Spell Modding Tutorial
Page Index
This tutorial contains a great deal of information, and is, therefore, spread over several pages. Please use the index below to navigate the tutorial. The current page will be in large red letters in the index.
2.0 Templates and Examples
2.7.1 Example Spell - Mystic Blade
Though covered in-depth earlier in this tutorial, each example spell will have some comment line reminders for the various tags and values.
<SPHERE>:CHARM
##Associates your new spell with a magic skill.
##Values: ATTACK : DEFENSE : CHARM
<NAME>:Mystic Blade
##Pick a name for your new spell.
##Values: any alpha-numeric string.
<TARGET_ALIGNMENT>:ALL
##Determines who or what is affected by the spell.
##Values: EVIL : ALL
<TARGET>:USER
##Sets the target value for your spell.
##Values: PROJECTILE : CHARACTER : AREA : USERAREA : USER : USERANDPETS : ITEM
<CAST_TIME>:2
##Sets the spell’s casting time in seconds.
<MANA>:30
##Sets the amount of mana used per casting of the spell.
<ICON>:ICONS/spellblade.png:ICONS/spellbladea.png
##Sets the paths to the icon artwork for your spell.
##See pages:
##El Heffe’s The Icon Ramble
##Tiptoe’ Icon Tutorial
##For more information on icons.
<DESCRIPTION>:Summons 1 level 7 Cursed Sword to aid caster\n+1 to Sword's
level per 2 Charm Skill levels\nDuration of summoning is 1 minute\n+10 seconds
per Charm Skill Level\nMaximum of 6 summoned creatures
##The lines that describe the spell when moused-over in the game.
##The "\n" string is used to indicate hard line breaks.
[EFFECT]
##Opens the EFFECT stanza.
##Values: EFFECT : PAYLOADEFFECT
<NAME>:CURSED SWORD
##Name of the effect.
<ACTIVATION>:USAGE
##Determines how the effect is activated.
##All spells are activated by USAGE, no exceptions.
<TYPE>:SUMMON
##This determines exactly what the spell does.
##Values: See the Effect Archive
<DURATION>:INSTANT
##Sets the length of time the effect remains active.
##Values: INSTANT (all at once) : Any positive number in seconds.
<VALUE>:1
##Number summoned per cast.
<VALUE2>:7
##Base level of summoned creature.
<VALUE2_BONUS>:.5
##Adds this value to base level of the creature per rank in Charm skill.
<VALUE3>:60
##Sets base duration of the summons in seconds.
<VALUE3_BONUS>:10
##Adds this value, in seconds, to the base duration per rank in Charm skill.
#sfx:type:duration:looping:speed:turnrate:path to effect:exclusive:respect bonuses
##Comment line that offers clues on what the various values mean for the SFX tag lines.
<SFX>:FOLLOWTARGET:1:1:0:0:SPELLS/EFFECTS/DISPEL/dispel.mdl:0:0
##Sets the details of this spell’s "Special Effect".
[/EFFECT]
##Closes the EFFECT stanza.
<SOUND>:SUCCESS:SOUNDS/SPELLS/heal.wav
##Path to sound resource.
<SOUND>:FAIL:SOUNDS/SPELLS/fail.wav
##Path to sound resource.
<SOUND>:CHANT:SOUNDS/SPELLS/cast.wav
##Path to sound resource.
<CAST_PARTICLE>:GREENFIRESPARK:0:0:0
##Sets details for the spell’s particle effect, if any.
<CAST_PARTICLE>:TINYFASTGLEAM:0:0:0
##Sets details for the spell’s other particle effect, if any.
<REQUIRES>:MAGIC:30
##Sets the minimum value for the Magic Attribute a character must have to use the spell.
[/SPELL]
2.7.2 Summon Spell Template
Here you'll find a Cut-and-Paste template and tag descriptions that you can use to make your own spells that summon monsters to fight alongside the character and pet. Easiest spell ever. You’ve seen it before. You only need like 3 minutes to make one of these. Your grandpa could do it. Even still, these spells are appreciated. An easy spell with high demand. What could be easier? Unfortunately, when you make one of these, people expect a new monster too, so be careful not to overdo it.
This template is based on the Mystic Blade spell. Cut and paste it into your spells.dat then fill in the blanks.
Important: Make sure you replace any text that is high-lighted and enclosed in *asterisks* with proper values!
Comments after the pound sign "#" are informational only, and will be ignored by the game.
<SPHERE>:CHARM
<NAME>:*
<TARGET_ALIGNMENT>:ALL
<TARGET>:USER
<CAST_TIME>:*
<MANA>:*
<ICON>:*
<DESCRIPTION>:*Description*
[EFFECT]
<NAME>:*
<ACTIVATION>:USAGE
<TYPE>:SUMMON
<DURATION>:INSTANT
<VALUE>:*
<VALUE2>:*
<VALUE2_BONUS>:*
<VALUE3>:*
<VALUE3_BONUS>:*
#sfx:type:duration:looping:speed:turnrate:pathtoeffect:exclusive:respect bonuses
<SFX>:FOLLOWTARGET:1:1:0:0:SPELLS/EFFECTS/DISPEL/dispel.mdl:0:0
[/EFFECT]
<SOUND>:SUCCESS: SOUNDS/SPELLS/heal.wav
<SOUND>:FAIL:SOUNDS/SPELLS/fail.wav
<SOUND>:CHANT:SOUNDS/SPELLS/cast.wav
<CAST_PARTICLE>:GREENFIRESPARK:0:0:0
<CAST_PARTICLE>:TINYFASTGLEAM:0:0:0
<REQUIRES>:MAGIC:*
[/SPELL]
Template Page Index
2.7 Summon Spell