SR Revised V1.3.900 (2022 August 8th)

[morpheus562]

12 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Sorry, I had initially missed that part and ninja-ed an edit in for the previous post!

No worries, I will code it in that it can breach liches and raksasha. If playtesting shows otherwise, I will change it back to be level restricted.

[morpheus562]

So I got a beta version ready for the scripts. Overall, I needed to create 9 net new spell states needed for tracking, 21 spells needed spell states assigned, and 4 spells needed stats assigned.

Edited March 13, 2021 by morpheus562

[subtledoctor]

Okay @DavidNYC I've put up a working beta of the spell visuals mod. I put it in the Gibberlings3 Github group, any anyone in that group can edit it if need be. it has the basic spell visuals, and the MI transparency with two options - but note that I can't test that one as I'm on a Mac.

Now that I have it installable and took a look, here's my feedback on the animations. Generally, it's great, and I can't wait to play with this. A few of them don't seem balanced with each other, though:

• The new MGOI globe is a tad too faint, though it is still visible... considering it is the weakest version of this spell, it's not out of place. Just a tad faint.
• Spell Shield is just the opposite: it has a bit more hue than the other animations, and risks blocking sight of them. Could stand to be a little bit fainter.
• Dispelling Screen and Fire Shield Red are also a bit faint. If I pile on various defenses, it becomes hard to notice them.
• Acid Sheath is extremely faint. Admittedly I tested on a TOB start, which has a green background, but this was almost invisible.

Everything else I tested is looking great.

[DavidNYC]

@subtledoctor Cool. All your suggestions are tilted in the direction I'd tweak things, so I agree. New files are at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d0j4l1t4d0q0trz/DavidNYC's Better Spell Protection Feedback v2.zip?dl=0

 

On 3/17/2021 at 10:13 PM, subtledoctor said:

The new MGOI globe is a tad too faint

mGoI now adds a green overlay (myGlobeG.VVC), just like like GoI adds the peach overlay.

// Green mGoI overlay
 ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN
      spwi406 dwsw406
 BEGIN    
       LAF DK_Invis_Animations  INT_VAR mTarget=1 mCloneOpcode=102 STR_VAR mCode="406" mFile=EVAL "%file%"  mAnim1="myGlobeG" END
 END

 

 

On 3/17/2021 at 10:13 PM, subtledoctor said:

• Spell Shield
• Fire Shield Red
• Acid Sheath

Tweaked, same file names.

 

On 3/17/2021 at 10:13 PM, subtledoctor said:

Dispelling Screen

I agree it's nice to have DS brightened up on enemies. Due to its location as much as its intensity, it's tough to see on an enemy with DS+GoI+GSD+SS+FSRed. On the other hand I still prefer it subtle on my party because it's AoE and I often have it running on my PC's. So I like to limit the visual distraction effect.

You'll have to decide what you want to put in the mod, but my new solution is to use different anim for the party and for enemies. Of course you can choose to go with a single anim.

discBlue.BAM/.VVC is no longer used. k1#scre gets dsGreen (applied to everyone) and dsRed (applied to enemies only).

I permanently block dsRed.vvc for all my PC's via my custom party .BS script, but that's not an immediately mod-friendly solution. Assuming you want to implement this, I don't know best practice you guys use to accomplish this in a mod setting.

// K1#SCRE used by both dwsw510 and spwi510
 ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN
      k1#scre
 BEGIN    
    LAF DK_Invis_Animations INT_VAR mTarget=2 mCloneOpcode=101 STR_VAR mCode="510" mFile=EVAL "%file%" mAnim1="dsGreen" mAnim2="dsRed" END
END

// in my custom Party .bs script, add opcode #296 'Protection from Animation' timing=1 resource="dsRed" to every PC.
IF
    Global("My_block_DS_anim","GLOBAL",0)
THEN
    RESPONSE #100
    ReallyForceSpellRES("blockDS",Myself)      // permanently block dsRed all PC's via blockDS.spl
    SetGlobal("My_block_DS_anim","GLOBAL",1)
END

 

New animation: Sanctuary

New Sanctry.BAM replaces the existing BAM. Requires no changes to the spell and no invisibility handling (already handled by dw#hdani.spl, opcode #291). As an aside, you can eliminate the Sanctuary 'white glow' by externalizing the vvc. But I found I need that glow in-game as a visual proxy for the invisibility effect.

