r/elderscrollslegends • u/Massive_Jello_3100 • 2h ago
I managed to get TESL Reborn running on an Android Phone using DroidDeck
This is a guide to get TESL Reborn working (emulated) on an Android Phone using DroidDeck.
What you'll need:
- You must have an Android device running Android 9 or newer powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with an Adreno 730 or newer GPU (such as Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 8+ Gen 1, 8 Gen 2, 8 Gen 3, 7+ Gen 2) or Adreno 8xx. (you'd need this for DroidDeck compatibility, if you don't, you can still try using something like GameNative instead, which supports a much larger array of devices, and just inspire yourself from this DroidDeck guide since the important parts of it should still be similar)
- 25GB of free space
Steps:
- Download DroidDeck
a. from their official site https://droiddeck.app/download - I personally went with the Standard Edition since TESL is a light game that doesn't need much processing power.
b. When you're gonna click on the Apk, you might get prompted about the file originating outside of an authorised source - click "Show more details" -> Install Anyway
(in these images it says "GameNative" because I've already installed and whitelisted DroidDeck, but I still wanted to show example images of what you might encounter)



c. After that you might get prompted about your browser not having permission to install unknown apps -> Go to Settings->Apps->*Browser Name*->Scroll near the bottom->Install Unknown Apps->Allow

d. After that you will need to enable developer options then go to Settings->Developer options->Scroll near the bottom->Disable child process restrictions (for DroidDeck to work)

- Download TESL from inside the Steam from DroidDeck
a. After you open DroidDeck try opening Steam inside it (which will start downloading it as well as Linux and Proton)
b. Login then go to TESL and download it (it will download than say it's transfering its files then show it's downloading again a couple of times, don't worry, it's normal)



3.(option 1) Download and place the Reborn files in the TESL folder (from the internet)
a. When it shows you the green "Play" button, use the virtual controller to press "B" until you see a menu appear on your left-> press the "Power" button from that menu-> Switch to Desktop


b. After it installed the desktop, you should be able to move a black cursor through touchpad gestures, left-click with a tap, and right click with a 3-finger tap
c. In your taskbar, between the steam icon and the firefox icon there is a file explorer icon, move the cursor over it than tap to click it

d. Navigate to Steam(Internal Storage) -> steamapps -> common -> The Elder Scrolls Legends. Keep the file explorer open

e. Open firefox -> Press the back button of your phone -> A new menu will pop up from the right side of your screen -> switch the Touch setting from Auto(touchpad) to Gestures

f. You've got no cursor now so tap directly on the firefox search, then 3-finger tap to open a virtual keyboard(btw, right click is now 2-finger tap) -> type "tesl-reborn.com" and press enter

g. (in order to be able to scroll)switch back to using the cursor by pressing back button on phone-> changing Touch from Gestures to Auto(touchpad) -> Head to Downloads-> if you don't see the scrollbar on the right, double click on the firefox top bar twice to maximize the application window, which should make it visible-> Download the Reborn Zip with the current build

h. Close Firefox -> Press on the start icon from taskbar (furthest left, left to steam icon) -> press on "Dolphin"(file explorer) to open a new window of it
i. Navigate to Downloads in your new file explorer window -> 3-finger tap to right click -> cut -> hover over file explorer icon in taskbar -> close the downloads window -> click on the TESL folder window, 3-finger tap then paste to move the Reborn ZIP into the TESL folder

j. 3-finger tap (right click) the Reborn archive -> Extract-> enter in the extracted folder -> double click on an empty space (on no file) to select all files -> 3 finger tap (right click) -> cut -> go back to TESL folder -> paste those 4 files there (.doorstep_version always seems to get lost for some reason but it's fine) -> 3-finger tap and move to trash the now empty folder which you extracted as well as the Reborn ZIP, which you won't need anymore -> On the left side of the file explorer, where the steam icon is, there is a Trash folder, right above Network, click on it then press "Empty Trash" button in top right of file explorer window


