *could* work out as a Kickstarter.
at 7:55 you mention forms on kickstarter and that got me thinking, would you mind doing a video for youngins like me on what community management was like in the 80s-2000s or now even?
Guys, just think about it. There are dozens of thousands of people ready to support Arcanum remaster on Kickstarter. The only think we need is an official campaign and maybe some people like Tim approval
What are the current barriers you'd have to overcome to get a new entry of Arcanum into the pipeline? More of the rights part, but I'd be interested in hearing about the other hurdles you'd have to clear as well. I can't remember if you mentioned who currently owns the rights to Arcanum... but I think I remember you mentioning that you own the code.
I wonder where an Arcanum 2 would go story-wise? Would the industrialisation increase, perhaps becoming skewed to the point magic and magic users would fear being erased entirely and forgotten? Would the gnomes have just continued to "get away with it", perhaps altering the narrative further to demonize the kingdom they usurped? It's definitely a setting that easily provides inspiration and ideas.
"Oh, the things Ristezze has seen, my friend! The deepest of the old Dwarven caverns, where diamonds hang like great chandeliers, and the gold runs in veins as wide as rivers. Let me tell you of the elves, and their carved homes in the boughs of the old forests, where shadows hang thick like leaves and the air is like earthy perfume. Melodic voices like sunlight, quick figures draped in wisdom and grace. And the cities, my friend! The cities of man! Old Caladon, where the ancient and austere Panarii temple is a marble testament to man's reverence, the old stone docks which have withstood the oceans fury for a thousand years... They all know of Ristezze! Ristezze, who once rode in the gem-studded carriage of the Garringsburgs, walked in the terraced gardens of old Arland among barons and potentates, threw lilies at the wolf hunts in Huntington Dale. Yes! Ristezze was a god! The Willoughsby banking dynasty were like children to Ristezze, asking for toys. Ristezze once held the most favored spot at the Meloren Bazaar, where the concubines pay for their silks and perfumes in rubies and diamonds... Men of industry? There were so many! The Derringers of Cumbria, the Beaurigards and the Wexels from East O'Banion, the Kiplings of Great Bend... And in Tarant! The greatest city of them all! Tarant, like a great beast slumbering in the shallows of the gulf of Morbihan. Tarant, battle-scarred and bold, its roads and boulevards a haphazard mesh interspersed with castles and monolithic buildings of merchantry! They were like royalty! Kings and Princes, their ships laden in goods and resources, tribute from lands both near and far! There are so many in Tarant! The Moores, the Prestons, the Tarrelon-Dunnes. And the Schuylers! Those strange Schuylers who, like myself, deal in the rare and the uncommon... Oh, you must travel to Tarant. If only once, to look upon her rivers and her bridges, her factories, her skies adorned with flying machines and her bosom stitched with the tracks of roaring trains... If you see her, tell her that Ristezze sends his greetings!"
People often say Bloodlines was broken beyond repair when it went retail, but I bought it retail and finished it multiple times. I did not have access to online patches at the time either. Was it janky..yes. Was it buggy..oh yes, but i was enjoying it and it was not unplayable. 🥰 /maybe the retail versions shipped to the EU already had some last second patches applied. I cannot say.
If I remember correctly there was a game breaking bug that many people encountered early in the game. If you have the time, you should replay it with the fan patches. They are still being worked on and they have even added originally cut content to the game.
I played it on launch many full runs. Cant remember if i had to use some patch or what. It was a lot of fun. Back then more games were really good. And when i went back to it last year i was even more impressed by it after having played new games. It is very very good.
I would love to have an Arcanum sequel, I'd love to see what happened the world after the events of the first game, what was the consequences of Vendigroth returning? The Half Ogre conspiracy? That island Cattan that you couldn't go to. The potential of the rise of technology and the further struggle of magic is so rich.
I'm kinda curious to explore more of the old-timey rpgs because back in the day I'd only play FPS and racing games. Now that I'm much older I find rpgs kind of enticing. If you ever decide on making a new game with a select crew of buddies I'm happy to help(monetarily).
Not to contradict, but I did back a game that required a secondary kick starter. It did publish/ship and is on steam. I don't really hear people talking about it, and I feel like it's been in development for ten years now. I will not name it because I don't know if there is a stigma attached to this.
A first person view will bump up the production costs a lot, compared to a classic zoomed out isometric view. Everything has to be much higher detail, better animated and realistically scaled in first person. That takes away from the freedom to write many storylines, locations and quests (and stay in budget).