Edited March 20, 2021 by DavidNYC

[DavidNYC]

@subtledoctor Other comments:

1. Mod Name

I'd strongly suggest a name like "Better Mage Protection Visual Feedback" or "Better Spell Protection Visual Feedback".

"Better Spell Visuals" is fine but it could refer to "better fireball explosion animations", etc. "Feedback" is the most likely keyword I'd imagine a frustrated player would use when researching the problem this mod addresses. You might be able to think of different/better keywords. If I were putting this on Nexus, I'd seriously name it something like "How the Hell Am I Supposed to Know Which Mage Protection I Dispelled?" I think everyone would click on a mod with that name.

2. ~DavidNYC's Functional Spell Tweaks~

Let's scrap this component. I have > 700 kB's of personal tweaks to my game and there's no good reason to put this particular handful in there with an animations mod. It will just confuse people and it could conflict with the other mods you guys have done.

3. Hiding Animations (HA) improvements

SCS' HA works as desired on enemy mages, but there are some edge cases where it doesn't. Since I've gone to the trouble of handling the exceptions, here it is.

The easiest way to see if this is all working is to set up a scenario of an enemy mage + several other enemies. Enemy mage casts Dispelling Screen (AoE) and Mass Invisibility.

The DS won't be hidden on the mage's allies if those allies start the encounter invisible and/or they turn invisible during the encounter. The DS anim gives away their position and it ruins that element of the encounter. This actually comes up a lot since almost every mage pre-buffs with DS. Good examples are attacking Mae'Var or attacking Aran Linvail's compound (e.g. see AR0328.bcs. Combinations of a Shadow Mage and several shadow thieves, FLYFGT[01-04].CRE)

HA Fix 1: Some common SCS Invisibility spells don't have the Animation Hiding code. (e.g. Potion of Invisibility)

 

ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN 
	 dw#silin	// scs invisibility
	 dw#illin	// scs improved invis
	 potn10 	// potion of invis
	 sppr516	// pixie dust
BEGIN
	COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~%file%.spl~ ~override~  
		// remove effects at expiration of this invis spell
		LPF DK_CLONE_EFFECT INT_VAR match_opcode=20 multi_match=1 opcode=326 timing=4 parameter1=0 parameter2=0 STR_VAR resource=~DW#BLHDA~ END
	
		// SCS method applies effects to SOURCE (43). Later change to ALLIES(49) for any AoE Invis.
		LPF DK_CLONE_EFFECT INT_VAR match_opcode=20 multi_match=1 opcode=326 timing=1 duration=0 parameter1=0 parameter2=43 STR_VAR resource=~DW#HDANI~ END
	BUT_ONLY
END

 

HA Fix 2: Apply animation hiding to allies as well as caster for AoE invisibility spells (e.g. enemy mage casts Invis 10')

 

	ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN 
	spwi307		// invis 10'
	spwi721 	// mass inv
	sppr516 	// pixie dust
BEGIN
	COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~%file%.spl~ ~override~  
		// legacy note: allies do NOT need splstate=180, that check is performed strictly on the caster
		// 43= source, 49=allies
		LPF ~ALTER_SPELL_EFFECT~ INT_VAR match_opcode=326 match_parameter2=43 parameter2=49 END 
	BUT_ONLY
END

 

HA Fix 3:

In preparation for the next step, create a new spell state which is permanently applied to party members. Will need this so that animations only disappear on enemies, not on PC's. I'm hardcoding a new splstate.ids (200 MY_PARTY) but I'm sure there's a more dynamic and mod-friendly way to do it.

