0.17.0 changes: - Fixed thin unshadowed line between shadow cascades, which was only visible at certain times on vertical surfaces. - Patched an engine bug that caused dull and transparent flames from torches, and from other emissive particles spawned on lights. The bug affected per-pixel lighting much more than the standard renderer. - Distant land generator no longer has a static mesh reduction feature. The reduction code was causing generation to be unreliable, hanging or crashing on some meshes, and is too hard to diagnose. Manually reduced "_dist" statics are recommmended for complex meshes. - Distant land generator no longer has a modal error message box interrupting generation when there are missing textures from a static. The warnings are still visible in the warning summary at the end of generation. - In-game options menu position is now remembered. - Added more materials to fixed function shader pre-caching. - Fixed 'final' shader priority tag to be after all shaders, including shaders without a priority tag. - The Lua API can now set bool, int, and vec4 arrays. It can also alter the main engine's near rendering distance, to allow reducing it via script in busy areas.
New to morrowwind modding. Why does it feel like openmw is like, not compatible with any of the good mods that are out there. It's not compatible with this mod, not compatible with grass mods. What the heck is going on?
That's just nuts, why would The OpenMW devs think it's a good idea to not support morrowwind script extender. It's almost as if they just made a thing, without even asking the other mod authors if its a viable solution. It's not even compatible with enbs.
OpenMW is a remarkable endeavour that is a full rebuild of the engine, serious props to the devs, I have nothing but respect for their accomplishments. It's a Hell of a thing for a small team of volunteers to wholly rebuild a game engine. However, in many respects, though it has come a long way, OpenMW is still in beta. From what I understand, they want to eventually achieve complete parity with MGE XE/Lua/MWSE/The Code Patch... but it still isn't there yet. Aside from the fact that using the original engine, along with this setup has never caused me any real issues, even with a fully modded game, high res textures etc.. this is a major reason why I've never made the switch to OpenMW. Maybe, eventually, if it ever fully supports all mods, I will, but that time is not now..and I suspect it won't be for a long while. It may not happen, at all, even. I have read (from a very reliable source) that the OpenMW team is opposed to incorporating MWSE support into the project, and, by all accounts, it could, in fact, be done. Now... the posts I read date back to 2018, and the team's leadership has changed, so I don't know if this continues to be the case. Nonetheless, it's something to bear in mind...
There is currently a tendency to steer new Morrowind players to OpenMW (aided and abetted by the fact that OpenMW's fanboys are rather.... zealous). While this is great for those who don't want to mod the game to Oblivion and back, it's limiting for those who are interested in exploring mods. I strongly encourage you to try using this application, alongside the Morrowind Code Patch... Providing you are careful, and read all documentation thoroughly... it's not difficult. Here are two very clearly explained guides to get you started: https://danaeplays.thenet.sk/morrowind-first-time/ https://danaeplays.thenet.sk/wrye-mash/
Yeah I'm gunna quickly uninstall openmw. I don't have time for a d*$%! measuring contest between two poindexter mod authors. I just want what works and is agreeable with other mods. Script extender is not to be feared. It is an amazing contribution to the modding community. Making mods against its usage is just nuts.
And that, based on what I've observed, appears to be er.... the size of it. Certainly, the posts I've read from OpenMW's leadership circa 2018 (again, no idea if this has changed) suggest that ego has played a substantial role... So, as per usual, mod users end up getting the shaft (and not in a good way) because somebody wants to be "top dog." Thankfully, this is far more rare in the Morrowind community than it is in Skyrim's or FO4's. The overwhelming majority of authors are incredibly awesome, as is the community at large. Aside from the fact that Morrowind is my favourite Bethesda title to begin with, this is a significant reason why I always love returning to the game.
It's like an old pair of boots vs. a new pair of boots. An old pair of boots won't rub on your ankles, you can probably tie them drunk, blindfolded and upside down, and your feet have molded to them in a way that feels like you're not in them at all. This stupid new pair of boots is tough, the leather feels like a coffin, and you pull them off and you've found a blister in a spot you've never found one before. However, the new pair of boots doesn't have that water leak, and you do like how they look. The old pair of boots is still probably better for long hikes or yardwork, but the new pair of boots isn't half bad for walks, or in the rain.
