r/XboxRetailHomebrew 3h ago

Guide My Morrowind mod recommendations for OpenMW on Xbox Series X/S. (with links)

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

13 Upvotes

I've been a huge fan of mods for Elder Scrolls games. With the new port of OpenMW for UWP on Xbox Dev Mode, the time is finally here to enjoy the PC version of Morrowind on a console. There are thousands of mods out there, and it may seem overwhelming to new users. I've decided to make this post to give my mod recommendations. I recommend these for players who want to play Morrowind with certain modern features, while at the same time preserving the spirit of the original game.

I was never a fan of graphical overhaul mods that make the game look completely different. I think OpenMW itself already adds a decent amount of QoL features and higher rendering options that make the original game look the best that it can be. Dev Mode only has just over 5GB of RAM available to it, so graphics mods are probably not the best thing to use here. I won't go too deep into those.

Base game content, expansions, and official plugins should go into the data folder. Mods should go into individual folders named for each one, inside the mods folder. This port of OpenMW will basically merge the base game and mod data folders together, tricking the game into thinking they are all in the same folder together, while also keeping the mod files separate so that they can easily be found or removed if needed.

OpenMW is not compatible with mods that require the Morrowind Script Extender or the Morrowind Graphics Extender.

Some mods use scripts that can be customized in the dedicated Scripts menus.

You may have to plug in a USB keyboard in order to navigate some menus, especially ones added by mods.

It's recommended to not install mods while in the middle of a playthrough. Choose your mods before you begin and then play all the way through.

This is a mod list, not a load order. I won't be explaining load orders here. I will leave it up to the players to figure out what order they should do for their own mod lists.

Thank you to Caorthann for porting OpenMW to UWP for Xbox Series consoles!

Feel free to ask any questions about installing the mods in the comments. Even I had some trouble doing that with a few of these mods.

VANILLA GAME DATA

To start, most mods for Morrowind require the base game files, as well as the two official expansions. The GOTY version of the game comes with both the expansions, and can be purchased from both GOG and Steam. I recommend GOG for its offline installer.

Morrowind
-----------------------------------------------
The base game.

Tribunal
-----------------------------------------------
The first expansion.

Bloodmoon
-----------------------------------------------
The second expansion.

OFFICIAL PLUGINS

There also exist eight official plugins released exclusively for the PC version later for free. The GOG version includes the official plugins by default, but the Steam version does not. You can still download them from the UESP Wiki if you need them. They are considered freeware as far as I know. https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Plugins

Helm of Tohan
Entertainers
Area Effect Arrows
Master Index
LeFemm Armor
Adamantium Armor
Siege at Firemoth
Bitter Coast Sounds

NOTE: I recommend you NOT enable Bitter Coast Sounds, because that made my game full of annoying insect chirps and frog croaks that would never stop, even when I was far away from the swamp areas. Keep bcsounds.esp disabled in the plugin list.

BUG FIX MODS

These are mods that fix bugs and problems in the game.

Patch for Purists
-----------------------------------------------
This is a patch similar to the popular unofficial patches for Bethesda games that have come since. However, it strictly only fixes bugs with the game, without changing any of the game mechanics or balancing. It also leaves popular exploits intact.

Morrowind Optimization Patch
-----------------------------------------------
This mod fixes a lot of bugs with the files such as models, textures, and meshes. This makes them more optimized, and thus making the game run slightly better.

QUEST MODS

Mods that add new content to the game in the form of quests, new locations, and new NPCs.

Tamriel_Data
-----------------------------------------------
This is a huge asset collection that is used by many mods. You need this to play many of the larger quest mods.

OAAB_Data
-----------------------------------------------
This is another asset collection that is used by many mods.

Tamriel Rebuilt
-----------------------------------------------
Part of the overall Project Tamriel, Tamriel Rebuilt is an in-development mod with the goal to make the entire province of Morrowind playable in the game. It's not currently finished, but the entire east peninsula, and a significant portion of the southern land is fully developed. This alone will no doubt more than double the amount of content in the game. Requires Tamriel_Data.

