Morrowind FAQ version 1.5 - part 5 by Gavin "kathode" Carter (kathode@themasquerade.org) submitted with permission by Dave Booth. Continued from last issue Section 15: Magic 15.1 Will Morrowind feature the same schools of magic as found in Daggerfall? For the most part. Two schools of magic have been combined, and there is an added school. The specifics are not known at the time of this writing. (Reference: http://rpgvault.ign.com/features/interviews/morrowind_c.shtml - RPGVault Interview) 15.2 Will I be able to create my own spells, just like in Daggerfall? You will be able to create your own spells. However, the exact mechanics have been somewhat changed. In Daggerfall, you were able to create any kind of spell once you were able to make spells. In Morrowind, you will need to learn individual elements and effects before you can create a particular spell. The more effects a spell has, or the more powerful the effects, the higher the cost, both in physical exertion and magic point cost. Check out #16.20 - this topic for how spell creation is handled in the editor. (Reference: http://rpgvault.ign.com/features/interviews/morrowind_c.shtml - RPGVault Interview) 15.3 How many magical effects are in the game for me to combine to create something new? What exactly is meant by "effects"? There are over 200 effects that you can combine to create new spells. You must learn the effects in the game before you can use them. Spell "effects" are basically just anything that a spell can do, like shooting a fireball, silencing another spell caster, healing someone, etc. (Reference: http://rpgvault.ign.com/features/interviews/morrowind_c.shtml - RPGVault Interview) 15.4 What kinds of special visual effects can we expect to see with magic? The team is working hard on spectacular particle effects for spells. Visual effects will scale so that a 50-point fireball is ten times larger than a five point fireball. The team is also working on methods by which to blend different particle effects for spells that incorporate more than one magical "effect". (Reference: http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,262 2653- 6,00.html - Gamespot Feature) Section 16: The Editor 16.1 What is the Elder Scrolls 3 Construction Set? The ES3 Construction Set is basically the very same tool that the game designers at Bethesda are using to build the world of Morrowind. It is a game editor designed to allow the user almost complete control over the game world. 16.2 What kinds of things will I be able to manipulate using the construction set? A more appropriate question would probably be "What can I not manipulate with the Construction Set?" The user has control over virtually every facet of the game world except for the underlying engine. You can create new settings, towns, landscapes, weapons, lights, dialogue, quests, races, classes, non-player characters, skills, animation, menus, sound, and more. You will be able to play with formulas that are used to determine weapon accuracy, experience gains, random encounters, movement, magic, etc. You will be able to write your own books, put pictures in them, and place them in the game world. You can create your own spells. The editor will also include its own scripting language, for experienced programmers to add features to the game that the developers never even thought of. The possibilities are endless. (Reference: http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,258501 8,00.htm l - Gamespot Interview) 16.3 Will I be able to write my own dialog for characters, and specify when to use it? Yes and yes. You will be able to ensure that certain pieces of dialog only appear after certain events take place. Also, dialog is not directly linked to a specific NPC. It is housed in a separate database that can contain references to many, many different things such as place, faction, class, and race. This way, you can set a certain piece of information so that an entire town knows it, or an entire race, etc. You can also assign faction requirements to information (only receive that information if the person likes you enough). You can even assign dialog to inanimate objects if you wish. Also, you can rank dialog topics in the order you want them to appear. (Reference: http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to Bethesda) (Reference: http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,258501 8,00.htm l - Gamespot Interview) 16.4 How will the Construction Set interface with the game if there is no multiplayer? Will people only be able to play quests they design themselves? No, not at all. The Construction Set uses a plug-in based architecture. Whatever you design in the editor is saved to a file. That file can be used by anyone who has Morrowind. So you can upload them to the web and share with other people. When you start the game, a menu appears asking you what plug-ins you want to load. All you do is choose and start the game with all the new features of the plug-in in place. (Reference: http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,258501 8,00.htm l - Gamespot Interview) 16.5 So you can just load any plug-in anytime during the game? Yes. For example, if you're having trouble defeating a certain key enemy, you could create your own super-weapon, load it into the game, and use it to take out the enemy. You can alter the game experience at any point you choose from beginning to end. 16.6 Doesn't this present the potential for some serious balance issues? Of course. If you wanted to make your character incredibly powerful, it's easy to do. If you wanted to delete key game characters vital to quests, that's easy to do also. But that's also the beauty of the editor. It leaves the game experience completely up to the user. The game can be as challenging or as easy as you want it. Also, because of the editor's plug-in architecture, the user can choose at any time which plug-ins he or she wants to use. If one is causing problems you can simply unload it. In the end, it's up to the player. If you want to spend $50 on a game, then create a god weapon and beat it in two days with no challenge, that's your prerogative. (Reference: http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,258501 8,00.htm l - Gamespot Interview) 16.7 What if a mischievous person uploads a plug-in advertising a really cool feature, but it actually causes problems like deleting key NPCs? How can the user know exactly what he or she is downloading? There will be a place for plug-in authors to write summaries of their plug-ins. Hopefully, responsible authors will include info on what was changed and where. To combat people who don't include everything in your summary, there is a button labeled "Details" that allows you to see everything that was changed and where. Also, again, if something is causing problems it's a simple matter to unload it. (Reference: http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,258501 8,00.htm l - Gamespot Interview) 16.8 Will the editor be difficult to use? What tools will be included for the newbie user? Do I have to have modeling/art/programming knowledge? The basic features of the editor are purportedly very easy for beginning users. It supports a very basic drag n' drop, cut n' paste interface with the game world. You can simply select an item from a database and put it in the world with all its properties intact. Using menus, you can alter features easily (i.e. Make fires burn brighter, weapons do more damage, etc.). The game will ship with a huge amount of useable content (ready made models, art, scripts, quests, etc.) that someone can simply place in the game world, no experience required. On the other hand, with the scripting