The point being OpenMW isn't and probably won't ever be 1:1 to Morrowind.exe, MGE XE, MWSE-Lua, or MCP. If you're looking for that, you will be disappointed. If you want Ashfall, or MGE XE, or MUSE, Morrowind.exe with the extenders will probably be your best option. OpenMW has different strengths though, and a lot of stuff the extenders can do OpenMW is atleast planned to be able to do, albeit not in a 1:1 fashion.
Check out modding-openmw.com sometime. There's a lot of cool stuff in terms of modlists, explaining how OpenMW modding works, and just a great place to find OpenMW mods on. There's groundcover mods, shaders like MGE XE, stuff Oldwind doesn't have. You don't have to throw away the old pair of boots, just try the new ones on every once in a while.
Lmfao! XD Well, let me put it to you like this: Suppose you have three kids, and a wife, and an apartment. It's very crowded. You can always just hurl your wife and kids out the apartment, and BOOM! More space, however you'll run into a s#*! load of other problems, her tryna get back in, child support, and a crippling loneliness. OR, you can just put up with it and keep your wife and kids and just cram them in the apartment and make it work.
Ok, so that example went way out in left field. The point I'm trying to make is that when you have a bunch of mods codependent on a thing, it's just much better to stick with that one. New things, should conform to the working old things. You don't make a new thing that goes against the grain, that's an outsider. It has to work with what already has been working. Make it work, if you can't, then it's a failed concept from the start. Script extender is a thing that works E V E R Y W H E R E! That's in fallout 4, Morrowwind, Oblivion, GTA, everywhere. You don't need to try and make things incompatible with that, that's just stupid. New mods that goes against the grain are going to break the other mods set before it, this is extremely cumbersome and egotistical in the mod making scene.
let me explain a few key concepts to you in a language that you would understand, seeing as you are new to morrowind modding
most morrowind mods are made without mwse scripts and thus can be played on both engines
mwse had different development branches throughout it's history starting from 2007. the branch that people are using now only materialized somewhere around 2018 when NullCascade basically rewrote the original mwse. before that, the extender focused on extending morrowind's vanilla scripting with custom functions. but going forward scripts would be based in Lua. there are a number of highly popular mods that are dependent on mwse, but it's only a smaller part of all morrowind mods
openmw started development long before the modern mwse rewrite. around the time of new mwse release, openmw already got to a point where you could play the original game forwards and backwards the idea behind it was pretty simple. if you wanted to enjoy less buggy Morrowind, you had to install Morrowind Code Patch (notice that I didn't say bug-free). if you wanted your game to look more modern and shiny, you had to install MGE. if you wanted Morrowind to do things that weren't possible with the vanilla scripting, you would code with mwse but you could never completely fix things on a fundamental level. vanilla engine is an engine that is poorly optimized, slow and unstable especially when you start adding bells and whistles to it. you still can't have more than 4 lights on a single mesh. you will crash a lot. on a fundamental level, openmw was designed to take advantage of the modern hardware with better stability and performance. the things that you need a mod for, are done natively now. free of vanilla bugs, with better path-finding, native shaders, distant land that you don't have to generate. there is just no comparison in terms of core features. I was heartbroken when I realized I cannot play with my favorite Web Sweeper mod in openmw, but it's merely a trifle, an essay in the craft. with openmw you can do much more as it does not rely on a solution that wraps around an aging game. now you can run morrowind on a handheld or a non-Windows OS. play it with your friend in a multiplayer if you want. or play it with a VR headset
your whole line of reasoning is quite problematic. you're basically urging someone to get a Flex Tape™ to fix their leaky sink and admonishing them when they decide to actually replace parts that are the true cause of the leak script extenders across games you mentioned are designed to address different issues that may not be present in other games, they work differently and are not universal solutions in of themselves. Fallout 4 does not need a 4 gb memory patch that Morrowind needs, because it has a 64-bit executable that can take advantage of your ram. openmw is designed to address the issues in the original game that just are not possible to fix with the script extender. it does not destroy any mods that came before it since they aren't reliant on it, it was never designed to go against mwse but evolved in parallel