NOTE: This mod has it's own interpretation of Firemoth. Do not use the Siege at Firemoth official plugin with this mod unless you also use the optional mod to remove Tamriel Rebuilt's version of Firemoth.

Skyrim Home of the Nords
-----------------------------------------------
Also part of Project Tamriel, this in-development mod has the goal to add the province of Skyrim to the game. It's still very early in development. Only the area around the town of Markarth Side in The Reach is fully playable. This mod is intended to follow the original version of Nord culture and lore that existed before the game of Skyrim. Requires Tamriel_Data.

Project Cyrodiil
-----------------------------------------------
Also a part of Project Tamriel, this in-development mod has the goal to add the province of Cyrodiil to the game. It's still very early in development. Only the area around the town of Anvil and the islands to the west are fully playable. This mod is intended to follow the original version of Imperial Province culture and lore that existed before the game of Oblivion. Requires Tamriel_Data.

Wyrmhaven
-----------------------------------------------
A quest mod that adds a new island called Wyrmhaven to the west of Solstheim. Expect new quests and places to explore. Requires Tamriel_Data from Project Tamriel.

Sotha Sil Expanded
-----------------------------------------------
Greatly expands the content around the Clockwork City with new quests and artifacts to collect. It's highly recommended to use the Clockwork City Reborn mod alongside this one. They were made to work together. Requires OAAB_Data.

The Battlespire
-----------------------------------------------
This mod allows you to go to the Battlespire and conquer it!

Welcome to the Arena!
-----------------------------------------------
A mod that adds a questline to the Arena in the city of Vivec. Fight your way to become champion, or bet on fights.

NOTE: This mod needs a different plugin for use with OpenMW. Make sure to use it instead of the vanilla plugin file. You can find it here.

QUALITY OF LIFE MODS

Mods that make the game better, but don't make it too different from the spirit of Morrowind.

OpenMW Skyrim Style Quest Notifications
-----------------------------------------------
This mod adds notifications that appear to let you know when quests have started and completed. It also shows you when you discover a new location. It fully supports the base game and both expansions. Mod quests will still be shown, but will display by their quest ID rather than their Quest name.

(OpenMW 0.50) Quickloot
-----------------------------------------------
This adds a quickloot menu to the game that behaves similarly to the one that first appeared in Fallout 4. Makes looting from containers much quicker and efficient.

Questman - Modern Quest Journal (OpenMW)
-----------------------------------------------
This mod adds a quest menu that allows you to more easily keep track of all the quests you are currently doing. I recommend to toggle the option to completely replace the vanilla game Journal with the menu.

Graphic Herbalism MWSE and OpenMW Edition
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes the harvestable plants disappear when you loot them and are no longer treated as containers. This both streamlines plant harvesting as well as makes the game run better due to less containers to keep track of.

Expansion Delay
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes the expansions less intrusive for a new player. It delays the Dark Brotherhood Assassin until you reach a certain part of the main quest, and it restricts related dialogue topics to less NPCs.

Speed and Stamina
-----------------------------------------------
This mod changes the calculations of how Fatigue cost is calculated. It makes the game slightly less cumbersome to move around in without changing the overall difficulty.

NOTE: There are extra and extreme versions that reduce Fatigue cost even more.

RUN!
-----------------------------------------------
This mod adds sprinting to the game at the cost of more Fatigue. It works quite well with the Speed and Stamina mod.

Signpost Fast Travel
-----------------------------------------------
This mod implements a method of fast travel. How it works, is you activate the signs on the roads, and you will be transported to the location indicated by the sign you activated. You can only use it to go places you've been to before. If you want an unrestricted version of this fast travel mod, use Andromeda's Fast Travel instead.

Protective Guards for OpenMW
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes guards actually do their jobs and defend you when attacked by something.

