Guide:Morrowind
Guide: A modern Morrowind
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Morrowind is hailed as one of the greatest RPGs of all time. The graphics, unfortunately, remind us of its age.
This is correctable with mods, and thanks to the modding community a modern Morrowind experience is possible.
The following things are emphasized when choosing mods for this guide:
- Mods that have more detailed textures and meshes
- Mods that are closer to the vanilla style
- Mods that tend to "blend in" with the game environment
- Mods that perform well on modern hardware
1. Install & Utilities
1.A Install Morrowind
1.B Install Utilities
Utility | Format | Notes |
---|---|---|
7-Zip | .EXE | Install 64-bit version, only use 32-bit if 64-bit doesn't work |
Mlox | .EXE | Fixes load order, use standalone .EXE |
Wrye Mash | .EXE | Handy for save game cleaning |
IniColorEdit | .EXE | Changes colors, info |
1.C Install MCP
Patch name | Format | Notes |
---|---|---|
Morrowind Code Patch | .EXE | Includes 4GB patch |
1.D Install MGE XE
Morrowind graphic extender can be found here with detailed install procedure.
It enables higher resolutions, better shaders, bump-mapping, and much more.
After install, adjust the resolution to what the system is using(for example 1920 x 1080).
1.E System Requirements
This is the minimum specifications for a good gaming experience, anything more powerful than this will run fine.
Base Game | Build without 2.J | Build with 2.J |
---|---|---|
500 MHz Intel PIII, Celeron, or AMD Athlon | Intel i3, AMD Quad core | 3.5 GHz Intel i3 |
256MB RAM | 2GB RAM | 4GB RAM |
GeForce2 GTS, Radeon 7500 | GTX 750 Ti, R7 360 | GTX 950, R7 370 |
1.F Installing Mods
All files except .EXEs(they go into the game folder), needs to be placed in the data folder. From the MW Modding Wiki:
"The Data Files folder (or just data folder) is where all of the data that the game uses is stored.
That's the music, textures, meshes, etc. This is also where all mods are installed, and where their data (again the meshes, textures, music, etc) is stored.
To find the data folder, first make sure that you are looking at the game folder. From here you should see a folder called Data Files.
That's the folder we need, open it up and you should see more folders marked as Meshes, Textures, etc.
Though don't worry if you don't. You should also see some files called Morrowind.esm, Tribunal.esm, and Bloodmoon.esm.
These are master files. Mods are similar to these, but would end with .esp. These are called plugin files."
2. Mods
Note: If you want to use Morrowind watercolored textures, simply install 2.a, 2.b and MWC, then skip to 2.k
2.A Fixes
Note on installation: Install in the same order as listed, and always let the files overwrite.
Mod Name | Mod Type | Notes |
---|---|---|
Mesh Fix | Folder | Fixes meshes & UV mapping |
Correct Meshes | Folder | Fixes misc. Meshes |
Correct UV Rocks | Folder | Add this too |
Correct UV Trees | Folder | Fixes UV for trees |
Correct UV Mudcrabs | Folder | Fixes Mudcrab UV |
Patch for Purists | Folder | Replaces UMP and countless of mesh fixes |
2.B Meshes
Mod Name | Mod Type | Notes |
---|---|---|
Mesh Improvements | Folder | Better meshes for clutter |
Mesh Improvements Optimized | Folder | Optimized Meshes |
RR Mod Series - Better Meshes | Folder | Remember to install the fixes |
Better Meshes plus Optimization | Folder | Optimized meshes |
Better Flora | Folder | Flora meshes, choose "No collision" folder |
Ingredients Mesh Replacer | Folder | Meshes for ingredients |
Dwemer Mesh Improvement | Folder | Smooth dwemer meshes |
Dunmer Lanterns Replacer | Folder | Meshes for lanterns |
2.C Objects & Clutter
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes |
---|---|---|
Papill6n various graphics things | Folder | Replaces a lot of forgotten objects |
