Welcome, member/reader/guest/lurker or whatever.

The goal of this guide is to archive the best possible graphics in the 2002 game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Considering how old the game is it's truly impressive how awesome the graphics can actually get by using mods and external utilities. This guide is not going to care at all about FPS, we're going for the looks. You may call this a mod list instead of a guide, either way, it's a help to get some awesome graphics.

This guide is aimed at an installation with both Morrowind, Tribunal and Bloodmoon. It will also work for the GOTY edition. In theory, you should be able to follow the guide even if you're missing an expansion pack.

A lot of mods can improve graphics by overhauling the textures and whatnot, but this guide will be aimed at keeping the game as close to it originally looked using a mix of different mods and utilities. Don't worry, you'll be guided through it all.

If you're new to mods, read this guide from Planet Elder Scrolls on how to install mods: INSTALLING MORROWIND MODS

A vanilla (Without Modifications) Morrowind looks sorta like this:

               

The guide will start with mods and then move on to utilities. The most simple way of getting better graphics are through texture modifications.

Before we start Evin found out that this guide doesn't quite work on steam-versions of Morrowind, but he found a fix for it:

Quote:Attention Steam-Users!
In order to get MGE and mods working you have to:

- disable Steam-Community ingame; found under settings.
- redate morrowind.bsa, tribunal.bsa and bloodmoon.bsa with file-date-changer. 1/1/2002 for all three files on created, modified and accessed worked for me.
- start Morrowind, play until you can save and do so.
- apply the Morrowindcodepatch; I activated everything and patched it.
- configure MGE like in the tutorial
- Don't start Morrowind via steamlauncher, start the new, patched morrowind.exe as administrator (again, Win7)

Evin shared his results Here

Version and Updates

02-18-2011: Updated design + Added Animations

#1: "Simple" Modifications

Textures and models are the most simple way of changing the look of the game and usually they don't hog your resources at all.

Psycho Dog Studios' Mods


Psycho Dog Studios has made one of the most popular mods for Morrowind: Better Bodies. With a #1 spot on "Planet Elder Scrolls" top rated mods, Better Bodies is the most rated mod on the entire site at this time of writing. Anyone who is playing with BB enabled will probably agree that the overhaul they've created of the body-models is probably one of the most noticeable and greatest improvements of any mod for Morrowind.

Better Bodies allows the option to install the characters completely nude. Use at your own risk. Simply choose the option with underwear enabled and you'll get a great experience without any naughty parts.

These days you can download Better Bodies from TESNexus since their own website has gone missingg:
Better Bodies @ TES Nexus.

Sadly, no beast races are included in Better Bodies but the modder behind the name Slof has made models based on the BB-bodies. It can be downloaded here: Slof's Better Beasts

To make sure all the clothes in Morrowind are compatible with the new body mesh, a team joined together under the name "Better Clothes team" and created a mod which replaces all the clothes with BB-compatible versions.

You can download Better Clothes from Planet Elder Scrolls:
Better Clothes @ Planet Elder Scrolls by Psyko Dog Studios.

Darknut (later introduced) created a texture replacer which made the textures from the Better Clothes team even better. This can be downloaded here: Better Clothes Textures by Darknut.

Now that we're improving the characters download WORLD OF FACES by GhanBuriGhan. It adds many new faces that works with "Better Bodies".


Darknut's Texture Mods


Darknut has created some very good retextures of the default Morrowind textures. Darknut is well known for creating textures that's true to the original texture, but often buffing them all the way up to 1024x1024.

Darknut often makes a 512 and 1024 versions available. Choose the one you want. 1024 is the best, but sometimes it's limited how much difference there is.

You can see all his mods on Planet Elder Scrolls, but I picked some of them out below that I think is the most important.

    Adamantium Claymore

    MW Armor Texures 1024 version (Should you like a 512 version it's available HERE.)

