Hey all, I'm new-old to MW (tried to play 6-7 years ago on a deck that wasn't up to it, now I'm back)

I've been lurking/surfing/testing before I really dive in

Right now I've got an "almost vanilla" game installed (GOTY, all official patches and plug-ins, plus the Unofficial patch and MCP).

Are there others you would consider a "must-have" for a new player?

I'm looking more for gameplay than graphics, and I don't want mods that radically change the game. Call me crazy, but I actually LIKE the graphics. (plus I am playing on a crappy lappy) Mods that seriously enhance playability and common sense are what I'm after.

I've looked at MCA and MCE and MGE and LGNPC and some other awesome looking projects, but want a feel for which folk love and think are vital, and which are optional. Some of these are such huge projects that they seem to completely re-make the game (which is not really what I'm after)

So: GOTY patched, Unofficial patch, all Bethesda plug-ins, and MCP. What else for the cautious newb???

thx in adv

Great, you have the Morrowind Code Patch. Now, my first suggestions would be the Better Bodies, Better Heads and Better Clothes mods which can be found http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/TopRated.php?content=mods at Planet Elder Scrolls - I would consider them essential. Other than that, you can just peruse the above mentioned site's top rated section and see what interest you.

I also highly recommend the http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/ plug-ins.

Have you seen Pluto's http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1060141-mod-recommendations-for-new-players/ thread?

Unless you're one of the very few who enjoys micromanaging your skill training to fit the Morrowind leveling system, you'll want something that smooths out that aspect of the game. My choice is Galsiah's Character Development. There are others, but I don't know enough about any of them to recommend them.

If you have a crappy laptop, I recommend staying away from MCA. It adds a number of NPCs and will greatly slow down your frame rate if your computer can't handle it. MGE is good provided you don't try distant land or any of the shaders. I used it on a computer with a crappy video card and it worked just fine while making the graphics clearer and sharper. MCP and the Morrowind Patch Project (or its predecessor the Unofficial Patch) or musts. Anything else is up to personal tastes.

thanks all. After a bit of sussing out, I'm adding GCD, and (with a bit of trepidation MGE) I've also updated from the unofficial patch project to MPP.

dang, all these abreviations make me feel like I'm in the military again.

So I've currently got:
GOTY (patched)
all Bethesda plug-ins
Morrowind Code Project
Morrowind Patch Project
Morrowind Graphics Extender
Galsiah's Character Development

I'm staying away from "Better Heads, Better bodies, etc..., because A) I'm playing on an out-dated laptop, and B) because I actually kinda like the graphic style. It's got very much a Heavy Metal feel, despite it's imperfections.

so, anything missing from the above list that you'd consider "gotta have its?"

anything else you see as a "must have" for a newb on a crappy lappy?

If you have a weak laptop then MGE isn't really necessary, because you won't really be able to use any of the options it has.

I recommend the http://lgnpc.org/ mods. They fit into the game perfectly, and add some much needed variety to the NPC's dialog. They are small mods too, so no worries on slowing you down.

I suggest using the http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=utilities.detail&id=22. It will help keep your game running smooth, and you can control the Fog with your mouse-wheel. (you don't have to launch MW from it, as long as it's open it will work behind the game)

New armor/weapons are always fun, and http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.List has lost of them. Other than that, play the game for awhile until you decide what you would like to add.

Have you given thought to http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=7749?

I play an evil character, so I run out of folks easy.. towns begin to look barren. So many told me to use MCA too, but like you I am a cautious player who runs the game on a less an ideal laptop. MCA's size scared me, but starfire's is a bit more light weight. It doesn't add as much, but it still lends some life to towns and they look like they are built right. I never fully realized how empty the towns were until I installed it.

Have not tested it extensively, however I can say the game will still be playable. Even with TR active too, I only suffer some lag while going in and out of doors. (and this because the npcs are being generated) They are even given lore friendly names.

Seconding Starfire's work. I may be a bit biased, since MCA has never worked for me, though I suppose that's another plus of her NPC addon mod. It's pretty low-key, as opposed to MCA, and I often forget which NPC's are randomly generated and which are vanilla. A seriously underrated bit of work.

I'd also recommend the real signposts mod, as going right up to them and holding your mouse over them just to see where the path leads is just silly.

Herbalism for Purists is another must-have for any character with Alchemy. Instead of "opening" plants and manually taking their goods, you just click the plant and it tells you how much you got. It also makes the plants disappear 'till they respawn, so you don't have to go around guessing what you've picked.

Adding to the above - Book Rotate and/or Book Jackets are a good addition.

Yeah I love Starfire's. Its NPCs fit in much better with the vanilla NPCs than the MCA ones because MCA NPCs come with all sorts of clothing. And they do interesting things like teleporting in/out. And Starfire's doesn't add new hostiles which I don't care for.

Even better if you add http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=7474.

Thanks for this, I actually just installed it myself and I am playing on an old, under-performing laptop too - It only effects performance the slightest bit.

Sweet, glad I could help. I know how hard it can be to play with mods on a low end system. Takes a lot of screening and research. :toughninja:

I'd be interested in knowing how low end your rig is. I run an old HP laptop with a Turion 64 2.0 gig and a radeon express 200m and one gig of ram. While not an "ancient" rig, I have no problems running MCA, Starfires, and CM partners, all at the same time! The only slowdown I get that is really bad is when loading cells and I'm pretty sure that's because of a slow and overfull HD. I do suffer from FPS drops in Balmora and parts of Vivec, but not so bad that it's unplayable. It's great to actually have to duck and dodge all the people in your way like any modern large city. It may not work for you, but I say at least give it a chance. If you can get it to run with all three, you'll love the crowded atmosphere!

I share that feeling about the vanilla graphics. Although I did install Better Heads, mainly to improve Altmer and Bosmer npcs faces. But it's all down to personal preferences in the end.


One mod I must recommend is Where Are All Birds Going? by Abot. It really brings your game alive and won't kill your FPS.

You might like some extra sounds: http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=93

Second the motion on Advanced Herbalism. I forgot to mention it in my earlier post, but if I had to choose between that and GCD, and couldn't have both, I'd take Herbalism. There are a number of variations, some of which do more than just streamline the process of harvesting plants, so look them over and decide what you want to do. But you'll never regret the streamlining.