Arcanum 2: Journey to the Center of Arcanum

In this video I talk about the planned sequel to Arcanum, called "Journey to the Center of Arcanum". Of course, that sequel never got made, and Troika went on to make Temple of Elemental Evil and Vampire Bloodlines instead.

[@RetrospectiveGaming]

"An industrial revolution in a world of magic " Arcanum is a game that I'll always remember

[@DaoistYeashikAli]

Hey, hello. I watched your review of Arcanum

[@RetrospectiveGaming]

​@@DaoistYeashikAli awesome! Hope you enjoyed the video My mic gave out after I was done editing it ..lasted a few years but it was worth it Could talk about Arcanum for 20 hours

[@Eugensson]

The game affected my life in some unexpected ways. E.g. i like earl grey tea because of it.

[@karry299]

I'll remember it mostly for it's negatives.

[@slybrito]

As a musician, I often listen to how a game's music connects, complements and enhances the game itself. And being a PC gamer for 26 years now, I can say that Arcanum's soundtrack is the BEST game soundtrack I ever heard. It's so special and iconic (at least for me) that I can't even articulate all the emotions that I feel listing to it. Truly a masterpiece.

[@CainOnGames]

It is a masterpiece. I hope the composer Ben Houge sees comments like yours.

[@Hurlebatte]

Morrowind and Arcanum have my favorite soundtracks.

[@saerain]

@@Hurlebatte My man. Diablo's Tristram theme fits right into this taste, as much as the game doesn't.

[@zerpblerd5966]

agree that Arcanum's music is great, here are some others (along with Fallout) : 7th Guest Inquisitor Gabriel Knight 2 and my favorite and to me the best of all time: Interstate '76

[@user-pt7qv9ir8x]

exactly, I confirm this, I'm a visual artists but nothing moves me as much as music, the sound itself created the new layer of reality in Arcanum universe, huge aplaus for all the people working on the music and sound, but also to everyone included in the game production :)

[@spritefroggy]

Thank you for making Arcanum. It's one of my favourite games, and I *highly* prefer the style of RPGs that you were creating a la Fallout and Arcanum than something like Baldur's Gate. Arcanum was a unique and interesting world, with really fantastic dialogue in a lot of places and the most incredible soundtrack. Up there with Morrowind for me. It has this earnest gravitas to it, and even though there's tons of humour in the game, it never falls into that weird, smarmy type of passive aggressive humour that so many RPGs seem to. I'd love to see you do something with the setting again. Kudos.

[@masterdesattardes1055]

Perfectly put

[@TheRealClaylex]

Honestly if I had the power to have Arcanum be made in the style of Baldurs Gate 3 I would so do it.

[@malice2327]

Many people fell in love with Arcanum for the indescribable atmosphere of the world. And divine music. Tim, think about a sequel, the fans will support you through Kickstarter. Fan from Russia

[@current9300]

I'm sad to remind you that rights to Arcanum IP are currently owned by Activision-Blizzard.

[@adammunger742]

​@@current9300 I knew he didn't have the rights but damn... I didn't know THEY had the rights 😭

[@Rammspieler]

Make a spiritual sequel. A sequel in all but name and esthetics only. Much like how Fallout was itself a spiritual sequel to Wasteland.

[@bucket77]

​@@current9300won't be long till Microsoft has the IP and they can work on a sequel no bother

[@tomhodges1552]

So surprised to learn about its production...i still compare other computer rpgs to it and most are found wanting.

[@racistfamilyguy]

Arcanum is probably my favorite RPG of all time. Did the design doc for the cancelled sequel take any inspiration from Ultima Underworld / Arx Fatalis because of the shared underground fantasy setting?

[@CainOnGames]

I am sure it did, at least from Ultima Underworld, which is one of my favorite games. The sequel docs were created quickly by multiple people and have multiple versions, so I can't be sure of all of the inspirations. Twenty two years is a long time, and my brain is creaky.

[@rrrrr5042]

@@CainOnGames Sir, whom Arcanum franchise belongs now? How do you think, do we have a chance to see the sequel?

[@innoclarke7435]

@@rrrrr5042 The rights to Arcanum were owned by Sierra, who eventually got purchased by Activision. Activision has never sold the IP and is listed as the current publisher for the game on GOG and Activision, so they're definitely the current holders. And since Activision has retreated more and more and more into basically making almost nothing other than Call of Duty *and* Arcanum was a flop... no, I'd say the chances of getting an Arcanum sequel are pretty much 0.

