SSE Help with Atom

[myrrhmyrrh]

It's become abundantly clear to me that I have no idea what I'm doing. I downloaded Atom to get started with Papyrus scripting and so I would have a resource if I wanted to get into other things as well. Being the dingbat I am, though, I can't figure out where the .build-papyrus.yml file recommended on the wiki goes (yes, I know, "root directory," but root directory of what? The entire drive? The game? Atom?)

 

I'm positive I have the build-papyrus compiler path for SSE correct, but it seems to still be looking in the default for reasons I cannot begin to fathom. Also, in the default game dropdown, it only has Fallout 4. Is this because Skyrim is on another drive?

Is this hard for everyone or am I an idiot? Someone please help me.

[cumbrianlad]

If you consider yourself to be a 'dingbat', I didn't even know that anything existed to help with papyrus! I just use Notepad++ and 'my all-encompassing knowledge of papyrus' to make my scripts.*

 

* I have been known to exaggerate from time to time. In plain English this phrase translates as 'I then bumble about for several hours, getting the simplest of scripts to work.'

[myrrhmyrrh]

God, that's relatable. If I can't figure Atom out, I'll shelf that for a while and use Notepad++. A lot more people seem to use it, so there will be more troubleshooting out there. I really do like Atom, though, and I hope I can manage to do the many and varied file creations and shuffling that I have to do to get it to play nice with CK.

[cumbrianlad]

hey! I'm not saying no to 'Atom'. I may download it and try it. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it seemed to want to store your scripts in a set folder. I like to make my scripts in Notepad++ and store them where I want, not in any Skyrim folder. I dare say that you can do it this way and when you 'Add New Script' in CK, you can choose that file. It could work.

 

The other thing that interested me about 'Atom' was the 'Syntax' Add-on. Syntax is what I am poorest at. I just write and re-write scripts, compile and work out my errors.

 

I've done it the slow way for years. I'll download this and see if it's a benefit. I'll at least find out how to set up the directories that it needs.

[myrrhmyrrh]

It has autocomplete and various free packages you can download to make it do nearly anything... If you can figure out how to format it in the first place. And it doesn't make you save in the Skyrim folder at all, actually. If you select Save As, just put it wherever you like as a .psc

 

It's getting it to .pex that I'm having trouble with, because I don't think I set that up right. The wiki and the build-papyrus instructions were about as clear as swamp water on certain things, like which root directory they were talking about and what to do if you're not just using your C: drive for everything.

[cumbrianlad]

Thanks for that.

 

As for getting into .pex, just copy your .psc script (the script lines not the file). In CK, on the object/actor/activator etc that you want your script on, select 'Add script' and 'New Script'. Give it a few seconds it should ask you for a name. Give it a suitable name and hit 'Enter'. Right click and edit source. Paste in your script lines. Hit 'Save' to compile it. If it compiles, it will create both a psc and pex version of the script in the right place in your Skyrim Data folder.

 

For this reason, when your writing your scripts in the first place, store them outside of the Skyrim directory.

 

If the script is to go into a quest fragment or dialogue 'Start' or 'End' fragment it's even easier. Just copy the lines as before and paste them into the fragment. Just beware that before you do this you must first declare any of the script properties in the quest main script, or else it will fail as it doesn't recognize the new properties!

 

Edit: in dialogue fragments you need to declare the properties in the fragment you are putting your lines of code into!

[myrrhmyrrh]

Thank you for that. I'd like to get Atom working correctly, but until or unless I figure out how, I'll use that method. Thanks for the tips, too! They'll really come in handy, especially as I have a mod planned that's currently way over my head. I've got a lot of learning to do.

[cumbrianlad]

No worries.

 

Learning just takes time. We've all got to start somewhere. Me... I'm still learning and always will be! I remember years ago talking to a bloke in a pub who was a car mechanic. Now I'd already been stripping bikes and bike engines longer than he'd been a mechanic. I remember telling stories (at my expense) of how I'd done things like dropping bolts down engine cylinders, or putting everything back together and finding a left-over part that meant I had to do the whole job again. I said to him that he must have a few similar tales, but no, says he, "I've never made a mistake in my life!"

 

I told him then and there that I'd never take a car or bike to his workshop. The first key to learning is to realise that there are other people better than you to learn from. The next key is not to think you know who's better than yourself! that bloke had made mistakes... we all do... he just didn't know it and that meant he could never learn and improve. That's why I wouldn't trust him to fix a push-chair.

 

You can probably teach me a lot and I can probably teach you some things. That's the best way to approach this forum.

 

Happy modding!

 

i haven't downloaded Atom yet, but I've just written another 6 pages of quest script fragments... old habits die hard! it was quicker to do them by a method I knew worked than it was to learn new software. I'll still try Atom sometime, though.

 

Cheers!

[myrrhmyrrh]

Thank you again. I tried to do the thing with Notepad++ because I thought I might be able to do that easier, but nope. Looks like it's copy/paste for me unless I spontaneously develop a greater understanding of what I'm doing wrong. At least thanks to your advice I'll be able to manage to do *something.*