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Pre-Alpha 0.1.0 — Daggerfall on iPad & iPhone

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@Codex64ai Codex64ai released this 19 Aug 21:31
· 40 commits to ios-touch-port since this release
v0.1.0-prealpha
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Daggerfall Unity iOS — Pre-Alpha 0.1.0

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, playable entirely by touch on iPhone and iPad.

This is a pre-alpha: core gameplay is verified working on real hardware (iPad Pro 11"
M4, iPadOS 26) — exploration, two-handed touch combat, doors/NPCs/loot, the full classic
menu system, saving, cutscenes. Expect rough edges everywhere else.

Touch controls

  • Left stick — move (full tilt runs) · Right stick — camera, always and only
  • Swipe with a weapon drawn — attack; swipe direction picks the strike
  • Hand-and-ring button — activate doors/NPCs/loot (aims from the centre crosshair)
  • MENU drawer — Inventory, Status, Map, Rest, and TUNE (live sensitivity, swipe
    distance, control size/opacity, and a drag-anywhere layout editor)
  • Classic menus are direct touch; the keyboard appears for text fields; hold to skip videos
  • Hardware keyboards/controllers auto-hide the touch HUD

You must supply the game data (not included)

Daggerfall's assets remain Bethesda's copyright (the game is a free download, the data
is still theirs). Like upstream Daggerfall Unity, nothing is bundled:

The app launches without it but waits at the data screen until the arena2 folder
(~512 MB, ~1560 files) is on the device:

  1. Get Daggerfall free from Bethesda (or GOG/Steam) and locate the arena2 folder
    inside the install
  2. Install this app and launch it once (this creates its Files-app folder)
  3. Copy the whole arena2 folder into the app:
    • With a Mac/PC: connect the iPad → Finder (or iTunes on Windows) → your device →
      Files → Daggerfall Unity → drag arena2 in
    • iPad only: get arena2 into the Files app any way you like (iCloud Drive,
      Google Drive/Dropbox, a USB drive, or unzip a downloaded copy on-device), then in
      Files copy it to On My iPad → Daggerfall Unity
  4. Relaunch — the game finds arena2 and starts

⚠️ If the folder came through iCloud Drive, tap into it and make sure every file is
actually downloaded first — cloud placeholders look like real files but are empty, and
the game will fail at world load in a way that looks like a crash.

Installing the .ipa

The attached .ipa is unsigned — Apple requires every installed app to be signed,
so sideload it with your own (free) Apple ID using AltStore,
Sideloadly, or similar. Free-account signatures expire after 7 days; re-sideload to renew.
Building from source in Xcode (below) signs it the same way with less friction if you
have a Mac.

Building from source

Unity 2022.3.62f3 + iOS Build Support, then:
Tools → Daggerfall Mobile → Apply iOS Player Settings → Build Touch HUD → Build for iOS
→ open in Xcode, set your team, Run. Full instructions in README-iOS.md.

Known pre-alpha limitations

  • Mods are not supported (iOS platform restriction)
  • Tuned on one device (iPad Pro 11" M4); other devices will want a TUNE pass
  • Haptics are iPhone-only (iPads have no Taptic Engine)
  • Long-session stability beyond ~15 minute tests is unproven
  • 23 documented platform findings in REVIEW.md — worth reading if you're porting
    anything to iPadOS

Built on Daggerfall Unity (MIT,
© Daggerfall Workshop). Daggerfall © Bethesda Softworks.

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