[@odinatra]

@@innoclarke7435 Well, if Microsoft acquisition would go through, there would be a chance.

[@innoclarke7435]

@@odinatra A chance, yes, but still very small. If Arcanum had been a moderate success, I think they'd likely be willing to throw some money at it. But it really wasn't and still isn't that well known after all this time. I think the series has a lot of potential, but I don't see any large corporate entity taking a chance on a sequel, and that's understandable, if unfortunate.

[@quitmarck]

I have played Arcanum and it makes me so sad that Arcanum 2 never got a time to shine... Arcanum is a truly special experience. Ah well such is life. Thank you for the wonderful video mr. Cain.

[@lurkerphoenix]

Arcanum is truly a masterpiece. I will be forever grateful to you guys for making it. Maybe one day it can come to modern consoles & platforms so more players can enjoy it.

[@lurkerphoenix]

Fair enough, haven't tried it in a while. Cheers!

[@davidmuldowney]

Arcanum eventually gets installed in every new PC I own. I read the design doc for Arcanum 2 every couple of years and imagine what could have been 😭 I truly believe the IP could 'Do a Fallout3' if a company had enough faith and put the work into it like Bethesda did. Good luck with the channel, looking forward to anything you put together here!

[@CainOnGames]

Thanks David. I always thought Arcanum was as rich in lore and mechanics as Fallout, if not more so. Maybe some day an intrepid company will develop it more.

[@Anubis1101]

​As long as they don't leave out the option to open doors using unconventional methods like dynamite and dogs

[@Gheddylol]

Man I wish, I'd love that.

[@CruxDiaries]

@@CainOnGameshave you heard about New Blood Interactive publisher? They’ve been making headlines while posting screenshots of what looks like isometric remakes of Fallout and Arcanum. If you google “Alexander Berezin Arcanum 2” you can watch a video and a lot of sprites from some kind of prototype. Not sure how legit all of this is tho 😅

[@gelmir7322]

Arcanum mechanics has so much potential specially when playing unconventional classes like diplomat (when you paired it with Magick) or machinist/engineer (with the crafting mechanics). I only wish they made it using the Fallout engine as I find the Fallout's graphic assets better.

[@DungeonDiving]

Have you ever considered doing a Kickstarter or fundraiser to acquire the rights to Arcanum? There's a hardcore community that would be willing to support this effort, especially if you'd be willing to open-source the core of the engine/editor.

[@CainOnGames]

I have not considered a Kickstarter, but if someone else wants to buy the rights to Arcanum and grant me permission to release the source code, that's one way to get this done. Although I will need to reread the comments I left in the code....I could get snarky.

[@hannibalrex2191]

This would be incredible.

[@pancakewizard1533]

The problem with something like that, is that a KS is a very public way of showing the current owners of the Arcanum rights how much those rights are worth. It would be self-defeating! It would make more sense to try and go the 'spiritual successor' route, as most things in Arcanum that people love are not IP specific. You can't copyright fantasy races doing Steampunk.

[@matyaksenton4301]

​@@pancakewizard1533 Yup, the creators of Carnival Row managed to pull off a similar fantasy setting quite nicely.

[@ivanivanovich9165]

At least you must try. 1. Kikstarter to buy rights. 2. Kikstarter to develop the sequel. Source code is not a problem at all. With new reverse engineering tools it can be decompiled and even ported to other platforms. See Fallout Community Edition project.

[@leinadisjourneys]

Very interesting. Arcanum is definitely a favorite of mine, the world was fascinating and I loved the way you kind of uncover the mystery of it a bit throughout the game. I also really liked the big choice between magic and tech. Even though it was a very broad and kind of unbalanced game, that was part of the fun as well. The character system just really lended itself to thinking about characters and how you wanted to play it. One of the things that was unique about Arcanum was the soundtrack for it. Do you remember anything about how the discussions went for that? It feels pretty ballsy to go for that kind of understated style with a string ensemble rather than going for a more bombastic score. It really set the tone for the game and I loved that.

[@CainOnGames]

Ben Houge at Sierra gets all the credit for Arcanum’s music. He suggested quartet music, which fit our game’s Victorian theme, and he composed it. It’s great music, I agree.

[@anthonyju6392]

Arcanum was a great game. Loved it. Whoever wrote the manual to Arcanum deserves an award. It was the first manual I ever read through and the way it was written like the writings of an anthropologist was a superb idea. It still stands as the best manual I have ever read.

