Help with the Infinity Engine Spell Workshop

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I got this program off the Blackwyrm.net site, mostly because I wanted to mess around with the spells in BG2...like changing the duration for DUHM, or editing the graphics to make the sprite look cool when you have some particular buffs on etc.

However, I'm not able to make head or tail of the software. Does anyone know where I can get some help files? Or maybe some documentation which will help me get started?

More specifically, how do you change a spell's duration? All I see is a lot of technical jargon which I can't figure out, and loads of extension headers.

PS: I recently got the mod which extends spell effects to lvl 50, along with the XP cap remover which allows for lvl 50. Are these compatible with Tutu? What about SoA and ToB? My game seems to be crashing after installing those two...

[ December 25, 2004, 18:57: Message edited by: Faraaz ]

 

You might want to ask at the tool's website, http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net as the relevant people are fairly active over there.

I've not used the program itself so I can't help on that specificallly. In the meantime you might try using DLTCEP from http://www.dragonlancetc.com or Near Infinity (don't recall the link but Googling it will doubtless work). I use Near Infinity a lot, as well as an older program called IEEP.

For general tutorials on mod making try http://forums.pocketplane.net or http://forums.gibberlings3.net though I'm not sure if there's a dedicated spell one there... Perhaps I will write a simple one sometime.

As for duration, each effect has a separate duration tab. The same values are used for spells and items, and there are a selection (e.g. instant, delayed, while equipped, permanent) of possibilities. There is a number field called 'duration' in NearInfinity which is probably what you want to be changing.

If you have a more specific idea of what you want done then if you post at somewhere like Gibberlings Three or PPG in one of the editing boards then you should get a speedy answer.

The XP cap remover and Spell 50 should work fine with Tutu, SoA and ToB.

EDIT: Also, while I think about it, the IESDP at http://iesdp.gibberlings3.net describes the file formats used in the games (as well as pretty much everything else you need to know). Pay a visit there and look under the .SPL format section to see what goes where in .SPL files.

[ December 25, 2004, 19:56: Message edited by: Andyr ]

 

I posted here because I couldn't find any sort of documentation to help newbies along on their own website. All I got was an announcement of this program's release, but no help files. This can be pretty frustrating for a newbie...namely myself.

Well, I wanted to particularly change the duration for Negative Plane Protection from four rounds, which is ridiculous, to something like one round per level, or maybe even one turn, ala DUHM.

I also wanted to modify Sunfire so that it doesn't ignore Magic Resistance...that is just wrong in my opinion.

And before I forget, does DLTCEP come with documentation? I wanted to clear that up before I went and got something else.

 

I don't know about DLTCEP's documentation as I don't use it, but Avenger is a pretty thorough kind of guy so I'd assume there's something. If not, his board is at http://www.dragonlancetc.com/forums for DLTCEP.

Some spells have level based effects, for example a duration of x rounds/level or damage of 1d6/x levels. In this case there will be multiple extension headers with different caster level requirements. When a spell is cast, the highest level header the caster qualifies for is used.

So, if you wanted to modify NPP to have a duration of 1 turn you just need to go to the extension header and change the time from 28 (4 rounds) to 70 (10 rounds). Unless BGII uses 6 seconds/round, I don't recall.

If, on the other hand, you want 1 round/level then you need to make 20 different extension headers (for levels 1-20) with the same effects but different durations for each set. Note that's 50 headers if you want a 50 level progression; most editors will allow you to copy-paste an extension header but still that's a lot of work.

Ignoring magic/resistance and/or saves is all one field in a .SPL. For Sunfire, you'd just need to go to all the effects in each extension header and change this field to the value 'allow magic resistance' (or whatever the lingo is in the editor you're using).

Hope this makes sense - the best way to learn is practice.

 

Andyr has already explained the most important information regarding the extension headers and your other questions. This is general information, it means that you can apply it when working in any editor (DLTCEP, IEEP, Spell Workshop etc.)

All I can advise is not to be afraid from using the editor software. Every modder felt the same way as you: tons of unknown fields and terms there... with time you will get used to them. Just make sure to save the spell (or any file you have edited) to a different file, so while editing it, you can't make the original file corrupt accidently (which would cause a crash in the game).
I can also recommend DLTCEP and Spell Workshop to make spells.
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Let me try to solve your problem(s) with SpellWorkshop (after learning how to use it, several users have found it user-friendlier than DLTCEP but of course to each his own).

So you run Spell Workshop first time. You configure the path, i.e. CLICK the radiobutton of the game you want to use it for, and then select the path of chitin.key (of BGII). I'm sure all this went ok for you, since you said you were trying to edit a spell.

Let's try to work a bit with Sunfire in Spell Workshop.

1. File menu/'Load Internal'
2. Select SPWI523 (Sunfire) from the list
3. Click to the second (book) symbol at the bottom of the window
4. Select an extension header
5. Choose and double-click an Attached Effect (second box, Attached Effects). Do it with "HP Damage (12)" now (12 means that it's the 12nd effect on the effect list).

6. A new window appears. On the left, you can select an effect from a long list at the top, and then below you will see some help on the values of various fields of the effect you have selected. On the right, there are the fields themselves.
If you want to edit the effect you have chosen from Attached Effects list (HP Damage (12) at the moment), don't touch the list on the left top of the window, but concentrate on the right side instead.

Do you want to change its behavior against dispel magic and resistances? The Resistance field has four values, choose the one you want. To make the spell ignore e.g. Fire Resistance, choose the 4th ("Dispell/Bypass"). Bypass means that MR won't affect it.
The 'Power' field is usually equal to spell's level (Sunfire is a 5th level spell so its Power is 5).
The 'dice' field determines the damage in this case. 'Resource' has no significance in this case.

I think that the meaning of the most of other fields are obvious, if not then you will find it out anyway. E.g. to set a damage, check the explanation on the left, it tells all important details.

When making a spell (or e.g. an item), I suggest you to use already existing items, load them, save them with another name, and then edit them. In any editor, starting a new item/spell/etc using "New..." is not too good, since you will have to fill all fields (and not just modify them).


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That can't be a problem at Black Wyrm If you don't see any topic about it, just start one yourself! It's not a problem if you think it might be in wrong place, it will get moved to another forum in this case. Feel free to post ANY question you have at black wyrm forums.

The other (Black Wyrm) forums mentioned in one of the posts above (where you can get support for SPLWorkshop as well) also have a specific modding forum. As Andyr said, the black wyrm modders are also active in most of the time.

On a side note, a new version of the Spell Workshop will be released in the near future. As every tool, it has a few bugs yet, if you encounter any, just restart the program and try again, if it still does not work then report it at its forum.

Good luck in modding!

 

Ah...thanks Baronius, Andyr...that helped out great.

If I have any more doubts, I'll be sure to get back to you guys.