[Tutorial/WIP] The basics of making and editing ESPs for Skyrim

[Ark of Truth]

This tutorial is divided up into several stages, each stage covers a different aspect of making and editing ESPs. The following sections are being covered so far, any questions about these tutorials should be sent to my inbox or asked in this thread. Please check back regularly to see new sections.

Sections 2-4 are the same steps for Fallout, Fallout New Vegas, Oblivion, Skyrim and Morrowind. You just to to replace the Creation Kit with the relevant editor program.

 

0. Getting started

1. What is an ESP?

1a. Can any ESP be used in any Elder Scrolls game?

2. How do I make an ESP?

3. How do I edit a ESP?

4. How do I make a ESP with a mod as a requirement?

5. How do I create a basic NPC and set it as a companion?

6. How do I create a race preset from a companion or companion mod?

 
0. Getting started

Programs you will need for these tutorials are:

- Skyrim
- Creation Kit
- Wrye Bash (Set up for Skyrim)

- Some refreshments (E.g. food and drink)


1. What is an ESP?

An Elder Scrolls Plugin or ESP, as it is commonly known by, is a file which is used to modify the game content of various Elder Scrolls games. ESPs are used to make changes to vanilla functions as well as add new ones to games like Skyrim, Oblivion, Morrowind, Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 3. Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 3 are not part of the Elder Scrolls series but share the same


1a. Can I use any ESP on any Elder Scrolls Game?

No, each ESP type is coded differently within it's header this means that an ESP for Oblivion will not work on Skyrim, Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas. This is the same regardless of which game you are trying to mod at the time. Due to the fact that each header is coded differently it means that it is read differently.


2. How do I make an ESP?

1. Making an ESP is easy, just follow these simple steps and you are on your first steps to become a modder.

2. Install Skyrim and make sure it is up to date with the latest patch.

3. Install the Creation Kit. Note you must have Steam installed.

4. After the install has been completed, Run the Creation Kit.

5. Wait until the Creation Kit has fully loaded, if you try use the Creation Kit before it has loaded in will mostly crash. It should take about 5 seconds.

6. After the Creation Kit has loaded you will see the following screen.

7. There are now 3 windows in front of you the Object Window, the Render Window and the Cell Window. Each window is vital for making a mod plugin. Please refer to the screenshot below for the location of each window.



8. To create a basic ESP you must add the Skyrim.esm to the plugin as a requirement. You can do this by doing the following:

• Select "File" from the menu bar.
• Click on "Data.." from the drop down menu.
• A list of all plugins correctly installed for your Skyrim game will now be shown. Click the "Skyrim.esm" and the "Update.esm" by left-clicking on the box next to the ESM names.
• Press "OK"

The ESM will now load, you may get some error messages popup but it should be safe to ignore them considering we are just using the Skyrim.esm for this section of the tutorial, simply just press "Yes to all".

9. After a while the ESM should load, make sure it has loaded completely before trying to do anything. You should now have a screen like this. The Creation Kit automatically opens to the "Actors" object window.



10. Now what be a good time to save your plugin.

• Select "File"
• Select "Save"
• Keep your mod plugin a suitable name.

 

Congratulations you have just successfully created your first ESP.

3. How do I edit an ESP?

Editing an existing ESP is easy. To edit an existing ESP just do the following.

1. Open the Creation Kit.
2. Select "File"
3. Select "Data"
4. The plugin window will now open again, this time select the mod and then select "Set as Active File". For the purpose of this mod we are going to use the plugin LC2013.esp.
5. The status of the ESP should now display "Active Plugin" instead of "Plugin File" Please refer to the screenshot below.
6. Select the "OK" button.
7. Any plugins which are listed for the plugin you are trying to edit will be automatically loaded even if you have don't the Creation Kit not to load them up. 
8. The ESP will now load.
9. Make the changes you want to do to the ESP.
10. Save the ESP by overwriting it.
 
 Congratulations you have just successfully modified an ESP.
 
 

 
 
4. How do I make a ESP with another mod as a requirement?
 
Making a mod as a requirement for another mod is easy. Placing a mod as a requirement to another is a very simple process. You can do this one of two ways.
 
