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
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
- 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
Patches
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
- To play Arena properly under DOSBox, make the following changes to the DOSBox configuration file[4]):
- Change
core=auto
to core=dynamic
- Change
aspect=false
to aspect=true
- (OPTIONAL) Change
scaler=normal2x
to scaler=normal3x
- Change
fullresolution=original
to fullresolution=desktop
- Change
cycles=auto
to cycles=max
or (OPTIONAL) cycles=fixed 20000
- Change
output=surface
to output=opengl
or output=ddraw
(Windows)
- If
output=
isn't changed from surface and the aspect=
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 with aspect=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
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:1
MUSIC: 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
Save game data location
- Each save is comprised of multiple
*.0*
files, with the extension's number matching the slot it was saved to.[5]
-
NAMES.DAT
stores the save file names (saves can still be loaded without it).
- In-game settings are stored in each save rather than shared.
Video
Input
Audio
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 |
|
For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file. |
- This game supports the MT-32 and General MIDI for music.
Localizations
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
DOS video modes |
VGA |
|
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
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 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 the cloud_saves
folder might be temporary files or other files that do not contain saves or settings).
References