APPEND ~splstate.ids~ ~200%TAB%MY_PARTY~ 

// in my custom party .BS script, permanently assign splstate 200 to party members via MY_PARTY.spl
// would need a better way to do this in a released mod
IF
	Global("My_splstate_MY_PARTY","GLOBAL",0)
THEN
	RESPONSE #100
	ReallyForceSpellRES("MY_PARTY",Myself) 
  	SetGlobal("My_splstate_MY_PARTY","GLOBAL",1) 
END

HA Fix 4: EVERY enemy gets animation hiding by ignoring splState!=180 check. Prevent Party animations from being hidden via splstate=200 (MY_PARTY)

SCS assigns splstate DW_SCS_CASTER via the numerous mage scripts (e.g. dw#calab.spl is 'apply caster label'). DW_SCS_CASTER is splstate.ids #180 in my game (don't know if it's hardcoded or dynamically assigned).  Any invisibility spell target splState!=180 gains protection from DW#HDANI. This method prevents the party's animations from being hidden (good), but it also prevents animation hiding on all non-mage enemies (bad). This most frequently happens on enemies like Shadow Thieves or Invisible Stalkers who have received a Dispelling Screen, but it also happens on any enemy without a mage script.

 

ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN 
	spwi206 	// invis
	spwi307 	// invis 10'	
	spwi405 	// improved invis
	spwi505 	// shadow door
	spwi607		// mislead
	sppr516		// pixie dust
	spwi721		// mass invisibility
	dwsw206		// invis cast prev	
	dwsw405		// improved invis cast prev
	potn10 		// invis potion
	dw#silin	// shadow thief stealth proxy
	dw#illin	// shadow thief impInv
BEGIN
	COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~%file%.spl~ ~override~  
		// remove (opcode 318 splState!=180) from every spell 
		LPF DK_DELETE_EFFECT INT_VAR match_opcode=318 match_parameter1=180 END 
		
		// prevents my party's anim from ever being hidden, prot from dw#hani.spl if splstate=200 (MY_PARTY)
		LPF DK_ADD_SPELL_EFFECT INT_VAR opcode=318 target=2 duration=1 parameter1=200 parameter2=110 resist_dispel=0 insert_point=0 STR_VAR resource=~DW#HDANI~ END
	BUT_ONLY
END

HA Fix 5: More consistent animation reveals via Divination

Divinations without an opcode #220 'Remove spell school ILLUSION' component won't reveal animations when the target is revealed. (e.g. SR Detect Invisibility).

I give every divination ability to remove ILLUSION power=0 (because DW#HDANI.spl effects are ILLUSION power 0). This won't unintentionally dispel something like level 1 Reflected Image, and it's only applied when the target is being revealed (i.e. no revealing animations when the target is still fully invisible).

Note I've pretty carefully tweaked the Divinations to do what (I think) they are supposed to do, but some of your divination spells may not match mine. But this is also a pretty harmless effect (it's unlikely the enemy will have some other ILLUSION effect power=0).

// Match Force Visible
ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN 
		sppr114	  //faerie fire 
		spwi224e  //glitterdust 
		spwi203d  //detect invis
		sppr505d  //true sight
		spwi609d  //true sight
BEGIN
	COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~%file%.spl~ ~override~  
	 	// correctly copies if Force Visible has a save (e.g. my Glitterdust)
	 	// Non-Detection already handled by blocking Child spells with Force Visible
	 	LPF DK_CLONE_EFFECT INT_VAR multi_match=1 match_opcode=136 opcode=220 parameter1=0 parameter2=5 END
END


// Match Cure Invisible
COPY_EXISTING ~sppr309d.spl~ ~override~	//Purge Invisibility
	 LPF DK_CLONE_EFFECT INT_VAR multi_match=1 match_opcode=116 opcode=220 parameter1=0 parameter2=5 END
BUT_ONLY

