OpenMW installation guide
Posted: 14 Aug 2017, 16:58
Hi there, I had a little trouble installing OpenMW 0.42.0 because I couldn't find a proper guide for installing this great project. With the help in the forum and 1 youtube video (there aren't much) I could finally manage it and would like to share my experience with you.
Maybe we can work together out an installation guide that can be pinned somewhere. I personally think the wiki is somehow too detailed while the FAQ isn't answering the simple questions when using this project and installing some mods - what I think most of the persons want to do Anyway, here's my guide, feel free to extend or use it.
Getting started:
1. Get a Clean (Re-)Installation of Morrowind (in my case the Gold Edition on Steam)
2. Download OpenMW for your system (for example OS X / Windows). Install it and choose the path of your original Morrowind.esm (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Morrowind\Data Files)
3. Start launcher and test the game
4. If Error "Tribunal.esm needs Morrowind.esm" occures: Open openmw.cfg (in documents/Mygames/OpenMW) and put the existing entry "content=Morrowind.esm" at first place of the contents part.
5. Start the game - it should work
Adjust Graphics:
1. Adjust ingame your resolution and put all water effects to „on“
2. Open "Settings-default.cfg" in the OpenMW install directory and copy the complete text into the "Settings.cfg" (found in Documents/Mygames/OpenMW) . Don't overwrite anything, just put the copied text under the existing.
3. Search for [Input] and delete the second! one (otherwise an error will appear at start)
4. Adjust your graphics: (Feel free to edit the numbers - these are mine for example. And my PC sucks)
- distant terrain = true (always needed!)
- small feature culling pixel size = 5.0 (at which size smaller objects won't appear in distance)
- viewing distance = 12000.0 (it's the distance till the fog appears - just increase it until you see no terrain)
- exterior cell load distance = 3 (the distance in which terrain will appear - HUGE FPS infuencer)
As you see, the last 2 (viewing distance and exterior cell load distance) work together - no need to have terrain rendered thats not in your viewing distance and no need to have viewing distance "behind the horizon"
Install Mods:
1. Create Folder "Data Files" in the installation folder of OpenMW
2. Create a folder for the Mod you want to install (e.g. "Tamriel Rebuild") in Data files
3. Extract the files of your downloaded Mod into the just created Mod folder. Beware that you already created a "Data Files" folder, so open the "Data Files" folder inside an archive (if there is one) and extract these files (like .esp files, Meshes- or Textures Folder).
Example: The Tamriel Rebuild.esp should be in C:\OpenMW 0.42.0\Data Files\Tamriel Rebuild (And not C:\OpenMW 0.42.0\Data Files\Tamriel Rebuild\Data Files)
3. Open openmw.cfg (found in Documents/Mygames/OpenMW) and scroll to the bottom. Close to the bottom are the lines with data="...". Add now the folder of your Mod to the list. For our example Tamriel Rebuild: data="C:\OpenMW 0.42.0\Data Files\Tamriel Rebuild" (with the ""). This is needed so the launcher knows the files he has to registrate.
4. If there is a .bsa file inside the folder of your mod: Open openmw.cfg, scroll to the top. You have to add your wanted .bsa file to the "fallback-archive" lines, e.g. fallback-archive=TR_Data.bsa (This is the name of the Tamriel Rebuild Data bsa-file). Beware that the morrowind.bsa, tribunal.bsa und bloodmon.bsa always have to be at top of your added mods.
5. Start the launcher and select the .esm and .esp files of the mods you want to play with. Beware that this is also a mod-manager where you have to put the files in the right sequence. Start with the original files tribunal.esm and bloodmon.esm, followd by your added .esm files and then your added .esp files. Always esp after esm files!
Maybe we can work together out an installation guide that can be pinned somewhere. I personally think the wiki is somehow too detailed while the FAQ isn't answering the simple questions when using this project and installing some mods - what I think most of the persons want to do Anyway, here's my guide, feel free to extend or use it.
Getting started:
1. Get a Clean (Re-)Installation of Morrowind (in my case the Gold Edition on Steam)
2. Download OpenMW for your system (for example OS X / Windows). Install it and choose the path of your original Morrowind.esm (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Morrowind\Data Files)
3. Start launcher and test the game
4. If Error "Tribunal.esm needs Morrowind.esm" occures: Open openmw.cfg (in documents/Mygames/OpenMW) and put the existing entry "content=Morrowind.esm" at first place of the contents part.
5. Start the game - it should work
Adjust Graphics:
1. Adjust ingame your resolution and put all water effects to „on“
2. Open "Settings-default.cfg" in the OpenMW install directory and copy the complete text into the "Settings.cfg" (found in Documents/Mygames/OpenMW) . Don't overwrite anything, just put the copied text under the existing.
3. Search for [Input] and delete the second! one (otherwise an error will appear at start)
4. Adjust your graphics: (Feel free to edit the numbers - these are mine for example. And my PC sucks)
- distant terrain = true (always needed!)
- small feature culling pixel size = 5.0 (at which size smaller objects won't appear in distance)
- viewing distance = 12000.0 (it's the distance till the fog appears - just increase it until you see no terrain)
- exterior cell load distance = 3 (the distance in which terrain will appear - HUGE FPS infuencer)
As you see, the last 2 (viewing distance and exterior cell load distance) work together - no need to have terrain rendered thats not in your viewing distance and no need to have viewing distance "behind the horizon"
Install Mods:
1. Create Folder "Data Files" in the installation folder of OpenMW
2. Create a folder for the Mod you want to install (e.g. "Tamriel Rebuild") in Data files
3. Extract the files of your downloaded Mod into the just created Mod folder. Beware that you already created a "Data Files" folder, so open the "Data Files" folder inside an archive (if there is one) and extract these files (like .esp files, Meshes- or Textures Folder).
Example: The Tamriel Rebuild.esp should be in C:\OpenMW 0.42.0\Data Files\Tamriel Rebuild (And not C:\OpenMW 0.42.0\Data Files\Tamriel Rebuild\Data Files)
3. Open openmw.cfg (found in Documents/Mygames/OpenMW) and scroll to the bottom. Close to the bottom are the lines with data="...". Add now the folder of your Mod to the list. For our example Tamriel Rebuild: data="C:\OpenMW 0.42.0\Data Files\Tamriel Rebuild" (with the ""). This is needed so the launcher knows the files he has to registrate.
4. If there is a .bsa file inside the folder of your mod: Open openmw.cfg, scroll to the top. You have to add your wanted .bsa file to the "fallback-archive" lines, e.g. fallback-archive=TR_Data.bsa (This is the name of the Tamriel Rebuild Data bsa-file). Beware that the morrowind.bsa, tribunal.bsa und bloodmon.bsa always have to be at top of your added mods.
5. Start the launcher and select the .esm and .esp files of the mods you want to play with. Beware that this is also a mod-manager where you have to put the files in the right sequence. Start with the original files tribunal.esm and bloodmon.esm, followd by your added .esm files and then your added .esp files. Always esp after esm files!