Helping with Scripting for Beginners

[mentaltyranny]

Hi everyone!

 

As I am am sure all of you who have answered my posts are aware by now, I am building to test a magic pack for STEP.  The backbone of the pack is Mighty Magic Skyrim, CACO, and ICoW.  I got everything pretty much good for my test play through as I can through xEdit, but I think that I am going to have to edit a few scripts in order to iron out some implicit incompatibilities.  Does anybody have any advice on a 3rd party scripting tool or am I stuck with CK?  Any websites or resources regarding scripting would be great too!

 

Thanks everyone!

Edited August 2, 2018 by mentaltyranny

[TechAngel85]

The community is your best resource for questions you can't answer. The CK website has lots of reference info. You can set up notepad++ to handle all your papyrus scripting. Papyrus isn't too difficult to catch into.

[mentaltyranny]

The community is your best resource for questions you can't answer. The CK website has lots of reference info. You can set up notepad++ to handle all your papyrus scripting. Papyrus isn't too difficult to catch into.

Thanks Tech!  I was looking up third party script compilers on nexus and saw PapyrusCompilerPlus and Skyrim Script Editor Pro.  Is there any value to using either of these or some other third-party tool over CK?  

[mentaltyranny]

Oh... I think I see what you mean!  Are you talking about setting up Notepad++ like Darkfox127 describes in his youtube video titled "Creation Kit Tutorial (Notepad++ Scripting)"?  But I don't see anything in the video regarding MO, so I am a little concerned it working with a STEP setup...

Edited August 2, 2018 by mentaltyranny

[TechAngel85]

Thanks Tech! I was looking up third party script compilers on nexus and saw PapyrusCompilerPlus and Skyrim Script Editor Pro. Is there any value to using either of these or some other third-party tool over CK?

The only "value" I can think of is not having to open up the CK. In the end, they're all going to be similar. A few of the editors do have syntax highlighting. Personally, I just use Notepad++, but I'm simple like that.

[Mator]

PapyrusCompiler.exe is what will ultimately be compiling your scripts in most situations.

 

Notepad++ is a good option, but those other options are probably decent as well.

 

MO doesn't have any impact on script authoring.  If you want to access scripts/sources as if they're in your data folder you will of course have to run your script editor/compiler through MO, but that's just standard for any program that you want to have accessing mod files managed by MO.

[TechAngel85]

Oh yeah! I forgot about the source scripts. If you're going to be scripting you are going to want to extract those scripts, as Mator mentioned, and add the path to the editor.ini. It's perfectly okay to just leave them in the data folder so all programs can see them.

 

But it sounds like you're just wanting to edit a few scripts in the mods. First, you're going to need permission from the authors if you're planning to provide these edited scripts to users. Second, you'll need the script's source files. These can be obtained from the nexus pages, the mods themselves, or by asking the authors. If you can't get the source, you'll need a decompiler. There is a good one on Nexus called, Champollion Decompiler. Last, you'll need an editor and some patients...depending on how quickly you pick up on Papyrus. I do recommend an editor with syntax highlighting, though. The visual makes a difference. The setup for Notepad++ is here: https://ck.uesp.net/wiki/index.php?title=Notepad%2B%2B_Setup

[mentaltyranny]

Oh yeah! I forgot about the source scripts. If you're going to be scripting you are going to want to extract those scripts, as Mator mentioned, and add the path to the editor.ini. It's perfectly okay to just leave them in the data folder so all programs can see them.

 

But it sounds like you're just wanting to edit a few scripts in the mods. First, you're going to need permission from the authors if you're planning to provide these edited scripts to users. Second, you'll need the script's source files. These can be obtained from the nexus pages, the mods themselves, or by asking the authors. If you can't get the source, you'll need a decompiler. There is a good one on Nexus called, Champollion Decompiler. Last, you'll need an editor and some patients...depending on how quickly you pick up on Papyrus. I do recommend an editor with syntax highlighting, though. The visual makes a difference. The setup for Notepad++ is here: https://ck.uesp.net/wiki/index.php?title=Notepad%2B%2B_Setup

Okay, I will try to setup Notepad++ as you have linked.  I will respond back if I have any troubles.  Ironically, I already found and tried Champolion to get the source for its scripts; I needed it so evaluate the consequences of the couple scripts in STEP it overwrites.  I will reach out to DamarStiehl to get his permission regarding making MMSk consistent and balanced with ICoW... is he on the STEP forums. I also already got the vanilla Skyrim source scripts as well, I extracted scripts.rar in the Skyrim/Data folder, but I have added anything to editor.ini.  However, I did check the suggested CK edits in BethINI, so it might be done already...

 

 

PapyrusCompiler.exe is what will ultimately be compiling your scripts in most situations.

 

Notepad++ is a good option, but those other options are probably decent as well.

 

MO doesn't have any impact on script authoring.  If you want to access scripts/sources as if they're in your data folder you will of course have to run your script editor/compiler through MO, but that's just standard for any program that you want to have accessing mod files managed by MO.

