-Moved to Community Request - Requested changes and additions to the FE Magic system

Some help to the modders

from Elemental Forums

I'm going to place this thread here in hopes one of the Devs will see it or one of you fine Modders of note can pass it along. Having done a number of spells in EWOM and now messing with FE I can see a number of items I think we need or need adjusted to really make the magic system come alive in the game either through the Devs or the Mod community. I'm not going to debate manna pools or rates but actual code/mechanics to take this and crank it up a level. So here I go.

1. Mana Shield. Dump it. In its place add a unitstat for Magic HP (call it what you want). This stat would take damage first if there are points in it before the characters hit points. I'd add it to everyone including creatures. With that we can make shiled spells that have more detail and control over cost, points in the shield, holding costs, etc. Along with this stat having attributes for Weak (increase the damage by a percentage of the attack type, fire, piercing, etc), Strong (reduce the incoming damage by a percentage of the type), Reflect (percentage of the damage goes back to the attacker), and  Resistance (casters value to defend against negation spells). I'm sure there are a few other attributes like color and FX. This would allow for a number of spells and abilities to match up with the now various types of damage and really be a cool game mechanic.

2. Summon Item. There really needs to be a way to "summon" not just give (I can do that now) an item. This allows for spells where the caster can say for example, summon a Firesteed to ride. Costs mana to cast, mana to hold, and can be dispelled when the caster does not need it. Right now GiveItem does the first two items, but it can't dispell and remove the item. There are a number of cool ideas here with mounts, weapons, and armor that could be made.

3. A MultipleCast Attribute. We need to have the ability to make spells in which more then one target can be engaged (but not area effect) or hit a single target with multiple shots. I'm looking at the classical fantasy missiles spells were the caster can fire off a number of low damage (or high) attacks from the single cast. The new damage types makes FE a great system for all sorts of missile and even hand to hand attack spells. Ice daggers, rocks, arrows, fire darts, lightning fist, etc. Again the game can get a vast number of cool new spells.

4. Caster Level Attribute. In case it is not visible, we need to be able to use level in the composition of spell effects.

 

As more things come to mind I'll update this thread. There are scores of spells we can all add to the game if we get these changes. I think it would benefit FE across the board as well.

 

Thanks. B)

8,192 views 6 replies
Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Steven,

I'm hoping we can get some more ideas generated and get them into the hands of the Devs to get into the game. It would also be great to get some better documentation of the various tags and attributes and procedures.

ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

I've started rolling through the files and working to get the magic system overhauled. I've scaled back the Evoker to 20% per and activates as a possible trait very 4 levels instead of all of them at levle 3. Also change Path of mage to 20% so at best you can double the damage of a spell once you hit 20th level. I'm going to work on some of the other magic related traits and also see about getting some spells dumped in as I can over the next few weeks. I'm looking to stike a good balance between caster and melee without having to nerf or cap either one.


 

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

4 is already possible, see sunder.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Capn, reply 3
I've started rolling through the files and working to get the magic system overhauled. I've scaled back the Evoker to 20% per and activates as a possible trait very 4 levels instead of all of them at levle 3. Also change Path of mage to 20% so at best you can double the damage of a spell once you hit 20th level. I'm going to work on some of the other magic related traits and also see about getting some spells dumped in as I can over the next few weeks. I'm looking to stike a good balance between caster and melee without having to nerf or cap either one.


 

When modding abilitybonusoptions, keep in mind that they function like improvements. That is, if you use the same internalname, they will keep their gamemodifiers from the core files. And modding directly into the core files should have no effect in a beta. If you are looking to play with modded corefiles, you will need to add -localdataonly to your FE shortcut

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Heavenfall,

Thanks. Call it brain damage from the week here at my home with things. Level works. I did use the tag for changes to the traits. I also have localdataonly active. Biggest pain in the arse is win7 Pro likes to "help" by placing modded files in the virtual storage folder unless you own the folder. Took me a minute to remember that from the EWOM beta. One interesting thing I've seen after two quick game starts is the AI players getting killed off by the local creatures. I'm only playing small map with 3 AIs to test things out. First game ended quick with two factoins getting wiped out and laeving me to take down the other. Once I get things cleaned up more I'll see if anyone wants to take it for a spin.

Thanks again. Can't wait for your your new FE mods. B)