Galactygon

December 20, 2023

Have you looked at implementing some 2e lore abilities for higher-level druids, which become Hierophants? They gain the ability (not HLA) to summon various types of elementals and paraelementals in addition to being able to travel to the inner planes. The latter is difficult to adapt for the BGEE/IWDEE series, so instead I suggest to replace it by the ability to shapechange into said (para-)elemental, with more elemental shapes unlocked at higher levels. That would mean they automatically recieve these elemental shapes instead of them having to spend level-ups to select those shapes via a HLA menu. A title change for "Hierophant" would also be cool, once the Druid is past a certain level.

December 14, 2023

Congratulations on the release David! I'm very impressed you were able to go around the limitations of IE with these never-before seen options! Being able to multiclass druids into something other than fighters as well as the bonus spell slot being restricted to the spell of that specialty for specialists has long been a wet dream of mine. Were you able to use the EE's UI functionality to get around all these limitations?

I haven't downloaded the mod yet, just read the readme. Spells belonging to several schools is also a nice feature that was cosmetic in oBG2 but was rolled back in the EEs due to engine limitations (i.e. having the same spell available for several specialists as an option during character creation). I wish it were possible to have a spell belong to multiple schools in all respects (i.e. save penalties imposed by specialists, doesn't bypass Spell Immunity of that school, etc.) The elementalist system is also impressive, especially if you were able to pull off the scribe scrolls bonuses/penalties. Was that coded via the UI as well?

December 6, 2023

Best of luck to you!

December 4, 2023

Thanks for the find, looks like this is content for the Fixpack? @CamDawg

I'm somewhat for changing the projectile instead of the description simply because the description is so iconic and ingrained (much like how 2.6 increased the radius of Invisibility 10-foot with a new projectile). I don't think it's really a nerf to this spell because the effects in BG1EE/BG2EE/IWDEE are applied once initially and the characters are free to move around subsequently. Unlike in PnP where the 10-foot is a physical barrier that moves with a target creature.

December 4, 2023

333s, 326s, 146 p2=2 should behave just like any other opcode in terms of turning/deflection/trap so it's a bug in 2.6.6 if they do not work in nondecrementing reflections/deflections. Force Missiles, Vitriolic Spheres, initial casting of Shrouds of Flame, and even the initial leg of IWD Chain Lightning should be completely reflected/deflected/trapped which would have knock-on effects onto secondary targets. Force Missiles and Vitriolic Spheres with their explosions should be completely reflected/deflected/trapped if the initial target is protected which should protect additional targets adjacent to the initial target. Once a Chain Lightning or Shroud of Flame has hit the initial target, subsequent legs should ignore/bypass any reflections, deflections, and traps because those effects are applied via an area of effect projectile.

December 3, 2023

4 minutes ago, Luke said:

Prior to v2.6, that was also true for decrementing reflection opcodes (such as op200...) So this behavior was flagged as a bug and got fixed for the decrementing reflection opcodes but not for the non-decrementing ones...

December 3, 2023

The only spell where it's worth tinkering with different power values is Breach (first dummy effect uses power = 5, rest use power = 7 or 8 ) if the intention is to have it bypass Lich/Rakshasa immunities + GoI but still be turnable by Spell Turning. Msectype will need to be something other than MAGICATTACK which is hardcoded to bypass turnings/deflections/traps. AFAIK the game uses the power level of the first turnable/deflectable effect to determine how much to decrement the levels remaining in turning/deflection/trap effects. The rest of the effects that use a higher power level are still turned (since Spell Turning/Trap reacts to power=1-9) but are not used for calculation.

Luckily, there's no spell/ability in the game that turns/deflects/traps level 5 spells but not level 7-8 spells, so this trick can be used for once.

December 3, 2023

19 minutes ago, DavidW said:

Ice knife

Power=0 for the 333 is intentional - I want the secondary explosion to happen even if the target is immune to 1st level spells

If the target has Spell Turning then the explosion will not be turned while the projectile (and rest of the effects) will be. Mordenkainen's Force Missiles and IWD Chain Lightning also have this conundrum (opcode 102 on primary target will stop the chain /area of effect). So far I haven't found a way to bypass this sort of behavior (selectively ignore opcode 102 while still respecting turnings/reflections) without some other drawbacks unless @Luke or @kjeron have found another way.

