Spellcraft

Spells are not hard coded, or picked from a pre-made list. They are built by the player. Using the three key parts mentioned above: Elemental Sigils, Directional Sigils and Modifier Sigils, they form the logic behind the spell, determining its property, such as fire, the direction, for example forwards, and then any additional behaviours, such as cluster which splits the fireball into three smaller fireballs, or homing, which pulls the projectiles towards a chosen target.

Elemental Sigils

The Element defines the entire spell's property, whether the spell is a ball of fire, water, concentrated light, wind, a rock pulled from the ground, etc. It's the very core of a spell, and the elemental symbol sits at the very centre of the drawing. Each element acts differently, varying in projectile speed, size, damage and knockback as the main factors.

Directional Sigils

The direction determines the path the spell is fired along. There is a forward direction, creating a simple forward projectile, there is an arc left or right direction, which shoots the projectile forward, along a curve, landing at the cursor, but swinging wide, making it harder to read and predict, along with upwards, making overhead aoe spells useful such as rainclouds, and downwards, which can be combined with wind to give upward momentum.

Modifier Sigils

There are currently 20+ modifier sigils that change the behaviour of a spell, and to make it easier to understand, they are divided into categories.

The first modifier category is 'form', this determines the physical shape and appearance of the projectile. By default, a projectile is shaped like a compact ball, creating a fireball for example, or a waterball. To create variety in attacks, we have implemented the slash modifier, this changes the shape into a thin, long crescent shaped projectile, increasing speed and damage, but lessening knockback as one example. Other form modifiers include the spear, which increases speed and provides piercing, the beam modifier, which shapes the elemental projectile into a long laser style 'beam', the cloud projectile, which disperses the element into a aoe style spell, and more specific modifiers such as tornado for fire and wind, or wave, for water.

The second modifier category is 'behaviour', this determines how the spell moves and behaves once cast. A simple example of a behaviour modifier is spiral, this causes the spell to shoot out in a swirling spiral shape, or boomerang, which causes the spell to travel back to the caster allowing for a second chance at landing a blow, or even orbit, which causes the projectile to fly up and circle in the air, building up speed before it crashes down.

The third modifier category is 'blend', this is a special class for modifiers that alter form AND behaviour. For example, the modifier rain shoots one regular sized projectile which rises up into the air and expands, it then drops down 5 small projectiles, or clusters, which change the shapes form from one regular fireball, into three small fireballs that shoot out like a shotgun.

Quick casting and hidden casting

As mentioned in the getting started page, magic and how it is casted is a secret to most npcs in the game. It needs to be cast discretely, when drawn near unknowings (non-witch npcs). Hidden casting is slower than quick casting, both serving extremely vital purposes. Quick casting is essential for PvP, blight infected creatures and bosses, situations when your life is on the line, and you can't wait and cast slowly. Hidden casting is essential for populated areas, allowing you to re-light a lantern, or water someone's garden when being watched and the player isn't in a time crunch.