| Developers | |
|---|---|
| Release dates | |
| DOS | 1994 |
| Windows (DOSBox) | September 10, 2013[1] |
| Reception | |
| IGDB | 88 |
|
Aug 26, 2010 Arena Because of the Skywind, Morroblivion and Skyblivion projects, as well as the Daggerfall remake in the Unity engine, I was wondering why nobody has decided to remake the first two Elder Scrolls games in the engine of one of the modern ones. Edit: Forgot about the procedural generation, derpy derp. On the one hand, Arena set the standard of all Elder Scrolls games that came after it by ensuring there was a lot to do outside of the main quest. Using procedural generation techniques, the Empire of Tamriel featured in Arena is larger than the areas covered by Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and their respective DLC expansions combined. .THIS SONG IS FEATURED IN INDIGO GAMING'S DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE ELDER SCROLLS! Go check it out, it's a great analysis on how it became what it is, and its h. Daggerfall isn't hard to remake, I already have a GL engine coming along nicely that can read in almost all of the data in Arch3D.bsa and display it in an untextured format. The format of the BSA files for Daggerfall is mostly known, and another forum member here is working on discovering the rest with me, and we have already figured out one. Skyblivion is a name that most modders of Skyrim or Oblivion may have heard at one time or another over the last 9 years. It's an incredibly ambitious project which aims to recreate the entirety of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in the newer game engine used by Skyrim.
| ⤏ Go to series page | |
| The Elder Scrolls: Arena | 1994 |
| The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall | 1996 |
| An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire | 1997 |
| The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard | 1998 |
| The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind | 2002 |
| The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion | 2006 |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | 2011 |
| The Elder Scrolls Online | 2014 |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition | 2016 |
| The Elder Scrolls: Legends | 2017 |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR | 2018 |
| The Elder Scrolls: Blades | TBA |
| The Elder Scrolls VI | TBA |
Key points
- Floppy disk version re-released as a free download in 2004 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls series.
- ArenaSetup is a pre-packaged installer for Windows, including the CD version of the game.
General information
- Official forum
- The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages
- UESP forum
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
Availability[edit]
| Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | Floppy version: requires manual to answer Shift Gate copy protection questions.[2] Use DOSBox. | |||
| Retail | CD version: disc check. Use DOSBox. | |||
| Official website | This is the CD version pre-packaged with DOSBox. | |||
| Official website | The floppy disk version from the official site (without DOSBox). |
- The GOG.com version is available by purchasing any other game on GOG.com published by Bethesda Softworks.
Version differences[edit]
- The CD version has voice acting during cutscenes, removes the Shift Gate's copy protection questions,[2] a remastered ending, and small graphical changes to items like shields. The two versions are otherwise identical.
- The Elder Scrolls Anthology includes the floppy version.[3]
Essential improvements[edit]
Patches[edit]
Patch 1.06 is the latest patch for the retail floppy version. The CD version and the freeware floppy version are already fully patched.
Run in DOSBox[edit]
- To play Arena properly under DOSBox, make the following changes to the DOSBox configuration file[4]):
- Change
core=autotocore=dynamic - Change
aspect=falsetoaspect=true - (OPTIONAL) Change
scaler=normal2xtoscaler=normal3x - Change
fullresolution=originaltofullresolution=desktop - Change
cycles=autotocycles=maxor (OPTIONAL)cycles=fixed 20000 - Change
output=surfacetooutput=opengloroutput=ddraw(Windows)
- If
output=isn't changed from surface and theaspect=command is turned to true, the game will become unplayable. - Changing
scaler=to 'normal3x' will emulate the game in windowed mode at twice the resolution, staying faithful to the original's size. Paired well withaspect=true. - Changing the
cycles=command to max will force DOSBox to emulate the game at a higher framerate with high detail settings, but animations will be sped up, making NPCs very hard to talk to, as they move too fast. This also applies to enemies. - Changing the
cycles=command to 'fixed 20000' will force the game to play as it should on release, but will become unplayable on higher detail levels due to slowdown. - Changing the
core=command to 'dynamic' will allow the game to run at a higher framerate when using high detail settings, as opposed to 'auto.'
Enhanced Music[edit]
When installing the game under DOSBox, the guide provided by Bethesda recommends SoundBlaster 16 for the music and sound emulation. This provides faithful, but worse musical-quality. For increased musical quality, the Soundcard settings must match these:
SOUND: Sound Blaster or SB16 (or compatible) - I0:220 IRQ:7 DMA:1MUSIC: General Midi or MPU-401 - I0:330 IRQ:2 DMA:1
- While improving musical fidelity, GeneralMIDI will make various dungeon tracks sound 'awkward' due to the new instrument sounds.
- Some dungeon music won't play if GeneralMIDI or SoundBlaster is used, as both modes have special music. GeneralMIDI seems to have the most variation.
- When using SoundBlaster, some overworld music, like the snowing music, will have odd, warping-sounding instruments in the background.
Game data[edit]
Save game data location[edit]
| System | Location |
|---|---|
| DOS | <path-to-game>*.0* <path-to-game>NAMES.DAT |
| Windows | <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1] |
- Each save is comprised of multiple
*.0*files, with the extension's number matching the slot it was saved to.[5] NAMES.DATstores the save file names (saves can still be loaded without it).- In-game settings are stored in each save rather than shared.
