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Difference between revisions of "The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind"

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==Availability==
 
==Availability==
 
{{Availability|
 
{{Availability|
{{Availability/row| Retail | | disc | {{DRM|SafeDisc}}. Requires the disc to be always present. | | Windows }}
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{{Availability/row| Retail | | disc | Install the latest [[#Patches|patches]] to remove {{removed DRM|SafeDisc}}. Requires the disc to be always present (even after patches).<ref name="SafeDisc">[http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showpost.php?p=784643&postcount=5 Overclockers Australia Forums - View Single Post - Morrowind Patch Released]</ref>  | | Windows }}
 
{{Availability/row| Amazon | B00GXHJEE2 | Steam | | | Windows }}
 
{{Availability/row| Amazon | B00GXHJEE2 | Steam | | | Windows }}
 
{{Availability/row| GamersGate | DD-ES3MGOTYE | Steam | | | Windows }}
 
{{Availability/row| GamersGate | DD-ES3MGOTYE | Steam | | | Windows }}
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===Retail version does not work===
 
===Retail version does not work===
Install the latest [[#Patches|Patches]] to remove the incompatible SafeDisc protection from the retail version.<ref>[http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showpost.php?p=784643&postcount=5 Overclockers Australia Forums - View Single Post - Morrowind Patch Released]</ref>
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Install the latest [[#Patches|Patches]] to remove the incompatible SafeDisc protection from the retail version.<ref name="SafeDisc"/>
  
 
===Settings don't stay saved===
 
===Settings don't stay saved===

Revision as of 10:29, 21 March 2018

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Cover image missing, please upload it
Developers
Bethesda Game Studios
Publishers
Bethesda Softworks
Engines
NetImmerse[1][2]
Release dates
Windows May 1, 2002
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind guide on StrategyWiki
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind on Wikipedia
The Elder Scrolls: Arena 1994
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall 1996
An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire 1997
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard 1998
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind 2002
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2006
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 2011
The Elder Scrolls Online 2014
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition 2016
The Elder Scrolls: Legends 2017
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR 2018
The Elder Scrolls: Blades TBA
The Elder Scrolls VI TBA

Key points

For Windows 8 and later apply The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind fullscreen border fix.
OpenMW is an open-source engine that improves some technical drawbacks and adds native support for MacOS and Linux.
Active modding community.
A wide array of bugs have been fixed through community patches.

General information

Official website.
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions
Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, a wiki for the Elder Scrolls series.
Morrowind Nexus, the largest active modding community for Morrowind.

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
Install the latest patches to remove SafeDisc DRM. Requires the disc to be always present (even after patches).[3]
Windows
Amazon.com
Icon overlay.png
Windows
GamersGate
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Incorrect store name. See here for available options.
Icon overlay.png
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
Includes both expansions and the Construction Set.[4]
Windows
Green Man Gaming
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Includes both expansions but not the Construction Set.[5]
Windows

Version differences

The Game of the Year Edition includes both expansions and the latest patches. All digital distribution versions are the Game of the Year Edition and are already fully patched.
The Elder Scrolls Anthology includes both a retail version and a single Steam key that unlocks Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.[6]
The retail and GOG.com versions include The Elder Scrolls Construction Set.[4] The Steam version does not include the Construction Set.[5]
The GameStop PC Downloads/Impulse version is not compatible with some mods.[7] This version is no longer sold.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Tribunal Included in the Game of the Year Edition.
Windows
Bloodmoon Included in the Game of the Year Edition.
Windows
Entertainers Free download from The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
Windows
Bitter Coast Sounds Free download from The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
Windows
Area Effect Arrows Free download from The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
Windows
Helm of Tohan Free download from The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
Windows
Master Index Free download from The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
Windows
LeFemm Armor Free download from The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
Windows
Adamantium Armor Free download from The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
Windows
Siege at Firemoth Free download from The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.
Windows
Official downloads for addons no longer hosted on The Elder Scrolls Official Site. Alternative downloads are available.

Essential improvements

This section may require cleanup to meet basic quality standards. You can help by modifying the article. The discussion page may contain useful suggestions.

Patches

The Game of the Year Edition and the digital distribution versions are already fully patched.
  • The latest patch for the base Morrowind is 1.2.0722.
  • The latest patch for Tribunal is 1.14.1313.
  • The latest patch for Bloodmoon is 1.6.1820.

Skip intro videos

Use replacement video files

Apply the Morrowind intro skip.

Unofficial Patches

Morrowind Patch Project

Morrowind Overhaul includes an older version of this patch. It is recommended to delete the old Morrowind Patch file in the Data Files folder before installing this new version.
Requires both the Tribunal and Bloodmoon expansions.
Fixes several hundred bugs and inconsistencies not covered by the official patches.

