OpenMW Game Template

OpenMW Game Template, or simply, the Template, is a set of base assets required for OpenMW to run. These include template.omwgame along with models, textures, fonts, and UI content. The Template can be used as a foundation for a standalone game in OpenMW, without requiring any of the original, copyrighted Morrowind assets. With the exception of Pelagiad.ttf font file, the Template is released as public domain.

Installation

The Template is installed the same way you would install a mod, with general instructions available at How To Install and Use Mods. It can be downloaded from its repository and requires OpenMW 0.47 or later.

After getting the Template, extract its /data folder to somewhere on your disk.

Note

It’s adviseable to not put the Template files in the same folder as your Morrowind files. This is especially valid when you don’t wish to mix the two games and use the Template as a foundation for a standalone game.

Define paths to .omwgame and data files

OpenMW needs to be told where to look for the Template files. This is done in openmw.cfg file where content= tells OpenMW which .omwgame file to use and data= tells OpenMW what folders to look for meshes, textures, audio, and other assets. The required lines would look like this, but with the paths of course different on your system.

content=template.omwgame
data="/home/someuser/example-suite/data"
data="/home/someuser/example-suite"

Remove references to Morrowind files

In case you have Morrowind installed and have run OpenMW’s installation wizard, you need to remove or comment out the following lines from openmw.cfg. Not doing so will either produce errors or load Morrowind content, which you probably do not want when you are making your own game.

fallback-archive=Morrowind.bsa
fallback-archive=Tribunal.bsa
fallback-archive=Bloodmoon.bsa
content=Morrowind.esm
content=Tribunal.esm
content=Bloodmoon.esm
data="/home/someuser/.wine/dosdevices/c:/Morrowind/Data Files"

Define paths to essential models

Certain models, essential to OpenMW, cannot be assigned through OpenMW-CS but are instead assigned through settings.cfg. These models are player and NPC animations, and meshes for the sky. In settings.cfg used by your OpenMW install, add the following lines under the [Models] section.

xbaseanim = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
baseanim = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
xbaseanim1st = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
baseanimkna = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
baseanimkna1st = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
xbaseanimfemale = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
baseanimfemale = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
baseanimfemale1st = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
xargonianswimkna = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
xbaseanimkf = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
xbaseanim1stkf = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
xbaseanimfemalekf = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
xargonianswimknakf = meshes/BasicPlayer.dae
skyatmosphere = meshes/sky_atmosphere.dae
skyclouds = meshes/sky_clouds_01.osgt
skynight01 = meshes/sky_night_01.osgt

As a convenience the Template repository includes a settings.cfg containing these same lines which can be copied and pasted. However, do not use the file to simply overwrite the settings.cfg used by your OpenMW installation.

Copying the UI files

The Template includes a resources/mygui folder. The contents of this folder need to be copied to resources/mygui folder found in your OpenMW installation folder. Overwrite any files aready in this folder. These files provide the UI font, its definition, and some minor UI tweaks.

openmw_box.skin.xml
openmw_button.skin.xml
openmw_font.xml
openmw_windows.skin.xml
Pelagiad.ttf

Run OpenMW Launcher

After completing all the steps, run OpenMW Launcher and make sure template.omwgame is selected in Data Files tab. Then, run the game and enjoy an empty island. It is not empty though! It is full of potential to start making your very own game on the OpenMW engine. Good luck!