Spell Modding Tutorial
2.0 Templates and Examples
2.4.1 Example Spell - Fire Wall
Though covered in-depth earlier in this tutorial, each example spell will have some comment line reminders for the various tags and values.
<SPHERE>:ATTACK
##Associates your new spell with a magic skill.
##Values: ATTACK : DEFENSE : CHARM
<NAME>:Fire Wall
##Pick a name for your new spell.
##Values: any alpha-numeric string.
<TARGET_ALIGNMENT>:EVIL
##Determines who or what is affected by the spell.
##Values: EVIL : ALL
<TARGET>:USERAREA
##Sets the target value for your spell.
##Values: PROJECTILE : CHARACTER : AREA : USERAREA : USER : USERANDPETS : ITEM
<RANGE>:20
##Sets the area covered by the spell’ effect.
<CAST_TIME>:1.5
##Sets the spell’s casting time in seconds.
<MANA>:40
##Sets the amount of mana used per casting of the spell.
<ICON>:ICONS/spellfirewall.png:ICONS/spellfirewalla.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>:Creates a ring of fire 40 feet wide\ndamaging enemies
for 4-8 damage.\n+2 points of damage per Attack Skill level
##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
<ACTIVATION>:USAGE
##Determines how the effect is activated.
##All spells are activated by USAGE, no exceptions.
<TYPE>:HPRECHARGE
##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>:-4
##Sets how the spell type is affected. (-4 hprecharge).
##Values: low-end of a min-max pairing.
<VALUE2>:-8
##Sets how the spell type is affected. (-8 hprecharge).
##Values: high-end of a min-max pairing.
<VALUE_BONUS>:-2
##Sets the bonus per level of Attack Magic skill to -2.
##Low-end of a min-max pairing.
<VALUE2_BONUS>:-2
##Sets the bonus per level of Attack Magic skill to -2.
##High-end of a min-max pairing.
<DAMAGE_TYPE>:FIRE
##Sets the damage type to FIRE for resistance checks.
<SFX>:FOLLOWOWNER:.5:1:0:0:SPELLS/EFFECTS/FIREPUFF/firepuff.mdl:0:0
##Sets the details of this effect’s "Special Effect".
[/EFFECT]
##Closes the EFFECT stanza.
#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>:STATIONARYOWNER:-1:0:0:0:SPELLS/EFFECTS/FIREWALL/firewall.ams:0:0
##Sets the details of this spell’s "Special Effect".
<SOUND>:SUCCESS:SOUNDS/SPELLS/firewall.wav
##Path to sound resource.
<SOUND>:FAIL:SOUNDS/SPELLS/fail.wav
##Path to sound resource.
<SOUND>:CHANT:SOUNDS/SPELLS/cast4.wav
##Path to sound resource.
<CAST_PARTICLE>:SPARK: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:28
##Sets the minimum value for the Magic Attribute a character must have to use the spell.
[/SPELL]
2.4.2 Point Blank Area Spell Template
Here you'll find a Cut-and-Paste template and tag descriptions that you can use to make your own spells that cover a radius around the caster. Point Blank Area spells can be rather complex and often frustrating spells. It requires legitimate modding skill to complete and is to be attempted by a patient modder. A point blank area spell can be cast anytime, and covers a circular area around the user. The spell affects anything within the radius provided the target’s alignment is the specified one. This spell can be sent through walls, and items with a collidable tag will not block the spell (i.e. props).
This template is based on the Fire Wall 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>:*ATTACK/DEFENSE/CHARM*
<NAME>:*
<TARGET_ALIGNMENT>:*
<TARGET>:USERAREA
<RANGE>:*
<CAST_TIME>:*
<MANA>:*
<ICON>:ICONS/spellfirewall.png:ICONS/spellfirewalla.png
<DESCRIPTION>:Creates a *fill in the blank* *X* feet wide\ndamaging
enemies for *however much* damage.\n+*however many* points of damage per
*whatever sphere* Skill level.
[EFFECT]
<ACTIVATION>:USAGE
<TYPE>:HPRECHARGE
<DURATION>:INSTANT
<VALUE>:*
<VALUE2>:*
<VALUE_BONUS>:*
<VALUE2_BONUS>:*
<DAMAGE_TYPE:*
<SFX>:FOLLOWOWNER:.5:1:0:0:SPELLS/EFFECTS/FIREPUFF/firepuff.mdl:0:0
[/EFFECT]
#These are the default graphics and sounds for Fireball.
<SFX>:STATIONARYOWNER:-1:0:0:0:SPELLS/EFFECTS/FIREWALL/firewall.ams:0:0
<SOUND>:SUCCESS:SOUNDS/SPELLS/firewall.wav
<SOUND>:FAIL:SOUNDS/SPELLS/fail.wav
<SOUND>:CHANT:SOUNDS/SPELLS/cast4.wav
<CAST_PARTICLE>:SPARK:0:0:0
<CAST_PARTICLE>:TINYFASTGLEAM:0:0:0
<REQUIRES>:MAGIC:*
[/SPELL]