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

[child of Thor]

Ok here we have what may(or may not) be what i hope will be the definative thread here for Daggerfall - to match with our current Morrowind one.

Is anyone still playing this old beast i ask? Or maybe some will be interested in trying it out, afterall even just finding the game and getting it running has almost become the stuff of legends.

First stop two of the most usefull sites to get us going:

Elderscrolls past games section: any tips on getting the game to run on whatever flavour pc you've got should be found here:

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showforum=15

The UESP website: all the files,patches and tips you can shake an ebony dagger at here:

http://www.uesp.net/dagger/espdag.shtml

And this site was one of the first i found looking for some pics:

http://www.svatopluk.com/daggerfall/

Now this is my recomended way of installing+playing Daggerfall:

1. Need an easy computer to install on
2. Need copy of Daggerfall(ebay?)

Go to UESP website and download:

1. the Patch(DAG213.exe being the latest).
2. Andyfall mod

if you want a bit extra you can also get the ADDQUEST.zip(also known as CompUSA) - it adds extra quests and items

So far.....

OK old computer running win98se - check!(for newer pc/os advice check the elderscrolls past games section above).

Daggerfall+files - check! ok lets go!

1. Run scandisk on your C: drive(the default install for daggerfall)

2. Install Daggerfall huge install(450MB), to default C:

3. Unzip 213 patch into the Dagger directory.

4. Unzip Andyfall the same.

5. Unzip ADDQUEST(CompUSA) into the ARENA2 folder inside your ANDYFALL folder(hopefully inside your Dagger folder!)

EDIT: i think also maybe put it in the ARENA2 folder in your DAGGER folder? So i've put it in both, just in case.



now for the tricky bit..........

1. Right click on MY COMPUTER, select properties then the PERFORMANCE tab, then the FILE SYSTEM tab, then the TROUBLESHOOTING tab. On the troubleshooting options make sure you check the box 'disable write behind caching for all drives'

Now 'apply' the changes and exit the menus. You have to restart your pc at this point.

2. right click on the daggerfall icon now on your desktop and select 'properties'

3. under memory set EMS to 'NONE', XMS and CONVENTION to 'AUTO', set DPMI to '24000'(24MB). Set Initial Enviroment to '2048'.

4. Also under 'properties' set:

*'Do not allow screensaver'
*'Always suspend in background'
*Usage = 'Full screen'
*'Mouse exclusve'

5. Make sure that you UNCHECK 'close on exit'.
6. Make sure that you UNCHECK 'suggest dos mode if necessary'.

7. DO NOT attempt to run the the game from the autorun as it will crash(well its going to crash at some point anyway, but this is worse!).

8. and finaly make/add a small 2 lines to your CONFIG.SYS on your C root directory:

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
FILES=90

and thats about it i think

Now to run the game

make sure you have nothing running in the background that you can do without.
Use 'Ctrl'+'Alt'+'Delete' and close as many programs as you can

I leave just 'Explorer' and 'Systray' running(after making sure i'm not online of course(unplug from the wall/modem etc) - its best to turn of any firewalls and background virus scanners)

Start > Programs > Ms Dos Prompt

At the Dos prompt type(not including the ' xxx ' quote things) :

'cd..'(enter)
'cd dagger'(enter)
'andyfall'(enter)

you should see the Andyfall title screen, followed by the normal Daggerfall graphic and then the game start screen......hopefully

Now its time to Create a Character - very fun and much more involved than in Morrowind

[Dis]

I never even heard of the elder scroll series before morrowind. though recently I saw a abandonware version of the first one. Looks difficult, but pretty ambitious for its time. they had weather effects even way back then.

[Dis]

post some screen shots, maybe I'll get it if it looks decent.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Dissident
I never even heard of the elder scroll series before morrowind. though recently I saw a abandonware version of the first one. Looks difficult, but pretty ambitious for its time. they had weather effects even way back then.

Arena was amazing ... I played it way back in the day (mid 90s, well after it had came out, but one of the first commercial games i played). It beat the crud out of everything out at the time ...

[Tuberski]

I started with Daggefall, never completed the game.....but never tried to either.

