Quite a lot has changed in the guide over the past few days. Here's the rundown for anyone wondering what's up:
-Switched from Vality's trees to Vurt's trees
A lot of people have been wondering why I did this because a lot of you guys seem to be fairly loyal to Vality's trees. I love Vality's trees, too, but they are beginning to show their age, particularly in conjunction with MGE XE's shadows...
If you use Vality's trees with XE, the shadows coming down from the tree canopy start looking awful during midday in game. It's because MGE XE draws it's shadows based on distant land and the distant land versions of Vality's trees don't turn to face the player. Therefor, when you try to make a shadowmap of one, you end up getting these ugly wigly crosses instead of the leafy impression you want.
Besides that, Vurt's trees have come a long way. They are fully bump mapped and are also using reflect maps as a psuedo parallax map which looks fantastic, not to mention the animated leaves that really helps to liven up the regions. --I STILL don't like Vurt's mushroom meshes, but I have a work around for that in the guide so don't worry about having to deal with those twisty things Vurt uses in his ascadian isles pack.
-Heavily recommending MGE XE
My notes on MGE XE really don't do this awesome extension of MGE justice. It really is not just the shadows, folks. Lighting in general has been improved a million times over. Rayscatter has been improved far past Phal's original implementation of it, for example, and so have MGE's fogging-per-weather methods. The way light interacts with statics and actors is stunning. Then, there is the AMAZING underwater effects shader that allows you to see light refracting near the surface... 3D water waves are a small price to pay for all that is new here.
-Improved Xpadder configs
I figured out how to fake analog input with xpadder. You know how in games with real controller support, usually how fast the character moves is determined by how far you push the thumbstick towards the edge? That is what I've figured out how to fake. All that is really happening is that after a certain threshold, xpadder holds down shift for you. That means that if you push the control stick forward a little, you'll only walk. If you push it forward all the way, you'll run. The original configs are still included in the download for those who prefer togglable run.
-Misc other stuff
There is a new icon set that came out recently, I've also added a few things I'd previously forgotten about. Best to skim over the list again to find what you don't have.
-Other news
Oblivion guide soon. "Soon" as in a couple of days. Most likely. It's almost done, I'm just being thorough.
-Knots
I want your babies, you are helping the community so much, thanks so much Knots!
ReplyDeleteHave you tried Vurt's Ashland trees?
ReplyDeleteYes I have anon and they look ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteWould it be possible to write a batch file and include it with all the mods and upload that to megaupload or something? The Batchfile installing the mods in the correct order ofcourse.
ReplyDeleteOh wow. That is actually a really interesting idea, Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you're taking suggestions for the guide, but you should check this out if you haven't, it doesn't conflict with anything, or at least I haven't noticed any conflicts, and really adds to the landscape of the region without feeling out of place.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21164
Interesting suggestion, Anonymous, though I don't know what she's on about; I love that stretch of road the way it is.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a nice mod but I won't be including it, as it's fairly out of the scope of this guide.
Yeah I realized it was outside of the scope of the guide after I posted that, I was thinking this guide had suggested the mod that adds a waterfall outside of Balmora, but I believe I picked it up somewhere else like in a /v/ thread talking about this guide.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for making this guide, and are you planning any major updates for the guide after the installer (if there is one)?
Of course there will be updates, Anonymous. There will be updates for as long as Morrowind mods come out.
ReplyDeleteI love that Waterfall mod.
I followed your morrowind moding guide right until you talk about MGE XE. How would one make the switch from MGE (already intalled) to MGE XE without screwing things up? Is it possible or I have to redo the whole process (hopefully not)?
ReplyDeleteYou install MGE XE on top of MGE. It's as easy as drag-and-drop.
ReplyDeleteAny update on the "auto-installer" yet? Is it something you care about implementing? I'd love to play this, but I have to admit that it looks like a *lot* of work for something I might not finish.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, disregarding my laziness, this is a really, really good guide, man.
It would take you three hours assuming you have a decent internet connection.
ReplyDeleteI do want to make an auto installer. I just can't say when.
What's your opinion on Morrowind Overhaul - Sound & Graphics? I was planning on using your Morrowind guide to install mods but I might decide to use the Overhaul instead of, or in addition to(?), Visual Pack 3.0.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know which mods are the best because I've never really played Morrowind before. I wouldn't know what mods to cherry pick from your list after I installed the Overhaul pack if I choose not to follow your list to a T.
So I'd like to hear your opinion on that Overhaul and cherry picking. BTW I have installed all the way through 3.A. of your guide so far and you have definitely provided the most helpful early steps I've seen anywhere on the internet.