system, one can make things as complex as one is comfortable with. (Reference: "http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,258501 8,00.ht ml - Gamespot Interview) 16.9 Will the editor compile all the changes I make into one file for easy uploading and downloading? Yes, all the changes you make should be compiled into a single .esm file. You might have to include extra files with the .esm file if you included any art not already included with the game. The exact mechanics of this are unclear at this time. (Reference: http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,258501 8,00.htm l - Gamespot Interview) 16.10 Does the editor have any limits on the size of the world that I can create? No, you can even add on to the existing game world if you like. The world size limit is infinite. (Reference: http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,258501 8,00.htm l - Gamespot Interview) 16.11 Does the editor ship with any tools allowing the creation of original art for the game? No, you will need to have your own art editing tools. If you wish to do new models, you will need a copy of 3DstudioMax, as well as the plug-in which Bethesda uses to import model info into the game. Textures are a bit easier, however, as they are just TGAs and BMPs (standard art formats) and any art program, even Windows Paint to a certain extent, can be used to edit them. You will, however, be able to disassemble most structures, and using these "building blocks", build new things as you see fit. (Reference: http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,258501 8,00.htm l - Gamespot Interview) 16.12 Will I be able to alter the music in the game? Yes, you can either simply overwrite the files included in the game, or you can write a script to specify when a certain piece of music should play. (Reference: http://www.elderscrolls.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi - Official Forums) 16.13 Will the editor be shipping with the game? Yes. 16.14 Will I be able to create a whole new world from scratch? Yes, but you'll always have to start with the base continent. In other words, you'll never actually be faced with a blank world to create. Plug-in authoring always begins with a "master file". The default master file contains the out-of-box continent of Morrowind. The reason for this is that the master file includes all kinds of required game information, such as races, skills, etc. If you wanted to create an entire world, you should be able to delete the entire continent of Morrowind if you wanted, although the best thing to do would probably be to create a new continent far off the coast of Vvardenfall. That way you won't delete the base continent for people who still want to explore it. Another option is that you can create a brand new master file. (Reference: http://www.elderscrolls.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi - Official Forums) 16.15 How will the placement of monsters/NPCs work? Monster placement can be accomplished in a couple of ways. You can simply drag the monster or NPC from a list into the game world. This will place a single instance of the creature in the game. You can also drag a "levelled" list into the world. This will cause monsters to appear based on the player's level. For example, you could drag a list where one item was a level 5 skaama, and another item could be a level 12 Daedra. So if the player's level is 5, a skaama would appear. If it's 12, a Daedra would appear. You can also create custom lists so that you can get any monster to appear for any player level. For example, you can set it to spawn a Daedra lord for a level 3 player. You can also set any creature to respawn or not. (Reference: http://www.elderscrolls.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi - Official Forums) 16.16 Will I be able to create completely new items by changing the attributes on existing items? Yes, when you change the attributes of an existing item, let's say a dagger, you have the option of having the change affect every instance of the item in the world (up the damage on every dagger in the world) or creating a brand new item (Dagger of Asswhooping, unique item). (Reference: http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to Bethesda) 16.17 When I create a new item, will I be able to put in anywhere? Like in stores or in my characters inventory? Yes, you can place the item anywhere in the game including NPC's, stores, and on the ground. (Reference: http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to Bethesda) 16.18 Will I be able to create my own buildings without having to use a program like 3d Studio Max? Yes, with restrictions. There will be a very large number of "building block" segments included with the game. You can create new buildings by combining building blocks together in different ways. The building blocks are fully rendered sections of buildings. Hallways, rooftops, walls, for example. You just drag and drop them into the world to add on to structures. (Reference: http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to Bethesda) 16.19 Since interiors will be separately loading maps, how will I create an interior in the editor? You basically just create the interior the same way you would create and other map. Just set up walls, drag and drop stuff in, etc. Then, you place a "teleporting" door on the outside of your structure, by simply placing a door and checking the "Teleporting" option. You specify a map for the door to teleport the player to, and a starting position and orientation on the map (where the player will be teleported in). Doors that aren't flagged as teleporting simply swing open and shut. (Reference: http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to Bethesda) 16.20 How will I go about creating my own spells in the editor? All you have to do is pick from a list of effects (which included some very cool stuff), which effects you want to combine. From the interface that I was shown it looked like you could combine a maximum of 6-8 (my memory is foggy) effects for a single spell. Then you select the target, duration, range, and magnitude of each effect. The choice of target included "Caster", which allows for some really good balancing effects. For example, you could create a really powerful fireball spell that also silences the caster for 30 seconds. The program automatically calculates the spell point cost of the spell based on how powerful it is. Or, alternatively, you can check a box to turn that function off and edit the point cost yourself. When you're done editing the effects, you get to choose what type of spell it is. (Reference: http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to Bethesda) 16.21 Will I be able to assign magic effects to other things like skills or race abilities? Yes, you can edit several different things with the magic editor. The categories are: spell, ability, disease, blight disease, curse, and power. Spell is obviously a standard magical spell that you can grant a character, or you can insert into a shop. An ability is an inherent trait of the character. For example if you did a silence effect as an ability, your character would walk around silencing everyone who came near you. A disease is just a standard disease like a rat could give you. A blight disease is like a much more powerful disease. A curse is something even stronger that Todd said would "require scripting" to remove. A power is an ability particular to one race, like the Imperial's "Voice of the Emperor" ability (basically a "charm" spell). (Reference: http://morrowind.telefragged.com/features/trip1.shtml- My Trip to Bethesda) To be concluded next issue - o -