If you are creating a new plugin you can do the following:
 
1. Open Wrye Bash
2. Select the ESP you want to use a requirement.
3. Right click the ESP and select "Esmify self" This changes the header of the ESP so that it can be used in place of a ESM.
 

 
You will get a warning saying that is feature should only be used for advanced modders only. Just simply select "OK".
 
4. Close Wrye Bash.
5. Open the Creation Kit
6. Select "File"
7. Select "Data"
8. The mod plugin list will now appear.
9. Select the "Skyrim.esm", "Update.esm" and the mod plugin which you want as a requirement, the one you edited in Wrye Bash, in this case it is "Mod1.esp".
10. This time we do not set any plugins to "Active", just select "OK".
 

 
11. You will get a warning stating that "No active plugin has been set as the Active Plugin, Do you wish to continue?", press "Yes" as we are going to be making a plugin not editing one.
 

 
12. The Creation Kit will now load all of the contents contained within the ESPs.
13. Save your ESP with an appropriate name for you mod.
 
Congratulations you have just successfully created an ESP which uses another mod ESP as a requirement.
 

 

5. How do I create a basic NPC and set it as a companion?
 
1. Load up all of your requirements.
2. In the object window navigate to the actors section.
3. Expand the actors section.
4. You should now see two options now. Actors and Preset. Click on actor but do not expand it.
 

 
5. Right click on any of the records shown and select "New"
 

 
6. The following screen will now open. This is the traits tab of the Actor window.
 

 
7. Enter the ID of your NPC. TIP: Either add aaa or zzz in-front of the ID to make it easier to find later.
8. Enter the name of the NPC, this can be the first and last name.
9. Enter the short name for the NPC, this is just normally the first name of the NPC.
10. Select the options for the NPC you want enabled. The options pretty much explain themselves.
11. Select the gender of your NPC, check the box to change the gender to female, leave it unchecked to keep it as male.
12. Select the race of your NPC, in this case it is going to be NordRace, which in this case is a adult nord.
13. Adjust the height and weight of your NPC, 1.0 is the default setting for height and 50.0 is the default weight.
14. The "Far Away Model" and Distance just leave alone and don't touch.
15. Choose a voice time for your NPC.
16. "Weapons list" and Alignment will be blank considering we are making a NPC from scratch.
17. "Disposition Base" is how much the NPC will like the player when they first meet. 1 is the lowest and 100 is the highest. For this tutorial will just leave this untouched.
18. "Death Item" allows the player to set the NPC to drop a item when they die. We won't be touching this in the tutorial so just leave it as NONE.
 

 
19. Now would be a good time to save, Press OK to close the window and save your plugin. After you have finished that open up your NPC again from the actors list by right clicking on it and selecting "Edit".
20. Click the "Stats" tab.
 

 
21. Here you can set the stats of your NPC, level, skills and class.
22. You can set level of your NPC here. Simply just type the level in the box.
23. If you tick the box labelled "PC Level Mult" the following information should be considered. The sections below in cyan is taken from the Creation Kit wiki.

• PC Level Mult: Determines whether this actor has a fixed level (unchecked) or if their level is based on the player's level (checked). See also "Notes" below.
  • If unchecked, Level, at left, represents the Actor's fixed level. Changing this value will increase the Actor's Attributes and Skills based on their Class.
• If checked, the other fields are:
  • Level Mult: The level of the player is multiplied by this field to determine the level of the NPC.
  • Calc Min: The NPC's minimum level.
  • Calc Max: The NPC's maximum level.

 

24. These are the attributes of your NPC. You can adjust them yourself or just select the "Auto Calc Stats" button to have the Creation Kit do it for you. It is recommended that you let the Creation Kit do the calculations for you in order to keep game balance. More information on the Stats page can be found here.

