Keening - Chapter 1 - Keening City
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Mods like this will always make me morbidly curious. I only found out about this last night and decided to try it out. Unlike most mods of a similar sort that seem to always conflict with newer, superior mods, this too has clearly had loads of effort poured into it yet is reliant on outdated mods which basically makes it unplayable as-is.
"I hope it gives a unique experience while still meshing with your regular Morrowind experience."
The problem is, it can't mesh. This mod is reminiscent of the 00s days with lots of goth work and higher fantasy elements. I could honestly tolerate that in my own build, but all the added NPCs in Vvardenfell with missing faces will be an eyesore. I tried, I really tried but at this point I think it'd be far easier and faster to just edit them manually to use something else. Furthermore, many of these Vvardenfell additions make 'Keening' clash with building overhauls I consider must-have. For the vanilla+ crowd, it's too huge of a deviation to the world.
At a juncture like this when trying out a mod from curiosity, I have to ask if it's worth doing the work myself to force it to work. I'm just not that curious and it's genuinely a real shame with the work that was put in. If this mod weren't as persistent about doing things its own way, I'd probably keep it installed.
EDIT - Never let it be said that I do not try my hardest to give mods a fair shake! I decided to keep bashing my head into the wall getting this to work properly and discovered I had a mod conflicting with MCA 7.0. Everything is now working properly for me and I've hashed out most of the incompatibilities save for the ones in Solstheim since I use STOTSP and I'm just not ready for that headache. However, I likely will tackle this.
As stated above, the mod is definitely of the 00s flavor and there are OP items/exploits aplenty. Simply removing the preview portal in Vivec goes a long way in remedying this as it takes some questing through tough opponents to reach the city of Keening. Watcher NPCs around Vvardenfell were excessive and I personally trimmed them down as well. I know the mod exists - I installed it. Not every town needs a reminder.
There are flaws aplenty, but there's something about the atmosphere and the unique variety of fauna on the island that's been warming on me. This definitely does not "mesh" but it's not comically jarring like Emba-5 or even The Underground 2. When you enter Keening, you know you're playing modded content. However, there's enough meat on the bones here to make it worth checking out.
Did creator suddenly just gave up on it?
(Moreover, even Westly's Master Head Pack X != Westly Master Head Pack X plus Original Faces Compilation (fanmade) != Westly's Pluginless Head Replacer Complete != many others based off Westly's! Don't get confused. They are all different beings despite the similar namesake.)
EDIT: fixed from memory error
*Edit: I also tried this one because it's advertised as the original Westly Master Head Pack X plus Original Faces Compilation at Morrowind Nexus - mods and community (nexusmods.com) but it still didn't work, missing heads...
Links from here, it should redirect to Internet Archive. I guess the Westly's Master Head Pack X is what you need. (I could be wrong.)
I was mistaking Westly's Pluginless (Head) (and Hair) Replacer Complete as fanmade from my vague memory, it's identical to the so-called Westly's Pluginless Head and Hair Replacer. Fixed the previous post, sorry about that. Was meant for Westly Master Head Pack X plus Original Faces Compilation (fanmade), against to original Westly Master Head Pack X.
RE: *Edit about Westly Master Head Pack X plus Original Faces Compilation at Morrowind Nexus - mods and community (nexusmods.com) - Because it's not the original, it's a 3rd-party mixture. "Original Faces" is literally another mod's name.
Well, the key is the plugin(.esp), different mods(.esp) may point data in your actual game to different resources in the TESCS, even they 'use' the same resource files. That's why you should try the original. (And of course, it may 'break' your savegame. Swapping esp means risky.)
Besides, from the download pages:
(372.8MB) https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/47605?tab=files
(75.97 MB) https://web.archive.org/web/20161103113757/http://mw.modhistory.com/download-42-12454
I don't use them(.esp). You sure all their files are the same? (Even so, the esp could point some data to Original Faces stuff, that's why they are there.)
2. If you really want to deal with your savegame: unable the esp, load the save (plenty of errors will likely occur), save again (it's called making a Clean save), exit game, (you can Repair All now if you're using Wrye Mash), enable the original esp, load the game, see what will happen.
