Jeez, when was I last here? Some time in September.

Anyone remember me? Y'know, the guy with the somewhat obsessive interest in Morrowind? Yeah, well, I set down to watch some TV weeks ago and somehow, in the midst of a rerun of That '70s Show, I managed to forget to log in here on occasion and to update that mod guide I was working on.

RANT ALERT

Anyway, wow, a new expansion to Neverwinter Nights is out. It looks pretty good. Which is probably why I'll buy it. Because Obsidian is great at making dull, subpar games seem fun. Which is really a dissapointment because I had high hopes for NWN 2. Well, initially. after Mask of the Betrayer (which I played first) they dropped quite a bit. I initially gave Mask of the Betrayer a 8.0 when I played it on my old computer, assuming it was a great game and it just ran so slow because my hardware was outdated. After playing it on my new computer and hitting a max of 15 FPS even with it's mediocre graphics turned all the way down on hardware which should more than handle it at 60+ FPS I can safely say the only redeeming feature was the story. I know this, yet I fall for the ads every time.

END RANT

I picked up the collector's edition of LOTRO Mines of Moria. It comes with a heck of a lot of free stuff for 80 dollars. Haven't got around to installing it yet, though. Not that it'd matter much considering my characters are still fairly low levels.

For those still interested, yes, my Morrowind mod guide is on temporary hiatus. I just haven't been interested in Morrowind much lately and by extension haven't installed any mods to blog about. I've been playing a lot of Oblivion the last couple of days, though. FCOM, a mod that combines all the major overhauls for Oblivion will be out of beta soon so I'll probably be spending a few days glued to my computer installing that monstrously large mod. It'll definitely be worth it though.

I've been thinking about this lately, and I thought I'd ask those that read my blog before making my decision. When I get back to working on my Morrowind mod guide would you prefer it if I took it offsite and hosted it on something like freewebs (or webs.com or whatever it is they're calling themselves now) in addition to blogging updates? Seeing as people get banned left and right here it seemed it might be a good idea to have it offsite so that in the event my account ended up banned the guide wouldn't be lost.

I bought a PS3 during my absence from Gamespot. Yay for impulse buys I guess. LittleBigPlanet's pretty fun.

Oh hey, reruns of That '70s Show will be on soon! And with that this blog post and the last 3 months of my life may have come full circle. I'll make a note not to forget anything this time lol.

Man, you randomly disappear for a few months and Gamespot goes and changes their layout. Feels kind of cluttered now, really, with all the sidebars and links and whatever else I haven't found yet. I see the forums haven't changed, still the same layout (and topics) as always... lol

Anyway, I've been trying to stay off the computer and away from the TV lately and get more exercise which is why I was gone. But it's September which means hurricane season for the southeastern states here in the US which means here in the midwest we get what storms manage to hold together after they cause problems for the states bordering gulf of Mexico and the eastern coast. And all that means the ground has turned into 3-inch deep mud. And since the town I live in was built on drained swampland it has a lovely geographic layout that holds in water. Long story short it's too dang muddy to step off pavement without sinking into the ground. Good thing I have treadmill so I can still get some exercise. Of course if I dust off the treadmill and use it for what it was intended I have to find a new coat rack.

Of course, that's not the only reason I've been gone. Living in a rural area is mostly great except for the intermittent loss of electricity or phone/internet connection. Which is nearly weekly now. According to the old folklore of weather prediction by the color of caterpillars we're going to have a harsh winter. I'm not one to take stock in the opinions of insect weathermen, of course, but I still hope folklore is wrong. I do like seeing snow in winter of course, but I'm not too keen on the idea of having another ice storm taking out power for a week to a month depending on location like we had at the beginning of this year here in the middle of nowhere.

In the meantime I've been playing Mercenaries 2 since It came out. I'm a bit disappointed in some regards. The game seems much shorter than the first Mercs game, with only a few missions instead of Mercs' Deck of 52 plus side missions. You have to play through the game's story to unlock the whole map and until you clear quite a few missions you're constrained to a very small area. Air strikes and supply drops are a lot harder to come by, and you're not going to be getting much of anything until you recruit a helicopter pilot, luckily you recruit him early in the game. Worst of all though is that they censored some of the swearing- and that just sounds stupid. Now on the other hand they definitely improved a lot of elements. Hijacking vehicles is better by far, you actually have to interact a little more to hijack heavy vehicles like tanks. Of course with the better graphics current gen consoles can handle the explosions are much more gratifying and shiny, and since it's a Mercs game things will be exploding frequently. Mercs 2 has a much nicer choice of vehicles, too, including civilian vehicles in both regular and beat up "junker" types, a few motorcycles, and some special vehicles modified to do unique things you can get from your mechanic as the game progresses. Of course the best thing is that Mercs 2 takes place in Venezuela, which means the environment is far more colorful than the first game and it's constant gray and brown environments. To sum that up, if you like over the top action movies and want a game that plays like one, Mercs 2 is a good pick.

As for my Morrowind mods guide, I'm just reinstalling the game right now so I'll try to get an update to the old installments and a new set of mods up soon.[Update: Or I will as soon as I remember where I put the expansion discs, anyway...]

