Texture Packs, Mods and the Bloodmoon Patch: A Few Questions

[Ferrick]

Is it possible or even advisable to install more than one texture pack that deals with landforms/geography? I am looking at the Visual Pack XT but I also see there is the one entitled Swampy Swamp, plus other flora and fauna texture offerings as well. The first time I played through Morrowind I thought the game could have used more vibrancy so let me know what your favorite texture packs are.

Second, is the official Bloodmoon patch suffice or are the unofficial community offerings good and safe to install or needed?

Lastly, when unpacking mods does the mod automatically place itself where needed or do you have to manually install?

I joined these forums last year with the full intent of re-installing and playing but then life happened, but now I am ready to install and play. Thanks!

[fable]

Some texture packs limt themselves to cities, or rural terrain, so mix and match makes sense. You may even want to overlay a general-all-in-one texture pack with a pack that includes just cities or rural terrain. It's up to you. Just remember, the last loaded texture mod overlays anything similar that comes before.

As for the Bloodmoon patch: there are some excellent community patches. I'd suggest looking at the details of the ones you're interested in by checking out their readme files, to see which is most comprehensive.

Lastly, when unpacking mods does the mod automatically place itself where needed or do you have to manually install?

Unpacking mods: I prefer manual placement, myself, because modders aren't uniform in their stored directories: some include the Morrowind directory itself, or even Bethsoft, while others begin at the Data Files level. I suggest reading Tegger's fifth post here for an excellent tutorial on mod installation.

[Magelord648]

I use Visual Pack XT and swamp swamp together. As long as the two packs don't completely contrast there should be no problem installing on top of Visual XT.

[BlueSky]

I've always used combos.....usually one large texture pack, sometimes I will lay another in at a later time, and a few smaller ones that only affect certain items....and with each new game I use different one....makes it seem like a new game..

[Ferrick]

Thanks for your replies; they are much appreciated. Fable, thanks for the link. Before I install the game I am doing some indepth research on what mods I'd like to add to the experience.

A question on the Visual Pack XT: Should that be the very first one that I should apply and then lay over with additional texture packs?

BlueSky, what are some other texture packs that you found to be good?

[fable]

A question on the Visual Pack XT: Should that be the very first one that I should apply and then lay over with additional texture packs?

Yes, since it changes everything.

As I recall, it's an unauthorized compilation of several other people's work. I'm not suggesting you should avoid it, but it does mix a variety of styles which don't always fit together very well. So it would make an excellent candidate for changes through other textures that overlay its contents.

Check out this, and scroll to "GRAPHIC REPLACERS - WORLD." Quite a few to select from. I'm very fond of Camajo's Texture Replacers, which affect the various Vvardenfell cities. Brash's Fantasy Color Morrowind is also great, though it completely changes the look and feel of the world into something almost fantasy-book like.

[Ferrick]

Wow, fable, Telesphoros' List o'Mods is the most comprehensive one I have read. Thanks for linking me to it. Now I need to pick wisely.

[BlueSky]

Here's a link I use to compare and pick and choose......
Thepal's Amazing, Wonderful and Spectacular Morrowind Texture Pack Comparison Page