Hi Tim! I don't know if you have talked about this (I can't seem to find a video about it) but, what is your opinion when it comes to fast travel in video games? How do you think it affects the design of the game? I see a lot of open world games nowadays that rely too much on fast and have little exploration. Anyway good video as always :)
Hey Tim, I'm working on my first game which is very high concept i already have a small team and everything is going smoothly BUT were having trouble finding supporters, What do lol? I wont go into details because my game is hard to explain but it will be on the RPG maker MV and be about a 1900s Europe and its black and white and every enemy in the game is based off of a old movie monster, and it deals with many heavy topics ike racism and Biggotry and politics but its respectful. but my question is how to i get my first game out the door lol?
Tim, PLEASE crowd fund Arcanum 2. You could crowd fund enough to get the license if you need to. We all want this. It's really only a small number of loud people that make companies scared of tackling a darker, realistic world like Arcanum. Games like Conan: Exiles do great and that game has you straight up enslaving people! I can see you still light up thinking about it. I know I would certainly throw my money at you.
Great video! An issue I've seen with previous kickstarter games is feature creep/bloat. In your features video you mention getting sign off from all departments before adding a feature. Do you have any other advice for preventing feature creep or determining when to cut content?
Love your channel Tim! As a senior dev who grew up in the 90's, I have always fantasized of how games started, a couple of friends working hard together making something cool and (probably) not worrying about the money and more about the product (probably close to todays Indies, however maybe with a higher chance of making it back then). I feel I have missed the "golden age" of making games where what was thought cool was more important rather than what "sells". Maybe nothing really changed and I am disillusioned with todays trend of making shareholders happy. I was wondering what you think of the culture in studios and games today compared to what they were when you first started? What did you think of that transition or has it not changed that much in your opinion? Thank you!
I was on a meeting about some crucial ui/ux decisions and I instantly muted my mic and obsucred video to watch this! I hoped it was an announcement.. I feel that the second people sees troika games - arcanum 2 on kickstarter, a looot of people would go wild! Especially now that big corporations are proving to be not trustworthy. For me it'd be a dream both as a gamer and as a dev to see the return of troika with you at the helm :) and wait for @mortismalgaming to see this video haha
Rpg fans would be really behind a return to arcanum with you involved, pipe dream that it will happen one day. When it comes to writers like chris avellone and others that are known for working on cult RPGs, what kind of experience or funny stories do you have about them?
Hi Tim, I appreciate all the things you do here. In your own judgement, what are the odds of Arcanum 2? (But only if you are involved in it.) Thank you a lot for the answer in advance.
Did you ever talked to lennard or Scott about doing it now? All three of you and you are especially somewhat a superstar today and I think while you hope for someone to make a game you like, the best way is to do it yourself and as you yourself said, there is probably not many other persons who have the amount of experience you or lennard have. Also on another hand, if someone approaches you with a couple millions in budget, would you agree to develope Arcanum 2?
I understand the idea that people that have put money in are literally more invested in seeing a good game (or youtube content), but that kind of process also feels a lot like saying that people with money have more of a valid opinion than those without. I know I could provide solid and constructive feedback on a project to work towards a piece of art, engaging gameplay, or something to get people thinking, but I definitely don't have the money to get that voice heard
@@CainOnGames Regretfully I'm not sure if there is a solid alternative process; I think we would have to globally change our relationship with money (which starts to sound quite radical (but maybe we need to slowly consider that, perhaps a whole other discussion)). I guess there will always be valid voices unheard, no matter if money is involved or not. Similarly, some people seem to have money to waste without a care. The closest thing to seeing if someone is invested without money to a project would be a kind of interview/questionnaire/selection process first to see if the person is dedicated to the project, but of course that would take up a dev's time as well. It would also then essentially be an internship. I do know that on Discord servers you can allow certain input or accept users into certain channels after a prerequisite amount of input, which would also imply some dedication. Of course, that won't work for the youtube side of things. Sorry for such a verbose response without much of a solid alternative; there's a lot I could talk about both on the artistic/constructive side and the political side of creativity. Also, thank you for genuinely reading and considering the comments and taking care of your audience; such consideration feels rare these days
@@cerisskiesI’m glad you replied, because I’ve been thinking about the problem since UA-cam started poking me about memberships. It’s not a good solution, but it’s a solution, and if I’m honest, I don’t think I can keep up with all of the comments. I’ll keep trying, but a filter of some kind would be very handy.
@@CainOnGames I can only imagine the amount of stuff you need to filter through! And having someone do it for you would defeat the point. I guess it's a feature that both UA-cam and KickStarter need to work on, but I expect that they never will. Despite the drawbacks, a solution is indeed a solution. For now, I hope that people (myself included) can think before they type.