December 3, 2023

Thanks for considering. The rest of the spells that I didn't comment on seem good from a naming/lore perspective.

@ Fiendish Warding

"Shield of the Tanar'ri" makes sense in terms of symmetric naming consistency in this case, since Chaotic Priests aren't prevented from using "Shield of the Archons" in BG2. If we were to insist on having spell names that is neutral in the Lawful-Chaotic spectrum then they could be something along the lines of "Shield of the Celestials" and "Shield of the Fiends". I think either method would work fine in BG2 if the naming is consistent. ("Healing Mist" is a good replacement for "Mist of Eldath" imo)

@ Pebble to Boulder

It might make sense to invent a new spell name i.e. "Rock Shards", "Rock Missiles", "Lance of Stone", or reuse the level 1 spell "Stone Missiles" name from 3rd edition. Another possibility is to consider Melf's Minute Meteors both an Earth and a Fire spell, which has a great deal of overlap with Pebble to Boulder.

Here's what I found in DnD lore when it comes to direct-damage Earth spells. Not much on level 3 apart from "Dacul's Elemental Earthen Blast", unfortunately. See below.

Cone of Earth

Spoiler

Name: Cone of Earth

Level: 5

Area Of Effect: (5' long x 1' wide)/lvl

Casting Time: 5

Comp: V, S, M

Duration: Instantaneous

Range: Cone

Save: 1/2

Description:

This spell lets the caster shoot forth from his fingers a Cone of Earth 5' long and 1' wide in diameter per level of the caster. The cone inflicts 1D4+1 damage per level of the caster, to a maximum of 10D4+10 at 10th level.

Creatures of up to Large size struck by the cone are partially buried and must spend 1D2 rounds digging out. During this time, victims are +3 on their initiative rolls and considered held as by a Hold Person spell or similar effect. (See the combat modifiers section in the PHB.)

Those victims who make a successful Saving Throw -vs- Spell suffer half damage and are not buried. Huge and Gargantuan-sized creatures cannot be buried by this spell.

The caster must be standing on earthen ground, not rock or sand, for this spell to function.

The material component of this spell is a small piece of fool's gold.

School: Invocation/Evocation

Type2: Elemental Earth

Dacul's Elemental Earthen Blast

Spoiler

Name: Dacul's Elemental Earthen Blast

Level: 3

Area Of Effect: 25' diameter globe

Casting Time: 4

Comp: V, S, M

Duration: Instantaneous

Range: 10 yards + 10 yards/lvl

Save: 1/2

Description:

This deadly spell was designed by Dacul to combat those who where immune to both fire and cold. He came up with this spell after he saw the success of his Elemental Shards spell against most targets. When cast, he gates in a solid 6" ebon black sphere from the plane of mineral. This sphere shoots forth toward the target area. When it reaches it destination, it explodes from the inside out. This causes small shards of the ultra-hard mineral to rocket out from the detonation point in a spherical pattern. Note that for each three full levels that the mage has attained, an additional die of damage is caused by this spell (2D? at 4th-5th, 3D? at 6th-7th, etc.), to a maximum of 10D? at 20th level.

Note that the number of die rolled for each target stays the same, but they type of die rolled is entirely dependant upon the target's distance from the detonation point. This is due to the rapid loss of momentum of the shards as they travel from the epicenter.

The die type starts at D10 and is reduced by D2 for each full 5' radius from the center of the attack point the target is (5' radius, D10; 10' radius, D8; 15' radius, D6; 20' radius, D4; 25' radius, D2; with any target further away not being harmed by the spell).