AST beds | Folder | Replacer for beds |
Better Kegstands | Folder | Replacer for kegstands |
Wood Furniture | Folder | Improved wood textures |
Arukinns Better Books and Scrolls | Folder | Replacer for books and scrolls |
Guar Skin Banners | Folder | Hires banners |
Improved Kwama Eggs and Egg Sacs | Folder | Replaces Kwama eggs & sac |
One True Faith - Saints and Frescoes Retexture | Folder | Hires frescoes, "2K" recommended |
Dunmeri Urns - Aestetika of Vvardenfell | Folder | "HQ bump mapped" is recommended |
Long Live The Limeware | Folder | Limeware replacer |
Long Live The Glassware | Folder | Glassware replacer |
Long Live The Plates | Folder | Replacer for plates |
Better Skulls | Folder | Replacer for skulls |
Apel's Various Things - Signs | Folder | New tavern signs |
R-Zero's Random Retextures - Dwemer Coin & Quill | Folder | Quill & dwemer coins retextured |
EKM Vanilla-Based Paper Lanterns | Folder | Paper lanterns retextured |
Pherim's Small and WIP Mods | Folder | Download everything except the Nixhound Replacer |
Ket's Potions and Beverages Retexture | Folder | Potions and beverages retextured |
2.D Housing
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes | Alternatives |
---|---|---|---|
Imperial Houses and Forts Retexture - Ordo Arkitektora | Folder | Replaces imperial housing | 1 2 3 4 |
Telvanni - Arkitektora of Vvardenfell | Folder | Patch if you use non bump-mapped | 1 |
Shacks Docks and Ships - Arkitektora of Vvardenfell | Folder | Replaces docks, shacks & boats | 1 2 3 |
Velothi - Arkitektora of Vvardenfell | Folder | Replaces Velothi Housing | 1 2 3 |
Daedric Ruins - Arkitektora of Vvardenfell | Folder | Replacer for daedric ruins | 1 2 |
Sewers - Arkitektora of Vvardenfell | Folder | Retexture of sewers | |
Hlaalu - Arkitektora of Vvardenfell | Folder | Replacer for Hlaalu Housing | 1 2 |
Redoran - Arkitektora of Vvardenfell | Folder | Replacer for Redoran housing | 1 |
Dwemer Ruins Retexture | Folder | Retexture of Dwemer ruins | |
Darknut's Better Dwemer Ruin Towers | Folder | Remesh of dwemer towers | 1 |
Full Dwemer Retexture | Folder | All things dwemer retextured | |
Stronghold Retexture | Folder | Stronghold retexture | |
White Suran 2 | Folder & .ESP | Makes Suran white, only install main file | |
Mournhold Overhaul v21 | Folder & .ESP | Don't activate the .ESP | 1 2 3 |
Hires Town Road Markers | Folder | Retexture of town markers | |
High-res Skaal Retex | Folder | Retexture of Skaal buildings |
2.E NPCs
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes | Alternatives |
---|---|---|---|
Races Redone | Folder & .ESP | All in one | 1 |
New Beast Bodies | Folder | Argonian bodies | |
Animation Compilation | Folder | Updated animations |
2.F Clothing
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes | Alternatives |
---|---|---|---|
Darknut's Better Clothes Textures v1.0 | Folder | Textures & meshes for clothes | 1 |
Better Robes | Folder & Esp | Textures & meshes for robes | |
Robe Overhaul | Folder & Esp | Textures & meshes for robes | |
New Gondolier Helm | Folder | Retexture of gondolier helmets | |
Unique Finery Replacer UFR | Folder & .ESP | Install "no robes"-.ESP |
2.G Armor
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes |
---|---|---|
Better Morrowind Armor | Folder | Install this patch |
Darknut's Armor Textures 1024 1.2 | Folder | Armor textures |
HiRez Armors- Native Styles V2 | Folder | Patch & fixes 1,2,3 |
Armors Retexture - Outlander Styles | Folder | Armor textures |
Less Bulky Pauldrons | Folder | Install both included patches |
Colovian helm and heavy leather boots retexture | Folder | The link is correct, see under "files" |
Pluginless NoGlow | Folder | Removes enchantment glow |
Royalguard better armor | Folder | Replacer for royal guards in Tribunal |
Daedric Lord Armor Morrowind Edition | Folder & .ESP | Extra helmet |
