Arcanum on Windows 10 with UAP

How to set up Arcanum to use UAP patch - works with Windows 10

How to get started?

To get it working on Windows 10 was not a complicated task for me but I have seen a LOT of people have issues with getting it working on Windows 10 (and in a previous system I was also not very successful).

UAP is the Unofficial Arcanum Patch maintained by Drog Black Tooth and is still actively being maintained in 2020. This is the single reason I was able to get mine to work.

What did I do:

• Update your system. I was running the most up-to-date version build of Windows 10 - 1909
  
• Install a copy of Arcanum
  
• Download UAP from Terra Arcanum [terra-arcanum.com]

DO NOT install it into Program Files if you can avoid it. If you are using Steam it will install it to where ever you have Steam installed. Program Files folder has added security in Windows and it can cause issues with permissions. If you have it installed in Program Files please check the troubleshooting section on some of the issues.

How to Install UAP?

Once you have Arcanum installed then you need to follow these steps to install UAP

UAP is an Installation exe which will do all the heavy lifting for you.

Just Double Click UAP2.0.2.exe. Screenshots are of 2.0.0 but the installation didn't change with the latest version(s)
Accept security warning around unknown publisher.












Then follow the simple installed. Next













Next select what you want to install alongside the UAP installation
The bare minimum is to install UAP Base and the High Resolution Patch

The official DLC is also packaged adding 7 additional mini campaigns. If you like the main story and want more then it is worth trying these out. There is no risk adding these as they just add additional modules that you can change in the settings. This will be explained further down in the guide













There are some other mods that are worth considering in 2.0.0+. Here are the ones I used:

• Race Mod - adds the ability to play as full blooded races - Orcs, Ogres and Dark Elves with their own portraits
  
• Misc Mod -> Level Cap Remover - if you play the full campaign and do quite a few side quests you know level 50 is reached very early on. This doubles the level cap leaving you to get even stronger. Warning this can make late game a little unbalanced as you have every skill in the game
  
• Misc Mod -> Riddlers just adds more variety on the riddles to the Ancient Game
  
• Misc Mod -> No Movies skips the Sierra/Troika intro logos - you don't need this as High Resolution Patch can also skip these

Now select where you have installed Arcanum. In my case my Steam is installed outside of Program Files and actually on a second drive so I change mine to that path.
Make sure the folder you select is the second Arcanum folder.
<SteamBaseDir>\steamapps\common\Arcanum\Arcanum













Now hit Finish. UAP is installed but you need to configure the High Resolution Patch for it to work with Windows 10

How to configure High Resolution Patch?

So alongside the UAP patch Drog Black Tooth has packaged the High Resolution Patch which fixes lots of graphical/compatibility issues people have trying to run Arcanum on Windows 10.

First thing to do is navigate to your Arcanum installation:
<SteamBaseDir>\steamapps\common\Arcanum\Arcanum

Then go into the HighRes folder and [/b]edit the config.ini[/b] file. You can right click on config.ini and click edit to edit it on Notepad or edit it using any other text editor. You can see what each setting does but down below I have given my settings file.

Once you have changed the config.ini file make sure you then run the _install.bat file. You can do this by double clicking it or typing _install.bat in a command line window.
If you do not run _install.bat NOTHING will change

What Settings should you change?

• Resolution Width/Height = 1920/1080. If that is too zoomed out then other 16:9 resolutions may work better such as 1280x720 or 1366x768 or 1600x900
  
• DialogFont and LogBookFont = 1 - this is 14 point font. In large resolutions the text can be quite difficult to read so increase this number to 1 like I did. There is also a size 18 for Dialog font which may be useful for large resolutions
  
• Logos/Intros = 0 - This turns off both and speeds up getting into the game

//Arcanum High Resolution Patch Settings

//Basic:
Width = 1920 // original: 800
Height = 1080 // original: 600
BitDepth = 32 // original: 16
DialogFont = 1 // 0 = size 12, 1 = size 14, 2 = size 18
LogbookFont = 1 // 0 = size 12, 1 = size 14
MenuPosition = 1 // 0 = top, 1 = center, 2 = bottom
MainMenuArt = 2 // 0 = black, 1 = fade to black, 2 = wood
Borders = 1 // 1 = add borders to most UI graphics

