DAGGERFALL: More news from Bethesda
LoneWolf, Bethesda Softworks
DATE: November 27, 1995
SUBJECT: DAGGERFALL: More news from Bethesda
Hey all,
LoneWolf again. Thought I'd send out another post to update
everyone on the latest about TES: Daggerfall. You know, bring
everyone up to date with what's up at Bethesda concerning Daggerfall.
OK, enough of the intro...
Let's start off with the demo... Many people have posted to
the UseNet and emailed me with concerns about the speed of the demo.
Many other people have posted replies as to how to increase the speed.
Just to sum up, the best way of tweaking your system is to set FILES
equal to 99 and BUFFERS equal to 55 in your CONFIG.SYS file, and to
add (or edit) the line "smartdrive /X xxxx" at the top of your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, where "xxxx" is "1024" on systems with less than
16 MB RAM, "2048" on systems with 16 to 32 MB RAM, and "4096" (or
higher) on systems with more than 32 MB RAM. These numbers are
general guidelines and are not set in stone.
A second problem, common to the posts and emails is the
incompatibility between the TES: Daggerfall demo and the Matrox
Millennium video card. An update patch is in the works, but in the
meantime, Millennium owners can use the following workaround to play
the demo:
1) Pick up a copy of UNIVBE51.ZIP (the universal VESA driver) which
is available from the Bethesda FTP site in the Public Utilities
directory (ftp.bethsoft.com/pub/Utils/univbe51.zip).
2) Install it and run UVCONFIG.EXE. Select the second option
(disable VBE 2.0 extensions). Exit the program and run UNIVBE.EXE.
3) Start up your copy of the demo and enjoy!
Again, this is a temporary workaround. An update patch for
Millennium users is in the works.
At present, we're still unsure whether we will release an
updated version of the TES: Daggerfall demo. While we understand
the general desire for an update, we can't promise one. The release
of an update hinges on how much time we have. In other words, if
it's at all possible to release an update and make our release date,
then there will be an update. However, if the release of an update
would push back the release date of the final product, then chances
are there will not be an update.
And on that note, for those of you that have not yet heard,
the release date for Daggerfall has been pushed back to late January.
Before you go off groaning in agony and gnashing your teeth over the
whole thing, let me explain the reason for the delay. It is very
important to us, here at Bethesda, that the final release of
Daggerfall be the game that kicks all other games in the butt. That
means bug-free and complete. That also means that in the unlikely
event that something unexpected happens, we might delay it further so
as to insure the quality of the product. However, please rest assured
that Daggerfall is on schedule and will most likely be released in
January. For those of you that ordered the Limited Edition of
aggerfall, you will still get your copy of the product before everyone
else does.
And now for some more news on how Daggerfall is progressing...
First of all, all of Daggerfall's textures have been completely redone
(as evidenced by this week's installment of screenshots - but more on
that in a bit). Yup. Completely redone, and what a difference it
makes. Another, very important change... all of the portraits are
being redrawn. I'll likely post the new portraits as screenshots when
they're complete. And, the Daggerfall interface is now completely
configurable. You can map any function to any key. All of these
(and several other) changes are the direct result of the feedback that
we've received from you, so if you've got some constructive criticism
about Daggerfall, by all means send it in.
There are some new Daggerfall additions to our WWW and FTP
sites. We've added nine new screenshots all taken after the textures
had been reworked. Like I said, the change is fantastic. BTW, my
personal favorite is seacave1.gif with the DREUGH (‘cause I knew you
wanted to know 8^>). I've also added 3 new Daggerfall MIDIs to the
sites. About the MIDIs, please notice that you can now download
individual MIDIs or zip files each containing 3 MIDIs. Also, please
note, that I, LoneWolf, did not write these. I just post them 8^).
BTW, if you want more MIDIs, keep those emails coming <groan>. And...
I've also added three Daggerfall FLC animations (Autodesk Animations).
These three flics are of some of Daggerfall's monsters.
