Talk:Mod status

The "how to read this" section
I've only heard it from a few places and experienced it a couple times in person, but isn't a "how to read this [manual|guide|page|book]" section generally a turn-off for most readers? Often things that have it are implied to be really hard to read, and on the other side there are those few who just consider it insulting. Since that part is really just the icon key, it might be a good idea to rename it. Also, might sneak it in at the very top of the page, so someone just skimming and skipping to the thing they want on the page (mod list) can catch it. Maybe also an unobtrusive link to it from each place that uses it. (If you're confused as to why I didn't just make these changes, it seemed disrespectful to Atahualpa after all the changes they made.) --Nivim (talk) 21:02, 10 November 2016 (CET)
 * This help material is now in a "Status Indicators" section, so this seems to be resolved. —&thinsp;Darklocq ☎ ¢ 17:00, 22 June 2017 (CEST)

Extensive "stress-testing" under way
Please see User:Darklocq/Mod testing notes for a large (and growing) number of detailed notes on the results of mod testing. These are not tests done in the prescribed one-mod-at-time manner, but are from live gameplay with nearly the max number of mods loaded.

The mods listed as working or mostly working are a) good candidates to add to the Mod status page, and b) good candidates for debugging with regard to what is not working perfectly with some of them. Those marked as not working or mostly not working will need the "official" one-mod-at-a-time testing method to ensure that the problems I've identified with them are not due to conflicts between mods. I do not have the time or patience to run endless tests of "vanilla plus one and only one mod" with throw-away characters. But the work I'm doing should still be a very useful form of triage of the thousands of mods out here, for those who are doing one-at-a-time testing (presumably in VMs or some other convenient way that doesn't mess up your real game?).

My list will eventually hit at least 300 mods if I continue to have time to keep adding entries.

I've also included troubleshooting sections on using mods in OpenMW, and on companions in particular, which may be better as actual articles here or merged into existing ones.

—&thinsp;Darklocq ☎ ¢ 17:00, 22 June 2017 (CEST)

Fake-bumpmapping cleanup tutorial
The article says "Our member lysol has made some efforts to create a tutorial on how to get rid of these shiny textures in OpenMW. Once it is available, you'll find a link here." I'm pretty sure this is available, because I recall reading it, but I do not presently know where it is or how I found it (probably by a mention in the forum), so hopefully someone else can update this passage and provide the link. User:lysol is not an account on the wiki, or I'd've just pinged lysol to update this section. —&thinsp;Darklocq ☎ ¢ 17:00, 22 June 2017 (CEST)


 * Never mind; I found it, and have updated the page with a link to the tutorial. —&thinsp;Darklocq ☎ ¢ 00:54, 24 June 2017 (CEST)

Split up "List of Catalogued Mods" by mod type?
The "List of Catalogued Mods" is getting pretty long: 229 mods by my count. Should we split these up by type? Off the top of my head:
 * Official (for the Bethesda mods, because I think it's good to show front and center that we support all of them)
 * Fixes (e.g. Morrowind Patch Project, Soulstheim Rumour Fix, Redoran Door Fix)
 * Graphics (e.g. Better Bodies, Better Dialogue Font)
 * Sound and Voice (e.g. Almalexia Voice Addon, Morrowind Acoustic Overhaul)
 * User Interface (e.g. Dark Interface)
 * Game Mechanics (e.g Fair Magicka Regen, Compass)
 * Additional Content (e.g. Less Generic NPCs, Welcome to the Arena, Children of Morrowind)

I think this would make it easier to find mods that people would be interested in, and would make going through the mods more manageable. -Thunderforge (talk) 04:13, 27 June 2017 (CEST)


 * Agreed, though there are multiple ways to categorize these things. See my User:Darklocq/Mod testing notes page (which has a lot of mods the Mod status page does not, though tested less formally) for a more detailed categorization system, which could be expanded still; I'm only getting started. In particular, "Additional Content" is too general; people who are companion sluts like I am may have no interest at all in new landmasses, while others only want new quests, or new baddies, or whatever. So, at least some subcategorization is warranted, which is what I've been doing.  That said, my own organization scheme could use some meta-organization, such as grouping the categories that are additional content under that label.  Maybe I'll do that today.


 * One issue with the Mod Status page is the collapsed nature of it, which makes it nearly useless. I used a  trick to produce a fully-expanded version (accessible from link at top right of the Mod Status page), but I'm thinking expanded lists should be the default.  Having them collapsed saves no bandwidth at all (the content is still all sent) and just makes it hard to find anything.


 * A potential way to approach all of this is to split the page up into several (perhaps along your lines above), and then also have a combined page that transcludes them into a master list. It will load a bit slowly, but will be useful as a way to checklist one's own potential mod list.


 * Another thing to consider is that while my own mod list is from live playtesting with piles of mods at once and isn't following the Mod Testing Guidelines, those are not actually needed when a mod does work with other mods loaded; it's only needed when something goes wrong and the problem has to be isolated. Thus, my list can be used to expand the Mod Status list with known-working mods even though I have not been doing one-mod-at-a-time testing.  I also don't need it to be "my" list. It could be a mainspace page with signed reviews/playtesting by any contributor.  I.e., we may have a place for comprehensive reviews of mods with OpenMW, separately from a list of mods that work/don't work at all.

—&thinsp;Darklocq ☎ ¢ 17:49, 29 June 2017 (CEST)
 * PS: I've also tried to be careful about separating out mods with "racy" content, since they're not always obvious. Kid-friendliness is arguably important (though this game is a bit on the violent side, and whoTF at Bethesda thought it was a good idea to call a scroll "Mana Rape"?).


 * You have a good point that "Additional Content" is too broad, and I like your categories you have on your testing page. I agree that the collapsed page is pretty useless as is, and I would be in favor of separating these mods into individual pages, with one transcluded page with everything. That way it's easy to see the types of mods on is interested in, or all of them if they want to.


 * I also agree with separating out the "racy" content mods. The ESRB rated Morrowind T (Teen) for "Blood, Violence" and PEGI rated it 12 for "Violence". I think that most users would expect mods to keep the same level of potentially objectionable content that the base game has, or want to know going in that a particular mod will change that.


 * I've created User:Thunderforge/List of User Interface Mods as an example of what this separation might look like. I'm not sure how to deal with the status indicators since they take up so much space. -Thunderforge (talk) 06:35, 30 June 2017 (CEST)