I haven't done modding for a couple years, so I'm obviously new to the Creation Kit. I'm looking to get back into it, and while I'm in the planning stages for my mods, I'm very excited about what I hope to accomplish. However, I have a big question about format. In the old days, we would make an .esp and then package any folders with it that we needed, such as meshes, textures and sounds. With the CK being integrated with the Steam thingy, that doesn't seem like it would be a feasible direction anymore.

So my question is this: What has integration with Steam done to change the way we approach mod making? surely, some of the steps or processes we would go through before have changed out of necessity.

Thanks for any replies.

I haven't uploaded anything to Steam, but I think that you can only upload BSA archives there. You can create archives from the file menu of the Creation Kit (or at least you're supposed to, I haven't been able to get 'Create Archive' to work). You can check the http://www.creationkit.com/File_Menu#Create_Archive for how to use it.

Thanks. Another question. when looking at an area, textures of objects won't load. Is this normal, or did something break on my end?

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Some of the larger objects may need their "IsFullLOD" checkbox checked or unchecked to get them to show. I had some dramas with this when I first started using the CK or SkyCK.
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Also, if you stress the computer system sufficiently, while running the game, you may see a failure to load apparently random textures and/or meshes. There is, unfortunately, http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1361767-navmesh-bugs-part-iii/page__st__90 - but I wouldn't let that discourage me...
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I keep hearing that Steamworks has a 100 mB limit. If your plug-in is larger than that (or you object to something in the Steamworks/Valve EULA), then http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/.