The Elder Scrolls: Arena

The Elder Scrolls: Arena

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Developers
	Bethesda Softworks
Release dates
DOS	1994
Windows	September 10, 2013

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 site

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. 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).
Amazon.com		The Elder Scrolls Anthology; includes Arena (floppy version), Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim plus their expansions.

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 copy protection questions, and has a remastered ending. The two versions are otherwise identical.

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):

• Change core=auto to core=dynamic
• Change cycles=auto to cycles=max
• Change aspect=true to aspect=false

Changing the "core=" command to "dynamic" will allow the game to run at a much higher framerate when using high detail settings, as opposed to "auto".

Changing the "cycles=" command to max will force the game to a framerate above 5 FPS (making the game playable), but animations will be heavily sped up, making some essential NPCs very hard to talk to, as they move too fast.

The "aspect=" command, when set to true, will make the game unplayable by forcing the game's disintegration effect in menus to stop working. This is noticeable on lower end PCs.

Enhanced Music

When installing the game under DOSBox, the guide provided by Bethesda recommends Sound Blaster 16 (or 16 Pro) for the music and sound emulation. This will provide terrible sounding musical-quality. For increased musical quality, one must go through the installer and set the settings to equal:

• 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, General Midi will make some parts of the ambient dungeon music sound awkward, as it changes few crucial instruments. The game will run indifferent, however.

Game data

Configuration file and save game data location

Template:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/row

System	Location

Each save is comprised of multiple *.0* files, with the extension's number matching the slot it was saved to.

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 settings

General settings.

Audio settings

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				Only cutscenes are voiced.
French

System requirements

DOS

Windows

DOS
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	DOS 5.0
Processor (CPU)	386/25 MHZ
System memory (RAM)	4 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	25 MB
Video card (GPU)	VGA graphics card