Support us on Patreon
PayPal
It seems to be the season for new versions of excellent open source gaming projects. OpenMW, the open source recreation of the Morrowind engine, has a new version which brings important rendering updates.
Most of the previous OpenMW releases have been full of all kinds of features but in the last couple of versions things have been different. There are numerous bug fixes and some optimizations but there are very few new gameplay features. This, however, seems to be due to OpenMW quickly approaching a point where there simply aren't new features to be implemented.
That doesn't make this release a boring one though. The absolute star of the show is the new OpenSceneGraph renderer, which yields quite massive performance improvements over the older Ogre3D renderer. In the past, playing OpenMW has been pretty annoying at times due to frequent drops to under 30 FPS. Even more powerful hardware had trouble reaching framerates that many consider to be the absolute minimum for a playable experience. The new OSG renderer should improve this situation and you might find that OpenMW now works on your hardware even if it didn't use to do so in the past.
The new OSG renderer does have some downsides though. Shadows, distant land and object shaders are not yet implemented, so this version of OpenMW doesn't necessarily look as modern as 0.36 for example. However, considering the performance of the non-OSG builds I am not going to complain too much about the lack of cool shadows.
You can read the full changelog and announcement here: https://openmw.org/2015/openmw-0-37-released/ Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Most of the previous OpenMW releases have been full of all kinds of features but in the last couple of versions things have been different. There are numerous bug fixes and some optimizations but there are very few new gameplay features. This, however, seems to be due to OpenMW quickly approaching a point where there simply aren't new features to be implemented.
That doesn't make this release a boring one though. The absolute star of the show is the new OpenSceneGraph renderer, which yields quite massive performance improvements over the older Ogre3D renderer. In the past, playing OpenMW has been pretty annoying at times due to frequent drops to under 30 FPS. Even more powerful hardware had trouble reaching framerates that many consider to be the absolute minimum for a playable experience. The new OSG renderer should improve this situation and you might find that OpenMW now works on your hardware even if it didn't use to do so in the past.
The new OSG renderer does have some downsides though. Shadows, distant land and object shaders are not yet implemented, so this version of OpenMW doesn't necessarily look as modern as 0.36 for example. However, considering the performance of the non-OSG builds I am not going to complain too much about the lack of cool shadows.
You can read the full changelog and announcement here: https://openmw.org/2015/openmw-0-37-released/ Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
0 Likes
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
All posts need to follow our rules. For users logged in: please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Guest readers can email us for any issues.
1mHfoksd1Z 1 Dec 2015
So as far as I understant it is only the engine, but the game data is taken from the original game installation... Is there another project/fork that uses this engine but also provides the rest of the game? Not necesarily the Morrowind game, maybe someting new or whatever... This engine looks very good and it would be a shame to be only used as a clone for an old game that people can also play as Skywind (when it will be released)
0 Likes
They are releasing also OpenCS, an editor to create new adventures/mods based on this engine. From the site FAQ:
OpenMW is a new and modern engine based on the one that runs the 2002 open-world RPG Morrowind. The engine (OpenMW) will come with its own editor (OpenCS) which will allow the user to edit or create their own games.
0 Likes
There is also slow work on a demo environment. I'd recommend having a look through their forums. Also, there's a LOT of game mechanics differences between Morrowind and Skyrim/Skywind. Skywind also is taking a lot of liberties with their assets, it doesn't feel to me as though it will be anywhere near the same game to me. Also: OpenMW runs on Linux. Skyrim does not.
Last edited by Magamo on 1 Dec 2015 at 2:47 pm UTC
Last edited by Magamo on 1 Dec 2015 at 2:47 pm UTC
0 Likes
1mHfoksd1Z 1 Dec 2015
I hope to see new original games made in OpenCS :D
I like that Skywind uses new assets. It will make the game look modern. If I wanted to play with the original assets I would just play the original game. But... yes, id dosen't run on Linux, not without WINE.
I like that Skywind uses new assets. It will make the game look modern. If I wanted to play with the original assets I would just play the original game. But... yes, id dosen't run on Linux, not without WINE.
0 Likes
I agree, a fully FOSS game based on this engine would be great, but at the moment that still seems far off.