All of the Daggerfall screenshots, MIDIs, and flics, are
available via the WWW and FTP. The URLs are as follows:
WWW URL: http://www.bethsoft.com/cgi-bin/daggerfall.cgi
FTP URL: ftp://ftp.bethsoft.com/pub/Demos/dagdemo1.zip & dagdemo2.zip
ftp://ftp.bethsoft.com/pub/Music/Daggerfall/
ftp://ftp.bethsoft.com/pub/ScreenShots/Daggerfall/
Utilities for viewing screenshots and flics are available via FTP from
our /pub/Utils directory. Read the file 00_index.txt for further info.
I hope I've answered some of your questions and shed some
light on what's up with Daggerfall's development. As always, if you
have any questions, comments, suggestions, or philosophical thoughts,
please feel free to send them my way via email.
Later,
LoneWolf
Bethesda Softworks Webmaster
---
webm...@bethsoft.com
feed...@bethsoft.com
http://www.bethsoft.com/
Peter Kilcullen
graphics in Arena were rather "pixelated" when upclose.. which took the
edge off my enjoyment. I also thought that there were repetitive "side"
missions which detracted from the main focus of the plot. A few side
missions to obtain gold and build experience are OK.
When i ran the demo, it was a HUGE disappointment, particularly in the
graphics department. Many of today's RPG's, such as Ravenloft 2 and
Stonekeep have a much "finer" graphics res. In particular, RL2 also had
interest to its dungeons with interesting wall paintings and objects
placed in the rooms to add to the "realism" of the adventure. I did not
see any of this "eye candy" in the Daggerfall demo. The graphics for walls
and floors were all the same and were "coarse" in texture up close.
Jeff Lackey
>First of all, all of Daggerfall's textures have been completely redone
>(as evidenced by this week's installment of screenshots - but more on
>that in a bit). Yup. Completely redone, and what a difference it
>makes. Another, very important change... all of the portraits are
>being redrawn. I'll likely post the new portraits as screenshots when
>they're complete. And, the Daggerfall interface is now completely
>configurable. You can map any function to any key. All of these
>(and several other) changes are the direct result of the feedback that
>we've received from you, so if you've got some constructive criticism
>about Daggerfall, by all means send it in.
I will purchase this game in large part due to Bethesda's respect for
it's potential customers, as displayed by their presence here and
changes being made based on feedback here (not always given in the most
"polite" fashion, either!). If they are willing to post a demo, then
respond to suggestions and criticisms by actually using that feedback
to modify the program, they get my dollars.
-+jeff+-
* 1st 2.00 #8118 * Great Games Make You Sweat!
GERBRAND . POSTER
sort of funny to have to say that--you'd think companies would all
realize the advantage of active listening to customer feedback--but I've
only seen Bethesda and He-Who-Was-Formerly-Stonekeep's-Chris pay
attention. On this newsgroup, anyway.
I have one request and two suggestions. The request: remember when
people asked for more screen shots of the outdoors? Sometime it would be
nice to get those.
Suggestion 1: Let your artists loose in the dungeons. Let them put up
murals, graffiti, tapestries, cave paintings, stained glass windows, and
rugs, wherever they are appropriate. This would add immeasurably to the
fun of the dungeons/castles/homes/etc.
Large images are especially great. I still remember the game
Shadowcaster, one of the first first-person games I played, and how I
entered a throne room that was three times the height of any room I had
been in before. It contained a mural of a minotaur that spanned the wall
from floor to ceiling. I went in there, moved way back to get a full
perspective of the figure, and just said, "Wow." In special places in
Daggerfall, and even special places in important dungeons, large scale
images could be almost awe-inspiring, if the game has drawn you into its
world enough. A mural of an evil god? A map of a king's realm? A coat
of arms? A depiction of a creation story, or of another bit of myth or
history?
Suggestion 2: Let your artists loose in the outdoors. Let them arrange
the landscape to make some spots just plain ole' _pretty_. You've got
some great water effects, and maybe your trees, flowers, and other flora
could come together for some wonderful "landscaping". Does the main
castle in the game have a garden like some of the huge gardens around,
say, the best European castles? Stuff like that would be neat.
My two cents. Cheers!
Gary Poster
Andreas Barbiero
>
>FROM: LoneWolf, Bethesda Softworks Webmaster
>DATE: November 27, 1995
>SUBJECT: DAGGERFALL: More news from Bethesda
>
>Hey all,
>
>
> I hope I've answered some of your questions and shed some
>light on what's up with Daggerfall's development. As always, if you
>have any questions, comments, suggestions, or philosophical thoughts,
>please feel free to send them my way via email.
