After reading a bit about Daggerfall and how it is considered the greatest TES game, I have become interested in getting it. At first, the thought of an extremely unforgiving RPG drives me away, but I have played through both Fallout 1 and 2 to the end (and loved them with a passion, not so much that Tactics one.). I also think that the idea of a really challenging and open-ended game is refreshing, and would give me LOADS of play time. I'm thinking of hunting for it before it disappears into existence maybe even just to have it so I can say I have it. I also love the original Doom 1 and 2 so graphics don't bother me. Finally, since I have a decent PC, running it wouldn't be a problem. I was wondering if I should play Arena first before getting Daggerfall? (The one for free). I'm not sure though if it's the same so I could use some insight on this.

I still haven't delved into Arena much, but I would think you're much less likely to have the patience for Arena if you play Daggerfall first. As far as I've seen (which ain't far), Arena is smaller, and only a subset of all the stuff in Daggerfall. The lore, of course, pre-dates the story in Daggerfall, but much of it is found in books in Daggerfall, so you'll get a refresher then.

I'd say start hunting for Daggerfall now, 'cause you don't know how long it will take you to find it, and while you search, enjoy Arena. It'll have you prepared for the mechanics when you finally do get TES: II anyway.

play the betony demo first. it's daggerfall confined to a small island province. it you like it, then hunt for the full version. the betony demo will expose you almost everything you can do in daggerfall.

I need to check out that demo. Only learned about it a couple of weeks ago on these forums. Back when I first got into Bethesda, it was due to the demo of Terminator: Future Shock that showed up on the CD in a PC Gamer magazine. That lead me to www.gamesas.com, where I grabbed the regular/other demo for Daggerfall (which also came on the Terminator: FS retail CD). Was this likely before or after that Betony demo was released/retracted?

i think the betony demo was released after daggerfall was released. the "official" daggerfall demo was just a dungeon, and it was actually sold in stores for 5-10 bucks.

*heh heh* Might have been worth it. I am pretty sure I had a slow dial-up connection at that time, and the ~40-50M download for the demo was painful..

I guess I was too busy trying to play/enjoy the game to have noticed the updated demo at the time, then.. (though that seems weird, as I'm fairly sure I stayed abriast of patch development and grabbed those when they became available.. Maybe I just wasn't worried about demos then when I already had the game?)

Sssshhh!!! There might be Oblivion fans listening in :whisper:

Yes give the betony demo a try, it will give you a good idea of what to expect from the full game, before splashing out any money. Try Arena as well to see which one you prefer.

No need to worry about Oblivion fans, Oblivion bashers are the majority not the minority

I was only kidding BTW There's nowt wrong with Oblivion.


Jeez... some people get upset over nothing...

Okay I didn't know there was a demo so I am downloading it now. Thanks again.

EDIT: Okay so Freddo's guide doesn't say how to install the demo so how would I go about doing that? Thank you.

Try http://files.filefront.com/DagDemozip/;7873039;;/fileinfo.html. It's the demo with a pre-configured DOSBox.

Okay so I got Arena to work along with the demo but there is something wrong.
Every time I do the DF Demo I am able to make my character but as soon a I click "done" after editing stats the game freezes. Whats going on?
Also, what do I have to do to get voice overs in Arena as there seems to be none.
Thank you.

EDIT: I also have to say that the combat system of Arena is awesome, if a little confusing at first.

Voice overs in Arena?

Only the CD version of TES: Arena has voiceovers, sorreh. The version released by Bethesda is the floppy disk one.

Oh alright. Thanks for clearing that up. It's no biggie anyways.
EDIT: Got the demo working and the game is great fun but I am curious:
How do I swim? I can move around in water but I have no clue how to swim down. I have tried looking down while in water and moving but that doesn't work.

Is it not the same keys as Daggerfall page up & page down?

EDIT:

Thinking back, I can't remember going underwater in Arena, someone will know if its possible.

You can't swim up/down in Arena. Arena is like DOOM, it's 2.5D - nothing but raised areas and sunken areas. The dungeons are just made of blocks like Wolfenstein 3D (which allows players to do some neat stuff like Passwall, which would be tricky to implement in newer games).

In Daggerfall I think it's PgUp/PgDn, it may have been Ins/Del.

Okay thanks for clearing that up. I read somewhere that you need to make your character a certain way in order to kill an imp in the starting dungeon. Which game (Arena or Daggerfall) do I have to do that and how should I make my guy?


And I have to say (even if it's off topic), the Daggerfall demo is amazing! I looked at the world map and realized there is SO MUCH SPACE TO EXPLORE! Even though I'm confined to a small there is STILL so much I can do in just Betony (I played for a long ass time and I have barely touched the surface)! I don't think any modern game is like this! Granted, it's a bit glitched at points but I can usually find a way past them.

I'm glad that you're enjoying the demo!

The Imp thing is for Daggerfall. The starting dungeon has a room down the first hallway. It's an optional room to visit but many people go in there anyway. Inside is an Imp, which can cast powerful magic and kill you rather quickly - thankfully it has very weak health. However, it can only be damaged with a silver weapon or better and there are only two ways to get such a weapon by the start of the game. During character creation you should choose to generate your background by answering questions (background, not class). There's two questions that allow you to acquire an Ebony Dagger or Silver Staff, either is needed to kill the Imp.

Alright. Thanks for helping me. I think I will get the game next week. Thanks again.