Installing OpenMW Separately from Morrowind?

[DreamBliss]

Is it possible to have Morrowind remain unaltered and install OpenMW separately, just pointing it to the files? Or does it somehow alter the Morrowind files? Is there any way to have OpenMW and Morrowind running on the same machine separately, without the use of a VM or anything like that?

I read the little guide, but it had no info on this. I want OpenMW and Morrowind to be separately playable entities that do not alter each other.

[1Zero]

OpenMW just reads the master files (and plugins) from vanilla Morrowind's data folder - It uses Morrowind's assets. It also needs the Morrowind config files for initial setup. It does not alter any files, it sets up its own configuration files. You can run them both separately.

[CMAugust]

Yes, the installs are completely separate. The only interaction between Morrowind and OpenMW is during the very first install process when you import the morrowind.ini as fallback settings. None of the Morrowind files are touched, and you can run both programs not just separately but concurrently. I have two Morrowind installs (Steam/GoG) and about a dozen OpenMW installs on the same computer for testing purposes.

[DreamBliss]

AWESOME!

Thanks for the encouraging and speedy reply! I am looking forward to playing around with OpenMW!

[AnyOldName3]

It's worth noting, though, that if you install mods into regular Morrowind (and don't use MO2 to do it) they'll affect OpenMW, too.

[DreamBliss]

Are there details anywhere regarding this? I was going to use a mod manager anyway, but this is all new territory for me.

[AnyOldName3]

On our side, there's https://openmw.readthedocs.io/en/master ... index.html.

MO2, which is the mod manager I'd recommend, has a wiki on its GitHub page, plenty of detail on its Nexus page, and also lots of helpful videos on YouTube (which should be linked from the Nexus page).

If you use MO2, this plugin https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/45642 will make it possible for OpenMW to see MO2's virtual file system even when MO2 isn't running.