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Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Guide

Discussion in 'Guides' started by booman, Nov 22, 2013.

  • by booman, Nov 22, 2013 at 12:40 PM
  • booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    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.

    morrowind98.png

    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"
    wine01.png

    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
    wine02.png

    Click Next
    wine03.png

    PlayOnLinux will automatically download it and save it in this directory:
    /home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86
    wine04.png

    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
    wine05.png

    Downloading Gecko
    wine06.png

    Installed
    wine07.png

    Wine 1.7.6 is installed and you can close this window

    Setup PlayOnLinux

    Launch PlayOnLinux
    Click Install
    morrowind01.png

    Click "Install a non-listed program"
    morrowind02.png

    Click Next

    Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
    Click Next
    morrowind04.png

    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
    morrowind05.png

    Select all three options:
    • Use another version of Wine
    • Configure Wine
    • Install some libraries
    Click Next
    morrowind06.png

    Select Wine 1.7.6
    Click Next
    morrowind09.png

    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
    morrowind10.png

    Graphics Tab
    Check Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows
    Check Emulate a virtual desktop
    Desktop Size: 1024x768
    Click OK
    morrowind11.png

    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
    morrowind12.png

    Installing Morrowind

    Select CD-ROM : Morrowind
    Note: Steam versions or downloaded versions click "Select another file"
    Click Next
    morrowind13.png

    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
    morrowind30.png

    Name your shortcut: Morrowind Launcher
    Click Next
    morrowind31.png

    Select "I don't want ot make another shortcut"
    Click Next
    morrowind32.png

    PlayOnLinux Configure

    Back to PlayOnLinux
    Click Configure
    morrowind33.png

    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
    morrowind37.png

    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
    morrowind43.png

    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
    morrowind59.png

    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
    morrowind62.png

    Select mw_fps_opt.exe
    Click Extract
    morrowind63.png

    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
    morrowind64.png

    Back to PlayOnLinux
    Click Configure
    General Tab
    Click "Make a new shortcut from this virtual drive"
    morrowind34.png

    Select
    mw_fps_opt.exe
    Click Next
    morrowind65.png

    Name the shortcut: Morrowind FPS Optimizer
    Click Next
    morrowind66.png

    Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
    Click Next
    morrowind67.png

    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
    morrowind68.png

    Status Tab
    Click "Change Morrowind registry settings here..." to select a high definition resolution
    morrowind69.png

    Video Mode
    Use the drop-down menu or manually type in your desired screen resolution
    Click Ok
    morrowind70.png

    Uncheck Novice Mode
    morrowind72.png

    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%
    morrowind73.png

    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
    morrowind74.png

    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:
    morrowind108.png

    morrowind107.png

    morrowind106.png

    morrowind105.png

    morrowind104.png

    morrowind103.png

    morrowind102.png

    morrowind101.png
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2016
    booman, Nov 22, 2013
    #1
    henley150 likes this.
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Comments

Discussion in 'Guides' started by booman, Nov 22, 2013.

Page 2 of 3
  1. booman
    just remember steel is heavy armor and will slow you down.
    Good protection though...
    I usually favor light armor and a bow so can shoot from a distance and then run away
    booman, Jan 17, 2014
    #21
  2. steve723
    I am playing a warrior under the sign of the warrior so I should have higher HP and AR as well as a bit more endurance and a higher encumbrance.
    steve723, Jan 17, 2014
    #22
    booman likes this.
  3. booman
    Works for me! Heavy armor should work well for you
    booman, Jan 20, 2014
    #23
  4. booman
    The new Wine 1.7.12 sports a fix for the MGE graphics extender directx 8 error.
    Maybe MGE will actually work?
    booman, Feb 11, 2014
    #24
  5. steve723
    testing now...

    Of course Steam has to update. Lol...

    I didn't see any problems.
    steve723, Feb 11, 2014
    #25
  6. booman
    I forgot you were using Steam.
    What about MGE? did it install and run as well?
    booman, Feb 11, 2014
    #26
  7. Kyle Ravenborn
    Hey, I'm having a recurring issue, Installed everything like you said, turned off virtual desktop because it was causing a scaling issue, but I've played through to Balmora and got to a certain block corner, suddenly the screen froze for half a second and went white, flashed back and the keyboard stopped responding and locked moving forward. the mouse worked fine, but no hotkeys worked and I was forced to manually shut my pc down. I went to the same spot again to see if that was the issue and sure enough, bam, white flash, keyboard not responding... No clue what could have caused it, wine, morrowind reborn, or just my comp flipping out.

    I'm using ubuntu trusty tahr
    my details tab reads as follows:
    Memory 7.4 GiB
    Processor AMD E-300 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics × 2
    Graphics Gallium 0.4 on AMD PALM
    OS Type 64-bit
    Disk 103.1 GB

    Since I can't exit the game after this bug occurs I'm afraid I can't provide any more information...
    Kyle Ravenborn, Dec 20, 2014
    #27
  8. booman
    Welcome to the forum!

