well im getting back into morrowind and before i start DLing mods like crazy what are the most recommended programs to DL so i can keep MW in good shape with all the mods being installed. im comming from OB and FO3/nv which had programs like NVSE and lvl list mergers and stuff like that to tackle compatibility. so what programs will i need before i start getting getting back in to this game? also what graphical mods do you recommend? and you dont have to make a short list of stuff so the more info the better. to get a better idea of how far back the last time i played MW is about the time the mod wizards island came out.

http://knotstheinane.blogspot.com/p/morrowind-modding-guide.html
http://knotstheinane.blogspot.com/2011/01/special-notes-on-mge-xe.html

hf

well that covers the graphical part but what about the necessary programs for mod compatibility and mod list?

Wrye mash, from the same author of Wrye bash.

Here's what I use:

-Wrye Mash to adjust my load order to my liking.
-TESTool to detect conflicts.
-TESAME to manually clean a mod.

And that's it.

For mods and programs suggestion, you might want to check Pluto's thread, BTB's website. I'll go fetch a few links...

http://btb2.free.fr/morrowind.html
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1060141-mod-recommendations-for-new-players/

http://code.google.com/p/mlox/downloads/list does a great job sorting your load order and warning you of incompatibilities.
And as for Wrye Mash, well it is essential and I recommend you get the http://www.fliggerty.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=3646 which makes installation much easier

will this also cover level list conflicts? or no?

Create a Mashed List.esp with Wrye Mash, and have it load last in your Load Order.

The http://wryemusings.com/Wrye%20Mash.html have all the instructions on how to use the tool.

here is another question what are all the major creature/ monster adding mods for MW?

OB has fcom, mmm, fran and OOO

but the only one i remember from MW was the (mod i cant mention) and smites slimes.

the mod you mentioned above isn't to be discussed here (i might edit it from the post so the thread don't get locked)
but any how

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=8326, http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=2786, http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=258, and http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=1695 though i have never used Cait's Critters Unleashed though it's in my upcoming game.

wait you means there wasnt a MMM for mw? i could have swarn there was back in the past or im getting my mods mixed up.

Not that I'm aware of.
Creatures is pretty fully-featured though - I've fanboyed over it in the past, so I won't do so again here - but it's pretty much all you need as far as hostiles go.
For nice animals, Abot's 'Water Life' and 'Where are all the birds going' has your seas and skies covered. Cait's critters will take care of lovelies for your land.

I second the really devoted fan for Creatures vote. I think you may have been thinking of the http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=994 and it's supporting mods...but it not generally regarded as that great anymore (not with the competition it has). In it's defense, it is rather old and " back in the day" it had to walk uphill in the snow bothw....errr.. it was the first monster mod of it's kind. There is the http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=6616 for expanded undead ghoulies even more.

Since nobody's mentioned these yet, I'll throw a few utilities in:

The Enchanted Editor is a must-have, IMHO. I don't use it as often as Wrye Mash or TesTool, but it allows you to load a mod and easily look through and change a mod in detail, showing the data in English rather than as reference/pointer addresses. It's also possible to fix some types of save problems that Mash and other utilities can't.

TESPCD can be really useful to look through a mod as above, but also to check conflicts of one or multiple mods, and to select specific record conflicts that you want to delete.

For creature mods, I'd recommend any of these:

Atronach Expanion - adds 8 new types of atronachs with new models.
Sabregirl's Morrowind Ecology - similar to Abot's mods, it adds animals for atmosphere: rabbits, mountain goats and deer, as well as balances predator/prey spawning.
Neo's Unique Creatures - adds a bunch of different unique creatures.
NX9 Mods (each is separate): Daedra Lesser, Daedra Addtions, Dremora, Ghosts & Wraiths, Liches, Ogrim & Twilight - these add different varieties of the various creatures.

Antares Creatures - Cecaelia and Frost Giants: I have these in my game, but haven't run into them yet, so I can't give a thumbs up, but worth looking at.

last thing i can think of. i cant seem to get to the landmass that sea of destiny adds or i cant get to it intact. every time i go there its flooded and it doesnt seem right at all.


here is my mod list (note mlox did the sorting)

_001_ Morrowind.esm
_002_ Tribunal.esm
_003_ Bloodmoon.esm
_004_ Sea-of-Destiny.esm
_005_ The Wilderness Mod 2.0 T & B.esm
_006_ Wizards Islands - Scourge of the Frost Bringer.esm
_007_ GIANTS.esm
_008_ Passive_Healthy_Wildlife.esp
_009_ Magus's Castle.esp
_010_ sodpatch1.esp
_011_ GIANTS_Ultimate_Official_Fixes.esp
_012_ HellKnightDOOM3_PlayableAshGhoulBody.esp
_013_ Smite's Slimes.esp
_014_ Wizards_Islands_SotFB_Patch.esp
_015_ The_Swords_of_Morrowind.esp
_016_ Clean _HA Knights of Tamriel Friendly 1.1.esp
_017_ ab01Wilderness2.1patch.esp
_018_ Creatures.esp
_019_ More Creatures Leveled v1.2.esp
_020_ Pelagiad Provisions v1.3.esp
_021_ The Golden Dragon.esp
_022_ Z4K_Giants_AddToLev_Patch.esp
_023_ Mashed Lists.esp

Try downloading http://www.morrowind-oblivion.com/utilities.php. It has a GUI. It can show a grid display of what cells are changed. You can load Sea of Destiny as the main mod then "overlay" all the other mods. Then just hover over the cells to see what mods affect that cell. It's not perfect (shows interiors acting like exteriors at coordinate 0,0 sometimes) but it is good for a quick check.

If you want to use Tesfaith to actually move a landmass, stick to the normal command-line one(really it uses a config.ini). It is newer and has less bugs (emphasis on less but not none) and is the only really tool that can do that. It'll also change the scripts and doors etc (or do it's best).

well i think i found the problem mod. looks like WI conflicts with SOD. now i gotta figure out how to move WI or some does it for me or makes a patch.

Have you tried cleaning them (w/ Tes3cmd)? Because my "cleaned" Sea of Destiny doesn't overlap (land-wise) Wizards Island at all (except Balmora but since when does that count).

Might be better to move SOD because WI is more complicated and thus more things can "break".
I actually have a manually cleaned version of Sea of Destiny that I was working on. There were alot of dirty cell entries, many I had to manually verify then remove (mostly on the mainland). It's in esp form though. And I merged the "expansion" Frostfall with it. I could try and move it for you tomorrow and see but I'm still not sure that's your problem. On top of that I haven't tested it out yet.

im also using http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=3012

but even with that golden dragon isnt messing with sod so maybe your SOD esp might do the trick. also i thought sod gold had frost fall with it?

Nope, apparently it wasn't included because it adds two new (small) regions. I'll give it a go today and see what I can do.

if you make it not conflict WI and golden dragon then you are a ABSOLUTE winner in my book. which means a nearly all in one patch for the major land mass mods.

Are you using the patch version of Golden Dragon? http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=mods.detail&id=3009 page on the very first line says it conflicts with WI. Luckily there is a http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=3012. It is a replacement ESP (so make sure the original isn't checked). The patched version doesn't conflict with WI or SOD. If not let me know.

I'm still working on moving SOD. Actually I have successfully moved it 30 cells west and 5 cells south (doors work and everything) but I accidentally nipped two landscape cells out so I have to put those back in.

Edit: Odd I check both the orginal and the patch and both are in the same place...he must have updated the original and add the patch one for those who didn't want to download it all over again. Grrr...vexing. Well, back to repairing SOD so I can move it (again).

Done.

See here... http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=9055