This open-source project aims to be a modern engine re-implementation for 'The Elder Scrolls: Arena' from 1994 by Bethesda Softworks. It is written in C17 and uses SDL2, WildMIDI for music, and OpenAL Soft for sound and mixing. There is support for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Version: 0.12.0; License: MIT; Discord: https://discord.gg/DgHe2jG. The Elder Scrolls (commonly referred to as TES) is an award-winning series of roleplaying games created by Bethesda Softworks. Set in the vast world of Nirn, The Elder Scrolls series is renowned for the level of unprecedented control given the player over his or her character's destiny, establishing itself as the benchmark in immersive.
More classics continuing to live on?! Yes please, thanks to the power of open source and dedicated fans The Elder Scrolls: Arena has a modern game engine that continues maturing. You can download the original free for the data files, thanks to Bethesda releasing it free some time ago so it makes it quite easy to get going with OpenTESArena.
The main developer has announced a new release with OpenTESArena 0.12.0 and it comes with some big new features nicely hooked up including:
- Wandering citizens in cities and wilderness. They idle if the player's weapon is sheathed
- Puddle reflections
- Voice in cinematics (only available in CD version)
- City entrance jingle
- Music library system supporting custom MIDI filenames in data/audio/MusicDefinitions.txt
- Entity animation system redesign
- Texture manager improvements and initial work on texture instance manager for runtime-generated textures
- Fonts use less memory and are less dependent on SDL2
- Added previously-unused OverSnow music to snow weather playlist
- Fixed final boss display name (was 'TODO')
Check out their release video too:
Direct Link
While it's another great attempt at game preservation, it's worth noting this particular project is still quite early on overall. You can find the current status on the Wiki, which shows it's still missing a lot of actual gameplay elements currently.
You can find it and all the instructions up on GitHub.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.| Developers | |
|---|---|
| Release dates | |
| DOS | 1994 |
| Windows (DOSBox) | September 10, 2013[1] |
| Reception | |
| IGDB | 88 |
|
| ⤏ Go to series page | |
| 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 |
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.
Elder Scrolls Games
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.
Elder Scrolls Arena Remake
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=autotocore=dynamic - Change
aspect=falsetoaspect=true - (OPTIONAL) Change
scaler=normal2xtoscaler=normal3x - Change
fullresolution=originaltofullresolution=desktop - Change
cycles=autotocycles=maxor (OPTIONAL)cycles=fixed 20000 - Change
output=surfacetooutput=opengloroutput=ddraw(Windows)
- If
output=isn't changed from surface and theaspect=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 withaspect=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:1MUSIC: 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]
| System | Location |
|---|---|
| DOS | <path-to-game>*.0* <path-to-game>NAMES.DAT |
| Windows | <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1] |
- Each save is comprised of multiple
*.0*files, with the extension's number matching the slot it was saved to.[5] NAMES.DATstores the save file names (saves can still be loaded without it).- In-game settings are stored in each save rather than shared.
Save game cloud syncing[edit]
Elder Scrolls Arena Download
| System | Native | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GOG Galaxy |
Video[edit]
| Graphics feature | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Widescreen resolution | 320x200 only, see the DOSBox page for more information. | |
| Multi-monitor | ||
| Ultra-widescreen | ||
| 4K Ultra HD | ||
| Field of view (FOV) | ||
| Windowed | Toggle with Alt+↵ Enter (when using DOSBox). | |
| Borderless fullscreen windowed | ||
| Anisotropic filtering (AF) | ||
| Anti-aliasing (AA) | ||
| Vertical sync (Vsync) | For DOSBox use an unofficial build (see the glossary page for other workarounds). | |
| 60 FPS | Capped at 70 FPS. | |
| 120+ FPS | Capped at 70 FPS. | |
| High dynamic range display (HDR) | ||
Input[edit]
| Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Remapping | Key remapping only available while pressing Alt+F1 in DOSBox. Also see the 'TES Arena Remapped' mod, which supplies a Dosbox control file enabling modern WASD controls. | |
| Mouse acceleration | ||
| Mouse sensitivity | For DOSBox set in the DOSBox configuration file. | |
| Mouse input in menus | ||
| Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
| Touchscreen optimised | Touchscreen rarely works, and only for menus. | |
| Controller | ||
| Controller support | For DOSBox use the DOSBox Mapper (see the glossary page for other workarounds). |
Audio[edit]
| 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
| Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Only cutscenes are voiced. | |||
| French | Use Projet French Arena or ArenaSetup. Some text is English. | |||
| Russian | Fan translation download |
Other information[edit]
API[edit]
| Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DOS video modes | VGA |
OpenTESArena[edit]
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 thecloud_savesfolder might be temporary files or other files that do not contain saves or settings).
References
- ↑Now Available: The Elder Scrolls Anthology in North America | Bethesda Blog
- ↑ 2.02.1Arena:Escape From Prison - UESPWiki
- ↑Now Available: The Elder Scrolls Anthology in North America | Bethesda Blog
- ↑Settings recommended by Gemini in Ancient DOS Games --- Episode 48: The Elder Scrolls I: Arena
- ↑Arena:Save Games - UESPWiki