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PayPalMorrowind just got even better with the new OpenMW 0.50.0 release, as the free and open source game engine reimplementation has some big fancy new features.
One of the headliners being vastly improved gamepad support, allowing you to play through it properly and interact with the UI. This is going to make it a whole lot nicer to play on handhelds like the Steam Deck. They've also made "foundational steps in dehardcoding combat, further expands our Lua scripting API and, among the host of user interface fix-ups, introduces the highly requested quick item transfer".
This brings a new Controller Menus option in the launcher, which slightly adjusts the in-game UI allowing you to use the "controller action buttons to navigate more conveniently through the slightly altered in-game UI" no longer limiting you to the combination of emulated mouse input.
There's a lot they've improved elsewhere including:
- Better NPC AI pathfinding.
- Improvements to sneaking.
- Settings are now actually saved when you exit the settings, not the game itself.
- Improved graphics compatibility with various modded assets.
- Fixes for normal mapping and parallax mapping graphics issues.
- Some big improvements to scripting for modders, like allowing modders to manipulate the weather.
Source: OpenMW Blog
Be sure to check out our OpenMW Guide for Linux / Steam Deck.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
About the author - Liam Dawe
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
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Speaking as one of the core team, I can't guarantee that we'll manage to keep quite this rapid a release cadence, but the goal is definitely to stick to releases-per-year instead of years-per-release.
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Oh man, does this mean I need to book another day off of work to install mods and then fire up the game? I think so right ... ?
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Caldathras 9 Nov 2025
Not for me. My mods are already installed. All I have to do is upgrade the game and update the config files with my mod list and game settings then I'm ready to go...!
Of course, if you don't maintain a custom mod list like I do, you could always try the automatic install feature at Modding OpenMW.
[https://modding-openmw.com/guides/auto/](https://modding-openmw.com/guides/auto/)
Last edited by Caldathras on 9 Nov 2025 at 4:44 pm UTC
Of course, if you don't maintain a custom mod list like I do, you could always try the automatic install feature at Modding OpenMW.
[https://modding-openmw.com/guides/auto/](https://modding-openmw.com/guides/auto/)
Last edited by Caldathras on 9 Nov 2025 at 4:44 pm UTC
2 Likes
I've never used an auto install mod list for openmw before but now I DEFINITELY want to try it. Might even give it a go later this week! Exciting! Thank you for the link.
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hardpenguin 12 Nov 2025
OpenMW my beloved
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Caldathras a day ago
Not for me. My mods are already installed. All I have to do is upgrade the game and update the config files with my mod list and game settings then I'm ready to go...!I guess I spoke too soon. The OpenMW 0.49.0 generic installer works beautifully in Mint 21.3 but the OpenMW 0.50.0 installer throws a "version `GLIBC_2.38' not found" error and fails. So much for the OpenMW team's claim that they provide a universal/generic installer that works for any distro.
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I guess I spoke too soon. The OpenMW 0.49.0 generic installer works beautifully in Mint 21.3 but the OpenMW 0.50.0 installer throws a "version `GLIBC_2.38' not found" error and fails. So much for the OpenMW team's claim that they provide a universal/generic installer that works for any distro.Now that Mint 22 has been out for a year and four months with 22.3 coming out in December, is there a reason you don't want to upgrade? I know 21.3 still gets security updates for a long time, but is there something specific holding you back?
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Caldathras 3 hours ago
Quoting: tuubiNow that Mint 22 has been out for a year and four months with 22.3 coming out in December, is there a reason you don't want to upgrade? I know 21.3 still gets security updates for a long time, but is there something specific holding you back?Time & stability, I guess? Upgrading to Mint 22 requires Internet access. It might seem surprising to you, but I only have computer access to the Internet one or two evenings a week. No access at home. I have to prioritize my needs based on that. If it ain't broke, I don't fix it.
Presently, Mint 21.3 is configured exactly the way I like it on my gaming laptop. Time spent on reconfiguring Mint to my satisfaction after upgrading is time I cannot spend gaming.
Don't get me wrong. I want to upgrade to Mint 22 but I got burned on my first attempt. Mint 22.0 had too many issues that I wasn't happy with and I chose to roll back to Mint 21.3. I plan to try the upgrade process again, after I have completed transitioning my daily driver laptop to Mint 22. I figure that the experience of upgrading my daily driver, along with the improvements of two point releases, will help me work out most of the kinks that dissatisfied me during that first attempt.
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It might seem surprising to you, but I only have computer access to the Internet one or two evenings a week. No access at home. I have to prioritize my needs based on that. If it ain't broke, I don't fix it.Sounds like a perfectly valid reason. Not that you need one. I was simply curious.
Hopefully you'll find time to do it before Mint 23 comes out in half a year or so.
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