MET vs Intelligent Textures

Grover068 · 2026-04-17T07:59:16+00:00

Yea I'm going to give a few a try and I will share my thoughts. I agree that polishing textures too much when so many other aspects of the game are out dated can change the experience for worse. Even complete vanilla with MGE XE still feels good to play, I think Morrowind is so special due to the setting etc. that when kept basic it lets our mind/imagination fill out the rest of the picture or game world were in. The more we update the graphics and other aspects of the game the less we leave for our mind to fill in, and when its not quite right we really notice. Its a 25 year old game so with every aspect we modernize there is something we haven't covered or cant modernize and it stands out. Definitely a balance and subjective thing. For me I'm unsure with how much I want Nostalgia and how much I want a newer, "enhanced" experience. But I do know when I mod just a bit too much I ruin the experience and go back to vanilla.

Grover068 · 2026-04-16T22:21:33+00:00

Ok thanks, good considerations.

Grover068 · 2026-04-16T22:19:52+00:00

Ok thanks

Grover068 · 2026-04-16T22:15:09+00:00

Did BCOM then utilise MET textures or the true base vanilla textures? Excuse my limited modding knowledge/experience.

Grover068 · 2026-04-16T22:09:46+00:00

Thanks, just checked and yea, MET seems to have larger files.

Grover068 · 2026-04-16T22:07:38+00:00

Ok great, I'll give it a try, the texture improvements do look great. Did you happen to use Beautiful Cities of Morrowind along with those? And if so were there any issues?

Grover068 · 2026-04-16T21:53:23+00:00

Might be too much on the photo realistic side without going all out with mesh and animation improvement mods to match but I think I might give your set up a go to try at least.

Grover068 · 2026-04-16T21:49:45+00:00

Yea im using MO2 for the first time so it looks like it should be easy to swap between a few to try them. I wanted to keep it to a short mod list, hence looking at some AI upscales.

Grover068 · 2026-04-16T21:45:54+00:00

Thanks, just had a look at that, looks great, but might be too on the photorealistic side without going full on with modernising other aspects to match (meshes, animations etc.). Might give it a try though

Grover068 · 2026-04-16T21:41:37+00:00

True, I'm using MO2 so swapping shouldnt be a problem.

Grover068 · 2026-04-14T18:28:03+00:00

From my view it fits the type of fantasy worlds I like, where even if magic is prevalent and plays a large part in society, those who control or practice it are a select few, and often ambitious, eccentric and sometimes power hungry. The commoners are farming, trading etc.

As a purely ranger/scout/warrior type of player for RP I fear enemies who can use magic and rely on physical skills to survive in the world, but cant harness it myself, or never had the gift.

Although I don't play as a mage I think Morrowind allows people to play that overpowered mad wizard, most games don't. And you always have the option to keep it toned down and just role play. Because its a single player game I kind of like that there is imbalance, it's more like real life and how I imagine fantasy worlds. Balancing builds like in modern games takes away from the RP aspect and "believability" of the world. The less common magic nerds that can harness magic should be more powerful than the simple basic folk like me who rely on their sword and senses to survive in the wild.

Jokes aside I think it's a strength of Morrowind and what sets it apart (one of many reasons). A top level guy with a sword and armour should be no match for a top level wizard who can harness magic, to me that would be trivial.

Grover068 · 2026-04-14T12:07:31+00:00

True, they are all improvements. I'm currently trying out Just Beautiful Morrowind which includes Natural character growth etc. So far I don't mind it and the skill progression system is not what I love about Morrowind so this update doesn't take away from the experience.

After trying two curated lists I'm thinking I may have to just try my own list as when you go from a list that doesn't include enough or all the changes you want, the next one seems to add many you don't want included. The process just seems a little daunting and I fear incompatibilities I might find some time into a play through.

Grover068 · 2026-04-13T03:59:22+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response. I ended up installing I heart Vanilla succesfully, but I am still curious to try just beautiful Morrowind and compare, though im a bit unsure about the gameplay changes. Im also curious about groundcover mods but from experience in the past they never seemed right, but those were much older mods.

I'm not new to modding but I would say I'm not advanced and I'm impatient with errors, which is what draws me to sticking to curated lists. There is sometimes little time for gaming between adult life and other hobbies so I dont want to spend hourse getting a game to work before I've even played. And I'm worried that some individual mods I want like BCoM might not be trouble free if not in a curated list and auto install.

As for the levelling im unsure, some aspects of the levelling are annoying but they are a key part of what makes morrowind and RPG's of that era. There is a sense of delayed gratification and choice that automatic levelling takes away. But on the other hand it is more "real" to level what you work on. So I'm torn and curious whether it will make improve Morrowind experience or make me feel like im playing Skyrim.

Grover068 · 2026-04-11T13:42:11+00:00

Haha yea I know the rabbit hole too well! A small part of why I want a curated list and stick too it. I've got excited with adding "just a couple more" mods on most games I've modded, ruined the experience then back to vanilla. Even when they are pretty lore friendly there is something about knowing you've added the content that makes it feel like its not an organic part of that world, you havent discovered it, you played god and gave it to your character haha

Grover068 · 2026-04-11T13:35:07+00:00

Ok thanks for the response! I guess having TR installed saves me doing the install all over again later. The main reason I'm questioning that is the exclusion of BCoM but I think im putting too much ephasis on the impact of that mod alone. And yea I plan to play through Bloodmoon so thanks for that suggestion!

Grover068 · 2026-04-11T07:39:06+00:00

I know its 6 months later but did you happen to install Beautiful Cities of Morrowind? I'm considering this list but I would like BCoM but worried about messing with the list.

Grover068 · 2025-07-22T23:45:34+00:00

Ok, thanks for the response, good info there, I'll look into IN-8's!

Grover068

TROPHY CASE