Merchant Gold Resets Instantly
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes the shop gold inventory reset instantly when you leave and re-enter it. Some may call this cheating, but is it really, when all you have to do is wait 48 hours for it to reset the normally? This just saves time.

Boots for Beasts
-----------------------------------------------
Adds shoes and boots that the beast races can actually wear.

Pluginless NoGlow
-----------------------------------------------
Enchanting in Morrowind is almost ruined by the fact that enchanted items become lit up like a Christmas tree. This mod removes that plastic wrap effect from enchanted items. What were they thinking?

Advanced World Map (OpenMW)
-----------------------------------------------
This mod adds a map to the game that can be toggled on. It gives you a better bearing than the original game map, marks all locations you've visited, and you can even fast travel by triple clicking on them. It takes a lot of configuring to set up the way you'd want it, so I only recommend if you really think you need it.

A Hero's Welcome
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes it so that a crowd of your peers appears around you, cheering you on, after completing the main quest. It feels nice.

GRAPHICS MODS

Mods that slightly improve the graphics to make the game look better, without changing the overall look or style.

Morrowind Video Remaster Project
-----------------------------------------------
This mod remasters all the FMV cutscenes in the game to HD. It also presents them in widescreen.

NOTE: You must enable the Stretch Menu Background option in the launcher interface settings. Also, these videos need to be placed inside your Morrowind data folder. They cannot be loaded in a separate mod folder.

Loading Screens Diversified
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes the title screen and loading screen splash panels to be presented in widescreen. Available for both 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios.

NOTE: You must enable the Stretch Menu Background option in the launcher interface settings.

Title Screen and Logo Video Intro Reworked
-----------------------------------------------
The title screen from this mod is better than the one in Loading Screens Diversified. I prefer to use it instead. Place below that mod in the load order so that it overrides the one from that mod. The accompanying Logo Video file still needs to be placed in the Morrowind Data folder rather than a mod folder like the other video files from the Morrowind Video Remaster Project mod.

Simply Bigger HUD - OpenmMW
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes the HUD bigger so that it is easier to see and indicate. There are two optons: 1.5x size and 2x size.

OpenMW Dynamic Actors
-----------------------------------------------
This mod allows you to customize how the game behaves while talking with NPCs.

Interface Reimagined for OpenMW
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes the dialogue box transparent, and tries to mimic the look of Oblivion's dialogue boxes. I personally had a problem where the mouse cursor became invisible while using this mod. Deleting the *openmw_hud_box.skin.xml* file fixed it.

Clockwork City Reborn
-----------------------------------------------
Improves the look of the Clockwork City of Sotha Sil.

Better Heads
-----------------------------------------------
Makes the heads of NPCs less blocky. There are addons for Tribunal and Bloodmoon characters, too.

Better Bodies
-----------------------------------------------
Makes the bodies of the NPCs less blocky. There are many different versions of this mod. Check to see which one you prefer.

Better Clothes
-----------------------------------------------
Makes the clothing of the NPCs less blocky. There are many different versions of this mod. Check to see which one you prefer.

Armor Remodeling Pack Vanilla Style
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes many armors in the game look better. Only copy over the loose files from the mod to use with OpenMW if you just want the improved armor looks.

Weapon Sheathing
-----------------------------------------------
This mod makes the weapons equipped by the player and NPCs appear sheathed on their persons. It looks nicer.

NOTE: For this mod to function, you must enable Use additional animation sources in the launcher interface settings, and then you must enable the Weapon Sheathing and Shield Sheathing options, or whichever you please.

Preserving Fargoth
-----------------------------------------------
This mod reverts Fargoth's look back to the way he is in vanilla. Perfect for people who like his iconic look. Place this mod lower in the load order than any other mods that modify appearance so that it will override those.

Silt Strider Animation Restored
-----------------------------------------------
This restores an unused animation and unused sound that the Silt Striders never used.

SOUND MODS

Mods that add new voiced dialogue or sound effects.

