Wands Mod [wands]

[prestidigitator]

I'd like to solicit some feedback here. I see someone created a fire staff mod and there's a Harry Potter mod with some wands in it. However, before I noticed these I decided to code up a set of wands. They aren't totally finished and I'll definitely have to work on some of the textures, so I'm wondering what kind of interest there would be here and if it would be worth completing. Here is what I have so far:

Wands are point-and-click. Each type has a different range and a different set of things (nodes, players, any entities, etc.) it will target (the mod traces a ray from your camera to the first viable target within range). Each wand currently has 10 charges, but this can easily be customized at the top of the Lua files and I will probably be creating an API so other mods can set parameters on a per-type and/or per-instance basis.

Wands are crafted using the following pattern:

Your phone or window isn't wide enough to display the code box. If it's a phone, try rotating it to landscape mode.

Code: Select all

(M = mese, X = item that depends on the type of wand)
X M X
– M –
– M –


So far I have created the following types of wand:

Wand of Fire (X = torch)
Engulfs the target node or entity/player in a 4m radius fireball of magical flames. The magical flames hurt all entities/players, unlike the damage_per_second feature used by basic flames which only hurts players. After a couple seconds the magical flames degenerate into basic flames. (This thing can set forest fires like you wouldn't believe!)

Wand of Teleportation (X = glass)
Teleports you to the target node. The target is chosen as the first walkable node between 4m and 4km that has two non-walkable, non-damaging nodes above it. You can land in air or water, but nothing solid and no lava or normal fire. This can be anywhere, including to the surface or a cavern straight up/down through solid ground. (Note: will not teleport you to unloaded areas at this time.)

Wand of Attraction (X = iron lump)
Removes all nodes within a 4m radius of the target solid (walkable) node (can be up to about 250 nodes if shot at a chunk of solid ground through a small hole, but usually more like half of that). Collects all the drops of these nodes and sends them to the target location as item stacks that can be picked up easily. Also collects any existing item stacks within the effect radius and sends them to the target location. Has no effect on entities/players (other than leaving them in a hole).

Wand of Destruction (X = bucket of lava; no you don't get the buckets back)
Removes all nodes within a 10m radius of the target node or entity/player (leaving NOTHING behind), also doing a large amount of damage (20) to all entities in the explosion. DON'T get caught in your own blast!

Wand of Digging (x = steel pick)
Digs a 3mx3m shaft in the direction you are looking, starting at the target solid node and extending 20m. Collects drops from the dug nodes along the way and deposits them as item stacks you can pick up at the far end of the shaft. No effect on entities/players.

Wand of Glass (X = sand)
Creates a 6m radius hollow spherical shell of glass around the target node or entity/player. Also removes all liquid (water, lava, etc.) within the sphere. Does not replace solid nodes with glass, but does replace air, liquids, and anything that isn't "walkable" (torches, etc.).

Wand of Stone (X = stone)
Creates a walkable stone bridge between the wielder's current location and the target solid node. The walkway goes only in the cardinal directions (north, south, east, west), but will include stairs for up/down, and even spiral if the direction of the target location is too steep up/down. Also removes all nodes in the 2-3 spaces above the walkway to leave room for walking. (Note: this can burrow through things in a sometimes rather unpredictable way.)

Wands I've thought of but haven't implemented yet:

Wand of Water (X = bucket of water)
Creates a 3mx3mx3m mass of water (sources?) above the target walkable node. Could be useful for long falls and to create fountains, pools, lakes, rivers, etc.

Ideas I haven't implemented yet:

• Currently each type of wand has parameters like its damage, range, charges, etc. hard-coded. I'll probably create an API instead that allows other mods to change things on a per-type or per-instance basis (storing per-instance stuff in stack metadata).
• I'll probably create an API for recharging a wand too, though I haven't decided whether to also include some kind of default mechanism for a player to recharge them.

Ideas? Suggestions? Anyone interested? Waste of time because of the existing mods with similar functionality out there? Thanks!

