New HD Texture Pack Mod Released For The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Although it was released more than fifteen years ago in 2002, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind still has a dedicated community of fans. Indeed, it was Morrowind that largely established Bethesda’s RPG formula; a formula which has been the groundwork for practially all of their core titles since. Now, a mod has been released online that adds HD textures to the title, substantially updating the now-dated graphics.
The Morrowind HD Texture Pack Mod
The texture pack mod was made by a modder named Nico Wilhelm. It includes over 1,000 different texture maps; 170 for the game’s environments, 80 for the ground and walls, and 890 for clothes, armor, and other items. The textures make use of a technique called “normalmaps” which simulates higher detail, three-dimensional effects on flat surfaces; making Morrowind’s formerly rather two-dimensional textures appear far more dynamic.
If you’re interested in revisiting this RPG classic, or if you’ve never played the precursor to Oblivion and Skyrim; this mod definitely helps to update the game to a more modern standard. For die-hard fans of the original game, there is even a “Purist Edition” of the mod, which includes just handmade textures which are designed to fix Morrowind’s ground textures; which were often stretched or squashed out of proportion. This version of the mod doesn’t include the “normalmaps” textures, but aims to improve the graphics of Morrowind more subtly while retaining the original look of the game.
What’s more, the full mod is just 73.1 MB, while the Purist Edition is 37.0 MB. As a result, it doesn’t take up much space, and won’t increase the load on your system by much. Given Morrowind’s age, it should run smoothly on most PCs, even with this mod downloaded. The Game of the Year Edition, which includes all DLC, actually takes up less than 2 GB of total disk space.