spell effect

[Uuldiin]

sorry ive been gone a while, i couldnt get into the boards for a few days,.. anyway



Will the spell effects be fully animated , or just plain colored circle around the hand and enemie kinda thing?

[Kintoun]

I would assume that most spells will share the same hand gestures and animations at first. But as the game progresses BHT will have each spell with a differnet animation and effects (hopefully). If BHT only had colored circles, then that wouldn't continue the graphical momentum that their beatiful backgrounds and landscapes carry. So expect some nice looking animations and spell effects on spells.

[UBIK]

yes expect some really nice spells later on, there should be some nice ones in the beginning..... hopefully

[echomatrix]

spell effects are one of the more interesting aspects of a fantasy game and i think the one's here will chew up and spit out eq spell fx. but a message to bht: keep in mind that the average player may not have a 1ghz 128mb ram p4 with a tnt2 so try to keep plenty of options open for gfx tweeking.. a good example of that would be unreal, very nice options setup there..

[Kintoun]

Or Quake. Man you could shut off everything in that game and have it run smooth as water. And most good players do that anyways so that they have 0 processor lag. Leaving the game open so that players can shut off practically anything would be awesome. That would allow for much lower comp requirements than normal.

[Indigo]

I wonder if the spell effects will reflect the power with which you cast your spells. Since its not a new spell for every level system, and our spells get stronger over time I wonder if the graphics can follow that progression...perhaps a shock spell will start out with a pretty whimpy effect but over time as your spell grows stronger and you get more powerful so will the effect? Or perhaps the more mana you put into it the better the effect? Or do you think that no matter the strength, the effect will look the same.
What might be really cool is a color system where spell x shows color pattern A,(mostly the dominant color of the cast) the mana level used shows color b's pattern and intensity ..and the nature of the spell itself (good, evil constructive, destructive could add a third color or contrast. All this could go off in a three pattern swirl.. or even better the three could mix like a prism to create not so predictable spell effects. .. probably sounds better in my mind :0 Im not even sure what I am suggesting is possible.

[Edited by Indigo on 04-03-2001 at 03:23 AM]

[Kintoun]

Good idea, I remember there is a thread called spell effects that goes over this quite a bit. But spell animation progression seems like a good idea to me. We'll all get sick of seeing the same spell over and over after awhile.

[BelDragos]

In D&D the Magic Missile spell has a varient based on the casters level. The higher your level the more missiles you got out of the spell.

[Morte]

I think Chromatic Orb is in this case a better example. As the caster gains levels, the Orb deals more damage, the secundary effects, like blindness or stunning, get more powerful, and the Orb itself changes color. If you have ever played ADnD CRPG based on the infinity engine (BG series, Torment and IWD), you'll probably have seen it, although the effects vary depending on what game you played.

[Uuldiin]

well lots of spells are similar to Chromatic orb, accually most spells are, if i remember correctly most lvl 1 priest spells all advanced during lvls

[Morte]

Not all that many really advance like Chromatic Orb. They sometimes increase in duration, or the damage they deal is more. But it still does the same thing, unlike the increasingly powerful secundary effect. More importantly, the spell doesn't look any different at level 1 or level 32, which is the topic of this thread.

[BelDragos]

The problem is that the different levels of effects depend on the different levels of power in a system that will be level-less.

[Morte]

You still have to attach a number to someone's proficiency in for example pyromancy. His skill increases, so that means that the pyromancy skill level increases. This does not need to be visible in any way, shape or form, and I hope it won't be. Let us assume that for example a 100 skill level in pyromancy is equivalent to an experienced apprentice. The character in question would trade in experience point to raise his potential in the Fire Pebble spell, which fires a very hot pebble at the target. Not having practised any magic whatsover, the character has a low potential, say 16. He goes to a teacher and practices the Fire Pebble spell, raising his actual skill in this particular spell. In the beginning, his Pebble will only be lukewarm, very small, and will therefore not do any fire damage, and little impact damage as it isn't going very fast either. As his skill increases, the pebble gets bigger, goes faster and has a higher temperature. When he has reached his potential (16), he will need to use experience points to raise his potential in the fire pebble spell. After a while, he has reached a skill level of 100. He now fires a nice and hot fist-sized pebble, with a very respectable if not spectacular speed. An extremely powerful pyromancer would be able to smash his foes with a white hot meteor with the Fire Pebble spell, which by that time is not called Fire Pebble spell anymore, but has at certain points changed name and is now called the Call Meteor spell. While training this spell, his skill level in pyromancy has increased a bit as well, due to his training. His overal Arcane magic skill has increased a tiny bit as well, as has his overall skill in the use of magic, all four types. With the appropriate mathematical formulas based on all those skills, which I won't bore you with here, the system will determine how the spells you cast look, and how powerful they are. So if, when having reached skill level 100 in the Fire Pebble spell, the Pyromancer apprantice starts training the Guiding Flame spell, it would take less effort to learn the spell, as he already has a basic skill in pyromancy, as opposed to when he was training the fire pebble spell and had no experience at all with casting any sort of spell.

