2. Effects
Alright! You still with me? Good. Hope you didn't give up because we've finally reached the meat and potatoes where it all starts. Before we begin, however
This is where things are going to start to get really fun. Of course, this is also where it can get a little overwhelming. Remember that thing I said about Patience? Here's where you'll start to need it. However, that's why I'm here, to bore you to tears with my bad jokes and monotone guide. Let's do this. The Effect is the vfx that will play at the appropriate time of your spell, status, or whatever you have an XEffect on.
There are a wide variety of Effects data that you can apply your VFX to. They will always be formatted as such. data "XEffect" "UUIDHere", whereas X would be where the type goes, which we will go over.
This is the effect that plays when you go to click on the spell, the effects that play during the idle time before picking a cast target. Most effects as a prepare are usually looping effects, to maintain a visual appeal and notification that you have an active spell prepared. You will usually only find these on spells and skills. Spells with the data AutoCast will skip prepare effects, as the spell is immediately cast on clicking it's associated icon.
This is the visual effect that plays the moment you confirm a target for the spell or skill. Spells with the SpellFlag ImmediateCast, will skip both animations and any cast effects.
This effect only applies to visuals that are beams. A good example is Sun Beam or Lightning Bolt.
This visual will play when the spell reaches the target, but is not to be confused with the TargetEffect. This is more like the sound a weapon makes on impact, or a blood splatter. It is often meant to be a short, quick effect to show that the spell has connected with it's intended target.
This effect is more designed for what happens to the target when the spell connects. Such as, Launching a fireball, and it lighting an object or enemy on fire.
This visual is all about the area visuals at the target. Fireball is a good example again here, as the effects of the flames bursting on the ground are a PositionEffect.
This particular Effect, along with the next one, are exclusive to Invisibility or Teleport Spells. As its name implies, this effect will play when the target reappears.
This particular Effect, along with the previous one, are exclusive to Invisibility or Teleport Spells. As its name implies, this effect will play when the target disappears.
This particular effect is often used for Status Application. It defines what effects are played at the application of a status. And this status can be anything from applying a buff or debuff, to lighting your weapon on fire.
This effect is usually paired with ApplyEffect. It's the effect that plays if a Spell that applies a status effect also grants a cancel spell. But not just in that scenario, this effect can play when the status time ends as well.
This effect is often the looping visual effect applied by a status or passive.
These are less common, and often found outside of spells or passives, but still visual effects.
This is meant for equippable items. Instead of the Merged UUID, you will put the EffectName here.
This effect and the one below, are exclusively meant for toggleable passives. This the effect that will play when you Toggle the Status ON.
This effect and the one above, are exclusively meant for toggleable passives. This the effect that will play when you Toggle the Status OFF.
Like HitEffect, this is the effect that plays when an object hits it's target.
Like PositionEffect, this is the effect that will play at the position of the object.
This is the same as above, except it triggers in combat only, and on the turn of the source of the effect.
This is similar to StatusEffect, except that it will automatically overwrite previously existing status effects.
There are several more types of Effects, and, as always, I encourage you to Index Search
This is where we will go over the set up you'll need for the effect you want.
Alright, the first thing you're going to want is a spell, status, passive, or whatever it is you want to attach an effect to. The general idea is to find a spell or status with an effect you like, and get the UUID from the particular status you like. In the case of this tutorial, we'll use Black Hole as our visual effect:
new entry "Target_TAD_BlackHole"
type "SpellData"
data "SpellType" "Target"
using "Target_TADPOLE"
data "Cooldown" "OncePerShortRest"
data "SpellProperties" "Force(-6, TargetToEntity, Neutral, false, true);GROUND:ApplyStatus(SELF,TAD_BLACK_HOLE_AURA,100,5)"
data "TargetRadius" "18"
data "AreaRadius" "9"
data "SpellRoll" "not SavingThrow(Ability.Intelligence, SourceSpellDC())"
data "SpellSuccess" "ApplyStatus(TAD_BLACK_HOLE_SLOW,100,1)"
data "TargetConditions" "not Self() and not Ally()"
data "AoEConditions" "Character() and not Self() and Enemy()"
data "Icon" "TadpoleSuperPower_BlackHole"
data "DisplayName" "he71b1f23gc2bdg45f0g99c1g9f476ec396b6;2"
data "Description" "h3a37227bgeba3g476egbb82gfcbbfc2eca6e;7"
data "ExtraDescription" "hb90e7fe5g9771g40d3gbffcg91bcbcb61856;1"
data "TooltipAttackSave" "Intelligence"
data "TooltipStatusApply" "ApplyStatus(TAD_BLACK_HOLE_SLOW,100,1)"
data "CastSound" "Spell_Cast_Tadpole_BlackHole_L1to3"
data "TargetSound" "Spell_Impact_Tadpole_BlackHole_L1to3"
data "SpellAnimation" "f94542d9-a79c-478a-92de-573cead9260e,,;,,;24894b2d-ae8c-4bd3-8dab-d75a3c83c710,,;d5efa641-3b51-4824-a0bd-96ae047aeb19,,;bd339475-d2b5-46e8-8d0c-9f2ad6a91328,,;,,;7a28f440-1b0b-4a18-96a8-3767959b601a,,;,,;,,"
data "VerbalIntent" "Control"
data "HitAnimationType" "MagicalNonDamage"
data "SpellAnimationIntentType" "Peaceful"
data "TargetEffect" "becd29e0-0520-4842-b8d9-a1a46ac87ab9"
data "PositionEffect" "94280a3f-4d08-453d-be6a-1a3282d46db1"
data "Sheathing" "Sheathed"
Here we want the:
data "PositionEffect" "94280a3f-4d08-453d-be6a-1a3282d46db1"
At this point you can choose to either simply use the UUID you found and put it in your own Effect spot, or you can dig deeper. If you chose Dig Deeper, Continuie reading:
Make sure you have INDEXED the files before proceeding.
From here, you would want to use BG3-Modders-Multitool to index search the highlighted.
Again, we're using:
data "PositionEffect" "94280a3f-4d08-453d-be6a-1a3282d46db1"
With BG3-Modders-Multitool open, click the Search Index button.
A new window will pop up, with a search bar and some other buttons. Insert the UUID we selected into the Search Bar, and Click Search Files. For now, leave the selection options at All.
With this particular effect, our search will pull up 2 results. The spell we pulled from, and the MEI.
Now we've finally come to the point where we are going to talk about MEI. Brace yourselves, this is going to be a completely regular, non-fear inducing ride.
Before we move on, let's discuss File Structure for the status or spell you want to make shinier. For the next step, you'll want to save your new file as a .txt in the folder shown below. You can name this file whatever you want, as long as it is saved as a .txt.