let me break it down for you in even more simpler terms vanilla morrowind + mge xe + code patch = morrowind on life support, reanimated and being constantly pumped with adrenaline directly into its ash filled veins just so it could walk again openmw = avatar the last airbender only just reborn and thus has yet to develop it's awesome element bending powers, but already capable of advanced air, water and earthbending techniques. ultimately it is the firebending style that it has yet to master
you don't need to blindly conform to the old way of doing things, especially since nothing is stopping anyone to enjoy both iterations at the same time, as mod managers make it extremely portable. there is no need to make these divisions and rifts between players
okay I'm sorry I didn't actually realize the OP was not genuine. but my post is still relevant to whomever wants to better know the history of morrowind modding
let me break it down for you in even more simpler terms vanilla morrowind + mge xe + code patch = morrowind on life support, reanimated and being constantly pumped with adrenaline directly into its ash filled veins just so it could walk again openmw = avatar the last airbender only just reborn and thus has yet to develop it's awesome element bending powers, but already capable of advanced air, water and earthbending techniques. ultimately it is the firebending style that it has yet to master
@ Confessoru, your post, the part I quoted, in particular, epitomises why OpenMW fans are so very disliked in a lot of places. As I said, I respect what the OpenMW devs have achieved to date (entirely rebuilding an engine is no mean feat), and I absolutely love the concept... What I neither respect, nor love, however... are the project's rabidly, disingenuous, evangelical, and generally unpleasant fanbots..fanboys.
Now, with that out of the way.. Just imagine what could have resulted if the talented people at OpenMW, rather than engaging in a shlong waving contest ... had joined forces with the talented LUA developers, and made the new engine MWSE/Lua compatible.... We'd have an amazing version of Morrowind right now... that's what.
uninstall it? why? better make a copy of Morrowind vanilla folder, in order to keep separate saves and settings, and use it only for openMW, and another one, with MGE-XE, MCP and MWSE installed. you can add Wrye, too, but is better to run Morrowind through MO2>Wrye: in this way, you can have all the advantages of MO2 and Wrye, with a minimal amount of disadvantages. now, you can have all the Morrowind mods, in different instances, of course, and see yourself what you like most.
Hey! MGE XE works fine, except one thing: when I turn the Distand Land on, the sky becomes pitch black, as if there's no texture for it at all. At first I thought XE Sky Variations is causing this bug, but no, it's the Distant Land. Anyone had this issue?
MWSE breaks the quest Crimson Plague. No matter what you do, the stone you are supposed to step on does not work UNLESS you deactivate MWSE support from the MGE XE Menu.
So this is my first time trying to mod Morrowind, and after getting it working, its only showing on my second monitor. how do I force it to go on my main monitor?
how am i unable to find a single guide that actually works? I'm tearing my hear out trying to figure out how this even installs. ive watched like 5 different tutorials and none of them work. none of them look correct. the newest version of the mod only extracts into one single installer file and that file does not work in any logical way. can someone make an actual up to date 2025 guide
The installation instructions are literally in the Description tab for this mod's page. Run that "one single installer file" and have it install to your Morrowind installation folder. That's it. You're all done. Afterward you can run the MGEXEgui program to change the default settings if you want.
If anyone has an issue with incorrect hands rendering, please update. There was a bug with recent FOV changes when not using per-pixel lighting mode. The change has been removed in the update.
Is the ability to use altered FOV without other graphical enhancements going to come back in the future? Love the work on the mod of course, but there's not much of an alternative right now for proper-fov 16x9 with true vanilla water shaders and reflections and it seems a valuable option for such a ubiquitous and essential tool. Really hope it's in consideration!
Left this comment on the MWSE page, but figured I'd leave it here also in case others had this issue or anyone had any ideas. Sorry if that makes me a dick, not intended, just having an issue getting MWSE to work...
