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Mended Morrowind: A purist Morrowind guide

Sigourn

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Hello everyone. My name is Lucas. I've been playing Bethesda games since Skyrim (2014), Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas (2015) and Morrowind (2015). Since 2015, Fallout: New Vegas and Morrowind have been the two open world RPGs I love to play the most, and the ones I have modded the most.

Today I bring you Mending Morrowind, a guide for those who are only interested in fixing Morrowind's bugs and calling it a day. This guide is meant to replace the outdated Vanilla Morrowind Improved guide. My Mending Morrowind guide is designed with Mod Organizer 2 in mind, but it isn't particularly needed. It includes basic tips on how to use Mod Organizer 2's features, as well as detailed instructions on the use of the Morrowind Code Patch and the Morrowind Graphics Extender. Everything from high quality vanilla textures, bug fixes, optimization, expansion implemented, and official plugins patched are covered.

I hope this guide is of use to you!
 
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Sigourn

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From what I remember, my main problem with Morrowind was that the UI had a separate window for almost everything.

Unfortunately I'm not aware of any mod that fixes this. UI mods focus on replacing the existing UI textures, and I wanted to leave those for the second part of my guide.
 

Sigourn

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From what I remember, my main problem with Morrowind was that the UI had a separate window for almost everything.

Unfortunately I'm not aware of any mod that fixes this. UI mods focus on replacing the existing UI textures, and I wanted to leave those for the second part of my guide.
When will you be posting that?

The second part of the guide consists of 53 mods, and will get some time to get going, with me returning to college in two days. If you are interesting in the UI mods only and have some Morrowind modding experience, then these are the four UI mods included in the guide:

- Arukinns Better UI
- Better Dialogue Font
- Modern User Interface
- Ultimate Icon Replacer

Fairly straightforward mods to install. Modern User Interface will replace what the main interface will look like, Better Dialogue Font takes care of the font, and Ultimate Icon Replacer takes care of the icons. Only the following files should be installed from Arukinns Better UI mod:

- Data Files\Textures\scroll.dds
- Data Files\Textures\tx_menubook.dds
- Data Files\Textures\tx_menubook_bookmark.dds

I would have included those in the vanilla guide, but when it comes to UI it's less about straight-forward improvements (minus Better Dialogue Font, of course) and more about personal taste.
 

Sigourn

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For ease of reading I just moved the guide to Google Docs. There are two things left to be done:
  • Finish Mod Organizer 2 installation.
  • .ini editing section.
  • MGE XE installation and setup section for vanilla experience. This means basic stuff like high resolution and not much more.
I removed quite a bit of unnecessary info that cluttered it up, but added a big section regarding basics of modding Morrowind.
 

Sigourn

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Could you consider adding optional Sharped / Styled / Brushed textures?

For this particular guide, I don't think so. For part 2 it is a possibility, yeah. Nothing stops you from using those mods with this guide at the moment: just install them after Morrowind Uncompressed Vanilla Textures. Only 10 files or so will conflict. But I will make proper patches for part 2.

I just updated the guide with Mod Organizer 2 and MGE XE installation instructions. Only minor .ini edits left to make this guide complete.
 

Sigourn

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Also, what do you think about mods that alter the leveling system? Any of them worth mentioning?

BTB's Game Improvements is the mod I recommend. It will be featured in the second part of the guide.

Thing is, BTB is the only person, to my knowledge, that actually bothered to OVERHAUL Morrowind. However, many of his changes are questionable if you think Morrowind's retarded balance is something to be proud of. I personally think BTB rebalanced the game and made it much more fun (as opposed to Sawyer's no-fun-allowed rebalance). "Morrowind Game Overhaul" is a different rebalance mod that can be found on the Nexus. It makes far less changes by comparison, but it adjusts some things that people constantly complained about.

To draw a comparison:
  1. Whenever BTB modified a major mechanic, he left no stone unturned. He understood mechanics don't exist in a vacuum and they are part of a greater whole.
  2. Morrowind Game Overhaul, on the other hand, lets you regenerate Magicka. Nothing else was changed to address this fact.
I do believe not every mechanic needs to be connected with every other mechainc. But regenerating magicka is a huge deal.
 
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Dawkinsfan69

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BTB is ok but Morrowind has so many issues that no mod can fix it without requiring like a full team and thousands of hours of editing.

If you're playing for the first time it's probably best to just play without "balance" changes/overhauls because the problems aren't really apparent until you've spent a lot of time in the game OR looked up exploits on forums or wikis.. And if you know all that stuff it's probably time to move on to another game really.

GCD is good for a first time playthrough though so you don't need to worry about stat allocation and such after you've made your char.
 

Sigourn

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BTB is ok but Morrowind has so many issues that no mod can fix it without requiring like a full team and thousands of hours of editing.

It's true, but BTB's mod really gets rid of the major issues Morrowind has IMO. Unless we consider the core gameplay loop and combat itself issues that need to be fixed.

Speaking about gameplay, the second part of the guide will have no new mechanics at all. I've seen a lot of cool mods on Nexus, but from what I undestand Morrowind isn't anywhere near close to New Vegas when it comes to mod complexity and stability. As such, I can't in good faith recommend any of those mods. BTB simply touches what is already in the game, and that's really what I feel comfortable with. However, if this is people's first time with Morrowind, then by all means I recommend they don't use any of the rebalance mods I will suggest.
 