I wish the team that is now doing Outer Worlds 2 could transition after that to an Arcanum sequel (not call it Arcanum 2 of course, don't want to scare off people who haven't played the first) with Tim involved of course. One can dream.
Every time I hear you talk about Arcanum it makes me really want to play it... but man how badly it plays nowadays. I would love for Microsoft to give green light to a remake, if only to make the experience a little bit more fluid.
Hi Tim, could you tell us how much Fallout architecture code you could reuse in Arcanum and Temple? Dialogue systems, save systems, inventory systems, can you take these parts of the code without infringing on Fallout's copyright?
I hope we will have Arcanum 2 one day.
Without Tim Cain, maybe not. Bloodlines 2 is looming over us and it's not looking pretty.
Yeah the right kind of Arcanum 2 would be great
arcanum 2 in the wakes of BG3
The one advantage is Obsidian and Arcanum are now both owned by Microsoft (Arcanum was owned by Activision). So it's more likely now than in the past but, honestly, still unlikely.
the ownership of that game is lost in the bowel of Activision though
Even just knowing that you still read all these comments means all the difference in the world, and, honestly, is a testament to how much earnestness you carry in general. Thanks, Tim.
You’re welcome. There are some great comments and questions on this channel. I think half my videos come from answering people’s questions now
@@CainOnGamesIf you're seriously considering launching an Arcanum Kickstarter, like I mentioned before, count me in with great enthusiasm! I've always had a soft spot for Arcanum, and having just wrapped up work on Baldur's Gate 3, I'm ready for the next adventure. If you're in need of a lead producer, I'm your person. Plus, I come with a bonus: a few incredibly talented yet surprisingly affordable contacts in 3D art, CGI, and programming. Just say the word! 🙂
I appreciate that, but I’m not considering any Kickstarter. Or starting a company. Or even running a project. I’m just answering people’s questions.
@@CainOnGames Regardless, I'd be thrilled if you could keep me in mind for any future endeavors. I attempted to connect with you on LinkedIn some time ago; I'm not sure if you noticed. However, if you're ever interested in discussing potential collaborations, I'm all ears. Thank you for the videos you release - they're always something I look forward to! ☺️
I used to walk to school for about half an hour there and back every day thinking about what Arcanum 2 could have been.
I do that now when I walk my dog.
My friends and I would sit in study hall pontificating over how cool a Fallout FPS would be.
@@CainOnGamesthis is fun to hear for me. Arcanum means so much to me and to hear that you think about a 2nd game when walking the dog just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to know one of its creators from over 20 years ago still holds it close to his heart.
I was such a Black Isle and Troika fanboy as a kid. Reading about Tim Cain , Leonard Boyarski, and having no idea what either looked like. Tim Cain is a living legend man, hearing him utter the words “Arcanum 2” gave me goosebumps
Arcanum was rich in lore and storytelling, barely scratching the surface. I do hope that we get to see Arcanum 2 someday!
"There's no going back to the well"
*Star Citizen enters the chat*
My heart hurts when I listen about all those possible stories for a game that should've had sequel. Shame it didn't/won't happen.
Arcanum is one of the best games I’ve ever played in my life.
Thank you so much.
Love from Brazil!
I love VTMB. That game and this channel has given me much incentive to play Troika's other games.
You totally should Arcanum is one hell of a ride and considering these days it can be bought full price on steam for like six bucks means there's very little reason not to.
If you did a kickstarter, you could probably get 500k on your name alone. Add the old gang and a good pitch...
Hi Tim, I LOVED Arcanum and would love to see Arcanum 2
In my opinion, the reason why people shut down certain conversations is because a lot of modern stuff mishandles the conversations to the point that we'd rather not hear it at all than to do it, but its bungled. It doesn't help that modern stuff treats the audience like they're small children that need to be guided to the "right" answer, whereas older media, it feels, treated the audience like they're mature and can be trusted to understand the material they're being shown/experiencing. But then again, there's probably people who think the Master from Fallout is right
Hey Tim, it’s us, everyone 😊
Was just thinking about how awesome the world of arcanum was. The whole magic and technology balancing was so unique and gave such an interesting depth to character creation. Loved the Victorian Fantasy setting and the music. I just love everything you made and you seem like such a chill passionate guy
Leaving comments based on half understanding a quarter of a video is my specialty
Lol you and me both mate
are you me??
To this day I still want to give a big kiss to whoever came with the idea for the Half Ogre Mass Production quest. By far my favorite and to my knowledge the only one that truly surpass your "hero" status in the game. Hell even if you are a villain the quest itself is way above your payroll and points into an entire political system that if it truly wanted, it could eat you alive, regenerate you and then chew even harder.