    Little Weapons Mod Complete

    Creature Textures (Morrowind) (Note, after installing you will need to search for the file "tx_kwama_foragerspit.dds" and delete it!)
- Darknut's Creature Textures: Addendum

    Creature Texture (Tribunal)

    Creature Texture (Bloodmoon)

    Dwemer Ruin Textures

Qarl's Texture Mods


Few modders can brag about creating awesome mods, and at the same time be banned from the official Bethesda Forums several times. Qarl is probably the only modder to be able to write that on his resumé.

    Bottle Replacer

    Flask Replacer

Misc Items Replacer

Daleth's Book Jackets


Daleth is best known in the Morrowind community for his Book Jacket's plugin. He has turned the old blurred Morrowind jackets into sharp editions that can even be read if the book is open without activating it. He released three versions: a Morrowind, Tribunal and Bloodmoon editions.

Book Jackets - Morrowind
Book Jackets - Tribunal
Book Jackets - Bloodmoon

           

Razorfett147's Magic Effects


razorfett147 has made some great replacements for the default Morrowind spell effects, some of them are a lot different than the old FX's, but he has also made some that's similar to the original effect. Simply choose the one you like the best.

    Frostball Improved

    Illusionbolt Improved

Other Texture Replacements


    Key Replacer by Daduke (Instead of 2 different key meshes, it gives around 50)

    Pillow Replacer by Alaisiagae

    Hi-Res Telvanni Textures

    Hi-Res Hlaalu Retex Pack by Keldyn

    RAWW - Imperial

Weathered Signs by Voltayre

Other Model Replacements


    Mesh Improvements by Armed_Defender

    Soul Gem Replacer

    Particle Arrow Replacer by GhostNull

Shiny Septims by Painkiller_Rider (Install after the "Mesh Improvements" mod.)

Other Mods:


http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/Vi...ail&id=389

#2: External Utilities

Retexturing has been an art in Morrowind since the game was released, but as time went by a few people coded some really great external utilities that can work with the game and modify a lot of things in it. Projects like Multiplayer, Save game editors and FPS optimizers have all been done.

Luckily, some of them improve graphics too.


TimeSlip's and Liztail's Morrowind Graphics Extender


Timeslip has coded lots of programs through the time, he started with Morrowind ("exe optimizer" and more), moved onto Oblivion ("Oblivion Mod Manager" and more) and then continued with Fallout 3 ("Fallout Mod Manager"). In this article we are mostly interested in MGE, the Morrowind Graphics Extender as it can produce some quite impressive views in Morrowind.

You can view Timeslips website on http://timeslip.chorrol.com/, and there is a MGE wiki available on this link!

A few of the effects this guide covers are:

• Enabling "Distant Land" (Like in Oblivion)
• Add a "semi-faked" HDR effect
• Add Animated Grass to regions
• Install a new water shader
  

For this guide, download "Morrowind Graphics Extender 3.8-SVN rev118 build" or later to make sure all the mods work. You can download it HERE

First, check out the requirements to make sure you're set to install it: Requirements from the MGE Wiki.

To install MGE correctly simply extract MGE into your main Morrowind folder. (The MGEgui.exe should be in the same folder as Morrowind.exe). You may want to follow the original walktrough HERE. If you encounter any problems later on after installing MGE, go through that link and see if that'll make it work. Reply to this thread if it doesn't fix your problem!

NOTE: MGE disables Morrowind's original screenshot feature, you can activate the screenshot feature again by following these steps:

1. Open "MGEgui.exe" and choose the "input" tab and click on "Launch Macro Editor"
2. Choose a key on the image of the keyboard, but don't use Prnt Scrn as Morrowind will show an annoying message.
3. In the upper left drop-down menu, select "Function".
4. In the lower left drop-down menu, select "Take screenshot"
5. Click "Save". The key you selected should now be displayed in green.
6. Enjoy.
   

