I just moved to Morrowind from Oblivion, and installed using the Morrwind2009 blog with a ton of other graphical improvements (much better looking MW now), but am having a hard time playing the game due to some issues. I thought to place this in the Mod Detectives thread, but as the list is large, it became a new thread altogether.

1) I just came off the boat at Seyda Neen. My character just dies in combat with slaughterfish and bats because I can't hit anything - is there a better attack mod? On tesnexus, I found one called "Accurate Attack", but comments indicated that it had "dirty" edits. So is there a recommended mod for that?

2) Is there a walk animation replacer for NPCs and guards in particular? They just look silly strutting about like that.

3) Animation replacer for PC - my character is skinny and awkward when he walks the walk. And seeing him try to "swing" the sword (more like jab) is hilarious... I know MW was made in 2003, but it looks silly coming from Oblivion.

3) Is there something like Ren's Guard Overhaul for Morrowind? They just come and try to arrest me even if I walk in the town with my dagger out.

5) Something to improve path AI for NPCs? They get stuck behind rocks and such...

6) Something to improve NPC AI in general? Combat etc.

7) Is there a mod/utility similar to FormID/ Refscope that allows me to figure out what mod is causing the missing mesh and giant exclamation marks...

8) Something like BOSS for Morrowind to sort my load order and find conflicts? I think I found something called "mlox" - is that what I should use?

9) Something to improve the menus and font sizes for playing on a large screen?

10) Something to improve the UI - the maps are way too tiny, and I think the Oblivion inventory was much easier to use than MWs...

11) Better way to equip weapons - opening the inventory, clicking on a weapon, dragging it to your picture is just ridiculous - something like Ob is more intuitive where you just click on it and it's done.

12) Some better and larger maps? I can hardly see the thing on a HDTV...

Please note that I am not bashing MW - I think it's a great game from what I heard/read, and am totally fine with certain things (no map markers) etc. I just am trying to overcome the playability issues so that I can enjoy it. I know some of you might start telling me that the way things are in MW are vastly superior to OB, but seeing that as I played OB first, MW's AI, animations, and UI etc. seems backward to me...

Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of all these mods but I can assure you the following exist:

- A mod that will allow you to hit every time and replaces the weapon skill stats to increase damage instead of attack %.
- Animations that will change walking, running, and some of the fighting to look much better (still not as fluid as OB)
- NPC Enhanced and Pursuit Enhanced will give NPCs better AI and even allow them to follow you through load doors ala Oblivion, respectively.
- A mod that enlarges the GUI and fonts, making them easier to see. There are also complete UI replacers.


I've never seen larger maps, and as far as I know there's no way to change the current equip system. I normally wouldn't say this, but maybe you should get used to it, I personally find it superior and adds to the immersive factor.
One thing you'll find is that Morrowind is much more about immersion and actual roleplaying than it is hack-and-slash like Oblivion. You can find mods to improve existing systems, but ultimately the experience is much different. The above mods will hopefully ease you into it though, sorry I don't remember all the names. Hopefully someone else will pop in and know them.

the morrowind code patch makes the map bigger.

This is called balance. It involves creatures that don't scale to your level.
As for a better attack mod, as such, no. Not that I know of. That's not how it works, Morrowind doesn't have a guaranteed-hit engine like in Deblivion, it's a slightly more realistic you-probably-won't-hit system. Now, combat enhancers, you can pick up a few of. The first one that comes to mind is Combat Enhanced, but that's MWE and should be avoided. You can check around for similar mods, there are a few that help with block, special attack moves, etc.


A few of these have been made but not many, MW animation is (or used to be) an obscure business. Besides, Oblivion looks sillier. At least Morrowind doesn't abuse specular (Oblivion looks permanent 100% humidity came through and coated every book, table, and rock with water).


Having your dagger out has nothing to do with anything. You probably got a bounty, and they know your face now. Even still, Regionally Known Crime/Werewolf is what you want.