This is what made Arcanum special to me, even politics, the less touched or interesting side of any "grandiose adventure" in the CRPG realm (exceptions may vary), were full center and key factor to take into consideration. Just the Apple/Gates conflict of interests seems like a generic "choose your own -fuckup- aDvEnTuRe", but they force a change in both politics and social aspects in Tarant, which goes into a domino effect over the United Kingdom, not in the credits, but as you are walking the realms.
An improvement on this kind of questing in an hypothetical Arcanum 2, would have been a monumental shift in how RPGs should be made.
I would kickstart any game that you plan to create in an instant. Especially now since the AAA industry seems to be speed running to it's demise.
Arcanum 2, but go in dwaf fortress direction with world and content procedural generation generation would be interesting. I really liked arcanum was moslty hand-made, but with generated bits to fill in tedious blanks.
Yeah a kickstarter for Arcanum 2!
Nah, I wouldn't want the same to happen to them as so many other once-reputable veteran devs with name recognition, who start well-meaning kickstarters that result in them making the worst games of their careers.
@@arcan762the current trend of games is sad indeed. But you got to swing for the fences if you want homeruns.
It would be great to see the old Arcanum team swing for the fences!
Hell, not even just new games. Even just a remaster for *any* Troika game would instantly have my full support.
Your insights are genuine and greatly insightful, and especially as a new indie game developer/publisher I really appreciate them. Thank you for sharing!
My dream is another story in the world of Arcanum - The mix of fantasy and industrial world, and how it really couldn't co-exist was awesome! Oh and the Victorian England Aesthetic was just sublime.
Tim, gather your A team! It's not too late to make it happen -- kickstarter, early access, the works.
I feel like this channel is one day going to build up to an Arcanum game kickstarter and I am going to insta back it. In all seriousness though I love all of the insights and thoughts from this channel.
Sign me up for Arcanum 2 as well, I would back that in less than a second and make my friends back it too.
I really appreciate your development insights Tim.
Thanks for making this content.
I still hope for an Arcanum remake/remaster, that's true to the game. And Arcanum 2 heck yeah!
I try not to indulge in “hype”, but without context, the title of this video made me grin from ear to ear and do a very subtle twirl in my living room this morning. That was an entertaining and exciting “what if”! Thanks as always, Tim.
Arcanum 2 sounds awesome, a first person arcanum game would be one I would definitely pay to see in the future
hey, tim. just wanted to thank you for the worlds and scenarios you pulled me into in my childhood. no answer needed! keep on truckin.
I would pay both for membership or for a kickstarter that involves you. Your games and videos are some of my favorite content on the net, and of course some of my favorite games.
It´s interesting to me that you mention first person as a possibility for Arcanum 2. When I first learned that Fallout 3 would be 3D and include first person, I immediately started started thinking about how cool it would be for a possible Arcanum sequel to get the same treatment!
The world and concept of Arcanum is so fascinating and exciting that I've decided to try my hand at writing a book and I've even made it to 300 pages so far
Fargo and Wasteland II: kickstarted, so there’s certainly a parallel answer, and he probably had more resources to draw on than Troika.
Smallness: When I came to Interplay, I was the last full-time employee when we were still in single digits (Tom Decker was 10 or 11 iirc). I wrote, I tested, I designed, I animated (well, my degree was in art), I did sound sequencing, I did just about everything except programming (not counting scripting as real programming). “Not in my job description” was not in my job description. Specialists are a luxury for larger companies. 14 employees is actually kind of fun - everybody knows everybody, and everybody has to pitch in to get the job done.
Hey I remember your name. I just wanted to say Star Trek 25th Anniversary and Judgment Rites are my favorite P&C adventure games ever, and I still replay them sometime.
Hey Tim. What a great video. It sounds awesome to have had kickstarter for Arcanum 2. In the same engine would have been fantastic. The amount of content (so much) the Arcanum team made for Arcanum still today baffles me. The game is huge for having been made by 14 people.
What you did with the source engine and bloodlines was really good. And Arcanum 2 could also have used that if an open world could have been built with it.
Love the ideas about expanding on orcs in the wild (and more about factories), more dwarven clans, the dark elves and elves. Gnomes and halfling villages etc. More everything!
Sounds smart to have diffrent forum levels for a kickstarter.
Yeah you made very interesting storylines and quests and it is really good to hear you enjoyed making Arcanum and that you did not feel censored. Censorship is hell for creativity.