And on a completely unrelated note, I just noticed that Gamespot's spell check doesn't recognize Gamespot as a word. Odd.

Well, I'm sure this is going to look long-winded and boring enough as it is so I'll shut up now. ;)

************************************Foreword*************************************

Bah, ended up with another partial entry. I need to get Part 3 together before I run out of decimals to use...

Picked up my new computer today, not the best rig ever made but it more than handles all of my games maxed out and with 2x AA at 1680x1050. I figure it will at least hold up for a year or two before I need to upgrade anything. Maybe longer if I don't want to play newer games at maximum settings.

******************Vality7's and Yacoby's Grass Project******************

I'm sure you all know plenty about this by now so I'll just skip to giving you the link.

Beta release:

http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=850315

************************************Foreword*************************************

This one was too major for an edit to the last post but too minor for a new article. Hence 2.5.

So, remember that computer I mentioned in the last foreword? Motherboard and PSU completely shot. The repair shop couldn't even find replacement parts for it. Well, that's life. It was a fairly old PC anyway.

******************Vality7's and Yacoby's Grass Project******************

We're close to a release it seems! To quote Vality:

"The first release of both the resource and the mod will feature just a few grass types, and when I've made some more textures then I'll update the releases. I don't know when it's going to be released, but this is mostly done, we're in the final testing stages you could say, so it won't be too far away."

The work-in-progress thread at the official Bethesda forums.

http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=846604

************************************Foreword*************************************

Yeah, I know, I'm slow with getting new installments out and haven't been around the forums at all recently. Been busy lately, with spring came cleaning out all the junk I've accumulated but don't use and a ton of work outside. Aside from that, I've been through all the crap nature has to throw at me and it seems one of my computers has bit the dust from about 40 power surges in a row. Luckily I unplugged the rest of the electronics before anything else could get screwed up.

*************************Difficulty System***************************

With each mod entry you will see a difficulty ranking for installing, tweaking (if applicable), and using the mod. Here is how it plays out:

• .EXE: This mod comes with an installer. A chimpanzee could install this properly.
• F: For your Average Joe. Anybody should be able to install this with no problems.
• D: Slightly complicated. Almost everyone can handle this, requires slightly more effort to install.
• C: Moderately complicated. Anyone experienced with mods can install this.
• B: Highly complicated. For those with a lot of experience, this one is tricky.
• A: Attempt only if you can follow instructions to the letter. This has the potential to cause problems if you mess up. Use with caution.

**************************FPS Optimizer***************************

Difficulty Rank: .EXE. Has some features that may be confusing but I don't think you can actually do any damage if you set something wrong.

This is a nice little tool that not only lets you use some very handy key bindings it also increases your frames-per-second. This tool lets you change all sorts of things, such as allowing it to change your graphics settings in real time to maintain the highest possible graphical quality while staying with in the frame rate range you specify. It can also alter settings only in menus so that slow PCs can maintain a smooth, playable frame rate. Not only that, but should you decide you want a set view distance you can bind view distance to keys so you can change the view distance in-game to any setting from the very minimum to the very max distance allowed by the FPS Optimizer; a distance about twice as far as possible without the program. But one of my favorite key bindings is the next track button. If you've ever found yourself wanting to hear a different track as you explored the island of Vvardenfell, this is the feature you've been looking for. Tap the key you've bound as the next track button and it will pick out another track to play from the current folder. My absolute favorite feature of the program, though, is the ability to set a custom resolution. No longer will Morrowind be an ugly, stretched, mess on widescreen monitors, you can now set the resolution to sizes unavailable in the original game.

A word of warning, though. While myself and several others I know who use the program have not experienced any problems, there are a fair amount of reports of bugs and errors. Back up your saves before testing it out.

Download the FPS Optimizer at the following link.

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Utilities.Detail&id=51

*********************************Vality7's Mods*********************************

Difficulty Rank: D-ish. Requires moderate knowledge of the hierarchy of Morrowind's Data Files to properly install. Follow the readme and you'll do fine.

Since the last installment, Vality has done some more great work for Morrowind, though not all of it is release-ready yet it is all worth mentioning.

First off, the Solstheim ice caverns from the Bloodmoon expansion for Morrowind get a retex. With these new textures, the ice looks appropriately icy and impressive.

Vality's Ice Caverns Enhanced.

http://vality7.googlepages.com/icecaverns

Also, the Ice Cavern retex is part of an overall project Vality is working on to graphically enhance Solstheim, the setting of the Bloodmoon expansion.

The Solstheim Project.

http://vality7.googlepages.com/solstheimproject

Similar to the Solstheim Project are two more current projects to continue enhancing the Bitter Coast and Ascadian Isles regions.

Bitter Coast Rainforest.

http://vality7.googlepages.com/bittercoast

Ascadian Isles Rainforest.

http://vality7.googlepages.com/ascadianisles2

Coming soon... Grass! That's all that really needs to be said. That long sought after grass is finally coming. With Vality making the meshes and textures and Yacoby making a program that places it automatically, we may see this fairly soon.