All these skill levels will be invisible to the player. He will just see the result: A spell that increases in power in various ways, in this case speed, size and temperature, and which changes it's spell effect changes as well, from a small and ordinary looking pebble, to a white hot meteor.

[Kintoun]

Excellent Morte. I think thats the ideal system that Arcanity was trying to describe. And you put it into words perfectly. Rasiing your skill in general Pyromancy should not change the animations of your spells at all. Rasiing your skill in the actual spell however will. And the thought of spells changing name compliments the idea of Arcanity saying how there will be only 1 version of a spell, not 4 version, each in ordering by power (EQ uses that). Using my single target healing spell during the entire course of the game with the same name from rank 1 to rank 1,000 is kinda silly. It also help diversify Arcanitys spell lists. Because players will be using the same spell and advancing only that one, at first glance Arcanity will seem to have very few spells in it at all. But by having names change on spells based on their power, will allieviate that as well as give you an idea on just how poerful that 'healing' spell is.

[BelDragos]

Having the spells evolve as you work yourself up the scales of power for each spell does seem like a good idea.

I can imagine us sitting around our screens whoopimg as we find a newly evolved version of that Find Stuffed Animal spell. You just never know when you might need to Locate Teddy Bears.

Seriously, we must be able to use the lower forms of the spells when we want. It would be silly to heal 36 HP when we only need 4.

I hope these can be worked into the start of Beta.

[Kintoun]

Yes thats why I'm really hopeful for the idea of using a spell 'slider' to control the power of your spell as has been discussed before. Maybe this could also include which animation to play depending on the power that you choose...

[Morte]

It should not be all that difficult to take a slider into the equation. I do think that a spell from a newbie healer healing 10 HP and that of a master healer healing 10 HP should look different. And the master healer would need less mana to do it, and less time, and can do it under a lot of stress (ie in the thick of battle).

[Kintoun]

I really don't mind the spell animation looking the same. It would be good for deceiving your enemies into thinking you are not as powerful as you seem. Also since your not putting much effort into it, the effects wouldn't need to be as grand. But of course the trained eye could tell that you cast that in 1/10 the normal time for that rank of a spell so they would know your true potential as a healer. So I agree that the spell should be more stable and quicker if your that much higher lev (of course).

[Foxnix]

A changing spell effect would be nice I have found that playing a caster in some of the other MMORPGS has seen the spell get boring but, in a PvP type enviroment, I have to agree with Kintoun, you would not want the 'enemy' to see the huge grand spectical of your spell as it would give them the extra advandtage of knowing your approximate power. But on the flip side, if by showing the huge power you command with the latest spell effect you could unman your opponent into forgoing their PKing session and turning tail and running.

Just a suggestion but it does depend what you are after.

I pursonally don't play PvP so I would like to see groovey changes in my spells as I progress and am taught more of my skill of pebble throwing ( :p )

[Morte]

You could use that as well. For a skilled Illusionist, it should be possible to create illusions of very powerful versions of the Fire Pebble spell, for example the Call Meteor spell. Since illusionary sound should not be harder than illusionary objects, you could simulate an impact right in front of an advancing Goblin army. The goblins, being their usual cowardly self, turn tail and run, abandoning their earlier intentions of eviscerating you and putting your head on a Stick(tm).

[Foxnix]

The ability to bluff that would be a very useful skill to have on many levels and interactions in the game.

To go out of context a little, would it be possible to give the illusion of more coin in your hand when paying for goods and thus saving you money? It would have to have the downside of loosing a hand as a thief if you are caught though?

[BelDragos]

Anything is possible with Illusions. Are you powerful enough to make it believable? That is the question you must ask.

[Morte]

A powerful illusionist could magically disguise when paying with illusionary coins. It would take a lot of skill and mana to do so, though, as the illusion needs to remain aligned with your body at all times. It would take even more if you want to make the illusion solid, or make parts of yourself ephemeral and invisible. A very powerful wizard could mimick an Elder Orb this way.

[Kintoun]

Just good luck being able to shop anywhere in that town again because of usesing coins that faded away as you left =). Hahahah myabe there could be a trade skill which you could make fake money with? j/k

[Morte]

It should be possible to dilute the gold or silver or other expensive material the coins are made of. The difficulty is getting rid of large quantities of diluted coins without getting caught.