2 replies to this topic

[Kevin Dorner]

My latest oversized project has been to add animation and battletext (and portrait icons for player items) for all the .ITM and .CRE files in ToB that provide immunities. ie All five "x levels drained" battletext immunities for creatures immune to level drain (this will be a boon for players using the Valen mod methinks) and immunity to specific animation against SPCONFUS for things immune to confusion, etc. This seems to work fine.

The one monkeywrench in the works has been resisting the ghost-popping-out effect that Finger of Death and the Vorpal weapons use, for .CRE's and .ITM's with an immunity to Slay/Kill Target in them. The Dept. of Redundancy Dept. has placed three .BAM's for this one effect that are all exactly the same (SPFDEATH, SPDEATH3, SPFDETH3) but placing immunities to these animations (and even as well to SPFINGER which is the VVC of one of them) does not resist the effect.

This is because the slay resource is not using the usual Play 3D Effect (215) to play the animation, but instead effect # 141 which NI calls "Lighting Effects" and InfExp "VisualSpellHit", playing "effect #" 39. Where it maps effect # 39 to these .BAMs I have no idea, but as I have already told it to resist those BAM's I think that it doesn't even bother checking this if the Play 3D Effect is not used.

The effect can be suppressed by using an immunity to "Lighting Effects" but then I am wary of supressing effects that are wanted. For example: Balthazar. He is both immune to Slay and has many custom spells that use the "Lighting Effects" effect method of playing the visual effects. Making him immune to "lighting effects" will suppress both of them, as there doesn't seem to be a place (ie a resource number) to specifiy which "lighting effect" to provide immunity to; it's none or all.

Any ideas?

[Kevin Dorner]

Some items (such as the Vorpals ie the Axe of Unyielding and Silver Sword) don't cast any spells of any school; they just apply the effect directly...

But you planted the seed of an idea, so I tried it out. I created a "spell" called GHOSTPOP.SPL that has that "lighting effect" as its only effect block; made sure it is level 0, schoolless, classless, casts instantly and bypasses resistance so nothing blocks it. Anything immune to Slay I will set as immune to the spell GHOSTPOP.SPL, and I will have to find every .SPL and .ITM with a Slay effect and change the Lighting Effect # 39 to casting GHOSTPOP.SPL. Whew...

So it's doable, it's just going to take a helluva lot of effort. Who ever said that perfection was an easy thing to come by, right?

Thanks for the idea.

Edit: Ah... had to separate the two effects for Kill Target and Slay as some things are immune to one but not both. But it's coming together nicely.