So, I tried to play MW when it was released.
I was a Daggerfall fanatic, but Morrowind choked my computer at the time.
It just wasn't playable at 4 fps.

I forgot about Morrowind.
I bought a used laptop yesterday,
and the owner kicked down a few games (MW GOTY, Civ ll, Diablo ll, Fallout, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 )
Is that cool or what?

Morrowind is the one I never got to play. Until now.
Even on a used laptop, with all visuals maxed, it runs silky smooth.

I'm gonna start with a fem dark elf stealthy type, "Nikita"
It just "feels" right.

Can anyone rec a few solid visual mods?
I don't want to change or break gameplay, but making it more attractive would be a mitzvah

Pluto's http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1060141-mod-recommendations-for-new-players/ is an excellent place to start. I would note the "essentials" he highlights, along with the "I need better graphics!!!" section.

I don't know how good this laptop is, but I'm sure that with the right mods we can bring that framerate back to 4 if you want to feel nostalgic.

Pluto's list is good yeah.

He he he thats for sure!!! :hubbahubba:

Thanks all. After further reflection, I've made the seemingly radical decision to play the game almost vanilla. The only mod that looks really, truly essential is the unofficial patch. Others, including the much vaunted code patch, seem to fix perceived gameplay imbalances. While I'm sure there are many, I want to play for a bit and see what seems broken to ME.

As to graphics mods...the look is a bit dated and clunky, no doubt. And Better Bodies, Better Heads, etc. installed flawlessly. But each graphic improvement pointed out another aspect that looked bad.

And while graphics are primitive by today's standards, there is also a visual richness and sense of style that has rarely been matched. I really want to see the game that Bethesda built, at least at first.

So that's my editorial.

Does anyone see any major, game-beaking problems if I play GOTY with the unofficial patch, and nothing else?

ty

I would at use Better Bodies, but if not, at least use the MCP - it is customizable, so you don't have to use the gameplay tweaks, but it has some other quite important elements.

As it says in MCP thread:

Really, there's not much reason not to use it.

Seconded.

The MCP was something I was late to jump on board to myself, and it cost me dearly. While MW is a great game, prolly one of the very best, the engine it is ran on is, well, clunky at best. (although it's mods can be awesome!) Save games corrupt easily for example, and dropping items and picking them up leaves a sort of ghost reference ID behind which in time can really bloat your save. Even if your save seems fine at first, it only takes once. If it goes out, it'll make you pretty sad, and it WILL happen at some point unless you address it from the beginning.

The MCP is a miracle on wheels. It has corrected many many things that even till a few years ago was thought to be unresolvable. Play MW vanilla at first if you want, because then you will have a deeper thanks for mods, and just maybe you will even join the dense modding community here afterward.. but take my word for it, don't skip the tweaks. It will save you a lot of grief. At least use the save game stability the MCP adds and go from there.

And may I say:

Welcome to Morrowind! :celebration:
Few dislike it. We get people returning here from the newer games on a regular basis.