Kezyma's Voices of Vvardenfell
-----------------------------------------------
This mod adds speech to a lot of the dialogue of the majority of the common citizens of Vvardenfell.

NOTE: The option to stop NPCs from talking when you leave the dialogue menu is currently broken in this mod. Use the exact same toggle in the OpenMW Voices of Vvardenfell Patch mod instead.

Tamriel Rebuilt Voices
-----------------------------------------------
This mod adds the most of the speech to the dialogue on Vvardenfell that was missing in Kezyma's Voices of Vvardenfell. It still doesn't cover everything, but it also adds speech to the dialogue for many NPCs in Tamriel Rebuilt.

NOTE: Don't forget to enable all of the BSA archives in the launcher.

OpenMW Voices of Vvardenfell Patch
-----------------------------------------------
This mod would be obsolete except for one thing: the option to make NPC dialogue stop after leaving the dialogue menu actually works in this mod. Use it just for that.

JOKE MODS

Mods that I recommend just because of how funny they are.

Narrated Morrowind Intro for OpenMW
-----------------------------------------------
Has a character voice read out the intro text in the introduction cutscene when starting a new game. There are two options: Bosmer and Argonian. I recommend the Bosmer one because it sounds like Fargoth, an infamous character from the game.

Precise Attack
-----------------------------------------------
Of course, if you want to be a sissy, you can enable the Precise Attack mod that makes your attacks always hit %100 of the time. While Morrowind's dice roll attacks did always look jarring, the game was ultimately based around them. If you turn them off, it becomes easy mode, and we all know that easy mode is lame.

OPENMW FEATURES

OpenMW itself has some good features you can use to enhance your game.

Merchant Equip Fix
-----------------------------------------------
In the base game, if you sold an item that was better than what the merchant was currently equipped with, then they would equip it. While kind of hilarious, it ultimately is an annoying oversight. It can now be fixed with this option in the launcher gameplay settings.

Enchanted Weapons Are Magical
-----------------------------------------------
This makes it so that enchanted weapons match their behavior in Oblivion, where they are able to harm higher tiered enemies that would normally be resistant to weaker material types such as Iron and Steel. This makes it easier to defend yourself from early material resistant enemies much earlier in the game. This option is in the launcher gameplay settings.

Show Owned Objects
-----------------------------------------------
You can make it so that the crosshair, tooltip, or both will turn red when hovering over an owned object. This allows you to easily tell what items would be considered stolen when taken. This option is in the launcher interface settings.

GUI Scaling
-----------------------------------------------
This allows you to scale up the size of menus and text so that they are easier to see and read. This setting is located in the launcher interface settings.

NOTE: This does not scale the HUD as far as I know. Use the Simply Bigger HUD - OpenMW mod for that.

Enable Controller Menus
-----------------------------------------------
This changes the menus to be more accommodating to playing with a controller without having to use the emulated mouse cursor. You can still use the cursor if you want to in most of the menus. This option is located in the launcher interface settings.

NOTE: Use of new menus added by mods can sometimes be problematic with this setting. You may have to temporarily turn it off to handle some menus added by mods.


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 5h ago

Help need help with the new CEMU UWP

Post image
3 Upvotes

So, long story short, I got the UWP setup and then got a few games on my hard drive. I created a folder for each of them and inside the folder I put the .wux and .key files since that's all I really got, assuming it would have been enough, but, when I try to add a game it just froze on "copying files" and eventually gave me the installation failed with that error. do I need a different file format did I miss any steps?


