So I have been playing around with this for about a week testing different settings and mods, and hopefully I can shed some light on this for other users--but I am also posting as a request to hopefully get some issues resolved.
It seems that for users of older versions of Android (5+) on less new tablets/phones one of the old apk files is working best of all while the newer versions cause MW to crash upon loading exterior cells. I have tested this with my unrooted tablet which is some generic tablet at Android version 5.1, and the 3-25 version works best overall while all the newer versions cause it to crash as soon as the character steps outside whatsoever.
https://github.com/xyzz/openmw-android/releases
The newer versions allow us to use the ingame keyboard, which allows usage of the console, and also the joystick/mouse controls are far better--and I was hoping maybe we could get some sort of patch for the 3-25 apk which would include these specific functionalities. As far as I can tell everything else ingame is working great for the most part apart from the infrequent crash from using too many spells or using resource heavy mods.
The old 3-25 version has been working so good that I have basically been testing all sorts of mods to see what works well after modifying settings as per some other users recommendations here.
I guess the only other request I can think of is any further optimization ideas, like codes/mods for remove fog/weather and spell effects would be really helpful for us playing on older tablets.
As far as the configuration settings in the openMW cfg files there doesn't seem to be too much we can change in order to squeeze out better performance. Changing the FPS levels or view distance doesn't seem to have any effect, but I still leave view distance down slightly from max. And for new users we have to modify the configuration files in
/sdcard/Android/data/com.libopenmw.openmw/config/openmw
The other cfg file that is settings-default.cfg cannot be edited
I edited my settings.cfg a bit to make future modifications more intuitive, and basically have left anisotropy at 0 and have turned preloading cells off, nothing else seems to make a big difference besides the actual data files for MW.
Code: Select all
#
[Camera]
# Near clipping plane (>0.0, e.g. 0.01 to 18.0).
near clip = 1
# Cull objects that occupy less than 'small feature culling pixel size' on the screen. (true)
small feature culling = true
# 2
small feature culling pixel size = 16
# Maximum visible distance (e.g. 2000.0 to 6666.0). Caution: this setting
# can dramatically affect performance, see documentation for details.(6666.0)
viewing distance = 6167.62
# Camera field of view in degrees (e.g. 30.0 to 110.0).
# Does not affect the player's hands in the first person camera.
field of view = 55.0
# Field of view for first person meshes (i.e. the player's hands)
# Best to leave this at the default since vanilla assets are not complete enough to adapt to high FoV's. Too low FoV would clip the hands off screen.
first person field of view = 55.0
[Cells]
# Adjacent exterior cells loaded (>0). Caution: this setting can
# dramatically affect performance, see documentation for details.
exterior cell load distance = 1
# Preload cells in a background thread. All settings starting with 'preload' have no effect unless this is enabled.(false)
preload enabled = false
# The number of threads to be used for preloading operations.
preload num threads = 1
# Preload adjacent cells when moving close to an exterior cell border.(true)
preload exterior grid = false
# Preload possible fast travel destinations.
preload fast travel = false
# Preload the locations that doors lead to. (true)
preload doors = false
# Preloading distance threshold
preload distance = 1000
# Controls whether or not the nodes/collision shapes are pre-"instanced" (i.e. cloned) when a cell is preloaded.
# Enabling this option slightly reduces the time it takes to transition into a preloaded cell, but also results in higher memory usage
# proportional to the number of cells that are preloaded.(true)
preload instances = false
# The minimum amount of cells in the preload cache before unused cells start to get thrown out (see "preload cell expiry delay").
# This value should be lower or equal to 'preload cell cache max'.(12)
preload cell cache min = 7
# The maximum amount of cells in the preload cache. A too high value could cause you to run out of memory.
# You may need to reduce this setting when running lots of mods or high-res texture replacers.(20)
preload cell cache max = 7
# How long to keep preloaded cells in cache after they're no longer referenced/required (in seconds)
preload cell expiry delay = 5
# The predicted position of the player N seconds in the future will be used for preloading cells and distant terrain
prediction time = 1
# How long to keep models/textures/collision shapes in cache after they're no longer referenced/required (in seconds)
cache expiry delay = 5
# Affects the time to be set aside each frame for graphics preloading operations (60)
target framerate = 60
# The count of pointers, that will be saved for a faster search by object ID.
pointers cache size = 40
[Video]
resolution x=1920
resolution y=1128
[Input]
camera sensitivity = 0.4
toggle sneak = true
always run = false
[GUI]
