Morrowind and Addons

[Celesyne]

I've had Morrowind and all of its expansions since they hit shelves, and I greatly enjoy the game, minus the tediousness of the combat. However, I have never beaten the game, the farthest i have ever made it was taking something to the fat Daedra looking guy in a cave/dungeon.

Now, I have been lured back into this game, by a friend who is playing through and writing a small narrative about it, and Maxyms amazing LP. I never used mods on with Morrowind, i did not have internet at the time i had purchased/played it, and would like some advice from you playground folks on whats good and nice.

I am not a fan of the Hyper-realistic, eat-drink-sleep mods, like they made for Oblivion. I sincerely would like to know if there are some exceptional graphics packs to make the overall look of the game better, and maybe make enchanted items look less....plasticy and more magicy. If there is a way to get off hand blocking weapons like oblivion has with the expack that would be cool too.

So, whats the most entertaining way to proceed through the game? I always wanted to play an archer, but the combat system made that ungodly difficult at best.

Anything pertaining Morrowind, expansions, addons, and that other cool stuff with it is cool in here. Get your Elder Scrolls on folks.

[Rutskarn]

You know, in all the years I've been playing Morrowind--and the months I've been doing my LP--I've never once downloaded a Morrowind mod?

I've installed a few of my own design, but those were really just to fix bugs.

[endoperez]

http://uk.geocities.com/galsiah/


Galsiah's Character Development is my attempt to give Morrowind the character progression system it deserves.
Morrowind is a very good game, but its (relatively) poor levelling system stops it from being a great game - for me at least.

I designed GCD with the following goals:

To remove artificial limits on skills and attributes.
To maintain diversity in character skills and attributes throughout the game.
To remove the temptation to spend time worrying about gameplay mechanics e.g. 5x multipliers.
To remove levels and make character progression seamless. (level is kept at a sensible behind-the-scenes value at all times)
To preserve game balance, without imposing hard limits on anything.
To allow easy customisation.



I stopped playing Morrowind twice, disgusted with the original level-up system.


List of mods:
http://www.mwmythicmods.com/telesphoros.htm#6
It's probably better not to go overboard, at first, but you're probably interested in the following categories.

BODY REPLACERS & RETEXTURES
GRAPHIC REPLACERS - ARMOR & CLOTHING
GRAPHIC REPLACERS - GENERAL
GRAPHIC REPLACERS - SIGNS
GRAPHIC REPLACERS - TREES & FOLIAGE
GRAPHIC REPLACERS - WORLD

[MickJay]

I've only ever bothered with the official mods (something like 10 of them in total). I haven't used graphic improvers, since my computer isn't very powerful, but the results I've seen were really impressive.

[Celesyne]

I'm not worried about my PC not being able to handle it, I'm fairly certain it will handle anything Morrowind can throw at it, so that's not an issue. The GCD looks interesting, and I may have to give that one a try, though it looks complicated, and unholy mother of hellsing that's a lot of mods......

Any personal recommendations? I'd rather not trudge through 400000000 different mod combos looking for good ones.

[Hermit]

http://morrowind2009.wordpress.com/

List of purely graphical improvements. I'd personally avoid the tree/grass mod, though, as they're beta and do kill framerates. There either is, or will be, a version of Morrowind Graphics Extender with support for Speedtree and grass tech (Think Oblivion trees/grass). Also, despite his misgivings about MGE's distant land, it works pretty damn well with minimal framerate issues if you set it up right.

The official Morrowind Mod forums (http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showforum=12) are also a great place for getting some help with mods, be they recommendations, or installing, or whatever. I recommend a glance over their Morrowind Mod FAQs topic.

Edit: I'll just leave this link here. (http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i201/Vality7/mge/MGEScreen04.jpg)

[Dhavaer]

I've been using Better Bodies and Better Heads. The former is particularly nice for mages as it stops your hands looking so horribly polygonal. I have Better Clothes, too, but it doesn't seem to work.

[ObadiahtheSlim]

I'd highly recommend better bodies and better clothes. It really makes the models look a lot cleaner for that engine.

[Maxymiuk]

I recommend one of the many NoGlow mods out there. It may make magic items harder to identify on sight, but it also stops you from looking like a color-challenged rainbow from around midgame on.

[MickJay]

Do you know if anyone has ever bothered to make an actual glow mod? The original "glow" is more like patches of colour moving across the surface, and it did spoil the looks of some (most) of the items. Granted, with a "real" glow the character would look more like a christmas tree, but it could be interesting to see (before uninstalling it)... :smalltongue:

[Maxymiuk]

I think I saw a couple mods out there that gave weapons aura effects based on their enchantment (so actual flames, or crackling electricity, etc.) but it's been awhile ago, so I don't remember where it was. I might try to dig them up later.

[Morty]

I'd suggest downloading one of the Mana regeneration mods out there if you want your PCs to cast some serious magic.

