New And Could Do With Some Advice Before Starting :)

[Kabaal]

Hello all, i've just installed Morrowind the elder scrolls GOTY edition. I have a couple of questions regarding patches etc before i start playing. Firstly are there any game updates i should be installing? There doesnt appear to be any on the official site unless i'm overlooking them. Secondly and most importantly to me i'm wondering if you guys have any advice on if there are any mods, add-ons etc to the game that you would regard as improving the experience. I suppose mostly what i'm after is graphical improvements ie hi res mods etc. I've had a quick browse about and there does seem to be a fair few mods, but something i havent came across is any packs that will have all the mods in one (in a similar way to the hi res pack for Half Life 2 for example).

I'm not fussed about performance hits from mods, my comp shouldnt really be affected.

 

I've heard a lot about this game from various places and all i've heard has been good, so here i am, ready to set out :D

 

Any advice greatly appreciated,

 

Kabaal.

 

P.S. If i've posted in the wrong section kick me into touch :P

[Malchik]

Hi there Kabaal, I have moved this to plug-ins as what you are asking appears related to that rather than simply MW. There are lots of threads on favourite mods etc and some information in the pinned threads on this forum that might be of interest.

 

The number of mods plus the variety of their sources make it impractical to have them 'packaged up'. Sometimes a number are put together, as in Balmora Expanded, but mostly you will have to add them individually. Despite what you may see in the read mes not all mods download automatically even when they say they do. Learn how to deal with this or you will face a great deal of aggravation. Mods sometimes conflict too and you may find it out the hard way. Nevertheless if you take the time and trouble you can greatly add to the experience.

 

You can get mods that replace all textures, make the windows glow at night, add sound effects, have the characters lock up shops at night. You can have innumerable companions, introduce children, animals, birds, fish etc. The imagination and ingenuity of the community of modders knows few bounds. Not all mods are equally good but I will not criticise here as it is too subjective. I would not like make my opinions sound like facts, unlike some posters I have seen.

 

In the end however you can spoil the game by having so many operating that it does impact adversely on the speed of the game. The simple answer is to play different games with different mods. Good luck with your searches.

[Kevin Woodman]

I believe the GOTY edition has the latest patches, though i may be wrong, the patches are at the main site in the download section the last time i was there.

 

Better Bodies would be one you should get if you want to use a lot of the new clothing mods, not to mention they look way better than the original bodies. http://www.psychodogstudios.net/

That's about all i will recomend, it's your game, do what you want ;)

[Dilvish]

Since you have a good computer, be sure to turn the settings up. Use high resolution, pixel shading, max AI distance and max view distamce. Turn on the real-time shadows.

 

Some mods just fix bugs in the original game. I use Ring Texture Fix and Secret Masters Fix by Shakti. I don't know if the bugs these fix are still in the GOTY version though.

I always have the Real Signposts mod working lately.

 

You could play some without any mods that change the look of the game? Morrowind has a unique dark look that you might enjoy. If you change textures up front, you'll never see how the original textures looked.

 

I agree that better bodies is good for improving the look of the game though. There are NPC Replacer mods that make all the NPCs more attractive too.

 

Load one or a few mods at a time and see how you like the changes. You can turn off any that you don't like. There are utilities like TESTool by Ghostwheel that help reduce conflicts between various mods.

[Switch]

Just remember when adding lots of mods and using high graphics with Morrowind that its engine isn't as well optimised as others, such as the Source engine with Half-Life 2. My computer can run HL2 on full graphics at smooth FPS but Morrowind can still lag, even though it doesn't have shader effects and such. Just try standing on the strider pad at Balmora with full view distance, shadows, 16x AF and 8x AA and you'll see what I mean (unless your PC really is a monster :P).

 

Oh and not forgetting, MW Mythic Mods has some very handy mod lists. But I wouldn't download a ton of the realism mods until you've experienced the normal game.

[edstamos1]

There aren't alot of compiled mods because everyone has a different preference as to what mods are better than others, and there's alot (there are half a dozen or more world texture replacers, and even more localized replacers). For example, I rarely play with Balmora expanded anymore because a lot of the mods included seem out of place (although I have used it and enjoyed it for quite some time - just a change in my taste for plugins).

 

As for what mods to start out with, I'd have to say use better bodies, a basic face replacer (I forget which mod just does a simple retexture of all the faces without drastically changing everyone...), and perhaps the unnofficial patch (bugfixes, spelling corrections, etc). Other than that, nothing! Don't use any gameplay tweaks until you've played the game for a bit (perhaps complete the main quest once first), and definitely don't use any mods that alter the game lore or storyline by adding new races/factions, etc. Get a taste for Bethesda's dream first. Experience their world, and after you've lived a life in their creation, decide on what you'd like to see changed, and find mods or create mods that work to that effect. As you're searching for those, you'll see other peoples creations that may pique your interest. I highly recommend the Less Generic NPC project (LGNPC) after you've played for a bit. Wakim's Game Improvements is another that I recommend after playing a bit, although there's a couple of changes in it that I don't agree with (and come to think of it, I'll fix them later for my game :) ), as well as Morrowind Comes Alive (MCA) (although, the generic names and lack of personality in NPCs is bothersome - if I had the time and an attention span greater than 5 minutes I might want to make my own version of this). I also found Adventurers to be enjoyable, until I got killed by a butterfly that had spawned in town (or just outside and had a large aggro range).

 

Anyway, my attention span has run it's course. I'm off to watch Madlax.

[elderdude111]

you would only need better heads and bodies other than that you don't need anything else cause its all new to you