3. Try you luck on any mod depending on the original Westly's Master Head Pack X, such as Keening.
Also, load order matters. But its could be another long subject. Make sure your Keening load after its dependencies (e.g. Westly's).
Also, Morrowind Come Alive loaded correctly? The document says MCA depends on Westly's, thta's why Keening needs Westly's. It means Keening cannot work without MCA+Westly', right?
You double-click and execute the program, load all the plugins needed, then check the races->heads/body parts/actual files, make sure they are all in place. (I overly simplified the processes here.)
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I would first make sure every step in this Keening installation page kicks in:
http://www.automatichamster.com/keening/downloads.shtml
This will make sure no human error occurs during the installation, and easier to troubleshoot where things go wrong.
Firstly, it says BSA files need to be registered in Morrowind.ini as well, don't forget that.
Install all the requirements. That includes MCA 7.0 , Westly's Master Head Pack X (apparently must be original), and Better Bodies.
(You can also see in the credits page it was indeed the Westly's Master Head Pack X: http://www.automatichamster.com/keening/credits.shtml)
But most interestingly, it says the head pack (esp) need not to be activated, only resource files needed, which means even Westly Master Head Pack X plus Original Faces Compilation can work in this fashion if they include identical meshes and textures? And at this point you don't really need to check out what is in the ESP or TESCS, Eureka?!
Maybe the issue was caused by the BSA or the MCA?
(but if Keening uses MW default paths AND any other esp forces that altered, it may become an issue when you use both(i.e. incompatible). Load order could determine who wins.)
Maybe the changes from MCA 7.0 to 8.2 too much?
Here's what I did:
1) Download Morrowind Modding History (archive.org) and install Keening. Follow directions here: Elder Scrolls III Keening Expansion - Downloads (automatichamster.com) (Install keening and clothiers and edit bsa's in morrowind.ini and run settings importer for OpenMW).
2) Download Morrowind Modding History (archive.org) copy all mesh/textures to data files but NOT esp. Do not copy or enable esp!
3) Download Morrowind Comes Alive at Morrowind Nexus - mods and community (nexusmods.com) version 7. I tried 8.2 but didn't work (I may have forgot to copy some mesh/textures from 8.2 on my first install, but version 7 has a ton more mesh/textures than any of the other versions anyway). Idk if 7.1, 8.0, or 8.1 work, didn't try those. So use version 7 for now. Experiment with the others if you want to see which work but 7 works for sure. Maybe we need to install version 7 first to get ALL the mesh/textures and only then install later versions on top of it? Post your results here for the rest of the community...
Freakuac, thanks a lot my guy!
I did save a few compilation maps of collected mods from the internet, just in case I wanna play those mods one day, but they are mostly outdated or not accurate due to versions of mods (&TR).
Why not upload a screenshot or two maybe someone with the knowledge will help.
Island on left is Keening Clothiers, on right is LL: https://ibb.co/stfMWsy
Head on picture of Keening clothiers: https://ibb.co/vzyz9Zr
Another head on picture of Keening clothiers: https://ibb.co/V30rMTf
My load order has LL after Keening. If I flip them then LL becomes an invisible island of floating rocks. With LL after, its island is intact, but Keening clothiers island has a moderate issue as you can see here #DarkElfGuy. But on its island you can still enter all of the doors, none of the buildings are touched, just that side of the landscape.
*It is important to note that LL must be loaded after Tel Nechim, otherwise the Dwemer Ruin of Gharnhunch will also turn LL into an invisible Island. Also, load Havish after Tel Nechim. With this load order any land conflicts may be noticeable but minor and still playable. The worst conflict is the one seen above concerning the Keening clothiers Island.
http://www.automatichamster.com/keening/downloads.shtml
*EDIT: Downloaded it from Morrowind Modding History (archive.org)
the file is available here... but the file is Broken! 204mb only from 442 -_-
Good file maybe here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220628160516/https://mw.modhistory.com/download-48-14528