That's a matter of the cell or area where the NPC is at. There's no global fix, except maybe NPCs Enhanced or something Fligg whipped up.


Fliggerty's WIP Better Combat should take care of that, soon.


It's called warnings.txt. You don't need any ridiculous tools to debug Morrowind, and if you want one, go get Mash.


Yes.


These are the difference between a PC game (Morrowind) and a console game (Oblivion). There are no Oblivion-overhauls for the Morrowind UI, that would ruin it's usefulness. You can change the font size, but you usually have to create your own fonts and it screws up all sorts of things, unless you go through the INI and tweak every setting. The default settings work alright, I use a 17" monitor, it looks fine on another 19" and I've played it with my TV before (720p, high 30-someodd").


Morrowind's animations and AI are outdated, but you get used to them. The UI is more complicated but makes it a lot easier to manage large inventories, which you'll end up getting. Like any other game, it's got it's quirks and you just have to get used to some of them. Others can be changed, and there are replacers/improvements for most things. It's just the ones you picked to list are the harder ones to fix.

First off, be sure to install the Code Patch if you're not already using it. A lot of interesting features right there.


Before using a mod to change that, I would suggest if you're not a pure mage to try picking the Warrior birthsign with a main weapon skill of at least 40. With that combination, your accuracy should be quite good from the start. If it's still not enough, http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=8355 might fit your needs.


Ingame, open the console, point toward the problem and type ORI. This command can tell you from which mod your target is from.


To order your mods, Wrye Mash. To find conflicts, mlox and TESTool.


Don't know much on that subject since I still use the vanilla UI/font, but http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/Image.php?id=57756 will change the colors of the interface to something more light and familiar for someone coming from Oblivion.


Press F1 and hotkey your main weapons/equipment. At least you won't have to open the inventory again for those weapons.


That's it for me. Hope I was able to help a little. Just remember you don't need to powerlevel in Morrowind since the world isn't all scaled from your level. Take your time and most of all, have fun. Oh and kill a cliff racer for me.

If the font is too small get Morrowind FPS Optimiser which has an option to increase font size. I have to use this myself because of my bad eyesight.

When it comes to not hitting the enemies I don't know why people have problems with this. I don't have too much problem hitting enemies when I have a melee character. You won't hit much if you don't Major in a weapon and use it and if you didn't you should be doing something else like magic.

My current character has Strength of 44, long blade of 40, is a starting character, and apparently cannot hit the broad side of a barn with a 1h or 2h blade. I've never had this problem before.

Agility affects your to hit chance(as well as dodge) about as much as weapon skill does.

Start with:

http://morrowind2009.wordpress.com/

Update it to 2010:

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.HOF&category_show_all=1&sort_field=LastModified&sort_dir=desc

Add more misc mods as you go along..

Much improved! Still, a fair amount of your list is not addressed/viable.

While I dont want to take over this thread, I would like to know if mods should be cleaned as well. I use Mash to install all mods and mashed lists and I use Testool 3 to merge objects and mlox to re-order mods, but nothing of late suggests the need to clean esms and esps.

Any advice on whether it is still necessary to clean all mods with the cleaning tool in testool 3?

What is testool 3? link?

I dont mean to disagree with you Antithinks but I do have a comment; seems to me that rather than playing Morrowind as it is you want to make it more like Oblivion. The combat system is much different and it looks to me that you dont know how it works, either because you didnt take the time to read the manual or thought that it would be the same as Oblivion. First off, you chance of hitting lies in 3 main stats; this game does not relly on mad skillz like Oblivion, its a numers game. The first stat is your character′s ability with the weapon you are using; for example your long sword skill is 40 so thats a pretty good to start with. Now the next stat that affects your ability to hit is you agility, if its high it helps it its low its actually a hindrance. And lastly, which I think its the main culprit here because in Oblivion it has no bearing whatsoever is Fatigue, if you charcater is fatigued his chances to hit decrease a lot, so you have to keep an eye on it. I understand how Oblivion players might like to give the older gamesa shot but you have to do it with an open mind; yes the animations are jerky, the font is not adjustable and whatever. Its an 8 year old game and the most mods have done it to make it a bit prettier but some things cannot be helped, just try to enjoy it as it is

Pretty sure this is a case of mod it or leave it. I had a similar beef with Doom 3. I would have never played the bone stock original, but with mods I was able to play and actually enjoy it. As great as we all think Morrowind is, not everyone enjoys it. In fact, combat seems to turn most people I introduce the game to away entirely.

