Gortan�s Magical Fountains is the first installment of the Gortan�s Magical Gadgets suite. Created for both neophyte and over-worked designers these fountain placeables and pre-fab placeable groups are ready-to-use, as-is. Both visual effects and magical functionality have been included. Just drop a fountain into your module, set the variables on it (to tell it what to do) and walk away. The suite is fully self-contained and all of its components are unique, so that they won�t over-write anyone else�s files or change any game functionality.
Version 1.2 does not include any new functionality. All I did was to move the source files into a HAK so that you won't have to use your Override folder.
Gortan�s Magical Fountains includes 84 placed effects, 80 VFX placeables, 15 blueprints of fountain placeables, 8 pre-fab placeable groups, 4 custom items, and 1 trigger.
The fountain set includes VFXs for twenty fountain styles in both small and medium sizes and for both round and square fountain shapes. Blueprints have been included for VFX-attached invisible placeables for each, as well as for placed effects for each. There are additional placed effects for a larger flowing-water spring and a flowing-water style waterfall. I have also included a complete demonstration module.
The flowing water VFX�s were created by me from Obsidian inspiration (the guy who invented the lion fountain VFX was a genius) with additional effects (like spraying water and exotic magical effects) tweaked and modified-for-purpose from Sorceress Ashura�s spectacular and highly recommended VFX Pack, which have been turned into custom fountain effects designed to be used in the Special Effect Appearance of a placeable to create a fountain with flowing water.
Every fountain is pre-scripted to make it a fully functional magical fountain. No scripting is necessary, because all functionality (except for advanced features like on-off switchability, global settings and foreign language support) can be controlled simply by setting variables on the fountain placeable.
What can a magic fountain do? It can do any combination of�
Good Things� Healing, Cure Disease, Restoration, Remove Curse, Invisibility, Heroism, Ability Bonus, Magic Vision, Concealment, Haste, Regeneration, Temp Hit Points, Attack Bonus, Armor Class Bonus, Teleportation, Skill Bonus, Spell Resistance Bonus, Save Throw Bonus
Bad Things� Damage (acid, etc�), Poison, Disease, Curse, Polymorph, Negative Level, Slow, Daze or Stun, Blindness, Death, Silence
OR Useful Campaign-Type Things� Give or Take XPs, Give or Take Gold, Give or Take Items, Make Journal Entry.
Installation Instructions:
Beginning with version 1.2 the installation instructions change, because I've moved over to using a HAK file.
1. Backup your existing Gortan�s Magical Gizmos user settings. If this is the first time you are installing it, then obviously you have nothing to backup. Otherwise, open your module in the NWN2 Toolset and rename the �ax_gizmo_user_settings� script (additionally, I always copy & paste the text into a text doc somewhere safe�better safe than sorry). Close the NWN2 Toolset.
2. Unzip the contents of the .ZIP file somewhere safe.
3. Copy the HAK file into your HAK folder. On a Windows PC this will be �%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\Neverwinter Nights 2\hak�. If you are upgrading a prior version of Gortan�s Magical Gizmos (which used a HAK file), then you will need to over-write the file which is already there. But if not, then you shouldn�t get any warning about over-writing files. However, you will need to remove the old files from your Override folder. If your version of NWN2 is unpatched, then you might have to use the HAK folder in your main program directory.
4. Open your module in the Toolset and import the .ERF.
5. If this is a first-time install, then you are done. Otherwise, open-for-editing both new and old user settings scripts. Walk through line-by-line and copy across your old settings into the new script. Then change any new settings to whatever you want. I will try to mark new settings in future upgrades, so they should be easy to spot.
Fountain Styles
0_flowing: The most basic, just normal flowing water and that�s it.
1_bubbling: The first bubbling effect I did. Arguably not the best.
2_spraying: A spray of water from the center (Ashura�s). I think of this as the best one for general purposes since it creates a classic fountain look-and-feel. It also malfunctions if directly attached as a special effect appearance to a couple of the square placeables. It works fine with the round ones or as a separate invisible placeable (or placed effect).
3_stars: Sparkling stars (Ashura�s) that rise to reasonably high altitude.
