[Skyrim] Creation Kit Feature - Hot Loading Plugins

[Leonardo]

Reposted from BSF by JoelBurgess
 

As you know, we recently released version 1.6.89 of the Creation Kit. As we’ve mentioned before, this is the same tool the developers use – and that means that the latest version of the Creation Kit comes with an experimental new dev feature – Hot Plugin Loading.

Simply put, hot loading allows you to save and update your plugin from the Creation Kit, and immediately view those results in-game. No need to restart the game to see your changes! This has had a huge impact on iteration time around Bethesda Game Studios, and we hope modders will find it just as beneficial.

As mentioned, this is an experimental feature. Not everything will work as expected, and there may be crashes or other hiccups. Many thanks to programmer Jay Woodward (aka RadHamster) for his work on this awesome new feature!

Without further ado, here are the steps for hot-loading your plugin:

· Load the Creation Kit as normal. Load your plugin (or create a new one)
· In this example, we’ll pretend our active plugin is “nifty.espâ€
· Launch Skyrim as normal.
· Make some changes in the Creation Kit, such as moving or adding a static.
· In-game, open the console (~) and enter the command: “FCFâ€

o This step only applies if you loaded nifty.esp in the Data files section of the launcher

o This only has to be done once per boot of the game.

o FCF is shorthand for “force close filesâ€, and allows the Creation Kit to save a loaded plugin

· Return to the creation kit and save nifty.esp
· Return to the game. If possible, position yourself where you’ll notice your changes.
· Open the console and enter: “HLP nifty†(or the name of your .esp file)

o HLP is shorthand for “Hotload pluginâ€

· The scene will re-load. Your changes show now be visible in-game!