Ok, I've been thinking of a project to work on to give me some scripting experience. I have one in mind and came to a snag that I'm unsure of whether or not it can be done. What I want to do, basically is use a script to call and display an item with the 3D viewer, like in the inventory screen when you zoom in. I don't know if that's possible or not, but there is also the other issue. The other issue is if I can call it, can I make it so that the player can only look at it (item) and then exit?

Ok guess I'll have to give more info as to what I'm trying to do. I'm basically going to make an auction house mod that allows the player to bid on items. Things like rare plants, weapons, items for their homes, ect. I have all of it in pseudo code already. The only issue is how do I show the player the item up for bid without having to spawn it right on the auction stage? If I made a unique horse then I think it would be unrealistic to have it spawn out of thin air onto the stage. That's where the 3D view idea came into play. If that isn't possible can you guys help me with a more practical way to show the item up for bid to the player?

Hmm would this work? what if I place'd the item(s) in a chest and forced the player to open via a script? Can I do that? If so, can I keep them from taking the item or placing items into the chest?

To the best of my knowledge, you can't activate the 3D view via existing in-built functionality. On the other hand, the code to view the game's 3D models is clearly present in the Flash/Scaleform UI layer. So what you're talking about isn't impossible...just difficult, although easier if you're familiar with Flash and Actionscript: you could probably take large portions of code from the inventory and loading screen functionality. You might also need to work with the SKSE team to find some way of actually triggering the view (this seems like it could be a useful feature to have, independent of auction functionality).

I don't have much in the way of alternative suggestions, as I've never been to an auction or used MMOs that have them. I do find that often good ideas can come from working creatively within the limitations of the game's systems...if the best alternative is teleporting a horse on-stage, then maybe the auction house employs a mage for just that purpose?

Edit: I was thinking of something like your chest idea, too; it would work for smaller items, but not for things like your horse example, I don't think.

Hmm think I'm gonna drop the 3D view and go with the chest idea. What I'm thinking of, is using like a note or deed kinda thing to do large stuff. Now all I need to know is whether or not I can lock the player out of taking the item in the chest and keeping em from placing things in it. Is that possible and if so how?