Of Oblivion, Morrowind, & FF!

[life_matrix]

Note: I was going to reply to the Tommyboys meshes, new releases thread, but decided this would be a bit too far off topic (despite them mentioning Oblivion & Morrowind), so I'm starting a thread here.

I've been doing a bit of Oblivion Modding and meshing on the side, and since it uses nif files too, it may shed some light on what we are seeing.

I haven't tried Oblivion. Keep telling myself I might if I see it in a bargain bin.
I hope it isn't as irritating with node-culling as Morrowind. I just love the way Morrowind reads up a gloss map and then (seemingly) discards it as useless!

I think the discarding of gloss map data has to do with that annoying 'plastic wrap' look of enchanted items. And Morrowind was created before techniques like bump mapping became widely available, so it doesn't have that either. (Although, Hedgehog-12 managed to simulate the effects of bump mapping on his Better Armor mods using detail maps. And while the MGE plugin might, theoretically, support bump mapping, it would be extremely difficult to implement.) It is possible to have reflection maps on things like armor and weapons. Some mods have this. But, from what I understood, this requires some sort of 'No Glow' workaround.

BTW: I read that, despite how different they seem, Morrowind and Freedom Force use the same graphics engine! :blink:

Morrowind/NifSkope Tutorial 1: Nif No Glow

This technique came about from trying to use the techniques pioneered by (amongst others) Axel and Bjam, in 'Freedomforce' by Irrational games. Although not very similar to Morrowind in play, it uses the same graphics engine, Nif 4.0.0.2.

I heard about Morrowind several years back. But I'm in the habit of not going after new release games, but instead enjoying them if and when they become "classics". Back in September I won a like new copy of the GOTYE Morrowind on eBay for about $8, shipping included. So far I have mixed feelings about Morrowind as it's too different from Daggerfall for my tastes. (I really miss the little things, like going to the bank, buying a house, riding a horse, or hauling stuff in a wagon!) Though, it has such awesome modding potential! :D I think I'm starting to become addicted to mods.  :pk:

I figure Morrowind and FFvTR will keep me busy for years. By that time, Oblivion will become old and classic itself. Even then, I'm not sure I would want to switch entirely from Morrowind to Oblivion.

On the other hand, there's a massive new modding project now that combines the best of both worlds! They found a way to merge Morrowind with Oblivion:

Morroblivion.com - The Resurrection of Morrowind

"...a community about a fantastic mod that merges the amazing world of The Elder Scrolls III, Morrowind with the enhanced graphics & capabilities of Oblivion"