diff --git a/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp b/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
index 6924153090..9d497e8796 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
+++ b/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::setupGraphicsSettings()
// Something's very wrong if we can't find the file at all.
else {
cfgError(tr("Error reading OpenMW configuration file"),
- tr("
Could not find settings-default.cfg
\
+ tr("
Could not find defaults.bin
\
The problem may be due to an incomplete installation of OpenMW.
\
Reinstalling OpenMW may resolve the problem."));
return false;
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::setupGraphicsSettings()
mEngineSettings.loadDefault(defaultPath);
}
catch (std::exception& e) {
- std::string msg = std::string("
Error reading settings-default.cfg
") + e.what();
+ std::string msg = std::string("
Error reading defaults.bin
") + e.what();
cfgError(tr("Error reading OpenMW configuration file"), tr(msg.c_str()));
return false;
}
diff --git a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
index d7c315323d..b52bfc7ef9 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
@@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ std::string OMW::Engine::loadSettings (Settings::Manager & settings)
else if (boost::filesystem::exists(globaldefault))
settings.loadDefault(globaldefault);
else
- throw std::runtime_error ("No default settings file found! Make sure the file \"settings-default.cfg\" was properly installed.");
+ throw std::runtime_error ("No default settings file found! Make sure the file \"defaults.bin\" was properly installed.");
// load user settings if they exist
const std::string settingspath = (mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "settings.cfg").string();
diff --git a/components/settings/parser.cpp b/components/settings/parser.cpp
index 9693bf5117..72ff3aac47 100644
--- a/components/settings/parser.cpp
+++ b/components/settings/parser.cpp
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ void Settings::SettingsFileParser::saveSettingsFile(const std::string& file, con
ostream << "# This is the OpenMW user 'settings.cfg' file. This file only contains" << std::endl;
ostream << "# explicitly changed settings. If you would like to revert a setting" << std::endl;
ostream << "# to its default, simply remove it from this file. For available" << std::endl;
- ostream << "# settings, see the file 'settings-default.cfg' or the documentation at:" << std::endl;
+ ostream << "# settings, see the file 'files/settings-default.cfg' in our source repo or the documentation at:" << std::endl;
ostream << "#" << std::endl;
ostream << "# https://openmw.readthedocs.io/en/master/reference/modding/settings/index.html" << std::endl;
}
diff --git a/components/settings/settings.cpp b/components/settings/settings.cpp
index b29dadcdc8..52dbb6e219 100644
--- a/components/settings/settings.cpp
+++ b/components/settings/settings.cpp
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ std::string Manager::getString(const std::string &setting, const std::string &ca
return it->second;
throw std::runtime_error(std::string("Trying to retrieve a non-existing setting: ") + setting
- + ".\nMake sure the settings-default.cfg file was properly installed.");
+ + ".\nMake sure the defaults.bin file was properly installed.");
}
float Manager::getFloat (const std::string& setting, const std::string& category)
diff --git a/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/index.rst b/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/index.rst
index 220ee88c4b..e9607fd9d1 100644
--- a/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/index.rst
+++ b/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/index.rst
@@ -8,6 +8,14 @@ If you are familiar with ``.ini`` tweaks in Morrowind or the other games, this w
All settings described in this section are changed in ``settings.cfg``, located in your OpenMW user directory.
See :doc:`../paths` for this location.
+When creating a new game based on the OpenMW engine, it may be desirable to change the default settings - the defaults are chosen for compatibility with Morrowind.
+This can be done by editing ``defaults.bin`` in the OpenMW installation directory without rebuilding OpenMW itself.
+If you're using a custom fork of OpenMW, ``files/settings-default.cfg`` in the source repository should be edited instead.
+To edit ``defaults.bin``, base64 decode it, make any changes, and then base64 encode it again.
+
+If you feel a need to edit the default settings for any other reason than when creating a new OpenMW-based game, you should not.
+We may be able to accommodate your desired workflow some other way if you make a feature request.
+
Changing Settings
#################
@@ -25,8 +33,10 @@ Changing Settings
Then to the line above, type ``[GUI]``, as the tooltip delay setting comes from the "GUI Settings" section.
Although this guide attempts to be comprehensive and up to date,
-you will always be able to find the full list of settings available and their default values in ``settings-default.cfg``
-in your main OpenMW installation directory.
+you will always be able to find the full list of settings available and their default values in ``settings-default.cfg``,
+available in the ``files`` directory of our source repo, or by base64 decoding ``defaults.bin`` in your main OpenMW installation directory.
+This has changed compared to previous versions of OpenMW as more users were confused by the existence of a file they weren't supposed to edit
+than were helped by the existence of a file listing settings they could edit in a different file.
The ranges included with each setting are the physically possible ranges, not recommendations.
.. warning::
diff --git a/files/settings-default.cfg b/files/settings-default.cfg
index ea678c70f6..d94c43b015 100644
--- a/files/settings-default.cfg
+++ b/files/settings-default.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-# WARNING: If this file is named settings-default.cfg, then editing
-# this file might have no effect, as these settings may be overwritten
-# by your user settings.cfg file (see documentation for its location).
+# WARNING: If this file is named settings-default.cfg or was generated
+# from defaults.bin, then editing this file might have no effect, as
+# these settings may be overwritten by your user settings.cfg file
+# (see documentation for its location).
#
# This file provides minimal documentation for each setting, and
# ranges of recommended values. For detailed explanations of the