The Elder Scrolls Construction Set

The Elder Scrolls Construction Set is the tool used to make mods for Elder Scrolls games. This Wiki is devoted to the modding of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

The Construction Set is essentially the tool used by the developers of Oblivion to create the world. While artistic assets (three dimensional models, two dimensional textures, sound files, cut scene movie files, etc) must be created with other utilities, it is the Construction Set that places these in the world, ties them together in quests and factions, and allows users to create a truly impressive world.

The Construction Set defines the stats for all objects, races, characters, and monsters. It is where quests are written and scripts are coded.

The Construction Set v1.2

Installer (7.0 MB)
Patcher (3.2 MB)
Release Notes

The latest version of the Construction Set is v1.2. This was released after the Shivering Isles expansion, and allows the modification of the Shivering Isles as well as mods made using the v1.2 editor. It also introduces a few new features, such as merging mods, a special spell effect, and a handful of new script functions.

There are also a few bugs introduced in version 1.2. Most notably, the utility which created the lip synch files for voiced dialogue is broken. It will not work. For more information on bugs introduced by the editor version 1.2, see this thread on the ESF.

In addition, anyone who has not fully patched their game to the latest version will not be able to use mods created with the Construction Set v1.2. However, if the mod doesn't use any of the CSv1.2 functions, you can use Wrye Bash or TES4Gecko to return the mod's version to 0.8, which will allow those with older Oblivion patches to play the mod.

The Construction Set v1.0

Installer (6.3 MB)

The original Construction Set released to the public. Useful for creating mods that do not require the latest patch, and absolutely necessary for creating the lip synch files that go with voiced dialogue. To use both Construction Sets (i.e. to create a mod that uses SI features but has lip synching), these instructions by Kivan on the Official Forums may prove helpful:

1. You should have the new CS open already with your line of dialog open that you need to generate LIP for.
2. Launch the old TESConstructionSet1.exe or whatever you named it to. Note that Help->About will still show the installed version as 1.2.404 because this version number is coming from elsewhere. You can have more than one Construction Set open at once by editing My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\ConstructionSet.ini and setting bAllowMultipleEditors=1
3. Go under File->Data and select Oblivion.esm and load it.
4. Go into Dialog and find any line of dialog and open it by double-clicking.
5. Note the Voice Filename. Although it's greyed-out, it can be copied. Highlight, copy with Ctrl-C.
6. Find your WAV file (should be 44.1kHz/16kbps/Mono) and rename it (click it, press F2, select existing name except for .WAV and paste the copied name overtop, press Enter... make sure it still keeps the .WAV extension.)
7. Below the Voice Filename is a list of all races/genders that have this line of dialog. Note the Path in the first one.
8. Move the WAV file into this path. You may have to create folders if you haven't done this before. Default dialog is in Oblivion\Data\Sound\Voice\Oblivion.esm\ and then the subfolders for the races and genders. So for example, if you have no Sound folder in Data and you want to use a male Nord existing dialog, you will have to create the following folders inside each other starting at your Data folder: Sound->Voice->Oblivion.esm->Nord->M and then place your WAV file in the M folder.
9. Edit the Response Text to be what the dialog in the WAV file actually is (it needs this to be the same to lipsynch it properly.)
10. Click OK to save the change.
11. Double-click the same line of dialog again to reopen it.
12. Now click the "From WAV" radio button near the bottom and the "Generate Lip File" button should activate.
13. Click this button and ensure a LIP file appears in the path that your WAV file was moved to.
14. Switch over to the new CS and copy the Voice Filename as above, and rename the generated LIP file to this keeping the .LIP extension.
15. Move the .LIP file to the folder indicated by the Path in your new line of dialog.
16. The lipsynch should now work. The .LIP file is stand-alone so you don't have to save any changes in your old CS session; just End Process it (or use b3w4r3's tip of creating a new script and saving it blank to get an error and then click "No" to terminate the CS instantly.)

Special Note for Windows Vista

With Windows Vista (and either version of the CS), the newer security of the OS may inhibit the Construction Set's ability to save files properly. This is because the Program Files folder (and all sub-folders thereof) is protected, as a security measure. The CS is therefore not allowed to save files there. If it attempts to do so, the files end up in some kind of limbo, where they are difficult to find and unusable unless found and moved manually. In order to prevent this, Oblivion must not be installed in the Program Files folder. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that Oblivion is installed in some other folder before you attempt to use the Construction Set.