// Other divination spells
// spwi515.spl (Oracle) and Thief Detect Illusion already remove all primary ILLUSION
// I replace Detect Illusion spwi322.spl with Invisibilty Purge sppr309. My spwi322.spl calls sppr309d.spl
// my SPCL232 SPCL732 Inq/Helm True sight call sppr505d


/* optional:
// dw#silin.spl is very commonly used by used by shadow thieves, djinni, and many scs scripts 
// currently dispellable but NONE primary school, therefore Thief Detect Illusion can't dispel
// SCS intent unclear. Is this supposed to mimic Thief Modal Stealth? (i.e. non-magical effect)
COPY_EXISTING ~dw#silin.spl~ ~override~  
	WRITE_BYTE	0x25	5  // primary Illusionist. Without this, Thief Detect Illusion won't work
	LPF ALTER_EFFECT INT_VAR resist_dispel=0 END // make it non-dispellable?
*/

HA Fix 6: Hide animations on enemies that begin encounter invisible via 'hardcoded' .CRE effect

e.g. see AR0328.bcs. The Shadow Thieves start the encounter invisible because of the opcode 20 effect in their CRE. But the Shadow Thief Mage contingencies Dispelling Screen when the party enters the room, immediately revealing all their positions.

COPY_EXISTING_REGEXP GLOB ~[^-]+\.cre~ ~override~  // Don't load files with - hyphen.
	READ_STRREF 0xc n1 //Identified name
 	LPF DK_CLONE_EFFECT INT_VAR match_opcode=20 opcode=326 silent=1 parameter1=0 parameter2=0 STR_VAR resource=~DW#HDANI~ RET mInv=new_fx END
 	PATCH_IF %mInv%>0 BEGIN
 		PATCH_PRINT "CRE starts out invisible: %SOURCE_RES% %n1%"
 	END
BUT_ONLY

HA Fix 99: General note on how enemy animations are revealed

Enemy animations only reappear when:

1. Party casts divination (see #5 though, several divinations do not reveal them without this tweak)

2. Enemy casts a hostile spell (e.g. see the GLOBAL effects in Fireball spwi304.spl)

But that's it. So if an enemy breaks invisibility by physically attacking, his hidden animations stay hidden. Often you won't care about this (e.g. Dispelling Screen remains hidden on a Shadow Thief who attacks). But it can be confusing on something like a Rakshasa who casts pfMW + Improved Inv, then physically attacks. The pfMW anim won't be revealed.

Edited March 20, 2021 by DavidNYC

[subtledoctor]

Excellent, excellent insights. Thanks,

20 minutes ago, DavidNYC said:

Mod Name

How about "More Recognizable Magic Protections?"

22 minutes ago, DavidNYC said:

In preparation for the next step, create a new spell state which is permanently applied to party members. Will need this so that animations only disappear on enemies, not on PC's. I'm hardcoding a new splstate.ids (200 MY_PARTY) and I'm sure there's a more dynamic and mod-friendly way to do it.

Ya, it can easily be done dynamically, and would be a good idea. But...

23 minutes ago, DavidNYC said:

SCS assigns splstate DW_SCS_CASTER via the numerous mage scripts ... Fix: EVERY enemy gets animation hiding by ignoring splState!=180 check. Instead, prevent Party animations from being hidden via splstate=200 (MY_PARTY)

If we're just going to completely remove references to the SCS spellstate, then perhaps the more efficient route would be to cannibalize it. Find and (maybe) rename it, remove it from all creatures, and EDIT - oh I see, if it is applied by script then we would have to modify those scripts, which I'm not going to do. Okay then, can add one for party members and use that.

28 minutes ago, DavidNYC said:

Divinations without an opcode #220 'Remove spell school ILLUSION' component won't reveal animations when the target is revealed. (e.g. SR Detect Invisibility).

I give every divination ability to remove ILLUSION power=0 (because DW#HDANI.spl effects are ILLUSION power 0).