[@TheGreatCigma]

Arcanum is in many ways foundational for me. I sort of fell into steampunk organically without really knowing what it was or having the vocabulary to call it steampunk. In junior high I was reading Sherlock Holmes and Professor Hoffmann's Later Magic at the same time as I was playing Arcanum, and the three together are really a core part of not only my work as a magician, but who I am in general. I guess this is to say, thanks for your work on this fantastic game! I certainly would've loved to see a sequel or Troika's Lord of the Rings.

[@ELSuperJake]

Arcanum is one of my favorite games ever. Its a shame that the sequel never came out, but I'm glad we got the masterpiece we got

[@davetaylor2387]

This game had a massive impact on my teenage years. My friends and I played it inside and out the story and the world was really well made. It was a shame that we never got online play, even though it was supposed to be incorporated and an even bigger shame we never got a sequel. Thanks for giving us Arcanum. 😊

[@CaffeinatedKing]

It is both amazing and bizarre to hear after 2 decades that there was a concept for a sequel to a game that remains my favorite RPG of all time. I was only 11 or 12 when I was introduced to Arcanum, at that point I had never seen a CRPG before, the music, the artstyle, the voice acting, everything instantly hooked me and transformed how I looked at video games from then on. The various small details that were probably unnecessary in hindsight all served to deepen the overall experience for me as a young player back then. I am still waiting for an RPG to come out that has an aesthetic like Arcanum's, I just want to play in that world, look at beautiful character portraits and enjoy the moody music. I find myself installing it every other year just to play a couple dozen hours and soak in the world all over again, as I do with Bloodlines as well.

[@Hyptosis]

Same, i replay it all the time, nothing else really like it. I see elements of it lifted into unfamiliar worlds today and everyone raves about the 'new' concepts, and I'm like "Arcanum did that 2 decades ago but okay."

[@GypsumGeneration]

Mr. Cain after all these years and so many memories, I can't seem to put words to the questions I've always wanted answered. So it will have to suffice to simply say: thank you! Thank you for a twinkle of joy in a dreary childhood. A kid only has so many chances at wonder, and I'm so very glad one of them was spent with you. PS I'm glad you kept in the kitchen sink--that really did a number on 9 year old me.

[@benryan3880]

the kitchen sink really made it a game i can keep replaying to this day, although i now use the unofficial patch with my steam version of the game

[@GypsumGeneration]

@@benryan3880 exactly!

[@paulwoo5469]

I’ve played Arcanum 20 years ago, when I was 13. That time I had 2 favourite games: Fallout (1,2) and Arcanum. Later I realised that these games were developed by the same people. Thanks a lot Tim. You’ve created my most precious adventures and worlds that I still love 2 decades later. Im still waiting for Arcanum 2 or Arcanum remake. We will support you. So grateful ❤

[@stepetu]

Tim: I first played Arcanum in 2002 when I was starting my journey into the Dungeons & Dragons world through games like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, and I had to get my hands on anything even remotely like those games. I found it for $20 and I couldn't get enough of this quirky game even though it wasn't a D&D title - the way it inverted my expectations of fantasy worlds and created such a believable, lived in vibe for a fantasy setting really set my brain ablaze. I later discovered Fallout 1 and as an adult, Arcanum and the OG Fallout are still two of my favorite games of all time. Arcanum inspired me to such a degree, that for more than six years now I've been running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign inspired directly by it - often with my quests taking a page from the ones you guys wrote back then, and with the sublime music of Ben Houge's soundtrack pushing me forward into RPG excellence, right at my own table. I can't thank you enough for your contributions to the RPG industry, because they've genuinely touched me and made my life better in a whole ton of ways. It's very cool that you are here talking about it all and I can't wait to see what else you speak about on this new channel.

Hi Timothy. Just wanted to say that Arcanum was and still is my favourite game. It inspired me on so many levels and even now when i am developing my own indie game i often search inspiration in such an amazing piece of art. Thank you very much for a great childhood and thousands of hours in your world. Have a great life. Your fan Viktor Břenek ❤

[@zerpblerd5966]

check out the Geneforge Saga if you've not

@@zerpblerd5966 Thanks for the tip! Going to

[@petrubaleanu]

Hey Tim! So glad I found your channel! Me and my wife both love your stories and to hear you tell them! Arcanum is my favorite RPG ever, Vampire Bloodlines comes immediately after and Fallout is not far behind, so the subjects you touch are a real treat! I was wondering, maybe you can make a video about the music in Arcanum and VtMB? Like, how you guys chose the direction in which the game score/soundtrack should go, and maybe some trivia related to them? I find that the music in both of these games is fantastic and contributes a lot to the world building and to the feeling of immersion. As a musician, I would be very interested in this subject and would be very glad if you would be able to maybe approach it in a future video. 😀

