Elder Scrolls Arena Remake

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. To save your Arena game, press the 'Esc' button and then click 'save'.Select a slot for the save game file, give it a title, and press 'Enter' or right-click to save the game.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena
Developers
Release dates
DOS	1994
Windows (DOSBox)	September 10, 2013^[1]
Reception
IGDB	88

1Availability
2Essential improvements
3Game data
6Audio
7Other information

⤏ 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.

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.

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=auto to core=dynamic
Change aspect=false to aspect=true
(OPTIONAL) Change scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x
Change fullresolution=original to fullresolution=desktop
Change cycles=auto to cycles=max or (OPTIONAL) cycles=fixed 20000
Change output=surface to output=opengl or output=ddraw (Windows)

If output= isn't changed from surface and the aspect= 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 with aspect=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.'

Buy Elder Scrolls Arena

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:1
MUSIC: 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.DAT stores 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]

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy

Video[edit]

General settings.

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]

Supported SoundCards for MIDI

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.

The Elder Scrolls Arena Mods

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

Elder Scrolls Arena Download

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 the cloud_saves folder 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
↑ ^2.0^2.1Arena: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