I've never played Morrowind. Oblivion was my first Elder Scrolls game. I've read so many things about Morrowind's level of freedom, and the fact that modders have maintained this game since forever.
I've obviously got the Steam version, and it happens to be the Game of the Year version. I've installed a few patches and mods to get me started, in classic style of any game of this ilk.
Morrowind Graphics Extender. A script fixer-uperer. I go to run the game. It crashes. I go to google. I learn I have to configure the mod to run the game on a modern operating system and contemporary hardware. I do this. It works. There's voice acting. The typical Bethesda game intro. Then, the open world. The graphics aren't as good as the screenshots I've seen, so as soon as I can save, I'm off to master google to download some more mods to make the game more visually impressive.
I quickly find an elaborate guide there's lots to see, and lots to download. I read some comments. Someone said it took them six hours to set up every single mod listed. I feel like that's an overwhelming amount of time. I want something simple, and "vanilla". Enter Morrowind Enhanced Textures.
This is an "AI" upscaled mod, taking the original textures and letting a learned machine do the work of remastering texture files. At this point, I've spent more time modding the game than I have playing it. No surprise there, I knew what I was getting myself into. Thankfully, it is a simple install. Extract the compressed files into the game directory that matches - textures are textures, after all. Gotta love the simplicity of it all.
Before
After
Therse are only very subtle changes. There's far more definitionin the hatching of the roof. The brickwork is sharper and more detailed. But, this isn't an overwhelming transformation for a few additional gigabytes added to the gamne files. What am I doing wrong? Could it be that I need better shaders to make the experience more overwhelmingly transformative?
Afterer
(With Shaders cranked up)
Buildings are sharper again, and, well, the lighting is so much better. Character models and textures, I feel, still have a ways to go, but it's an incredible transformation after spending about an hour modding the game and researching so far.
The draw distance is also increased, as can be seen behind the building on the right, with the dense game-world fog no longer being present. There's also obvious smoke coming out of the chimney on the structure on the left. And guess what else is present?
Actual shadows! While it isn't global illumination - the tree is casting a shadow on the building. Buildings are casting shadows on other buildings. There's some fancy lighting effects going on here for a game that is super old, and I like it.
Now it is time to use the Mod Manager - a tool that will be familiar to those who've modded skyrim, fallout, oblivion, and other Bethesda titles. There's literally THOUSANDS of things you can add to games using this tool.
The mod manager helps me go deeper. I'm now an hour and a bit into modding - and I feel like this next set of packs will be the last ones I install, before I go to bed. Then, in the morning, I'll start my life in Morrowind anew, and see just what this ancient game world has to offer. If it's the best of the modern Elder Scrolls games, I'll be in for a treat - hopefully.