Help:Oblivion Save/ESM/ESP Reader

The Oblivion Save/ESM/ESP Reader is an incredibly power tool for analyzing save file data, and for generating searchable databases containing Oblivion's various scripts. However, if you do not have experience working with a program like this, it can be a little overwhelming to figure out how to set up and use it. This guide aims to walk you through how to set up and use the save file reader, as well as how to generate/navigate databases.

Setting up the Save File Reader

The save file reader functionality is now built directly into the checklist page of the interactive guide. Simply drag and drop a .ess file into the checklist page to see its progress.

If you instead want to run a local copy of the standalone save file reader, here is how:

Setting up the ESM/ESP Reader

You will need Node.js in order for this work.

1. Download oblivion-save-reader-v1.3.zip, which is the release containing the ESM/ESP reader.
2. Extract the zip file.
3. TODO: I can't remember how to actually set all this up in the most non-programmer friendly way possible and with the fewest downloads of external things like git.

...

1. Run the following command, which excludes records you may not want that make the resulting file size much larger:

   npm run esm_to_sqlite -- -f G:\Stuff\Games\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Oblivion\Data\Oblivion.esm -e 'GRAS,TREE,STAT,SOUN,LIGH'

2. Wait for the program to finish running. This can take upwards of 15 to 20 minutes.
3. An Oblivion.db file has now been generated in the Data folder for the game. If you are playing on the steam version, the file path will usually be located here:

   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Oblivion\Data\

4. Download and run the DB Browser for SQLite.
5. Go to File -> Open Database and select the Oblivion.db file using the filepath noted previously.
6. You can now search through the database. The primary use-case is to browse scripts, which can be like so:
   1. Go to the Browse Data tab and type SCTX into the type filter to show only scripts.
   2. In the content tab, type whatever code snippet you are looking for within the scripts, and wait for results to apppear.
   3. Click on the different content results to view them in the text box to the right. Settings Mode to JSON will make this slightly more readable.