Morrowind Code Patch

Morrowind Overhaul includes an older version of this patch. It is recommended to install the new version after installing Morrowind Overhaul.
Fixes bugs in the Morrowind executable that could not be covered by the Morrowind Patch Project.
Includes several optional gameplay enhancements, such as a sneak toggle and smoother magic casting.

Morrowind Script Tidy

Fixes scripting errors to reduce save bloat and improve stability.

UV Texture fixes

The following mods fix texture seams:

Exe Optimizer

Morrowind Overhaul includes this patch.
Improves performance on older machines.
Incompatible with non-Intel CPUs.
If using with Morrowind Code Patch[citation needed]

The Morrowind Code Patch must be before the Exe Optimizer.

Large Address Aware

Improves stability on systems with at least 3GB RAM by allowing the application to use more than 2GB RAM. Particularly useful when using large numbers of mods or heavily scripted mods

OpenMW

OpenMW is an in-development open-source re-implementation of Morrowind's engine. OpenMW allows Morrowind to be played natively on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It allows for technical drawbacks to be fixed at the level of the engine, as well as enhance the game by correcting design flaws such as savegame "doubling" and improving physics, combat, AI, and graphics.[8] OpenMW requires a legal copy of the game in order to play Morrowind.[9]

Not all mods are compatible with the engine, the official wiki maintains a compatibility guide.
Mod installation guides are available on the wiki or in the documentation

Mods

Morroblivion / Skywind

Morroblivion, a full port/remake of Morrowind in the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion engine has been released and is available here.
Skywind, a full port/remake of Morrowind in the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim engine is still in progress. More information can be found here.

Morrowind Overhaul

A compilation of mods with a fully automated installer and an automatic updater. Includes, The Unofficial Morrowind Patch, Morrowind Code Patch, and MGE.
Improved visuals, effects, sounds and Higher Resolution Textures.

During install, the mod may take control of the user's mouse and keyboard for periods of time as it selects the correct settings needed for its successful installation. The user is given a choice of graphics options that best suits their setup, as, on its highest settings, the mod requires a very powerful setup to run smoothly. Users who have installed the mod and are experiencing low frame rates may wish to disable the "water effects" and "distant lands" settings using MGEgui.exe.

It is recommended, to manually update some mods/utilities, which are part of Morrowind Overhaul to their latest versions. Instructions are available here.

Many users have experienced issues with the game merely displaying a black screen past the main menu. There are two causes of this issue - their solutions are outlined below:

Steam Overlay[citation needed]
Steam Community Overlay: Steam users will need to disable the community overlay before running the game with the mod installed, as the two conflict.
  1. Right click the Steam icon in the taskbar.
  2. Click settings.
  3. Go to the "In-game" menu.
  4. Deselect the Steam Community overlay option.
MGE XE[citation needed]
Morrowind Graphics Extender (MGE) XE: The latest version of the mod, using "MGE XE", is often the cause of this issue.[10]
  1. Users can select an older, less advanced version by navigating to their Morrowind installation folder
  2. Select MGSO Options
  3. Go to the MGE tab.
  4. The user will then need to regenerate the Distant Lands using MGEgui.exe.

Utilities

Morrowind Graphics Extender (MGE)

Morrowind Graphics Extender is a utility capable of improving the graphics in Morrowind. Some users may prefer to install MGE individually in order to build their own overhaul or retain the original textures of vanilla Morrowind. The most prominent feature offered by MGE is the addition of the "Distant Lands" distant landscape, but it is also capable of adding shaders, better water, and a myriad of other improvements.

MGE XE

included in Morrowind Overhaul.

An updated fork of MGE with expanded features, bug fixes and performance enhancements over standard MGE.

mlox

Sorts mod load order to reduce conflicts and provides messages regarding known issues with mods.

Wrye Mash

3rd Party mod manager and conflict resolution tool.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/row
System Location
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/22320/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game data location

Template:Game data/row
System Location
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/22320/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Stores up to 953.67 MB of game saves online (maximum 100 files).

Video settings

Video settings.
Video settings.
Launcher settings.
Launcher settings.

Template:Video settings

Widescreen resolution

Use MGE XE[citation needed]
Set widescreen resolution[citation needed]
  1. Run Morrowind at least once.
  2. Download and run Morrowind FPS Optimizer.
  3. Choose Change Morrowind registry settings here.
  4. Change defaults to the resolution you want.
  5. Uncheck novice mode and set your field of view (FOV) on the misc/2 tab.

Notes

FOV change is only applied when the Morrowind FPS Optimizer is running.
Some UI elements have maximum resizing limits; use Morrowind Code Patch to remove these limits.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Enable AA[citation needed]
  1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Bethesda Softworks\Morrowind.
  2. In the right hand window, change Multisamples from 0 to the number of samples you wish to use (ie, 4 = 4xAA).

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Enable Vsync[citation needed]
  1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Bethesda Softworks\Morrowind.
  2. In the right hand window, change Presentation Interval from 0 to 1.