I love Arcanum and it would be fantastic to get an Arcanum 2 like we got New Vegas (it doesnt matter to me if it is isometric or 3d as long as the world and quests etc remain true the orginal setting).
Have a good day mate
That raises the question for me: How many of your ideas influenced Wildstar, how many were implemented, and which ones were not? What would you have liked differently in "your AAA MMO," and what did you appreciate? Are there ideas from others that you initially didn't like but found to work better?
I always loved Charles Dickens, the industrial revolution is such an interesting time. The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling also stuck with me, there's so much potential for odd offshoots of science from the past. I watched a documentary on the steam tunnels under London, before electricity they had 'steam power stations' & tunnels that factory's where able to pull steam from to power machines. A steam power grid, such a cool artefact from anther time.
The tunnels are now used for power/internet cables, still in use and videos of people exploring them online.
There where also water and oil powered analogue computers, wiki says the 'Water integrator' was used in the USSR for large-scale modelling till the 1980s!
Also in 1949 the Phillips Machine aka MONIAC (Monetary National Income Analogue Computer) was made to model finance, water powered and still on display I think.
I’d contribute to a kickstarter for Arcanum 2 in an instant Tim!
The plans for first person were exciting but another isometric game (or trilogy!) would have been wonderful. It’s also great hearing how important you found tackling difficult subjects through the setting; that’s something which should still remain if there is a possibility of a new game 🙏
I've been making a D&D campaign in the world of Arcanum because I really wanted to dive into the stories of the world for the players - plus it helps they haven't played the game!
Kickstart arcanum. Never to late to make another masterpiece.
Just like Pillars of Eternity, I’d back the project.
I look forward to the chance you do it.
Arcanum was the first game I ever decided to play an evil character. I remember Vergil showing his true colors as well as the change in the tone of his voice. I have fond memories of meticulously planning out my build in order to create an army of automatons, I later found an exploit in which you could keep resting and save scumming in I think it was Tarant, and the engine to build them would eventually restock.
I began to build my army, and to my surprise, automatons did not take up party slots. I ended up building like 15 of them, I tried more but the game began to lag. I also built the healing spiders, and hauled their heavy butts inside of my parties inventories for when I needed healing.
Then the time finally arrived when I thought that I needed to pay this Kerghan guy a visit, and Kerghan asked me to join him, and destroy this city. I agreed.
After attacking the city, I went back to Kerghan, he decides to turn on me and had even recruited one or so of my party members (can't remember off the top of my head). Pretty sure Torian Kel turned on me.
My army of automatons converged on them, and then I got the ending where I was sitting on a cliff as the last survivor on the planet. No other game has ever made an evil playthrough so enthralling.
On my time off, I work on a UGC mod for Shadowrun: Hong Kong. And I decided to create party members that included misfits, criminals and anti-heroes, all because Arcanum had such an impact on me till this day.
Let's Make It Happen!!!!
Love the videos Tim! Just do what feels right that lets you continue making more.
An Arcanum sequel that is also a modern “remake” of the original that leads directly into the new content based on what you’ve talked about before would be the game of all games. In my head, I call it “Arcanum: There and Back Again”
It makes me sad that the timeline of Troika kickstarting Arcanum 2 never came to be... Just thinking what it could have been...😭
Needless to say but if you, Leonard, and Jason ever decided to kickstart something like this I suspect we could help fund you (I know that is not your plan, but if you ever changed your mind).
Thank you for the video! Have a great day!😊
How great would it not be to see as many as possible from Arcanum to get to make us another Arcanum!
I would definitely invest in. And i will, if the kickstarter happens. Arcanum, Bloodlines, all deserved more content.
Would definitely throw money at you for Arcanum 2. CRPGs, even isometric, are so back. Something not high fantasy would be so welcome
It has such potential
I love your passion for Arcanum.
I would love to be part of your team, I may not be able to contribute monetarily much, but will love to work for you guys and support with work hours in anyway possible.
Also I'm not someone who was nostalgic, I played most of your games only after , I can totally say they haven't been matched yet in terms of the depth of experience they offered.
Like i want to say this without trying to compliment you guys or feel like over praising.
I know the issues that are in these games as well but it really didn't matter to what it offered.
If you guys feel like you can do it one more time certainly would be amazing.
Also be sure of your and Leonard's health and finances , if you want to take the stress too, you guys are gems and will go all in once you get into it, even at the cost of personal well being , i could see it in the games scope despite all the issues you guys had last time.
The industry nowadays is brutal.
