How to play OpenMW on Mac
| Platforms | Platform, Computer |
Game summary
OpenMW is a free, open source, and modern engine which re-implements and extends the 2002 Gamebryo engine for the open-world role-playing game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Like the Construction Set for the original Morrowind engine, OpenMW comes with its own editor, called OpenMW-CS, which allows the user to edit or create their own mods or original games. Both OpenMW and OpenMW-CS are written from scratch, and aren’t made to support any third party programs that have been added to the original Morrowind engine to improve its functionality.
OpenMW is not a “mod” to Morrowind. It is an entirely different game engine that does not use the original Morrowind.exe in any way.
First released: Jun 2008
Play OpenMW on Mac with Parallels (virtualized)
The easiest way to play OpenMW on a Mac is through Parallels, which allows you to virtualize a Windows machine on Macs. The setup is very easy and it works for Apple Silicon Macs as well as for older Intel-based Macs.
Parallels supports the latest version of DirectX and OpenGL, allowing you to play the latest PC games on any Mac. The latest version of DirectX is up to 20% faster.
Our favorite feature of Parallels Desktop is that when you turn off your virtual machine, all the unused disk space gets returned to your main OS, thus minimizing resource waste (which used to be a problem with virtualization).
OpenMW installation steps for Mac
Step 1
Go to Parallels.com and download the latest version of the software.
Step 2
Follow the installation process and make sure you allow Parallels in your Mac’s security preferences (it will prompt you to do so).
Step 3
When prompted, download and install Windows 10. The download is around 5.7GB. Make sure you give it all the permissions that it asks for.
Step 4
Once Windows is done installing, you are ready to go. All that’s left to do is install OpenMW like you would on any PC.
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