 

25. The skills of your NPC.

 

• Auto Calc Stats: If checked, the Actor's Attributes and Skills will be automatically calculated based on their Class and Level. If unchecked, you can add offsets for skills if desired.
• Note that if PC Level Mult is checked, Auto Calc Stats will always be checked.
• Health Offset: An amount to add or subtract from the calculated health value.
• Base Health: The Actor's calculated base health, as determined by their Class and Level.
• Calculated Health: The Actor's adjusted health (Base + Offset).
• Magicka Offset: An amount to add or subtract from the calculated magicka value.
• Base Magicka: The Actor's calculated base magicka, as determined by their Class and Level.
• Calculated Magicka: The Actor's adjusted magicka (Base + Offset).
• Stamina Offset: An amount to add or subtract from the calculated stamina value.
• Base Stamina: The Actor's calculated base stamina, as determined by their Class and Level.
• Calculated Stamina: The Actor's adjusted stamina (Base + Offset).

26.  The next tab we are going to be looking at is Factions. This is one of the most important tabs to get correct as it is used to determine who is friend or foe for your NPC. For those who want to know how to create a companion this is the section you should be focusing on.

 

27. In the Object Window navigate to the Factions list. You will need to expand the Character section. You should now see a list of all factions in the game to end a faction to the NPC simply drag and drop the faction from the Objects Windows into factions tab of the NPC window.

 

In this case we are doing to be adding the following factions. We also need to set the ranks of these factions as well.

 

• CrimeFactionWhiterun << Assigns the NPC to the Whiterun Crime Faction. This means if the player commits a crime in Whiterun it will effect the NPC's disposition towards you. If it goes low enough you won't be able to recruit the as follower and they may attack you.
• PotentialMarriageFaction << To make your NPC able to be married by your player character. Set to rank 0.
• PotentialFollowerFaction << To make your NPC able to be a companion to your player character. Set to rank 0.
• CurrentFollowerFaction << To make your NPC able to be married by your player character. Set to rank -1 by clicking and holding the mouse for a sec before releasing.

Assigned Crime Faction should be set to CrimeFactionWhiterun if you have not chosen a CrimeFaction for you NPC just leave it blank.

 

 

28. The relationships tab is used to determine the relationship between other NPCs and the NPC you are creating. It can also be used for relationships between NPCs and the player.

 

29. Right click in the Relationships box and select "New".

30. Give the relationship a ID, in this case it aaaJenniferRelationshipPlayer. I have named it this for the following reason:

 

• "aaa" so that it appears at the top of the relationship list.
• "Jennifer" after the NPC it is to be used on.
• "Relationship" as it is a relationship being made.
• "Player" as the relationship is going to be used to determine the relation of the NPC towards the player.

 

This is pretty much the standard way of creating relationship names.

 

• Parent NPC: Set to the ID of your NPC. Note: Sometimes your NPC ID will not appear in the drop down menu. Sometimes closing the Creation Kit and opening it again fixes this. Remember to save before you close the Creation Kit. If it does not show up after don't worry and just skip to the next step.
• Child NPC: Set to Player
• Relationship Level: Set as Ally.
• Association type: Optional, just leave it as blank for now.
• The secret box is not used at all in game so just leave it unchecked.

 

31. Completely ignore the "Keywords" tab and go to "AI Data".

32. 

 

 

 

 

6. How do I create a race preset from a NPC or custom companion?

[FastestDogInTheDistrict]

Ark of Truth, this is a great idea - excellent tutorial!

[Mailamea]

Great idea for modders that are starting out.

[myuhinny]

Great I will test this out. I just found a rar in my download folder that has everything but a .esp. Time to see if I can mess it up. Better make a few backup of the rar just in case.

[Mistle]

left me hanging at how to make a companion LOL so mean good work tho ty bookmarked for when I go to blow up my skyrim....again >.>;

[Ark of Truth]

I'll finish that section later.

[Mistle]

tis cool, I appreciate your writing this down, very very helpful as I myself are trying to mod skyrim.. with out knowing what to ask/search for it is kind of hard to find the tut's/other reading material to get started x.x.

[myuhinny]

I have made a .esp is there a tutorial that shows how to add a armor to the .esp? I'm not exactly sure what needs to be done to add it to the .esp. 

[Ark of Truth]

I will add it to my list of things to do

[myuhinny]

Cool Thank you! Glad I bookmarked this thread when it was first posted so I didn't lose it.

[Ark of Truth]

Added some more about creating companions, it is merged in with creating a basic NPC. Please note that section may not be finished.

[Mistle]

Awesome! thanks a bunch for writing this up one more thing for me to learn lol.