# OpenMW

25 Hacker News commenters recommended OpenMW and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free, open-source engine that plays Morrowind using your original game files, running well with added graphics and Lua scripting; critics say its graphics changes can break immersion.

## Why people recommend it

- Runs well and crashes less (4 comments): "it runs so well and it's so convenient to have all that world with me on the go" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851033)) "It also crashes a hell of a lot less than the official binary." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45849211)) "I can play on my steam deck now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45847832))
- Welcoming, impressive project team (4 comments): "The community is really nice, I have sent a few PRs myself" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45846519)) "Wow, congrats on the significant release, OpenMW team!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45847360)) "I'm hopeful though, it's an amazing project!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45848536))
- Modern graphics, faithful to original (2 comments): "Graphics updates with shaders for improved water and fog (which you can combine with much higher view distance), godrays, HDR" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45847027)) "Really breathing new life into an old game while remaining faithful to the original vision." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45846498))
- Strong Lua scripting support (2 comments): "The Lua integration has grown massively over the last couple of years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45846690)) "supports scripting that exceeds the original engine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49034495))

## What people warn about

- Graphics changes can break immersion (2 comments): "they're making it too sunny and pretty, I liked the drab English weather in the original" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45855108)) "the advanced graphics broke my immersion" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45855173))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [VCMI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vcmi.md): 14 recommend
- [ScummVM](https://hackerapproved.com/p/scummvm.md): 11 recommend
- [fheroes2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fheroes2.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "OpenMW", https://hackerapproved.com/p/openmw/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).