[@CainOnGames]

I’ll try to address our Arcanum music choices, but I’ll have to get Leonard Boyarsky or Jason Anderson on the channel to answer questions about the Vampire music. I wasn’t involved

[@petrubaleanu]

@@CainOnGames Thank you very much for your reply, Tim! 😀 I am very excited to hear you're taking my suggestions into consideration! Really looking forward to your future videos! ☺️

[@amlithe]

Arcanum is my favorite game and one of the greatest games ever made. I loved the feeling and setting and atmosphere. The music and visuals, absolutely loved the music because it made the miracle of Arcanum what it is. When I was younger I don't think I would have wanted to be anywhere else besides Arcanum. Thank you so much for a game with so many interesting, silly, cool and wild skills and stats in such a bonkers world where you can mess around and do so many things. Even the sound effects were nice and the clicks on the UI and when you'd discover a trap, the visuals of trap runes. Seeings trees in the wild, just hearing that music in so many places. What a wonderful wonderful game. I loved looking into every place and every nook and cranny and covering every map and exploring every inch and just finding weird wild stuff out in the middle of nowhere. I just really really loved the aesthetic, and dreamed about (in my own headcanon) going on crazy adventures with Franklin Payne or Stringy Pete, hunting mythical creatures or discovering far off lands and causing a ruckus. Truly a masterpiece that I'm still grateful for, I wouldn't be able to thank you and the team that worked on Arcanum enough.

[@bradr637]

I've commented before that I still play Arcanum - it's probably my favorite game of all time. I'm not bored after 20 years of it. Would love to see a remake or sequel if the IP ever comes into your reach.

[@Nuk4Dud3]

Holy shit this is gold. I JUST found Arcanum cleaning out our basement! It’s the best RPG i ever played. Then fell in love with fallout when i discovered that. Did not know you made it!! So cool!

[@stiepanholkien605]

Played it in high school, it definitely needed everything you put in there.

[@RoselynShade]

So happy this popped up in my recommended! Was a lovely watch. I am deeply hoping there'll be a remake someday, would be awesome to revisit the world of Arcanum and the story with more story and polish in today's technology.

[@krupamcgoo5782]

Arcanum, was truly an amazing game. Definitely one of my favorites I will remember forever

[@Ant0n009]

Arcanum was my favourite RPG back in the days, ofcourse up there with Fallout 1 and 2

[@NivalRF]

I've been playing Arcanum since childhood, and this is the best game ever. Always dreamed how the mechanized arachnid or automaton look like at unity engine... And quests were so magnificent wise, and vivid: gnome's conspiracy against royal family, that even YOU can't overcome, stone and shape dwarf's philosophy, shortness of human life, never forgot Thunderstone's phrase "Humans first thinks "What I can use it for", instead "What is the cost?". I replayed it during COVID times and looking at all these tons of masks spreading all around the globe reflected by this simple but deep points spread along the entire gameplay. Literally a gem, a brilliant game, deep kudos from the bottom of dwarf's caves for doing this game, Tim! 💜

[@AnonByProxy0]

Thanks for this insight, you are an inspiration to the best of the genre or rpgs.

[@sergeimorozov3789]

Arcanum is one of the most fabulous PC games in history. After all those years I am still waiting the sequel

[@heitoroliveira2025]

Hello mr Tim, I've watched reviews of arcanum and emidiatly fell in love with the setting, many RPGs either do only magic or tech, but arcanum combined both and made very believable world that's feels so alive. I bought arcanum as soon as i could although i had difficulties playing the game as im not acostumed to CRPGs i loved the story telling, hearing that where plans to make a sequel made me feel good that this game wasn't made to be a 1 off thing, i love the idea of doing jules verne inspired adventure. Maybe in the future another steampunk crpg can carry the torch lit by arcanum hope you have a good day, cheer's.

[@KubinWielki]

As someone who preaches about the awesomeness of Arcanum to anyone who'll listen, even to this day, it hurts me spiritually that it hasn't kicked off into a long running franchise. The world and its lore is so well crafted, and with so much potential, that it feels like one of the greatest unblossomed flowers to ever exist in gaming.

[@EmperorsChildren]

The things you're able to pull off in Arcanum... It's a damn shame it never got a sequel, not only was the setting amazing, its exactly the kind of game I love, full of possibility to tell your own stories

[@witchywoman165]

Still one of my favorite RPGs of all time! Ty for making it. Would love a sequel.

