I love this mod so much but I thought even though they are 100000x better than the original icons they still look rather flat. I decided to improve it even further by adding color to it, making the various icons stand out and inform you even more so you can not only tell what they do by shape, but also by color.

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/5913/iconse.gif (Edited the picture slightly to include the drain attribute icon, instead of the resist corpus icon since that's one spell I don't think anyone is gonna be seeing)

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5073/iconsnew.gif


Note I did not use the spell school colored background, in some cases they conflicted with the colors on the icon, I might do one with spell school colored backgrounds later though.
I really wanted the focus on the actual icon, and whether it is a positive(white background), neutral(gray background) or negative(black background) spell, but as you can see I only really did Destruction and Restoration schools that way (Would absorb health really be considered negative like damage or drain health? Or enrage creature/humaniod? Would something like Flame Shield be considered positive? How about jump or levitate? .etc-era)

Also, some spells, such as Soultrap, Chameleon and all 3 of the summon Atronach spells are very different from the originals, on Soultrap I wanted it to demonstrate how there's actually a creature/soul in the gem, on the Atronach spells more of an overhaul with more detail on the elemental part, Chameleon I guess I must have loved the two-tone blending effect and went nuts with it.
Also note that Summon Hunger depicts a black-red creature, I have a mod that reskins them as pitch black with red accents, so it makes sense for me, I will probably include these as alternates and provide ones that match the originals exactly (Aswell as a tan-colored Hunger for those without the reskin).

Others like the Summon Winged Twilight, Summon Daedroth, Summon Wolf, Summon Bonewolf, Summon Bonelord, Summon Ancestor Ghost, Sanctuary, Stunted Magicka, Shock Damage/Weakness to Shock/Resist Shock, Drain/Damage/Restore/Fortify Health are slightly different, usually to make them more clear, look alittle better or to remove unnecessary bits, otherwise they are the same.


If you want to know which is for what here is the original readme which has a huge list of descriptions for each spell's icon:
http://webpages.charter.net/manauser/morrowind/files/NewIcons-Readme.txt




I was also making one that replaces all of the spell sound effects, literally all of them except Mage's Guild "whoosh" sound (Which I think is already perfect), now Fire-based spells no longer share their sound effects with generic Destruction spells (Like Damage Health), they have their own unique firey sound effects.

It also corrects sound associations like for example, some "summon creature" spells where using the Restoration soundset instead of the Conjuration one (I have no idea why they would), all of those cases have been fixed.

Also adds new particles for Fire, Frost and Shock spells, which I always thought where in desperate need of an retouch. Please note that Shock spells are now Cyan colored instead of Purple like in the original game, I might include different variations on the color.

Probably optional is another thing I did was change the "spell light/enchantment color" of some spells, all Destruction spells give off negative (Should be black) light, all Restoration spells have white light, elemental spells have different colors Fire=Orange, Frost=A light "frost-bitten" Bluish-Indigo, Shock=Cyan, Poison/Acid=Neon Lime, but it's probably just a matter of taste. I may or may not include this.
I will add some pics of the changes soon enough. Still wondering how I'm gonna do that for the spell sounds.... Guess I'll make a video and upload it on YouTube.


Mostly just seeing what people have to say on this. Some more variety on spell sounds/light color/icons/particles floating around wouldn't hurt.






EDIT: I fianlly got his response it seems he is alright with it.

These icons made me nostalgic. They remember me the old days of the Exile-style games.
As you said, a few more variety on icons, sounds and visual effects is always welcome. However, I'd suggest to keep the thing modular, so that people who want to change only the icons or sounds but not the rest can use them alone.

I don't use ManaUser's icons but I'd be interested in seeing a couple of ingame shots to judge how your edits look.
Now this sounds like a good idea, there's Lucypher's http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=1990 already out there, but that's ESP-less. I've been using it since... ages ago. I'm not sure if the sounds work out for you and sadly the readme doesn't talk about permissions (or give a contact email).
The Morrowind Patch Project (at least in 1.6.4 and above) has done this as has Zener's http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=1147. In fact the MPP makes a better job of it than Zener's mod in that the MPP changed Demoralize Humanoid to Illusion, Correct Spell Sounds missed that change. Anyway, I'd suggest having a look at MPP and maybe duplicating its changes (unless you disagree with them). The MPP's pretty much a standard recommended mod these days.
For info, these are the magic effect replacers I can find download links for:
razorfett147 made http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=94850&id=4725 and http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=94850&id=4739.
rocker made http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=6196 and http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=6621.
Nzdawghaus made http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=3466.
Luminar made http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=2324.
Mad DJ made http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=2085, based on LadyE's mesh.
Vilkacis made http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=2426

Maybe some of them coould be included, if you like them...

I'll try to get some examples of the icons and new VFX/sounds soon.


I think the sound mod will end up being with an ESP, simply cause you will never get to actually hear the fire soundeffects (Unless some mod fixes that, like MPP or whatever, then I'll reconsider) without it, pointless to even have fire damage sounds if it's exactly the same as any other Destruction spell soundset.

