Current Events > Never played Morrowind; should my first time be totally vanilla?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I have also never modded a game unless it comes with a manager built in ie skyrim se
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Don't play the expansion packs right from the start LMAO
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Wondering this too. I've been thinking about finally diving into it. I'm guessing it's probably better to try it mostly unmodded first.

I played it very briefly on the Xbox a long time ago, but all I did was encounter Tarhiel and kill a shopkeeper.
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Use nude mods and bloom filters
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I also would like to know, as I got it for free on the 25th Anniversary
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Probably (or close to it anyway). Modding can kill your interest pretty quickly, especially if you don't have much experience of it.

Maybe add the Code Patch and Patch Project. They're easy to do and make quite a difference.

Play it, and then if you like it that much you can go back and mod it (more).

just get basic ones that overhaul the combat and graphics n stuff
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Honestly? No.

As long as you don't get ones that vastly overhaul it/cheat, you should definitely get mods for basic quality of life improvements to graphics and other things.

The base games are honestly poorly made in a lot of ways and mods do wonders to fix it/make them better games.
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AloofHermit posted...

just get basic ones that overhaul the combat and graphics n stuff

Don't do this.

luigi13579 posted...

Maybe add the Code Patch and Patch Project.

Do these.

Vanilla otherwise for your first run. As someone else said stay away from the expansions at first, they're absolutely brutal in difficulty spike.

The only other mod I would say maybe to is the newsest version or TR, but again, swing Vanilla the first time, then go crazy.
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At the very least I highly recommend any unofficial fan patches that can mitigate the CTDs, and the ACE - Combat Enhanced mod. The base combat system is extremely bland and awkward compared to modern day RPGs. You will swing constantly at an enemy and hits won't register. ACE helps fix that, plus it has options to introduce perks for improving your skill mastery (so like at max spear level you can impale people, at max one handed you can chop off limbs), which is kinda cool plus it's not game breaking.

Before you start playing, definitely research the leveling system because it's also a little confusing if you've never played at least Oblivion before, and also keep in mind that there's a lot more "active" lore to the game that you have to be prepared for. For instance, if you're going as a pure warrior, you'll need to carry silver weapons with you to fight off ghosts and spirits, and you'll need some kind of fire to kill things like Spriggans. It's a lot more engaging than Skyrim because of small shit like this (Oblivion had it too).
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Hexenherz posted...

You will swing constantly at an enemy and hits won't register.

That's because your skill with that weapon type is low and you didn't hit them in the first place.
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I understand the mechanic of it just fine, but visually it is very underwhelming.
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As someone in your boat a few months ago, only start with patches.
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If you go beyond patches, I'd recommend a mod that grants magicka regen based on your combined Intelligence and Willpower scores. Otherwise you just end up teleporting between all magic guild locations every few days to loot their replenishing supply chests.
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At least do the mod that removes the pterodactyls
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Vanilla with patches is fine.

Personally, I would have tribunal expansion just for the enhanced quest log but then the assassin will be a real pain for a newcomer.

Two mods I would recommend, when you're ready, are graphic herbalism and fair magicka regen. GH lets you pick flowers etc rather than opening them as containers. FMR gives you a small amount of real time magicka regen, enough to make pure spellcasting bearable.

I honestly would suggest that you install at least a handful of mods for your first playthrough. Community patches, texture mods, and small QoL mods can greatly help the experience. I'd also recommend OpenMW, which is an community made engine for modern computers, that uses the installed assests from Morrowind. The downsides to OpenMW is it doesn't have shadows (although they say next release will have them) and there are some really nice overhaul mods that can't be used with it. The plus side is that the engine has been built from the ground up to be completely faithful to the game, it's way more compatible with modern rigs, and OpenMW will eventually be the de facto way to play Morrowind after it is further developed. It also has the bonus of handling mods in a localized way that makes it particularly easy to install/uninstall mods without overwriting other mods or base files. It's a little cumbersome to use right now, but it's really not that hard to learn, especially considering how much of a better a system it is than normally.

As for mods, these are the ones that I'd recommend for a vanilla-but-slightly-better-experience (search their names on the Nexus):

-Patch for Purists
-Morrowind Enhanced Textures / HD Vanilla Textures / whatever other texture replacer. There's tons.
-Real Signposts
-Purist Friendly Magicka Regen
-Madd Leveler
-Morrowind Optimization Patch
-Project Atlas

There's also a lot of good information on the Morrowind subreddit if you're looking for modding guides and such. OpenMW also has guides and wikis on their websites, I believe. And if you need more help with OpenMW or have more questions, you can just @ me since I went through modding Morrowind with OpenMW about a month ago, and it's still pretty fresh in my mind.

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Play it 100% vanilla first. If the game isnt stable, then add the Code Patch.
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I'd say stick to Code Patch (or Open MW) and Patch for Purists.
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