3.(option 2) Download and place the Reborn files in the TESL folder (from your PC)
a. select all the non-folder files from your TESL directory from your PC and zip them (ZIP, not RAR nor 7Z compression). Name the archive smth like "Reborn"
b. connect your phone to your PC-> enable transfer of files on your phone
c. Put the Reborn archive into an easy to access folder from your phone like "Documents"
d. Disconnect your phone from your laptop -> inside DroidDeck, if you're in Steam, then go back, back, until you see the left menu and click the "Power" button from it -> open Switch to Desktop Mode
e. Once you're in Desktop mode, press back button of your phone -> Stop ->Stop
f. Inside DroidDeck go to Desktop->Settings->Files-> Open(Files)
g. Navigate to Documents (or where you placed the Reborn Archive), long press on the archive -> cut
h. Navigate to Linux system(left menu)-> root -> .local -> share -> Steam -> steamapps -> common -> The Elder Scrolls Legends -> click on the path name of Reborn archive on near the top of the screen to paste it in this folder
i. press back on your phone until you get back into DroidDeck main menu
j. go to desktop-> open desktop-> open file explorer -> navigate to TESL folder -> extract archive -> cut contents from extracted folder and paste them in the TESL folder (1 level above). (look at option 1 of step 3 where I go into detail more about how to do these steps, specifically subpoint j)
- Modify launch parameters of TESL from Steam (from inside DroidDeck)
a. Get out of Desktop Mode by pressing back button of phone-> Stop->Stop
b. Go to Steam (inside DroidDeck) -> Play Steam -> TESL -> Cogwheel on the right -> Properties -> Inside General Tab, scroll down and you'll see "Launch Options"


c. Click on grey bar and write this into it (without the double quotes) "WINEDLLOVERRIDES='winhttp.dll=n,b' %command%" to help you write it, the first word is WINE-DLL-OVER-RIDES. also there is a space between b' and %command% don't forget about it
d. Click anywhere else to get rid of the keyboard, make sure you entered the launch options correctly -> back -> and you can now play the game (by pressing Play).
Login into TESL Reborn
a. You'll get prompted to enter your TESL Reborn username and password. In bottom left you should have a plus sign to expand your virtual controller as well as a keyboard icon to its right.
b. Press entry field (for username/password) -> keyboard icon in bottom left and then enter your details.
And that's about it. At the start, for the first 10 or so minutes the game will probably run a little sluggish. That's because the shaders haven't been cached yet, but after your first game you should be running 60 fps smoothly. With my phone (S24+ US version) I got 60FPS throughout with only only a hiccup when I loaded into my first match, bringing it down to 20FPS for a split second (FPS is limited to 60 in the standard version of DroidDeck btw, with how optimized Proton is and how light this game is, I have no doubt that my phone could push into the hundreds of FPS, but there's no need for it)
Also, if you don't happen to have a phone that is compatible with DroidDeck but still want to play TESL locally on your phone, don't worry, there are other software alternatives like this such as GameNative as an example which is compatible with a much larger array of devices. I only used DroidDeck because it should give a much better performance given that it's using Valve's Proton translation layers as opposed to the more general Winlator (and I also happened to have a phone that's compatible with it). However both of them use Wine, so something which won't change in either case is the need for the Steam launch parameter "WINEDLLOVERRIDES='winhttp.dll=n,b' %command%".
If you have any questions or trouble following this guide, do ask, I'll be glad to help!
P.S.: Playing cards isn't quite smooth drag and drop, with the default controls at least. You'd need to tap on the card once then tap again where you wish to spawn it/on who you wish to use it. While normal cards in your hand you could still drag and drop in lane while you clicked them once, the prophecy cards are much more finnicky and they don't like being drag and dropped at all, only clicked once to select and second click to place/use. It's basically same as playing Slay the Spire remotely using Steam Link if you've tried. It's a bit annoying at first but you'll get used to it.

