    Try this:
    • Launch the game by clicking Debug instead of Play
    • When it crashes use Ctrl+Alt+F2
    • This enters a Terminal
    • Login with your Linux login and password
    • type killall Morrowind.exe
    • Then use Ctrl+Alt+F7 or F8 to go back to Ubuntu
    • Copy all the text in the debug
    • Create a new thread here: PlayOnLinux
    I can't remember the exact name of the executable, but I think its Morrowind.exe

    If the game doesn't quit, try this command:
    Code:
    ps -g username
    use your login in place of "username"

    This should list all of the running processes like exe's
    If the name of the Morrowind executable is on the list, use the "killall" command with the exact spelling.
    booman, Dec 21, 2014
    #28
  9. Kyle Ravenborn
    Will this work if I launch Morrowind FPS Optimiser in it
    Kyle Ravenborn, Dec 22, 2014
    #29
  10. Kyle Ravenborn
    Wait... derping nevermind
    Kyle Ravenborn, Dec 22, 2014
    #30
  11. booman
    Were you able to kill the game without restarting?
    booman, Dec 22, 2014
    #31
  12. Marlhin
    I've tried running Morrowind to see, if older games like this one may run on my new machine. I don't have the retail but the GOG version of this game. After the installation process (with several errors occuring at the and of the installation but I think it is a GOG-installer related problem) I have tried to run the game and everything seems to work fine.
    So I want to use the fps optimiser to enhance the game a little bit, especially the view distance.
    When I am at the fps-opt menu, I want to adjust at "view" the "view distance extra" but it won't allow me to type in numbers beyond 9999 (4 digits length).
    Also, at the same menu at the top, where you can adjust the min distance for low fps. Even if there are numbers with a length of 4 digits, I can only type in digits with the length of 3.
    For example, at view distance for battle, there's the value "2500". When I click on the edit field and I want to type in, let's say 3500, I can only write 350.
    That's very strange!
    Marlhin, Jan 25, 2016
    #32
  13. booman
    Are you running Morrowind with the Wine version in the guide?
    I recommend trying it with Wine 1.8
    Then try using Morrowind Graphics Extender:
    Nexus Mods
    or
    MGE XE

    I haven't tested either in PlayOnLinux yet, but they are reported to work well in Windows.
    Those GOG errors are typical of the installer, I just click "OK" and ignore them.
    booman, Jan 26, 2016
    #33
  14. Marlhin
    I am already using version 1.8. But the problem with the fps optimiser is still there... :(
    Marlhin, Jan 26, 2016
    #34
  15. booman
    Oh, and you probably can't uninstall it huh?
    Well you have three choices:
    1. Trial-n-error with FPS optimizer with Wine 1.7.6 or 1.8
    2. Install MGE and see if it works while FPS optimizer is installed
    3. Start over with a new virtual drive and try MGE
    Either way, I haven't tested any of this with Wine 1.8
    Looks like bad reports on WineHQ's:
    Morrowind Graphics Extender
    booman, Jan 26, 2016
    #35
  16. Marlhin
    Because of poor GPU MG EX is unlikely to run properly...
    Maybe there is an ini file or something similar so that I can edit fps optimiser's settings manually?
    Marlhin, Jan 26, 2016
    #36
  17. booman
    Maybe, I'm not sure. FPS Optimizer was the only tool I could find that allows you to tweak the settings of Morrowind in PlayOnLinux/Wine
    I haven't touched it in around a year. I could try messing with it again, but it might have to wait until the weekend.

    My guide mentions that you can use the mouse wheel to adjust the numbers. Give that a try. Also try using Tab to select the numbers and type. From what I remember... I was able to increase the view distance, but not as much as MGE would.
    booman, Jan 26, 2016
    #37
  18. Marlhin
    Well, I could adjust the view distance ingame via mouse wheel but I have noticed that the performance went really bad when I increase the view distance, so for now I am using standart Morrowind's configuration. At least until I have proper GPU drivers installed.
    But thanks so far, booman!
    Marlhin, Jan 27, 2016
    #38
  19. booman
    Yes, my experience as well. I don't think FPS Optimizer is as optimized as MGE unfortunately. My screenshots are as far as I could get the distance to go on my GeForce 550 Ti in PlayOnLinux. Its tolerable and still quite beautiful.
    booman, Jan 27, 2016
    #39
  20. steve723
    I am guessing FPS Optimizer might be built in to the steam version since it isn’t specifically showing up but the game seems to display properly on my big monitor although the resolution is one level smaller than what I can display but considering this is an updated game from 2002 then I see very little point in complaining about super high resolution. :D
    steve723, May 25, 2016
    #40
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