My first introduction to the Elder Scrolls game series was their third entry, Morrowind. It was first released way back in May 2002, so the game will be 22 years old in a couple months as of this post. Does this count as "retro game" yet? I think so. I played it a lot starting in about 2005, and had a blast installing a lot of community mods to change up the graphics, add quests, and so forth. Between mid-range hardware and classic Bethesda Softworks bugs, it was unstable and chaotic.
In short, I loved it.
With 2024 here, and an urge to revisit some nostalgic memories tickling my brain, it was time to see what it might take to get it running now on a decent modern laptop. I have an AMD Ryzen 5 instead of an old Pentium 4, and the integrated graphics are still at least an order of magnitude better than the old ATI graphics card I used to run. That means new hardware has no problem handling the data. New software, however, doesn't always play nice.
The last time I installed it, I still used Windows 7 on a desktop, and I never played it much. I used a massive overhaul pack to make it prettier, but I think this time, I want it to feel mostly original. I don't want the old Bethesda bugs on top of compatibility issues, though, so I was pleased to find the OpenMW project and its complete game engine replacement. Just point it at the data files from an official installation, and you're good to go. 1080p widescreen resolution, mod support, and a massive array of tools to optimize and customize the game experience. This is awesome.
Screenshot in OpenMW using the otherwise unmodified Game of the Year edition with all expansions installed
This does not look bad at all for such an old game. Sure, the foliage is a bit geometric and flat, and there are very few polygons for the 3D models and terrain, but it remains eminently playable. The feeling of exploration in this game is far and away superior to Skyrim or Oblivion, and I will not tolerate any claims otherwise.
Now, I could just mod away and transform everything, but I want it to feel more like it did originally, with updates kept minimal and unobtrusive. While browsing the web for ideas, I ran across this guide and mod list. I am not a new player, but this approach fits what I am looking for.
This will fix bugs and optimize a few things. I can always add more later if I want it to be prettier. I am a bit annoyed by the need to sign up for NexusMods, but burner e-mail addresses are easy enough to create. Free accounts get slow downloads, but when mods are only a few megabytes, slow is still fast enough. I remember the days of dial-up. You do not scare me, 3MBPS speeds!
What I really want to try, though, is installing Open MW on my Raspberry Pi 4 and running it on the official touchscreen display. I am not familiar with compiling code from scratch, and I'll probably need to chase down a lot of dependencies. Running it on Windows with the default .exe means I can be challenged by the game instead of by installing the game. I'm here to squash scribs, not actual code bugs.
I know people who hate Morrowind. It rolls dice behind the scenes for everything, and there is a high chance to fail at almost everything when a new character starts out. When The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion landed, I remember feeling almost giddy at doing damage every time my weapon hit. Now, as an experienced tabletop role-playing games player and game master, I don't mind it.
Morrowind is also a lot slower. There is no fast travel on the world map. The mark, recall, and intervention spells along with paying for travel from boats or silt striders are the way to travel quickly. Most of the travel will be on foot. Movement speed is slower. There are no steeds. Running costs fatigue. It's not wrong, but it is a different mindset from modern game design.
Unlike the graphics and mechanics, the music has aged beautifully. This game has an amazing soundtrack of ambient music. if you want to change it, the music file folders can be edited just by dropping in MP3 files from your library. No downloads required! I also appreciate the aesthetics of the island of Vvardenfell. This is not Mundane Medieval World no. 4739. There are cities built in the shells of extinct gargantuan crustaceans, wizard towers built in living mushrooms that tower over the landscape, and tent settlements of nomads. If you have played Skyrim, you will also find the mechanized Dwemer ruins familiar. The world feels unfamiliar and mystical in a way few other games do. And on top of that, it always feels like there are consequences to your character's choices. Sometimes you are forced to choose between factions. Absolutely every single NPC can be killed, and no one is marked "essential," so aside from a warning that your bloodthirsty rampage has broken the story, you can continue in a world you have possibly already doomed by careless actions. there is a lot to like in this game that has been lost in newer entries.
I highly recommend playing this classic, and using one of the methods suggested in the video above to make it work better. Don't look up spoilers and walkthroughs. Just dive in and let it unfold organically. Get that Dark Brotherhood Assassin Fix patch, though, because it just doesn't make sense otherwise.
EDIT: If you really want to go wild, check out this guide.
