From tweaktown I think.

Morrowind.ini Tweaking
Many of Morrowinds "hidden" settings are in the Morrowind.ini file found in the \Morrowind
directory. This file can be opened and edited with the simple windows text editing utility Notepad.
However before doing any editing of this file ma!e a copy and call it something li!e
Morrowind."eal#N#.
Here are some Morrowind.ini settings # have experimented with. # would recommend ma!ing the
changes one at a time saving and chec!ing the results in Morrowind. # personally only ended up
!eeping the altered $ellbuffer and Max%&' settings and havent implemented the rest of these
changes permanently(
Max %&')*++ this setting determines the maximum frames per second you can see in
Morrowind. ,n first impression you-d thin! this setting would be best at its default ./+ or even
higher so that there-s no cap on your framerate. However ideally you should set max fps lower
0e.g. at your monitor-s maximum refresh rate or a moderate figure li!e 1+2 to maintain smoother
graphics. The higher the max fps the more "3er!iness" and "stuttering" you may experience as
your framerate fluctuates a lot more.
'how%&')* will show your frames per second in the lower right hand corner during the game
'creen 'hot 4nable)* will allow you to ta!e in5game screenshots by pressing the &rint 'creen
!ey. The screenshot will be placed in the Morrowind directory.
'creen 'hot 6ase Name)'creen'hot changing this name will change the name of the
screenshot file
'creen 'hot #ndex)+ this is the number of screenshots youve already ta!en and the number
thatll be added to the name of the next screenshot.
7ontThread8oad)* will get rid of some of the smaller loading delays in the game. 9ou-ll get
longer loading delays but they-ll happen less often.
#nterior $ell 6uffer)1/
4xterior $ell 6uffer)*.:
;ith <*.M6 of "=M # raised these buffer values from their original settings of *+ and >.
respectively. #ve also tried higher values but it seems with my memory these settings wor! best
in smoothing out fps. #f you have less memory try lower values of around >. and 1/ respectively.
?se8inear)+ will switch off 8inear and in place of it you can(
?se@uadratic)* to switch the light method. This may improve fps however the change in lighting
may not be to your taste.
Number of 'hadows)1 change this number 0only wor!s if you have "eal Time 'hadows on2
Maximum 'hadows &er ,b3ect)* can also be altered to taste
'urface%&').< this value 0if &ixel 'haders are ,N2 can be altered to get a balance between
visual AualityBperformance
There are many other settings which can be played around with and you can experiment if you
li!e however there are no "magic" settings which will suddenly increase your fps or smooth the
game out dramatically. "ead > below to understand why Morrowind runs slowly on most
machines.
.. Morrowind $onsole $ommands
9ou can bring up the Morrowind $onsole C and close it again 5 by pressing the D !ey 0top left
corner below 4'$2. # dont !now much about the Morrowind console commands but apparently a
full list of them is available in the T4' $onstruction 'et Help file.
The main commands though of most use in fixing common problems in the game are(
%ixme C ?se this command when your character gets stuc! in scenery. #t should put you
somewhere safe nearby where youll be free to move again.
T$8 C This toggles clipping offBon. ;ith clipping off you can wal! through walls etc. using this. #t
can be dangerous to use as N&$s may fall through floors etc. However if you have tried
everything and theres something bloc!ing a closed door and it wont open or something similar
give it a shot. Eust ma!e a save before you do it though in case weird things happen afterwards.
=nd of course ma!e sure you type in T$8 again to turn it bac! on straight away once youre done.
"= C "esets =ctors 0N&$s2 to their original positions. This can help with N&$s who end up
standing in doorways or whove fallen offBthrough buildings etc.
=s a side5note if you do have a non5vital character or animal 0such as a rat2 behind a door and it
wont open and youve tried the "= command above without success then try shooting arrows or
using spells to !ill it as these sometimes go "through" the door.
Optimising Morrowind Settings
5 "esolution
The resolution in Morrowind doesn-t play a ma3or part in performance. # compared the three
resolutions from *+./xF1: to *1++x*.++ and performance was almost identical in my case. #n
particular any resolution from *+./xF1: upwards shows almost no difference in framerates so
choose a higher resolution 0if your monitor supports it2 to achieve a smoother picture 5 instead of
running =nti5aliasing 0%'==2 for example which will show a small performance hit. NGNews
recently did a H6enchmar!I of Morrowind at different resolutions and came up with the same
conclusion.
5 "eal Time 'hadows
"eal Time 'hadows are only cast by people and creatures. Turn off "eal Time 'hadows
completely 0slide to full left2 for a noticeable performance improvement. Most of the time they-re
cast badly and sometimes you can see shadows of people or creatures a level above you through
the floor which can be a bit of a HcheatI. #n any case turn them off and you-ll still have all the
lighting effects such as torchlight on people light shining on your blade and armour etc.
5 Giew 7istance
The Giew 7istance determines how far you can see. The lower the setting the more "fog" you
wal! around in on a sunny day. Jeep the Giew 7istance at a reasonable length. However you will
get a noticeable decrease in fps if you set it above :+K and any lower than around <+K and
you-re wandering around in fog all the time. # have mine at :+K and # would recommend it as a
good balance of realistic viewing and performance.
Giew 7istance +K
Giew 7istance <+K
Giew 7istance *++K
5 Lamma $orrection
Jeep the Lamma $orrection low to avoid that washed out loo!. Halfway or 3ust a bit below is
best. =lso set your monitor-s $ontrast to *++K and reduce your monitors brightness 0on mine
around F+2 for crisper pictures without blasting your eyes. The right brightness and contrast really
brings out the colours in Morrowind.
%or nGidia based graphics card owners who have the newer Nvidia 7etonators installed go to
$ontrol &anelM7isplayM'ettingsM=dvancedM$olor $orrection and set 7igital Gibrance to 8ow or
Medium to dramatically improve in5game and des!top colours. Then tic! =utomatically =pply
These 'ettings =t 'tartup.
5 =# 7istance
'et the =# distance lower for better fps without any impact on image Auality. Mine is set at <+K
but you can lower this if you need the extra fps. Try to !eep it above .<K for some realism.
5 &ixel 'haders 0Le%orce> and above but not Le%orce/ MN2
#f you have a Le%orce> or above turn &ixel 'haders on for spectacular water effects. This is
done by double clic!ing the Morrowind icon and in the initial launcher menu selecting ,ptions. #f
the option for &ixel 'hading is grayed out then your graphics card doesnt support this feature as
its a hardware5based feature theres no Hsoftware hac!I to enable it.