That said if you are ready and set to go, then let's go 🤘🤟😊
I'd jump on that in a heartbeat. Not just as a backer, but scrounging up everything I've ever done in my life and asking if I can work on it. Heck, I'm working on something Arcanum related even now. It's slow going but I'm wearing the inspiration on my sleeve.
But I wonder if everyone from Troika is just too old and too different now for the original concept of Arcanum 2 to ever happen. At the very least, a lot of people believe you have a path to the IP now.
I know that its not happening, but I’m still waiting for Arcanum 2. For the last 20 years. If there was something like Kickstarter for Arcanum 2 I would back it immediately.
I would assume another major advantage to Arcanum 2 is that you just have to get an agreement with Activision, instead of ToEE 2 or Bloodlines 2 where Troika would have had to also get the IP holders to play ball.
Do it, man!
Just teasing us with that title (:
Got to the part about games trying to ignore societal issues. It is really frustrating to have that elephant in the room, and it ends up reinforcing oppression. As a side note, it makes me happy to see my fellow queer people in game dev
Tim, you NEED to make something else in the Arcanum universe, anything, hopefully a game. The Arcanum universe that you guys created is relevant and important in today's world. Your eyes light up when you talk about this game
I can see a 2024 Arcanum game being very cool and possibly more popular. With games like the ones coming out of CDPR which deal with a lot of difficult, adult and morally-challenging topics, there is absolutely a market for that kind of content. As long as the stories are told well and presented well, I think people would jump at the chance to play it. That being said, I know that marketing is incredibly challenging/expensive and just selling the concept to a new audience might be difficult.
You know what I'd like? Arcanum Tactics. Give us some choice and consequence, but mainly it's set-piece combat in gorgeous scenery. That *could* work out as a Kickstarter.
I'm down for crowdfunding Arcanum 2 - and I am only about 5 minutes in to Arcanum 1. 😅
Came from the future to let you know the beard looks great.
at 7:55 you mention forms on kickstarter and that got me thinking, would you mind doing a video for youngins like me on what community management was like in the 80s-2000s or now even?
Man I would love more stories set in the Arcanum world. Doesn't have to be video games either.
Guys, just think about it. There are dozens of thousands of people ready to support Arcanum remaster on Kickstarter. The only think we need is an official campaign and maybe some people like Tim approval
Yo Tim, you're the man. Speaking of the half-ogre storyline, can you give a hint as to whether it really is Lawful or Good to kill gnomes in Arcanum?
"People wore many different hats"
I just picture 14 people coming into work every day wearing the most exotic and outlandish headwear imaginable.
That was Troika!
What are the current barriers you'd have to overcome to get a new entry of Arcanum into the pipeline? More of the rights part, but I'd be interested in hearing about the other hurdles you'd have to clear as well. I can't remember if you mentioned who currently owns the rights to Arcanum... but I think I remember you mentioning that you own the code.
I wonder where an Arcanum 2 would go story-wise? Would the industrialisation increase, perhaps becoming skewed to the point magic and magic users would fear being erased entirely and forgotten? Would the gnomes have just continued to "get away with it", perhaps altering the narrative further to demonize the kingdom they usurped?
It's definitely a setting that easily provides inspiration and ideas.
I love the world of Arcanum.
I would write you cheque, right now.
Sadly It'd be disappointingly small. But if I ever win the lottery...
I know this won't happen, but I'd still be down to kickstart Arcanum 2
"Oh, the things Ristezze has seen, my friend! The deepest of the old Dwarven caverns, where diamonds hang like great chandeliers, and the gold runs in veins as wide as rivers. Let me tell you of the elves, and their carved homes in the boughs of the old forests, where shadows hang thick like leaves and the air is like earthy perfume. Melodic voices like sunlight, quick figures draped in wisdom and grace. And the cities, my friend! The cities of man! Old Caladon, where the ancient and austere Panarii temple is a marble testament to man's reverence, the old stone docks which have withstood the oceans fury for a thousand years... They all know of Ristezze! Ristezze, who once rode in the gem-studded carriage of the Garringsburgs, walked in the terraced gardens of old Arland among barons and potentates, threw lilies at the wolf hunts in Huntington Dale. Yes! Ristezze was a god! The Willoughsby banking dynasty were like children to Ristezze, asking for toys. Ristezze once held the most favored spot at the Meloren Bazaar, where the concubines pay for their silks and perfumes in rubies and diamonds... Men of industry? There were so many! The Derringers of Cumbria, the Beaurigards and the Wexels from East O'Banion, the Kiplings of Great Bend... And in Tarant! The greatest city of them all! Tarant, like a great beast slumbering in the shallows of the gulf of Morbihan. Tarant, battle-scarred and bold, its roads and boulevards a haphazard mesh interspersed with castles and monolithic buildings of merchantry! They were like royalty! Kings and Princes, their ships laden in goods and resources, tribute from lands both near and far! There are so many in Tarant! The Moores, the Prestons, the Tarrelon-Dunnes. And the Schuylers! Those strange Schuylers who, like myself, deal in the rare and the uncommon... Oh, you must travel to Tarant. If only once, to look upon her rivers and her bridges, her factories, her skies adorned with flying machines and her bosom stitched with the tracks of roaring trains... If you see her, tell her that Ristezze sends his greetings!"
