UESP Forums

I recently started playing vanilla Daggerfall on GOG, but now I'm hoping to install (at least some of) the unofficial patches. However, I've already started playing the game, though I haven't left the starting dungeon. Can I still install any patches without messing with my save(s)? I'm specifically asking about DQFIX, as that seems to be the main one, but this goes for all extra patches and stuff really (including the CompUSA patch).

Daggerfall is a game that you'll usually have to restart quite a few times as you get used to it. I'd suggest accepting your current saves as burned if they don't hold over (however, from my past experience, it should be fine if you copy the saves and put them back after you reinstall).

Each quest is a separate set of files that will be loaded once your character gets the respective quest. So installing the quest fix should allow you to get fixed quests in the future, but will not affect your currently pending quests (like the main quest and any random ones you might have accepted). It may also mess up the active quests as the files have changed (but don't quote me on that).

So generally it is not recommended to install new patches while your game is already in progress, unless this is something of a purely cosmetic nature.