Scripting Tutorial: My First Script

This is a short tutorial which will give you a quick walkthrough for making your first script. It will detail step-by-step the script making process and should take a total of about 5-10 minutes.

So let's get started:

1. Open The Elder Scrolls Construction Set.
2. Go to File --> Data and a window will pop up. Double click Oblivion.esm to check it and click OK. (Then wait for it to load.)
3. In the Object Window, navigate through and find Lockpicks. You'll find this under Items --> Misc Item. (If you don't have a lockpick, any common item will work, like an apple or something.) Double click the item.
4. A window will pop up with the item's properties. Where it says Script: NONE, click the 3 little dots next to it. This will open the Script Editor.
5. Go to Script --> New, to start a new script.
6. Cut and paste the following:
   
   

   ScriptName HelloWorld
   
   

   Begin OnAdd

   Message "Hello World!", 10

   end
   
   

   Info about the script itself:

   - The first line is the name of your script. Make sure it is unique.

   - "Begin OnAdd" means that this script will fire each time you pick up this item. The end command ends the section of script related to "OnAdd". You can have a separate begin/end block for every blocktype - see Begin

   - And lastly, the message line controls what will be displayed, with the "10" as how long the message will stay on screen. Check here for more info about the message command: Message

7. Save the script and then close the Script Editor and the subject's(In this case, the lockpick's) property window, your script will not appear until this is done.
8. Go back to the item properties and "HelloWorld" should appear as an option in the dropdown menu for Scripts. (You may have to close the item properties window and re-open it for the HelloWorld script to appear in the dropdown menu.)
9. Hit ok to save and close the window.
10. Go up to the top and hit File --> Save; name it HelloWorld (it will be an esp file, HelloWorld.esp)
11. Open the Oblivion start menu (the splash screen), and click on Data Files.
12. Double click on your HelloWorld.esp to check / enable it and click ok to save and close.
13. Now go into the game and you should be set! Drop a lockpick on the ground and pick it back up and a message should say "Hello World!". And with that, welcome to scripting!

For a more advanced scripting tutorial, see My Second Script.