Learning how to get a new spell in game

ok, so i'm making a seperate thread for this, as i'm in danger of derailing several threads already:

What i am doing is attempting to create a spell (doing the particle effect, spell .py script, mes entries, the works. (without knowing how to do most of it, im learning as i go along )

For those who havent seen my other threads (some were in the KOTB forum), i am attempting to mod in the following spell:

Yes, its an electric fireball. im starting simple. shhhhhhhhhhh

Ok, so i've done some searching around, and found a nifty little post of Allyx's that summarises what each new castable spell needs:

So i am going to be going through that list.

Most of the entries seem relatively straightforward at least, barring the .py files, so i thought i'd start with the hard part (well the particle effect is already mostly done) but anyway....

Basically i am using a modified Fireball Spell script for this spell, as they are pretty much identical, barring the electricity descriptor and electricity damage type.

Please bear in mind that i am no computer programmer - i havent done any coding since about 10 years ago, and as such, may make some very fundamental mistakes here

Here is the original "Spell171 - Fireball.py" script from toee3.dat

Code:

from toee import *

def OnBeginSpellCast( spell ):
	print "Fireball OnBeginSpellCast"
	print "spell.target_list=", spell.target_list
	print "spell.caster=", spell.caster, " caster.level= ", spell.caster_level
	game.particles( "sp-evocation-conjure", spell.caster )

def OnSpellEffect( spell ):
	print "Fireball OnSpellEffect"

	game.particles( 'sp-Fireball-conjure', spell.caster )

def OnBeginRound( spell ):
	print "Fireball OnBeginRound"

def OnBeginProjectile( spell, projectile, index_of_target ):
	print "Fireball OnBeginProjectile"

	#spell.proj_partsys_id = game.particles( 'sp-Fireball-proj', projectile )
	projectile.obj_set_int( obj_f_projectile_part_sys_id, game.particles( 'sp-Fireball-proj', projectile ) )

def OnEndProjectile( spell, projectile, index_of_target ):
	print "Fireball OnEndProjectile"

	remove_list = []

	spell.duration = 0
	dam = dice_new( '1d6' )
	dam.number = min( 10, spell.caster_level )

	game.particles_end( projectile.obj_get_int( obj_f_projectile_part_sys_id ) )
	game.particles( 'sp-Fireball-Hit', spell.target_loc )

	for target_item in spell.target_list:

		if target_item.obj.reflex_save_and_damage( spell.caster, spell.dc, D20_Save_Reduction_Half, D20STD_F_NONE, dam, D20DT_FIRE, D20DAP_UNSPECIFIED, D20A_CAST_SPELL, spell.id ):
			# saving throw successful
			target_item.obj.float_mesfile_line( 'mes\\spell.mes', 30001 )
		else:
			# saving throw unsuccessful
			target_item.obj.float_mesfile_line( 'mes\\spell.mes', 30002 )

		remove_list.append( target_item.obj )

	spell.target_list.remove_list( remove_list )
	spell.spell_end( spell.id )

def OnEndSpellCast( spell ):
	print "Fireball OnEndSpellCast"

Now, Obviously i'll have to create all the other relevant line entries for this thing to work under a new name, but for the purposes of the script, its simple enough to find+replace "Fireball" with "Scintillating Sphere". All other effects of the spell are the same, except for the damage type + desriptor.

Now, so far as im aware, the descriptor is specified in the \rules\spells\171 - fireball.txt file so hopefully all i need to worry about is the damage type (with regards to the script alone).

The D20DT_FIRE string is immediately obvious to me, and when cross referenced against Spell275 - lightning bolt.py which contains D20DT_ELECTRICITY, the first assumption that comes to me is that those strings are specifying the damage type.

Is that correct? or are there other strings that need to be modified?

If it is correct, and working under the assumption that i can correctly create line entries for the rest of the files mentioned by Allyx's post, this is what the script could feasibly look like:

Code:

from toee import *

def OnBeginSpellCast( spell ):
	print "scintillating sphere OnBeginSpellCast"
	print "spell.target_list=", spell.target_list
	print "spell.caster=", spell.caster, " caster.level= ", spell.caster_level
	game.particles( "sp-evocation-conjure", spell.caster )

def OnSpellEffect( spell ):
	print "scintillating sphere OnSpellEffect"

	game.particles( 'sp-scintillating sphere-conjure', spell.caster )

def OnBeginRound( spell ):
	print "scintillating sphere OnBeginRound"

def OnBeginProjectile( spell, projectile, index_of_target ):
	print "scintillating sphere OnBeginProjectile"

	#spell.proj_partsys_id = game.particles( 'sp-scintillating sphere-proj', projectile )
	projectile.obj_set_int( obj_f_projectile_part_sys_id, game.particles( 'sp-scintillating sphere-proj', projectile ) )

def OnEndProjectile( spell, projectile, index_of_target ):
	print "scintillating sphere OnEndProjectile"

	remove_list = []

	spell.duration = 0
	dam = dice_new( '1d6' )
	dam.number = min( 10, spell.caster_level )

	game.particles_end( projectile.obj_get_int( obj_f_projectile_part_sys_id ) )
	game.particles( 'sp-scintillating sphere-Hit', spell.target_loc )

	for target_item in spell.target_list:

		if target_item.obj.reflex_save_and_damage( spell.caster, spell.dc, D20_Save_Reduction_Half, D20STD_F_NONE, dam, D20DT_ELECTRICITY, D20DAP_UNSPECIFIED, D20A_CAST_SPELL, spell.id ):
			# saving throw successful
			target_item.obj.float_mesfile_line( 'mes\\spell.mes', 30001 )
		else:
			# saving throw unsuccessful
			target_item.obj.float_mesfile_line( 'mes\\spell.mes', 30002 )

		remove_list.append( target_item.obj )

	spell.target_list.remove_list( remove_list )
	spell.spell_end( spell.id )

def OnEndSpellCast( spell ):
	print "scintillating sphere OnEndSpellCast"

