After years of work, Daggerfall Unity is finally being released in version 1.0 and wraps the classic role-playing game in a modern guise – and it’s completely free
1996 sees the release of Daggerfall, Bethesda’s second open world in The Elder Scrolls universe, which at a whopping 487,000 square kilometers is roughly twice the size of Great Britain.
In 2003, Australian Gavin Clayton began creating tools and mods for the role-playing game in order to preserve the classic for modern times. In 2014, he launched the Daggerfall Unity project, a complete remake of The Elder Scrolls 2.
At the end of 2023, version 1.0 of his fan project for the acclaimed role-playing game finally goes live – and completely free of charge.
What is Daggerfall Unity?
For over 20 years, the developer has been working on mods and tools for the role-playing game to enable a stable playthrough. After numerous intermediate steps and new approaches, ten years ago he began the Daggerfall Unity project, a replica of the Daggerfall engine, on which he collaborated with a group of Bethesda fans.
The remake not only improves the graphics and performance of the role-playing game, but also irons out numerous bugs in the most wonderful bugfest of all time – as Jochen Gebauer so beautifully christened the classic on its 20th anniversary.
In addition, the remake has even more features in store:
- modern lighting
- high resolution with optional retro mode (320×640/640×400)
- revised graphics and gameplay through mod integration
- more fluid first-person controls
- numerous quality-of-life improvements
- Translations thanks to community support
How do I install Daggerfall Unity?
- To play the fan remake, you need the original game – (you can now get it for free on Steam). Or you can get the matching (Unity GOG Cut also free on gog.com).
- Then you can download (the latest version 1.0.0 of Daggerfall Unity) and unzip it into your own folder.
- When you run Daggerfall Unity.exe you should now be able to enter the path where you have parked your game files. If everything is connected correctly, you should now be able to start the optimized version of the role-playing game. You can find a more detailed description of the linking of both games in this (Installation guide for Daggerfall Unity).
We already took a detailed look at the project a few years ago and were able to play an earlier version. If you want to read a few more detailed impressions before playing, then take a look at our preview
Our author Mario Donick also recommends additional graphics and gameplay mods (Disclaimer: Some mods may no longer be compatible with version 1.0)!
What do you think of the fan remake? Will you be getting Daggerfall Unity – or have you perhaps already played an earlier version? Are you perhaps even using the remake as an opportunity to catch up on The Elder Scrolls 2 and explore Hammerfall and High Rock for the first time? Let us know in the comments!