Add the "semi"-faked HDR


MGE has a built in feature where you can enable a faked HDR. HDR (High Dynamic Range) is (according to wikipedia) "is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to represent more accurately the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight." Whatever that means, anyway, that's exactly what we're going to archieve in Morrowind.

This is how:

• Start "MGEgui.exe"
• Go to the "tools" tab and open the "shader editor"
• In the bottom left, click "Edit Active"
• There are a few shaders/options to choose between:
  

- "DX9 HLSL HDR 1": This is TimeSlips original fakeHDR mod.
- "DX9 HLSL HDR 2": This is a tweaked version of above. (I use this and recommend this one. The HDR looks good without being annoying.)
- "DX9 HLSL HDR 3": The same as above, but this version runs on SM 2.0 graphics cards. But, it offers no kind of bloom.
- "DX9 HLSL HDR 4": Boosts the contrast to create HDR.
- "DX9 HLSL HDR 5": Varies the amount of bloom depending on the average screen brightness, but you're warned, it is very slow.
- "DX9 HLSL HDR 6": A mix of number 4 & 5.

• I prefer the "DX9 HLSL HDR 2" shader" so if you're in doubt, use this one.
• Double click on the shader you want (fx. "DX9 HLSL HDR 2") and it should appear under the list.
• Click "Save"
• Close the "Shader Editor" window and MGE.
• Enjoy.
  

Enable Distant Land

MGE enables the loved Oblivion feature of distant lands in Morrowind, and it looks great! Some people seem to have trouble figuring out how to enable it, but this guide should cover it all so you can have distant land in some easy steps. Once you have downloaded and installed MGE you got all the requirements checked.

Here's how to enable it:

1. Open "MGEgui.exe" and choose the "Distant Land" tab.
2. Choose and open the "Distant land file creation wizard"
3. It will launch the "Plugin Selection", where you can choose to create distant land for mods.
4. This covers the basic, and we won't include any mods, but simply tick the official .esm's you have (fx. Morrowind.esm, Tribunal.esm and Bloodmoon.esm) Click "Continue".
5. Now you are in the "Land Textures" dialog where you can choose the rate of detail on the your distant land feature. Obviously you can increase the detail level drastically, but otherwise, leave it at default. Then proceed to click "Create Land Textures". (For some, MGE crashes at this point. Go to THIS LINK for support. If you can't fix it, ask.)
6. You should get to the "Land Meshes" dialog now. This works the same way as the "Land Textures" dialog. Set it to "Ultra high", or just keep it at recommended. Click on "Create Land Meshes".
7. Next you will get into the "Statics" dialog and there's a few things you need to change here.
8. You need to tick the "Include activators" (Ghostfence and banners) checkbox.
9. In the lower left there's a dropdown menu called "Mesh Detail". For the best graphics set this at "Full" but if you have problems, try lowering this.
10. Then click on the "Create Statics" button and let MGE work.
11. Lastly, you will get the "Finished" dialog. Simply click finish or read the report.
12. You will be taken back to the "Distant Land Settings" tab, and in the bottom right there's a number of checkboxes for reflective water. For the best graphics, tick them all.
13. Close MGE and play Morrowind.
14. Enjoy
    

At the end of this Distant Land guide, I would like to quote the MGE wiki's last sentences as they are of importance:

Quote:You will need to generate distant land and statics at least once if you want to use them. You may want to re-generate distant land after adding or removing mods which contain any landscape, and re-generate distant statics after adding or removing mods which place any objects into the game world (or remove any). It's possible to continue playing without regenerating anything, but you may see areas where the land and objects shown in the distance are different from how things look when you're near.

Animated Grass

           
Author: Vality, Yacoby, Liztail
Download: Morrowind Mod

The description on Planet Elder Scrolls covers the mod pretty good without me adding anything:

Quote:This mod covers various regions of Morrowind with grass. The grass was placed using a utility made by Yacoby, which can place meshes automatically across the landscape based on various settings.