>
>Later,
>LoneWolf
>Bethesda Softworks Webmaster
>---
>webm...@bethsoft.com
>feed...@bethsoft.com
>http://www.bethsoft.com/
I have to say that it is refreshing to see a company actually CARE about what
is being said about their product in the Usenet. Thanks for the info and you
are dampening the rumor mill that starts up in the absence of direct info on
games.
All I would like to add to the 'wish list' is a way to 'lock' your view on an
enemy or object. (Maybe even just recenter the view parallel with the ground)
With a full 3D environment having the ability to automatically center your
view on the nearest enemy (or nearest attacker) would be nice.... just a
thought from a RPG player who plays a lot of military flight sims.
Andreas Barbiero
LoneWolf, Bethesda Softworks
pe...@cpcug.org (Peter Kilcullen) wrote:
>When i ran the demo, it was a HUGE disappointment, particularly in the
>graphics department. Many of today's RPG's, such as Ravenloft 2 and
>Stonekeep have a much "finer" graphics res. In particular, RL2 also had
>interest to its dungeons with interesting wall paintings and objects
>placed in the rooms to add to the "realism" of the adventure. I did not
>see any of this "eye candy" in the Daggerfall demo. The graphics for walls
>and floors were all the same and were "coarse" in texture up close.
Good point. I seem to have forgotten to mention that in my last post.
Daggerfall will and does have many key images done up in both 320x200 and a
higher resolution. You'll be able to choose which res type you want to have
used during the game. Using higher res will affect speed of game play, but
the graphics rock.
As I mentioned in the last "news from Bethesda" post, all of the textures have
been completely redone (as evidenced in the latest round of screenshots I
posted at our web site - 11/22/95). As for the eye candy, a dungeon is
probably not the best of places to expect tons of it, but there'll be plenty
to feast your eyes on in many of the other places in Tamriel.
Jay B Biggerstaff
: FROM: LoneWolf, Bethesda Softworks Webmaster
: Hey all,
Great....another bonehead decision and another Christmas release date missed.
THe longer you wait to release it, the more you're going to hav to update it.
Conor Hunt
Lackey) wrote:
>I will purchase this game in large part due to Bethesda's respect for
>it's potential customers, as displayed by their presence here and
>changes being made based on feedback here (not always given in the most
>"polite" fashion, either!). If they are willing to post a demo, then
>respond to suggestions and criticisms by actually using that feedback
>to modify the program, they get my dollars.
Bethesda are handling this very well, I'd like to congratulate them.
Thanks LoneWolf!
<ono/-
Brian Tanner
>
> Thanks again for acknowledging your customers and their desires! Sounds
> sort of funny to have to say that--you'd think companies would all
> realize the advantage of active listening to customer feedback--but I've
Three cheers for Bethesda! Thanks again for listening and LoneWolf for
chatting with us regularly.
> I have one request and two suggestions. The request: remember when
> people asked for more screen shots of the outdoors? Sometime it would be
> nice to get those.
That was me who asked for more screenshots of the outdoors, and I still
would like some, pleeeeease Lonewolf?
> Suggestion 1: Let your artists loose in the dungeons. Let them put up
> murals, graffiti, tapestries, cave paintings, stained glass windows, and
> rugs, wherever they are appropriate. This would add immeasurably to the
> fun of the dungeons/castles/homes/etc.
Gary, I'm with you a hundred percent! I think part of this scarcity in the
dungeon has to do with the "random dungeons" which I am dreading. I don't
think this is a cool feature in a CRPG. Yes, it help for replay of the
game, but it reduces dungeons down to hack and slash. I hope ALL the
dungeons are randomized. Hopefully, the non-random dungeons would have more
personality (with dungeon dress as you mentioned above). The 3d engine is
wasted if you don't have more to render than a bunch of corridors and
doorways. This is one of the great things about 3d "virtual reality" games
is the awe of feeling as if you (1) you were actually there and (2) you
actually WANT to be there (because there's something to see!!)
