[QUESTION] Mod Guide

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Undeadenemy
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Joined: 26 Mar 2019, 22:55

[QUESTION] Mod Guide

Post by Undeadenemy »

Hello All,

First, apologies if this topic is redundant or otherwise out of place. I browsed the forums, did some googling, read the "Read This First" sections, checked the wiki, etc, and did not find an answer to this specific question.

Second, I haven't played Morrowind in over a decade. My last Oblivion run was about a year or two ago, so I'm familiar with the problems inherent in trying to compile a "Mod Guide" (everyone differs on what is essential). Still though, the information is out there in various forms, though this being OpenMW complicates things slightly, so I have to ask:

Can someone compile a list for those of us who took advantage of Bethesda's recent sale, that are returning after a LONG time away? Obviously, as this is the OpenMW forum, only including items that work with OpenMW? Specifically, something broken down into sections such as:

Quality of Life
UI/Graphics
Gameplay Tweaks
Content Expansions

Maybe each with links to the Nexus/whatever datastore to retrieve them, as well as a brief description of why this mod was chosen (when it's a matter of debate, providing the alternative with the same and clearly indicating it as such would be nice too). I know this is asking a lot, but I'm sure there are lots of players just like me, especially after yesterday. Sure I could start myself by going to Nexus and looking at the Most Popular All Time category, but I have zero information about compatibility, and I haven't followed the Morrowind mod scene AT ALL in a decade.

Any help that can be provided is appreciated. Also, as a hint to the moderators, any such list would probably do well as a sticky for those who want a little more than stock out of Morrowind (which I would say is probably anyone here since we've all downloaded an entirely different engine to run the game in).

Thanks again.
1Mac
Posts: 62
Joined: 20 Feb 2019, 19:50

Re: [QUESTION] Mod Guide

Post by 1Mac »

https://modding-openmw.com

Also, while they have some mods that don’t work with OpenMW, I’ve found these guides really useful:

https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/Mo ... hics_guide
https://github.com/Tyler799/Morrowind-2 ... nd_2019.md

Last, this is a good guide for getting the most out of normal maps:
https://openmw.readthedocs.io/en/stable ... _mods.html
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silentthief
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Location: Currently traversing the Ascadian Isles

Re: [QUESTION] Mod Guide

Post by silentthief »

Its also worth mentioning that theoretically most non-MWSE things should work without issue, but if there is an issue or incompatibility then please let us know.

ST
Undeadenemy
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Joined: 26 Mar 2019, 22:55

Re: [QUESTION] Mod Guide

Post by Undeadenemy »

Thank you for the replies. That website is pretty nice, having a database of compatible mods and all. And I hear you SilentThief when you say that most things should be compatible. One I will quote from the Github article though:
"As well: While many of the mods here may be compatible with OpenMW, many are not. Do not attempt to follow this guide with OpenMW! It is an amazing accomplishment by the community, but this guide is not attuned to it."
But I think I should rephrase my question:

Given all the available options, which mods would long term Morrowind who use OpenMW players actually recommend? As in, how do you actually play Morrowind here on OpenMW? Or maybe a better version: What are 5-10 mods that you absolutely won't play Morrowind without?

Should we go with Tamriel Rebuilt? Morrowind Rebirth? Can we use both at the same time? What about Gameplay tweaks? Graphics enhancements? There might be 15 different variations on "Swords Always Hit" but does it matter which one I grab? Obviously we're going to be staying away from the Graphics extenders and 4GB patches and the like, since we're using a different engine.
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Jemolk
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Re: [QUESTION] Mod Guide

Post by Jemolk »

I actually quite like vanilla Morrowind combat, so I have no idea which of the always-hit mods would be preferred. My main gripe with it is that there are no dodge animations to give actual visual feedback when you miss. I'd love to make a mod that has enemies you miss duck back and to the side for a moment; I think that would be a better improvement to Morrowind combat than any of the other things we've seen. Alas, it doesn't seem to be doable yet.