Maybe the game needs a dodging animation? Because otherwise what is agility? Now, I think about it, there is no way to do it right, at least for PC. Maybe a VATS like system, you either control it manually or hit a button to turn on automatic dodging... Real-time off course.

Thanks for all the recommendations Tsetra, wollibeebee, peechykeen, Logorouge, guenthar and Dae.

I already use Mash to install mods (I cannot do without Bash in Oblivion, so had to use it here too), and good to know that mlox is also really useful.

I used a high res pack here to increase the font size: http://runspect.users.sourceforge.net/morrowind-hi-res-patch/ (found through some Google-Fu). I'll also try the FPS Optimizer pack recommended here.

CABRON: Point taken, though I believe that somethings definitely need improvement in MW (and have been incorporated by other like-minded folks). I believe Oblivion is a wonderful game as it introduced me to the The Elder Scrolls Universe, and also I think it is highly user-friendly with certain aspects (combat, UI). Of course, I have my gripes with certain things there as well, but hardly remember what vanilla Oblivion is now that I've been playing with FCOM and other great mods for over 3 years now. In summary, I can't diss Oblivion, but am here to make my MW experience less frustrating (which is coincidently more similar to OB). I think Beth improved certain aspects of MW in OB (combat, graphics, UI), but then regressed it and made certain aspects (visible map markers, handholding) worse. You can't please everybody, but get more people into the game with an easier learning curve. Tsetra nailed it with his pithy post about the initial MW experience could be made more newcomer-friendly with certain mods.

I'm going to start a new character with a high combat skill in one weapon style and strength, agility combo to get over the initial hurdles, as suggested.

Any other suggestions, especially for animations, are definitely appreciated.

Also, in my modded MW, I still see a lot of inventory items with a red "No-entry" sign and descriptions that read "A do d" etc. - I am guessing missing meshes/icons/textures, or soemthing went wrong in the font installation - the Warnings.txt tells me the missing meshes, but I need to figure out which mod they came from... I will try the ORI command. Any other suggestions to troubleshoot?

For your animation needs, check out http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1071872-animation-mod-list. MW's model version and engine are a lot less friendly with regards to adding new animations and animation replacers. Additionally, only a very ancient version of 3DSMax seems able to make animations for the .nif version that TESIII uses. That program is no longer available to purchase, and newer version don't support the old .nif version.

Those are pretty good news, about the animations, but sadly most of the are not pictured and this are sort of random animations, hope Liztail gets somehting going with his animation proyects

My agility is 35.

For a starting character, hit chances seem to be abysmally low. I got around it in earlier games by getting a lot of gold and using trainers to get multiple 3x5 level ups, but I've been using GCD this time around and really feeling the pinch.

That 'Depth Perception' mod is brilliant, it means that, like oblivion, if you hit, you hit, but the amount of damage you do is reliant on your skill with the weapon you use, and has a range of plugins from Utterly Unbalancing to Much More Satisfying But Actually Harder, so people who actually come onto the mods forum and tell people they shouldn't be trying to modify the game can leave people looking for a different experience alone and stop preaching at them.

Where is that mod? I tried using ES Search v1, but to no avail.

Morrowind Code Patch is a must have!

3) Check this mod: http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=5230
It's a great animation pack, instructions to add it to the PC are included in the readme, but personnaly I use them for the darkbrotherhood assassins and some thieves guild members.

7) If you see a bugged object you just have to open the console command and click on it, after you've selected it type ori and push enter. You should be able to see the .esm/.esp file it originates.