I'd definitely support a KS for Arcanum 2 in a heart beat.
People often say Bloodlines was broken beyond repair when it went retail, but I bought it retail and finished it multiple times.
I did not have access to online patches at the time either.
Was it janky..yes. Was it buggy..oh yes, but i was enjoying it and it was not unplayable. 🥰
/maybe the retail versions shipped to the EU already had some last second patches applied. I cannot say.
If I remember correctly there was a game breaking bug that many people encountered early in the game.
If you have the time, you should replay it with the fan patches. They are still being worked on and they have even added originally cut content to the game.
i also played it around launch and it was fine.
I played it on launch many full runs. Cant remember if i had to use some patch or what. It was a lot of fun. Back then more games were really good. And when i went back to it last year i was even more impressed by it after having played new games. It is very very good.
4:37 - oh, how the tables have turned ....
I would love to have an Arcanum sequel, I'd love to see what happened the world after the events of the first game, what was the consequences of Vendigroth returning? The Half Ogre conspiracy? That island Cattan that you couldn't go to. The potential of the rise of technology and the further struggle of magic is so rich.
I'm kinda curious to explore more of the old-timey rpgs because back in the day I'd only play FPS and racing games. Now that I'm much older I find rpgs kind of enticing. If you ever decide on making a new game with a select crew of buddies I'm happy to help(monetarily).
Not to contradict, but I did back a game that required a secondary kick starter. It did publish/ship and is on steam. I don't really hear people talking about it, and I feel like it's been in development for ten years now. I will not name it because I don't know if there is a stigma attached to this.
That's cool to know, though. I didn't know you could go back to KS for the same product.
@@CainOnGames I believe they offered new incentives to keep it going
It's time to get the band back together!
A first person view will bump up the production costs a lot, compared to a classic zoomed out isometric view. Everything has to be much higher detail, better animated and realistically scaled in first person. That takes away from the freedom to write many storylines, locations and quests (and stay in budget).
Hi Tim! I don't know if you have talked about this (I can't seem to find a video about it) but, what is your opinion when it comes to fast travel in video games? How do you think it affects the design of the game? I see a lot of open world games nowadays that rely too much on fast and have little exploration.
Anyway good video as always :)
Hey Tim, I'm working on my first game which is very high concept i already have a small team and everything is going smoothly BUT were having trouble finding supporters, What do lol? I wont go into details because my game is hard to explain but it will be on the RPG maker MV and be about a 1900s Europe and its black and white and every enemy in the game is based off of a old movie monster, and it deals with many heavy topics ike racism and Biggotry and politics but its respectful. but my question is how to i get my first game out the door lol?
were a team of seven right now.
Tim, PLEASE crowd fund Arcanum 2. You could crowd fund enough to get the license if you need to. We all want this. It's really only a small number of loud people that make companies scared of tackling a darker, realistic world like Arcanum. Games like Conan: Exiles do great and that game has you straight up enslaving people! I can see you still light up thinking about it. I know I would certainly throw my money at you.
Great video! An issue I've seen with previous kickstarter games is feature creep/bloat. In your features video you mention getting sign off from all departments before adding a feature. Do you have any other advice for preventing feature creep or determining when to cut content?
Love your channel Tim! As a senior dev who grew up in the 90's, I have always fantasized of how games started, a couple of friends working hard together making something cool and (probably) not worrying about the money and more about the product (probably close to todays Indies, however maybe with a higher chance of making it back then). I feel I have missed the "golden age" of making games where what was thought cool was more important rather than what "sells". Maybe nothing really changed and I am disillusioned with todays trend of making shareholders happy.
I was wondering what you think of the culture in studios and games today compared to what they were when you first started? What did you think of that transition or has it not changed that much in your opinion?
Thank you!
Tim, stop teasing us, just start the KS for Arcanum 2 :D
I was on a meeting about some crucial ui/ux decisions and I instantly muted my mic and obsucred video to watch this! I hoped it was an announcement..
