AoE spells vs. STATE_IMPROVEDINVISIBILITY

[Luke]

Shouldn't all AoE spells, say Symbol (any type), Bless, Entangle, Fireball, Web, Grease, Haste, Slow, ... be flagged as BIT24|Can target invisible (SPL header, offset 0x18)? That is to say: shouldn't all those spells that use ability_target=4 (any point within range) and projectile_type=3 (AoE) be flagged as Can target invisible?

Such a change should mean nothing for the player... However, it will allow the AI (in particular script actions "Spell()" / "SpellRES()" / "SpellNoDec()" / "SpellNoDecRES()") to target STATE_IMPROVEDINVISIBILITY creatures as intended... I mean, unlike the player, the AI cannot target a location / point, so it cannot target STATE_IMPROVEDINVISIBILITY creatures with AoE spells (which is unintended...)

Am I missing something...?

Edited July 25, 2023 by Luke

[kjeron]

No, casting a spell via script overrides the spells targeting mode.  If you target a creature, the projectile will track that creature, exploding when it reaches them, rather than exploding at the targeted location.  So if they target you, you would never be able to escape the AoE.

[Luke]

3 minutes ago, kjeron said:

No, casting a spell via script overrides the spells targeting mode.  If you target a creature, the projectile will track that creature, exploding when it reaches them, rather than exploding at the targeted location.  So if they target you, you would never be able to escape the AoE.

OK, but this is true in any case, even if you are not STATE_IMPROVEDINVISIBILITY... Are you saying the AI is not supposed to "track" the Player if he/she is STATE_IMPROVEDINVISIBILITY...? That is to say: since on one hand the Player cannot escape an AoE spell cast by the AI, then on the other hand the AI should not be able target STATE_IMPROVEDINVISIBILITY creatures...?

If that is the case, I wonder if a new family of script actions, say "SpellOffset(O:Target*,P:Offset*), might help...

[Galactygon]

(Really)(Force)SpellPointCreature(NoDec)(RES)() or (Really)(Force)SpellPointCreatureOffset(NoDec)(RES)() would make sense, yes.

Edited July 25, 2023 by Galactygon

[Luke]

Just now, Galactygon said:

SpellPointCreature() or SpellPointCreatureOffset() and their RES variants would make sense, yes.

Fine, I'll try implementing them in EEex...

[Bubb]

EEex can already do this:

EEex_LuaAction("EEex_Action_NextSpellToPoint()")
SpellNoDecRES("SPWI304",PartySlot1)  // Fireball

Though a dedicated set of actions that mirror the usual ones might be convenient.

Edited July 25, 2023 by Bubb

[Luke]

On 7/25/2023 at 5:58 PM, Galactygon said:

(Really)(Force)SpellPointCreature(NoDec)(RES)() or (Really)(Force)SpellPointCreatureOffset(NoDec)(RES)() would make sense, yes.

Done.

[Galactygon]

Nice!