Daggerfall Unity - this is how remakes should be done!

[Sarafan]

After finishing Warcraft 3 once again, I have the pleasure to return to The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. It's not the version from 1996 however, but a modern remake made on the Unity engine. What's more, it's not a vanilla port. I use a quite heavily modded version that was released on GOG a few months ago and it's superb! It looks like a modern retro game. And the biggest advantage is that you don't have to install everything yourself. You get the whole package in a single installer (or through Galaxy with cloud saves and overlay!). The mods were carefully selected by one of the more popular retro streamers GamerZakh.

The whole experience is very faithful to the original game. The graphics are of course modernized, there are some quality of life improvements in inventory management, but almost everything else is left intact (or at least this is how I remember it). There was even an article about the thing on PC Gamer: https://www.pcgamer.com/daggerfall-...s-classic-without-the-headaches-and-its-free/

I don't know whether I'll have determination to finish the game (probably I'll get bored by the randomly generated dungeons and quests), but for now I'm having a great time. Basically you can call the game a quality remake and it should serve as an example for all developers who are planning a major refresh older games. And of course the biggest advantage of the whole package is that it's free! Grab it here if you still don't have it and experience the biggest open world game ever created: https://www.gog.com/game/daggerfall_unity_gog_cut.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I checked it out once, but it was still too retro for me. Bring on TES VI!

 

[Pifanjr]

Is it weird that the before pictures look better to me than the after ones?

 

[Sarafan]

Is it weird that the before pictures look better to me than the after ones?

It's possible for some users. You just prefer a more retro look. I was even considering to play the game in its original form (probably will revisit all of the TES games before TES VI is released), but the Unity remake convinced me to try it. The only problem for me is that the new fancy graphics look a little weird considering the low quantity of objects in buildings and dungeons. But it's understandable for such an old game.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

(probably will revisit all of the TES games before TES VI is released)

That's crazy! But at this rate, you'll probably have plenty of time to do that. Too bad they can't hurry up and get Skywind done.

 

[Sarafan]

That's crazy! But at this rate, you'll probably have plenty of time to do that. Too bad they can't hurry up and get Skywind done.

It might sound crazy, but, as you noted, there's still plenty of time and I'm not declaring that I'll actually finish all of them. Anyway looks like my tiredness of Bethesda open world games is finally over. I'd love to see TES VI faster. As for Skywind, I hope they'll release it before the next TES game comes out. They've been working on it for years now.

 

[Krud]

I played an early version of this (before the GoG packaging of it), and was pleasantly surprised at how much more playable it was than the original. Still had *some* of its quirks and failings, but for the most part it was much, MUCH more palatable to modern sensibilities, and would have been amazing had we been able to play it in that form back in the 90's. Obviously it's still Daggerfall and all the good and bad that comes with it, in terms of weird rules and whatnot (not counting anything the mods might have changed, I'm not sure what comes with the GoG version), but for anyone who missed it the first time or wanted to revisit it, it's easily the least painful way of doing so.

 

[mainer]

I picked that up this summer for free on GOG as well, though I've yet to install & play it, but it does look great (if retro-ish) for such an old game. ES Arena was my first ES game, but Daggerfall was my first "wow" exposure to an open world RPG. I can still remember the original being a bit repetitive towards the end (if you weren't on a main quest), but still such a great experience. It's definitely on my to-play-soon list. It really is a true remake of a classic for modern PCs, and free at that.

(probably will revisit all of the TES games before TES VI is released)

I've been wanting to do this also (with the mostly likely exception of Areana), but rather that going through the long process of modding Morrowind, Oblivion, & Skywind, I've been waiting/hoping for the final builds of both Skywind & Skyblivion because they look incredible. There may be time yet, as who knows how many years out ES 6 will be.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I played an early version of this (before the GoG packaging of it), and was pleasantly surprised at how much more playable it was than the original. Still had *some* of its quirks and failings, but for the most part it was much, MUCH more palatable to modern sensibilities, and would have been amazing had we been able to play it in that form back in the 90's. Obviously it's still Daggerfall and all the good and bad that comes with it, in terms of weird rules and whatnot (not counting anything the mods might have changed, I'm not sure what comes with the GoG version), but for anyone who missed it the first time or wanted to revisit it, it's easily the least painful way of doing so.

I don't have enough gaming time to play games that are described as being "less painful."

There may be time yet, as who knows how many years out ES 6 will be.

At this time, I'm wondering if I'll even be alive...

 

[Zloth]

At this time, I'm wondering if I'll even be alive...