I might make a modular part for those who don't really care if they share the same set, but for picky people like me, there will be a ESP too.

As for the link, I listened to the new soundsets it adds, some are pretty good, IF you can hear them, most of them are so quiet I can barely hear what they are supposed to be without boosting their volume. It's still better than the originals, which where obnoxiously loud.

The ones I had where louder than these and alot more detailed.


Oh, well I had no idea it did that, well no point in adding that then.


Most of these change the particle effect, I'm talking about the actual VFX_ file, the standard ones looks incredibly kruddy and still look bad even with new effects to attach the particles to. (I'm not very fond of the ones which do change the elemental VFX_ except maybe Frostbolt Improved, for example, the weird "Lightning Bolt Spaghetti" VFX_ on the New Elemental Damage Effect, and there's really no alternatives except the original ones which look just as bad)

Just pointing out what I know is out there, what you choose to do with the information is your call :thumbsup: Looking forward to it!

I have a VFX texture replacer somewhere in my archives; can't
say that its better or worse given that I made it for myself, but I
should get around to sharing it at some point (else it just collects
virtual dust).

As for the actual VFX models, I've thought about doing different things
for them (but can not decide what to do for some of them and I am not
one to change one of them and not the rest as well). However, it is
something that I think about often every time I cast a spell in game :nod: .
:bolt:

Hello. I'm really curious how these look in 16x16 size. The small size is why I originally decided against using color, opting for a "high-contrast" look, but I wouldn't have thought to omit the spell school colors, so maybe that well help the icons remain recognizable. They look really good at this size anyway. I look forward to seeing them in-game.

I think I'll make a mod-list thread with this info that has all of the different spell sound/effect/icon replacers in a neat little list, so people can pick and choose the ones they like the most. Maybe include some screenshots for those that don't have any.


I'd like to see some screenshots of your VFX textures In-Game, I don't think there is nearly enough variety for spell stuff ATM as there is for say, landscape texture packs or heads.


Not nearly as good, partly because they are so tiny, also cause I lazily re-sized alot of the bigger ones real quick just to get them over with, I really didn't know why there was a second set of the same thing but smaller (I thought like potion tooltips and stuff?) so that's why I didn't spend nearly as much time on them.
The original mod's 16x16 icons look better in some cases, usually cause of the background color.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9640/iconsnew16x16.jpg

When I redo the 16x16 they will probably have to be all black or white backgrounds and change the colors around alot to get them to stick out, gray are way too neutral at that size the colors just kind of blends together.

I haven't tried the 16x16 Icons in-game.




ATM the big ones look excellent on the "active spells corner", they have the default icon on certain areas, most annoyingly the health bar menu where you will see it more often... :shakehead: :facepalm:
I wonder if this is to do with the fact I am using 32x32 icons and not the little 16x16 ones, which the health bar was meant to use I think (I'm think the originals where 16x16?) or if this is some mod compatibility error on my end. Until I figure out what it is I don't know about releasing it cause it is a very irritating issue and makes the mod halfway pointless.

They also look funny on potion tooltips and in the spell menu, seems to be a limitation with the default UI but you can atleast make out what it's supposed to be.

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/356/icontest.jpg







Here's also some examples of the new Elemental VFX_.
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7539/firetest.jpg
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2584/frosttest.jpg
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/5622/shocktest.jpg
I take back everything I said negative about VFX anytime anywhere, it's such an unbelieavble pain to get them to look right, not only do you have to have an alpha channel just right, but the game makes black transparent so it's almost impossible to make very dark VFX.
Anything slightly too bright is literally white or ridiculously saturated to the point of being stupid. And it never translates the texture/alpha detail correctly.

It's a miracle I got them to look as good as they do.

Like the new VFX :thumbsup:

Yes, the 16x16 icons are actually used more often. IIRC, for everything except the current spell, and the tooltip on a spell effect itself, e.g. in the spellmaker. Yours don't look bad at that size, but you can see why I took the time to draw them separately, because those are the ones you'll be looking at the most.

On the topic of VFX replacers, Knef made some great ones for Fireballs and Frost.
http://www.gamesas.com/?showtopic=991190&hl=

How to make it where it uses both of the differently sized sets in the appropriate places at the same time?



Also, here's the preview of the new sound effects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zrjMCwm_mA

You set it to use the 16x16 icons in the editor, and as long as the 32x32 icons have matching names, except with a leading B_ (presumable for "big"), it will use them in the correct places automatically.

OH I see now, I was using them the other way around, no wonder I was having so many appearance errors with them.

I'll get the 16x16's fixed up and try it with them loaded first.

Anyone ever check out the new sound FX I put together for the spells?

I'd really like some input on it. Right now I feel like I'm just wasting my time even posting it.

