Custom spell creation Question

[Melandril]

In general, how do you successfully get a spell idea from your head into a character's hands/inventory/spellbook?

With that as my general question, I tried the following and ended up with a spell marked as CLR (255)
1) found a `spells_new` entry to use as a template for something basic: water pet 2
2) inserted the template back into the `spells_new` table and set the idea as max(id)+1 (ended up being close to 30000, so I set it to 30000 instead)
3) changed classes2 to 2 and all other classes# to 255
4) changed the column that starts with Zone from the water pet 2 entry to BLpet85
5) looked in `npc_types` and saw BLpet70 as the highest npc_type with a name like '%blpet%' and changed my spell to use BLpet70
6) edited the spells_us.txt and added an entry for the spell at id 30000
7) found an `items` template for a scroll (Yaulp V if anyone cares), copied and inserted into the bottom, changed the scrolleffect to my new spell id (30000)
8- in game, the spell showed up as CLR(255)

Found one forum entry that suggested that the spell id might be the issue, so, finding no spell of id 1, I tried changing the spell to make it spell id of 1. The result was a spell scroll that did say CLR(2) but when I tried to scribe it, the spell book bugged and told me something to the effect that the spell id was outside of the proper range.

So, what do I need to do and know to create spells? What are the common gotcha's? (Less import but something useful to know, how do I alter the text description on the scroll? is that a field on the `items` table I simply overlooked or does it link on a field in that table to another table?)

Thank you

[Caryatis]

Found one forum entry that suggested that the spell id might be the issue, so, finding no spell of id 1, I tried changing the spell to make it spell id of 1. The result was a spell scroll that did say CLR(2) but when I tried to scribe it, the spell book bugged and told me something to the effect that the spell id was outside of the proper range.

You don't mention but did you also change the scrolleffect to 1 and update your spells_us.txt file on your client after changing the id from 30000?

Scrolls are not used by the vast majority of servers simply because it adds a layer that is generally not desired. The effort involved in making and balancing a bunch of spells is enough without the added step of making scrolls for every spell as well.

Most people would use an editor(Nulls, Aliah/Secrets) to edit the spell file and then import that into their DB(or edit the DB directly with Nulls). Even if you dont want to use an editor, you should still start with an editor to get a feel for things.

Descriptions for items, spells, AA are all in the dbstr_us.txt file on your client, this is linked to the item via a number(in like descnum field). Find that number, then search the dbstr file for that number, it will have many entries like(66^1^xxxx 66^2^xxxx 66^3^xxxx) you then edit the line that applies to what you want. Look at other stuff to get a feel for what needs to be changed.

Very very few servers actually utilize a custom dbstr file or spells that are more complex than pets, heals, nukes, basic shit, so you won't get much help on more complex matters so get used to playing around more and posting less.

[Melandril]

I'm always very confused when you post. I always appreciate the information, but I'm always left wondering if there's a lack of appreciation from others in your life.

generally speaking, a community exists to share resources or a common burden. In our case, this community exists to exchange information about setting up, maintaining, and modifying emu servers.

as i am starting out, my contributions are minimal; but to what limited usefulness I may be, I endeavour to share the bits of knowledge that I've gleaned when others have asked questions where I think I may facilitate their success.

In places where I am failing, I ask questions (typically after poking around a little). If the answer comes back from the community, "we're not sure how to do that", that's a risk I'm willing to take and will still appreciate any insights people give.

I would encourage you not to be offended when people ask questions and seek help, especially when I've not demanded or blamed anyone or otherwise shifted responsibility for this undertaking to anyone else. I have stated my hatred of C++, and if that causes you offense, let me apologize and state that I am not attacking the developers who continue to use this language. I do hate C++ and cannot wait for the day it's no longer used outside of educational material and museums; even still, I do appreciate the time, effort and energy being put into this project by the talented C++ devs and by other members of the community willing to share what each knows.

[Caryatis]

Generally speaking my post was 99% information related to your current problem and 1% suggesting that you don't need multiple threads for the same question.

Obviously you can start as many threads as you want but learning how to solve your own problems will take you further than requiring help at every turn.

[sorvani]

Going to have to agree with Caryatis on this one. You spammed the board over the last few days when a little searching would have answered your questions.

There are editors for pretty much anything you want to do at a basic non-c++ level. Quit trying to hack things and use them. Then after you know how to use them, go look at what they did to learn how to hack the system to do something you want that the editors can not do.

[Melandril]

Sorv, if you want in on this conversation, I'm going to start by asking you to re-read all of my alleged spam posts. I feel confident that as your reading comprehension increases, you will notice slightly different things being asked of a similar topic. You may even come across a spot where I state that I'd broken out some of the questions into new threads to make them easier to find in the event someone else later wants to find the same information.

A search of the forums did not yield the answers to my questions; and playing with the editors without a basic understanding for how to they work would have left me with the same questions.

I sympathize with your learning style and limitations. I also know that based on mine, this was the best way to learn and not just "hack" at it. The accusation of "hack" was unmerited; I'm sorry that you felt it necessary to say such an unkind thing.