SO I founds out that daggerfall is free now and I downloaded it and DOSbox to finally play this game. Of course I did run into some problems. I manged to solve them all except that the game runs with really low fps. After searching around here for some ways to solve it. I found out that you can edit some stuff in the dosbox-0.73.conf file to get it to runs smoother. So far I've tried a few settings that was mentioned in a couple of threads here but I got no success. Maybe my computer is to crappy, but seeing I have no problems running spore on low fairly decent this shouldn't be a problem(seing how old this game is compared to spore).

Anyway my dosbox config file currently looks like this:

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.73.# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.[sdl]#	   fullscreen: Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.#	   fulldouble: Use double buffering in fullscreen.#   fullresolution: What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).# windowresolution: Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.#		   output: What video system to use for output.#				   Possible values: surface, overlay, opengl, openglnb, ddraw.#		 autolock: Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.#	  sensitivity: Mouse sensitivity.#	  waitonerror: Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.#		 priority: Priority levels for dosbox. Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized. (pause is only valid for the second entry)#				   Possible values: lowest, lower, normal, higher, highest, pause.#	   mapperfile: File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.#	 usescancodes: Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.fullscreen=falsefulldouble=falsefullresolution=originalwindowresolution=originaloutput=ddrawautolock=truesensitivity=100waitonerror=truepriority=higher,normalmapperfile=mapper.txtusescancodes=true[dosbox]# language: Select another language file.#  machine: The type of machine tries to emulate.#		   Possible values: hercules, cga, tandy, pcjr, ega, vgaonly, svga_s3, svga_et3000, svga_et4000, svga_paradise, vesa_nolfb, vesa_oldvbe.# captures: Directory where things like wave, midi, screenshot get captured.#  memsize: Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.#			 This value is best left at its default to avoid problems with some games,#			 though few games might require a higher value.#			 There is generally no speed advantage when raising this value.language=machine=svga_s3captures=capturememsize=64[render]# frameskip: How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.#	aspect: Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.#	scaler: Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes. If 'forced' is appended,the scaler will be used even if the result might not be desired.#			Possible values: none, normal2x, normal3x, advmame2x, advmame3x, advinterp2x, advinterp3x, hq2x, hq3x, 2xsai, super2xsai, supereagle, tv2x, tv3x, rgb2x, rgb3x, scan2x, scan3x.frameskip=0aspect=falsescaler=normal2x[cpu]#	  core: CPU Core used in emulation. auto will switch to dynamic if available and appropriate.#			Possible values: auto, dynamic, normal, simple.#   cputype: CPU Type used in emulation. auto is the fastest choice.#			Possible values: auto, 386, 386_slow, 486_slow, pentium_slow, 386_prefetch.#	cycles: Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond. Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags. Cycles can be set in 3 ways:#			  'auto'		  tries to guess what a game needs.#							  It usually works, but can fail for certain games.#			  'fixed #number' will set a fixed amount of cycles. This is what you usually need if 'auto' fails.#							  (Example: fixed 4000)#			  'max'		   will allocate as much cycles as your computer is able to handle#			#			Possible values: auto, fixed, max.#   cycleup: Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.# cycledown: Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.core=autocputype=autocycles=maxcycleup=500cycledown=20[mixer]#   nosound: Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.#	  rate: Mixer sample rate, setting any device's rate higher than this will probably lower their sound quality.#			Possible values: 22050, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.# blocksize: Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering but sound will also be more lagged.#			Possible values: 2048, 4096, 8192, 1024, 512, 256.# prebuffer: How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.nosound=falserate=22050blocksize=2048prebuffer=10[midi]#	 mpu401: Type of MPU-401 to emulate.#			 Possible values: intelligent, uart, none.# mididevice: Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.#			 Possible values: default, win32, alsa, oss, coreaudio, coremidi, none.# midiconfig: Special configuration options for the device driver. This is usually the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.mpu401=intelligentmididevice=defaultmidiconfig=[sblaster]#  sbtype: Type of sblaster to emulate.#		  Possible values: sb1, sb2, sbpro1, sbpro2, sb16, none.#  sbbase: The IO address of the soundblaster.#		  Possible values: 220, 240, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.#	 irq: The IRQ number of the soundblaster.#		  Possible values: 7, 5, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12.#	 dma: The DMA number of the soundblaster.#		  Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.#	hdma: The High DMA number of the soundblaster.#		  Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.# sbmixer: Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.# oplmode: Type of OPL emulation. On 'auto' the mode is determined by sblaster type. All OPL modes are Adlib-compatible, except for 'cms'.#		  Possible values: auto, cms, opl2, dualopl2, opl3, none.#  oplemu: Provider for the OPL emulation. compat or old might provide better quality (see oplrate as well).#		  Possible values: default, compat, fast, old.# oplrate: Sample rate of OPL music emulation. Use 49716 for highest quality (set the mixer rate accordingly).#		  Possible values: 22050, 49716, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000.sbtype=sb16sbbase=220irq=7dma=1hdma=5sbmixer=trueoplmode=autooplemu=defaultoplrate=22050[gus]#	  gus: Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.#  gusrate: Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.#		   Possible values: 22050, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.#  gusbase: The IO base address of the Gravis Ultrasound.#		   Possible values: 240, 220, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.#   gusirq: The IRQ number of the Gravis Ultrasound.#		   Possible values: 5, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12.#   gusdma: The DMA channel of the Gravis Ultrasound.#		   Possible values: 3, 0, 1, 5, 6, 7.# ultradir: Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory#		   there should be a MIDI directory that contains#		   the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used#		   with Timidity should work fine.gus=falsegusrate=22050gusbase=240gusirq=5gusdma=3ultradir=C:\ULTRASND[speaker]# pcspeaker: Enable PC-Speaker emulation.#	pcrate: Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.#			Possible values: 22050, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.#	 tandy: Enable Tandy Sound System emulation. For 'auto', emulation is present only if machine is set to 'tandy'.#			Possible values: auto, on, off.# tandyrate: Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.#			Possible values: 22050, 44100, 48000, 32000, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.#	disney: Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. (Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible).pcspeaker=truepcrate=22050tandy=autotandyrate=22050disney=true[joystick]# joysticktype: Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,#			   2axis (supports two joysticks),#			   4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),#			   4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),#			   fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).#			   none disables joystick emulation.#			   auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).#			   Possible values: auto, 2axis, 4axis, 4axis_2, fcs, ch, none.#		timed: enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).#	 autofire: continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.#	   swap34: swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.#   buttonwrap: enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.joysticktype=autotimed=trueautofire=falseswap34=falsebuttonwrap=true[serial]# serial1: set type of device connected to com port.#		  Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.#		  Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of#		  parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.#		  for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).#						   (realport:COM1 realport:ttyS0).#		  for modem: listenport (optional).#		  for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,#						 transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).#		  Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000#		  Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.# serial2: see serial1#		  Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.# serial3: see serial1#		  Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.# serial4: see serial1#		  Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.serial1=dummyserial2=dummyserial3=disabledserial4=disabled[dos]#			xms: Enable XMS support.#			ems: Enable EMS support.#			umb: Enable UMB support.# keyboardlayout: Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).xms=trueems=trueumb=truekeyboardlayout=auto[ipx]# ipx: Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.ipx=false[autoexec]mount c c:\1\daggerfall -freesize 1000mount d c:\1\daggerfall\dfcd -t cdrom -label Daggerfallc:cd\DAGGERDAGGER