Input settings

Input settings.
Input settings.

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

Audio settings.
Audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Polish
Retail version only
Russian
Spanish

VR support

Issues fixed

Crashing During Install or Launch

Crashing During Install or Launch[citation needed]

Some users have reported issues with crashes whilst installing or launching the game.[11] This can often be put down to a conflict between the Macrovision SafeDisc encryption software packaged with the game, and specific background programs installed on your computer. Programs known to lead to this conflict:

  • Iomega removable hard disk drives and flash drives
  • Hex and kernel editors.

In order to resolve this issue, the user should use the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination, and end all running processes except Explorer and Systray (these are essential system processes).

Render Creation Failure

Render Creation Failure[citation needed]
This issue often occurs with users who have a corrupted install of the Morrowind Graphics Extender. If this is the cause, it can be resolved by reinstalling the mod correctly.

However, the issue may also be caused by the following:

  • The system does not meet the minimum system requirements for Morrowind, or is using an unsupported video card. In this case, there is little that can be done to resolve the issue, other than upgrading the under-performing parts to meet system requirements.
  • Outdated graphics card drivers. In this case, the user must update their drivers to the latest version, available from their respective manufacturer's website.

Audio Problems (Windows XP)

Audio Problems (Windows XP)[citation needed]
Some users have reported issues with in-game audio, which may often lead to crashing. One way to resolve this is to reduce sound quality to low in the options menu. If this does not work, try the following:
  1. Open the Start menu, and search dxdiag, then open the program.
  2. Go to the "Sound" tab, and reduce the audio hardware acceleration down two notches to Basic Acceleration.

Grey Haze

Grey Haze[citation needed]
Users with Nvidia cards who report a grey haze in their games often have their "fog emulation table" turned off. It can be turned back on by doing the following in Windows XP:
  1. Click the Start button, and navigate to the Control Panel
  2. Double click Display, and navigate to Settings, then Advanced
  3. Select the GeForce Tab and click Additional Properties
  4. Click on the Direct3D Tab
  5. Place a check mark in the box for Enable Fog Emulation Table

Crash After a Few Minutes of Play

Crash After A Few Minutes of Play[citation needed]
Users with the Nvidia GeForce 2MX video card and a Via based motherboard often report this issue.
  • It can be resolved by downloading the latest drivers.
  • The latest version of Via's 4-in-1 driver can be obtained here. Follow the instructions on the web site to download and install the drivers.
Many computer and motherboard manufacturers have special version of these drivers for use with their hardware. It is highly recommended that you contact the system/motherboard manufacturer to see if the manufacturer has a special version of these drivers, in which case you should use the version specified.

Mouse Lag

Mouse Lag[citation needed]

Turning down the music slider to its minimum often results in severe mouse lag, particularly indoors.

  • This can be resolved by moving the slider one notch up, which will halt the lag whilst keeping the music inaudible.

Load Failure

Load Failure[citation needed]

Some users who have installed both the Tribunal and Bloodmoon expansions separately have reported loading errors, which are caused by the expansions being installed in the wrong order. This can be resolved by installing Bloodmoon over the top of the existing installations, with no need to uninstall anything.

Black Sun

Black Sun[citation needed]

Users with ATI Radeon graphics cards often see a black sun during gameplay. This graphical anomaly can be resolved by installing the fan-made "ATI Card Sun Fix" mod. MGE XE also fixes it.

Installing The Elder Scrolls Construction Set Disc

Installing Disc[citation needed]
If the user purchased the game on disc, they may be unable to install the construction set through its packaged disk. This issue can be resolved by installing the set from the game disc (Disk 1) instead. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Place Disc 1 in the CD-ROM drive
  2. Right-Click on your CD-ROM drive and click on Explore
  3. Go to CSInstall, then double click on setup.exe
This will launch the construction set install from the play disc rather than its specific disc, and should resolve any install issues.

Unable to construct potions, due to a wrong message it does not have a name

Use Morrowind Code Patch[12]

Use the Morrowind Code Patch to apply the "Alchemy name bug" fix.

Window border visible in fullscreen mode

Morrowind does not go fullscreen correctly on Windows 8 and later.
Apply the fix

Apply The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind fullscreen border fix.

Retail version does not work

Install the latest Patches to remove the incompatible SafeDisc protection from the retail version.[3]

Settings don't stay saved

Run as administrator[citation needed]
  1. Right click Morrowind Launcher.exe
  2. Select properties
  3. Select compatibility tab
  4. Tick run this program as an administrator

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 8
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98
Processor (CPU) 500 MHz
System memory (RAM) 128 MB (98, ME)
256 MB (2000, XP)
Hard disk drive (HDD) 1 GB
Video card (GPU) 32 MB of VRAM
DirectX 8 compatible

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/22320/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (22320) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References