Pretty sweet, actually. They have a little bit of "sameness" to them, but not in a bad way, they sound like they go together. A few comments though:

As long as you've differentiated fire from generic destruction, you might want to make them a little more distinct. The hit sounds were the only ones I could really tell apart.
The gongs and stuff for mysticism might be a bit much, but I'd have to see how it feels in the game.
Likewise the shock sounds... I'm not sure, a little too sci-fi maybe.
Restoration I liked, except for the cast sound, which frankly sounds kind of violent.
In general I liked the fail sounds the least, I know they're not supposed to be "good" sounds, but some of them are a little too... silly I guess. The ones that go high-pitched, almost like a little "boink" sound effect, don't work for me.

But again, over all I liked them. Don't let my little niggles with specific sounds make you think otherwise.

Fire & Destruction sounds both sound fairly distinct if you listen carefully, one is this weird "empty" (AKA doesn't really have an elemental theme assigned to it) aggressive sounding, the other is just generic firey sounds. Except for the "AoE" ones, those do sound alot alike, overall the Destruction ones could be alittle better, I'm kinda "meh" about them.
A few sounds here and there could be alittle better (Like the Resto cast you mentioned)




Have to keep in mind that I am the kind of person that edited the pistol gun in UT sound-effect with a clip from the "Bang! Bang! Feuer Frei" song so every-time you shoot it it goes "Bang!" in a loud, annoying way, I like all the sounds, especially magical effects, very loudish, flamboyant and distinct.

Direct contrast to the other sound replacer that Dragon32 posted, which I thought was too quiet (Not bad at all, just too "soft" and tame for my tastes), but that's why I thought I should make another that was the opposite style-wise, so there can be variety people can just download both and mix&match whichever ones they like better.




Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the feedback I got, thanks everyone. I'll try to fix up the 16x16 icons, make a bunch of color variations on the different VFX_ and refine the sounds alittle. Shouldn't be too long before I release it.

Thats pretty neat!

Also epic username! How do you remeber that lol

It's so long that you can't really forget it, or atleast that's how it went for me.







Also, how do you add new "spell failure" sounds? Like for Elemental spells. There's several sounds that are being unused ATM.

I know you can add it in the sound editor thing, but you can't ASSIGN it to a spell as far as I know, which is what I want to do.

Not really necessary, but it would be great to know.

OK, well thanks to Mana User I fianlly fixed the stupid icon error. I figured it was something simple.

Sadly the "active effects on me ATM" is reduced in size, kind of liked it before when it was bigger, oh well.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/356/icontest.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9004/newiconsfinaltest.jpg

They work perfectly otherwise. Repaired all the 16x16 icons (Now they are direct colorings of the small originals instead of crappy re-sizes of the big colored ones) aswell they look great.



The sound changes work perfectly fine, as well.

I learned a few things:


The icon replacer pretty much cannot be modular, I've tried, I renamed every. single. icon to the -exact- name of the ones that came with the game, put it in a folder with the same name, in icons.
Didn't do anything, they weren't replaced at all.

Same with the VFX_ files, same name, same folder, everything, didn't do anything.



The sounds work as modular though, but if you want specific sounds for Fire (And now Poison) spells, you'll have to use the mod. However my new sounds are NOT required for the specific sounds, the game already comes with sounds for those 2 they just where never used.


Also thanks to Dragon32's list, I've decided to probably make a version that incorporates or is atleast compatible with, Rocker's "Improved Elemental Effects" (While they would make absolutely horrible "On Hit" spell effects, they would be really cool AoE spell effects") and "Spectacular Sorcery Part 1", I've messed around with them and they look GREAT with my new VFX_

I think I am going to do a remake of alot of the VFX_, like for Poison spells, which looks like pig vomit (No, literally! It's so chunky and brown it doesn't look like poison at all!).

Also, here's some examples of the color variations for Frost spells:
http://img291.imageshack.us/i/frostcolors.jpg/


http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2536/frostdetail.jpg



I've decided to just make the mod do everything I described, but include the original files, so if you want just icons but nothing else, just install them and use the "original" versions of the VFX (They use a different name, but all of the different versions use that same name, so you can swap them out for whatever and it will still work as long as the name, filetype and size are the same)

I'll probably include the original icons + Mana User's icons (Uncolored) aswell, so if you want the sounds/VFX but not the icons, or the uncolored ones, just stick the appropriate ones in the right folders.
If you don't want the sounds just don't install (Game has them all already) and so on.
It won't be 100% modular, but you can still make it do what you want.

That's some old school icons. Just to say, if you want to replace files individually you have to make them into DDS files, TGA won't replace them if the originals were DDS. DXT compression is not required, you should save them as RGBA8 for quality.

I checked them off the disc. They where all .TGA files I think. Same with the VFX.

The only ones which where .DDS where the new icons added by Tribunal & Bloodmoon. I didn't try those.

You shouldn't trust what was on the CD. The stuff in the BSA is all DDS.

Thanks. I tried making them all .DDS files and now it works.


Pretty svcky about the stuff on the CD. What a jip.

Messing around with a new replacer for Destruction effects.

I was trying to some kinda insane and evil spiky ball, it ends up looking like fireworks. :meh:

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7683/image18hb.jpg


Any ideas?




EDIT: That looks better.
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/3982/image18g.jpg