Questions about Arena/Daggerfall : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Thu Dec 23, 2010 5:32 pm

I managed to get the games installed and running fine, but I've got some miscellaneous questions regarding a few things;

1.On the stickied topic about getting the games to work, they mention creating a .conf file for Arena and Daggerfall with the intention, I assume, to make a "shortcut" per se. I have no idea how to use these. When I start dosbox, it loads like normal, so what to I have to do to make these work?

2.I was playing Arena and I got out of the starter dungeon (finally -.-) and get to the town. Am I not supposed to be able to open any doors/how do I go inside buildings? Also, are there supposed to be random things spawning (I assume) and attacking me inside of a town? EDIT: I'm playing a Battlemage Breton, and any armor I have found reduces my AC when worn, I assume that's armor rating, why is that?

3.In Arena, I have to up the CPU cycles to get the game running fine, that isn't a problem, the problem is when I ramp up the cycles to get the game running at a decent speed the sound starts skipping. Is there a way to fix this without running the game laggily?

Bonus question: Is there a way to change the controls of Arena to be more FPS like? Does anyone have anyone have a template of controls for Daggerfall making it control more like an FPS (I know I saw a screenshot here ages ago).

Would love to get these answered, so I can start enjoying these classics. Cheers!

» Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:13 am

I managed to get the games installed and running fine, but I've got some miscellaneous questions regarding a few things;

1.On the stickied topic about getting the games to work, they mention creating a .conf file for Arena and Daggerfall with the intention, I assume, to make a "shortcut" per se. I have no idea how to use these. When I start dosbox, it loads like normal, so what to I have to do to make these work?
I'm afraid I can't answer this question.

2.I was playing Arena and I got out of the starter dungeon (finally -.-) and get to the town. Am I not supposed to be able to open any doors/how do I go inside buildings? Also, are there supposed to be random things spawning (I assume) and attacking me inside of a town? EDIT: I'm playing a Battlemage Breton, and any armor I have found reduces my AC when worn, I assume that's armor rating, why is that?

The only doors you can freely access are the shops, taverns, temples and the Mages Guild's. The rest are residences, which are always locked. To enter the door, simply click on them with your cursor.

Inside of towns at night, there will be random creatures spawning. So traveling around town at nighttime is dangerous if you are low level. Better find a tavern quick!

For armor, it uses the same method as Dungeon and Dragons. The lower your AC, the better protection it brings.

3.In Arena, I have to up the CPU cycles to get the game running fine, that isn't a problem, the problem is when I ramp up the cycles to get the game running at a decent speed the sound starts skipping. Is there a way to fix this without running the game laggily?

I can't answer that, sorry!

Bonus question: Is there a way to change the controls of Arena to be more FPS like? Does anyone have anyone have a template of controls for Daggerfall making it control more like an FPS (I know I saw a screenshot here ages ago).

Arena's controls can't be changed. As for Daggerfall, I personally use a mix of Oblivion and Morrowind controls.

Would love to get these answered, so I can start enjoying these classics. Cheers!

» Fri Dec 24, 2010 8:42 am

Bonus question: Is there a way to change the controls of Arena to be more FPS like?

Do you mean reassigning the keys? Arena can't use the standard-nowadays mouse-look, but you could always redefine the keys from within Dosbox itself using CTRL + F1 at the start. But that reassignment will be in effect for the whole Dosbox client, even while you're typing in commands. So if you reassign up, down, left and right to W, S, A and D, you're going to have to hit the "right" key to type "A."

» Fri Dec 24, 2010 8:09 am

Does anyone have anyone have a template of controls for Daggerfall making it control more like an FPS (I know I saw a screenshot here ages ago).

Two sets of control definitions are included with Daggerfall. The one you want to use is VIEWPLYR.DAT. You will have to edit Z.CFG and change controls setting to that file.

» Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:43 pm

The only doors you can freely access are the shops, taverns, temples and the Mages Guild's. The rest are residences, which are always locked. To enter the door, simply click on them with your cursor.

Inside of towns at night, there will be random creatures spawning. So traveling around town at nighttime is dangerous if you are low level. Better find a tavern quick! smile.gif

For armor, it uses the same method as Dungeon and Dragons. The lower your AC, the better protection it brings.

Whenever I am near a building door, left click say "the lock has nothing to fear from you" and right click tells me what the building is. Are doors locked at night then? Thanks for the help with the armor thing, never really played DnD.

Do you mean reassigning the keys? Arena can't use the standard-nowadays mouse-look, but you could always redefine the keys from within Dosbox itself using CTRL + F1 at the start. But that reassignment will be in effect for the whole Dosbox client, even while you're typing in commands. So if you reassign up, down, left and right to W, S, A and D, you're going to have to hit the "right" key to type "A."

Drat, alright, thanks.

Two sets of control definitions are included with Daggerfall. The one you want to use is VIEWPLYR.DAT. You will have to edit Z.CFG and change controls setting to that file.

Would there happen to be a walkthrough or quick guide on how to do this, or mind explaining to me how to do this?

Anyone out there able to answer questions 1 and 3?

» Thu Dec 23, 2010 8:32 pm

Would there happen to be a walkthrough or quick guide on how to do this, or mind explaining to me how to do this?

Run Daggerfall, start the game. When you hit ESC to bring up the menu, click the "Controls" button. There should be a tab at the bottom for Mouse controls. Two checkboxes will appear, allowing you to switch between what I believe are called "Look Mode" and "View Mode". Either way, toggle to the one that's not checked. There you go. Enjoy!

» Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:26 am

Whenever I am near a building door, left click say "the lock has nothing to fear from you" and right click tells me what the building is. Are doors locked at night then? Thanks for the help with the armor thing, never really played DnD.

The only places which are opened at night are the taverns. The shops, temples and the Mages Guild will be closed.
If you want to pick the lock of the doors, you need to activate the Pickpocket Mode by clicking on the icon representing fingers taking something shiny, at the bottom of your screen. Then, you must right-click on the door.

» Fri Dec 24, 2010 3:32 am

Run Daggerfall, start the game. When you hit ESC to bring up the menu, click the "Controls" button. There should be a tab at the bottom for Mouse controls. Two checkboxes will appear, allowing you to switch between what I believe are called "Look Mode" and "View Mode". Either way, toggle to the one that's not checked. There you go. Enjoy!

Ah, alright, thanks I'll look into that.

The only places which are opened at night are the taverns. The shops, temples and the Mages Guild will be closed.
If you want to pick the lock of the doors, you need to activate the Pickpocket Mode by clicking on the icon representing fingers taking something shiny, at the bottom of your screen. Then, you must right-click on the door.

Ah, gotcha. That threw me for a loop. Thanks for all the help.

And if anyone is interested, I figured out how to use the configured .conf files to make shortcuts straight into Dos games.