Overhauling and Patching Morrowind 2020

[sensitivestoic]

So I grabbed this game a couple years back have played Oblivion through Elder Scrolls Online, but really want to enjoy this classic. When I first bought it the Ornicopter Overhaul v3.0 was a big thing but I never could get it to work right and so I shelved the title. Looking today I just see a lot of arguments invalid or suspicious download links and debates over STEP vs Ornicopter Overhaul. What are the best graphic overhauls, patches, and mods in 2020 that don't require a lot of time and tweaking? I don't want anything that breaks original lore or game content merely graphic, engine, and UI enhancement. Much appreciated!

[kaijax]

In my opinion bloom and high resolution textures on an old game like this look very uncanny and soulless.

To answer your question:
MGE XE
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/41102
Gives you a nice resolution and you can add things like bigger draw distance and enable shaders, etc., through this.
Enhanced Textures
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/46221
Vanilla looking textures, except in higher resolution. It has none of those horrendous textures that really stand out because they look weird or overly saturated. Or maybe they look ugly because they clearly don't belong to this game's art style.
Code Patch
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/19510
A must. Lots of useful fixes and optional balancing options.
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/45096
Get this too.
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/39605
Makes torches and illusion spells useful.
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/43140
Useful.

I'd say start with these and peruse some other mods for a little while. This, in my informed opinion, is the recommended setup. Maybe I forgot a few useful tweaks. Check the modding guides here on steam as they tend to have a good amount of quality of life mod recommendations. I'd avoid going for that overly saturated bloom and HDR to the gills look. It's ugly and disgusting. Completely butchers the original aesthetics of Morrowind. Whatever you do just remember this is a game from 2002. I'd compare slapping too many graphics mods that try too hard to look like a game from 2020 to applying 5 kilograms of makeup on an older woman. It just doesn't work. It has it's age. Respect whatever limitations this game has and focus more on what you already have in the game. Arguably it's graphically fine out of the box and only needs quality of life updates that fix lots of ♥♥♥♥ Bethesda couldn't due to time constraints and such.

[sensitivestoic]

I agree with the thoughts and vanilla modernization is ideal. Texture approach is really what I'm looking for, just lost trying to sift through playerbase arguments and expired links. Hoping this just allows me to appreciate the Morrowind world. I'll look through this tonight! Thanks. Hope you are well.

[kaijax]

Originally posted by sensitivestoic:

I agree with the thoughts and vanilla modernization is ideal. Texture approach is really what I'm looking for, just lost trying to sift through playerbase arguments and expired links. Hoping this just allows me to appreciate the Morrowind world. I'll look through this tonight! Thanks. Hope you are well.

Anything on Nexus is legit. I wouldn't go for compilations since they are mostly bloom and HDR gore with some ill fitting textures. Tbh the most important thing for gameplay is the code patch. I forgot to put these, but they will do wonders:
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/46071
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/44808
This is required by lots of mods. I'm quoting this page just so you are aware of the requirements for it.
https://mwse.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html

When you configure Morrowind code patch check the box "Better typography" under the interface changes menu. This is for your own sanity and eyes. Mix with:
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/36873

[sensitivestoic]

Originally posted by kaijax:

Originally posted by sensitivestoic:

I agree with the thoughts and vanilla modernization is ideal. Texture approach is really what I'm looking for, just lost trying to sift through playerbase arguments and expired links. Hoping this just allows me to appreciate the Morrowind world. I'll look through this tonight! Thanks. Hope you are well.

Anything on Nexus is legit. I wouldn't go for compilations since they are mostly bloom and HDR gore with some ill fitting textures. Tbh the most important thing for gameplay is the code patch. I forgot to put these, but they will do wonders:
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/46071
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/44808
This is required by lots of mods. I'm quoting this page just so you are aware of the requirements for it.
https://mwse.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html

When you configure Morrowind code patch check the box "Better typography" under the interface changes menu. This is for your own sanity and eyes. Mix with:
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/36873

All very helpful. I had just never heard of Nexus. I do very little customized modding unless it's to fix old game bugs and modernize dated games with discretion. The font improvement I found on my own when exploring the Enhancement project and it's much appreciated. Got a couple hours in tonight. Certainly different from Oblivion and Skyrim for sure but I'm starting to get the hang of Morrowind's approach. It's still surprisingly beautiful and I'm excited to get lost in it. Thanks for the pointers. Appreciate your time. I'll look at each of these too.

[Defective Dopamine Pez Dispenser]

All of the above, and if anyone else is looking for a really simple, straightforward, current guide for a "vanilla plus" experience, I recommend this one:

https://github.com/Sigourn/morrowind-improved/blob/master/mendedmw.md

That's one of the more straightforward "it just works" guides for people new to modding in my experience that is also current for 2020.

[THEWIZARDDK]

had many of same questions. but i was looking for mods here from steam? but now i realise steam perhaps dont have them because on nexus?

[kaijax]

Originally posted by THEWIZARDDK:

had many of same questions. but i was looking for mods here from steam? but now i realise steam perhaps dont have them because on nexus?

They're all on Nexus. Very simple to install too, so I wouldn't bother with a mod organiser either.

[sensitivestoic]

Yep, I had no issue using manual download for these mods from Nexus!