The knockdown die is based on whether the target makes their save. The target suffers a negative penalty based upon their distance from the center of the blast for this save (this single save functions for both damage reduction and this check against the chance for a knockdown). At 5'-10', they suffer a -2 to their save. At 15'-20', they suffer no penalty. And at 25', they gain a +2 to the save. If they fail their save, the DM must roll a die size equal to the damage die size. If the number rolled is high enough to require a Save -vs- Death, then they must make such a save or be knocked down. if the die roll is not high enough for their body size, then no additional effect occur.

Note that this damage will bypass most forms of magical protection. The missiles created by this spell are not magical and therefore, are not stopped by protections that stop them. Nor are they considered Magic Missiles, so that will not help either. Protection from Normal Missiles will stop them, but Minor Globe of Invulnerability and Globe of Invulnerability will be of no help. A wall would also provide protection and provide a bonus to the target's save (bonus at the DMO).

The material component is a small ball of bat guano mixed with phosphorescent chemicals, placed within a hollow (or porous) volcanic rock.

Note: This spell is almost exclusively unique to Dacul. He has given it to only a vary few select mages and Paladins (some paladins are also spellcasters).

School: Invocation/Evocation

Type3: Elemental Earth

Type2: Dimension

Dacul's Elemental Shards

Spoiler

Name: Dacul's Elemental Shards

Level: 2

Area Of Effect: 20' diameter target area

Casting Time: 3

Comp: S, M

Duration: Instantaneous

Range: 30 yards + 3 yards/lvl

Save: Special

Description:

Originally designed to be a superior replacement for the 1st level spell magic missile, this spell does in fact prove to work better with that spell as a long/short-range attack combo, than as a base-level replacement. Together, they provide the ability to strike at targets even if protected by magic that would defeat the other spell.

This spell creates 2 shards per level that each causes 1 points of piercing damage. There is an upper limit of 40 missiles at 20th level. For each three shards fired at the area of effect (round up), the caster gains a +1 To Hit using a Fighter's THAC0 to strike. Add this number to a normal THACO roll. This is the caster's unmodified "To Hit" number which is then, after being modified by the saves described below, compared against the target's Armor Class. If it is good enough to hit them (a natural roll of 1 misses everyone), after all modifications (saves, bonuses to hit for number of missiles, cover, etc.), then they are struck by a number of missiles dependant upon their body size.

Each individual within the 20' diameter target area may roll a Save -vs- Breath Weapon. If it succeeds, then may they roll another, and another, and so on. Once they fail a save, they are done. Total up that individual's number of successes, and that number functions as a negative penalty to the base THAC0 number rolled above, for that target only, to hit them with this attack. If they roll a natural "1" during the process of making these save(s), then the whole attempt to dodge the missiles fails and they are automatically hit by the number of missiles according to their body size as described below (even if the attack does not damage them, they are still hit).

Note that the missiles themselves are not magical, but are able to hit and damage creatures only hit and damaged by +1 or less magical wepaons. The magical level of effectiveness increases by +1 per 5 full levels of the caster (round down). So, a 9th level mage casting this spell could hit +2 or lesser magical beast with this spell.

Target's struck are hit by a number of missiles based upon their body size. Target's are hit by a number of missiles as listed below.

Tiny 1 missile

Small 1D3

Medium 1D6

Large 2D4

Huge 3D4

Gargantuan 3D6

Target within the area of attack are hit based upon their size. The largest are hit first, rolling their numbers to see how many missiles hit them, then subtracting that number from the number of remaining missiles. When all the missiles are gone, or all subjects in the target area have be struck or missed, it is over.

This spell gates in these missile from the quasi-elemental plane of mineral. When gated in, they shoot out of individual micro-gates to streak towards the targets. The gates themselves are simply small pale blue vertical slits in the dimensional fabric which allow the material to slip into this dimension. The missiles themselves look much like armor-piercing arrowheads, however, the tapering end of them has been stretched out to almost three inches and they have been thinned down to only 1/8 an inch in overall thickness (hence the minimal damage per missile).

When cast, the mage can do as little as flick his wrist toward the target area and have the missiles gate in or he can sweep his arm across a 140_ arc and the missiles will gate in on a basic plane following his arm. Note that this spell generates missiles which, once through the gate, are no longer magical. They are not stopped by spell which negate Magic Missiles, nor are they affected by spells which negate magical weapon attacks. However, spell which have no effect on magic missile, such as Protection from Normal Weapons and Protection form Normal Missiles will reduce or stop this attack. Shield has the same effect against this spell as it would against other non-magical missiles.