[MickJay]

I make do with Alchemy for that... getting potions that regenerate 300 mana per second for a few minutes isn't that difficult.

[Celesyne]

I've never really delved into alchemy and enchanting frustrated me, because i could never figure out what was required to make an always in effect enchantment.

Better bodies-clothes will go in then, do these effect the NPCs? Twould be great to finally feel like there are more than just 6 different NPCs being recycled with different names across all Vvardenfell. No-Glow sounds good, but I liked the thing Maxym said a little better, if i can find it i may just use it. And I guess I'll have to sort through the 400000 different graphics packs myself anyways. Is there a Mod that Makes Archery work more like Oblivions?

Oh, and does anyone have any favorite character style, melee munchkin, spellblade, thief? I'm curious about interesting ways to play through, especially for someone like meself who spends more time rummageing random holes in the wall than main story line.

[Dhavaer]

I prefer enchanting, with normal spellcasting and melee combat as a backup. Be warned that enchanting is heavily overpowered, though.

[Celesyne]

I can't seem to find a server that still hosts the better heads mod, which is unfortunate, since it looks awesome. If anyone knows somewhere that still has it, it would be appreciated.

[MickJay]

I prefer enchanting, with normal spellcasting and melee combat as a backup. Be warned that enchanting is heavily overpowered, though.

So is alchemy, once you start stacking boosting effects. Then you can combine the both, conjuring Golden Saints and Star of Azura to make all the items that a NPC would make for a few hundred thousand gold each... The only problem is the limited maximum enchantment capacity of items, but you might as well make a dozen amulets with non-constant enchantments and activate them when needed (both for enhancements and offence). Or just drink the potions to boost relevant attributes. The game system is so easy to break (if you're trying even a little) it's not even funny (including the shopkeepers who will sell you items for less than they will pay you for them, so you can clear their inventories for free).

[Celesyne]

Hmmm, one of the addons in the list of things hermit posted for graphical update turned all the magic items names that Ive found so far into almost elven looking script.. tis weird, but not exactly game breaking.

So, how is alchemy done in Morrowind? I have never used it in either it or Oblivion. Is it really that gamebreaking?

[endoperez]

Hmmm, one of the addons in the list of things hermit posted for graphical update turned all the magic items names that Ive found so far into almost elven looking script.. tis weird, but not exactly game breaking.

So, how is alchemy done in Morrowind? I have never used it in either it or Oblivion. Is it really that gamebreaking?

Ingredients have two to four effects. Example effects might be "restore hitpoints", "restore fatigue", "drain strength" and "damage strength". To make a potion, you have to use ingredients which share one effect between them. E.g. you need two DIFFERENT ingredients with the "restore hitpoints" effect, before you can make a healing potion. It's not that rare to notice the potion you'd like to make would damage your ability scores so you decide not to do it.


If you just do potions, it's not overpowered in my experience. It is boring - I ended up hauling a shop's worth of ingredients (I think they and the alchemy tools weighted more than my whole set of armor and weapons) and I didn't know how to use most of them. You can't see the ingredients' effects before your Alchemy is high enough, but you can mix them - really annoying, since it rewards for out-of-game information. I knew not to start playing with Fortify Intelligence effects, though.

If you boost intelligence with Fortify Int potions, and drink them before making the next FortInt potion, the effects scale with your intelligence every time. Exponential increase in the potions' power is quickly very overpowered, and you can restart close to your last point by saving few potions for later.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind_talk:Alchemy

What do I do when I overboosted my character? By now, if I make a fortify speed potion, my character would become too fast for very much anything. Fortify strength again makes his weapon brake right after its first strike. How do I reverse this?
[SNIP]
It is because I boosted my Intelligence, yes, to something like 50000000. I was hoping there would be some way to rest longer then 24 hours at once, like in Daggerfall. Still, Damage Intelligence it is then. Thanks for your help.

[Celesyne]

Holy crap, thats some scary effects...... can you make poisons that are that devastating??

Currently working on getting some minor mod conflicts worked out and seeing if there are any decent house mods that aren't full of gamebreaking gear. Is there like an Alchemy table that will let you use all 4 "items" and you no have to carry it around?

[endoperez]

Holy crap, thats some scary effects...... can you make poisons that are that devastating??

Currently working on getting some minor mod conflicts worked out and seeing if there are any decent house mods that aren't full of gamebreaking gear. Is there like an Alchemy table that will let you use all 4 "items" and you no have to carry it around?

I don't think there's any way to use potions with negative effects on enemies. Which is good too, because when trying to mix a potion that has a good effect and a bad effect, it seemed like the bad effect was 5 times more powerful and lasted 10 times as long. In hindsight, the alchemy system is a boring failure of a mechanic even though it allows you to make lots and lots of healing potions (several farmed plants like wickwheat restore health).


http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=2737
At Home Alchemy
- At Home Alchemists rejoice! Never again will you have to readjust your perfectly placed alchemy set. Instead of having to put your apparatuses into your inventory every time you want to make a potion, you can now simply "fire up" the apparatuses you wish to use by activating them. Makes much more sense now.

