How essential is CSE?

[acdover]

As the title says,

 

I'm planning on starting on a more complex personal mod and some ideas I have I'm not sure if the base CS will be able to do it.

So is CSE something I can install and just use the functionalities when needed, or is it something to hold off on?

[DrakeTheDragon]

I don't know if there's any features the CSE can't do you'll need the old CS for, but for everything else the CSE is more stable, more comfortable, and has more features than the original.

 

Luckily, it is also just like every other OBSE plugin/-dependent mod. If you start the game without OBSE, everything is back to Vanilla. If you start the CS without OBSE (not using the obse_loader.exe shortcut or batch file to run the CSE), it will start the Vanilla CS. There's no either-or, they can both be used at any time and switched at will.

 

If you plan on creating patches, or using other mods as masters for your's, you'll love the CSE's ability to do that right off the bat, unlike the CS where you'll have to turn the master ESPs into ESMs first for it to even stick, then back to ESPs before running the game, and rinse, repeat every time you edit your mod. And if you're going to use OBSE function calls inside your scripts, well, you'll need to run the CS from OBSE anyways, and the CSE is more comfortable when it comes to OBSE scripting, too.

 

I for one am using the CSE exclusively currently, and I haven't yet run into any obstacles so far.

[ElderScrollsFan001]

i know it allows one to successfully make mods based on KOTN that for sure.

[Moktah]

How essential is CSE? I use so many of its capabilities, that its an absolute must have.

Arrays, User Defined Functions, and some really useful event handlers just to name a few.

 

Here's a link you might find handly.

 

http://obse.silverlock.org/obse_command_doc.html#UI_Functions

[DrakeTheDragon]

That's OBSE though, not the CSE. You can completely fine code OBSE scripts without using the CSE. But I for one would, just like I'd never play the game without OBSE anymore, never edit an ESP without the CSE anymore either. Its benefits just trump all alternatives by miles. The native ability to set ESPs as masters, instead of only ESMs like before, is just the very first point of a miles long list. Just like the game was improved performance-wise and stabilized by OBSE, so was the CS by CSE. (Vastly expanded script length limits coming to mind for one.)

 

It's like advertising to not use Wrye Bash's Bashed Patch and instead fixing all conflicts manually... You "can" do it, of course, but it won't be pretty and a multitude of additional work. These tools make work in modding easier. You don't "have" to use them, but it's your loss, if you don't.