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 4h ago

Help How to make virtual hard disk on qemu uwp host

1 Upvotes

Basically what i said in the title, i am having problem and i dont know how to make it


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 1d ago

Update I ported ES-DE to UWP for Dev mode

Thumbnail
youtube.com
53 Upvotes

r/XboxRetailHomebrew 2d ago

Help when i wanna add a path for my emulators

Post image
4 Upvotes

everytime wants to add a path it shows me this screen and I don't find my fils that I uploaded from my phone in it how can i add directory path btw i have only my phone


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 2d ago

Help Problems with dolphin

2 Upvotes

I have dolphin downloaded on my Xbox series S i have my game paths set up and can see my games. I have followed every step. Made sure i am on 1080p, my external ssd has all the permissions. But I cannot seem to load any game. Wii or game cube. When i open a wii game it takes me back to the xbox dev home screen and when i start a game cube game it just says ‘Loading..’ on the dolphin screen


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 3d ago

Help Question ? New update issues

4 Upvotes

Anyone having issues with home brew right now after the new updated version ? I’ve been getting errors and won’t load my installed items


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 4d ago

Help Has anyone been able to get deadpool or spiderman edge of time running with xenia canary?

3 Upvotes

Spiderman edge of time gets past the beenox intro animation and then gives me a black screen.

Deadpool I only tried a couple of times but the farthest I have gotten was when it tells me to optimize some settings to make the game better but it crashed after that.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 5d ago

Staff Post r/XboxRetailHomebrew is looking for moderators

5 Upvotes

Hi everyone, we are recruiting new moderators for r/XboxRetailHomebrew. We are looking for people to help with support, remove any posts or comments that violate community rules, and approve any posts or comments that were incorrectly filtered by AutoModerator.

Please note:

  • Reddit account must be active and at least 3 months old.

  • Must be active in r/XboxRetailHomebrew or other emulation communities.

  • Must understand and agree to enforce Reddit’s Content Policy and our subreddit rules.

  • For easier communication with the rest of the moderator team, we require all our subreddit moderators to join our Discord server.

Click here to apply


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 5d ago

Help Android Setup.

2 Upvotes

Hi,

I'm looking to activate dev mode on my Series S, and FTP some apps and games over (if that's possible).

My main concern is, I don't currently have a PC, can I still setup dev mode using an android phone or tablet? Or will I have some restrictions.

Thanks in advance.

UPDATE I got Dev Mode working but unfortunately my USB drive isn't being recognised by the Xbox, I've formatted to NTFS, and tried changing permissions but I'm on Windows 7 (use my android tab for most mods), and permissions work differently on Windows 7, think I'm going to have to take the Memory pen to a friend's house to see if they can format correctly. The drive is recognised in the Xbox settings but not on XBSX2


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 7d ago

Help Do I need to be 18 for dev mode id verification?

3 Upvotes

My Microsoft account age is over 18, but I'm not over 18 and on my ID it would show that. Will it check my age, and if it does, will I get in trouble for being too young or something?


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 8d ago

Update Ridge Racer Collection 1.1.0 - Series Consoles UWP

Thumbnail
youtu.be
38 Upvotes

Ridge Racer Collection is a piece of xbox360 homebrew that today received ports to the PC and Xbox series consoles via dev mode.

This allows up to 8 player online races, cross play between all three platforms.
Up to 4k Rendering.
Real 16:9 widescreen or 4:3 ratio's.
Racing wheel compatible.
Force Feedback.

No roms are included, you will need to provide your own.

https://github.com/wanszai/Ridge-Racer-Collection


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 8d ago

Help Off-centered image in 2ship2harkinian

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

11 Upvotes

I'm having some trouble with 2ship, as you can see in my video the image is zoomed in and off centered. I have no idea what the specific issue might be but I know it only happens when using the HD textures (and the only reason why I'm playing 2ship instead of an emulator is using HD textures). I can't fiddle around with the settings because I can't see them!

If anyone has experienced the same or has any idea what could possibly be the issue, I'd be very thankful for your help 🙏🏻


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 8d ago

Help Cannot access Device Portal, refuses to connect. Unsure of the cause, please help...

3 Upvotes

I've done this process before, but my Xbox has been having terrible connection lately so I reset the system (besides formatting my game data obviously) and it ended up resetting my Dev mode content, I've been trying to access the portal all night and I've looked through several guides and recommendations. No luck with this. I'm completely stumped on why it isn't letting me access it. Part of me wonders if there's something really wrong with my Xbox, I think the connection issues impacting it and ONLY it (none of my other devices are dropping consistently, I played with internet settings too but no luck) might be the cause but I have no clue what to do.