[@TomaZxxZas]

I'm still hoping that somehow, someone will eventually make Arcanum 2, ideally as a turn based, top down CRPG, something like Divinity Original Sin, but in the world of Arcanum. It was the very first CRPG I played as a kid, and I won't deny that a lot of it has to do with nostalgia, but I still use Arcanum as a benchmark when looking into other rpg's. The freedom that game gave you when it came to building a character, exploring and overcoming obstacles was insane, especially for the time and no other game has managed to replicate it as of yet, in my opinion.

[@dozerjohn]

Arcanum is my alltime no. 1 game, finished it about 12 times. What a shame we never got more of it.

[@Hyptosis]

Arcanum is my third favorite game of ALL TIME, my career was hugely influenced by Arcanum. The sound track too, WOW. Top notch. I owe the game a lot. Thank you!

[@thewhoppinator]

Mr. Cain is a blessing. So seldom do we have elders so willing to share their wisdom in such a free fashion (not calling him old, now!). Always a delight, always the next videos in my queue. Keep it up!

[@codylongoria4152]

Thank you for sharing this story with us. I've been meaning to play Arcanum for about a decade, and finally started playing it this year. Even playing though I don't have any nostalgia to influence me it is tied with Morrowind as my favorite computer rpg.

[@winbloompls]

Thank you, this is awesome for us who grew up playing arcanum over and over with our siblings making memories! :) I think it's awesome u had the same idea of merging tech and magic, very yin yang, in arcanum i also felt like "maybe theyre doing it wrong" bc these might be 2 sides of 1 coin... (not sure if u ever actually got that 100pg pdf script I sent u 10ish years ago of an Arcanum 2 where they merged tech/magic) Anyways awesome to hear "inside the studio" on this beloved game! :)

[@koga7199]

Honestly, I enjoyed the small details such as the newspaper. The music is on point the entire OST. I listen to it to sleep :) Thank you for making my childhood awesome.

[@andrewhanna6613]

I have wanted to hear you talk about this topic for years. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos. It's like getting to hear George Harrison talk about music!

[@godofwarandpeace]

the thing i like the most about Arcanum is that your number of followers is base on your Charisma. please dont change that.

[@pepepote4268]

In a few sentences and minutes you have named some of the best games in history, if not the best, thank you for making video game art.

[@georgeacethomas4145]

Have just discovered this channel after analysing your presentation on the development of Fallout dozens of times and I really am loving these insights into the process and the ideas. Absolutely loving this channel so far, it’s 1Am in England and I have work tomorrow morning but I will certainly consume this entire channels content tonight, if that I have no doubt 🙌

[@Onionblast1000]

Wow. I never thought I would ever hear about anything about a planned sequel for arcanum. I absolutely loved that game, when I was a kid I remember seeing videos on it and thought it looked so freakin cool. I didn’t end up getting it and beating it until I was much older and loved it. Thanks for this video Timothy we appreciate you!

[@mrboston8070]

Playing of it lead me to a mystical path throughout all my years in life.

[@user-lx8gk2lu2x]

Thank you so much for your contributions Mr. Cain. Arcanum was completely amazing, and completely captured the imagination of 13-year old me.

[@LandBark]

Arcanum, amazing game and world (steampunk fantasy). Thanks for making it, that's a really great game and worth returning to from time to time. Would ask If remaster could be possible but ;P Maybe there was something left on cutting room floor with Arcanum? Anything worth mentioning?

[@CainOnGames]

Arcanum was a rare game in that everything we thought of went into it. Even things that should have been left out, for balance or debugging reasons.

[@seto3153]

Super interesting information Mr. Cain!

[@jonfletcher6825]

Thank you for making arcanum, I have so many fond memories bonding with my brother over that game. He always used to love running gun characters and I always loved running mages or bow users. So many fond memories and I still even have the old thick as hell game guide.

[@IzunaSlap]

Half- Ogre + "Ran Away With the Circus" background = Incredible Hulk

[@user-rw9dn1bp7b]

Hello, Tim Cane, it's very nice to find your channel where my favorite game from childhood is being discussed. I very glad to hear your opinion and memories about projects. After passing the arcanum today, strange conceptually quests were noticed, in particular the quest of the Siamese twins' skulls. We convince the main villain to commit suicide, but we cannot complete this quest in an adequate way? Very strange. In addition, the main villains of this quest are wealthy gnomes, whose image was obviously copied from the jews. Don Trogg and his quest seem to be the only way to, by proxy, push against the Council. And his deal looks confusing, because while Trogg himself is a fighter for racial and class justice, ending slides portray him with a direct redraw of a NSDAP propaganda poster. Of course, the dark elves are the main racists in this game and are the main villains for most of the game. But quest still looks very strange. I didn't pay attention to this before, but now I want to hear your comment on this issue.

