Changing spell particle effects

[Furinex]

SoW done.

Here's the Hex:

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Here's the Result:

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So, The methodology is... when you see this:

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(Which is the file you are looking for in the spelleffects folder, the one related to the effect you are editing). The name of the tga file used for that spell. Notice how it spans 2 lines. It finishes its file name on the 2nd of the 2 lines with "ga.........". The line underneath this line, is where you start counting.

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Count 7 Lines from where I just pointed out to start.

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Notice the LAST two characters of this line are "úÄ" which wont always be the case. However, this is what the hex code "FA C4" looks like. Highlight Those 2 characters (Probably . . ) and type FA C4 (You might have to try C5 as mentioned previously to get the right direction, however Ive done nothing but C4 other than the heal spell which was C5, and its all worked on the first shot).

So basically:

1. Find Spell file with the effect of the spell you want to mod.
2. Search for that file name in the spellsnew.edd file.
3. Count 7 spaces down from the "ga" of spel**.tga.
4. The last 2 characters on the right will be your mark. (4 chracters on the left pane with the Hex entries)
5. Change to FA C4 (Or C5 if you find it looks messed up still)

[azxten]

Originally Posted by Furinex [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

SoW done.

Awesome, good job. If we can get a list of effects and hex values to change we can create a complete "redone" spellsnew.edd and send this to the devs for review and inclusion in a future patch.

[Furinex]

Originally Posted by azxten [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Awesome, good job. If we can get a list of effects and hex values to change we can create a complete "redone" spellsnew.edd and send this to the devs for review and inclusion in a future patch.

So far Ive done about 80% of druid spells which can probably attribute to 30% of other classes. I will see if There is a Numbered pattern when I get home, Ive been working on this during work. Makes the time go by faster at this fucking lame IT job where no one gives a shit.

Something Im wondering and trying to fiddle with at the same time. Is FA of the FA C4(c5) required? Can it be different? Will we get different results? Can we get this to follow the skeleton instead of making this a fixed direction? Gonna keep investigating this.

[azxten]

Originally Posted by Furinex [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Something Im wondering and trying to fiddle with at the same time. Is FA of the FA C4(c5) required? Can it be different? Will we get different results? Can we get this to follow the skeleton instead of making this a fixed direction? Gonna keep investigating this.

I believe I tried just changing it to 4/5 but it didn't work, give it a try though.

I also have a theory that it is possible to get it to follow the skeleton. When I was changing things randomly I got the shielding spell to use a bunch of different effect types during the initial casting. Many of these don't look like any other classic spells.

I'm thinking that there may be a different part of the hex that could be changed to bring back the classic "type" of spell which would follow the skeletal structure.

Our main issue here, in my opinion, is that you have to reload EverQuest after every change you make. If you could make changes and test them instantly I could reverse engineer that whole file in a few hours. I just don't have the patience to set every spot to all possible values and record what happens when you have a ~3 minute delay every time.

[Furinex]

Originally Posted by azxten [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I believe I tried just changing it to 4/5 but it didn't work, give it a try though.

I also have a theory that it is possible to get it to follow the skeleton. When I was changing things randomly I got the shielding spell to use a bunch of different effect types during the initial casting. Many of these don't look like any other classic spells.

I'm thinking that there may be a different part of the hex that could be changed to bring back the classic "type" of spell which would follow the skeletal structure.

Our main issue here, in my opinion, is that you have to reload EverQuest after every change you make. If you could make changes and test them instantly I could reverse engineer that whole file in a few hours. I just don't have the patience to set every spot to all possible values and record what happens when you have a ~3 minute delay every time.

I don't believe you need to do this really... What we can do is make a prototype. Im working on this right now as a matter of fact. I have a method that will allow me to go through this whole file systematically and change them, however I dont know how to program or I would automate this. Its really very simple. Im changing all the spells right now, we will figure out C4 vs C5 after I get the whole thing done, it will be much more manageable to track down little issues with spells rather than ALL the spells.

[Telin]

These examples are the particles rendered when deleting spellsnew files on EQmac. I am not sure what files the old particles use to render these effects. I imagine it could be simple if we found them. I have played around with editing the spellsnew files myself; however, they still use the .dds spell particle images that aren't exactly classic like these examples.
When you load the spellsnew files on EQMac, the healing spell looks like it does on this server, and same for the buff spell, except that the particles flow correctly from the hands. The blue particles never come out of hands from buffs, and the healing effect is missing a ton of particles.

The GMs were informed of this bug and haven't fixed it. It's been broken for years, which leads me to believe the info for these animations may have been removed or overwritten in the titanium files. During this version of the game they were converting to the new spell particle system (which didn't all happen at once, I believe they changed the Cleric Virtue spell line first to some glowy blobs). You can see some of new spell animations in the spellsnew files that come with titanium. Some of them look like they were never implemented for any spell.

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[Lagaidh]

Ah.

This explains the particle effect on the target. Like when you cast an undead DD, in classic live the effect was a burst of sparkles. It looked like a globe of white light points; quite granular. Later on, and what we see here, the effect is more diffuse and has a shape to it like an energy burst.

[Kautin]

Originally Posted by Telin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

These examples are the particles rendered when deleting spellsnew files on EQmac. I am not sure what files the old particles use to render these effects. I imagine it could be simple if we found them. I have played around with editing the spellsnew files myself; however, they still use the .dds spell particle images that aren't exactly classic like these examples.
When you load the spellsnew files on EQMac, the healing spell looks like it does on this server, and same for the buff spell, except that the particles flow correctly from the hands. The blue particles never come out of hands from buffs, and the healing effect is missing a ton of particles.

The GMs were informed of this bug and haven't fixed it. It's been broken for years, which leads me to believe the info for these animations may have been removed or overwritten in the titanium files. During this version of the game they were converting to the new spell particle system (which didn't all happen at once, I believe they changed the Cleric Virtue spell line first to some glowy blobs). You can see some of new spell animations in the spellsnew files that come with titanium. Some of them look like they were never implemented for any spell.

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This is how i remember them on live when i played from 2000-2002. These particle effects are soo amazing! I would be so happy if a patch or a download could be done to bring all the spell particles to classic. It is simply the only way to go in my book! Keep up the good work, hopefully the more program savvy individuals can work this out! It would surely bring joy to hundreds of players. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[veejur]

Just want to add that I LOVE this. Nice work you guys who figured it out.

[Furinex]

Well, I did some work on the DOT spells for druids, I ended up going through the whole file and changing that string every certain amount of lines (Given that it followed .tga line 7 lines above). This worked. However -- Some spells are going in the wrong direction still. Not the direction we were originally seeing but a different direction. So this probably has to do with the C4-C5 value. I gotta go back through and find the one that is for the Dot but what this means is, There is much work to be done and I cant, or Azxtan probably cant handle it all. Need help finding values for spells.