[Likwid H-Craft]

What about, air it self? or is it, hard to do?

How and, I think I have a wand Idea but what me see what I can do.

[prestidigitator]

What about, air it self? or is it, hard to do?

How and, I think I have a wand Idea but what me see what I can do.

Not sure what you mean. In Minetest, air is basically just the absence of any other node. If you call minetest.env:remove_node(pos) it replaces whatever was there with an "air" node. I first envisioned pushing entities and players away, but I'm not sure it's useful enough and that could probably be called a "Wand of Wind" to differentiate it, too.

[prestidigitator]

Okay. Here's another one that might be interesting:

Wand of Earth (X = dirt)
Deposits dirt up to 20m straight up from the target node (stops if it runs into another solid node), spilling dirt down the sides until it creates a whole hill. Entities/players are raised straight up with the earth so that they rest on the new surface. Repeated uses can create huge mountains (even a single use can potentially have a huge effect if used on an already elevated target position).

[Likwid H-Craft]

What about Wand of Death and Wand of Life? since Life and Death is elements.

[prestidigitator]

What about Wand of Death and Wand of Life? since Life and Death is elements.

Not bad. A "Wand of Life" could certainly heal entites/players; probably by a fixed amount as there is currently no way to get an entity's max HP (there's an ObjectRef:set_properties(...) method but no corresponding ObjectRef:get_properties(); it could be faked by picking some huge number or increasing the current HP value until it stops having an effect, but those are a little hacky). Perhaps it could also make saplings grow instantly into trees.

Not sure about a "Wand of Death". Seems a little too close to the "Wand of Destruction" though I suppose it could JUST affect entities/players and not nodes. Hmm. Did you have any ideas for an effect for that one?

[Likwid H-Craft]

Yes it makes dead plants and, I have more ideas for it, so far Dead plants all I can think of since there one dead plant.

[prestidigitator]

I was thinking about a "Wand of Flight" at one point, but I was going to implement by temporarily granting the player the "fly" permission for a short period. I don't think that would be a good idea though, and it allows moving through solid blocks as well as just "flying". However, I just realized with the attachment functionality I might be able to spawn an entity, attach the player to it, and move that. I'd have to test and see how smooth it would be though. Might not be worth it.

EDIT: Oh, and the other reason I kind of strayed away from this idea is that it kind of breaks the concept of wands that you point at a target. So it might be better for a different mod.

[Topywo]

I like the ideas. What about a wand of stairs?

[prestidigitator]

I like the ideas. What about a wand of stairs?

Ah! Yes. I like that idea. Actually, I might call it a "Wand of Stone" as I've been trying to think of something to do with that. So it could build a ready-to-walk bridge/staircase to the target node. Should probably have a limited range. I wonder if it should also limit the pitch, or try to build like a spiral/switchback stair if the slope is too great. Hmm.

[GJH105775]

Nice, I would like to see it.

[prestidigitator]

I've implemented the Wand of Digging, Wand of Stone, and implemented and renamed the idea I had for a Wand of Air to "Wand of Glass". I actually think the last is one of the coolest so far. I made it work whether or not there are liquids present, whereas the original idea was to create a pocket of air underwater. Now you can create a spherical shell of glass centered on any solid (or entity/player) target, and as a secondary effect it removes all liquids inside the shell. The Wand of Stone was a real pain in the ass, but I believe I have it correctly creating a walkable bridge/staircase of stone to any target point, including build spiral stairs when necessary for target locations that are straight up/down.

This will definitely need some fixing up in terms of textures and some behavior (how the wands deal with unloaded areas in the line of fire, for example) before I actually release it, but it is coming along well.

[prestidigitator]

I'm finding there's a bit too much duplicated code for tracing the line-of-sight to find a target. I've got generic ray and spherical volume tracing methods, but I think I'm going to abstract out versions that give some concrete criteria for what can be targeted, so most wands can just make a simple call and get a target position as a result. It'll include criteria for whether objects, items, solid nodes, or any node at all are included in the possible targets.

