The topic of TES III: Morrowind was recently broached over at my friend Nos' Blog, at which point it occurred to me that I haven't so much as even looked at one of my old favorite games in almost exactly a year. I also realized that I've only passingly spoken of it here, so I thought I should do at least a quick little post here revisiting this great game.
While Morrowind doesn't live up to the visual tastes of many of today's gamers, the popular opinion amongst fans of the Elder Scrolls series of games seems to be that Morrowind remains one of the best and most intricate of the lot in terms of writing and storytelling. To this day I've never actually finished the entire game, so I decided that while my mind was on it I should re-install the game on my "new" PC. Which reminded me...
For those of you not satisfied with the appearance of the original game there are many ways to improve it, including getting it to fit on a widescreen monitor. Essential to this is the Morrowind Graphics Extender, which will allow one to do a number of groovy things like expand the fullscreen resolution, eliminate that annoying fog that always surrounds us, generate distant landscapes and extend the view distance as far as your computer can handle.
For lovers of mods, there are tons of them for Morrowind. These days some of the sites that once hosted Morrowind mods have fallen into disrepair, plagued by dead-end links and simple lack of attention, but a few quality sites remain. Morrowind Modding History, Planet Elders Srolls, Morrowind Nexus and TES Files are the first places I'd check when looking for a Morrowind mod. There are also several extensive lists...
And if that ain't good enough for ya, there's also an ambitious ongoing project called Open MW that intends to rework the entire game with a new engine!
So if you're finding yourself bored with today's games and want to look at a classic that has been given several new twists, grab a copy of Morrowind dirt cheap (or not so cheap) from just about anywhere, download a few cool enhancements and see for yourself exactly where Oblivion and Skyrim came from.
OpenMW looks very interesting, I've been keeping my eye on it for a while now. And you're not the only one who needs to get to the end of the main quest, I really should reinstall it since I got an SSD.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the distant land, I personally prefer to have fog at a moderate distance since perfectly clear vision to the edge of the world feels artificial.
BTW, the Steam version of Morrowind doesn't come with the Construction Kit, though the OpenMW team is working on that too.
I agree with you on the view distance issue. When I first started experimenting with the MGE I was thrilled that I could see all of Vivec from the port of Seyda Neen, but especially after installing a few improved texture packs that became a bit much for my framerate so I reduced it just a tad. Still, after having played this way on the PC when I see my brother playing the XBox version of the GOTY it looks to me like his avatar is constantly swimming in milk. (You remember my brother; "All mods are cheats!")
DeleteY'know, you're not helping my backlog here.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't finished Skyrim's main quest (haven't even picked up Dawnguard yet -- figure I'll wait on a GotY edition and buy a second copy like I usually do); nor Lonesome Road for FNV; nor even Broken Steel and Mothership Zeta for FO3 -- and now you've got me thinking about Morrowind.
As I said over on my own blog, I tried Morrowind back shortly after picking up Oblivion and didn't like it at all... but in retrospect I really don't think I gave it a fair shot; treating it Oblivion with earlier graphics rather than a game all its own.
Biggest thing keeping me from picking it up now though is that by most accounts I've read, half or more of the best mods for Morrowind are just gone. Either the author(s) ragequit for this or that (and took their ball with them when they went home); or the mod bought it when PES or one of the other databases went under. Seems like it would be a bit of a mess unless you picked it up when it was popular and had all the good old mods stashed away someplace.
I also hear it runs like ass on new hardware (something about no support for multicores?) but since my little eMachine here would have to get an upgrade to be able to toast bread, that probably wouldn't be a huge issue for me.
Well, my current backup folder of all my Morrowind mods is only 5.23 GB; it would be easy enough to share it in increments via DropBox if you actually get the notion to play.
DeleteAs for the multicore processors thing, each time I run NWN after the game starts I use the Windows Task Manager to tell the program to use all available processors and then the game runs like a racehorse. This method might work with Morrowind as well; I'll experiment and get back to you.
"This method might work with Morrowind as well; I'll experiment and get back to you."
DeleteI appreciate the thought, but I'm still rolling a single-core; which is why I wasn't too worried about the lack of support for new hardware.
Wow... even my old Dell has a hyper-threaded CPU. The fact that you get all those other Bethesda games to run surely is a testimony to your alliance with the Dark Powers-That-Be...
Delete"The fact that you get all those other Bethesda games to run surely is a testimony to your alliance with the Dark Powers-That-Be... "
DeleteWhat can I say? It's all about knowing who to sell your soul to.
Don't misunderstand, though -- it's a total fringe benefit. I don't like playing PC games enough to sell the soul just for that, mind you.
I've played thru Morrowind several times, and never felt the need for installing mods (unlike Oblivion which I found almost unplayable without certain mods). Yes, Morrowind is that good :p
ReplyDeleteAnyway, since you seem to have tried a few mods (well, 5.23 GB seems to be more than just a few, unless it's all textures), can you recommend any? I don't need any hi-res texture packs or boob mods though. I took a quick look at the Morrowind Nexus but the only interesting mod I've seen so far was the Silt Strider mod.
I can share some of my favorites with you, gladly. I'm on my way out to work right now though, so I'll catch up with you via email later and we can discuss the details.
DeleteI still have not even installed Morrowind, let alone played it,even though I have a copy of it. Given my interest in combining games in the same world as it were (RFCW for FO3/NV, for example), I was thinking on finally playing Morrowind while running Morroblivion. Unfortunately, like Requiem for the Capitol Wasteland (and Two Worlds as well), Bethesda ordered the project shut down while it was on the Nexus. Fortunately though, the Morroblivion team just moved the project to a new site.
ReplyDeleteLike Nos, I am playing my games on a system that has but one CPU, and I can even play Skyrim with the graphics setting on high. The frame rate runs between 15 to 20 fps, but it is not unplayable. The system handles Mass Effects 2 and 3 quite well also. *shrugs*
The last time I tried it, that whole Morroblivion thing was unplayable; have they made any progress?
DeleteFrom what I understand, yes. The last time I checked (about two or three months ago) the project was not yet finished, but they were close to it. If I can find the desire to actually play anything, let alone install it, I will let you know how it goes. After all, like RFCW, there is no need for both of us to download and be disappointed, now is there? ;)
DeleteCome to think of it, I believe the Morroblivion team is in the early stages of incorporating Morrowind and Oblivion with Skyrim. Ambitious bunch, are they not?
Yes, I saw mention of "Skywind" and "Skyblivion" as well.
DeleteI think my next modding project will be either "Doomwind", "Doomblivion" or "Skydoom".
No, wait! "Doomwinter Nights"!
XD
Enter appropriate Deekin bard song here XD
ReplyDelete