The Pros and Cons of MWSE vs OpenMW?

[Caduceus]

For the first time since before Skyrim's release nearly a decade ago, I plan to reinstall, re-mod, and replay Morrowind.

But the advent (and actual release) of things like MWSE and OpenMW open up entirely new avenues for the game, with many new mods requiring one or the other.

What are the pros and cons of each utility, and which do you recommend over the other?

Disclaimer: I'm somewhat familiar with lua and, naturally, gravitate towards MWSE. I've little to no experience with Python.

[slayor3000]

You could open up a can of "worms" with a question like that. Why? There are people who will shout the benefits of both quite strongly.
My advice would be to check through the mods you would really,really want to install and go from there.

[Marktwelve]

I started using OpenMW to be able to use xbox one controler and on my pc it ran so much better. It also runs really good on my low/mid grade phone with mods also OpenMW remake (microwave nightly). If i had a better Pc i would use MWSE more for graphics maybe, and auto sorting mods.
Right now i play in OpenMW 99% and make personal mods only using standard install.
Biggest downside to OpenMW is installing mods has a learning curve id see many not liking,
at first though if i wanted to start a fresh install as fast as possible no troubles OpenMW
has most bugs fixed.

[Caduceus]

Автор сообщения: slayor3000

You could open up a can of "worms" with a question like that. Why? There are people who will shout the benefits of both quite strongly.
My advice would be to check through the mods you would really,really want to install and go from there.

That's precisely why I ask. I want honest and passionate responses from people. The kind of folks I know put considerable time and effort into Morrowind.

Автор сообщения: Ranger

Why not download them and try it out? The answer as to which is "the best" is still highly subjective with no clear consensus in the fanbase. I'd download both and see what you like. OpenMW can run entirely independent of your vanilla or MGE-XE/MWSE install if you copy the game files into a OpenMW subdirectory (like \OpenMW\Morrowind\) and then point the OpenMW setup to that location. So you can run both independent of one another where they won't be changing anything that might cause conflicts.

That is actually the plan!

[Iommonaut]

There are no pros to the original engine. The only reason to use it these days is MWSE. In my opinion the engine improvements brought by OpenMW give a superior play experience and outweigh the modding capabilities of MWSE. Sure lua scripting is nice, but you have to use the crappy 2002 engine.

Which is why I have a sneaking suspicion that none of those MWSE modders actually play the game. They just screw around with mods. Play 10 hours on the original engine and 10 hours on OpenMW and you'll see how much of a vast improvement OpenMW is to how the game feels. OpenMW goes a long way to lifting Morrowind out of 2002.

Of course, many of these improvements are actually not enabled by default, like the third person features, but you can find the settings easily in the OpenMW documentation.
https://elsid-openmw.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference/modding/settings/index.html

[slayor3000]

All down to personal experience.

Tried OpenMW years ago and it totally killed my FPS, the setup for certain things also was a hassle having to alter ini files.

I then went to MGE Xe, easy to set up, great graphics (long distance, shaders, fov, water ripples etc). FPS and gameplay smooth (as smooth as they can be for an ancient notebook).

Less than 2 years ago OpenMW released a major update (remember this is not a finished product) so I tried it out again.
It murdered my FPS especially around towns, doing certain changes meant hunting through read mes and there web site and then altering ini files (remember to write down what you change just in case you want to revert it). Then it started to have compatability problems with a couple of mods which it really should not have done.

I changed back to MGEXE, MCP,MWSE and Lua. Took a day or two to sort out a "chunk size error", but since then I have had no crashes, no stability problems at all.
Graphics are great and easy to setup. MCP changes are simple to do through toggle buttons and hit "patch" (a lot of MCP changes have not been implemented yet by OpenMW and some that have you will have to find the ini part to change. Check OpenMW website to compare where they are at and what ini changes to make if you want).

I will stick to the setup I have now, especially since I now use at least 4 MWSE/LUA mods which I really like.

Will I try OpenMW again? If I am still playing in a few years time and it is a more finished product then most likely yes.
Even though I do not like what they altered about birthsigns I can always find a mod (or make one) to alter it back.

[Nebgama]

We are kinda going over this exact topic in a thread that i made last month. you may of seen it by now. We are discussing both game paths.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/22320/discussions/0/4679778856506118781/

[Conkwer]

Автор сообщения: slayor3000

Tried OpenMW years ago and it totally killed my FPS...
.. ancient notebook).