That's probably a little deep unless you like to write code yourself, but the upshot is that it'll make it a lot easier for other mods to create custom wands to extend this one.

[prestidigitator]

Another idea, yet to be implemented:

Wand of Clouds (X = white wool)
Creates a flat 10m radius "cloud" of floating (white) wool at the target, which is either the last empty space with two empty spaces above it before the line-of-sight reaches a node or entity/player, or such an empty space at the range limit of 100m if no node or entity is encountered. A combination of this wand and the Want of Teleportation might be good for making a safe haven.

(Note: To determine whether this one will be a good addition it must be tested whether this will generally be useful straight above ground; will chunks this high above the player in the sky be loaded?)

[Traxie21]

Suggestion: Use different combinations of elements in the player's inventory with a single wand to cast a spell. If multiple spells can be cast with the player's current elements, open a formspec that allows the player to select a spelll to cast.

[jojoa1997]

will there be a download soon?

[prestidigitator]

Suggestion: Use different combinations of elements in the player's inventory with a single wand to cast a spell. If multiple spells can be cast with the player's current elements, open a formspec that allows the player to select a spelll to cast.

I was thinking about that for some kind of generic/super wand, or one that takes parameters (e.g. constructing something with a given material). I'm a little hesitant to change the player's formspec for this mod, though, because it will probably make it incompatible with other mods that change the formspec.

However, maybe I could reuse the crafting inventory. Wield a wand, put the pattern for a spell in the recipe area, and instead of pulling out the a craft result, fire the wand. This could create a really cool Ultima Underworld type spellcasting system where you have to know the materials and patterns for a particular spell. In fact, you could create rune nodes specifically for the purpose of spellcasting....

Maybe a different (compatible) mod, though. I'll think about that.

[prestidigitator]

will there be a download soon?

I'm making continuous progress, both in terms of the wand implementations themselves and in terms of getting the code somewhat in shape for publication. I also have to put together licensing information for the sounds and textures and create a Git repository and project, all working around real life. So it may not be in the next couple days, but I'll get there eventually. Wish I could give a better answer.

[Traxie21]

You dont have to change the player's formspec. The latest git versions have 'player_show_formspec(name, formname, formspec definition)' That way you can create non-conflicting custom menus etc.

[Bas080]

Alohamora wand. Break the closed chest lock and remove it's contents.

[prestidigitator]

You dont have to change the player's formspec. The latest git versions have 'player_show_formspec(name, formname, formspec definition)' That way you can create non-conflicting custom menus etc.

Ah! That's cool. I will have to check it out.

Alohamora wand. Break the closed chest lock and remove it's contents.

While I'm somewhat tempted, I think breaking into locked chests is probably better done from another mod or a whole custom game. I don't like the idea of lightly introducing mechanics that change the notion of ownership, and if implemented I suspect it would give a good reason for a lot of people not to use this mod (throwing out the baby with the bathwater). It's probably a good candidate for using the external API I'm working on from another mod though.

[Ragnar]

What about, air it self? or is it, hard to do?

How and, I think I have a wand Idea but what me see what I can do.

i wanted to make a rune mod, that had an air rune, so i asked what to use as the air element...
LEAVES!

[Likwid H-Craft]

What about, air it self? or is it, hard to do?

How and, I think I have a wand Idea but what me see what I can do.

i wanted to make a rune mod, that had an air rune, so i asked what to use as the air element...
LEAVES!

We can use air, by somehow make it can be picked, up in a bucket.

But I thinking of later tryed make this, one game into minetest but, I am busy with, portaltest so later I will.

[prestidigitator]

Altars, which must be built in certain locations (e.g. "surrounded on all sides with air", "within 2m of lava", "above at least 10m of water", etc.). They could allow you to collect a "condensed and distilled essence of runic elemental power" or something like that. ;-)

[JPRuehmann]

Hello
Will there be a Download somewhere in the Future?
Thanks,
JPR

[guideahon]

If anyone is interested i'm slowly developing something like this viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11107