The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
Daggerfall Unity · originally by Bethesda Softworks
Daggerfall recreated in the Unity engine with modern controls, huge draw distances and a massive mod scene, using the DOS game files Bethesda gives away for free.
- License
- MIT
- Stars
- 3.5k
About
Daggerfall Unity is an open-source recreation of Daggerfall in the Unity engine by Daggerfall Workshop. It keeps the adventure and intrigue of the original with all its charm, adds hundreds of fixes and quality-of-life enhancements, and has extensive mod support with an active creator community.
It runs natively on Windows, Linux and macOS without emulation. Retro graphics are boosted by a modern engine and lighting at high widescreen resolutions, or you can play in a retro 320x200 or 640x400 mode with VGA palettes. Draw distances are huge even without mods, and mods can overhaul the graphics and gameplay entirely.
No game content is included, but this is the cheapest bring-your-own-copy in the catalog: Bethesda gives the DOS version of Daggerfall away free on Steam, and that provides every texture, model and sound Daggerfall Unity needs.
- The game data is free: DOS Daggerfall is a free download on Steam
- High-resolution widescreen or optional retro VGA mode
- Smooth first-person controls and huge draw distances
- Hundreds of mods, from graphics overhauls to new quests and guilds
- Windows, Linux and macOS without emulation
What you need
The port contains none of the game. These come from your own copy and stay on your machine.
DOS Daggerfall game files (free)
A copy of DOS Daggerfall, which Bethesda provides free on Steam. Daggerfall Unity needs its DF/DAGGER folder (on Steam, under steamapps/common/The Elder Scrolls Daggerfall/DF/DAGGER). The Steam release has been updated to work out of the box; an older copy may be missing .VID files. On Linux or macOS, copy that folder over from the Steam install.
Setup
- 1
Install The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall from Steam, where it is free.
- 2
Unzip the downloaded archive into its own folder, for example a folder named after the version. Never unzip a new version on top of an old one.
- 3
Run DaggerfallUnity (DaggerfallUnity.exe on Windows). When prompted, navigate to the DF/DAGGER folder of your Daggerfall installation; the launcher turns green when it has everything.
- 4
Set your resolution, press Test, then OK, and play.
Questions people ask
- Is the Daggerfall Unity download safe?
- Yes, as far as provenance and integrity can be proven. The download on this page is Daggerfall Unity's own GitHub release (v1.1.1-cve-2025), pinned to a SHA-256 in Recompiled's public lockfile, so you can confirm the file you received is byte for byte what the project published. Daggerfall Unity is open source, so anyone can read what the program does. Hash the file on the Verify page before you run it.
- Is Daggerfall Unity legal?
- Yes. Daggerfall Unity is an open-source reimplementation of the game's engine, and the download contains none of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall: it reads the game from a copy you already own. What is not legal is obtaining a ROM or disc image you do not own, and Recompiled never hosts or links to one.
- Do I need the original game to play The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall with Daggerfall Unity?
- Yes. Daggerfall Unity contains none of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, so you need a copy you already own: DOS Daggerfall game files (free). The What you need section says exactly what to supply. Nothing you supply leaves your machine.