Hi, if anyone can help, I've just got a new windows 11 gaming laptop and I'm installing Morrowind again, GOG version. Game is installed, MCP ran fine, and installed and ran MGE XE latest version 18. Only hiccup, for some reason MWSE won't load. Its up to date, just doesn't work. My MGEXE log says "mwse.dll failed to load" and that's it. Everything else works fine. I've uninstalled and reinstalled MGEXE, and even tried it with an older version 17 and reinstalled and manually installed mwse and ran update myself, no dice, same thing happens. I've also tried turning off core isolation settings in Windows Defender, didn't work. Any help would be appreciated, as I'm pretty much loathe to play Morrowind without MWSE now, it's a necessity. Thanks.
P.S. The first time I downloaded MGEXE I had to also download MS Net 3.5 extension or something, I've checked and it's running properly.
Sorry to hear that, although I'm glad it's not just me. I left a bug report on the MWSE github a couple days ago, so hopefully a fix is in the works. Good luck, and please let me know if you figure out how to get it working!
Try installing with the MGE XE installer rather than manual. It includes all the software needed to get it working and solved my issue. I guess the windows 11 update wiped out my microsoft libraries and so those were still missing when I installed manually the first time. Hope this helps.
I did use the installer the first time, it said it installed all the required libraries but there was a glitch and I had to download and install one manually (c++ 2015-2019 I believe). Anyway, thanks for the update and reply, really appreciate it! BTW, do you happen to know which libraries are required or got it working? If so, I'll try reinstalling them...
Upon extracting the exe it lists the following files: vc_redist_2010.x86.exe VC_redist.x86.exe Jun2010_d3dx9_43_x86.cab Jun2010_D3DCompiler_43_x86.cab DSETUP.dll dsetup32.dll dxdllreg_x86.cab DXSETUP.exe dxupdate.cab
Hey, that worked! Thank you so much, I truly appreciate the help! Downloaded and installed these from your links and everything is working fine now. Thanks again, much obliged good sir!
hello guys! i installed mge, and unchecked the other one programm - mwse - so its not installed at all(im i worng here?). after i walk throughout settings - created distand land, and then what -run morrowind launcher? in data files there is no MGE mod checkbox. and after i press play - nothng changes at all. same game with no shadows and shaders - am i doing smthng wrong? - im new here. sorry UPD: i managed to launch it - using morrowind exe - using setting that r in differnt post - game looks amazing now! its like differnt game! THX GUYS - amazing work. <3
Forgive me if this mod doesn't actually do this, might be another mod but why are my icons (spell effects, inventory items) so danm MASSIVE i can't see what i have in my inventory its either just a small corner piece of the item or its just an empty square? like the gold for instance i just see a quarter if its image. or items that have effects like sunjama or however thats spelt an (alcoholic beverage), the effects are massive and block the text so its VERY hard to read what it actually effects. is this mod made for people that have ridiculously large screen sizes or what? whats the deal?
2263 comments
0.17.0 changes:
- Fixed thin unshadowed line between shadow cascades, which was only visible at certain times on vertical surfaces.
- Patched an engine bug that caused dull and transparent flames from torches, and from other emissive particles spawned on lights. The bug affected per-pixel lighting much more than the standard renderer.
- Distant land generator no longer has a static mesh reduction feature. The reduction code was causing generation to be unreliable, hanging or crashing on some meshes, and is too hard to diagnose. Manually reduced "_dist" statics are recommmended for complex meshes.
- Distant land generator no longer has a modal error message box interrupting generation when there are missing textures from a static. The warnings are still visible in the warning summary at the end of generation.
- In-game options menu position is now remembered.
- Added more materials to fixed function shader pre-caching.
- Fixed 'final' shader priority tag to be after all shaders, including shaders without a priority tag.
- The Lua API can now set bool, int, and vec4 arrays. It can also alter the main engine's near rendering distance, to allow reducing it via script in busy areas.
Why does it feel like openmw is like, not compatible with any of the good mods that are out there.
It's not compatible with this mod, not compatible with grass mods. What the heck is going on?
It's almost as if they just made a thing, without even asking the other mod authors if its a viable solution.
It's not even compatible with enbs.
