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The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall cover
Developers
Bethesda Softworks
Engines
XnGine
Release dates
DOS August 31, 1996
Windows (DOSBox) September 10, 2013[1]
Taxonomy
Monetization Freeware
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres ARPG, Open world
Themes Fantasy
Series The Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall on HowLongToBeat
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall on IGDB
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall guide on StrategyWiki
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall on MobyGames
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall on Wikipedia
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

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is a singleplayer first-person ARPG and open world game in the The Elder Scrolls series.

Key points

Re-released as a free download in 2009 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls series.[2]
It's recommended to use Daggerfall Unity in order to play this game on modern machines.
DaggerfallSetup is a ready-to-play installer for modern Windows systems (based on DOSBox).
DOS/32A fixes most crashes and save corruption issues.[3]

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions
UESP Wiki

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
Disc check (see Run without the CD). Run in DOSBox.
DOS
Official website
DRM-free
Pre-patched with DOS/32A and other fixes and improvements.
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
Free download, prepackaged with DOSBox.
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
Daggerfall Unity - GOG Cut, prepackaged with mods. Free download.
Windows
Microsoft Store
Microsoft Store
Free download.
Windows
Steam
DRM-free after installation through Steam client (notes may include more details)
Free download, prepackaged with DOSBox.
Windows
Official website (unavailable)
DRM-free
Free download (use DOSBox, 1.07.213 patch and DOS/32A).
DOS
A demo is available.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
CompUSA Special Edition Patch Install the CompUSA Special Edition Patch or use DaggerfallSetup.
DOS

Essential improvements

Patches

Version 1.07.213 patch

Copy into the Daggerfall folder and run using DOSBox. This patch contains all previously released patches.

CompUSA Special Edition Patch

This patch adds 16 new quests and additional artifacts to the game.

Addition unofficial patches (and mods) can be downloaded here.

Daggerfall Unity

Daggerfall Unity is a project to remake the entire game in the Unity Engine to bring it to modern standards, without breaking vanilla feeling.
Requires original game files in order to run.
Compatibility with modern systems (Windows/MacOS/Linux) and resolutions.
Fixes tons of bugs and adds many quality of life improvements.
Adds (optional) modern graphical enhancements and modding support.

Run in DOSBox

To play Daggerfall properly under DOSBox, make the following changes to the DOSBox configuration file):
  • 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=fixed 50000
  • Change memsize=16 to memsize=32
  • (OPTIONAL) Change fulldouble=false to fulldouble=true
  • Change output=surface to output=opengl (or output=openglnb for no blurry screen smoothing) or output=ddraw (Windows)
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 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.
Unlike The Elder Scrolls: Arena, turning the aspect command to true doesn't affect gameplay speed.
Changing the "cycles=" command to max will force DOSBox to emulate the game at a higher framerate.
Using "cycles=max" will cause heavy movement and turning issues. "cycles=fixed 50000" is recommended.

DOS/32A

DOS/32A fixes most crashes and save corruption issues.[3]

Run without the CD

Daggerfall can be run without the CD to improve performance and convenience.
Use Daggerfall Unity
Edit Z.CFG
  1. Install the game with the largest install size.
  2. Go to the CD and copy the contents of DAGGER\ARENA2 into the ARENA2 folder where the game is installed.
  3. Edit Z.CFG in the installation folder. Change PATHCD to match PATH.
  4. Run the game with FALL.EXE Z.CFG (this can be made into a batch file for easier launching).

Skip intro videos

Use Daggerfall Unity
Delete/rename ANIM0001.VID[citation needed]
  1. Configure the game to Run without the CD.
  2. Go into arena2 in the installation folder.
  3. Delete or rename ANIM0001.VID.