Orcish Retexture v1.2 | Folder | Parts of orcish armor redone |
New Fists of Randagulf | Folder | New mesh and texture |
New Lord's Mail | Folder | New mesh and texture |
New Dwemer Armor Mod | Folder | Use this if vanilla style is preferred |
2.H Weapons
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes |
---|---|---|
Better Weapons | Folder | Performance-hungry weapon meshes |
Darknut's Little Weapons Mod Complete | Folder | Texture folder has two options, pick one |
Oriental Mesh Improvements | Folder | Weapon meshes |
Iron Mesh Improvements | Folder | Iron meshes |
Improved Weapon Meshes - Steel | Folder | Steel Meshes |
Improved Weapon Meshes - Ebony | Folder | Ebony meshes |
Real Reflective Weapons - Iron | Folder | Weapon retexture |
Insanity's (Dwemer) Weapons of Morrowind | Folder | Dwemer weapons redone |
Ice Blade of the Monarch PBR | Folder | Lore-friendly replacer |
Mehrunes' Razor PBR | Folder | PBR prototype not required |
Correct Iron Warhammer | Folder & .ESP | Brings the warhammer closer to lore |
2.I Creatures
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes |
---|---|---|
Darknut's Creature Textures | Folder | Retexture of creatures |
Darknut's Creature Textures addendum | Folder | Retexture of more creatures |
Netch Bump mapped | Folder | Retexture of netch |
Kwama forager bump mapped | Folder | Link is correct, see under "files" |
Silt Strider Bump mapped | Folder | Retexture of silt striders |
Cliffracer Replacer | Folder | Retexture of cliffracers |
Nix-Hound Replacer | Folder | Retexture of nixhound |
Guars replacer - Aendemika of Vvardenfell | Folder | Retexture of guars |
Kagouti replacer - Aendemika of Vvardenfell | Folder | Retexture of kagouti |
Alit replacer - Aendemika of Vvardenfell | Folder | Retexture of alit |
Better Spriggans | Folder | Spriggan replacer with glow maps |
Better Scamps | Folder | Scamps redone |
2.J Flora & Landscape
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes | Alternatives |
---|---|---|---|
Skies .IV | Folder | Skies and weather redone, read instructions | |
Plant life retexture | Folder | Retexture of most plants & fungus | |
Caverns Bump mapped | Folder | New cave textures | |
Apel's Asura Coast and Sheogorath Region Retexture | Folder | Sheogorad flora & landscape | |
Underwater Static Replacer | Folder | New meshes and textures | |
Emperor Parasol Replacer | Folder | Link is correct, see under "files! | |
Comberry Bush and Ingredient Replacer | Folder | Retexture of comberry | |
Pherim's Fire Fern - Plant and Ingredient | Folder | Retexture of fire fern | |
Hackle-lo Fixed | Folder | New mesh & texture | |
Tyddy's Landscape Retexture | Folder | "HQ" version recommended | |
Vurts Solstheim Tree Replacer II | Folder & .ESP | Solstheim trees | |
Vurts Bitter Coast Trees II | Folder & .ESP | Bitter coast trees | |
Vurt's BC II Trees Collision Fix (And Other Fixes)_1.0 | Folder | FPS gain in most cases too | |
Vurts Leafy West Gash II | Folder & .ESP | Vanilla Friendly West Gash | |
Vurts Ascadian Isles Trees Replacer II | Folder & .ESP | Ascadian isles trees | Remiros' Ascadian Isles Trees |
Vurts Grazeland Trees II | Folder & .ESP | See here if meshes are missing | |
Vurts Mournhold Trees II | Folder & .ESP | Mournhold trees | |
Vurts Groundcover | Folder & .ESP | Only activate .esp when generating distant land | Green animated grass |
2.K User Interface
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes |
---|---|---|
HD Concept-art splash screen and main menu | Folder | Hires main menu & splash screens |
Better Dialogue Font | Folder | Hires UI font |
Arukinns Better UI | Folder | Retextured UI |
HD Intro Cinematic - English | Folder | Intro in HD |
Ultimate Icon Replacer | Folder | New icons |
2.L Gameplay changes
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes |
