Can I play without DOSbox?

[JukiBard]

I was able to play this game for a while on gog games without DOSbox, until it forced me to use DOSbox, I would really like to play without it? Is there a way on steam?

[The Great Cornholio]

google Daggerfall Unity

[lonetrav]

Originally posted by JukiBard:

I was able to play this game for a while on gog games without DOSbox, until it forced me to use DOSbox, ...

??? You can play Daggerfall out of the box on DOS PCs only. To my knowledge the GOG version of Daggerfall (just like the Steam version) were always using DOSBox - you may not have noticed it for some time.
On modern PCs you can't play Daggerfall without DOSBox. You can play Daggerfall Unity (DFU) instead, but then you replace DOSBox by Unity, in the sense that you swap one frontend for Daggerfall by another.

Technically, DOSBox is an "intermediary" between the game and your operating system (which means the game is the same as it has always been, it just runs on your modern PC and operating system), while DFU is a new game using certain files from the classic Daggerfall game and designed to replicate the classic game's look and functionality (with certain deliberate differences regarding both graphics and gameplay).
It means that DOSBox Daggerfall has the same strengths and weaknesses as the classic game (including its bugs), while DFU has somewhat different strengths and weaknesses (including its own bugs, instead of classic Daggerfall's bugs).
It's your choice.

[JukiBard]

Originally posted by lonetrav:

Originally posted by JukiBard:

I was able to play this game for a while on gog games without DOSbox, until it forced me to use DOSbox, ...

??? You can play Daggerfall out of the box on DOS PCs only. To my knowledge the GOG version of Daggerfall (just like the Steam version) were always using DOSBox - you may not have noticed it for some time.
On modern PCs you can't play Daggerfall without DOSBox. You can play Daggerfall Unity (DFU) instead, but then you replace DOSBox by Unity, in the sense that you swap one frontend for Daggerfall by another.

Technically, DOSBox is an "intermediary" between the game and your operating system (which means the game is the same as it has always been, it just runs on your modern PC and operating system), while DFU is a new game using certain files from the classic Daggerfall game and designed to replicate the classic game's look and functionality (with certain deliberate differences regarding both graphics and gameplay).
It means that DOSBox Daggerfall has the same strengths and weaknesses as the classic game (including its bugs), while DFU has somewhat different strengths and weaknesses (including its own bugs, instead of classic Daggerfall's bugs).
It's your choice.

Thank you for all of that, that was helpful. ^_^

[lonetrav]

You're welcome.

[The Dude]

Originally posted by lonetrav:

On modern PCs you can't play Daggerfall without DOSBox.

Liar. Ain't nothin' stoppin' y'all from tossin' Windows 95 in a VM.

[lonetrav]

Originally posted by The Dude:

Originally posted by lonetrav:

On modern PCs you can't play Daggerfall without DOSBox.

Liar. Ain't nothin' stoppin' y'all from tossin' Windows 95 in a VM.

I'd be careful with using words like "liar". You didn't even know if I knew the alternative you mentioned at all. Truth is that I know that it should be possible "in theory" (famous last words ...) to run Daggerfall on a Win95/98 VM PC, but I haven't tried it myself.

The least you should have done is to consider what I said in its context. Do you seriously think it would have helped the OP to tell him that he could get Daggerfall running on a Win95/98 VM PC? As you can see from my post above, I replied explicitly to the first sentence of the original post of this thread, and this defines the context of my reply.
Why not simply say something like "your reply was incomplete (or potentially misleading for people who'd rather use a Win95/98 VM than DOSBox)"?

Out of curiosity: Why should someone install a Win 95/98 VM to run Daggerfall, or install Daggerfall on such a VM? - Rather than use the working out-of-the-box DOSBox versions of the DOS game Daggerfall available, for example, on GOG and Steam.

[The Dude]

Originally posted by lonetrav:

Why not simply say something like "your reply was incomplete (or potentially misleading for people who'd rather use a Win95/98 VM than DOSBox)"?

I don't play the ego-stroking postmodernist game, you shouldn't either.

Out of curiosity: Why should someone install a Win 95/98 VM to run Daggerfall, or install Daggerfall on such a VM?

Why not?

[lonetrav]

Originally posted by The Dude:

I don't play the ego-stroking postmodernist game, you shouldn't either.

Out of curiosity: Why should someone install a Win 95/98 VM to run Daggerfall, or install Daggerfall on such a VM?

Why not?

Thanks for the advice. But I'm afraid I'm too addicted to this "ego-stroking postmodernist game". Nice characterisation, by the way - most people consider it a primitive old game not up to today's standards (unless run it via Daggerfall Unity). :-)

Why not? Well, two reasons:
- Daggerfall is a DOS game, and while Win95 and Win98 should be capable of running DOS games (due to their DOS roots), I'd rather use a real DOS VM to run a DOS game than a Windows VM.
- Like I said above: I can run Daggerfall out of the box, while I would have to install the Win VM, and then install Daggerfall there. Why not take the easy route?
Of course, if you have the Win VM installed already and are familiar with it, you only have to install the game, and it may not be a big difference.
But remember that this is a thread not directed at experts (who would know that they can run DOS games in a Win VM and don't have to be told).

While we're at it: Neither you nor I bothered to mention that there are even more alternatives to run Daggerfall, not just a Win VM, for example macOS and Unix /Linux systems (I even have an old native DOS and an old native Win98 PC at home). Does this make us "liars", too (in your eyes)?