Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Guide

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:

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

Works for me! Heavy armor should work well for you

 

The new Wine 1.7.12 sports a fix for the MGE graphics extender directx 8 error.
Maybe MGE will actually work?

 

testing now...

Of course Steam has to update. Lol...

I didn't see any problems.

 

I forgot you were using Steam.
What about MGE? did it install and run as well?

 

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...

 

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:

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.

 

Will this work if I launch Morrowind FPS Optimiser in it

 

Wait... derping nevermind

 

Were you able to kill the game without restarting?

 

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!

 

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.

 

I am already using version 1.8. But the problem with the fps optimiser is still there...

 

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

 

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?

 

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.

 

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!

 

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.

 

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.