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(UPDATED) FPS/Stability Fix

admin
2024-03-16 10:15:14

THIS GUIDE IS NOW UPDATED

A pre-made fix can now be downloaded on NexusMods

Link to NexusMods[www.nexusmods.com]

But for those of you who want to fix it yourself, here you go.

Before Anything Else

Open your install directory. Open the "ARENA" folder. Right click on your ARENA.BAT file, open it with notepad and make it look exactly like this:

@C:

LH ACD.EXE

@ACD -Ssbpdig.adv -IOS220 -IRQS7 -DMAS1 -Mgenmidi.adv -IOM330 -IRQM2 -DMAM1 -delay:1

Delete the SETARENADATA line

Save that.

Arena.conf File

This file can be found in your Elder Scrolls Arena -> DosBox folder. There are a few specific parameters you need to change.

DON'T run DosBox config batch. Open arena.conf with notepad

output=opengl

priority=normal

machine=vesa_nolfb

memsize=16

scaler=normal3x

core=normal

cputype=pentium_slow

cycles=max limit 61000000

Scroll down to [serial]

serial1=disabled

serial2=disabled

serial3=disabled

serial4=disabled

(As per the Quick Reference Card; this frees a tiny amount of conventional memory)

Scroll down to [speaker]

pcrate=48000

tandy=off (auto disables this by default, it's just my preference)

disney=false ""(this frees up a tiny amount of reserved conventional memory + resolves printer conflict)""

Scroll to [autoexec]

Add the batch parameters from the first step. It should look similar to this:

Do NOT delete THIS SET ARENADATA line

[autoexec]

@echo off

mount C: ..\ARENA

mount D: ..\ARENA -t cdrom

C:

SET ARENADATA=C:

D:

LH ACD.EXE

ACD -Ssbpdig.adv -IOS220 -IRQS7 -DMAS1 -Mgenmidi.adv -IOM330 -IRQM2 -DMAM1 -delay:1

exit

Save That.

FPS Difference Demo


This video shows gameplay from the start dungeon to stonekeep with the fix

How Does This All Work?

Thanks to the great insight of DOS memory management forums, the official Bethesda docs for the game, and some great knowledge from the DOSBox wiki.

TESA has memory problems. DOSBox isn't naturally capable of giving it the conventional memory that it asks for. But since DOSBox is built on DOS 5.0, that means the [autoexec] portion of the conf file is capable of executing DOS 5.0 commands. THE LOAD ORDER MATTERS. LH has to be called after the directories are mounted. Loading the ACD.EXE file directly into high memory only loads the init into high memory (so really only the launcher). That opens up room for the game engine itself to use more conventional memory. We also disabled two null serial ports, as well as the unnecessary Disney speaker output. All of this together cleared up just enough memory for Arena to run at full speed.

There's one more key piece of this fix. The Pentium frame delay. This was added to the final release of the game specifically. It does exactly what it says it does. It delays between 0-9 frames (you can set it manually) so that the game doesn't draw more than it has to. You can set it to 0 safely, you don't actually have to delay any frames. The parameter just has to be there otherwise the game will default to a very slow speed.

The batch file edit actually may not even be necessary, but I've found that it seems to crash less this way. (As in practically never unless I'm in Summerset)

For you TES eccentrics out there, you can also LH the EXE files for Redguard and Battlespire.

Battlespire Stability Fix[www.nexusmods.com]

With Redguard, you can do

"LH rg.exe" and that'll work fine. But I genuinely don't think the dos version is fixable. Honestly just don't even play that till the unity team releases their port.

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3137370683

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