There is currently a tendency to steer new Morrowind players to OpenMW (aided and abetted by the fact that OpenMW's fanboys are rather.... zealous). While this is great for those who don't want to mod the game to Oblivion and back, it's limiting for those who are interested in exploring mods. I strongly encourage you to try using this application, alongside the Morrowind Code Patch... Providing you are careful, and read all documentation thoroughly... it's not difficult. Here are two very clearly explained guides to get you started:
https://danaeplays.thenet.sk/morrowind-first-time/
https://danaeplays.thenet.sk/wrye-mash/
Sometimes, 'newer' is not always 'better'
I don't have time for a d*$%! measuring contest between two poindexter mod authors. I just want what works and is agreeable with other mods.
Script extender is not to be feared. It is an amazing contribution to the modding community. Making mods against its usage is just nuts.
And that, based on what I've observed, appears to be er.... the size of it. Certainly, the posts I've read from OpenMW's leadership circa 2018 (again, no idea if this has changed) suggest that ego has played a substantial role... So, as per usual, mod users end up getting the shaft (and not in a good way) because somebody wants to be "top dog."
Thankfully, this is far more rare in the Morrowind community than it is in Skyrim's or FO4's. The overwhelming majority of authors are incredibly awesome, as is the community at large. Aside from the fact that Morrowind is my favourite Bethesda title to begin with, this is a significant reason why I always love returning to the game.
Yeah Skyrim se is just measuring city, that's why i never switched
The point being OpenMW isn't and probably won't ever be 1:1 to Morrowind.exe, MGE XE, MWSE-Lua, or MCP. If you're looking for that, you will be disappointed. If you want Ashfall, or MGE XE, or MUSE, Morrowind.exe with the extenders will probably be your best option. OpenMW has different strengths though, and a lot of stuff the extenders can do OpenMW is atleast planned to be able to do, albeit not in a 1:1 fashion.
Check out modding-openmw.com sometime. There's a lot of cool stuff in terms of modlists, explaining how OpenMW modding works, and just a great place to find OpenMW mods on. There's groundcover mods, shaders like MGE XE, stuff Oldwind doesn't have. You don't have to throw away the old pair of boots, just try the new ones on every once in a while.
Well, let me put it to you like this:
Ok, so that example went way out in left field.Suppose you have three kids, and a wife, and an apartment.
It's very crowded.
You can always just hurl your wife and kids out the apartment, and BOOM! More space, however you'll run into a s#*! load of other problems, her tryna get back in, child support, and a crippling loneliness.
OR, you can just put up with it and keep your wife and kids and just cram them in the apartment and make it work.
The point I'm trying to make is that when you have a bunch of mods codependent on a thing, it's just much better to stick with that one. New things, should conform to the working old things. You don't make a new thing that goes against the grain, that's an outsider. It has to work with what already has been working. Make it work, if you can't, then it's a failed concept from the start.
Script extender is a thing that works E V E R Y W H E R E! That's in fallout 4, Morrowwind, Oblivion, GTA, everywhere. You don't need to try and make things incompatible with that, that's just stupid. New mods that goes against the grain are going to break the other mods set before it, this is extremely cumbersome and egotistical in the mod making scene.
most morrowind mods are made without mwse scripts and thus can be played on both engines
mwse had different development branches throughout it's history starting from 2007. the branch that people are using now only materialized somewhere around 2018 when NullCascade basically rewrote the original mwse. before that, the extender focused on extending morrowind's vanilla scripting with custom functions. but going forward scripts would be based in Lua. there are a number of highly popular mods that are dependent on mwse, but it's only a smaller part of all morrowind mods
openmw started development long before the modern mwse rewrite. around the time of new mwse release, openmw already got to a point where you could play the original game forwards and backwards
the idea behind it was pretty simple. if you wanted to enjoy less buggy Morrowind, you had to install Morrowind Code Patch (notice that I didn't say bug-free). if you wanted your game to look more modern and shiny, you had to install MGE. if you wanted Morrowind to do things that weren't possible with the vanilla scripting, you would code with mwse