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, as the soundtrack was composed for a General Midi compatible Roland Sound Canvas.[4] For increased musical quality, the sound card 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
Unlike the previous game, Daggerfall's music seems to have been somewhat remixed to fix SoundBlaster compatibility, some tracks even being named "FM" (FM-Synthesis) as separate versions.
While improving musical fidelity, GeneralMIDI will make various dungeon tracks sound "awkward" due to the new instrument sounds, but isn't as distracting as Arena.
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 in music.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
DOS <path-to-game>\ARENA2\BETAPLYR.DAT
<path-to-game>\ARENA2\DAGGER.GRD
Windows <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1812390/pfx/[Note 2]
BETAPLYR.DAT contains control configuration settings (other in-game settings are stored in each save rather than shared).
DAGGER.GRD contains the ChildGard password. This file is only present when ChildGard is enabled.

Save game data location

System Location
DOS <path-to-game>\SAVE*\
Windows <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1812390/pfx/[Note 2]
Saves are stored in folders SAVE0 through SAVE5.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

General settings.
General settings.

Input

Input settings.
Input settings.

Audio

List of supported MIDI devices
List of supported MIDI devices
Part 2
Part 2

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Sound and Music.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Dialogue is text-only after the opening cutscene.
Closed captions
Use Daggerfall Unity for closed captions in cutscenes.
Mute on focus lost
For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file.
Royalty free audio
General MIDI audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
Use Projet French Daggerfall or DaggerfallSetup.
German
Use Daggerfall Deutsch. This translation is currently incomplete.
Russian
Fan translation by «VorteX DrAgON».
Included with DaggerfallSetup.
Spanish
Use DaggerFall en Español (by Clan Dlan) or DaggerfallSetup.
For the Daggerfall Unity version, you can use this (copy and paste the files into the root folder of the game): Daggerfall Unity en español.
If you wish to contribute to the translation, please visit the following link: DFUnity - Spanish Translation

Issues unresolved

GUS emulation does not work

Despite best efforts, Daggerfall will not properly play music through gravis cards, despite being listed in the setup program. More info here and here.

Issues fixed

Broken movement when using DOSBox

If you are running Daggerfall via DOSBox, there can be a problem with movement which prevents you from running backwards and jumping.
Use Daggerfall Unity
Set your cycles amount to fixed 50000, or 50%
You can do this in DOSBox config or pressing Ctrl+F11 / Ctrl+F12

Corrupted saves due to memory issues

To fix saves that are already corrupted see UESP Wiki's Daggerfall Corrupted Savegames page.
Use Daggerfall Unity
Use DOS/32A
Use DaggerfallSetup

"You do not have enough disk space for your chosen installation type" error during installation

Disk space error
Disk space error
This error occurs when there is insufficient space or the DOSBox -freesize parameter has not been used.
Use -freesize parameter[5]

When mounting the destination folder, include the command line arguments -freesize 1024 (specifies free space in megabytes).

Roland MT-32 crash (Error 117 or CauseWay error 09)

Daggerfall lists the Roland MT-32 as a sound option but it doesn't actually work and will crash the game.[6] Use MPU-401 instead.
Set MIDI Device to MPU-401[citation needed]
  1. Run setup from within DOSBox.
  2. Choose Select MIDI.
  3. Choose MPU-401.
  4. Choose Port 330.
  5. Choose OK, OK and OK to save your changes and exit setup.
  6. MPU-401 MIDI will now pass to the MT-32 (or compatible model) if it is configured correctly (see Roland MT-32).

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 11 Only when using Daggerfall Unity.
OpenGL 3 Only when using Daggerfall Unity.
DOS video modes VGA
Shader Model support 3.0 Only when using Daggerfall Unity.
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
Only when using Daggerfall Unity.
macOS (OS X)
Only when using Daggerfall Unity.
Linux
Only when using Daggerfall Unity.

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio Human Machine Interface (HMI) audio drivers

System requirements

DOS
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) MS-DOS 5.0+
Processor (CPU) 486 33Mhz
System memory (RAM) 8 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 50 MB
Video card (GPU) 256-color VGA
Sound (audio device) General MIDI, Roland (SC, MT-32, RAP-10), SoundBlaster (Pro, 16, AWE32), Ensoniq SoundScape, Microsoft SS, Pro Audio Spectrum 16, Gravis UltraSound (Max, Ace), ESS AudioDrive


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 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).
  2. 2.0 2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1812390/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (1812390) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References