All the people saying Morrowind characters are broken never played Daggerfall.

Werewolf anyone?

ACK!

[Space05us]

Starting off in Daggerfall can overwhelm the senses. No other game has such a huge world to explore. Travel around a land mass twice the size of Great Britain, exploring dungeons, castles, tombs, and even alternative dimensions. Just to walk from one end of the world to the other will take over 2 full weeks in real-time (we actually tested this!)

http://www.bethsoft.com/games/games_daggerfall.html

[Dis]

2 full weeks? There's no way!

How can it be that large? Is it randomly generated as you are walking accross?

I think they mean 2 full weeks game time.

[child of Thor]

I hope some folks want to join me on a Daggerfall adventure

For graphics check some of those links i posted above - plenty there

And they do mean two weeks in real world time, really. The thing is the wilderness part of Daggerfall is fairly generic compared to Morrowind and the scenery which consists of tree/stone sprites you can walk through(no collision detection). So its not as graphicaly sophisticated for sure. Still it is an old game - a good one for sure, but old

The bigest problem with Daggerfall is its infamous stability issues - just check the Elderscrolls past games section to get some idea of the headaches getting this game to run can cause.

I took a determined approach to this game, as it sounded like the ultimate rpg(and in many ways it is). I built my pc specificaly to run Daggerfall and it also happens to be great for other old classic games

[Space05us]

Im not picky when it comes to graphics, finding this game and then scraping the dough together to buy it will be very difficult though.

I think I'll download Arena and check it out in the mean time.

[child of Thor]

Arena is even more primative - i got the free download from the bethseda website, but i found after Morrowind and Daggerfall it was just too great a step back imho. Still for the historic perception of these games Arena is definatly worth a go

And you get to travel over all of Tameril in Arena!!(but its game world is not as large as Daggerfalls)
In Morrowind your restricted to Morrowind only(smallest of the game worlds).
In Daggerfall your in the north west part of Tameril(actually the biggest game world of the three).

I've started a new character, so i'll be around to drop the odd bit of story and advice(though i'm no daggerfall pro).

So far i'm finding it more demanding to play than Morrowind, and definately harder/more intense. Monsters are a big deal in Daggerfall for a low level char.

[duke o' york]

I'd want to be at least at level 4 after installing the thing - that first post is crazy!
Having only juts begun to play Morrowind, and with the next one due out before I've even got a small chance to explore a tiny bit of that, it seems unlikely that I'll ever get around to playing Daggerfall, but would take it with me to a desert island if I ever found myself with loads of free time. I'd need CoT's explanation too mind.

[Space05us]

CoT, would you happen to know of the top of your head why Arena might be giving me trouble when I try to run it on DOS Box?

I have the sound settings set all correctly, and Ive even tried starting it up with no sound at all. But every time I get a black screen.

[child of Thor]

Space05us, no sorry - but go have a look around the Elderscrolls past games forum, you will probably find your problem resolved there

I've never used Dos-box i'm afraid(or XP for that matter).

@ duke o' york - i just dont know what you could possibly mean? Its all there in easy to follow sequencial steps

But yes you do have to jump through many hoops to get Daggerfall running properly. Still much of that info is what i found from the various websites i'd searched for advice trying to solve my own daggerfall problems, and it works

Depending on how Oblivion turns out, Daggerfall may remain to many as the ultimate rpg game in the elderscrolls series(and maybe of all time?).

[Space05us]

Im not sure what makes me feel stupider, visiting the elderscrolls forums or finding the answer to my problem there.

Either way my IQ dropped at least 5 points, and I got Arena running.

[child of Thor]

yes i know the feeling all too well. Still no harm in asking i find

And great that you fixed the problem

I find i nearly always have some kind of problem trying to run old games on new pcs(well my definition of new may be slighty different to most - my PIII566 with 32mb geforceMX2 is 'new' to me!)

Sound problems(and sound is one BIG aspect of Daggerfall, in the dungeons its very ambinet and creepy - really puts you on edge), display issues etc......

So thats why i keep an old P166 around - it plays all these oldies, with sound and as they should be