 

no replies yet? big post but i was only asking a small question

does the D20DT_ELECTRICITY signify the damage type? is the descriptor set in the script at all? or in the .txt file data/rules/spells/ folder?

anyhoo, more musings ahead for the rest of the spell. I'm typing this as i analyse the contents of various files, and i'll be researching this myself by hunting the forums, but if anyone wants to correct/inform me about anything i type, please do!

data/rules/spell.mes



I'd need to add a new line, sometime after 784, which would make my new spell's number (eg. fireball is 171). 800 & 801 are already taken, but apart from that theres room from 785-3999.

I assume that in choosing a number it would be a very good idea to check with other people handling spells/spell like effects in mods, to make sure i dont overlap numbers they intend to use Is there a common etiquette for this?


data/rules/spelllist.mes

The numbers for this file match up (with extra digits at the end) to the spell.mes number.

So 171 - fireball looks like:



Ok, some thoughts here, all the spells seem to have an xxx010, xxx011 and xxx015 line, not sure why!

But for the purposes of the fireball -> scintillating sphere conversion, all that i think i need to do is copy everything and make the [fire] into [electricity].

(it is difficult to tell at a glance whether information in these files is referenced by the engine, or merely displayed on screen or in the console at some point, unfortunately - a .mes file would imply 'messages' i would assume though, so going to work under the assumption that they are information that is displayed rather than referenced by the engine)

data/rules/spell_enum.mes



pretty bare bones file here, seemingly pretty straightforward. According to Allyx's post this has something to do with links to descriptions in help.tab (ingame help spell descriptions?) As with the others, the numbers match.

data/rules/spells/*.txt

According to Allyx's post, this is where the in-game functionality for the spell is located (other than the .py script). So hopefully, anything missing from the script is taken from here.

171 - fireball.txt looks like this

Code:

School: Evocation
Descriptor: Fire
Level: Sor 3
Level: Wiz 3
Component: V
Component: S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Long
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
Projectile: Yes
flags_Target: Range
inc_flags_Target: Self
inc_flags_Target: Other
exc_flags_Target: Dead
exc_flags_Target: Non-critter
mode_Target: Area
radius_Target: 20
ai_type: ai_action_offensive

So it has descriptor (yay), who can cast it, and at what level, components, etc.

Everything down until Projectile is pretty self explanatory - after that, some other variables are listed:

ai_action_offensive seems to mean that it will be regarded as an attack by the ai? but this kind of thing could also be handled by the flag commands... not too sure on that one. It could also define it as a potential attack for an ai controlled caster... ill have to search around.

The mode_target and radius_target seem pretty straightforward, with a 20ft area burst spell

Finally there is the help.tab entry. I'll probably leave this until last, as it is only meant to allow people to read the description in game (still a good thing, just need to get the spell working as intended before anything like that )

 

yay! thanks ted :hug: now about 'reserving' numbers for spells...

 

sweet gaear that helps a lot!

I may have a crack at the audio myself, ive dones some very basic sound effects before, but its not really my department

May take you up on the offer

Ted, do you have a general set of numbers you're using?

 

You'd actually be doing me a huge favour by absorbing my little efforts into yours, as i still havent got the slightest idea how to get an individual mod working the way your bucket of spells does

So a definite YES to that

For the time being, is it ok with you guys if i just start adding stuff after 801?

Also, for me to get my spells into your mod, is it simply a matter of me providing you with the versions of my files and you copying the lines over? or is there more work that i should do before sending them over to you i know your hands are full with kotb

 

yep cool

if they're the wrong size etc changes are easy to make

 

Bah! and here i thought i was being thorough!

time to check for typos methinks -cant add it to my book for some reason, even as a non spec wizard.

Incidentally i had to add an extra line 5802 in spell.mes for the description down the bottom, Otherwise it just had an error message listed there.

 

I'm kind of stumped here:

I checked my files, and everything seems (to me) to be in order.

The two places where i know the 'scribability' of the spell is mentioned:

802 - Scintillating Sphere.txt in data/rules/spells

spelllist.mes in data/rules

both seem to be in order.

The only 'messy' part of my spell is that the partsys lines are scattered in amongst the fireball lines (until i figure out how to move them where i want them to go).

I wouldn't think that partsys would effect the scribability of a spell?

i replaced the script with fireballs script, no dice there.

:twitch:

i'm sure its something simple that i've forgottten!

 

heres the spelllist.mes entry



and the 802 - Scintillating Sphere.txt looks like this

Code:

School: Evocation
Descriptor: Electricity
Level: Sor 3
Level: Wiz 3
Component: V
Component: S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Long
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
Projectile: Yes
flags_Target: Range
inc_flags_Target: Self
inc_flags_Target: Other
exc_flags_Target: Dead
exc_flags_Target: Non-critter
mode_Target: Area
radius_Target: 20
ai_type: ai_action_offensive

I'm thinking the problem is either caused by me having left something out, or one of my files/lines has a name that the game doesnt respond well to :roll:

 

ok found two areas in spell_enum.mes that had entries for spells

seems they have the original

xxx number

then also 5xxx and 20xxx fields corresponding to the spells.

So i added entries for those based on what i saw other spells had. No luck in fixing the un-scribeable spell problem