Is there any way to reduce the draw distance?

[Orbarth]

I never thought I'd see players asking for reduced draw distance and more fog in a game.

I have no plans to implement such a change at this time (maybe a good stretch goal for beta). It's trivial to mod in though. I'm surprised nobody has done this already if was something people actually wanted.

When i remember one of the most happy day on my Daggerfall playing time was when i learned from old uesp a slightly more than 20 years ago that it was possible to hex-edit a save to increase the view distance by nearly half more than what it was, it's very odd to see people requesting a turn back to default in DFU.

[King of Worms]

I understand but is it more odd than ppl using retro mode plus 256colors shader? For me, retro mode with original view distance is parity with 96. Its a nice option to have for some of us. Nobody is forced to use it ps: honestly, more steps in view distance would be cool. Zero being classic and 10 being current 4.

[Lokkrin Zhataros]

-

[King of Worms]

As I understand it, base DFU has only those options, which were in 1996 original + QOL improvements. Everything else is handled by the mods. Its a simple rule which was followed since day 1. So 256 color palette and low resolution fits in a base DFU because it was there in 96 original. Original view distance is the same thing. If some new features and changes were implemented in a base DFU, it would not be a recreation of 1996 game, but some kind of re-imagination, and thats a pandora box which I completely agree should stay closed

[Orbarth]

I'm not opposed to any options at all, i always thought having as many possible options to customise a game to your liking is always the way to go especially with Daggerfall Unity that enabled so much more than the original (i love the retro renderer myself, can't play without it).
I just find it odd for the view distance as increasing it slightly thanks to the hex edit of the save was making Daggerfall even better for me back in the days, but why not.

For the fog i think it's a different thing, fog can help to create an atmosphere of mystery, or uncertainty, see the fog option in the dungeons by the Better Ambience mod. So maybe having fog and view distance a separate settings could be interesting.