Okay, a lot of people have asked for the "Scorching Ray" spell from 3.5e, and I got to wondering how hard it would be to add a spell. Anyone have an idea? We could reuse graphics from Produce Flame or Searing Light, but what files would have to modified? I assume that spell_enum.mes, SpellEyeCandy.mes, and SpellList.mes are the ones involved. Anyone have any idea how difficult this would be? Are there more files besides these three and the .py?
Never tried to even think about it before. Assumed it was too hard. I think the main problem would be to establish the links between files. We have no idea how the things work in the exe and we obviously can't write any new stuff in it, so basically we're only playing with half a deck of cards here, so to speak. First of all, I guess there needs to be a new .py file? I mean all spells (I think) have .py files which are called when the spell is cast. I suppose someone could write a .py script for Scorching Ray but would it be properly linked (I mean properly called when someone casts it)? We could use some functions from other spells like: target.obj.condition_add_with_args( 'sp-Produce Flame', spell.id, spell.duration, 0 ) but then it would be hard to modify any parameters for it since this appears to call an exe function. We could write something from scratch but that would mean having good knowledge of Python which I obviously don't have. I'm also unsure if we need to add something to utilities.py to make things work. Some scripts appear to need some function from utilities.py? If we can't get the exe to recognize a new spell.py, I wonder if we can just hijack some non-functional .py files like that for Hold Portal and use it for something else like Scorching Ray. We'll most probably have to make the adjustments to spell_enum.mes, SpellEyeCandy.mes, and SpellList.mes as well. Maybe those .txt files in rules/spells too. There are quite a number of files involved and if we miss one, the spell will never work. It's an ambitious project no doubt, but with my very limited skills and knowledge I really can't guarantee that we'll succeed in doing this. Anyway since senior, more experienced staff are around today, it'd be better for them to comment.
