Plan for Jeff Faust

I've been a Torque Game Engine user for more than a year, but this is my first .plan and the first public information about a project I've been working on with help from, Matthew Durante.

It all started a number of months ago when, after logging a number of hours playing World of Warcraft, I started designing a small spellcasting game that was neither a MMORPG nor an RPG, but would require some of the magical elements typically seen in both genres. I thought the game would be an excellent subject for the Torque engine, so I started experimenting and soon discovered that Torque lacked a number of features that the game would need. Still feeling that Torque was a good starting point, I continued with my experiments and an interim project was born, a spellcasting effects system for Torque dubbed Arcane-FX.

I decided that a spellcasting effects system might be useful in other games and perhaps to the Torque community at large. So from the beginning, I've developed Arcane-FX as an independent Torque add-on package. Something akin to the RTS Starter Kit or the Lighting Pack.

What is Arcane-FX? Basically, it's a small specialized animation system, controlled by script, for crafting the kind of magic effects seen in World of Warcraft, and EverQuest II.


Here are some of the features:

Flexible Spell System

The flexible spell system can represent a large varied assortment of magic spells: quick instant spells, elaborate conjuring spells, long-lasting buff and de-buff spells, damage over time spells, area effect spells, guided projectile spells, creature summoning spells, resurrection spells, teleportation spells, and more.

Generalized Effects System

A generalized effects system allows many different types of special effects to be controlled using the same method. Explosions, particle emitters, sound effects, animated models, character animations, lights, script events, specialized terrain decals, and others, are all timed and positioned using a common mechanism.

Powerful Constraint System

The position and orientation of any effect can be independently constrained to the casting character, the target character, the spell's projectile, the projectile's impact point, as well as any named object in the scene, including specific named nodes of characters and other ShapeBase objects. Effects can even be oriented to face the camera or any other object.

Custom Special Effects

The system includes customized effects including what we call zodiacs, specialized terrain decals that are useful for rune rings, explosion shockwaves, scorched earth stains, and selection indicators.

GUI Enhancements

A number of GUI enhancements improve Torque's handling of interfaces that make greater use of mouse input for target selection and interface operation. The system also includes specialized GUI controls such as a multi-page spellbank for casting spells.

Sample Spells

Finally, the package includes a large selection of sample spells. These spells, many crafted by Matthew Durante, are complete examples of spells that represent the range of spells typically found in an RPG or MMORPG. Some examples:

Flame Broil A basic fireball spell with some lingering damage over time.

Great Ball of Fire A powerful high-level spell which throws a gigantic fireball with correspondingly huge explosion effects.

Spirit of Roach A typical buff spell with a long lasting effect.

Mapleleaf Frag A leafy nature spell that deals direct damage.

Reaper Madness The obligatory resurrection spell.

Well, that's a quick overview of Arcane-FX. Please comment, and let us know if this package might be useful for your own projects.


View additional screenshots here.