Cool. Elegant solution.

29 minutes ago, DavidNYC said:

HA Fix 99: General note on how enemy animations are revealed

Enemy animations only reappear when:

1. Party casts divination (see #5 though, several divinations do not reveal them without this tweak)

2. Enemy casts a hostile spell (e.g. see the GLOBAL effects in Fireball spwi304.spl)

But that's it. So if an enemy breaks invisibility by physically attacking, his hidden animations stay hidden. Often you won't care about this (e.g. Dispelling Screen remains hidden on a Shadow Thief who attacks). But it can be confusing on something like a Rakshasa who casts pfMW + Improved Inv, then physically attacks. The pfMW anim won't be revealed.

Not a full solution to this, but perhaps an adequate hack: apply a "melee hit effect" to enemies which will 321 cancel the animation hiding spell.

It could be slightly weird if they attack and miss; they would become visible, and then when they roll a successful attack roll all their protections would also become visible. For me, I can live with that. (Especially since they are likely to be improved invisible, not simple invisible, so I am likely to pretty quickly cast some kind of divination anyway, which should reveal their protections.)

2 hours ago, DavidNYC said:

New Sanctry.BAM replaces the existing BAM.

While I like yours better than the truly awful original version, I still question why a spell like Sanctuary should have such a flashy visual.

For context: my mod adds a Sanctuary effect to all simple invisibility spells, matching the op20 effect; and switches the op116 effect in See Invisible/True Sight to op136. Op136 cancels invisibility but it leaves the sanctuary effect alone. Result, when combines with the op193 effect, is that an invisible enemy becomes visible, with a floor circle you can click, thus enabling the True Sight caster to cast or attack at them; but they will still be 'invisible' (sanctuaried and thus untargetable) to allies who cannot see invisible.

I apply the sanctuary effect with no animation, and apply a transparency effect that is canceled if the sanctuary effect is lost (if they take offensive action or someone casts Invisibility Purge or Oracle). This way, enabling yourself to see invisible makes their foot circle targetable, but as long as they are still invisible to other they will be semi-transparent. (As for the actual Sanctuary spell: it simply becomes a short-duration Invisibility, which I think is appropriate given their respective spell levels. I know it is not supposed to be real invisibility, but more like 'not noticed,' but for purposes of these games that ends up being a distinction without a difference.)

Now, the main objection I see to using a transparency for Sanctuary instead of a colorful visual effect is that it might sort of step on the toes of Improved Invisibility. That, again, is something I can tolerate. Especially if it is paired with that white glow effect. But of course reasonable minds may differ.

[DavidNYC]

11 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

Not a full solution to this, but perhaps an adequate hack: apply a "melee hit effect" to enemies which will 321 cancel the animation hiding spell.

@subtledoctor It's certainly your call if you want to do that. I feel like it happens infrequently enough that I can live with it.

I tried to replicate the problem with TRAKK01.CRE (Adratha who turns into a Rakshasa). She uses dw#mg404.bcs and pretty reliably casts multiple protections and then, after a couple of rounds, Shadow Door. However, her animations are reappearing on attack. I looked at dw#mg404.bcs and see why:

Spoiler

IF
	StateCheck(Myself,STATE_INVISIBLE)
THEN
	RESPONSE #100
		SetGlobal("invis_anim","LOCALS",1)
		ApplySpellRES("dw#hdani",Myself)  // No such index
		Continue()
END

IF
	Global("invis_anim","LOCALS",1)
	!StateCheck(Myself,STATE_INVISIBLE)
THEN
	RESPONSE #100
		SetGlobal("invis_anim","LOCALS",0)
		ApplySpellRES("dw#blhda",Myself)  // No such index
		Continue()
END

 

These blocks alone would prevent the need for the Global Effects that SCS puts in all hostile mage spells (though it might be more responsive by a couple of ticks to have them in the spell Global Effects).

