Elder Scrolls: Arena – Complete setup guide

I recently decided to play through all the Elder Scrolls games, one after another, starting with Arena. I debated for hours on whether to play the newer ones on PS5 or PC, and ultimately decided to stick with PC for them all because I wanted to dig into mods, and because some are only available on PC.

After doing a bunch of research, trial and error, and testing I finally got what I consider to be the perfect Arena install (for me anyway).

Before I start going into details, I wanted to give an honorable mention:

https://github.com/afritz1/OpenTESArena
https://github.com/afritz1/OpenTESArena/wiki

This project is currently being developed by the community. It’s self classified as: “OpenTESArena is an open-source engine re-implementation for “The Elder Scrolls: Arena” by Bethesda Softworks, being developed from scratch in modern C++. It requires a copy of the original game data available for free on Steam, GOG, or the Bethesda website in order to play.”

I debated on whether to play around with this or not, but at the moment, it’s not complete. The current completion breakdown is as follows.

File formats: 95%
World generation: 100%
Collision detection: 80%
Combat: 25%
Items: 20%
Spells: 0%
NPC interaction: 15%
Quests: 0%
Cinematics: 10%
Weather effects: 90%
Save/load: 0%

So at the moment this project is not in a playable state, but after playing around with the install a bit, it’s definitely a great start. I plan on checking on the progress of this project over the next few years and when it’s eventually done, I may jump in and replay the entire game at that point.

With that honorable mention out of the way, let’s get started on my base install.

Note: There are several different “ways” you can approach this; feel free to do your own research and do the install that you prefer. This just details my install (which was complete after a few hours of research and deciding what I wanted to include). So let’s continue.

Part 1: Base Install — getting Arena onto your PC

(short, no-frills rundown of the three ways to grab the game and the exact method I picked)

GOG version (free) – open GOG Galaxy or your browser, search “The Elder Scrolls: Arena,” hit Add to library, then Install. That pulls the older floppy-disk 1.06 build wrapped in DOSBox. gog.com
Steam version (also free) – same deal on Steam: click Play Game and it downloads the same 1.06 build with a Steam-tuned DOSBox wrapper. store.steampowered.com
ArenaSetup (CD v1.07) – the one I used – grab ArenaSetup-EN.exe from Wiwiki. This gives you the final CD release (voices + movies) plus a tidy, pre-configured DOSBox in one portable folder. wiwiki.wiwiland.net

Exactly what I did with ArenaSetup

Download ArenaSetup-EN.exe.
Double-click it and, when it asks “Where should I install?”, point it to C:\Games\Arena (Any folder is fine; I like keeping old games in a dedicated directory.)
Leave every checkbox alone and click Install – took maybe ten seconds.
Let it create the desktop shortcut but don’t launch yet; the next parts cover the fixes and mods that turn this 1994 dinosaur into something smooth and comfy.

That’s it for the base install—one small EXE, one new folder, zero registry junk. This was the starting point.

Note: The reason why I decided to do Arena setup (Option 3) is because I didn’t feel like messing with separate installations of Dos Box and managing all the configuration settings. This includes almost everything you need. In fact, if you don’t want to modify/change anything and you want the game to 100% be like it was back in the day, then just simply play the game as is.

But there are a few things I absolutely had to have, the must haves for me are below and how to install each one.

Part 2: “Must-Have” Fixes I Added

(Just grab each file, unzip, and copy it straight into the Arena folder you made with ArenaSetup.)

Framerate & Crash Fix – download it here:
https://www.nexusmods.com/tesarena/mods/48 nexusmods.com
Drop the new arena.conf and ARENA.BAT into the Arena folder. Say “yes” when Windows asks to overwrite.
TES Arena Remapped (WASD controls) – get it here:
https://www.nexusmods.com/tesarena/mods/1 nexusmods.com
Copy the single mapper.txt file into the Arena folder. That’s it. (Hold the left Alt key when you need to type text in-game.)
Sound Patch (kills the annoying click at the start of sounds) – download:
https://www.nexusmods.com/tesarena/mods/15 nexusmods.com
Open the ZIP and drag all the .VOC files into Arena\SOUND. Overwrite when asked.
Stonekeep Restored (restores a missing dungeon level) – grab it:
https://www.nexusmods.com/tesarena/mods/23 nexusmods.com
Inside the ZIP is one file called STONE.RDB. Drop it into Arena\DUNGEON.

Launch the game with ARENA.BAT once to be sure everything still boots, then quit—we have a few prettier-up bits to add.

Part 3: UI & Cosmetic Touches

(Again, copy-and-overwrite right into the Arena folder.)

Pick ONE menu overhaul
- I chose IntuitiveUI v2 – https://www.nexusmods.com/tesarena/mods/6 nexusmods.com
- Alternate: Clean UI – https://www.nexusmods.com/tesarena/mods/30 nexusmods.com
  Unzip → copy every file into the Arena folder.
IntroFix – fixes three “New Game” slides.
https://www.nexusmods.com/tesarena/mods/4 nexusmods.com
Copy all files into the Arena folder.
Opening Fix – fixes two slides shown before the main menu.
https://www.nexusmods.com/tesarena/mods/13 nexusmods.com
Copy both .IMG files into the Arena folder.
Title Screen Fix – sharpens the gold frame on the title screen.
https://www.nexusmods.com/tesarena/mods/17 nexusmods.com
Drop TITLE.IMG into the Arena folder and overwrite.

Boot once more—menus should look cleaner, intro slides corrected, title frame restored.

Part 4: Tiny DOSBox Tweaks for Sharp Graphics & Laptop Stability

Open dosbox_arena.conf
(Default path: C:\Games\Arena\dosbox_arena.conf.)
In the [render] section change: iniCopyEditscaler=hq3x aspect=true
In the [cpu] section set: iniCopyEditcore=dynamic cycles=max
Near the top, add/ edit the [dosbox] line: iniCopyEditmemsize=64
Save the file. Start Arena with ARENA.BAT.
You’ll see smoother edges, full speed, and no laptop stutter. If it ever feels “too fast,” tap Ctrl + F11 a couple of times; Ctrl + F12 speeds it back up.

That’s it. Now just go into the Desktop and find the Arena.bat icon and/or go to the folder and pick the same file to start it. It’ll auto-launch Doxbox, then the game and everything should work great.

Feel free to comment if you have any questions or need help on your install. I played around with a few other builds but this is the one I settled on.

Any questions, feel free to comment!