---|---|---|
NX9_guards_complete | .ESP | More diverse guards |
Delayed DB Attack V2 | .ESP | No more early attacks from DB |
The Road to Mournhold | .ESP | Adds a quest to go to Mournhold |
Illys Solstheim Rumour Fix | .ESP | Less NPCs know about Solstheim |
Hold it 1.92 | .ESP | Makes NPCs hold items, Use the main .ESP. Optional |
Passive Cliffracers | .ESP | Less agressive cliffracers. Optional |
Fun Game Tweaks | .ESP | Fatigue and running behaves as it does in Skyrim. Optional |
Morrowind Buy A House | .ESP | Adds houses that can be bought. Optional |
Sunrise and Sunset Season and Latitude Scaling | .ESP | Variable sunset and sunrise |
2.M Worldspace Edits
Mod Name | Mod Format | Notes |
---|---|---|
RR Mod Series - Telvanni Lighthouse Tel Vos | .ESP & .BSA | .INI edit required, instructions here |
RR Mod Series - Holamayan Monastery Replacer | .ESP, .BSA & Folder | .INI edit required, instructions here |
Atmospheric Plazas | .ESP | Vivec plazas edited |
Concept Art Ghostfence Replacer | .ESP & Folder | New Ghostfence |
Cavern Of The Incarnate Overhaul | .ESP & Folder | .ESP optional |
Mountainous Red Mountain | .ESP & Folder | More menacing mountains |
3. Setup & Tweaking
3.A Graphics Card Settings
Turn off antialiasing and anisotropic filtering in the graphics driver. Set the GPU to full performance if possible.
3.B Plugins
1. Open the launcher and activate all plugins except those noted.
2. Run Mlox to sort your plugins.
3. Check that the game, starts, if not, deactivate plugins until it starts.
3.C MGE XE
1. Start MGE XE Gui.
2. Set AA to "4" and AF to "8".
3. Check that resolution and refresh rate matches the monitor settings. Turn Vsync off for now.
4. Press "Shader Setup", double click the following: Eye Adaption, SSAO Fast, Sunshafts, Bloom Soft. Press "Save" and check "enable shaders".
5. Set UI Scaling to 1.8, select "Range Vertex" as your Fog mode. Go to "Distant Land" tab.
6. Check "Use Distant Land", set draw distance to 2.0 cells. Uncheck "Use High Quality" under "Fog".
7. Set water reflections to "Landscape" & "Nearby Statics". Enable Dynamic Solar Shadows & Per-pixel lighting shader.
8. Open distant land setup wizard. Press "select all" and "continue". Set grass density to 25% and let the wizard generate textures and meshes.
9. Open "In-game" tab, and check the following: "Responsive menu caching", "Allow Yes to all errors", "Thread Loading", "Show FPS".
10. That's it! Check game performance and tweak until acceptable FPS is achieved. Vsync may be turned on after this.
Note: If you have good FPS, but still experience stutter, see Texture optimization
3.D Shader library for MGE XE
With additional shaders the game graphics can be further enhanced and customized.
Mod Name | Sample | Notes |
---|---|---|
Adaptive HDR by Seventyfour | Sample | Alternate HDR |
FXAA by J.Bottcher | Sample | Low-cost AA and softening |
Film Grain by wrinklyninja | Sample | Simulates analog film noise |
Watercolor | Sample | Enhanced colors and bleed |
Bloom by Seventyfour | Sample | Better Bloom |
Water by Seventyfour (fixed by Ket Golosov) | Sample | Green water shader, place in \Morrowind\Data Files\shaders |
Old Photo by Zilav | Sample | Desaturate, sepia, and vignette in one |
Sky Bloom by peachykeen | Sample | Alternate Bloom |
Fog-linked DOF | Sample | Distance blur |
Lumasharpen by CeeJay.dk | Sample | Sharpens textures |
Bokeh by Various | Sample | Bokeh DOF |
Gamma Correction by Apel | No sample yet | Adjusts gamma and luminance |
Depth of Field by Vtastek | No sample yet | Included fog-blur |
Water shader by Vtastek | Sample | Put in \Morrowind\Data Files\shaders |
Settings for the screencaps in this section:
File:Mgexe.png
File:Distantland.png
4. Troubleshooting
4.A Plugin master file dependency fix
If you see this error, follow this tutorial.