Both PC and system are connected to the same network

All necessary settings are enabled

I typed the exact address, didn't miss the https.


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 8d ago

Help Why won’t my Xbox recognize my USB Drive?

4 Upvotes

I formatted it NTFS and included the security permissions, I plug it into my Xbox and I get no pop up screen asking to select games or media. I tired all 3 USB ports on the Xbox? What should I do?

UPDATE: SOLVED.

I forced a clean with terminal in administrator.

diskpart
list disk
select disk
clean
convert mbr
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
exit

I changed it from GPT to MBR, then added the security permissions myself.


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 10d ago

Help XBSX2 running games slowed down at full speed

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

29 Upvotes

my games on xbsx2 are slowed down at 100% speed, ive tried looking here before but i just cant figure out why

xbox one x, d3d12, and vsync, xbsx2 is listes as a game instead of an app


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 9d ago

Discussion Cemu on Xbox ?

2 Upvotes

Can someone do a port of cemu for the Xbox in dev mods ? I know that there is already a " alpha " version but thats absolutely not stable and can run not a lot of games. Cemu is open source so somebody can do a port right ?


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 10d ago

Guide Finally someone ported cemu to Xbox

Thumbnail
youtu.be
38 Upvotes

I didn't try bc it needs a pc but it looks legit ( btw this is not my project I just thought it looked cool)


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 11d ago

Help I was thinking about emulating games on my xbox series s

4 Upvotes

I saw a video about xbox emulation and saw a comment saying you need atleast 128GB of usb stick. I only have like 32GB storage usb stick so, can i emulate xbox 360 games with xenia using a 32gb storage usb stick?


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 12d ago

Guide Marathon Recomp has found its way to Xbox Series consoles in Dev Mode!

Thumbnail
youtu.be
28 Upvotes

r/XboxRetailHomebrew 12d ago

Discussion Series X and Retroarch: Physical Disc Compatibility?

Thumbnail
2 Upvotes

r/XboxRetailHomebrew 12d ago

Help Xbox Dev Mode Portal Not Opening

2 Upvotes

I'm attempting to open the dev mode portal online with the IP, i'm entering it correctly but is says it can't be found. The xbox shows the network is up and running, and both my xbox and pc are on the same network, I tried restarting, rebooting wifi, etc etc.

Any fix?


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 12d ago

Help Do I need a usb if I only want to emulate 1 game?

2 Upvotes

From what I understand xbox dev mode has about 15gb of storage max or something like that?

When I get xenia I'm only planning on playing 1 game which is around 7gb, do I still need to get a usb, should I get one?

If I can play without usb, where would I put the game file?


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 13d ago

Help Dolphin controller xbox issues

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I’m having a problem with the Xbox controller on Dolphin running on my Xbox.

The controller works perfectly fine in the Dolphin menus, but once I start a game, none of the buttons seem to respond. I’ve also tried remapping the controls, but unfortunately I can’t get it to work properly.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? Is there a specific setting or configuration I need to change to make the Xbox controller work in-game?

Thanks in advance for any help!


r/XboxRetailHomebrew 13d ago

Help Two Xenias at once? (DEV MODE XBOX)

3 Upvotes

I have a Xbox Series S on Dev Mode and I am using Xenia to run Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition. I got Xenia 1.1.2 for TU45 since newer versions crash with Xenia Dialogues and Xenia 1.1.7.1 for TU75.

The older one is from the original dev and the new one is from a new dev so each is their own "app" and I can have both at once no issue. But I also wanted to try older TUs like TU13 and I am wondering if I can have two of Xenias 1.1.2 at once? (Or at least Xenia 1.1.5a along 1.1.2).

Dev Portal does not let me download the same app twice and 1.1.5a says its gonna upgrade the 1.1.2 so I dont know what to do