Open source game engine for Morrowind 'OpenMW' to gain 'Distant terrain' in the next release

... and Morrowind is by far the better game compared to its successors. Yes, Oblivion and Skyrim are not on Linux, but Morrowind is, and you can play it like nobody did before. Combined with some other community upgrades (which OpenMW supports in an excellent way), it is fantastic.

I will add that openmw is in the Ubuntu repos, and it's the best way to get the stable version. It's been updated twice since I installed it.

I agree that Morrowind is a superior game; I don't know if it's better than Oblivion or Skyrim, but it's one fine, fine game, with at least as much complexity as any RPG you've ever played.

BTW, I installed the complete Morrowind from disc when I installed openmw, and openmw found the Morrowind installation without my having to tell it where to look.

Great news. I'm really considering grabbing Morrowind just to try this :)

As for the installation, innoextract should do the job if you get it from GOG, no need for Wine.

Great news. I'm really considering grabbing Morrowind just to try this :)

As for the installation, innoextract should do the job if you get it from GOG, no need for Wine.

That is good to read. I didn't know this, i will be sure to try this way when I get Morrowind since I prefer to buy DRM-free Windows only games.

People claim Morrowind is a better game than its successors, however I'd say it depends on what you're looking for in a game.

The combat system doesn't really work with the to-hit being a percentile roll calculated when your attack connects. That is combining the mechanics of a hack 'n slash game with the mechanics of a die-based RPG in the player's disadvantage.

There's articles on the web which go into greater detail, suffice it to say people have opinions.

That is good to read. I didn't know this, i will be sure to try this way when I get Morrowind since I prefer to buy DRM-free Windows only games.

FYI: It is DRM free on Steam as well. You can install it then on Linux with steamcmd.

Buy it on sale at the cheapest place you can find, no need to reward Bethessa for not supporting Linux.


Last edited by dmantione on 10 Apr 2017 at 6:02 pm UTC

That is good to read. I didn't know this, i will be sure to try this way when I get Morrowind since I prefer to buy DRM-free Windows only games.

FYI: It is DRM free on Steam as well. You can install it then on Linux with steamcmd.

Buy it on sale at the cheapest place you can find, no need to reward Bethessa for not supporting Linux.

Thanks for that. Is there a way to see if a game on Steam is DRM-free? I usually only buy games on sale these days, you see, I would buy more often for the full price (not Bethesda games anyway), but having a baby at home with a low budget does not allow it :)

I can confirm that you can complete main campaign, Tribunal, Bloodmoon and a lot of side quests without any problems. I didn't notice any problems with any quest I played (I finished a lot of them, I have a highest rank in a lot of fractions). For me OpenMW is even better than an original version, because is much more stable and what is the most important for me in this case... has native support for Linux :P

Oh. My. God. Absolutely can't wait !! :D

Naw, Morrowind was great for its time. It was indeed daunting. Enchanting something? Pffff. Good luck. There are cheese-tacular ways to bump your enchanting skill to 500 with the Tribunal expansion, but good luck using the skill as intended. You will burn thru a lot of hard to come by soul gems to no avail. I love the game to bits, but the attack system blows chunks compared to later Elder Scrolls games. But the spells! All the tasty spells EVAR!!!!! Levitation, Mark and Recall, teleportation around the forts of the island. It was wonderful. Everyone loves Skyrim, but I hated it for its lack of spell selection. I was mad enough at Oblivion for taking away levitation and mark and recall.

OpenMW doesn't necessarily need to be forked to support Oblivion or Skyrim, have a look at OpenMW in action here:
Oblivion assets with ragdoll physics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AfYltej0qI
Oblivion walk about town: https://youtu.be/U58gC1EAtMI?t=65
Skyrim Bleak Falls Barrow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCbiJsasdcU

Once OpenMW 1.0 is released, work will be spent in de-hardcoding, meaning that we'll be making OpenMW more game neutral and back to its roots as an "OpenEngine".

This is doubly true since we're also working on our own ExampleSuite (playable game) to help show off OpenMW in its own right, free of Bethesda IP. All work is currently under CC-BY-SA license with a bare-bone Template that people can use to make their own games or addons (mods). This is all done with our OpenMW-CS, a FOSS construction-set which is arguably the hidden gem of OpenMW.

Sooo.... if you're a developer (C++) or an artist (modeling and textures) and would like to help with some aspect of the OpenMW project, we're more than happy to get you up to speed. :)


Last edited by psi29a on 11 Apr 2017 at 6:35 am UTC

OpenMW is awesome; there's no denying it. I just wish other, similar, projects got more attention. Fallterguist, OpenTomb, and even long-lived projects like GemRB and Exult could use a little more love from the community.


Last edited by Dolus on 11 Apr 2017 at 1:37 am UTC

Thanks for that. Is there a way to see if a game on Steam is DRM-free? I usually only buy games on sale these days, you see, I would buy more often for the full price (not Bethesda games anyway), but having a baby at home with a low budget does not allow it :)

Unfurtunately there is no way you can see in the Steam store wether a game is using DRM, I believe Valve do this intentionally. Asking in the forums seems to be the best way to find out.

Thanks for that. Is there a way to see if a game on Steam is DRM-free? I usually only buy games on sale these days, you see, I would buy more often for the full price (not Bethesda games anyway), but having a baby at home with a low budget does not allow it :)

Unfurtunately there is no way you can see in the Steam store wether a game is using DRM, I believe Valve do this intentionally. Asking in the forums seems to be the best way to find out.

http://steam.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games

Checking this wiki page would be a start though ;)

People claim Morrowind is a better game than its successors, however I'd say it depends on what you're looking for in a game.

The combat system doesn't really work with the to-hit being a percentile roll calculated when your attack connects. That is combining the mechanics of a hack 'n slash game with the mechanics of a die-based RPG in the player's disadvantage.

There's articles on the web which go into greater detail, suffice it to say people have opinions.

I agree the combat is janky, I think it's probably better they had sword swings hit everytime and rolled for damage (and play different sounds based on how "heavy" the hit was).

I think the love of it comes from the fact it was, and maybe still is, really a really unique and weird world. And the narrative and world plays up to it. You're an outsider, after all. The weird systems kinda work because it is a weird world. Skyrim doesn't feel weird at all, yeah they polished the systems, but it's also not that strange a world. It feels more a rehash of tropes (Vikings + Braveheart + a Raymond E. Feist novel). Morrowind also takes itself less seriously (the naked guy who has had his clothes taken by a witch, not to mention the icarus boots, are pretty hilarious to come across).

Also, cliff racers are less annoying than the 30 different voice actors saying the same stupid line at you.

Oh. My. God. Absolutely can't wait !! :D

You can try it already if you build OpenMW from source ;) - it's not that hard and the build is reasonably fast (~2 minutes here (i7-4790) and ~4/5 minutes on the laptop (thinkpad x260, i5-6200U))

screenshot: link - some mods used
How to build OpenMW: openmw wiki
How to use distant terrain: openmw post about distant terrain - be sure to set the view distance at 66666.0, runs smooth on the x260 (intel GPU), or if you can, 666666.0 (smooth here on the i7 + gtx960)

Enjoy ;) - oh, and almost every quest works, so you can really finish the game, which I did some monthes ago