Anyway, if every enemy had this in at least one script, that would solve the problem. But I'm not suggesting screwing around with that. I could swear there's at least one Rakshasa floating out there without this scripting component, but this is evidence that SCS is aware of the possibility on certain enemies. The "Dispelling Screen on a Shadow Thief" is still real, but it's less of a concern.

As an aside, the posterboy for this mod is the Shade Lord. In SHADEL.BCS he always starts combat with:

	RESPONSE #100
		SetGlobalTimer("mantle","LOCALS",EIGHT_ROUNDS)
		SetGlobalTimer("castspell","LOCALS",ONE_ROUND)
		DisplayString(Myself,121651)  // Shadow Mantle
		ApplySpell(Myself,WIZARD_PROTECTION_FROM_MAGIC_WEAPONS)  // SPWI611.SPL (Protection from Magical Weapons)
		ApplySpell(Myself,WIZARD_SPELL_TURNING)  // SPWI701.SPL (Greater Spell Deflection)
		ApplySpell(Myself,WIZARD_MIRROR_IMAGE)  // SPWI212.SPL (Mirror Image)

ApplySpell means the only log output is 'Shadow Mantle'. The player could understandably assume that refers to vanilla's Mantle or Improved Mantle. But since it's actually pfMW, the new animation reliably tells you what happened.

 

11 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

While I like yours better than the truly awful original version, I still question why a spell like Sanctuary should have such a flashy visual.

Good point. I agree it should have a ghostly visual.

Completely your call what to do with Sanctuary for the mod. If you choose to just go with a SANCTRY.BAM replacement, I'd say scrap my previous one and consider this one instead (file attached).

SANCTRY.BAM

Edited March 20, 2021 by DavidNYC

[DavidNYC]

11 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

How about "More Recognizable Magic Protections?"

@subtledoctor I think I still prefer something like "Better Spell Protection Visual Feedback", but I'm handing off the decision to you.

We're both so deep in the details that it just occurred to me how half the animations are COMBATPROTECTIONS rather than SPELLPROTECTIONS. If I had to guess the single most useful feature for an average player, it's being sure when pfMW has been removed from an enemy ("I cast Breach but I still can't damage him!" At least now he'll see the purple bulb is still there).

Anyway, the mod's headline descriptive paragraph can contain whatever keywords you think people will search for, and a couple of images are even better. "Have you ever been frustrated when you've cast Breach on an enemy wizard and are not sure if it removed his Protection from Magic Weapons? Have you cast Secret Word and wondered 'did that just remove Immunity:Abjuration or Minor Spell Deflection?' Wonder no more..."

Edited March 20, 2021 by DavidNYC

[FixTesteR]

@DavidNYC For what it's worth, when it comes to naming the mod, I prefer both of @subtledoctor's suggestions. They're short and simple and enough to the point. Even if they may not be the most exact names for what the mod stands for. My suggestion is: More Distinct Spell Visuals.

An opinion from a casual but thorough player.

Keep up the good work and let us know when we can test it and if it can be installed after a megamod install, as that's what I'm running rn.

[subtledoctor]

Well there are two questions: 1) what to call the mod folder/.tp2 file, which ought to be short; and 2) what to call the mod, which need not be short. 

For #1, I would suggest something like “recognizable_defenses.tp2” or “defensive_spell_visuals.tp2” or something like that. 

For #2, it doesn’t matter a lot to me. Something like “Better Defensive Spell Visual Feedback” sounds fine.

[DavidNYC]

On 3/20/2021 at 5:12 PM, subtledoctor said:

For #2, it doesn’t matter a lot to me. Something like “Better Defensive Spell Visual Feedback” sounds fine.

Hey @subtledoctor, after being away from this for a week, any of these variations are fine. 'Defense' is more succinct than 'mage protection' or 'spell protection'. "Better Spell Defense Visuals" or "Better Spell Defense Visual Feedback".