Thanks Mator, I will try Notepad++ since both you and Tech recommend it.  Its funny because I understand logical expressions real well, so I generally can figure out already written scripts.  The problem is attempting anything new or figuring out what can't be logically derived. Like I can't figure out what the 0.000000s mean in this line of code:

 

Int iButton = [Message].Show(0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000)

Edited August 3, 2018 by mentaltyranny

[mentaltyranny]

Hey I installed Notepad++ x64 and then Papyrus++ from Nexus.  Basically, I started following Darkfox127's youtube page before your replies, so I just finished it.  Fortunately, I got it to work, having script highlighting, autocomplete, and access to the compiler through Notepad++.  However, it being the 64-bit version, I can't run it through MO.  Is there an argument I can start Notepad++ x64 in MO in 32-bit mode?  Also, googling this issue has lead me to wonder if I need the Papyrus Compiler Patch for x64 Systems as well, but has not answered my question regarding argument to start Notepad++ in 32 bit.

 

The way things look now, I am hoping to benefit from you guy's experience.  Should I work with what I have, and just pull any new compiled scripts out of the vanilla skyrim folder and place them in the appropriate mod folder in MO manually?  Or should I my entire Notepad++ installation in 32 bit mode following your instructions instead of Darkfox127's?  If my current setup is doomed to failure, I would prefer to fix it now than wondering if it is just my scripting...

[mentaltyranny]

OK, already kinda figured out that I need to run Notepad++ through MO... it through up a bunch of errors when I tried to compile outside the vanilla skyrim folder!  Can someone please tell me if there is an argument or if I need to reinstall Notepad++ in x86?  I could use some advice regarding the Papyrus Compiler Patch for x64 Systems, and whether it is necessary to compile through MO still?  Thanks everyone!

Edited August 4, 2018 by mentaltyranny

[Greg]

Have you tried using Mod Organizer 2? This one supports both x64 and x86 executables.

[mentaltyranny]

Have you tried using Mod Organizer 2? This one supports both x64 and x86 executables.

I was avoiding it because MO2 doesn't manage archives like MO.  Literally, that's the only reason...

[mentaltyranny]

Hey everyone, I am a little over my head... Tech, to be honest, that setup guide you sent me in the CK wiki is very difficult to follow as is... the video was hard for me to follow physically (I'm disabled), but I could understand it.  Could someone please give me an idea of how to set this up through MO? In the meantime I am going to try "editing externally" through CK, and if that doesn't work, reinstalling Notepad ++ and Papyrus ++ in x86 and use the Papyrus Compiler Patch for x64 Systems... wish me luck!

[mentaltyranny]

Okay guys... please help! I haven't reinstalled notepad++ as x86 yet...

 

However, I am now having another problem.  I loaded the creation kit through MO as usual, but when I went to view a scripts properties from a mod in a spell record, it errs… This does not happen for mods that packed their assets loosely, only mods that use the BSA.  What strange is that I have the corresponding ESP file loaded and set as the active file in the creation kit, so I assume it should be loading the BSA.  Do I have to add every BSA into Skyrimeditor.ini manually?  If so, this seems especially weird, because you do not need to do that with Skyrim itself… well at least when loaded through MO.

 

I'm having so many problems, and I don't even know where to begin fixing them.  Google seems to have many answers, but most are contrary and older than the current generation of tools.  The funny party is that I think I have the edits I want to the scripts down, I just need to successfully compile them and get them into the appropriate mod folders…

 

Any advice is appreciated…

[soupdragon]

 

Do I have to add every BSA into Skyrimeditor.ini manually?  If so, this seems especially weird, because you do not need to do that with Skyrim itself… well at least when loaded through MO.

Skyrim has its scripts available as loose files in a folder. Basicaly you've got two choices with the mod. Either extract the scripts from the BSA (recommend Bethesda Archive Extractor (BAE)) or add the mod to the skyrimeditor.ini archive list (even then you'll still have to extract the script source files from the BSA or trying to compile a script without a loose source available would crash/freeze the CK, or at least it used to)

 

Suggest you extract both compiled scripts (.pex) and source files (.psc) from the BSA.

[cryosaur]

Its funny because I understand logical expressions real well, so I generally can figure out already written scripts.  The problem is attempting anything new or figuring out what can't be logically derived. Like I can't figure out what the 0.000000s mean in this line of code:

 

Int iButton = [Message].Show(0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000)

This looks like decompiled code. If you look for the Message.Show function on the CK Papyrus scripting reference (creationkit.com > Skyrim > Scripting Reference), you'll see that all those arguments are 0.0 by default.  The default values seem to be auto-inserted during compilation, and so show up as explicit values if you decompile the script.  Also, the numbers look weird because the decompiler writes float values at full precision, not truncating the extra zeros to the right of the decimal.  So.  This line of code could be rewritten as: int iButton = [Message object].Show()

 

I have used Notepad++ to edit Papyrus scripts with much success, but never launching it from inside Mod Organizer so I can't help with issues stemming from that.  Hmm...  I was going to assist you by attaching my own npp helpers but I see that the state of the art on CK.com has greatly improved while I've slept.