Although Morrowind is a fantastic game overall with lots of great features, the graphics of this 2002 game have aged since its initial release. Luckily, The Elder Scrolls games are known for their large modding scene, which can enhance the game with new quests, items, and graphical upgrades.
Many graphics mods have come out over the years, and there is a mod for everything imaginable. Mods that raise the resolution, add new facial textures, and improve the lighting are just a few out of the plethora of different texture mods that you can install and start using in The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind today. Once you have installed all of these mods, Morrowind will look like a whole different game.
Updated on February 19, 2022, by Michael Caruso: Morrowind may be 20 years old, but that doesn't mean it isn't a fantastic experience that every RPG fan deserves to play. There are many mods you can install to improve Morrowind and bring it closer to a modern game, but graphics mods are the most notable since the textures in Morrowind are two decades old. There are five more mods that you should install if you want to explore the best-looking Vvardenfell possible, so here they are, along with where to download them.
15 Seven Graces Shrines Enhanced
The Seven Graces Shrines Enhanced mod improves the textures of the shrines you encounter during the Seven Graces Pilgrimage. Since the Seven Graces Pilgrimage is an important point in Morrowind, the enhancements that this modification adds are subtle but important.
There are more items near each of the shrines as well, improving their appearances further. Additionally, the exterior of Koal Cave now has more objects, so it looks more realistic.
14 Real Signposts
One of the most unique things about Morrowind compared to modern Elder Scrolls games is that it doesn't hold your hand nearly as much. Many adventurers prefer to avoid looking at their map and simply use the signposts to guide them around Vvardenfell.
Unfortunately, the signposts in Morrowind are quite dated, so the Real Signposts mod is perfect for players that enjoy getting lost in the immersion because it makes the names of each city readable. Better Signposts is a small improvement that makes Morrowind feel significantly more real.
13 Animation Compilation
The Animation Compilation mod adds both Dirnae's Running Animations and the Almalexia Casting Animations into Morrowind. Both of these animation modifications add important improvements to primary functions in Morrowind, so it's perfect if you dislike the animations that exist in the base game.
Although the Animation Compilation won't completely change the way you play Morrowind, it will make you appreciate walking around the region way more than before, especially if you play in third-person mode.
12 Better Heads
Many of the character textures in Morrowind leave a lot for players to desire, so you may want to improve the heads of the character models. There are multiple mods you can install for this purpose, but Better Heads is one of the best that you can use.
As the name suggests, Better Heads makes the faces of Vvardenfell's people more refined, which you can complement by adding other mods that improve body and armor textures. If you're tired of static faces without any personality, then Better Heads is the mod for you.
11 Subtle Magic Glow
Magical items in Morrowind have a strange texture surrounding them, and you may even consider it ugly depending on your visual preferences. The Subtle Magic Glow adds multiple options to replace the glow surrounding magical items.
The options include a more subtle glow, a glowing effect that continuously fades, and a glow that's true to the original but transparent. There are lots of magical objects to discover in Morrowind, so Subtle Magic Glow is great if you're playing as a mage.
10 Landscape Retexture
The Landscape Retexture mod is one of the most important mods to download in Morrowind if you want to overhaul the graphics. This mod completely changes the way that the different regions of Vvardenfell look, and it will be hard to recognize the island once you have this mod installed.
Although the landscape of Morrowind already has a nice atmosphere, the Landscape Retexture mod makes it look even more beautiful, and it will make you never want to leave the land of Morrowind.
9 Morrowind Enhanced Textures
Since Morrowind was released two decades ago, the resolution of most of the in-game objects is very low. The Morrowind Enhanced Textures mod raises the resolution by up to 16 times of the base game resolution.
Most of the items, buildings, and general textures in Morrowind will benefit from having this mod installed, and it is one of the best Morrowind mods in general if you care about graphics.
8 Morrowind Graphics Extender
As the name of this mod suggests, the Morrowind Graphics Extender changes the way that Morrowind looks in many ways. It adds reflective water, an HDR feature, an Oblivion-style distant land feature, and a ton of other improvements.
It's difficult to talk about the best graphics mods in Morrowind without mentioning the Morrowind Graphics Extender mod because it simply makes that much of a difference in terms of how Morrowind looks and feels.
7 Morrowind Watercolored
Morrowind Waterecolored is a unique mod, and although it doesn't enhance the textures in the traditional way, it makes everything in the game look better because of the water-color aesthetic. This mod adds a filter that covers every texture in the game.
You will quickly fall in love with the new water-colored appearance of Morrowind if you install this mod, and it is arguably one of the most beautiful Morrowind mods depending on your preference and how you like the game to look.
6 Better Night Sky
The Better Night Sky mod makes the night sky of Morrowind 4K. The difference between the base game and the night sky with this mod installed is immediately obvious, and it is an important mod to have if you enjoy adventuring during the nighttime.
You spend a lot of time looking at the sky during a playthrough of Morrowind, which is why the Better Night Sky mod is essential for players that want to complete a full playthrough of the game.
5 Armors Retexture
There are a lot of mods that retexture the equipment found in Morrowind, and Armors Retexture is one of the best mods of this kind. This mod retextures most of the major armor sets found in the base game, including iron armor, silver armor, dragonscale armor, and many more.
If you want the armor you wear in Morrowind to look better than it does in the base game, then Armors Retexture is one of the best mods for this task.
4 The Facepack Compilation
The Facepack Compilation isn't just a single mod; it's a compilation of some of the best face and hairstyle mods that the modding community of Morrowind has to offer. There isn't too much facial customization in the base game of Morrowind, but this mod pack aims to fix this problem by adding a plethora of new options for you to choose from while customizing your character.
Customization is one of the key aspects of The Elder Scrolls franchise, and The Facepack Compilation mod makes it so that you have tons of different faces and hairstyles to choose from. All of the new face textures look better than the base game's faces and hairstyles.
3 Better Bodies
The Better Bodies mod is exactly what it sounds like, a mod that improves the texture quality of the bodies in Morrowind. This mod improves the bodies of both NPCs and your character, which means that you will notice this mod in action a lot during your playthrough.
Certain outfits look much better with the Better Bodies mod, and it will also be easier to customize your character at the beginning of the game since the character models look so much more detailed. This mod contains adult content in the form of naked bodies.
2 Better Clothes
Better Clothes improves upon the outfits that you can find throughout your adventure in Morrowind. Instead of focusing on armor, this mod focuses on regular clothing such as shirts and pants. There are a lot of different outfits that you can find or buy in Morrowind, which is why the Better Clothes mod is essential if you prefer wearing clothing instead of traditional armor.
One cool thing about the better clothes mod is that there are a lot of other mods that act as add-ons for Better Clothes, and they each add even more retextures of the clothing in Morrowind. An example of these mods is the More Better Clothes mod.
1 Better Water
Morrowind is filled with water since the game takes place on an island; however, the water in the base game is very dated compared to what players are used to in 2022. The Better Water mod fixes this problem completely while still staying true to the overall Morrowind graphical style.
The water looks beautiful with the Better Water mod, and it helps add more atmosphere to Vvardenfell. Looking out onto the water and seeing the sun shining below will become one of your favorite activities in Morrowind once you download this mod.