Selection Circle Ioun Animations

Here are a few more options to include at your discretion. IMO none of them are as 'necessary' as the ones we've already done. They're more helpful reminders on party members rather than enemies. Shield wouldn't merit an animation at all except that it grants immunity to magic missile, which I tend to use as a spell interrupter, and most SCS mages cast Shield.

I've done Shield (white), Protection from Magic Energy (purple), Protection from Fire (red), and Protection from Cold (blue). I haven't done anything for Electricity, Acid or Poison, and even Cold is fairly irrelevant. If I ever thought I wanted to animate some other spells, I wouldn't hesitate to repurpose any/all of these to different spells.

ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN 
	SPWI114 dwsw114 // Shield
BEGIN	
	LAF DK_Invis_Animations	INT_VAR mTarget=1 mCloneOpcode=0 STR_VAR mCode="114" mFile=EVAL "%file%" mAnim1="ion1Shld" mAnim2="ion2Shld" mInsert="first" END
END

ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN 
	spwi606 dwsw606	// Protection Magical Energy 
BEGIN	
	LAF DK_Invis_Animations	INT_VAR mTarget=2 mCloneOpcode=31 STR_VAR mCode="606" mFile=EVAL "%file%" mAnim1="ion1MagE" mAnim2="ion2MagE" END
END
	
ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN 
	spwi319 dwsw319	// Protection Fire 
BEGIN	
	LAF DK_Invis_Animations	INT_VAR mTarget=2 mCloneOpcode=30 STR_VAR mCode="319" mFile=EVAL "%file%" mAnim1="ion1Fire" mAnim2="ion2Fire" END
END

ACTION_FOR_EACH file IN 
	spwi320 dwsw320	// Protection Cold
BEGIN	
	LAF DK_Invis_Animations	INT_VAR mTarget=2 mCloneOpcode=28 STR_VAR mCode="320" mFile=EVAL "%file%" mAnim1="ion1Cold" mAnim2="ion2Cold" END
END

ioun orbit selection circle.zip

Edited April 1, 2021 by DavidNYC

[Salk]

Hello!

As I am about to install SRR, I would like to ask what recommendations you guys have (especially @Bartimaeus) for the .ini settings. A few of the settings I have already made up my mind about but there are some of them that I am really not sure which way to go:

- Revised Saves

- Dispel Globes

- Alternative Remove Magic

- AOE Lower Resistance

- Resist Imprisonment

Additionally, silly question perhaps but I noticed that there are several entries (ex. Petrification) whose value is set to 1 and then there is extended choice to 0 and 2. The 0 and 2 choices have a description of what they change but there is no comment about the meaning of the default value (1). How are we to interpret it?

Also one more question: has Protection from Petrification been restored after it was removed by SR? If that is the case, has it been nerfed somehow? I didn't agree with Demi wanting to completely remove that spell from the game but I thought that perhaps a much shorter fixed (1 turn?) or scalable (3 rounds + 1 round / 4 Lvl?) duration may partly justify its Level 1 spell slot.

Alternatively, an interesting possibility may be changing the Protection from Petrification spell to protect from turning into stone but with a ST vs petrification (-2?) to avoid slow and feeblemindedness effects.

Thanks!

Edited April 20, 2021 by Salk

[Bartimaeus]

What the value's already set should be interpreted simply as "the behavior as it's always been" - with the one exception of Dispel Globes. So the petrification setting is set to 1 - this means SR's normal petrification changes are enabled, whereas the other two settings offer something different. I should honestly explain all of these settings in the readme, not in the settings.ini itself - it's silly to try to explain each setting in such a constrained space.

Revised Saves: Tough call, but I don't much like having my playable characters having completely different saving throw tables compared to non-playable demihumans, so I tend to not install them.