Vality's Grass Resource.

http://vality7.googlepages.com/grass

*******************************Better Bodies*******************************

Difficulty Rank: .EXE. Self installing, easy to use. It has a very user-friendly interface.

An old favorite of many, Better Bodies replaces the Bethesda bodies which are visibly segmented to a ridiculous extent. These bodies look like bodies should, they are visibly attached and appear to be one piece rather than a construct of several floating pieces.

Download Better Bodies here.

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=213

****************************In The Next Installment****************************

************************************Foreword*************************************

Hi, I'm BladeMaster84, a long time Elder Scrolls fan and modder. Morrowind has been one of my favorite games for a long time now and I've been modding just about as many years as I've been playing. In fact, I probably spend sixty percent of my time modding and 40 percent playing. For those of you who remember the release of Morrowind I'm sure you will agree when I say that Morrowind was a good looking game when it was released. For those of you that started out with Oblivion, think back to your first step out of the sewers. That moment (or ten or twenty minutes) of awe at the world that you experienced is very similar to the reaction Morrowind gave many players. However, it has been several years since Morrowind debuted and it has lost some of its luster when compared to the titles of today such as Oblivion and Mass Effect. While I can't offer tips on how to turn back the clock to a time when Morrowind was new, I can show you how to do a little touch up work and make good old Morrowind look new again thanks to the work of some talented modders.

In this article I am writing off the assumption that you, the reader, already has a basic understanding of mods and how to install them and get them running. If you mess something up, its your responsibility to fix it or seek help from the appropriate sources (Hint: Those sources will never be me unless I eventually include one of my own mods.). This article will give a brief description of each mod and a link to a download and, if available, screenshots. Parts of this guide can be easily accomplished by readers with even a small amount of exposure to mods while others are for more advanced users, in the next section I will briefly outline a system that will help you determine which parts of the guide are right for you.

*************************Difficulty System***************************

With each mod entry you will see a difficulty ranking for installing, tweaking (if applicable), and using the mod. Here is how it plays out:

• .EXE: This mod comes with an installer. A chimpanzee could install this properly.
• F: For your Average Joe. Anybody should be able to install this with no problems.
• D: Slightly complicated. Almost everyone can handle this, requires slightly more effort to install.
• C: Moderately complicated. Anyone experienced with mods can install this.
• B: Highly complicated. For those with a lot of experience, this one is tricky.
• A: Attempt only if you can follow instructions to the letter. This has the potential to cause problems if you mess up. Use with caution.

**************************Connary's Texture Packs***************************

Difficulty Rank: D. Requires some knowledge of the hierarchy of Morrowind's Data Files to properly install. Follow the readme and you'll do fine.

Where on Earth do I start with these? This guy is one amazing modder. He has about 65 texture packs out right now and he still isn't done! His work is of consistent high quality and looks just about as good as you're going to find for Morrowind. I highly recommend his released textures and any textures that he releases in the future. If you want Morrowind to look good, get to downloading-- its gonna take a while. Since his mods aren't in one pack I'll link you to a page containing all of his mods, from there you can go to download pages containing screenshots of his work.

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=User.EntriesListing&id=29044

Unfortunately, he isn't done giving Morrowind a retex and there are still large areas lacking texture so I recommend first installing another texture pack then installing Connary's textures over it. This way as he releases more of his work you can keep filling in the world with his textures while maintaining something a little nicer looking than the default Bethesda work.While somewhat outdated, this page is a great place to look at some screenshots of the various other texture packs you could install before Connary's. I warn, though, you may have to go dig for the download links on your own, this page is old and I have not tested them.

http://ltm.ufrealms.net/textpacks/

*********************************Vality7's Mods*********************************

Difficulty Rank: D. Requires some knowledge of the hierarchy of Morrowind's Data Files to properly install. Follow the readme and you'll do fine.

Vality's work gives the swampy areas of Morrowind a true swamp feel without causing too massive of an FPS hit. in fact, in some areas I've lost absolutely no FPS at all while enjoying dense, beautiful, foliage. These mods incorporate a system that is somewhat like SpeedTree which Bethesda used in Oblivion, so for those of you that want to truly bring the graphics up to recent standards, tis is a must-have. Basically, the mods I'm about to link to will change the way you see the game from a brown, bleak, dead, landscape to a rich, colorful, world that is almost tangible.

Vality's Ascadian Isles.

http://vality7.googlepages.com/ascadianisles

Vality's Bitter Coast.

http://vality7.googlepages.com/vality%27sbittercoastmod

Vality's Balmora and Hlaalu Building Textures.

I highly recommend using the Hlaalu textures, they add a lot to the overall atmosphere of the mod.

http://vality7.googlepages.com/balmora

****************************In The Next Installment****************************

Next time we'll talk about the FPS Optimizer, a handy little gadget that has a variety of functions. My favorites being the ability to run at a custom resolution for those with widescreen monitors and the ability to extend your view distance far beyond the default max.

We'll also go over Better Bodies, an excellent body mod and one of the most popular mods for Morrowind.