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(Re)installing Morrowind: Updates and Revisions 1

Categories:

Games, Morrowind, Morrowind Addons, The Elder Scrolls

January 14, 2017

You probably all thought I was dead, but I reloaded my last save and here I am.

By the Nine, it feels good to be working on this again. I’ll dispense with the explanations, but not a single day has gone by in which I haven’t thought about this blog and how badly I need to get back to it. I have had Part 13 sitting unfinished in my drafts for over a year. A YEAR! Talos forgive me.

During my hiatus, new mods have been released, others have been updated, problems have surfaced, solutions have been found, and thanks to actually having active readers commenting, I’ve pinpointed some weaknesses in my earlier entries that I now plan to address.

As I go back and start editing, I’m going to sum up my revisions for those who have been following along and already completed the previous steps.

Completed Revisions – Last Updated May 1st, 2017

Part 1 (revision complete):

  • Morrowind is now available on GOG.com, and not only is it completely moddable, it also includes free copies of previous Elder Scrolls games Arena and Daggerfall!

Part 3 (revision complete):

  • MCP has updated to 2.3. I’ve reorganized this entry to reflect that, complete with a new screenshot.
  • The color of the listed MCP options has been changed to not look like links (rookie error)! I probably don’t even need to mention this, but hey.
  • I should also explain the morrowind.ini file as it needs to be edited in this step. I was going to explain it more later, but ended up editing it anyway in Part 10 without having ever introduced it, so I may as well bring it up now. (added)
  • “Eventual link to beast race explanation.” (This was in my notes and now I have no idea what I was talking about *facepalm* Probably something to do with their digitigrade walking that was removed in later ES games, but I haven’t a clue at this time what I was going to link to.)
  • I also really need to address the EXE Optimizer. My logic for leaving it out to begin with was shaky at best. (added but I could probably go a little more in-depth with instructions, if needed)

Part 5 (revision complete):

  • I need to edit this post because version 2.3 of the Morrowind Code Patch redates the .bsa files for you, rendering this step unnecessary, but we’ll still need to redate files later on for other mods. I should mention Wrye Mash as being able to re-date files but say I’m going into detail with it later because it can scare new players. I was saving it for later for this very reason, but I DO have some readers who are already knowledgeable about modding. (added)
  • This is a good place to explain the “Master file has changed, continue running executable” error, which someone already asked about, and for some dumb reason I didn’t bother explaining in the first place. (added)

From enderdrag64:

  • “Huskobar’s mod GOTY Script Tidy cleans up some of Morrowind’s scripts and claims to boost performance too. Sadly, it’s only been updated for MPP 1.6.4, however installing GOTYFullTidySomeMPP.esm in your load order BEFORE MPP 1.6.6 should allow at least some of it’s formatting changes to work – http://mw.modhistory.com/download-68-6445 (added)
  • Script Improvements by Grond1911 works to fix some issues in scripts leftover after MPP 1.6.6, and should be after in the load order too – http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/43828/?” (added)

Unfinished Revisions

Part 7:

  • Make a small mention of how Robert’s Bodies may replace Better Bodies in the future, but for now it kind of has too many incompatibilities for brand new users who want to explore mods. (added)
  • I also fixed a weird link that worked anyway…

From enderdrag64:

Part 8: I need to do some rewriting to address the following mods:

Robe Overhaul(?) http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/43748/?

Better Morrowind Armor has some fixes available!! https://www.dropbox.com/s/eazzjncqmyzigzt/BMADwemerBootsAndIronGreavesFix.zip?dl=0
There’s also a rumor that the mod has some dirty edits but I think that’s a misunderstanding. Will investigate.`

Tyddy retextured outlander armors: http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/44210/?

What about HiRez – Native Styles? www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/41947/?

Colovian helm? The boots don’t look like leather though. www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/43330/?

From enderdrag64:

“Better Morrowind Armor has a fix by nerevar009 for stretches on the Dwemer Boots and the Iron Greaves – https://www.dropbox.com/s/eazzjncqmyzigzt/BMADwemerBootsAndIronGreavesFix.zip?dl=0

Darknut’s Armor Textures has a newer version, 1.2, that fixes a bug with transparency on tx_a_imperialchain_f_c.dds – http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/43416/?

 

Part 9: Crossbows has updated to 1.32 but I’m not sure if we’re using the parts that updated; I’ll look into that.

There’s also a crossbow replacer www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/27280/? that we may use instead of parts of Crossbows?

Part 10: Mesh Improvements Optimized has updated to 1.4 and may now conflict with or replace mesh replacers for Dwemer items

Look into Rudy’s comment about Correct Meshes. It has updated.

Part 11: A Stronghold retexture has been released!

Look into CreeperLava’s post about a landscape retexture by Tyddy.

Also look into “Papill6n various graphics things” as suggested by Danjb.

Tyddy has also released Arkitektora mods for Imperial architecture AND Dwemer ruins!

Imperial may or may not be better than the ones we’re using, but it will be simpler to install for sure. Look into it.

Tyddy’s Dwemer retexture is a complete retexture for Dwemer armor and weapons as well, so we may end up using it for those too; need to see when the best time is to install the entire thing.

Part 12: Mourning of Bamz-Amschend may no longer be needed thanks to Tyddy’s Dwemer stuff.

Other updates

I am probably going to need to take a ton of new screenshots for previous entries that I’m editing. The next entry (which is mostly written) will most likely cover all misc. items and any leftovers, unless I need to split it into two.

Future Plans

Wrye Mash, mlox and other tools

Eventually address the MW Overhaul in-depth like I said I was going to in part 2
also write about MGE XE

Bump maps

Deal with beast races and how they were un-beast-ified in the later games, and how to do that in Morrowind

Ore veins and such

From enderdrag64: The Texture Optimizer works on Morrowind, and helps condense the file size of textures without any loss in quality (in fact the addition of mipmaps makes some of them look better) – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12801/?”

Of course, I’m going to continue the guide, I just feel that the existing entries should be brought up to date for anyone following along. As I work on my edits, I’ll update this post. I appreciate all the support and I’m happy to address any questions or suggestions!

 

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