but you could never completely fix things on a fundamental level. vanilla engine is an engine that is poorly optimized, slow and unstable especially when you start adding bells and whistles to it. you still can't have more than 4 lights on a single mesh. you will crash a lot. on a fundamental level, openmw was designed to take advantage of the modern hardware with better stability and performance. the things that you need a mod for, are done natively now. free of vanilla bugs, with better path-finding, native shaders, distant land that you don't have to generate. there is just no comparison in terms of core features. I was heartbroken when I realized I cannot play with my favorite Web Sweeper mod in openmw, but it's merely a trifle, an essay in the craft. with openmw you can do much more as it does not rely on a solution that wraps around an aging game. now you can run morrowind on a handheld or a non-Windows OS. play it with your friend in a multiplayer if you want. or play it with a VR headset
your whole line of reasoning is quite problematic. you're basically urging someone to get a Flex Tape™ to fix their leaky sink and admonishing them when they decide to actually replace parts that are the true cause of the leak
script extenders across games you mentioned are designed to address different issues that may not be present in other games, they work differently and are not universal solutions in of themselves. Fallout 4 does not need a 4 gb memory patch that Morrowind needs, because it has a 64-bit executable that can take advantage of your ram. openmw is designed to address the issues in the original game that just are not possible to fix with the script extender. it does not destroy any mods that came before it since they aren't reliant on it, it was never designed to go against mwse but evolved in parallel
let me break it down for you in even more simpler terms
vanilla morrowind + mge xe + code patch = morrowind on life support, reanimated and being constantly pumped with adrenaline directly into its ash filled veins just so it could walk again
openmw = avatar the last airbender only just reborn and thus has yet to develop it's awesome element bending powers, but already capable of advanced air, water and earthbending techniques. ultimately it is the firebending style that it has yet to master
you don't need to blindly conform to the old way of doing things, especially since nothing is stopping anyone to enjoy both iterations at the same time, as mod managers make it extremely portable. there is no need to make these divisions and rifts between players
Stop wall texting, in fact why is you still talking?
I said what I said, and I'm done talking about it
@ Confessoru,
your post, the part I quoted, in particular, epitomises why OpenMW fans are so very disliked in a lot of places. As I said, I respect what the OpenMW devs have achieved to date (entirely rebuilding an engine is no mean feat), and I absolutely love the concept...
What I neither respect, nor love, however... are the project's rabidly, disingenuous, evangelical, and generally unpleasant
fanbots..fanboys.Now, with that out of the way..
Just imagine what could have resulted if the talented people at OpenMW, rather than engaging in a shlong waving contest ... had joined forces with the talented LUA developers, and made the new engine MWSE/Lua compatible....
We'd have an amazing version of Morrowind right now... that's what.
better make a copy of Morrowind vanilla folder, in order to keep separate saves and settings, and use it only for openMW, and another one, with MGE-XE, MCP and MWSE installed. you can add Wrye, too, but is better to run Morrowind through MO2>Wrye: in this way, you can have all the advantages of MO2 and Wrye, with a minimal amount of disadvantages.
now, you can have all the Morrowind mods, in different instances, of course, and see yourself what you like most.
Hi, if anyone can help, I've just got a new windows 11 gaming laptop and I'm installing Morrowind again, GOG version. Game is installed, MCP ran
fine, and installed and ran MGE XE latest version 18. Only hiccup, for
some reason MWSE won't load. Its up to date, just doesn't work. My MGEXE
log says "mwse.dll failed to load" and that's it. Everything else works
fine. I've uninstalled and reinstalled MGEXE, and even tried it with an
older version 17 and reinstalled and manually installed mwse and ran update myself, no dice, same thing happens. I've also tried
turning off core isolation settings in Windows Defender, didn't work.
Any help would be appreciated, as I'm pretty much loathe to play
Morrowind without MWSE now, it's a necessity. Thanks.
P.S. The first time I downloaded MGEXE I had to also download MS Net 3.5
extension or something, I've checked and it's running properly.
vc_redist_2010.x86.exe
VC_redist.x86.exe
Jun2010_d3dx9_43_x86.cab
Jun2010_D3DCompiler_43_x86.cab
DSETUP.dll
dsetup32.dll
dxdllreg_x86.cab
DXSETUP.exe
dxupdate.cab
So my guess would be there following:
Download Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update from Official Microsoft Download Center
Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads | Microsoft Learn
Download DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer from Official Microsoft Download Center
UPD: i managed to launch it - using morrowind exe - using setting that r in differnt post - game looks amazing now! its like differnt game! THX GUYS - amazing work.
<3