[MickJay]

If you don't try to stack boosting effects, it's very straightforward and not overpowered. I've never boosted any attribute to more than a few thousand (it's enough to do anything anyway). For identifying properties, you can see one per 15 points in Alchemy (all at 60). Getting the Grand Master quality apparati helps a lot if you're not using mods, they're far lighter than any other type. If you're not particularly interested in getting the maximum possible quality, you can use a pipe instead of calcinator to save on encumbrance (and still add a small boost to ql). One of the first things I enchant after increasing intelligence is the +1-79 STR tower shield, the bonus is randomly "rolled" every time you equip the item, so after a few tries you end up with over +70 "permanent" str bonus (if you receive attribute damage, you need to unequip, remove effect, re-equip again). Also, the shield can be equipped while using 2-handed weapons (you can't block, but still get the bonus).

Simple trick if you're using heavy ingredients: fill the free space with non-active, light ingredients (or something that restores fatigue, that's always good) - final weigth is the average of the ingredients, so having 2 and 0.1 will get you potion weigthing ~1, but 2, 0.1, 0.1 and 0.1 will result in 0.5.

General trick for the endgame: when you're level 75+, have too much money, everything maxed and still want to level up: master trainers still offer training, and while the skill doesn't rise anymore, the level bar keeps filling up.

[Morty]

I make do with Alchemy for that... getting potions that regenerate 300 mana per second for a few minutes isn't that difficult.

Yeah, but with the mod your magicka will regenerate by itself while you walk around, which is very handy and you can save the truckload of potions - that don't always stack - for serious situations.
On the subject of enchanting, I'd maybe find it overpowered if I succeeded in creating an item once in a while. :smallannoyed:

[MickJay]

You can either pay NPCs for it (though the cost goes to over 400.000 for the most expensive enchantments), or boost your intelligence with potions (for which you need the Alchemy in the first place...). I can't remember what values guaranteed the top enchantments to work, but it was somewhere between 1000 and 3000 intelligence (make 5 fort. int. potions, drink them, make another 5, drink them, repeat until you're satisfied with the result).

The game gets very easy after a certain point, I don't like the mods that remove some of the challenge (now, exploiting the system is a totally different matter :smallbiggrin:). One of the most powerful signs is the Atronach, which blocks sleep from returning magicka, does the mod remove this limitation as well?

Only potions of exactly the same quality stack, so it's best to make a lot of them at once (with highly boosted intelligence).

[Celesyne]

After some playing, and subsequently getting lost in Ravenloft for over 4 hours, Ive noticed with the full overhaul guide that was linked earlier that, in some places it seems like the light fragments....

i dont know how else to really put it, if your in the right area and looking the right way the game suddenly creates dark lines as if each area was a different light interacting, but it creates shaded areas instead... and causes 500000 kinds of lag. Bad to the point that in Balmora on the next to the river on the side with Caius cosades, if you look towards his house, i move at 3 fps with the light fragmenting, whereas i am running a good 45+ everywhere else.

What on earth could cause this and how do I go about fixing it? If I can figure out how to take a screenshot of it, and have it show up, and figure out how to host it online, i will link one, but as for now i am baffled as certain areas are unplayable.

[Celesyne]

little bump, still trying to figure out the screenshot thingy, but any help at all would be HUGELY appreciated, I'd like to actually finish this game.

[DBear]

I can't seem to find a server that still hosts the better heads mod, which is unfortunate, since it looks awesome. If anyone knows somewhere that still has it, it would be appreciated.


Here you go. http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=2735

Enjoy

[nooblade]

I can enchant pretty close to 100% success with Restoration. The spells that fortify attributes help, similar to Alchemy, and they don't need to stay on for very long for the purposes of enchanting since the game pauses when you go into your inventory.

It's possible for me, for some reason, to add more than one copy of the "fortify intelligence" effect. So it's just a matter of boosting intelligence by 100-800 for one second, depending on the complexity of my enchantment. Or it's also possible to do this with a little enchanted item pyramid scheme if you don't want to get Restoration. The game starts breaking from there, but oh well, use it wisely and you'll still have fun.

Or actually, due to one of the mods I got more recently, I can make spell effects go up to 1000 now. Which one was that? A collection of real nice tweaks, but not a typical plugin, I forget the name.

Anyway, other than that, the main mods I use are Tamriel Rebuilt, Wakim's Game Improvements, and a small thing that adds teleport spells to most cities, in order of descending hugeness.

[ObadiahtheSlim]

Actually, restoring magicka is trivial with a good destruction skill. Just make a drain intelligence for 0 seconds at least as high as your max intelligence. You cast that spell and you have all your magicka back. Plus it works for Atronarch birth signs too.