0 Likes
There is also slow work on a demo environment. I'd recommend having a look through their forums. Also, there's a LOT of game mechanics differences between Morrowind and Skyrim/Skywind. Skywind also is taking a lot of liberties with their assets, it doesn't feel to me as though it will be anywhere near the same game to me. Also: OpenMW runs on Linux. Skyrim does not.wine runs skyrim native dx9... performs like a champ so....
0 Likes
There's a lot of things that run under Wine. I like Wine. But running under Wine is not the same as running natively under Linux. In saying things like 'Then I'll just run the original version' to play the original game, kind of invalidates the whole purpose of this project, which is, in addition to making Morrowind cross platform, to extend the engine to allow it to do even more. Graphically, previous versions also did things that the original engine couldn't do ( muuuch better shaders) that will need to be ported up to the new graphical stack.
There are some standalone games in development for use with the OpenMW engine as well. (Ports of Age of Apocalypse + Desert Region 2 are underway, as well as OpenMW's own testbed project)
There are some standalone games in development for use with the OpenMW engine as well. (Ports of Age of Apocalypse + Desert Region 2 are underway, as well as OpenMW's own testbed project)
0 Likes
oldrocker99 1 Dec 2015
For an example of a FOSS game engine, check out Arx Liberatis, which uses the data files from Arx Fatalis (available from GOG.com, and works like a champ. You're very unlikely to see a version of OpenMW which doesn't use Bethesda's data files.
2 Likes, Who?
I hope to see new original games made in OpenCS :D
I like that Skywind uses new assets. It will make the game look modern. If I wanted to play with the original assets I would just play the original game. But... yes, id dosen't run on Linux, not without WINE.
For me Skywind has a huge problem:
In my opinion their assets are in "licensing hell". If the project colapses for some reason (for legal reasons, a main dev passing away, sudden lack of funding or interest, some catastrophic host failure, etc) it's impossible to fork it to finish it. All that fan work has a pretty good chance of becoming esoteric abandonware in my opinion.
Last edited by IcyEyeG on 1 Dec 2015 at 4:39 pm UTC
0 Likes
For an example of a FOSS game engine, check out Arx LiberatisThanks a lot! Didn't know about that project.
0 Likes
If this thing supported Skyrim I would be ecstatic. If there's any way it could work Skyrim esms, I'm sure there's a lot of people that would love to know. Just being able to edit the engine rather than messing around ENBs and what not by itself is a huge win and the scene is there to keep the game going forever.
0 Likes
slaapliedje 2 Dec 2015
If this thing supported Skyrim I would be ecstatic. If there's any way it could work Skyrim esms, I'm sure there's a lot of people that would love to know. Just being able to edit the engine rather than messing around ENBs and what not by itself is a huge win and the scene is there to keep the game going forever.
Funny thing is, Bethesda was lazy and didn't even really update the engine for Fallout 4, it's literally Skyrim in the wasteland. Doesn't seem as big as Skyrim either, but then I've only been playing it for a somewhat short time.
0 Likes
Kallestofeles 2 Dec 2015
Wohoo, great stuff that it's now out. I'll still stick to the git version.
Great progress they have made! :)
Great progress they have made! :)
0 Likes
From what I've seen of the engines, morrowind to skyrim involves updating file format support in openmw, and adding newer lighting methods. The rest of the engine is just extended/evolved from the base. Similar to how Dragon Age 1/2 are just evolutions on NeverWinter Nights.
0 Likes
This project is awesome. I'm glad they are still working, as the engine is very close to be complete.
Morrowind GOTY had 66% discount at Steam this week.
The new version of OpenMW runs very flawlessly with high resolutions even with an Intel HD 4400. Highly recommended to have this gem natively running on Linux!!
Morrowind GOTY had 66% discount at Steam this week.
The new version of OpenMW runs very flawlessly with high resolutions even with an Intel HD 4400. Highly recommended to have this gem natively running on Linux!!
0 Likes
An idiots guide to setting up Minecraft on Steam Deck / SteamOS with controller support
How to install extra software, apps and games on SteamOS and Steam Deck
See more from me