Spell VFX Changes?

Hello, all.

While coding in some spell changes I've decided to make a couple of modifications to a few of the spell visual effects with the next hak update. So far changes will be going in for wall of fire and blade barrier.

I'm considering altering the projectile model for fireball to better reflect pen and paper D&D, with a smaller projectile rather than the default huge ball of fire flying through the air (the emphasis of fireball has always seemed to be the boom at the end). I'd be sticking with a larger fiery projectile for the higher level delayed blast fireball.

Speaking of delayed blast fireball, I'm going to eventually be changing it so that instead of the spell waiting for an enemy to cross into the "trigger", it detonates after a pre-chosen time (based on a simple VC command (probably ;;dbf x), anywhere from 0 to 5 rounds after casting, default of 3 rounds)...basically the same as pen and paper D&D. It can then be either a more powerful fireball or a magical bomb on a timer, decided upon on the fly by the caster.

So...what do y'all think? Yes/no on shrinking the 3rd level fireball's projectile? Opinions on other spell visuals that you think need to be changed?

Sounds good.

Disarming wave... Maybe give that a more prominent "pulse" vfx? Not that I use it much, but when I do, most of the time I can't tell if the spell has actually fired off without scrolling back through the combat log (which isn't quite feasible in the middle of a fight!)

Cloud of Bewilderment.... Even on my laptop, the VFX for that one causes some graphics lag. Perhaps try something new with that one?

Yes - agreed for all ideas thus far

Oh, another one... Mirror image.

This one needs a VFX change/function change.

Not sure how to change it's functioning, but the shadow NPCs it creates completely nerf the spell's intention.

Perhaps instead of shadow NPCs, use the same funciton that Flame Twin does to create actual duplicates of the caster (but at 1 HP each), and have them set to do nothing. NOt attack, not move, nada; totally separate faction that's not hostile towards anything or anybody. This would limit the caster to not really moving too much away from where he cast the spell, but it would be very nice against say, archers.... The duplicates won't run at the enemies, but would still cause the enemies to waste shots at duplicates rather than focusing on the caster.

That... or place an abstract VFX on the caster, and simulate the duplicates via DR or concealment or something with a "duplicate counter" on the caster... Every time the PC would be damaged by an attack, reduce the "duplicate counter" down by 1... when the counter reaches 0, no more simulated duplicates/no more protection.

Either way... that spell is really pretty awesome in PnP, but the way it's implemented now... meh.

As I stated in another thread, the Sorcerer Paragon ability could use a little more 'boom' to it beyond a blast of rainbowy death.

I'm in favor of all of the suggestions so far though

True that!

Just changed models for all of the "cloud" spells. They will all be a bit more diffuse and easier on the ol' graphics engine, and will no longer all hug the ground at knee-height.

It turns out the default way NWN handles area of effect spells (such as cloudkill, blade barrier, and many others) is to take a simple model and duplicate many times for random durations to fill the predefined area of effect. I'm going to be changing that so the models for some spells are bigger (to make up the area of effect) but are only called once to cut down on graphical lag.

Thinking about how to update mirror image. I originally had it creating exact physical duplicates of the caster, but it ended up being massively laggy (even after removing any non-visible inventory from copies to remove any chance of duplicating items). I'll have to look into the flame twin code to see what can be done there.

As far as disarming wave, I'll add a visible pulse or an "impact" VFX or something else to make it more obvious.

Sorcerer paragon ability, I'll think about it. I'm sure there's more than could be done.

After I recode delayed blast fireball, it will leave behind a nice visible "timer" object that you can see counting down the rounds. Of course, only the caster will know how many rounds it starts with, but the passage of rounds will be visible to anyone. I wouldn't recommend "using" the object though, unless you want to trigger the explosion early.

I also made some new "spell projectile" models that might lead to a few new lower-level spells in the near future.

Delayed blast Fireball's timer function, as well as the ;;dbf x command are working nicely.... the only thing I seem to be missing is the "timer object" that is supposed to count down.

daveyeisley wrote:Delayed blast Fireball's timer function, as well as the ;;dbf x command are working nicely.... the only thing I seem to be missing is the "timer object" that is supposed to count down.

You'll need the latest updates hak file. It's a brand new model I made that shows the passage of in-game time.