My laptop is a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_Aspire_One with 1 GiB of RAM and a 120 GiB HDD.

Any clues to how I can get the game to run better?

Also I will be going to sleep now so I hope the info I've provided is enough. Will check this thread first thing tomorrow. Thanks in advance!

Let's try again.

The Intel Atom CPU is very slow, and apparently not enough to emulate Daggerfall thru DOSBox.

I just tried Arena and it is jsut as bad. I guess I will have to wait until I get some money to buy a new desktop.

Anyway, thanks.

I wouldn't give up.

change CPU=Max to CPU=30000

After cd\DAGGER instead of Dagger type

"Fall.exe"

then under that type

"Z.cfg"

(all without quotes of course!)

and see how that works.

Also, download the earliest DOSBox they have on the site and try that. I think it's 0.65

If you set up Daggerfall wrong and you did Arena the same then they would both be slow, but that could be how you set them both up the same way and maybe not the best way.

You might also want to download a windows front end like D-Fend Reloaded (just google it) as that will allow you to tweak the game a lot easier

.

The latest DOSBox is much faster than 0.65, so to downgrade that wouldn't be a good option.

That actaully improved the game a lot. The game runs much smoother and could actaully be playable now. The only thing that got worse was that the music is stuttering now.

Thanks!

Don't use DOSBox .65; as Freddo stated, it's very old and not nearly as fast as the current version.

Keep your CPU cycles at "max" and change "core=auto" to "core=dynamic". You could also try changing "output=ddraw" to "output=opengl". If those two don't speed up performance enough, the last thing you should try is changing the first setting of "priority" ("higher") to "highest".

I have an Aspire One, and unfortunately it's not the fastest thing in the world. I'm sure I *could* play Daggerfall on it if I had to, as it's quite playable in cities, but dungeons seem to be another story. Try the settings I just gave you and see if they help.

I changed core to dynamic and output to opengl and got a minor boost. Having cycles at max fixes the stuttering sound and slows the game down a bit than having it set to 30000.

Anyway the game is atleast playable now. Thanks everybody!

I still recommend getting a front end for DOSBox, like D-Fend Reloaded, allows you to tweak easily and quickly. You may find a setting that helps and if you just change it, it so easy to change back with a front end, that's why i use it. It's how I am able to give advice by quickly changing an option and seeing the result. This much easier than opening the conf file in notepad, looking where you need to change, editing it, then saving it, then trying the game, and if it doesn't work, then opening the conf file in notepad again and changing it back!

And please notice I never said 'don't bother' or 'don't use such and such'. I was the one that was always saying 'it wouldn't hurt to try this' So I am glad you didn't give up and came back to the thread and finally solved most of your problems.. Oh, and many times an older DOSBox is better on an older PC, I know from experience!

Just because you perceive a speed increase with an older version of DOSBox doesn't make it so. This has no basis in fact other than "I think it works faster, therefor it does."

There have been massive speed increases in newer versions due to enhanced CPU emulation and code optimization, among other things (better dynamic recompilation, for example). If you can somehow explain why a much older, slower codebase works better on older computers, I would love to hear about it. Feel free to PM me, but I'm not going to reply in this thread anymore. Don't tell someone to use an older version of DOSBox, because it won't do any good and quite honestly makes no sense.