Hello Everyone, I am a returning player to Morrowind. I actually have not yet beaten the game and the last time I picked it up was years ago. I am currently at a crossroad though on whether I should mod from the beginning or play vanilla at least for my first play through? Also are there any MUST HAVE mods that fix things that should have been corrected? I have the game with expansions if thats any help.

Also I am quite a noob when it comes to this game as I said so what are some things I should know before I play if any? I hear it is a lot more difficult than Oblivion. Thank you

It is best to play through without mods first, at least for awhile, so that you get the feel for the original game. (and there is still tons of stuff to do)
But you should install the 2 main community patches...

The http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=19510 - Many amazing features, and they are all optional, so you can choose what you want to change. Has the very important Save Game corruption fix.

The Patch Project - thousands of fixes for quests, dialog, objects, etc. The most current and stable version is BTB's "Edited version," found right at the top of the page http://btb2.free.fr/morrowind.html

For players familiar with Oblivion, read http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Morrowind_for_Oblivion_Players

If older graphics annoy you, you can update many things to make the game look better. http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1060141-mod-recommendations-for-new-players/page__p__15392814#entry15392814 has info on how to find those mods, and many other important links for having a healthy modded game.

Thank you very much this was definitely useful ^_^

any other help or feedback is welcomed

A good "base" graphics replacer and Better Bodies would help make it look a lot more up-to-date, without affecting gameplay. I still like the venerable old Visual Packs from Kahlazza (sp?), with a few "specific" replacers for individual items that could use even more detail, or aren't addressed by VP, VP Nature, or VP XT. Sadly, Connary's fine work is difficult to find at the moment, and I'm really impressed by a few of his creature replacers (the one almost makes Cliffracers LIKABLE) and some of his groundcover and architecture retextures. As an example of a small but noticable detail, I use Ghostnull's Reflective Silverware mod, to put a bit of realistic shine on those silver pitchers, plates, and spoons. Connary bundled a potion bottle replacement texture pack with someone else's bottle resizer, so the potion bottles don't look like gallon jugs.

Other than the Morrowind Patch Project (which replaces the Unofficial Patch) and the Morrowind Code Patch (which fixes several issues that aren't addressable through "normal" CS-based fixes), there's not too much else; maybe Morrowind Graphics Enhancer with Distant Land enabled, to push the fog level back and give you a better view (I still keep max fog distance to no more than 6, or it starts to look strangely like a demented Model RR layout from any high vantage point). There's an animated grass mod which works with MGE that renders swaying ground cover like in Oblivion. I use a "shorter grass" mod to that mod, so I don't lose bodies in the weeds like in OB, and can generally see most suicidal little critters before they start gnawing on my ankles.

After you've played a few dozen hours, I'd consider something like a levelling mod (I prefer GCD or MADD, depending on the character), something to add more NPCs, and perhaps the Tamriel Rebuilt Project expansion map playable betas, which are looking amazing yet dont' affect the "original" parts of the game. Anything else would depend on what you want out of the game, the type of characters you play, and whether you want to focus more on combat, magic, stealth, social interaction, occupations, etc.

Meanwhile, enjoy the experience. Remember that Morrowind is a world to explore, not a game to be beaten.

I completely agree with Kovacius - In summary, focus on lore-friendly replaces and fixes for your first play-through in order to keep that original feel to your Morrowind experience. There's nothing wrong with 'updating' your game, now is there?

I strongly recommend you check out Morrowind Graphics Extender (MGE), at the very least. It allows you to extend the view distance extensively (although, some people enjoy the fog, I should note), add more realistic water effects, etc. (If you need some help installing/configuring MGE, feel free to PM me - I'd be more than happy to help!) - http://sourceforge.net/projects/morrgraphext/files/Beta%20Releases/MGE%203.8%2B%20SVN%20builds/mge3.8.2-rev.0178.7z/download?use_mirror=transact (just extract it to your main Morrowind directory (Usually C:\program files\bethesda softworks\morrowind)

If you do later on decide to go all-out on modding Morrowind, be sure to check out http://www.zenimax.com/external.php?locale=en-us&url=http://knotstheinane.blogspot.com/p/morrowind-modding-guide.html (Very minor profanity warning, I should add). The vast majority (if not all) of the mods listed there are lore friendly and basically aim to improve an already amazing game, rather than alter everything to oblivion (no pun intended). Have a look at the pictures regardless, it's pretty mind-blowing!

Either way, I hope you enjoy your Morrowind experience whether you decide to go down the modification road or not, and as I've already said, feel free to PM me if you need any assistance.

Good luck!

It is more difficult just for the fact that you cannot fast travel and don't have an arrow to tell you where to go for missions.
As far as whether you should mod or not, I would say no for the first play through. I don't see a problem with mods that
fix bugs and such however.

I modded Morrowind from the start and haven′t regretted it. Truth be told to me the game would be too unappealing now if I hadn′t those graphic enhancers and the code patch, plus a few other minor mods. I don′t think the Morrowind feeling is lost just because you use those, at least not to me.

wow thanks everyone ^_^ VERY helpful tips I definitely want to try and check out that guide on morrowind mods that will stay within lore.