[@hed9ng1]

I still to this date play arcanum. you guys created a great and timeless game. would have loved a reboot or sequal :D

[@tetraphobie]

Tim, I hope this is not too weird, but I was buzzed so I typed "gay dev" in google 'cause naturally that's what you do when you're buzzed, and your channel came first and omg I love your games and you're like one of my favorite software engineers of all time!!! Fallout and The Outer Worlds are one of my absolute faves and I love your general attitude, and your history dives like this one are absolutely priceless. Thank you so much for making these. I had no idea you had a youtube channel!!!

[@user-vu6vf4ev4m]

Arcanum is one of the best games of all time for me. Thank you. Much appreciation from your fans in Russia.

[@lux2625]

Thank you very much for this video. It is very interesting to hear you speak if it is not too much trouble I would like to ask you a question about arcanium. 1) Who was the one who came up with the idea of the gnome conspiracy? And why 2) Why was it decided to give this "unfinished" ending gnomo conspiracy plot and continue with the story of the elves? 3) Were they planning to give an ending to that plot or just leave it as it ended in the game? Or was it a plot they wanted to develop in the next game? If you had already thought of a definitive ending for the plot, could you say so? 4) The balance of the game, why is the necromancy spell level 2 so powerful? In the beta the spells are more balanced. I found the gnome plot very dark but interesting, it could even serve as the main plot. It's a very unexpected and intriguing thing I wish it had a definitive ending. Regardless if it was a bad ending or a good one. I suppose it would make the most sense for the conspiracy to continue since the gnomos erased all evidence. Some scientists would come up with theories as to why there are so many semi-ogre and it would become a conspiracy theory but nothing confirmed. As I recall the "only" way for a player to destroy the conspiracy is to provoke a war between 2 nations in one of the game's quests which would logically ruin the gnome business. Although that raises the dilemma: Is it really right to provoke a devastating war that destroys the lives of several innocent people just to punish the evil gnome? Isn't there a better way? Or is it the only solution? I also loved the book that dealt with the orc problem and their "evil brain" it's fun to see how an industrial revolution affects a whole fantasy d&d setting. Thanks for reading

[@ascurtis05]

Uhh as someone who never put a single point into picking locks yes you absolutely did need Fate Points.

[@looneypersoney]

If the sequel ever be made, i hope there's a quest similar to the siamese twin questline, that quest really hit my curiosity

[@BloodySJohnson]

Arcanum was a special game, coming out when the genre was on it's last fumes.

[@Tigreuh]

Hello, thanks for doing these videos, I love that famous game creators like you or Sakurai have been making these types of videos recently. I love the short format too.

[@CommieApe]

Bro the fact we’ll never see a sequel is heartbreaking Arcanum is my favorite fantasy setting.

[@HerohammerStudios]

This sounds absolutely bonkers. I'm sure I would've loved it

[@bloodsdrfgd9300]

Thank you very much for a great game, you gave a lot of people a lot of joy. The hope for the release of the second part has not yet faded among all fans, with respect from Russia.

[@iguanaacuatica5543]

even to this day i still play arcanum to remember how a good game is written, i wish it was more popular

[@TarkatanTone]

Oh the things I'd do for a modern Arcanum sequel or remake even. Arcanum was easily my favorite RPG of my childhood and I had a blast exploring that game to the fullest. Playing a herp-derp low IQ ogre was pinnacle gaming.

[@EvasHookGame]

Damn just thought of this game from out of nowhere in my head, I was 6 years old when I was playing to it, I could barely read, this made a little part of my brain construction as a child lol. 22 years later I just started a journey few months ago to learn C++ to maybe someday make my own videos games. Arcanum for sure has a little to do with who I am now, thanks for this game :)

[@NostalgicNate]

Arcanum was my favorite game growing up, loved every second of it. besides the ore golems in the black mountain mines of course haha. I would love to see this remastered one day.

[@user-uz6dy3mj7o]

Arcanum should have a sequel! Please do not forget the idea of ​​sequel, because no one will do sequel better than you. And thanks for the Arcanum, it's one of my favorite games.