This release includes the regions of the Bitter Coast, Ascadian Isles, West Gash, Grazelands, and Tamriel Rebuilt's Maps 1 & 2. Each region has it's own esp file so you can choose which regions you want to have grass. The same 2 grass types are used through all regions, but this won't be the case in the next release. If you're using Morrowind Graphics Extender (MGE), you also have the option for the grass to be animated.

It should be quite obvious how you get it working without the grass being animated (The same way you manually activate a mod), but there's a few steps to go through to install the animated grass:

1. Launch "Morrowind Graphics Extender" and run the "Distant Land Creation Wizard"
2. Put an "X" in the mods you want to create "distant land" for. If you would like to not have grass in a region, simply don't tick the .esp!
3. In the "Statics" dialog you can choose the density of the grass. Set this to your liking.
4. After completion of the "distant land creation", close MGE and make sure the esps are NOT enabled in the Morrowind Launcher.
5. Enjoy.
   

Improved Water Shader

           
Author: phal
Download: Improved Water Shader
WARNING: Requires shader model 3 graphics card. Feel free to ask if you are in doubt if your card will work. Also requries: MGE 3.8-SVN rev118 build, if you followed this guide 100% that should be your version.

This mod adds a new water shader which looks really awesome, and it also includes waves! Pictures say more than a 1000 words, so look above.

How to install:

1. Download the file "ImprovedWaterShader v06" from TESNexus (Link above!)
2. Extract the files into your Morrowind folder
3. OPTIONAL: (If you want waves) Download the file "ImprovedWaterShader w Waves v06a" from TESNexus (Link above!)
4. Extract the files into your Morrowind folder
5. Open "MGEgui.exe"
6. Click the "tools" tab and open the "shader editor"
7. Click on "Edit Active" and add "ImprovedWaterCaustics06a" to the list.
8. Go back to the main MGE window, and choose the "misc" tab.
9. Enable 'Update shader variables' and 'Supply shaders with depth info'
10. Go to the "Render State" tab and enable the "Hardware shader" check-box.
11. Close MGE, it saves the settings when clicking the "X" in the top corner.
12. Enjoy.
    

#3: That's it!


Good job!
Now you're ready to explore Vvardenfell in graphics that can almost match Oblivions! If you're ready to sacrifice a bit of the Morrowind feeling, you can get complete graphic replacers with even better graphics. I'd suggest taking a look at the WORLD REPLACER COLLECTION AT UESP.NET. If you have any problems or suggestions for this guide, please add a comment! I'll be happy to help you get it all running.

Post your awesome Morrowind graphics screenshots below

Sources and Special Thanks to:
TES Nexus.com
Planet Elder Scrolls
Telephoros' List o' Mods

And, it's open to public view

In my opinion, everyone who has played Oblivion should try putting these on and try Morrowind. A lot of new TES players are scared off by the graphics, but that should no longer be a problem

Wow, that makes a huge difference! I'm definitively gonna try this.

Nice one Mercery!. I couldn't go without This one though. I will put the High retx telvanni and Hlaaluh above it as they are more vanilla .

That's a nice one Pronam! The only problem is I can't guarantee it won't make someone's textures look too bright or shiny, or otherwise into a state that will break the Morrowind atmosphere!

If any of you guys try this out, please post your screenshots

You put a lot of attention in these guides! Sweet man. I believe these topics are also what brings guests to the forums from search engines.

The only problem is Google doesn't care enough about our threads! It's possible I'll expand the guides to become a section of the site (instead of threads) as google seem to find those more important. This thread isn't even on google, but all "Projects", "Downloads" and "guides" is high on google.

Edit: oh, now it's on google. Yay.

I got halfway through the list of downloads before i forgot which one i was up to :/

But good guide, very easy to follow if you dont get distracted easi-Hey! look a dog. brb.

Use the "history" function of your browser

That doesnt work when your browser history is erased every time you close your browser
I have no idea why i set it to do that.