//Graphics:
Windowed = 0 // 0 = fullscreen mode, 1 = windowed mode
Renderer = 0 // 0 = software, 1 = hardware
DoubleBuffer = 1 // 0 = disabled, 1 = enabled (unless windowed)
DDrawWrapper = 1 // 1 = install DDrawCompat wrapper
ShowFPS = 0 // 0 = no change, 1 = always enabled

//Advanced:
ScrollFPS = 60 // original: 35, max: 255
ScrollDist = 30 // original: 10, infinite: 0
PreloadLimit = 60 // original: 30 tiles, max: 255
BroadcastLimit = 20 // original: 10 tiles, max 255
Logos = 0 // 0 = skip Sierra/Troika logos
Intro = 0 // 0 = skip the main menu intro clip

Troubleshoot and Common Issues

There are several common mistakes people make and here are the ones I know.

How do I find out where Arcanum is installed?
You have two options:

• Right Click on your shortcut and click properties. It will list the installation path.
  
• If you have the Steam version then Right Click -> Manage -> Browse local files

Installation of Arcanum is in Program Files
This will cause some pains. The biggest issue is around Windows UAC permissions. To be able to run some applications (especially) older applications it need admin access to certain files or folder. So if you have this then there are likely a few things you need to do:

• When you run the UAP2.0.0.exe file make sure you run as administrator (right click menu). Otherwise it may have issues trying to install the files
  
• When you need to run _install.bat for High Resolution Patch then you may need to run a command. In Start Menu type in cmd then right click and run as administrator. Run cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Arcanum\Arcanum\HighRes. Then type _install.bat
  
• You will also need to run arcanum.exe as Administrator. Go to your installation folder Right Click -> Properties -> Compatibility -> Run this program as an Administrator

UAP is not installing
If you get this error, make sure you have selected the correct folder. You have likely selected the base Arcanum folder, not the second Arcanum folder:
<SteamBaseDir>\steamapps\common\Arcanum\Arcanum








The High Resolution patch is not working
After installing High Resolution Patch your resolution hasn't changed even though you did update the config. You NEED to run _install.bat otherwise nothing changes

_install.bat - unable to find the game files
If you get an error where the files were not found or after running _install.bat and nothing has change. Then you need to run _install.bat on a command prompt with admin privileges. Sometimes you can get permissions issues where the file are unable to modified or read without elevated permissions depending on where you have the game installed.

(Steam only) - Game will not start even though UAP and High Resolution Patch is installed
If you are launching it from Steam it will likely cause an issue (Steam overlay and several other factors could cause issues). So instead you should run it directly by executing Arcanum.exe. You can create a shortcut on your desktop to make it easier to run.

If you have a high DPI screen
In Properties, enable "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" and "Run as admin" on the Arcanum.exe file

[Demona's Pet]

Had a weird graphical glitch where the screen would only show anything if my mouse was currently moving. Torgo's suggestion involving the DDrawWrapper fixed this for me.

[Pyro9999]

@Jux you just have to hit alt again

[Jux]

I have the game running pretty well after all this, although I have a strange bug where anytime I hit alt the game freezes up. Is there any other way to force attack, or any known fix for this? Thank you.

[meteor]

I get "Arcanum installation is corrupt" after checking boxes and starting installation, does anyone had same problem and mb solution?

[Torgo]

Arcanum not working for Windows 11,
solution = set "DDrawWrapper = 0" in UAP, that fixed it for me.

[SamboNZ]

AZOR 😈 back on 18 Mar, 2021 you mentioned you found a fix for Steam not recognising the UAP version - I know it's been a while now lol but do you remember what the fix was pls?

[im bad at everything]

Thanked for the guide. My game is working perfectly.

[ArronaxKP]

Never head of that buy before sorry @Onetruesempai

[Onetruesempai]

hey im having a problem where the screen will have multiple "screens" that are very tiny, is this a common bug?

[Gustavo Limbek]

hi i have an error i can run this game after i installed the patch and i use already the arcanum exe file and not the launcher i use the steam version.