So you've played around in the game a little and now you're just itchin' to see what that toolset that everyone's talking about can do for you, eh? The first thing you're probably wondering is, "So how do I install this thing?" Your game did come with two CDs, after all, and one of them's labeled, "Construction Set".

Actually, if you've installed Morrowind, chances are you've already installed TESCS (The Elder Scrolls Construction Set), too. It was one of your options during installation. If you're not sure if you did, or you're sure you didn't, then go ahead and run the Setup.exe on the CS CD. What's important is that you do not try to install this before installing MW. Apparently, the devs tell us, that's a Bad Idea(tm).

Right, all ready to get started? One more thing, first. Bump your resolution as high as you can possibly stand. TESCS has lots of windows with lots of information and your Render Window is just one of them. Trying to run TESCS in a low resolution (anything under 1024x768) makes Baby Jesus cry. Well, it makes me cry, anyway. I run it at 1280x1024 myself (on a 19" monitor), and I still have a hard time managing my real estate with all those windows.

Once you're inside TESCS, you'll see you have three windows in front of you:

You'll also find that, browsing through all the tabs in Object View, you don't have a whole lot to work with. What you need to really get started is all the stuff in the Morrowind.ESM file, the file you've been using so far (unwitting or no) to play the pre-packaged game.

Hit the File menu, up at top-left, and select Data Files. Double-click on Morrowind.esm so that it's checked, and click OK.

(Note: you may see some "plugin" (ESP) files already listed, any that you've downloaded. You don't need to check them, even if you're using them in your current game. In fact, do not check any of them, unless you really know what you're doing. We'll get into more detail on what these Data Files mean, later.)

Woah! Now you have scads of stuff to work with. Take a few moments to browse through all of the tabs in the Object Window. It can be overwhelming at first, to be sure, and you may start to think to yourself: "Wait - am I going to spoil any of the game by looking at this stuff? Maybe I should wait until I'm done with the game?" Well ... that's up to you. You may spoil a few parts of the game by working with the CS, but myself, I've actually managed to find out very little about the pre-packaged game working in TESCS. I'm not digging through every single object and looking at all the scripts, though, and if you know you're the curious type, but you don't want the plot spoiled, and you can suppress the creative bug for a little longer, then you might want to put off design for a while.

To make all of that information in Objects a little less daunting, let's walk through each of the tabs you have available, to get a brief overview of what each is for:

Activator
There's more to it than this, but think of Activators as switches and levers that you would use to "activate" something, like a door or a gate.

Apparatus
For Alchemy. These are a special kind of object because dragging one onto yourself from your Inventory window will open the Alchemy dialogue.

Body Part
Armor and Clothing are both actually composed of these - you'd use a Body Part as the "Biped Object" for creating your own new piece of Armor or Clothing. Think of the difference between like so: the Body Part is the generic 3D model with no specific information, except which part of the body it attaches to (and upon which layer: skin, clothing, or armor). Armor and Clothing, on the other hand, have specific information, like AR or Enchantments. Two pieces of armor could both use the same Body Part, but have entirely different stats.

Book
Books, notes, writs, and magic scrolls.

Clothing
Unlike Armor, Clothing has no AR nor Health.

Container
These are the chests, barrels, sacks, and crates of the world. Note how each already has its own predefined contents (even if that's "empty"). If you want to make a crate full of crab meat, you create a new container and stock it full of that yummy dead crustacean flesh -- but more on that later. (The creating, not the dead crustacean flesh.)

Door
Doors are, well, doors. Actually, if you're clever, you'll quickly realize that "Doors" are actually Transporters, they transport you somewhere different when you "activate" them (which means using the Spacebar, by default, in game). So a door doesn't actually have to be a solid mass of wood under a stone archway - notice "Eat Me" and "Drink Me", for example.

Ingredient
You use these things in Alchemy. Only an Ingredient may be used in Alchemy (in the four windows where you may select said ingredients), and only Ingredients provide those "effects" that you mix-and-match to create potions. Say, don't know how Alchemy works? Here's a real quick run-down: you combine two Ingredients with the same effect, and you get a potion with that effect (if you succeed your Alchemy check). See how Daedra's Heart and Void Salts both have "Restore Magicka" as an effect? Mix those two, and you'll get a potion of Restore Magicka.

Light
Anything that gives off light is a light. A dim glow coming from lichen, a candle on the desk, a torch in a sconce (including the flames), these are all lights.

Lockpick
You use one of these to pick open doors. The game only comes with a pretty limited selection of them, but feel free to be creative! You could use a model for a teddy bear as a new kind of uber-lockpick and stick it on the secret Master Assassin's bed by the cute pink pillow!

Misc Item
These are things you can pick up and carry around that don't otherwise fit into one of the other categories. Gold, keys, kitchenware, and all the little "details" that make the world seem so much more real.

Probe
Like Lockpicks, you use these in Thievery, to disarm traps.

Repair Item
Used with the Armorer skill to repair worn armor and weapons.

Static
You may at first be confused by the difference between Misc Items and Statics. Misc Items are things you can pick up and carry with you. Statics, you cannot. That means the most of the world is actually comprised of Statics - and it's with Statics that you'll be spending the majority of your time building. Everything from landscape to architecture to potted plants to furniture fits into the Static category.

Weapon
Unlike Armor, Weapons do not use a template (Body Part), but rather all of the information for any given weapon is defined by its own unique object.

NPC
All of the actors of the world. Including yourself! The star of the show is listed but humbly as, "player". All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely NPCs.

Creature
The difference between a creature and an NPC is that creatures only have a "type" (Creature, Daedra, Humanoid, Undead), whereas NPCs have a Race, Class, and Faction/Rank. Otherwise, creatures are precisely the same (in terms of interface) as NPCs.

Leveled Creature
Also known as Ninja Monkies - because that's what you'll see in the editor for a Leveled Creature. These are creatures that spawn differently based on the level of the player. Take a look at the very first one in the list: ex_ascadianisles_lev+0. The list on the right shows you what kind of monsties you might run into should you drop one of these bad boys down: from a lowly kwama forager at level 1, to the mighty betty netch at level 10 or beyond. Multiple creatures can be listed for a single level, meaning there's a chance that any one of those creatures might spawn.

Spellmaking
If you're familiar with the Spellmaking interface in the game, this will make plenty of sense to you. This is where you create new "Spells". Not Spell Effects mind you, but new Spells - like a spell that grants you Levitation at level 40 for 60 seconds, grants you Invisibility for 30 seconds, and bestows Shield level 20 upon you for 120 seconds.

Enchanting
Much like Spellmaking, this is related directly to the Enchanting interface in the game, except that you're designing generic (or specific) enchantments in this case, which you could then apply to Armor, Clothing, Weapons, etc. Again, you can't define new effects, but you can mix and match any combination of existing effects however you see fit.

Alchemy
Potions (and such) that apply an enchantment. Spells do the same thing, but Alchemy objects don't require any sort of skill check, and generally come in the form of a potion that the player quaffs.

Leveled Item
Read the description for Leveled Creature, and now think "Leveled Item". Yup. These are loot-objects that change based on the player's level, so a player at level 1 might open a chest only to find 5 gold inside, while a player level 10 could find a sword of Betty Netch Ass Kicking.