# Scales GUI window and widget size. (<1.0 is smaller, >1.0 is larger).(1)
scaling factor=2
# Transparency of GUI windows (0.0 to 1.0, transparent to opaque).
menu transparency = 0.84
# Time until tool tip appears when hovering over an object (0.0 is
# instantly, 1.0 is the maximum delay of about 1.5 seconds).
tooltip delay = 0.0
# Stretch menus, load screens, etc. to the window aspect ratio.
stretch menu background = true
# Subtitles for NPC spoken dialog and some sound effects.
subtitles = true
# Red flash visually showing player damage.
hit fader = true
# Werewolf overlay border around screen or window.
werewolf overlay = true
# Color for tool tips and crosshair when owned by an NPC (R G B A).
color background owned = 0.15 0.0 0.0 1.0
color crosshair owned = 1.0 0.15 0.15 1.0
# Controls whether Arrow keys, Movement keys, Tab/Shift-Tab and Spacebar/Enter/Activate may be used to navigate GUI buttons.
keyboard navigation = true
[HUD]
# Displays the crosshair or reticle when not in GUI mode.
crosshair = true
[Game]
# Color crosshair and tool tip when object is owned by an NPC. (O is
# no color, 1 is tool tip only, 2 is crosshair only, and 3 is both).
show owned = 0
# Show damage bonus of arrow and bolts.
show projectile damage = true
# Show additional melee weapon info: reach and attack speed
show melee info = true
# Show success probability in self-enchant dialog
show enchant chance = true
# Always use the best mode of attack: e.g. chop, slash or thrust.
best attack = false
# Difficulty. Expressed as damage dealt and received. (e.g. -100 to 100).
difficulty = 0
# Replicate how reflected "absorb attribute" spells do not have any effect in Morrowind engine. The caster absorbs the attribute from themselves.
classic reflect absorb attribute behavior = true
# Show duration of magic effect and lights in the spells window.
show effect duration = true
# Prevents merchants from equipping items that are sold to them.
prevent merchant equipping = true
# Make enchanted weaponry without Magical flag bypass normal weapons resistance
enchanted weapons are magical = true
# Makes player followers and escorters start combat with enemies who have started combat with them
# or the player. Otherwise they wait for the enemies or the player to do an attack first.
followers attack on sight = false
# Can loot non-fighting actors during death animation
can loot during death animation = true
# Let the game use more complex and slower bounding capsule for actors. Disabling forces a simple bounding box.
allow capsule shape = true
[General]
# Anisotropy reduces distortion in textures at low angles (e.g. 0 to 16).(4)
anisotropy = 0
# File format for screenshots. (jpg, png, tga, and possibly more).
screenshot format = png
# Texture magnification filter type. (nearest or linear).
texture mag filter = nearest
# Texture minification filter type. (nearest or linear).
texture min filter = nearest
# Texture mipmap type. (none, nearest, or linear).
texture mipmap = nearest
A lot of addons or mods to the game can overwhelm the resources, so I thought I would post some of the better ones I have found after lots of testing.
These can be found mostly at nexusmods.com or mw.modhistory.com is also good
Accurate Attack
Better Bodies ZW (the original has an exe but there is a different version that installs easily=nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/42395)
Chargen Revamp (for alternative start, good for trouble shooting)
Natural Healing
Real Sign Posts
Maxed Out Attribute modifiers
Morrowind Optimization Patch (Must have for FPS boost/stability)
Wizardly Wardrobe V2(gives nice items for flying, run speed, good for troubleshooting and fun(it's on modhistory))
*Edit* finally found a good weather modification mod, this one makes the world eternally sunny and is working great so far...
Eternally Sunny Weather (http://mw.modhistory.com/download--995)
So there are a variety of mods that aren't resource intensive which can make the game really enjoyable. I tried many others which proved to be too unstable for enjoyable play, so I am still on the hunt for any other optimization ideas from you guys if you find any.
A list of good command line modifiers for the apk would be really helpful, and anything for reducing magic effects or weather would make the game a lot easier to play enjoyably. And of course a patch for the 3-25 apk to add the similar functionality(joystick/mouse/keyboard) of the newer versions would make it playable overall whereas now it's cumbersome after so long.
I just want to point out again that none of this would be possible if not for the folks at openMW.org and you guys deserve all of our appreciation for the great work you guys do. Honestly, if this game was working really well on Android it would be the best game on Android without any doubt compared to all the crappy apps that are p2p--and that is thanks to you guys. I hope to support the project in the future in any way I can, but for now I am stuck without the usage of my computer, so have been doing it all from my unrooted tablet which is pretty impressive after all...