I feel that the second people sees troika games - arcanum 2 on kickstarter, a looot of people would go wild! Especially now that big corporations are proving to be not trustworthy. For me it'd be a dream both as a gamer and as a dev to see the return of troika with you at the helm :)
and wait for @mortismalgaming to see this video haha
To jump on the bandwagon, new Arcanium would be magical.
Set the goal wild and shoot for the stars. It would be amazing. Statt a new CRPG focused studio
Who has the Arcanum ip now?
Activision own it, so it would be Microsoft now.
I would back Arcanum 2 immediately!
Tim…I will donate money, time, supplies, child labor, honestly anything to get Arcanum 2 😊
Rpg fans would be really behind a return to arcanum with you involved, pipe dream that it will happen one day.
When it comes to writers like chris avellone and others that are known for working on cult RPGs, what kind of experience or funny stories do you have about them?
i would pay 60$ for arcanum 2 on kickstarter and i bet there are hundreds like me. Love your Videos they are extremely interesting 👍😍
If you have the time and the team, by all means I hope you DO kickstart Arcanum 2.
Please make Arcanum 2. Its the perfect time for it!
Have you considered kickstarting a spiritual successor to Arcanum? Why not? What have you got to lose? Worked for Tides of Numenera.
Hi Tim, I appreciate all the things you do here. In your own judgement, what are the odds of Arcanum 2? (But only if you are involved in it.) Thank you a lot for the answer in advance.
I want Arcanum 2, but I don't need it. I just need you to keep making games, Tim.
Bad games triumph when good developers do nothing.
Did you ever talked to lennard or Scott about doing it now?
All three of you and you are especially somewhat a superstar today and I think while you hope for someone to make a game you like, the best way is to do it yourself and as you yourself said, there is probably not many other persons who have the amount of experience you or lennard have.
Also on another hand, if someone approaches you with a couple millions in budget, would you agree to develope Arcanum 2?
I understand the idea that people that have put money in are literally more invested in seeing a good game (or youtube content), but that kind of process also feels a lot like saying that people with money have more of a valid opinion than those without.
I know I could provide solid and constructive feedback on a project to work towards a piece of art, engaging gameplay, or something to get people thinking, but I definitely don't have the money to get that voice heard
That is a downside. What filter would you recommend then? There are a lot of voices and many of them are unconstructive
@@CainOnGames
Regretfully I'm not sure if there is a solid alternative process; I think we would have to globally change our relationship with money (which starts to sound quite radical (but maybe we need to slowly consider that, perhaps a whole other discussion)).
I guess there will always be valid voices unheard, no matter if money is involved or not. Similarly, some people seem to have money to waste without a care.
The closest thing to seeing if someone is invested without money to a project would be a kind of interview/questionnaire/selection process first to see if the person is dedicated to the project, but of course that would take up a dev's time as well. It would also then essentially be an internship.
I do know that on Discord servers you can allow certain input or accept users into certain channels after a prerequisite amount of input, which would also imply some dedication.
Of course, that won't work for the youtube side of things.
Sorry for such a verbose response without much of a solid alternative; there's a lot I could talk about both on the artistic/constructive side and the political side of creativity.
Also, thank you for genuinely reading and considering the comments and taking care of your audience; such consideration feels rare these days
@@cerisskiesI’m glad you replied, because I’ve been thinking about the problem since UA-cam started poking me about memberships. It’s not a good solution, but it’s a solution, and if I’m honest, I don’t think I can keep up with all of the comments. I’ll keep trying, but a filter of some kind would be very handy.
@@CainOnGames
I can only imagine the amount of stuff you need to filter through! And having someone do it for you would defeat the point.
I guess it's a feature that both UA-cam and KickStarter need to work on, but I expect that they never will.
Despite the drawbacks, a solution is indeed a solution. For now, I hope that people (myself included) can think before they type.
I wish the team that is now doing Outer Worlds 2 could transition after that to an Arcanum sequel (not call it Arcanum 2 of course, don't want to scare off people who haven't played the first) with Tim involved of course. One can dream.
The motto for the Dutch city of Rotterdam is 'Make It Happen'.
Gives this comment a thumbs-up if you would support a Kickstarter for a new Tim Cain game.
Every time I hear you talk about Arcanum it makes me really want to play it... but man how badly it plays nowadays. I would love for Microsoft to give green light to a remake, if only to make the experience a little bit more fluid.
Hi Tim, could you tell us how much Fallout architecture code you could reuse in Arcanum and Temple? Dialogue systems, save systems, inventory systems, can you take these parts of the code without infringing on Fallout's copyright?