Hardcoded projectiles?

[Andyr]

Aganazzar's Scorcher, SPWI217, uses projectile 109. It is listed as Unknown in NI, and I couldn't find 109 in the .IDS file. Is it hardcoded?

[CamDawg]

Yeah, several projectiles are hardcoded. One thing to keep in mind is that when NI references projectiles in ability headers it counts from 0 whereas projectl.ids counts from 1.

[Andyr]

I spotted Magic Missile is also hardcoded; looks like I'll have to see which others will be appropriate to use or tinker with...

[Smoketest]

In BG2, PROJECTL.IDS has apparently incorrect key values. To get them to line up correctly, NI has to add 1 to each key value to make it match the value stored in the Ability structure. For example, you see 109 (0x6D) in SPWI217.SPL, but the equivalent entry in the IDS would be 108 (0x6C), if it existed. You can see this pattern by looking at other projectiles that are listed. You can also right-click on the projectile value in the Ability structure and select View as Hex (or decimal) to see the real value the game uses.

 

In both BG1 and BG2, a projectile key value of 0 is invalid/unused, and a key value of 1 means "no projectile". Valid projectiles start with key values of 2 or greater. The IDS has them starting with a key value of 1.

 

I don't think the game is using this IDS file. If it is, it must be adjusting the key values by +1, or adjusting the Ability value by -1, or there'd be a lot of mismatched graphics every time a projectile was launched during gameplay. Or perhaps the editor Bioware used did this adjustment automatically so they wouldn't have to manually fix their IDS file.

[CamDawg]

It's used at least in BG2. There's no other way to use a new projectile from a spell unless it's listed in projectl.ids as a lookup value.

[Avenger]

The game sometimes uses the projectile numbers as they are in projectl.ids

But sometimes uses a +1 number.

It depends on the place.

.pro files use it in BOTH ways in two different fields.

[Smoketest]

Mr. Gaider said some time ago that the game source code was a "mess," so I'm not surprised by this.