sammy22 on 27/3/2004 at 23:16
Can anyone help clarify some of the followng points, as I am not sure what to do in some situations
1.I keep finding strange circular structures which look very important, and may be teleporters, but how can I use them, and are they significant
2.Using my map I detect that the map continues, and there may be a secret door, but the I am blocked by a brick wall is there anything I can do? do i automatically detect secret doors?
3.On the various map levels (e.g level 3 is the goblin mines) I have looked at walkthroughs and am told about various quests I should be able to solve, but when I visit these places there is nothing there, do you need to solve certain quests on previous levels to ensure you can proceed with the story and other quests (in other words am i unable to follow the story on level 4 because I haven;t completed stuff earlier on in the game.
Thanks
Shadowcat on 28/3/2004 at 00:13
Quote:
Originally posted by sammy22 1. I keep finding strange circular structures which look very important, and may be teleporters, but how can I use them, and are they significant
Ignore those for now. Yes they are important, but you will be told what they are for in due course.
Quote:
2. Using my map I detect that the map continues, and there may be a secret door, but the I am blocked by a brick wall is there anything I can do? do i automatically detect secret doors?
There are some places where you can use a pickaxe to dig through an unstable wall. IIRC the wall should look visibly weaker than the regular walls, but try it regardless. It's ages since I've played, but I think you double-click the pickaxe in your inventory, and then click on the wall. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Quote:
do you need to solve certain quests on previous levels to ensure you can proceed with the story and other quests (in other words am i unable to follow the story on level 4 because I haven;t completed stuff earlier on in the game.
I don't know about level 4 in particular (which level is that?), but in general yes, I'm afraid that this this is most definitely possible. It's an annoying flaw in Arx IMO, because the game doesn't adapt nicely to you doing things out of order like that.
If you're really not sure why you're doing something or you're in a region that you really don't have any cause to explore, there is a chance that you simply shouldn't be looking around there yet. Especially if you've yet to fully explore earlier levels of the game.
sammy22 on 28/3/2004 at 12:51
Thanks shadowcat, since I am terrible at using maps I generally just wander around at random, saving before I try areas, but often having a good go at areas which perhaps are very difficult. Hopfully an Arx F 2 would remedy this, as it removes some of the realism from a game if you have to do things in a set order.
I'm not saying you should just be able to do all things within the game straight away, but at least on level 5 if you met a charicer and they said you can't gain access until you've solved "the goblin idol quest" then you would have an indication as to how to progress.
As it stands i'm going to have to find my way back all the way to level 1, and check that I have done absoloubtely everything, even though I have done most of it, and I thought most of the significant quests, eg talking to the king etc.
What worries me a little is that when I trudge all the way back to these levels I will become lost again, as I previously mentioned I spent many hours wandering around the first 3 levels, which is why I originally didn't rate the game.
These areas are virtually empty, and I think I have done everything (other than find the gift for groe). Hopfully the mini-map I have downloaded will help with spotting areas which I may have missed.
Shadowcat on 28/3/2004 at 13:43
FWIW, in that sort of situation I would happily resort to a walkthrough -- I'll gladly use a hint if it will save me that much frustration.
arx.rpgdot.com is a great site for such things.
Having said that, and/or if you want to avoid walkthroughs... I wouldn't go directly back to level 1... I'd just go back to the most recent level in which I knew what was happening, and then try to see if I'd missed something there. If an exhaustive search there failed, then I'd go back one level, and so forth. My general assumption would be that the key to what to do in (to pick a number at random) level 6 is far more likely to be in level 5 than in level 1.
Quote:
I'm not saying you should just be able to do all things within the game straight away, but at least on level 5 if you met a charicer and they said you can't gain access until you've solved "the goblin idol quest" then you would have an indication as to how to progress.
I agree wholeheartedly. Neither situation is ideal, but I'd
much rather encounter a contrived barrier, than be allowed to continue but find that the game didn't know how to react to my having done so.
sammy22 on 28/3/2004 at 15:25
Thanks again shadowcat, before I read your post I have spent 2 hours finding my way back from level 7 all the way back to level 1. However it isn't a problem, as other than levels 1,2 and 3 I have just explored levels 4-8 at random, and found no links. i'm hoping that by going back to the start I will be able to understand the links to level 2, and then in turn make sure level 3 is completely finished.
Apparantly there are 11 rune stones to be found on the 2nd level alone, so I will have a good search around for tho'se ( I only have 6, and bought 3 of tho'se of the twins on levesl5).
One final point, I can't allocate 3 pre-cast spells to the buttons 1, 2 and 3. I have tried drawing them out which I have done, but then how do I place them in a saved slot, as soon as I let go the runes disapear again. Also just by clicking on the spell the runes are drawn for you.
I'd have prefered it if you could just scroll through your spell book and once you've found the spell you want for the shortcut just press 1 whilst hovering the mouse over that spell, and then the spell becomes usable by pressing 1.
driver on 28/3/2004 at 16:32
To pre-cast spells, draw the runes in the air as usual, then berfore you let go of the mouse button to cast it, hold down the 'stealth' button then release your mouse button, you can do this three times and you can cast the spells by using the numerical keys
sammy22 on 28/3/2004 at 17:48
Cheers driver, i'll gon'd try it!!
Tony on 13/4/2004 at 03:39
Some games have a minimum intelligence requirement.
sammy22 on 14/4/2004 at 02:36
Tony
oh................... Good job i've got a ba hons degree 2:1 as well, i think i should be allright.
Anyway my point was based around clarifying my understaning, not the fact that I was too stupid to understand it.
Obviously there was no minimum intelligence requirement for this game, as even you attempted to play it ....................
Finially what was the point of you coming on adding that stupid remark at the bottom of these topics. It has nothing to do with what was previously discussed.
stevie on 14/4/2004 at 13:35
I've played through Arx 3 times now, and by doing that I've noticed a few quest related bugs, such as events not triggering when they are supposed to, or events not triggering at all.
For example, on the third play through I found that little Shaney had gone missing on my first visit to Arx city, where that event should of happened later in the game. And when I went to the location where she was supposed to be (with the priests) their was no sign of Shaney, nor the priests. They had completely dissappeared from the game and were not seen at all. Luckily rescuing Shaney is a side quest so didn't stop the game. Obviously if you encountered that proplem on your first play through, you wouldn't know what was going on. It's still a great game though.
