Morrowind Graphics Extender vs OpenMW?

[Huggable Cube]

Hey guys and dolls,

I have to do a fresh install of Morrowind because it keeps CTDing when I try to load a save or start a new one. So to get everything working again I'm starting from scratch. And before I go re doing mods I'd thought I'd ask what the current consensus (if any) is.
When I last played OpenMW was super early and very buggy and MGE was all the rage. Is this still the case?

[Minari99]

OpenMW is really good for me. Not having any problems. But you can also use MGE if you want.

[th]

I doubt there is "a current consensus". I play with original engine, no MGE XE, no OpenMW. These two things turn Morrowind into some other game, especially OpenMW. I want to play Morrowind, not some other game, you know.

[horselats]

Depends how much time you want to spend patching and modding. Openmw for a vanilla+ game, mge xe if you want to go wild with script-heavy mods. A lot of new quest mods require one or the other, usually mge xe. This guide's pretty good: https://github.com/Sigourn/morrowindsharp/blob/main/readme.md

[Ghost]

Either use MCP and MGE XE, or use OpenMW.

Firstly multiplayer - if you want it, you're stuck with OpenMW.
Secondly, mods - if it requires MWSE it won't run on OpenMW.

There might be alternate versions of the mods though, so check the authors page or search for it.

[Lord Rumpkin]

I'm usually a MCP + MGE kind of guy. But saw a couple videos that convinced me to switch to OpenMW. Now I'm pretty sold. I don't think I can ever go back. OpenMW in its current release is very smooth and stable. Morrowind feels way different on it. Really takes it to the next level. No longer feels like a world of sock puppets.

I recommend

[Elthrael]

I recently started my very first playthrough of Morrowind, and I opted for MGE + MCP + Morrowind Patch Project (and a bunch of other, non-essential mods, but I'd be fine with just the three I mentioned).

The game looks great, runs great for the most part, and all the bugs stated on the Wiki that says "fixed by so and so" are actually fixed.

That said, I was looking up the same question you were right before starting the playthrough, and the most common argument against OpenMW used to be incompatible with a LOT of popular mods, which apparently isn't (as much) the case anymore. Another argument against Morrowind, like th said, is that it makes gameplay changes some people aren't on board with (I wouldn't know, I have no frame of reference since I'm playing it for the first time).

My advice... go with whatever is more convenient for you. I'm a tinkerer so MGE plus vanilal and mods and all it's settings and so on were my playground, but if you just want to play morrowind and be done with it, I think OpenMW is the better option.

[WingedKagouti]

Originally posted by Elthrael:

Another argument against Morrowind, like th said, is that it makes gameplay changes some people aren't on board with (I wouldn't know, I have no frame of reference since I'm playing it for the first time).

I think you meant OpenMW here. ;)

Anyway, most of those changes are minor changes to various formula where the difference in the end result would only be obvious if you went out of your way to examine it. And just like MCP there are several settings to enable/disable various "bonus fixes".

[Ghost]

Originally posted by Elthrael:

I recently started my very first playthrough of Morrowind, and I opted for MGE + MCP + Morrowind Patch Project (and a bunch of other, non-essential mods, but I'd be fine with just the three I mentioned).

The game looks great, runs great for the most part, and all the bugs stated on the Wiki that says "fixed by so and so" are actually fixed.

Would recommend replacing Morrowind Patch Project with Patch for Purists, but don't swap patches (mods in general, but especially patches) in the middle of a save.

MPP has some severe feature creep, balance changes etc. and various authors with differing opinions, whereas PfP is just bug fixes.

[Teralitha]

The best vanilla setup is to use MCP + MGEXE + PFP

[✙205🍉🐆→]

OpenMW simple, classic, couple of mods

[th]

OpenMW is not classic be definition.

[madgamer2]

Mayhap I am wondering if perhaps you might consider WHY YOU NEED A REINSTALL WHEN YOU MIGHT CONSIDER LOOKING INTO why YOU NEED A A CHANGE. Good luck with solving the problem

[Huggable Cube]

Originally posted by madgamer2:

Mayhap I am wondering if perhaps you might consider WHY YOU NEED A REINSTALL WHEN YOU MIGHT CONSIDER LOOKING INTO why YOU NEED A A CHANGE. Good luck with solving the problem

I had to reinstall because the game wouldn't work. I could get into main menu fine but when I actually tried to load a save or start a new game it immediately crashed to desktop. No error message.
I don't necessarily NEED a change, it's just looking into whether or not I should. If I've got a fresh install I might as well look around.

[psychotron666]

At first I liked openmw, but once you start playing and know anything about the game, it simply changes way too much from the base game for no other reason than the developers decide that's how morrowind should be.

I'll use openmw to play starwind, but otherwise I'll stick to MCP/mge and base morrowind over openmw