I want to like Daggerfall but.........

[Grumbold]

I loved Arena and Daggerfall but I don't think I'd have the patience to play them these days. The squeaky door opening noise still haunts me!

Its definitely 2 real weeks to walk across Daggerfall, the place is vast. Points of interest are set onto the map, the other features are generated by some sort of algorithm so that they don't mysteriously change if you travel the same route twice. That said, there is no need to travel in real time when you can fast travel from point of interest to point of interest unless you want to chance across randomly generated dungeons to explore.

[Space05us]

Here's a picture of big brave me after having cleared the lovely little dungeon-prison!



note: I have no idea why DOSBox taks such small images, but its nice and clear!

unless you want to chance across randomly generated dungeons to explore.

Sounds like my kind of game!

[Space05us]

Here's a picture of big brave me after having cleared the lovely little dungeon-prison!

I just realised one of my items is giving me a +20 STR bonus! Lucky me!

[child of Thor]

He looks cool i never found such a powerfull item when i got out that first dungeon

I'll see if i can get a few of my Daggerfall screens for posting here.

[Standup]

There's also Redguard from Bethesda which i assume is set in the same 'universe'. I have a copy still in it's plastic which has been on my 'to play' shelf for several years now. From the reviews i've read it seems to be much more adventure/3d combat+ jumper than RPG and never quite appealed enough to open it.

[Grumbold]

Yep they certainly did some spin offs. Battlespire was a more FPS approach which I wanted to go back to with a better spec computer. I gave up when I hit issues running it under a newer version of Windows. Redguard was a much tighter RPG with a specific plot and simpler character design. I didn't get very far with that before I got distracted.

@Space05us - just about all Daggerfall dungeons were randomly generated, so it was simpler to get a job from a guild or NPC first. That put the location on your map and you could fast travel to it. The quality of outdoor terrain and dungeon design wasn't quite up to a standard where you would want to explore another random one just for the sake of seeing what was in it after you had done a bunch to work your way up in guild rank or gaining approval from the town dignitaries.

I don't remember if Arena has random dungeons as well, I think it had all preset spaces to explore. I'm very fond of that game as about ten of us were all playing it at the same time and swapping boasts of our progress. There was a big race to be the first to be wearing a full set of Daedric armour.

[child of Thor]

I've been playing Daggerfall all week Its growing on me too - i actually look forward to the dungeon quests now! You literaly have to spend a few game days to clear them, and sometimes your goal is impossible to acheive. For example my character is not a magic user and sometimes you can find your mission goal is behind a magicaly sealed door. Still one of the great things about Daggerfall is that this kind of problem doesnt lead to a dead end. Unlike in Morrowind where all the quests are basicaly sequencial, in Daggerfall the quests are randomly asigned. Sometimes you just cant finish them, so you have to take it on the chin and except defeat and move on. Everything is based on your reputation, if you fail a quest then your reputation takes a hit with the relevant guild/person.

Anyway its weird because i haven't had one single crash so far(although i have fallen into the void twice while exploring dungeons), which is very different from my last experience of the game.
So for the time being i've given up on Morrowind(as that was crashing far to often), and i guess can look forward to an eternity in Daggerfall

Oh and here is a story from my current game.

PART ONE:

Beards, caving and a Nord called Olaf:

Royalty are a strange lot, best for the common man to keep out their way for we are often just a pawn in their game. Olaf hadn't been so lucky, in the wrong place at the wrong time, although the young prince he had saved might disagree.

Still that was distant history now. Even as he watched the sunrise over Northmoor town, Olaf knew he was here on the wishes of the King of Tamriel, Uriel Septim; and he would eventually know Olaf had survived the shipwreck, and there was the small matter of the royal mission.
He kept the royal invites to Sentinel and Wayrest, safe in the folds of his thick green cape; they could wait a while.

Now he was more grateful for the fine cloaks warmth against the morning chill, he'd been sitting out on the roof of the White Boar pub since first light, waiting for the mages guild to open its doors and he had a good few hours left.

So he past the time going over all that had happened since his arrival in High Rock and his survival of the shipwreck. While deep in thought he examined his equipment, testing the string on the dwarven bow he had found, and running a whetstone over the ebony dagger that the king had given him as a gift of thanks.

Even the fine steel plate cuirass he had bought from the Odd Blades in Daggerfall got a fresh rub down with an oil cloth, an adventurer who didn't care for his belongings would soon be a dead adventurer; Olaf had seen that outcome many a time.

So the hours past and the clock of the Mages guild struck 11, Olaf mussed that a mages life must be a comfortable one with all the sleep they seemed to enjoy.
Jumping down from the pubs roof he quickly made his way to the door, he wanted to be first to ask about the job he had heard the mages guild had open.

[child of Thor]

edit: pic deleted for weird overnight gremlins - now on page two of this thread.

[child of Thor]

Pic two: Sunrise over Northmoor.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Space05us

note: I have no idea why DOSBox taks such small images, but its nice and clear!

That's probably the actual resolution of the game.

[child of Thor]

Originally posted by General Ludd
That's probably the actual resolution of the game.

could well be - i know Daggerfall runs in 640x480 mode, and its not bad looking really

[child of Thor]

PART TWO:

Beards, caving and a Nord called Olaf continued:

“Ah, Olaf do come in, I’d been told we may be expecting you”, the bearded Tristan Albastyn ushered the nord over to his desk.
Olaf took pause to look over to the women wearing a purple dress in the corner of the room, she seemed to have been in a rush to get up as she had clearly forgotten a vital bit of clothing.

Tristan cleared his throat before continuing,
“This isn’t a straight forward job, your going to have to ask around and find some leads as I only have an initial contact for you; you’ll have to find out the rest as you best can. Still the pay isn’t bad and it doesn’t sound too dangerous”, Tristan shuffled some papers around, a sign Olaf knew meant he wasn’t telling the whole truth.

“Alright I’ll take it”, Olaf replied in an even tone, playing along with the Master mage.
“Good, very good, I knew we could count on you”, he beamed back as he quickly scrawled on the contract document,
“Just make sure your back here in 3 months time for the reward”. And that was that. Olaf went along to meet his contact in the Temple of Mara, one Julia Eberston.

Once Julia Eberston had stopped dancing and put some more clothes on things got a lot more complicated.
“Ummm ok I think the guys name is Adrin Tolmor, he’s a book store owner in Black Rock village….or was it Blue Rock?”, Julia was a dizzy blonde Olaf was realising.

“Are you sure you don’t have time to take me out for a drink?”, she asked again through batting eyelashes.
“No sorry Julia, but when on a job I don’t let myself get distracted I’m afraid, but when I get back then we’re on”, Olaf tried hard to sound sincere and was counting on the fact that in a few months she would have forgotten everything.

He said his goodbyes and made as calm an exit as possible, she wasn’t his type and he’d heard exhausting things about priestesses of Mara!

[child of Thor]

Hmmm...now who would you speak to first?

[Dis]

so those screenshots are of daggerfall or arena?

how old is daggerfall? those graphics look pretty old. I was under the impression the game came out in the late 90's.

[Nostromo]

Daggerfall came out in '95 irc