> Suggestion 2: Let your artists loose in the outdoors. Let them arrange
> the landscape to make some spots just plain ole' _pretty_. You've got
> some great water effects, and maybe your trees, flowers, and other flora
> could come together for some wonderful "landscaping". Does the main
> castle in the game have a garden like some of the huge gardens around,
> say, the best European castles? Stuff like that would be neat.
Yes, go Gary go! I've seen Bethesda reps brag about how BIG there world is.
But who cares about big if it isn't a fully detailed world? I was thinking
the other day, how many CDs is Daggerfall? One? Is it filled up? I want
detail... Will MS Sidewinders (with their twist action) be supported?
-bt
Jeff Lackey
>THe longer you wait to release it, the more you're going to hav to update it
Right. Give it to us NOW with all the bugs, and ignore the suggestions
that we have given you on what we would like to see, so we can all
make comments like "Why did they release this with all the bugs in it?"
and " Why did the ignore our requests?". After all, our life would be
so empty if we didn't have things to whine about on-line!
Sheeeesh!
Koz
>The dungeons associated with the main quest will have unque personalities
>just as the staff dungeons had in ARENA. In Arena there were only 4 main
>types of random dungeons there will be many more possible combinations
>in DAGGERFALL so that the random dungeons won't be as similar to one
>another as in Arena.
So the dungeons will be great. Good.
How about the outside world? Are cities going to be unique, or just
cookie-cutter clones like they were in Arena?
And please tell me monsters won't live in locked houses...
--Koz
Michael Kozlowski
mlko...@students.wisc.edu
-----
Fun Fact: The weasel is unsurpassed among mammals in speed of killing mice!
LoneWolf, Bethesda Softworks
"GERBRAND . POSTER" <g_po...@hamlet.uncg.edu> wrote:
>Thanks again for acknowledging your customers and their desires!
Hey, no prob. Just keep that feedback coming.
>I have one request and two suggestions. The request: remember when
>people asked for more screen shots of the outdoors? Sometime it would be
>nice to get those.
You got it. I've already started putting together the next batch of
screenshots, and while not taken while travleing the world-over, I'm pretty
sure that all of you will like these next ones. Especially those of you
interested in the engines capabilities, and that realistic touch.
>Suggestion 1: Let your artists loose in the dungeons.... [crunched]
>Large images are especially great.... [ditto the crunch]
Done. We decided not to spread around tons and tons of eye-candy 'cause of
the feedback that we had recieved from Arena players complaining of clicking
on objects that you couldn't interact with, but there's still a pretty liberal
dose of goodies all over the place, in dungeons, homes, palaces (especially
there), etc. Many of the objects have to do with where they're placed, and
are not randomly placed art. However, I don't want to give any examples, as
it might ruin the "wow" value. <maybe as a screenshot...>
>Suggestion 2: Let your artists loose in the outdoors...
{see above square brakets]
Again, done. No worries about this line of thought. You'll be more than
satisfied.
Feel free to email me with questions, thoughts, bad jokes, or suggestions.
Ken Harward
>
>due. And alot of credit goes to these guys. I have downloaded the demo and
>I think its awesome! I do agree that its a little too slow and the controls
>are a little difficult, but hey, you want true 3D don't you?
No, I don't. I was much more happy with the Ultima Underworld engine.
I understood it, and didn't find myself getting confused or stuck in walls.
I didn't have much trouble moving about. Better yet, I'd like a top-down
engine that's turn based.
What I want is more sophisticated character and world interactions. More
advanced NPCs. More focus on role-playing. More of what Bethesda is
supposed to have in Daggerfall actually. I don't want true 3D (especially
if the other stuff is sacrificed for it).
Ken
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken Harward
Software Engineer I'm a pleasant robot.
har...@convex.com
Bethesda01
just as the staff dungeons had in ARENA. In Arena there were only 4 main
types of random dungeons there will be many more possible combinations
in DAGGERFALL so that the random dungeons won't be as similar to one
another as in Arena.
Also there will be a wider range of geographic features: deserts,
lowlands,
wetlands, swamps, mountains, hilly terrain. And of course there will be
the various weather effects for the time of year.
