Just so the info is out there so that any future worries can be quickly dispelled, I think that this needs its own thread. Also, there's a crying shortage of good news, so I think any would be welcome.

Some of the best mods for Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout and New Vegas use Script Extenders. The best known example for Oblivion is Deadly Reflex. They not only add hundreds of script commands to do things that would be otherwise impossible, but also allow modders to patch the engine's executable code in memory to fix bugs and change things, without actually changing any files (ie no permanent effects.)

All recent SteamWorks releases have used a new encryption scheme called http://steampowered.com/steamworks/publishingservices.php that encrypts the executable and doesn't decrypt it all at the same time in memory. If Skyrim used this, there would have been no Script Extender. Even if it was possible, it would have required decrypting the code in memory, which could have been considered a DRM bypass, with obvious implications, so the team wouldn't have worked on it.

So I bothered Pete Hines about it, with my usual bad timing right after Rage was released and he was swamped, so I bothered him some more, and http://twitter.com/#!/DCDeacon/status/121930489266315264:

@KivanES Skyrim will not be using CEG. Modders can breathe easy.

Whatever my misgivings about the whole Steam business, Bethesda continues to do right by the modding community, which is what brought me over to the Elder Scrolls in the first place. Thank you!

I'd thank Pete myself, but I promised to leave him alone if he answered.

(Now let's hope the Script Extender team actually writes it!... pretty sure they will.)

Great news! Thanks.

That's great to hear, thanks for confirming this Kivan. :foodndrink:

So basically: more freedom for modders and more ease for the ones who install it?

:disguise:

Thanks Kivan! :celebration:

YESSS!

Thanks for going through the trouble to get a confirmation on this!

:celebration: My hopes are up again! :celebration:

This is actually the best news Ive heard so far

I've already seen this, but love reading it again, thanks Kivan, I needed a little uplift after my venture into the Steam thread :celebration:

Happy news

Yes, this is a breath of fresh air.

-Mr. Maric

Glad to hear a bit of good news.

Thanks for the update, Kivan

Phew. That is a relief.

I'm really hoping Timeslip makes a return too. Our community's real life programmers are very important in the grand scheme of things.

It also remains to be seen if we would even need a Script Extender scheme for the new game. Perhaps this time around, it will not be needed. Bethesda may have added this functionality in. Mods made for Morrowind influenced Oblivion in some ways.

In any event, this is good news as some mods would need the EXE modified even if all the scripts wanted are there.

There's good news everywhere.

True that. We scripters/modelers/designers often get the most praise from the "users", but the guys who make the third party programs like OBMM, WryeBash, OBSE etc. are the real heroes.

Good news.

:celebration:

Great news! :dance:

Good News Everyone!

Huzzah!

This would be pretty darn cool. I hope it turns out to be true.

Kivan, thank you for pestering Pete. Pete, thank you for allowing Kiven to pester you.

Awesome news, man I should use twitter more

Sounds good. ^_^

Most excellent news Mr. Kivan...Thank you for the information!

Awesome news :celebration:

Although the new scripting language sounds promising and more fleshed out, I think there will always be a need for a Script Extender, for the simple reason the functions and commands it provides are created on requests of the scripters. Even if the new scripting language contains all of the current OBSE features, plenty of scripters will still need unique new functions for unique ideas.

It's not only about Skyrim script functions and commands either, but also the exposure to other external C++ scripts that OBSE provides for Oblivion. I'm far from an expert in that area, but I'm pretty sure that the redone scripting language of Skyrim won't - or rather, can't - allow for the things the people of Oblivion Graphics Extender do.