Dispel Globes: I recommend the default setting, 1. This setting is an aberration from what I usually do, because the default behavior of non-Revised SR is actually 0, where the globe itself can be taken down by a Dispel/Remove Magic. When I was making this setting, pretty much everyone agreed that 1 should instead be the default, because 0 was too weak (it's the old BG1 behavior), while 1 (which is the BG2 behavior, where the globe doesn't immunize you against Dispel/Remove Magic but also isn't taken down by it) wasn't in any way overpowered. The "2" setting I really only made for solo players who are getting uncontrollably spammed by SCS' Remove Magic with no real way to counter it, but it could be fun for non-solo players as well. This setting applies to both enemies and players (and since enemies actually fairly frequently use globes, the distinction is meaningful and I think it's relatively fair). So if it sounds like something you want to play around with, feel free to enable.

Lower Resistance: I personally enable this. The meaningful difference here is that if you're dealing with large masses of enemies that all have very good magic resistance (e.g. drow), it actually becomes more realistic to be able to deal with their magic resistance. It's not like Lower Resistance was particularly powerful to begin with - it was pretty much only ever any good for big bad boss fights, e.g. against dragons...where this change makes absolutely no difference. This change just opens up another way of using it for some lesser enemies.

Imprisonment: I also enable this, because of how incredibly annoying Imprisonment is and there being no way to actively protect against what is effectively a game-ending spell unless you have Freedom, but I don't have a strong recommendation either way. What we really need is some kind of high level spell that actively protects against Imprisonment...and while Subtledoctor has talking about making such a thing, I don't believe he has yet.

Remove Magic: I do not have a strong recommendation either way. I think all settings have their own merits, but I haven't had extensive time to test the alternative styles. I'm most interested in seeing how the "lesser AoE breach-like effect" setting works in practice, particularly with SCS,  but yeah, no strong recommendation either way.

Protection from Petrification: It is the vanilla 5 turns with no other changes. My biggest problem with changing this spell is that...to be honest, basilisks are just a really dumb enemy. So let's say we change it to 1 turn, or even 5 rounds - what gameplay difference does this actually cause? It makes it so that...you have to re-cast Protection from Petrification after it expires, because the moment Protection from Petrification expires, you simply can no longer fight basilisks. Gee, wow, what an amazing gameplay innovation this has resulted in, . I believe Subtledoctor made it so that instead of immunizing you entirely to it, it just gave you a large saving throw bonus against it...but I think this functionality may be EE-only, though I'm not a hundred percent sure.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[subtledoctor]

9 hours ago, Salk said:

Also one more question: has Protection from Petrification been restored after it was removed by SR?

I think SR no longer removes Pro Petrification... right? It used to change it into Expeditious Retreat (right?) but since SR4b17 started using ADD_SPELL, it now just adds Expeditious retreat as a new spells and preserves the original Pro Petrification.

I think.

Anyway, yes it is a stupid spell, not much more interesting than CLUA'ing yourself a few thousand XP since it basically turns basilisks into rats. My "Random Tweaks" mod has an option to change it into "Mirrored Eyes," which uses my generalized version of IWD thieves' "Evasion" ability to give you an extra chance to save against any gaze attack - which includes basilisk petrification but also vampire charm, umber hulk confusion, and Aec'Letec's death gaze. So it gives less-than-full protection, but broader utility that is helpful even through BG2. Note, that only works in the EE engine.

TBH you don't even really need Pro Petrification with SR, you just need to boost your saves as much as possible. Even if you are affected by petrification, you have some time before you are totally frozen, and you can undo it by simply casting Break Enchantment.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

What we really need is some kind of high level spell that actively protects against Imprisonment...and while Subtledoctor has talking about making such a thing, I don't believe he has yet.

I think the Dimensional Anchor HLA-level ability in my psionics mod can currently resist it... but I guess that's a bit further afield from what you are thinking about...

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, I think since b17, regular SR no longer overwrote (or even disabled) Protection from Petrification like it used to. Thought your version was EE-only - as with myself, Salk plays ToBEx, so no good for us, . Basilisks/ProfP will continue to just be stupid free XP, I guess.