Note that the damage potential of this spell may seem high, or its abilities may seem to exceed that of a normal 2nd level spell. However, this is not true. The damage of each missile is minimal at best. The fact that most human sized targets would only be hit by 1D6 of them (and only a vary few man-sized targets would be effected by the spell until very high levels) limits this spell to the back row for most combat oriented mages as there are may other 2nd level spells which provide much more damage at much longer ranges. Even if you think that the 40 points of maximum possible damage is excessive, look at Magic Missile, which, by 9th level, is causing up to 25 points of damage with a minimum of 10. This spell, at 10th level, only causes 20 points of damage at best, with a high chance of those in the target area not being affected at all (by 10th level, mages are facing targets who can make enough saves to make this spell all but worthless).

The material component of this spell is a piece of shale in the shape of an arrow head and a diamond, valued at 500gp or more. For each casting of this spell, a shale "arrow head" is required and the diamond is reduced by 50gp in value. When it reaches 0gp in value, it is a worthless lump of coal. Lack of either of these components makes the spell uncastable.

Note: This spell is almost exclusively unique to Dacul. He has given it to only a vary few select mages and Paladins (some paladins are also spellcasters).

School: Invocation/Evocation

Type3: Elemental Earth

Type2: Dimension

Hail of Stone

Spoiler

Name: Hail of Stone

Level: 1

Area Of Effect: 5-ft sq/level

Casting Time: 1

Comp: V, S, M

Duration: Instantaneous

Range: 120 yds

Save: None

Description:

Upon casting this spell, the wu jen summons a rain of stones in the area of effect, causing damage to creatures and objects within the area. An attack roll is made against every creature in the area of effect, at the caster's chance to hit. A hit means the creature has been hit by one or more stones falling from the sky. The damage caused is 1d3 points per level of the caster (10d3 maximum). Any number of creatures can be struck by these stones if within the area of effect.

The material component for this spell is a piece of jade worth at least 1 ch'ien (5 gp), which is thrown at the desired target.

Notes: Common in oriental settings; otherwise very rare.

School: Conjuration/Summoning

Type2: Elemental Earth

In 3e, there's a 1st level spell called "Stone Missiles" which functions as Magic Missile (source: Dragon Magazine vol 285)

Spoiler

STONE MISSILES

Evocation

Level: Sor/Wiz 1

Components: V, S

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)

Effect: Missiles of rock

Duration: Instantaneous

Saving Throw: None

Spell Resistance: Yes

A number of small stones fly toward 1d4 targets. You must succeed at a ranged touch attack to hit each target. A single creature cannot be made a target more than once per casting. The stones inflict 1d4 points of damage per level of the caster (maximum 5d4) per target. The stones disappear after striking their target or flying to the maximum of their range, whichever comes first.

December 2, 2023

I have some comments on the new Stratagems of Mystra spells (if I may without having downloaded the mod), assuming you are intending to be faithful to the 2nd edition and then 3rd editions.