For things I would always recommend, Tamriel Rebuilt is #1 on that list. The LGNPC collection is #2, the whole thing, but be aware that it can be pretty buggy with OpenMW due to shoddy scripting that the vanilla compiler accepted but OpenMW does not. If you're planning on playing a Telvanni character, the holy trinity of Telvanni mods is Uvirith's Legacy, Building Up Uvirith's Legacy (an edited version of Building Up Uvirith's Grave to be compatible with Uvirith's Legacy), and Rise of House Telvanni. RoHT is the most controversial on the list due to certain...rather awkward, potentially (and in some cases, actually) lore-breaking dialogue, but the quests are well done, and if you want to take over all of Vvardenfell for the Telvanni with you at the top, RoHT lets you do it. The hazard here is, of course, that you'll end up like me and never be able to play as another Great House! :lol:

Other things I'd consider essential would be a level-up altering mod. Graywander made one for OpenMW called Natural Character Growth and Decay which is rather nice and remarkably customizable, but which I'm not using right now because the way it works, you can wind up with Personality so high that no NPC enemies will ever attack you without being taunted or something. Bandits cheerfully greeting me walking into their cave hideout isn't what I signed up for when I installed a levelling mod. My own preference here is Talrivian's State-Based HP combined with Linora's Levelling Mod, of which I use the "easy" version. Both are found on Morrowind Modding History. Talrivian's State-Based HP esssentially makes all relevant attribute increases retroactively increase your health to what it would have been if you had had those attributes at game start. Linora's Levelling Mod has several versions, all of which alter the attribute multipliers on levelup. "Hard" essentially sets a minimum of a x3 multiplier on anything you've raised a governed skill under by at least one point. "Medium" has it at x4. In both cases, if you raise skills by enough to have gotten a higher multiplier in vanilla, you get it here as well. "Easy" removes the min-maxing entirely, which is why I use it, by having all multipliers be x5. LLM also makes Misc skills slower to level as a balance to this.

Beyond that, I recommend something to de-generify the guards. I use Imperial Presence, but it only does this for Imperial Guards, and is potentially more intrusive than some, since it also expands guard quarters and adds more guards, and some Imperial Archers, to Imperial Legion forts. There are numerous other options for guard diveristy as well, and it all really comes down to taste.
1Mac
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Joined: 20 Feb 2019, 19:50

Re: [QUESTION] Mod Guide

Post by 1Mac »

I haven’t tried it, but it’s fair to say LGNPC has its share of detractors, fyi.
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sirherrbatka
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Re: [QUESTION] Mod Guide

Post by sirherrbatka »

Bandits cheerfully greeting me walking into their cave hideout isn't what I signed up for when I installed a levelling mod.
I love the idea. The fact that everything wants to murder you in the morrowind with total disregard for it's own life is just stupid. Now I would just want a way to convince those folks to actually help me fighting when i have to and i would enjoy the game way more.
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silentthief
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Re: [QUESTION] Mod Guide

Post by silentthief »

sirherrbatka wrote: 28 Mar 2019, 08:16 The fact that everything wants to murder you in the morrowind with total disregard for it's own life is just stupid.
I had a few ideas for making combat more realistic, and number one was to have creatures/characters run away more often. Self preservation is not something that ONLY the player should do. Think about it - who wouldn't evade and/or beg for help when some stranger walks up and starts whacking at you with a sword. I imagine it may make certain battles more tedious, for the sniveling bad guy who keeps running away and trying to get guards to stop you from killing him.
sirherrbatka wrote: 28 Mar 2019, 08:16 Now I would just want a way to convince those folks to actually help me fighting when i have to and i would enjoy the game way more.
The idea of recruiting people is something they do with the companion mods, and I thought it would be great to get a small army of followers (since it's Morrowind, it would be all "Jim Jones" style)

ST the koolaid man
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Jemolk
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Re: [QUESTION] Mod Guide

Post by Jemolk »

sirherrbatka wrote: 28 Mar 2019, 08:16
Bandits cheerfully greeting me walking into their cave hideout isn't what I signed up for when I installed a levelling mod.
I love the idea. The fact that everything wants to murder you in the morrowind with total disregard for it's own life is just stupid. Now I would just want a way to convince those folks to actually help me fighting when i have to and i would enjoy the game way more.
Oh yeah, it's absolutely fair, I just find it bizarre that rather than being afraid of you or something, maybe offering you something to let them go, the bandits assume you're their good friend. The cheer with which they greet me is something I find objectionable, not really the fact that they don't attack me on sight.
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