[@PostapocMedia]

Newspaper in Arcanum was one of my most favorite things that even made me think Arcanum is => Fallout (oh no!)

[@pavelskrylnikov9658]

That setup really sounds like Chaos Engine!

[@Zeratil1]

Arcanum is still one of my top 5 games. One thing I absolutely loved was the manual (which I still have on my bookshelf - about the only one I do still have from the old PC box days), with the explanations of how magic & technology went wrong around each other with little experiments described to demonstrate it. Interestingly I got chatting with Arinn Dembo many years ago who apparently authored a lot of that background stuff? I came across rather gushy at how much I enjoyed reading it as kid while playing through the game...

[@CainOnGames]

I don’t know anyone named Aaron Dembo. I wrote all of those background experiments in the Arcanum manual.

[@Zeratil1]

Worked for Sierra back in the day, went on to Kerberos Productions, but I've clearly been had! So treat this as me gushing at You about how awesome that manual was and all the background info and experiments. The manual's on my nightstand to read through again after work as finding your KZbin instantly reminded me of it! I definitely miss those old PC manuals when games came in big boxes with room for them (and something to read while the cd installed...). To this day I stand my ground in the pub with Arcanum being in my top 5 games because of just how well done/thought out and original the world felt to me. The music as well was amazing with the string quartet idea. Again something very unique compared to the more bombastic orchestral themes of RPGs like Baldur's Gate. BG's music was also great of course, but so much of Arcanum felt unique, and still does compared to its contemporaries at the time (and today).

[@zerpblerd5966]

I keep my Arcanum, Fallout, and Interstate '76 manuals all on a special spot on top of one of my bookshelves

[@zerpblerd5966]

I met a woman once who told me she wrote the screenplay to the movie Spawn

[@jaisonlongcop3858]

I'm still playing Arcanum (Multiverse Edition), hope you keep making arcanum.

[@epic4fish]

Thanks for sharing. Would be amazing if we could get more Arcanum games. It has been my favourite game since I first played the demo so many years ago.

[@MarauderXXX]

I didn't even have a PC at the time and still bought this game so I could play it on a friend's computer.

[@oliviermavre]

Whoaa ! Thank you Timothy for that wonderful game ! To that day, Arcanum is a great source of inspiration for me.

[@PrettyUndergroundGame]

Hi, Tim! I don't know if anyone else already asked this question before, but I was always interested about The Void in Arcanum. What was it, what was the purpose of the remains of civilisation we can find there? Was there any wide conception behind this place, I mean, other and deeper than we saw in the game? I would really like to know more about it!

[@RandyJamminMusic]

I played Arcanum after Seeths review and I loved it. It was my first CRPG and I now love them. I also played Underrail because of Seeth and its maybe my favorite game ever.

[@AnnMiE]

I absolutely loved Arcanum. I still have my box. It was such a unique game! I would absolutely love to see more things from this world, even if it's not a sequel.

[@johnfootp]

Arcanum helped me through some dark times and it gave me a reason to keep going in life. Thank for making a true masterpiece of a CRPG Tim!

[@danielclark7972]

Arcanum is one of my top 3 pc rugs ever. I play it once a year. Still a great game. Not without its difficulties. Would love to see a new Arcanum.

[@hypnoticponcho]

Hello, Timothy. First time viewer, long time Tim Cain-tidbit enthusiast. What made y'all want to do a Jules Verne/Journey to the Center of the World-inspired game? Which other literary works do you think could serve as an interesting setting/basis for a video game? I remember being totally engrossed with the post-apocalyptic setting when I first played your game Fallout 2 in 98/99. It was such an evocative and mind-blowing experience I wrote stories inspired by it in my school assignments, drew pictures, talked with my equally engrossed friends about it and I remember laying awake looking forward to playing it more the next day. When you were young was there ever a work of art, TV-show, book or comic, that had you similarly engrossed in its world? I hadn't even heard about an Arcanum sequel until I saw this video. It sounded really awesome and I would've loved to play the game y'all envisioned. I think most fans are really forgiving about things not always coming into fruition. To be honest I just appreciate that you're still making games, and that I still enjoy them!

[@nicksteele9436]

I really hadn't planned on playing Arcanum again so soon, but now I guess I'm going to.

[@Mirokuofnite]

I'd love to see a remaster version of this game. Update the UI and graphics to something like PoE, and use modern tech and programming to fix the issues and expand on what was built.