Be sure to let us know how you go! :thumbsup:

Mod from the begining or at least the visual mods. I installed the Morrowind Overhaul, awsome beautiful mod I strongly suggest it. I am like you, playing mostly vanillia, so no game enhancing mods except for stuff like when sneak, it's a toggle on/off so you don't have to hold it down, and you can't take a 100 bottles you or using amulets you have to wait 5 seconds, little stuff like that.

PM me, there is a few others I would like to tell you, but then this will be moved to the modding section then.

I got the mods to work ^_^ one problem though the added flora is not passable and blocks a lot of the ways to quests I was wondering if maybe I did something wrong?

You mean grass? If you have generated distant land with grass mods selected - deselect them. Having them selected will make grass solid.

oh ok thank you ^_^

Yep, Minamir's correct. Here's a quick step-by-step guide though, just in case if you're still having trouble:

1. Open up MGE and navigate to the 'tools' tab
2. Click on 'Distant land creation wizard'
3. Make sure you have the flora mods you want to use selected (in addition to the rest of the mods you're using)
4. Click continue and follow the wizard until generation is complete

5. Now, open up the Morrowind launcher
6. Navigate to 'Data files' - make sure the grass mods are NOT selected here
7. Test it out and have fun!

Just a helpful tip, if you're experiencing FPS issues (Slow, gittery gameplay) open up MGE and navigate to the 'distant land' tab. Lowering the amount of rendered cells under 'draw distance' will decrease how far you can see but give you a hefty FPS boost. I think by default it's 12, but on my rather hardware-lacking laptop I've lowered it to 6 without too much of a notable difference (I can still see Red Mountain from Ald'ruhn, for example).

Hope that helps!

Oh Wow everything is working flawlessly as far as mods go. I get 60 fps indoors while outside around 20 on avg so I may decrease the draw distance like you suggested Kilcunda ^_^ Thank you all for your awesome advice! To try and put this back to a help thread instead of a mod one lol I seem to be getting my [censored] kicked quite easily against the mage in the cavern in Seyda Neen. 2 hits actually...I am a Nightblade as I like both magic and stealth, what are some tips you guys may be able to offer in the terms of combat? I don't want everything just handed to me of course lol I want it to be challenging but I can see now how it greatly differs from Oblivion. A nice change if I do say so myself. (please dont turn this into a Morrowind vs Oblivion lol) Thanks again everyone your help and advice is invaluable

Try dodging his spells (preferably by strafing left and right) until he runs out of magicka, after that he should be an easy target.

Glad to hear it's working well for you!

As for combat, it's not quite as immersive as it is in oblivion. Here's the easiest way I can explain it:

Melee weapons: Unlike Oblivion, your strikes won't always hit, regardless of how close you are to your opponent. For example, I could be standing right next to an enemy swinging my blade and still fail to damage him/her. Why is this, you ask? Imagine you're throwing a die every time you attack. Multiple dice, infact - It's all about chance. By raising your skills and agility, you'll raise your chances of hitting. Try not to get frustrated in early levels if the majority of your attacks are missing - The first few levels are though, but grind your teeth through them and it'll be easy sailing from then on. It's worth it, believe me.

Additionally, in Morrowind, you lose the ability to control blocking - This is done completely automaticly. Blocking is another 'die', if you will - You only have a certain chance to block when attacked, dependent of your block skill and agility. Though it's an annoyance to anyone who's used to Oblivion's combat system, it's not that much of an issue in the long run - Basically, equip your shield and forget all about it!

Magic: Unlike Oblivion (again), magic isn't as easily used in conjunction with melee combat. For example, in Oblivion I could tap C to cast a fireball while holding a blade in one hand and a shield in the other. That isn't the case here. Like how you 'ready' your weapon with F (Default key - It's entirely possible that you might've changed it to suit your own needs), you ready your magic with R. That's basically it: F for Melee, R for magic. Considering that you're a night-blade, you'll have to get used to switching between the two fairly regularly. Don't worry, it's nowhere near as troublesome as it sounds.

A few additional notes: Another aspect worth noting is scaling is much different in Morrowind than Oblivion: Expect some areas to be inaccessible due to high-level enemies - If you want to survive, you'll have to return to these locals when you're a higher level or have better equipment to protect you. If there's a cave or tomb that you can't seem to survive through, try coming back to it later - There's no use stressing yourself out trying to kill a creature fifteen levels above you. The main quest will generally lead you in the right direction, starting off in areas with low-level enemies before slowly introducing you to tougher encounters in more hostile environments.

And last but not least, it's important to remember that Morrowind is quite an old title now; aspects that didn't work well in Morrowind were changed and adapted for Oblivion, much like how Oblivion's weak-points will be addressed by Skyrim. At times it'll be frustrating, but the overall experience will be well worth it.

Phew, so much for a quick guide! Sorry about the rant - Hope that helps! Oh, and be sure to check out the guide that another user posted earlier - I'm sure that would cover a lot more aspects than I have, and much more accurately.

Great post Kilcunda.

lol oh please do not apologize I love information haha. Very helpful guide by the way. Thank you very much ^_^ was very very useful and thank you minamir for that tip it totally did not cross my mind that enemies have a set amount of magic in this game >_<

Definitely mod, it will increase the quality of your game play many times over, and don't worry about the difficulty. It isn't that difficult, you simply have to prepare a bit more for battles and journeys compared to oblivion. You'll have to pay attention to what people say about particular directions, and be wary about entering random caves and dungeons, but these same things make the game much more immersive. Good luck and have fun!

Thanks Davor!