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=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[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: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[edit]
Save game data location[edit]
- 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.
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
Other information[edit]
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[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 the cloud_saves
folder might be temporary files or other files that do not contain saves or settings).
References