Instructions 4/6

3.2 Control area

3.2.2 Savegame prefix

Another important setting concerns the creation of savegames from autosave- and quicksave-files. Examining Skyrim's savegames, you'll find out that they obey to the following naming schema:

<Prefix>" "<Number>" ‐ "<PlayerName>" "<Location>" "<GameTime>.ess

On a fresh start, SkyrimCharacterHelper determines this prefix from Skyrim's localization files. Though, you can enter the savegame prefix manually. If you're unsure what this prefix may be for your language, create a regular savegame using Skyrim's save menu and look at the filename. Attention: If no savegame prefix is defined, you will not be able to access the Launch buttons.

Prefix textfield

3.2.3 Launch parameters

Because I do not know what you may select as launch target, I have included an option to pass command line parameters to the launch target when executing it. Usually, you would not enter any value here, especially not when working with the original Skyrim applications.

Any value entered here is appended to the resulting the launch call. If for instance your launch target is C:\test.exe and your launch parameters are set to -v 200, the resulting launch call is C:\test.exe -v 200 (the space character between launch target and launch parameters is added by SkyrimCharacterHelper).

Launch parameters

3.2.4 Launch target

The huge textfield shows the current launch target. The launch target is user-definable to support extensions such as SKSE which use their own launcher. Please make sure that you read the instructions about the launch target before defining it. The buttons next to this textfield refer to the launch target.

Launch target

Select file button Select file. Brings up a filechooser dialog and lets you define the file to execute when trying to launch Skyrim.
Rescan registry button Rescan registry. Rescans the registry and sets the default launch target, which consists of your Skyrim installation directory and Skyrim's launcher binary.
Launch button Launch. Launches Skyrim (to be more precise: the launch target defined by the user) and then switches to monitoring mode. Requires a valid savegame prefix.


3.2.5 Remaining stuff

While the monitoring label was explained on page 2, there are three buttons remaining to be detailed. They are located on the right side of this area and offer the following functions:

About button About. Brings up an about dialog.
Cancel button Cancel. Interrupts any ongoing processing. Thereby, SkyrimCharacterHelper ensures that files are closed properly, so you don't need to worry about damaging files when interrupting processing. Cancel also forces SkyrimCharacterHelper back into normal mode in case it is operating in monitoring mode.
Exit button Exit. Does exactly what you already guessed.

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