4_bub_rise: Large, transparent bubbles (Ashura�s) that rise to reasonably high altitude.
5_bub_drift: Large, transparent bubbles that drift around near the ground.
6_acid: Green water with green splashes and transparent bubbles.
7_fire: Flowing red-yellow liquid with flames (Ashura�s) and red splashes under a black cloud.
8_purple: Purple liquid under purple & yellow splashes with spiraling purple lights (Ashura�s) rising high overhead. This one is the easiest to see from a distance.
9_orange: Orange liquid with orange foam under orange & yellow splashes.
10_doomcloud: Green liquid with yellow splashes under a brown cloud which draws droplets upwards (created from some of Ashura�s elements).
11_whitehole: Droplets of the flowing water are drawn upwards into a purple portal (Ashura�s).
12_color_pls: Multi-colored light pulses upwards from the center of flowing water under multi-colored splashes (Ashura�s).
13_nature: Healthy blue water flows and foams as gold-green stars spiral upwards, and leaves swirl (created from some of Ashura�s elements).
14_champagne: Pink liquid and foam under a central spray of pink with rising transparent bubbles.
15_blood: Red liquid and foam under dark red puffs of smoke and red splashes.
16_energy: Water flowing under white lightning bolts and spinning stars (Ashura�s).
17_portal: Water flows and pours from a mystic blue portal (Ashura�s) in the center of the fountain.
18_map: Flowing water with a superimposed world map.
19_blackhole: A black hole hovers over the center of a flowing fountain and draws its water upwards. I modified Ashura�s black hole so that everything pours inwards.
Credits: I really can�t say too much about Sorceress Ashura�s VFX Pack. It was the inspiration for this. As soon as I saw her VFXs, I wanted to use them for something. I also want to credit Teper�s Vortex, Bubbles, Stars and Stuff VFX Pack. The only reason I haven�t used any of them so far, is that I haven�t started on the teleportals yet. Scripting-wise I would have been lost without the Lexicon and Lilac Soul�s code generator. Even though at this point I use little of LS�s code straight, it is still the foundation for everything I do. We all stand on the shoulders of giants�
Gortan's Magical Gadgets v1.2, includes documentation, ERF, demo module and VFX graphics files in ZIP format. This micro-version is distributed as a HAK, so you don't have to copy the files your Override folder.
That explains the results of my testing. What I was concerned about were the 2DA files. But apparently in NWN2 they seem to be compiled automatically at run-time, making it unnecessary to make manual modifications. You just slap things into the HAK and go-to-town. Well, duh...
The secret is that there is no secret. Often the toughest secret to uncover...
I'm deeply involved with the Portal installment at the moment but it won't be finished for a while. Maybe I should just re-package the current published version rather than waiting for the new version to be ready? That may be the best plan...
Posted by GrinningFool at 2007-08-13 14:13:58 Voted 9.00 on 08/13/07
Excellent stuff, well done. Making a hak is actually pretty straightforward -- download tanita's erfpacker, create a new file and import the vfx. Save as .hak, and you're done :)
I had originally intended to put it out as a HAK but I ran out of time just before heading off on a long trip. So I had to either cut that particular corner or wait for a month. Now that I'm back, I'll look into it. I haven't done a HAK in a couple years (since NWN1) so it may take me some time to remember how. And I'll bet some annoying little details have changed...
Posted by Flibustier at 2007-07-09 03:06:28 Voted 8.75 on 07/09/07
Great job, however if you can make a hak with it, it will be perfect !
Thank you so much for the nod. I am truly greatful to be apart of this awesome gadget pack. I can't wait to see much more! _________________________ AKA: GuardianofLore.
10 - A Masterpiece, Genuinely Groundbreaking 9 - Outstanding, a Must Have 8 - Excellent, Recommended to Anyone 7 - Very Good, Deserves a Look 6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation 5 - Fair, Solid yet Unremarkable 4 - Some Merit, Requires Improvements 3 - Poor Execution, Potential Unrealized 2 - Very Little Appeal 1 - Not Recommended to Anyone
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