Ice Knife: There's a 1st level spell in the source material called "Ice Shard" that does exactly what your spell does, but for some reason it didn't make it to the Spell Compendiums. It's in Dragon Magazine Issue 243, page 90, see attached snippet pdf. In 2e DnD, Ice Knife is a 2nd level spell which PS:T faithfully implemented.
Stonefist: In 2e DnD, there's a 1st level alteration spell "Fist of Stone" that does something similar, though it's a more persistent effect. See attached snippet from Spell Compendium vol 2 with description. I suggest either renaming this spell to the ADnD version or renaming it to something completely different so no confusion happens in case there's another mod introducing "Fist of Stone".
Turn Pebble to Boulder: In 2e, this spell is level 4 rather than level 3. I think there's already a few mods that introduce the spell at level 4 so this would cause confusion unless you rename the spell to something completely different. There's a 2nd level spell called "Threestones" which is also similar, see attached snippet from Spell Compendium vol 4. I couldn't find anything similar in the source material for level 3 at the moment.
Storm Bolts: Currently this spell sounds like what the 3rd level "Scintillating Sphere" spell does but at a much higher level. Then there's also an 8th level spell called "Web of Lightning". Would it make sense to rename this spell to "Sphere of Lightning" or "Storm Sphere"?
Veridon's Icy Ray: Could I suggest renaming this completely new spell so it sounds more "oomphy" in the English language? Currently it sounds like a trivial low-level single target spell, just based on the name. Some alternatives: Veridon's Polar Beam, Veridon's Deep Freeze, Veridon's Frigid Beam, Veridon's Binding Beam. AFAIK there's an 8th level "Polar Ray" spell in 3rd edition, though it's single target.
Fiendish Warding: There's actually an evil version of "Shield of the Archons" spell in DnD lore. It's called "Shield of the Tanar'ri".

Dragon Magazine_no243_p90.pdf

December 1, 2023

Thanks for your contribution and energy throughout all these years, you literally seemed to be everywhere! I completely understand that there are other things in life to look forward to beyond modding.

December 1, 2023

15 hours ago, Luke said:

Right. I'm wondering if this patch should also be part of the fixpack... Probably not, there would be too many resources to check...

Not a bad idea. Such an extensive change would need to be discussed first imo.

November 4, 2023

AFAIK repeating effects such as poison or opcode 272 do not fire for frozen creatures during time stop but do for the caster (I guess you can set stat 197 IMMUNE_TO_TIME_STOP). Global targets have the potential to affect creatures in other areas which is a larger drawback than a very large area of effect projectile guaranteed to cover the entire map being frozen during time stop.

November 3, 2023

There's absolutely nothing wrong with using a helper creature in this case - it's quite easy. You need the creature to recurringly (say once a second) cast a spell with a large radius projectile that bypasses solid obstacles (bit12 among the projectile explosion flags) to cover an area that sets a SPLSTATE for a very short while and you've got yourself covered. You don't even need scripting to do this. The only drawback is that the repeating opcode 272 doesn't fire during time stops and cutscenes but that's quite manageable without jumping through hoops.

I'd use custom areatypes very sparingly as a few community-wide agreed ones.

October 14, 2023

Actually, if the code were to be changed so non-player selectable classes default to corresponding Wizard/Priest levels without needing CASTINGLEVELBONUSMAGE and CASTINGLEVELBONUSCLERIC to be set then I'd be in favor of additional extended headers down to 1 (which is highly doable in WeiDU), but that's outside the scope of the fixpack as of 2.6.6.

October 13, 2023

While I think duplicating extended headers isn't as complicated as they seem at first glance, a stronger argument against this change is how most creatures i.e. Genies do their spellcasting without any wizard or priest levels which defaults to 1. You'd also have to patch every single spellcasting creature in the game so they have nonzero CASTINGLEVELBONUSMAGE and CASTINGLEVELBONUSCLERIC which can be a headache not to mention mod compatibility as they have to change their creatures as well.

October 13, 2023

Yes.

October 13, 2023

On 10/11/2023 at 3:11 PM, argent77 said:

Relevant WeiDU code:

Reveal hidden contents

// Intermediate filter spells
ACTION_DEFINE_ASSOCIATIVE_ARRAY reg_spl BEGIN
  // original SPL resref, cur. HP => intermediate SPL resref
  "trollreg", 12 => "#trollrg"
  "cdhgtrl", 12  => "#cdhgtrl"
  "cdtrlblz", 12 => "#cdtlblz"
  "cdtorgal", 12 => "#cdtorgl"
  "cdiwdtr1", 10 => "#cdidtr1"
  "cdiwdtr2", 10 => "#cdidtr2"
END

