How to Install Mods

How To Use This Page

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Step #6 in the Expanded Vanilla list

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Author:
OpenMW Authors
Description:
Great question. The process is a little different than vanilla Morrowind and will take a little explaining. It will also require you to download a program which can extract different types of file archives such as .zip, .rar, and .7z.
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Mod Installation/Setup Info

Did you find any inaccurate information below? Please let us know by opening an issue on GitLab or joining our Discord!

Usage Notes:

You will need a program which allows you to extract file archives in the .zip, .rar, and .7z formats. 7zip handles all three types. Once that's installed the process for using this mod list to install mods is as follows:

  1. Use the Example Mod Page as a reference if you need an explanation on what each field on a mod detail page contains. A link to this example mod page is included near the Download Link on every mod detail page.
  2. Go through each mod, one at a time.
  3. Use the Download Link to download the mod. Some mods require you to download and extract multiple different files, so check the Data Paths and Usage Notes to see if any further files are required.
  4. Use an archive extractor tool such as 7zip to extract the files to their designated directory provided by the Data Paths on each page.
  5. Most of the directories listed in the Data Paths come directly from each file archive (.zip, .rar, or .7z). Simply extract the archives as stated in the Data Paths section of each mod detail page. Sometimes the file archives only contain loose files. In that case follow the instructions given by the Usage Notes section.
  6. Keep an eye out for any additional instructions you must follow documented in the Usage Notes.
  7. Sometimes a mod's description on Nexus may have different usage information than our usage notes -- please stick with what we advise. This is because many of the mod lists on this website are large and complex and may require different instructions for everything to work together. It is vitally important that you DO NOT enable every plugin from every mod!.
  8. As a general rule, you aren't required to remove folders that aren't included as Data Paths. We will account for this as a part of the mod list Final Steps.
    • If you'd like to test your mod list as you go, click on the Enable For CFG Generator button after you've installed each mod before you move onto the next mod in the list.
    • When you want to test your progress, visit the CFG Generator page to generate a customized cfg that matches your progress. You will need to copy this generated output into your openmw.cfg file located in Documents\My Games\openmw on Windows, $HOME/.config/openmw on Linux, and /Users/Username/Library/Preferences/openmw on MacOS.
  9. Once you are finished with a mod list, you will be taken to its 'Final Steps' page which will instruct you on using the CFG Generator and also the tools you need to run before you can start playing.