Save game cloud syncing[edit]
| System | Native | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GOG Galaxy |
Video[edit]
General settings.
| Graphics feature | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Widescreen resolution | 320x200 only, see the DOSBox page for more information. | |
| Multi-monitor | ||
| Ultra-widescreen | ||
| 4K Ultra HD | ||
| Field of view (FOV) | ||
| Windowed | Toggle with Alt+↵ Enter (when using DOSBox). | |
| Borderless fullscreen windowed | ||
| Anisotropic filtering (AF) | ||
| Anti-aliasing (AA) | ||
| Vertical sync (Vsync) | For DOSBox use an unofficial build (see the glossary page for other workarounds). | |
| 60 FPS | Capped at 70 FPS. | |
| 120+ FPS | Capped at 70 FPS. | |
| High dynamic range display (HDR) | ||
Input[edit]
| Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Remapping | Key remapping only available while pressing Alt+F1 in DOSBox. Also see the 'TES Arena Remapped' mod, which supplies a Dosbox control file enabling modern WASD controls. | |
| Mouse acceleration | ||
| Mouse sensitivity | For DOSBox set in the DOSBox configuration file. | |
| Mouse input in menus | ||
| Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
| Touchscreen optimised | Touchscreen rarely works, and only for menus. | |
| Controller | ||
| Controller support | For DOSBox use the DOSBox Mapper (see the glossary page for other workarounds). |
Audio[edit]
Supported SoundCards for MIDI
| Audio feature | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Separate volume controls | Sound and Music. | |
| Surround sound | mono; only one sound can be played at the same time. | |
| Subtitles | All dialogue is text. | |
| Closed captions | ||
| Mute on focus lost |
- This game supports the MT-32 and General MIDI for music.
Localizations
| Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Only cutscenes are voiced. | |||
| French | Use Projet French Arena or ArenaSetup. Some text is English. | |||
| Russian | Fan translation download |
Other information[edit]
API[edit]
| Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DOS video modes | VGA |
OpenTESArena[edit]
Reverse engineered fan-made port of the game based on SDL2 which supports Linux and Windows. However, it is still in alpha and the software must be compiled for now. Instructions & requirements are available.
System requirements[edit]
| DOS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recommended | |
| Operating system (OS) | 5.0 | |
| Processor (CPU) | Intel 386 25 MHz | 386/33 MHz (Intel 486/33+) |
| System memory (RAM) | 4 MB | |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) | 25 MB | |
| Video card (GPU) | VGA | |
| Sound (audio device) | General Midi, Roland, SoundBlaster, Ultrasound, Aria, Ensoniq, ESS, Wave Blaster | |
Notes
- ↑File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS and/or PC booter game data. For the GOG.com release, file changes in DOSBox are redirected to
<path-to-game>/cloud_saves/even if GOG Galaxy is not used (this folder contains all redirected files, so some files in thecloud_savesfolder might be temporary files or other files that do not contain saves or settings).
References
- ↑Now Available: The Elder Scrolls Anthology in North America | Bethesda Blog
- ↑ 2.02.1Arena:Escape From Prison - UESPWiki
- ↑Now Available: The Elder Scrolls Anthology in North America | Bethesda Blog
- ↑Settings recommended by Gemini in Ancient DOS Games --- Episode 48: The Elder Scrolls I: Arena
- ↑Arena:Save Games - UESPWiki
Daggerfall isn't hard to remake, I already have a GL engine coming along nicely that can read in almost all of the data in Arch3D.bsa and display it in an untextured format. The format of the BSA files for Daggerfall is mostly known, and another forum member here is working on discovering the rest with me, and we have already figured out one huge thing that could help figure out several others. The hardest thing I imagine, would be figuring out how many points each bonus or weakness would have to adjust the slider on the character creation menu. That kind of stuff would be difficult, but the rest is not so hard.
Displaying the stuff isn't what I figured would be hard. It's something we've been able to do for a long time. I've just never seen anyone get past that point. I don't think even Interkarma managed to really accomplish anything beyond making the models and sprites show up in his project, and he worked on it for a pretty long time. But that's sort of besides the point. What I've been trying to say isn't that it would be impossibly hard, just that it'd be difficult enough that making a fresh new game would just be a more viable option. Well, that and that actually making the engine work out right using all of Daggerfall's original assets would be pretty hard. The graphics are always the easiest part to getting working in that kind of project, but everything else... well, even Exult doesn't really do a perfect job of emulating the original (I don't know if they've fixed it, but the last time I used it was later last year and even then they didn't have NPC schedules working properly).
Elder Scrolls Arena Remastered
iThe thing is, it just wouldn't sell on some kiddie-platform where most of the kids today can't play anything unless it runs in 2048x1536 and has high-resolution 3D models. Sound stupid? Guess again! I love it when some kid playing WoW says he can't play Doom because of the resolution. It'd be the same thing with DF on a DS. They'd have to overhaul the resolution of the sprites and textures to make it viable, and since we're making an engine from scratch, why not just make a whole new game?
Um... wait, what? They'd have to overhaul the sprites and textures for the DS