Bethesda Softworks
JP Zorn
writes:
>JB>Great....another bonehead decision and another Christmas release
date missed
> >THe longer you wait to release it, the more you're going to hav to
update it
>
>Right. Give it to us NOW with all the bugs, and ignore the
suggestions
>that we have given you on what we would like to see, so we can all
>make comments like "Why did they release this with all the bugs in
it?"
>and " Why did the ignore our requests?". After all, our life would be
>so empty if we didn't have things to whine about on-line!
This is assuming that Bethesda releases it in January or February
bug-free.
JP Zorn
Todd Munk
>WR> And now for some more news on how Daggerfall is progressing...
> >First of all, all of Daggerfall's textures have been completely redone
> >(as evidenced by this week's installment of screenshots - but more on
> >that in a bit). Yup. Completely redone, and what a difference it
> >makes. Another, very important change... all of the portraits are
> >being redrawn. I'll likely post the new portraits as screenshots when
> >they're complete. And, the Daggerfall interface is now completely
> >configurable. You can map any function to any key. All of these
> >(and several other) changes are the direct result of the feedback that
> >we've received from you, so if you've got some constructive criticism
> >about Daggerfall, by all means send it in.
>I will purchase this game in large part due to Bethesda's respect for
>it's potential customers, as displayed by their presence here and
>changes being made based on feedback here (not always given in the most
>"polite" fashion, either!). If they are willing to post a demo, then
>respond to suggestions and criticisms by actually using that feedback
>to modify the program, they get my dollars.
>-+jeff+-
> * 1st 2.00 #8118 * Great Games Make You Sweat!
How come there is no mention on SPEEDING up the game?? This
is more impotant the new textures or pretty pictures. If it doesn't
run well on my DX/4 100, I will not buy it. And I'm sure a lot of
people out there feel the same.
WE NEED PLAYABILITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Todd.
Bethesda01
Wayrest will be very larges, but there will also be more small towns,
villages
and hamlets etc.
Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda01
available just as
there was in ARENA. However, this may turn out to be an option you will
have
to set at install time. Rest assured, however, that the game will run
properly on
a DX2/50 with 8MB of RAM.
Bethesda Softworks
Mike
I can't wait to get my hands on this game! My son and I believe the
Daggerfall demo is the best demo we have ever played. We are playing
it on a Pentium 100 with PCI video card. The speed using keyboard
arrows could be increased, but basically I have no problem with the
speed. What I most want is the ability to assign my favorite spells
to keyboard keys; I hate to have to click on the icon and select
spells from the list all of the time. There are basically only a
handfull of spells which I often use. If I could map these to keys, I
would be very very happy! I am also hoping for better than 320X200
resolution; even 320X400 would be a great improvement! I am sorry
that Bethesda will miss the Christmas season. Bethesda deserves great
praise for taking a little more time to get the game right.
Ben Violette
Of all the customer service you've given on-line this may be the best. Let the
whining finally stop please!
Jochen Heistermann
: Also there will be a wider range of geographic features: deserts,
: lowlands,
: wetlands, swamps, mountains, hilly terrain. And of course there will be
: the various weather effects for the time of year.
: Bethesda Softworks
That means, no rivers, lakes and sea!?!?!?!?!? :-(((((((
Jochen
Bethesda01
Bethesda Softworks
Arun Jagannathan
>
>Ken Harward wrote:
>> Better yet, I'd like a top-down
>> engine that's turn based.
>>
Yep, the early Ultimas. :)
Todd Munk
>In article <49j6u2$4...@ixnews6.ix.netcom.com>, <> wrote:
>>
>>due. And alot of credit goes to these guys. I have downloaded the demo and
>>I think its awesome! I do agree that its a little too slow and the controls
>>are a little difficult, but hey, you want true 3D don't you?
>No, I don't. I was much more happy with the Ultima Underworld engine.
>I understood it, and didn't find myself getting confused or stuck in walls.
>I didn't have much trouble moving about. Better yet, I'd like a top-down
>engine that's turn based.
No, please!!! A 3D first-person makes you feel more like you're there
rather than playing a game. You must have real-time combat also for
the same reason. Life is in real time. I have never bought and will
never buy an overhead view RPG. Takes away from the games IMHO.