Don Peste

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I haven't played in a long time, and I never finished it, so yes, it will be like my first playthrough. I won't use any of those mods then.
At first I was worried about stat allocation, not making the optimal choices... But then everybody says that no matter what you end up being overpowered... So I guess that even if I mess up a bit, it won't matter much.

And I'm not interested in breaking the economy or cheating. Just having fun with spellmaking and stuff.
 

Sigourn

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I haven't played in a long time, and I never finished it, so yes, it will be like my first playthrough. I won't use any of those mods then.
At first I was worried about stat allocation, not making the optimal choices... But then everybody says that no matter what you end up being overpowered... So I guess that even if I mess up a bit, it won't matter much.

And I'm not interested in breaking the economy or cheating. Just having fun with spellmaking and stuff.

It's funny that you post this since I'm thinking whether to include these mods in my guide or not. I avoid recommending mods I'm not 100% sure about, so I'm guessing those will stay away for the moment until I change my mind (most likely by editing a couple of those mods myself).

Of all balance mods, there are two that I will feel 100% comfortable recommending if I fix their issues.
  1. HotFusion's Economy Adjuster's Merchant plugin modifies merchant's mercantile and speechcraft skills to fix some issues with the game. I need to see for myself if the Morrowind Code Patch renders this mod unnecessary. The issue is as follows: at high Merchant skills, you are essentially able to buy something for X price and sell it for X+Y price, meaning you can make infinite money. Which doesn't make much sense.
  2. Service Requirements (BTB Edit) requires you to join and progress through factions to access their services. But the "surcharge" method that allows you to pay for services is very wonky, so I need to see if I can edit an older version uploaded on the Nexus to introduce all the other things BTB added into the mod (so that it wasn't that punishing when used alongside his Game Improvements).
In addition I would love to aim for Tamriel Rebuilt compatibility. Of all the mods in my guides, five of them are incompatible and simultaneously not recommended to uninstall. Three of them are balance mods, with the remaining two being readable signposts and unique book covers (the latter of which I'm also considering to remove from the guide).
 
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Don Peste

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You say you want to offer the best vanilla Morrowind experience, free of bugs and stability issues, while staying faithful to the vanilla game's looks and mechanics and that makes it a very interesting guide, and thankfully it saves you from having to install and configure a hundred mods or more.

Mods that change the original mechanics might be interesting too, but in an optional section.

Maybe it would be better to have a brief guide that provides a few suggestions on levelling (to help coping with OCD and "I have to min/max everythinngg"), instead of having to use mods to change the system.
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
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You say you want to offer the best vanilla Morrowind experience, free of bugs and stability issues, while staying faithful to the vanilla game's looks and mechanics and that makes it a very interesting guide, and thankfully it saves you from having to install and configure a hundred mods or more.

Mods that change the original mechanics might be interesting too, but in an optional section.

Maybe it would be better to have a brief guide that provides a few suggestions on levelling (to help coping with OCD and "I have to min/max everythinngg"), instead of having to use mods to change the system.

The second half of the guide is optional in its entirety: since mods don't rely on each other to work (with the exception of the three balance mods) it's up to the player to decide what to install. Of course, it's true that I don't feel anywhere near as comfortable recommending balance mods compared to, say, MGE XE Distant Land. I will probably separate them in an optional section as you say.
 

fast

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I'm about halfway-ish through your guide. Gotta say, it's definitely one of the better written I've seen. I've been looking for something like this for ages.

That said, I have some questions:
  • Page 9: you say that there are two downloads available for the "Patch for Purists" and as far as I can tell, there is only one. Is this a mistake on your end, or did the author take it down / combine it with the main download? Is this a necessary download?
  • Same general area: You say to delete all meshes beginning with _Flora - is this case-sensitive
I always get hung up on tiny details like these.
 

fast

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Page 9: you say that there are two downloads available for the "Patch for Purists" and as far as I can tell, there is only one. Is this a mistake on your end, or did the author take it down / combine it with the main download? Is this a necessary download?

Nevermind, I should have googled that before asking.

That said, you might want to add a link for the boneheads like me.
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
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Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,624
I'm about halfway-ish through your guide. Gotta say, it's definitely one of the better written I've seen. I've been looking for something like this for ages.

That said, I have some questions:
  • Page 9: you say that there are two downloads available for the "Patch for Purists" and as far as I can tell, there is only one. Is this a mistake on your end, or did the author take it down / combine it with the main download? Is this a necessary download?
  • Same general area: You say to delete all meshes beginning with _Flora - is this case-sensitive
I always get hung up on tiny details like these.

Sorry, I've just seen this.
  1. The author found a few issues with the official add-ons patch and pulled it down momentarily. I'm not sure when it is going to be up again.
  2. Nope. What matters is that those meshes begin with "Flora_". This is because those meshes belong to a mod that the author will be removing in a future update (who knows when it is coming, so better do this ourselves for the time being).
I suggest you don't use the link you posted recently, and wait until Half11 re-uploads the patched add-ons.
 

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