ACTION_PHP_EACH reg_spl AS keys => resref2 BEGIN
  OUTER_SPRINT resref1 $keys("0")
  OUTER_SET cur_hp = $keys("1")
  COPY_EXISTING "%resref1%.spl" "override/%resref2%.spl"
    LPF DELETE_SPELL_EFFECT
      INT_VAR opcode_to_delete = "-1" // all effects
    END
    LPF ADD_SPELL_EFFECT
      INT_VAR
        opcode = 318        // Protection from resource
        target = 1          // Self
        parameter1 = cur_hp
        parameter2 = 144    // STAT CURHITPOINTS >= [parameter1]
      STR_VAR
        resource = EVAL "%DEST_RES%"
    END
    LPF ADD_SPELL_EFFECT
      INT_VAR
        opcode = 146      // Cast spell
        target = 1        // Self
        parameter2 = 1    // Cast instantly (caster level)
        timing = 1        // Instant/Permanent until death
      STR_VAR
        resource = EVAL "%SOURCE_RES%"
    END
  IF_EXISTS
END


// Regeneration items
ACTION_DEFINE_ASSOCIATIVE_ARRAY reg_itm BEGIN
  // ITM resref => Intermediate SPL resref
  "trollreg" => "#TROLLRG"
  "cdhgtrl"  => "#CDHGTRL"
  "cdtrlblz" => "#CDTLBLZ"
  "cdtorgal" => "#cdtorgl"
  "reg1hp2"  => "#CDIDTR1"
  "cireve"   => "#CDIDTR2"
END

ACTION_PHP_EACH reg_itm AS resref1 => resref2 BEGIN
  COPY_EXISTING "%resref1%.itm" "override"
    LPF ADD_ITEM_EQEFFECT
      INT_VAR
        opcode = 232      // Cast spell on condition
        target = 1        // Self
        timing = 2        // While equipped
        parameter2 = 11   // TookDamage() / instant
      STR_VAR
        resource = EVAL "%resref2%"
    END
  BUT_ONLY IF_EXISTS
END

Good change. Due to the auto-pause bug, a more robust way is to fully embed it inside a 326 (p2=145, p1=2) rather than placing a 318 protection in front of the cast spell effect. The SPLPROT.2da entry is already there in all IE games.

October 3, 2023

On 9/26/2023 at 10:38 PM, Luke said:

What do you mean exactly here...?

Let me try to explain with an example. I gave it a bit more thought so this concept is slightly modified.

A hypothetical use of param2 (if nonzero) for that function would somewhat approximate a physical protective globe around the caster for all effects that are delivered via a projectile or global/party/same as kin/etc. For example, if it's set to 5, then it would make the following checks:

1. if the projectile used by a blockable effect is single-target but not a line (i.e. scorcher) or a path (i.e. lightning bolt), then check if the caster of the projectile is within 5 feet before blocking it. If the caster of the single-target projectile is the same as the protected creature then the distance is 0 and the effects will always get through.

2. If the projectile used by a blockable effect is area of effect or single target but line or path projectile, then look at both the distance between the caster of the projectile and protected creature as well as the point of explosion and protected creature. If both are less than 5 then the effects get through.

3. If the effects aren't delivered via a projectile (i.e. global/party/kin/etc) then only the distance between the caster and the protected creature are measured.

If the caster is the protected creature then the distance is 0 and if the caster targets the projectile onto him/herself then that distance as well is 0. So if we use (DistanceCaster <= param2 && DistanceExplosionPoint <= param2) then a caster centering fireball onto him/herself will be hurt, which for the most part preserves original behavior. Of course the player wouldn't be able to do that because the Fireball always targets a nearby area so the measured distance would never be zero. But a wizard using Invisibility 10-foot would be able to hide himself after casting MGoI, since Invisibility 10-foot is a self-centered spell. If it's another wizard doing the casting, then Invisibility 10-foot would be blocked as it should be.

September 20, 2023

Bumping this (necroposting) because this has been on my mind occasionally and there's no really good solution that's within the scope of the fixpack. A bunch of 206s is a bandaid solution since you have to account for spell duplicates and mods will have to be diligent with iterations and duplicates.

