Imagine trying to bake a cake without a recipe, your oven, or your hands. That is modding without the scripts.zip . If you attempt to compile a new script without the source files, the Creation Kit will vomit a cascade of errors like:
The Creation Kit requires the source code of vanilla Skyrim scripts to compile new scripts. If a modder writes a script that extends a vanilla object (e.g., Actor or Quest ), the compiler needs to read the source code of those base objects to understand the inheritance structure. Without extracting scripts.zip , the compiler will fail, returning errors stating it cannot find specific script sources. skyrim creation kit scripts.zip