[@Kyudong69]

While playing Arcanum multiple times I always thought that you guys put anything that seems cool. One of my personal habit that I had while modding or prototyping games were secretly putting Arcanum references. Glad there's more. Were those ideas come from Jules Verne's novel?

[@CainOnGames]

Yes, they were, but to be honest, we were probably more influenced by the 1959 film adaptation.

[@Kyudong69]

Wonder what concept of an antagonist you guys had for a sequel. Bc I thought Thaos(POE 1) kinda shares some aspects with Kerghan.

[@CainOnGames]

We hadn’t finished the entire story, so I’m not sure who our antagonist would have been.

[@Aerakade]

Incredible game. It felt so rich. The music was excellent.

[@imyarek]

Newspapers were very immersive and since the setting and atmosphere were a very important part of Arcanum's cult status, I would say that you actually did need them.

[@dericksanzi2579]

Arcanum's so underrated, it ain't even funny. Loved Fallout 1, 2, NV; and also of course Arcanum. Loved Bloodlines too, which is my favorite game of all time. I'd love to see Arcanum 2 true-sequel like that of the old-school Arcanum CRPG in that style (3rd person/isometric/party-based/real-time or turn-based/CRPG) or even an Arcanum spin-off done in the Bloodlines or Fallout NV style of open-world games like The Outer Worlds & Fallout NV where it's an open-world RPG/action/shooter/stealth/immersive-sim type of hybrid game; especially since Microsoft has Obsidian already and it looks like they'll also have Activision (who owns Arcanum IP). So many great games and RPG's, which Tim Cain was a part of. Big fan of your games, Timothy Cain. :)

[@LainVics]

OK OK, so I just got back into arcanum after the mandalore video, and I was literally thinking about it having a dlc where you go into the under dark and there's albino ogres in the deeps and such. Then I watch this and am at peace

[@TheRealSoldatmesteren]

That is very interesting this should pop up now. I'm hearing all sorts of whispers of a potential new Arcanum game.

[@Kipa2]

I love the idea of Arcanum 2 from Tim Cain, but I hate it to be in 3D. Hopefully after Baldur's Gate 3 there will be a new life to isometric RPGs.

[@BelarusUnite]

велізарнае дзякуй за ігру майго дзяцінства!❤❤ Wish you best luck and prosperity!:D

[@Phanatic89]

Well....I loved Arcanum, but VTMB ended up I think my favourite game of all time! Thanks Tim.

[@ErmineViolinist]

Arcanum is one of my favourite games ever. My dream game would be to see you and Leonard make a 3D Arcanum II.

[@axeldrane]

I always favored playing a technologist in Arcanum so it raises many questions when I hear the sequel would have been more of a subterranean adventure. Its easy to imagine all kinds of arcane/magik gear lost to time down there but how does that work for the tech characters' gear ? If it was indeed a lost civilization I assume the player would rely mostly on found schematics from that civilization and need to source the components locally? Wouldn't that then severely limit just how many learned schematics one would be able to craft as it wouldn't make much sense to find the same raw materials you'd find in a modern city underground? Also wouldn't that dampen a bit the debate at the heart of arcanum, i.e. industrialization overwhelming a world previously dominated by magick and legend? Tarant was such a beautiful example of that in the original game. I'm sure you guys had it all figured out and the answers would have been so much fun to discover as players. If there's ever been a game i really deeply wished had a sequel its Arcanum, no doubt. Thanks for giving us that gem of a game ....Really hope a sequel can still happen in light of the recent announcements.

[@C5204]

Might seem a strange question or one you can’t answer but was there any inspiration taken from Castle in the Sky by Studio Ghibli for Arcanum particularly for the cinematic where the airship is attacked at the beginning compared to the beginning sequence of Castle in the Sky where the airship is attacked by the pirates? :)

[@CainOnGames]

I am not sure about the inspiration for that cinematic. I’ll check with Leonard Boyarsky. He’ll probably know.

[@matyaksenton4301]

Pity Arcanum never got the glory it deserved. I only hot to play it around 2013 through GOG and not when it originally came out, but it still managed to become one of my all-time favorite games. Kerghan is arguably the best written computer game villain of all time.

[@EggzOverEZ]

If i was a billionaire i would personally fund whatever it would take to have this game made today in the engine the outer worlds was built in. Here's to hoping i hit the lotto!

[@SiberianOldPal]

Arcanum is great. You made a lot of people a little bit more happy! :D

[@johnreeves5152]

Now the IP and all of its creators are under one roof (figuratively), maybe we will finally see Arcanum 2 sometime in the next 10 or 20 years.