Arcanum As A Windows 10 App

tim-cain arcanum programming windows porting game-development troika

Abstract

Problem: Can the original Arcanum source code be recompiled and run as a native Windows 10 application, 22 years after the game shipped?

Approach: Tim Cain pulled up the original source code, stripped out SecuROM and WON (Sierra's multiplayer network), fixed hundreds of modern compiler warnings/errors, and recompiled in modern Visual Studio.

Findings: The entire game runs natively on Windows 10 after less than 40 hours of work. DirectX and audio still function thanks to Microsoft's backwards compatibility. Tim outlines plans for bug fixes, optimization, balance passes, and potential removal of real-time combat.

Key insight: A motivated original developer with access to source code can revive a 22-year-old game in under a week — but IP ownership (now Microsoft's) prevents any public release.

1. Recompiling Arcanum

Tim Cain recompiled the Arcanum source code as a native Windows 10 application in November 2023, roughly 22 years after the game originally shipped. The game runs in its original 800×600 window on a modern 1920×1280 desktop. Everything works — graphics, sound, gameplay, dialogue — all without patching the executable, but by modifying and recompiling the actual source code.

The total effort was less than 40 hours, spread over 2–3 weeks of free time. Tim attributes the relative ease to having written a large chunk of the code himself, with only four or five programmers total on the original project.

2. Obstacles to Recompilation

Three main hurdles had to be cleared:

2.1. SecuROM Removal

The original build pipeline applied SecuROM's anti-piracy layer to the executable as a post-build step. Tim simply removed that build step, producing a clean executable.

2.2. Disabling WON (World Opponent Network)

Sierra required integration with WON for multiplayer. Tim disabled WON entirely, which meant also disabling Arcanum's multiplayer — a sacrifice he was fine with, as multiplayer wasn't his focus.

2.3. Modern Compiler Warnings and Errors

This was the most time-consuming part. The original game shipped compiled at the highest warning level of its era, but modern Visual Studio flagged hundreds of new warnings and several errors. Fixing these one by one consumed the bulk of the porting effort.

3. Planned Improvements

Tim outlined several areas he'd like to work on with the recompiled codebase:

3.1. Bug Fixes

Arcanum shipped with "clouds of overlapping bugs" across code, scripts, dialogues, and some map assets. Community modders have already addressed many of these, but Tim wants to fix them properly in the source code rather than through patches. He estimates this alone could take months or years.

3.2. Memory Management Optimization

The original game managed its own memory on top of Windows 95/2000. On modern Windows, this creates redundant double-management and slowdowns. Tim would strip out the custom memory management and let Windows handle allocation directly, which should eliminate the screen tearing he observed.

3.3. DirectX Upgrade

Arcanum uses a circa-2000 version of DirectX. Everything still functions thanks to Microsoft's backwards compatibility (which Tim praises), but there were "odd things about hooking in DirectX 9." He'd upgrade to a modern DirectX version.

3.4. Balance Pass

Tim specifically called out several balance issues, all stemming from Arcanum having "shipped as an alpha" with little time for tuning:

  • Harm spell: Far too powerful as a go-to spell. He'd add a damage cap or cooldown.
  • Other spells, skills, and tech schematics all need rebalancing.
  • Attributes might be tweaked, though he wants to be conservative.

3.5. Restoring Multi-Point Costs

The original design had spells and schematics cost variable points (higher-level abilities cost more). This was changed to a flat one-point cost before shipping. The multi-point code is still in the source, and Tim would restore it as a selectable option at game start — letting players choose between the one-point and multi-point systems.

3.6. Removing Real-Time Combat

Tim considered dropping real-time combat entirely, keeping only turn-based. Balancing for both modes would be "a nightmare." He'd compensate by adding turn-based improvements from his later games, such as simultaneous monster/NPC turns — where you take a turn for each party member, then all enemies act at once. He still has access to the Temple of Elemental Evil codebase for reference.

4. IP Ownership

Tim is clear: he owns the source code but not the Arcanum IP. This means he cannot release this recompiled version, create an official patch, or make Arcanum 2. The IP belongs to Microsoft as of November 2023.

5. Other Games

Tim mentioned potentially doing the same exercise with Temple of Elemental Evil and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, though both would be harder. Temple had many more programmers, and Vampire was built on a very old version of Valve's Source engine. Arcanum was uniquely tractable because of Tim's deep familiarity with the small codebase.

Source: Tim Cain — "Arcanum As A Windows 10 App" (YouTube, November 2023)

6. References