>What I want is more sophisticated character and world interactions. More
>advanced NPCs. More focus on role-playing. More of what Bethesda is
>supposed to have in Daggerfall actually. I don't want true 3D (especially
>if the other stuff is sacrificed for it).
This I definately agree with wholeheartedly.
Todd Munk
<uuencoded_portion_removed>
1+2TM+2TM+2TM+2TM+2TM#0KW
`
end
Charlie Hills
Well, just because they said it has those things doesn't mean it doesn't
have other things. That is, it isn't an exhaustive list. The demo has
an inventory spot for "ship" and since I've also read that you can buy a
ship and sail around, I guess that means there's a sea. I don't see why
there wouldn't be other water things either. Bethsoft, can you confirm?
Charlie Hills
hil...@phibred.com or 7400...@compuserve.com
Still can't figure out why I like the following:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You Remind Me Of The Babe. what babe? The Babe With The Power. what power?
The Power Of Voodoo. who do? You Do! do what? Remind Me Of The Babe."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shadrach
: Ken Harward <har...@convex.COM> wrote:
:
: >In article <49j6u2$4...@ixnews6.ix.netcom.com>, <> wrote:
: >>
: >>due. And alot of credit goes to these guys. I have downloaded the demo and
: >>I think its awesome! I do agree that its a little too slow and the controls
: >>are a little difficult, but hey, you want true 3D don't you?
:
: >No, I don't. I was much more happy with the Ultima Underworld engine.
: >I understood it, and didn't find myself getting confused or stuck in walls.
: >I didn't have much trouble moving about. Better yet, I'd like a top-down
: >engine that's turn based.
:
: No, please!!! A 3D first-person makes you feel more like you're there
: rather than playing a game. You must have real-time combat also for
: the same reason. Life is in real time. I have never bought and will
: never buy an overhead view RPG. Takes away from the games IMHO.
Actually, the combat isn't truly in "real time" Granted, you have to react
quickly, and it doesn't pause for you to think, but if it was truly "real
time" then it would run the same speed (i.e. the sword strike would take
approxmiately as long as an actual sword swing) on every system (not
counting bog down errors) Since this is not the case, it is not
technically "real time" And as fas as overhead view RPG's go, that's
what imagination is for. With the old ultima's (most notibly IV, and V) I
found myself imagining relationships, pictures, etc. It is much more
"emmersive" than an rpg wherein they show you everything, and you don't
have to think or imagine. Sort of the difference between books and TV>
--
Ishmael says: Often those that we ridicule are often those that we
secretly admire... Or else they're just dorks.
Bethesda01
designer, Ted Peterson, said at a recent conference on CompuServe:
>.Bethesda Softworks: We got swamps and hilly woodlands, mountains and
>desert, badlands and oceans and rivers (probably forgetting some ;->)
>Haunted misty woodlands being my favorite ;->
>and, of course, city terrain to match
Bethesda Softworks
Tatjana Svizensky
: Speeding up the game - There will be a some sort of detail slider
: available just as
: there was in ARENA. However, this may turn out to be an option you will
: have
: to set at install time. Rest assured, however, that the game will run
: properly on
: a DX2/50 with 8MB of RAM.
: Bethesda Softworks
main memory and a fast hard disk may help :)
blessings,
Morrigann (*who can't wait for the release of Daggerfall*)
--
(Tatjana Svizensky)
-==[UDIC]==- Shapeshifter Dragon
IRC: Morrigann
email: tat...@cslab.tuwien.ac.at (NeXT mail ok)
snail: Tatjana Svizensky
Gersthoferstr.10/17
A-1180 Wien
AUSTRIA
*********************************************************************
* Whenever you dream *
* you're holding the key *
* it opens the door * Magic is REAL - unless declared
* to let you be free * INTEGER
R.J.Dio
**********************************************************************
Larry Livingston
I couldn't agree with you more. I will admit something that happens
in real time would be great if only we had the technology to pull it
off faithfully and inexpensively which we don't at this point.
To tell you the truth, I'd die for another Might & Magic game right
about now. And that's somewhat sad because M&M wasn't even considered
top of the line a few years ago, but now...look at what we've got.
-An interested party.