Print that screenshot of ES6 and tape it up in front of your exercise bike.

 

[redmark_]

Is it weird that the before pictures look better to me than the after ones?

It's possible for some users. You just prefer a more retro look. I was even considering to play the game in its original form (probably will revisit all of the TES games before TES VI is released), but the Unity remake convinced me to try it. The only problem for me is that the new fancy graphics look a little weird considering the low quantity of objects in buildings and dungeons. But it's understandable for such an old game.

I've never played any of the older Elder Scrolls game before, however, for me the first set of screenshots in the tavern though old pixel art looks better to me, in the warmer setting, of course I'm biased towards pixel art sometimes though. 😅

However, the 2nd "colder" screenshot of the insides of a castle, or fortress looks better because of the lighting, shadow depth, and oh, look at that anti-aliased cleavage. 👀🍑🤣

Before and after	Source: https://www.gog.com/game/daggerfall_unity_gog_cut

The retro feel really just depend on the viewer and context I guess...

 

[Zloth]

That first improved one is weird! 2D sprite sitting down on a tessellated floor with great lighting!? It's like reading a paragraph about superconductivity written in Old English!

 

[WoodenSaucer]

That first improved one is weird! 2D sprite sitting down on a tessellated floor with great lighting!? It's like reading a paragraph about superconductivity written in Old English!

Kind of reminds me of something like Octopath Traveler

 

[Sarafan]

That first improved one is weird! 2D sprite sitting down on a tessellated floor with great lighting!? It's like reading a paragraph about superconductivity written in Old English!

It looks better when you actually play it. I don't think that screenshots reflect the quality properly, but of course there are people who prefer the original look.

 

[Pifanjr]

That first improved one is weird! 2D sprite sitting down on a tessellated floor with great lighting!? It's like reading a paragraph about superconductivity written in Old English!

That's a good analogy. It goes into some kind of uncanny valley area with how different the graphics of the NPCs are to the environment.

 

[Sarafan]

Closing to the end of main questline. It has a major downside. Sometimes the main and side quests are mixed and you aren't sure which one you're doing. There's no clear mark whether this particular quest is main or side. Given that most of the quests are time limited, you can quite easily lead to a situation where it's impossible to finish the main questline. That's why I had to check the guide sometimes. This and due to the fact that the dungeon layout is sometimes so complicated that it could take long hours to actually find what you're looking for without a guide. The game was clearly designed to be played for months with multiple restarts. One of the best game investments that you could make in the 90s, given the time needed to do everything without a walkthrough.

 

[mainer]

Some of those unique, main quest dungeons were huge and difficult to maneuver (going from my limited memory of my time in the original), and it was the reason I actually purchased the Daggerfall Chronicles, a huge book of lore and information about Daggerfall and the ES world. I can't really call it a clue or cheat book, but it had a massive amount of information on skills, stats, spells, character building, as well as maps of the main story dungeons. The maps section was important because I often became lost and/or confused near the end in how to progress in some of those final dungeons. I didn't refer to it constantly, but it was invaluable when I was stuck.

 

[Sarafan]

Some of those unique, main quest dungeons were huge and difficult to maneuver (going from my limited memory of my time in the original), and it was the reason I actually purchased the Daggerfall Chronicles, a huge book of lore and information about Daggerfall and the ES world. I can't really call it a clue or cheat book, but it had a massive amount of information on skills, stats, spells, character building, as well as maps of the main story dungeons. The maps section was important because I often became lost and/or confused near the end in how to progress in some of those final dungeons. I didn't refer to it constantly, but it was invaluable when I was stuck.

It's a real beauty. I wonder how much is this thing worth after all those years...

 

[mainer]

It's a real beauty. I wonder how much is this thing worth after all those years...

I never searched to see if it had any collectors value (thought I might considering how old it is), but I know it will be invaluable to me when I get around to playing Daggerfall Unity, as I know I'll get lost and turned around again.

 

[Sarafan]

Daggerfall is officially finished! It took me "only" around 40 hours thanks to the guide at https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page. And it was a great time!

Now on to Morrowind! I accepted a challenge to actually finish once again the main story of all TES games before TES VI is released. One down, four to go!

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Daggerfall is officially finished! It took me "only" around 40 hours thanks to the guide at https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page. And it was a great time!

Now on to Morrowind! I accepted a challenge to actually finish once again the main story of all TES games before TES VI is released. One down, four to go!

You can do it!

I recently started Skyrim back up. I hadn't played it in a while, and it feels like a second home.