Back in 2002 a third installment of Elder Scrolls was humbly released and the world was introduced to one of the largest RPG worlds ever created called Vvardenfell. As you played Morrowind you found your character exploring vast environments with unique cultures and settings. From dense forests, to swamps, deserts, ice lands and even basaltic mountain ranges. Attention was given to even the smallest details. Every single object in the game has a price, weight and specification attached to it.



Your character can be customized in hundreds of ways as you join guilds, level up, experiment with Alchemy and try out armor and weapons.

Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Morrowind in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Retail version of Morrowind GOTY. This includes Bloodmoon and Tribunal expansions. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux Explained

Mint 14 32-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.1
Wine: 1.7.6

Installing Wine

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.7.6
Note: Try using stable Wine 1.8 and 1.8-staging

Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next


PlayOnLinux will automatically download it and save it in this directory:
/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86


Note: username is where you put your login name

Its a good idea to backup this directory to another computer because you won't have to keep downloading wine versions when you need them.

Extracting


Downloading Gecko


Installed


Wine 1.7.6 is installed and you can close this window

Setup PlayOnLinux

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install


Click "Install a non-listed program"


Click Next

Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
Click Next


Note: If you are running a 64-bit system, PlayOnLinux will prompt if you want to use a 64-bit or 32-bit virtual drive. Always select 32-bit virtual drive.

Name your virtual drive: morrowind
Click Next


Select all three options:

• Use another version of Wine
• Configure Wine
• Install some libraries

Click Next


Select Wine 1.7.6
Click Next


Note: If you are running a 64-bit system, PlayOnLinux will prompt if you want to use a 64-bit or 32-bit virtual drive.
Always select 32-bit virtual drive.

Wine Configuration

Applications Tab
Windows Version: Windows XP
Click Apply


Graphics Tab
Check Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows
Check Emulate a virtual desktop
Desktop Size: 1024x768
Click OK


Installing Packages (Windows components/libraries)

Check the following libraries:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_dxfullsetup
• POL_Install_tahoma

Click Next
All libraries should automatially download and install


Installing Morrowind

Select CD-ROM : Morrowind
Note: Steam versions or downloaded versions click "Select another file"
Click Next


Click Yes

Click Yes

Click Next

Click Next

Click Next

Installing

Construction Set...

Click Yes

Click Next

Installing

Click Finish

Click No for registration

Click Finish

DirectX 8.1
Click Ok

PlayOnLinux shortcut

Select Morrowind.exe
Click Next


Name your shortcut: Morrowind Launcher
Click Next


Select "I don't want ot make another shortcut"
Click Next


PlayOnLinux Configure

Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure


Display Tab
Direct Draw Renderer: opengl
Video Memory size: The amount of memory on your video card
Offscreen rendering mode: fbo

Installing Tribunal

Eject the Morrowind CD
Insert Tribunal CD
Go To Miscellaneous Tab
Click "Run a .exe file in this virtual drive"
Navigate to the Tribunal CD
Select "Setup.exe"
Click Open


Click Yes

Click Next

Click Next

Registration
Click No

Click Finish

Installing Bloodmoon

Eject the Tribunal CD
Insert Bloodmoon CD
Go To Miscellaneous Tab
Click "Run a .exe file in this virtual drive"
Navigate to the Bloodmoon CD
Select "Setup.exe"
Click Open


Click Yes

Click Next

Click Next

Registration
Click No

Click Finish

Installing Bloodmoon patch 1.6

Download the Bloodmoon patch 1.6
http://support.bethsoft.com/patches.php
Save to your desktop

Back to PlayOnLinux
Go To Miscellaneous Tab
Click "Run a .exe file in this virtual drive"
Navigate to your desktop
Select Bloodmoon_v1.6.1820.exe
Click Open


Click Yes

Click OK

The Elder Scrolls II: Morrowind Game Of The Year is installed

You should be able to run the Morrowind Launcher, configure graphics and resolution, then play the Vanilla game.
But I know you probably won't be satisfied with the old configuration.

I was unable to get Morrowind Graphics Extender to work in Linux.
But I did find the Morrowind FPS Optimizer and it works beautifully.

Download Morrowind FPS Optimizer

Save to your desktop
Right-Click and Select Archive Manager


Select mw_fps_opt.exe
Click Extract


Extract to your Morrowind game folder
Path: /home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/morrowind/drive_c/program files/bethseda softworks/morrowind

Note: username is where you put your login name


Back to PlayOnLinux
Click Configure
General Tab
Click "Make a new shortcut from this virtual drive"


Select
mw_fps_opt.exe
Click Next


Name the shortcut: Morrowind FPS Optimizer
Click Next


Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
Click Next


Configuring FPS Optimizer

Note: Make sure you have launched Morrowind at least one time before using the FPS Optimizer

Select Morrowind FPS Optimizer
Click Run


Status Tab
Click "Change Morrowind registry settings here..." to select a high definition resolution


Video Mode
Use the drop-down menu or manually type in your desired screen resolution
Click Ok


Uncheck Novice Mode


View Tab
Take some time experiementing with these settings and your video card.
I unchecked "use mouse wheel for increase/decrease actions"
I also increase/decrease speed to 87%


misc/2 Tab
FOV
Horizontal degrees: 100
Aspect: 16:10
Note: Aspect ratio depends on the size of your monitor. 4:3 is fullscreen, 16:10 is widescreen, 16:9 is smaller widescreen. Play with the settings and test by launching Morrowind


System Tab
Check: minimize program to the system tray
Check: run Morrowind on program start-up (after testing)
Check: terminate this program together with MOrrowind

This allows you to run FPS Optimizer when you launch Morrowind from the PlayOnLinux Shortcut
Note: Make sure to test all of the FPS Optimizer settings first before checking "run Morrowind on program start-up"

Conclusion:
Morrowind vanilla ran perfectly at 1680x1050 and distance set to far. I also was able to install the massive mod Morrowind Rebirth in Linux along with a bunch of texture mods too.
With the texture mods and Rebirth running Morrowind would slow down at certain areas. If you have this problem too, play with the FPS Optimizer settings to re-gain some frames per second.

Morrowind Rebirth Mod
http://www.moddb.com/mods/morrowind-rebirth
Still actively in development and includes a bunch of other mods too.

Screenshots: