Game News Elder Scrolls freebies on Steam

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Daggerfall Unity; The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall; The Elder Scrolls: Arena

Steamhttps://steampowered.com has also put up versions of the older Elder Scrolls games. For example, Elder Scrolls: Arena and Daggerfall are now available for free, at least right now. You'll probably want to snag these just in case. They're tiny. You'll also probably want Daggerfall Unity, which fixes a lot of bugs and runs on modern PCs without too much muster. For those who don't know anything about these games, here's a super long video by Jwlar. It's over three hours long, and explains the game, why he likes it, and the unity version of the game.

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So, there you boys go. Now there's no excuse not to try the original games, back when Bethesda gave a shit about deep CRPG mechanics and throwing in everything they possibly could rather than stripping features to make them more accessible with each version.

Oh yeah, there's also Battlespire, but it's $5.99US. You can also get it DRM free for the same price on GOG.

 

[Late Bloomer]

Having them on Steam is nice enough I spose. Upping the library game count is nice too. On a sidenote, Wolfenstein Enemy Territory is also free via the same news cycle.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Arena and Daggerfall have been available for free through GOG for years. I think at some point they changed it to require a purchase of another title in the series and then they get added to your account, but they're still available that way.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Arena and Daggerfall have been available for free through GOG for years. I think at some point they changed it to require a purchase of another title in the series and then they get added to your account, but they're still available that way.

I actually bought Daggerfall on GOG years ago for a couple of bucks on sale, if I remember right. I've had it since before GOG had their client.

That said, I ran across this on Steam under their reviews from a guy named "Ithiryl":

How to play Daggerfall Unity on Steam:

- Install the Daggerfall Unity files in the folder your Steam version is located.

- Rename the DOSBox-0.74 folder to something else.

- Rename the Daggerfall Unity folder to 'DOSBox-0.74'

- Rename the Daggerfall Unity exe to 'DOSbox'

- Rename the 'Daggerfall_data' folder to 'DOSBox_data'

Haven't tried it yet, though.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Arena and Daggerfall have been available for free through GOG for years. I think at some point they changed it to require a purchase of another title in the series and then they get added to your account, but they're still available that way.

I actually bought Daggerfall on GOG years ago for a couple of bucks on sale, if I remember right. I've had it since before GOG had their client.

Yeah, the Arena / Daggerfall freeware thing happened later. I suppose my only real point was that it's unlikely that they'll be removed or start requiring a purchase again due to this.

This is apparently the current state over at GOG: https://af.gog.com/wishlist/games/the_elder_scrolls_arena?as=1649904300

 

[OSK]

For those of us on Linux, Luxtorpeda (https://github.com/luxtorpeda-dev/luxtorpeda) already has pull requests for adding OpenTESArena and Daggerfall Unity (https://github.com/luxtorpeda-dev/packages/pull/652 and https://github.com/luxtorpeda-dev/packages/pull/651). Once those are merged in, it'll be as easy as going to Game Properties -> Compatibility and selecting Luxtorpeda in the dropdown.

Though the games are running in DOSBox and seem to run fine without.

 

[Berengar]

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Nice to see more options for it available, though I should point out you could also download Arena and Daggerfall through Bethesda's own website, which is how they started off with these titles. Arena was offered for free back in '04, when places like GOG didn't exist and abandonware was king.

 

[Sin2x]

Daggerfall Unity Retro Mode is just awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrpiS0r8x8g

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

" pokuru pokuru
this needs to be back on gog cuz it was the cd version which is the best version. it has fixes apparently, but i know it has voice overs in the cutscenes and better music. ive verified myself. i have a cd version install and loaded up the "free" bethesda one too. they are definitely different. and free version has bad quality sounds imo.
"

 

[Clockwork Knight]

^Elaborate, looks like he's saying neither Beth, Steam nor GOG offer the CD version but what is the "this" he's talking about?

edit: one second thought he probably meant ArenaSetup

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I have no idea if it ever was other than the free version offered with certain bethesda games. I'd probably have 4-8 copies of each arena & daggerfall. The iso was on a freebie site at one time. I should have bought the cd a long time ago. I still might.

 

[Skdursh]

Arena and Daggerfall have been free for years on GOG, on Bethesda's own website and as a Google Drive download hosted by and linked directly from the Daggerfall Unity website. I guess it's nice to have it on Steam as well?

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I couldn't help but think BFD! To the announcement.

 

[Konjad]

Arena is shit
Daggerfall was alright for the time, but time wasn't kind on it. It'd rather replay a few dozen other 90s RPGs than that.
They could've at least make Morrowind + addons for free (although everybody already played them anyway)
Or Oblibion, why not, it's old by now

Instead they are milking Morrowing and Oblibion like there's no tomorrow, their prices are higher than I could pay for boxes years ago.

Also, you don't know how to use Steam and what's permanently or temporarily free? They are clearly permanently free.

You start acting like a shill, Saint_Proverbius - are you learning from Infinitron ?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I guess it's nice to have it on Steam as well?

I think it is. Steam has a lot more reach than GOG and Bethesda's website requires a Bethesda.net account unless they've changed that. Even though I have Daggerfall on GOG, I grabbed it on Steam as well so it'll always be on there as well with all the other Elder Scrolls games I have. There's a few games I own on a few different platforms.

 

[Elwro]

I read rumors that Steam's Daggerfall version is unpatched, so beware...

 

[Sibylla]

It was free since 2009 and do you expect bethesda to lift a finger to make these any more playable than what fans have made before https://wiwiki.wiwiland.net/index.php?title=Daggerfall_:_DaggerfallSetup_EN

 

[Sin2x]

Redguard and Battlespire were not free until this point AFAIK, so it's still newsworthy.

 

[Konjad]

Redguard and Battlespire were not free until this point AFAIK, so it's still newsworthy.

I just checked, each costs 23 PLN for me on Steam.

 

[index.php]

 

[Trans-Financial-Man]

Can we talk about how the video is reviewing Daggerfall Unity and not Daggerfall itself? I love Daggerfall Unity it is objectively the best way to play. But it is not Daggerfall when it released. He is not reviewing Daggerfall. He is reviewing Daggerfall Unity a version with the benefit of hindsight to fix bugs. So calling the video a "deconstruction" of Daggerfall is a bit disingenuous and can lead to false info spreading.

 

[Moonrise]

The floppy version of Arena, and an unpatched version of Daggerfall. Classic Bethesda. Well, they only put them up because of the Bethesda launcher being retired. Clearly they give zero shits about their old catalog.

 

[elverkongen]

It was free since 2009 and do you expect bethesda to lift a finger to make these any more playable than what fans have made before https://wiwiki.wiwiland.net/index.php?title=Daggerfall_:_DaggerfallSetup_EN

No way I'm clicking on a link to somewhere called "wiwiland".

 

[Sin2x]

I just checked, each costs 23 PLN for me on Steam.

Hmm, for some reason I thought they were free too, which they are not, true. News-worthless then.

 

[luj1]

They've been free for forever lol

Also with DaggerXL there is no reason to play vanilla

 

[Sin2x]

They've been free for forever lol

Also with DaggerXL there is no reason to play vanilla

DaggerXL has been dead for a long time. Use Daggerfall Unity.