Faranim's Guide to Spell Editing v1.0

i think when i tested it i was thinking the wrong ones were lvl 3 spells,


in case ur wondering, im making a ctf

I tinkered around with some skills and they seem to work fine when I test the map by myself. However, I read in this tutorial that you needed to attach the altered files to the map before the changes will show up on other people's computer on Battlenet.

Anyone know how to go about doing this? Im using TechMPQ and the readmes state nothing about this. I tried using WinMPQ but it gave me a error.

I admit Im a editing noob so go easy on the flames.

Thanks in advance,

S1lverfish

When you attach the file to your map does it mean I open it with WinMPQ and add the file in the archivewith the prefix units\ ???

Yes, that is how it's done. In most cases you will use the prefix "units\"(not quoted.)

You must include any files the same way they are listed in the MPQ. For example, a new button would go under "ReplaceableTextures\Commandbuttons\".

Thanks! Now I can finally change the damn slot of avatar. Hehe

... It seems avatar is one of those [BXxx] skills

ANYWAY. When I test the map in single player i have to edit the War3patch.mpq file. I tried insterting the files in the map and not editing War3patch.mpq and then testing it in Single Player. It didn't work. So, injecting only works in LAN/bnet right?

There's no reason the changes shouldn't work in single player. You've probably made some sort of mistake. Check for typos, make sure your new spells are assigned to units in the map(If you altered the original spell instead of copying, you're fine)... I don't know what else. The "Units\" thing might be case sensitive, try that.

Each spell has an alias, a code, and an uberalias.

The alias is the identifier of the spell. It must be different for every spell. If you copy a spell, you must give the copy a different alias or it will not work.

The code represents the hard-coded effect in war3.exe. You cannot make new codes, you must use the code of a preexisting spell.

The uberalias is the user-interface of the spell. Almost anything you'd put in a xxxxAbilityFunc.txt and xxxxAbilityString.txt file goes uber uberalias. The exception is for [Bxxx] and [Xxxx] effects.

The [Bxxx] and [Xxxx] are attached to a particular code. In other words, the [BEim] entry for Immolation (AEim) is based on a spell's code, not Uberalias. So if you copy Immolation and give it a different Uberalias (let's say, AEi2), that spell will use AEi2 to determine its button position, hotkey, etc; but it will use BEim for whatever is contained in BEim. No matter how hard you try, you cannot make it do anything different from what BEim contains. You can edit BEim, but that will make the original Immolation look different.

Bxxx entries are used mainly to specify the "extra" graphical effects of a spell that has many graphical components. For example, Starfall has one graphic for the Priestess of the Moon, which is contained under AEsf, but the graphics for stars hitting enemies is under BEsf. It is also used to describe persistent buff graphics, like the red glow effect of Bloodlust or the white cloud of Unholy Frenzy. Since you cannot duplicate Bxxx entries, spells with Bxxx entries are forced to have consistent graphical effects; you can't make one unit cast Bloodlust with Bloodlust graphics while another unit casts Bloodlust with Roar graphics.

I edited the abilitydata.slk file with the spell editor and then attached it to a map with the prefix Units\abilitydata.slk and when I load the map it freezes up and goes like 1 frame every 6 seconds.

-Aura that decay's enemy's HP/second.
Mod immolation to have a huge radius and remove the turn immolation off and mana drain per second features

-Hero Spell that restores 150, 200. 250HP, 50, 75, 100mana to all nearby friendly units.
For the Spells I assume you could mod scrolls. For the HP you could also mod tranq to be a one time quick heal.

-Death Smash passive ability that has 5% chance to instantly kill a non hero/building.
I'd say a bash mod, but that wouldn't be non-hero/building. If you can do this I'll be inpressed.

-Hero Freeze passive ability that freezes ground units for a couple seconds with 8/6/4 cooldown.
Add a cooldown to bash? That would be quick but ugly.

Um... Why did you bring that up? :bgrun:

Anyway, better to use a healing aura such as neutral health regen, or unholy aura, set to negative healing values. I don't think you can make immlolation un-turnoffable.

Bash doesn't work on buildings. You can change it to target only non-heroes. The best way to make this ability work is with triggers.

You can't make a passive ability with a cooldown. You might be able to use triggers to prevent the player from casting it, and have it cast itself automatically at periodic intervals.

Here's a quick tip for everybody out there who's editing spells.

When you give your 'new' spells their own unique id don't start it off with a number because for whatever reason it just wont show up if it starts off with a number instead of a letter. And it's probablly a good idea to capatalize that letter too...

might not work for you, but it worked for me.

Question from a newb at spell editing...

I'm trying to make a hero ability based on regeneration. I did everything the guide said to do, then when I got to step 10 and tried putting in the editor, I opened up the hero skill list and it was empty! The unit abilities list was empty as well...any idea what I might be doing wrong?

I'm trying to make a spell that's like a mix of devour and Dark Ritual, in that the hero will devour the traget then get mana = to the hp drained off the victim(level 1 does 1 damage per secon, level 2 does 2 per second, level 3 does 3 damage persecond) , any Idea how I'd do this?

Im having trouble with the spell im editing. Im trying to make a Holy Light spell for normal units but it says its an item ability and does absolutly nothing. Also, my spell editor crashes when i open AbilityData.slk. Any ideas on what im doing wrong?emote_sweat