It not supposed to be runned on ancient notebook. There is minimal requirements you should follow.
You need at least 8 years old PC/laptop with dedicated graphics to get 60fps.

Without a doubt, if a hardware is ancient and you have an Intel Graphic integrated or a GeForce 4, then vanilla is the only solution. OpenMW is not even worth a try.

It's a modern engine, for a modern hardware. Not always for the powerful ones, but for modern enough, with multi-core CPU, etc.
OpenMW can be faster than vanilla on some cheap modern devices since use advantages of a new techs.

They can't support legacy and modern hardware at the same time.
If they will support outdated techs, it will damage to all users who will buy a modern PC/laptop/mobile

[slayor3000]

Автор сообщения: Conkwer

Автор сообщения: slayor3000

Tried OpenMW years ago and it totally killed my FPS...
.. ancient notebook).

It not supposed to be runned on ancient notebook. There is minimal requirements you should follow.
You need at least 8 years old PC/laptop with dedicated graphics to get 60fps.

Without a doubt, if hardware is ancient and you have Intel Graphic integrated or GeForce 4, then vanilla is the only solution. OpenMW is not even worth a try.

It's a modern engine, for a modern hardware. Not always for the powerful ones, but for modern enough, with multi-core CPU, etc.
OpenMW can be faster than vanilla on some cheap modern devices since use advantages of a new techs.

My notebook might be 8 or 9 years old but I get 60+ FPS on my machine.
Because its "old" does not mean much here as when I bought it (luckily before I lost everything I had and 1 of the few I have bought) it cost a bit.
I7, hd8970M (with 4gb), 16gb ram.

Have also been building my own since the DX486 days, so I think I know what I am doing.
Thank you anyway.
MGEXE + what else I run works perfect for me (60+FPS), OpenMW does not.

[Conkwer]

Автор сообщения: slayor3000

I7, hd8970M (with 4gb), 16gb ram.

That's strange. This hardware is not that bad.
Nvidia have better drivers/optimization, maybe.

[Nebgama]

Its apples to oranges really though and an engine which was designed in a timeline where we were using Pentium slot series cpus on 32bit systems so 200mhz-600mhz and up to around 1.4ghz ballpark for socket 370 but was less rare.

We are way past that. One of my ram modules alone has more computing power than the entire system that the game would of been designed on back then.

The only reason to go with an outdated engine comes down to what i have been saying in the other thread and that is mod support. Because most of the mods where around before OpenMW it takes a lot longer for them to make the switch.

Not to mention that many of the mods are no longer supported by the mod authors/developers so unless somebody else takes them on then they will be always stuck on vanilla engine.

95% of the modding side of Morrowind works on OpenMw though.

[Nebgama]

Автор сообщения: Conkwer

Автор сообщения: slayor3000

I7, hd8970M (with 4gb), 16gb ram.

That's it strange. This hardware is not that bad.
Nvidia have better drivers/optimization, maybe.

Yeah it should run openmw fine, That gpu is the equivalent of a gtx 780 mobile version.

Vanilla is fine and runs smooth.

On the other hand you really have to tweak OpenMW even on top level enthusiast systems if you want to mod it. Things like optimization patch, project atlas and atlased textures do not go a stray. Then much time spent in the configs tweaking performance.

[Nebgama]

And yeah it does lean more towards better performance on nvidia/intel like so does most of the gaming market.

[Teralitha]

Only openmw limits what mods you can use.
If you want to be able to use any mod that exists, you will want this set up -

For the cleanest, bug free, crash free, vanilla experience possible.....

Morrowind Code patch (MCP) https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/19510

Morrowind Graphics Extender (MGExe) https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/41102

Patch For Purists (PFP) https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/45096

How to Install MCP and MGEXE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_J5xN3aok&t=59s

[Conkwer]

Автор сообщения: Teralitha

Only openmw limits what mods you can use.
If you want to be able to use any mod that exists, you will want this set up - If you want to be able to use any mod that exists, you will want this set up -

Not true.
Actually, you can't ("to use in vanilla any mod that exists"). There is lot of mods exist that are only compatible with OpenMW or TES3MP.
Natural Character Growth and Decay[www.nexusmods.com], for example.
Lot of graphics mods, etc

[VaderDFXB]

Less BS with OpenMW plus it makes it so you can play Morrowind on a decently powerful Android device if you so desire which is quite impressive. I can't wait to see if the Powkiddy X18S will be able to run Morrowind since that'd be hilarious and something I'd totally do.