The ideal solution would be to fix opcode 102 to be able to block all effects regardless of this flag with the following exceptions:

self- (1) and original caster- (9) targeted effectsshi
party- (3), global- (4), not party (5), kin to source (6), kin to target (7) if the caster happens to be included in those groups
and pre-target (2) if the caster is the target but the projectile is single-target

So effects carried by area of effect projectiles should be blocked where the target is (2). Then this relationship with the hostile flag can be removed.

It would be an extra nifty feature if the opcode could discriminate based on where the explosion point occoured relative to the creature being protected so it can block effects if the explosion occoured beyond a certain distance (unused param2 can be used). i.e. if you cast a fireball centered onto yourself but param2 is nonzero then it affects you.

Another shortcoming for this opcode is how it's restricted to values of (0/1?)-9. If it could handle any value up to 255 then we can create a new category of magical effects i.e. from potions and some on-hit effects that are "levelless" yet still magical and could be blocked by effects such as Antimagic Shell. Whichever these effects would be is another discussion.

September 10, 2023

Nice!

August 24, 2023

Very good looking! The water tile repetition in this map always bugged me but that's just the nature of using water tilesets.

August 15, 2023

On 8/13/2023 at 4:29 AM, testlum said:

Follow-up question to this topic. I posted a separate topic for ease of searchability in case others have similar questions.

On second thought, I would use op332 in SPL_XXX to give both the original caster and target +100% slash/pierce/crush damage for 10 seconds.

In this case, I want to close the loophole where the caster could use SPL_XXX on themselves to get +200% slash/crush/pierce damage. My idea is to remove all SPL_XXX effects via op321 on the target, then applying the damage buff after a small delay.

My question then is about timing modes. The information on EFF File Formats is quite hard to understand. Which timing mode do I choose if I want to delay an EFF by 1 tick and last for 10 seconds after the delay?

You can move the target resistance effects into another child spell and have it be linked to the parent spell via an opcode 326 param2=44 so it's only cast onto the target if it's not the source i.e. the original caster. Once that is done you need to make sure your 321 inside the child spell dispels the child spell and is the first effect in the effects order. Same with the 321 in the parent spell.

The current engine unfortunately doesn't support delayed tick timing mode, only duration tick timing mode (10).

August 4, 2023

1 hour ago, Luke said:

Let's say that if you decide to implement this feature, then there's no need to strip the immunity to 175 from RING95.itm and the like...

Also, Hold Monsters and the like (which use op175) do seem to belong to the so called mind-affecting sphere, so I think it is correct for Undead (among others) to be immune to op175...

Yes, the "bypass opcode 101" flag is preferrable over removing those immunities from RING95.itm for the sake of mod compatibility. You'd need to then add a 206/318 to Free Action to defend against SPWI324.spl since that opcode immunity isn't meant to be bypassed. Does your implementation work if the flag is set inside an external .eff?

1 hour ago, polytope said:

Would that not break compatibility with mods that introduce #175 dependent hold effects which were only intended to work on living things? Of course #175 respects ids targeting so multiple instances of the opcode could be applied against HUMANOID, GIANTHUMANOD, MONSTER, ANIMAL with the exclusion of UNDEAD but why would a modder have set it up that way if the assumption has always been that they're immune?

Some non-undead have the RING95 immunity package, anyway, and not all undead have it, most vampires get their immunities from a different item, as do most liches (which are immune to 3rd and 5th level spells anyway, so irrelevant for Hold Undead and Hold Monster).

Without the above flag implemented you could also change the HOLD and similar projectiles to exclude undead to avoid changing the spells, assuming mod spells use those projectiles. But yes, the "bypass opcode 101" flag is preferrable from a mod compatibility point of view.

August 3, 2023

I don't have any strong views on this and generally agree with the points being mentioned in this thread so far. Web effects need to be changed to only rely on the Web opcode.

For the sake of consistency, it might be a good idea to have Hold Undead use 175 and change Hold Monster to affect everything but Undead as well as remove protection from 175 from undead immunities (i.e. RING95.itm). This way, they are affected by Free Action as well.

Forums

Events

Downloads

Gallery

Mods

News

Store

Posts posted by Galactygon