Your Empower HUD comes with fully configurable sounds, animations, particle effects and spellcasting messages. The combination of effects you select can significantly change the impression your spell casting creates, from the gentle sparkle and bells that come as default, through to thunder and lightning bolts directed at the spell target.
There is a Settings button on the left page which allows you to select preset combinations of settings, or you can customise your HUD by adjusting the settings shown below:
- Spellcasting Effects
- Spell Specific Casting Effects (SpellFX)
- Dispell Effects
- Teleport Effects
- Dash
- Flight Assist
- Spellcasting Channel
- Weaponry
- Combat System Compatibility
- Hit Detection
- Hide Options
- Chat Range Warnings
- Particle Relay Check
ADVANCED
- Customising your Word of Power for visible casting of spells through text commands
- Customising the internal channel used by the Empower HUD
- Adding Particle Effects to your own objects/avatar
- Creating your own Particle Effects
- Creating custom Spellcasting messages
- Adding your own entries to the Settings menu and backing up/transferring settings
- Adjusting Mana Settings
- Adding TP (Portal) support to your own vehicles and objects
Spellcasting Effects
Spellcasting effects are the messages, sounds, animations and particles (if you are wearing an Empower compatible particle relay/staff/wand etc) which are generated when you cast spells.
Spellcasting effects can be disabled entirely by ticking the Stealth checkbox on the left page of the HUD. When Stealth is ticked, no messages, sounds, animations or particles are generated. If Stealth is unticked, you can individually select which of the following you wish to appear
To customise your spellcasting effects, click the Options tab on your HUD, then the CastingFX button. You will be presented with the following options:
Presets
- Click the Presets button to obtain a menu of pre-configured spellcasting effects. These presets will configure the settings below in one go
Messages
- Uncheck the “Messages” checkbox if you do not wish messages to be generated when you cast spells, or leave it ticked for messages to be generated
- The messages which are generated when this checkbox is ticked can be customised by advanced users as described in the Creating custom Spellcasting messages section
Sounds
- Uncheck the “Sound” checkbox if you do not wish to have sound effects accompany your spell casting, or leave it ticked to have spellcasting sounds
- Click the Select button next to the Sound checkbox to obtain a menu of available sounds
- Add your own sounds by dragging them onto the HUD. They will now be available via the Select menu
Animations
- Uncheck the “Animation” checkbox if you do not wish to use animations when casting spells, or leave it ticked to use the animation of your choice
- Click the Select button next to the Sound checkbox to obtain a menu of available animations
- Add your own animations by dragging them onto the HUD. They will now be available via the Select menu
Spellcasting Effect Time
- Click the -1 and +1 button next to “Effect Time” to decrease or increase the amount of time that effects are active when you cast spells
Particles
- Untick the “Particles” checkbox if you do not wish particles to appear around you when you cast spells
- When “SpellFX” is ticked, some spells will generate extra buildup effects during casting. Untick this if you want spells to activate immediately on the target without buildup effects
- Click the “Casting” button to select a particle effect to appear around you when casting spells
- The “StartColour” and “EndColour” checkboxes next to the “Casting” button allow you to select start/end colours for your Casting particle effects
- Click the “Targeted” button to select a particle effect to travel from you to your target when casting spells
- The “StartColour” and “EndColour” checkboxes next to the “Targeted” button allow you to select start/end colours for your Targeted particle effects
SpellFX
Some spells provide additional CastingFX. For example, the Vine spell has the avatar blowing a handful of seeds at the feet of the target, which grow into a Vine. Other spells use specific animations/sounds on casting. There may be times when you wish to disable these additional effects in order to have spells cast as quickly as possible:
- Untick the SpellFX checkbox if you wish to disable spell specific CastingFX
Preview
- At the bottom of the CastingFX panel and most of the selection menus off that panel, you will see a “Preview” button. Clicking it will rez a target, at which your selected effects will be triggered so that you can see how your selected combination of effects will appear when casting spells
Once you are done, click the “Return” button in the bottom right corner of the CastingFX panel, or simply select a spell tab
Spell Specific Casting Effects (SpellFX)
It is possible to customise the CastingFX for an individual spell. For example, you may wish to use a particular set of animations, sounds, particles etc for the “Cage” spell.
- Click on the tab containing the spell whose CastingFX you wish to modify
- Left click and hold the button for the spell you with to customise until you receive a message at the bottom of the HUD saying “Release to set custom CastingFX” then release the mouse button
- The message at the bottom of the HUD will change to “Loading…” and after a few seconds, the bottom panel will display the casting FX
- Modify the effects to your liking, as described above
- Click the Preview button to see what your effects would look like if saved
- Click the Save button to finalise and store your custom settings
- Click the Defaults button to return to the default CastingFX specified for the HUD in Options->CastingFX
- Click the Cancel button to discard any changes you have made and leave the spell’s settings as they were when you entered
NOTE: The following spells come with customised CastingFX – be aware of their current settings before changing them. Future updates may override your changes on these spells:
- Bat
- Bless
- Bug
- Butterfly
- Detonate
- Dragon
- Electro
- Energise
- Flame
- Glow
- Greet
- Farewell
- Invisibility
- Judgment
- Launch
- Lift
- Lumen
- Peace
- Pulse
- Smite
- Smother
- Vine
- Volcano
Dispell Effects
- Click on the Options tab, then the DispellFX button
- Uncheck the “Sound” checkbox if you do not wish to have sound effects when you dispell OR
- Click the “Select” button next to the Sound checkbox to obtain a menu of available sounds
- Add your own sounds by dragging them onto the HUD. They will now be available via the “Select” menu
- Uncheck the “Animation” checkbox if you do not wish to use animations when you dispell OR
- Click the “Select” button next to the Animation checkbox to obtain a menu of available animations
- Add your own animations by dragging them onto the HUD. They will now be available via the “Select” menu
- Click the -1 and +1 button next to “Effect Time” to decrease or increase the amount of time that effects are active when you dispell
- Uncheck the “Particles” checkbox if you do not wish to have spell casting particles appear when you dispell
- Click the Preview button to see what your dispell effects look like
Teleport Effects
Teleport Effects (TPFX) are generated when you teleport to a location using the client. e.g. a landmark stored in your inventory, via the Map, or through double-click teleports in clients which support it. To configure your TPFX:
- Click on the Options tab, then the TPFX button
- You can click the “Presets” button to select from a menu of pre-configured TPFX, or configure your own using the buttons on the TPFX panel
- Uncheck the “Sound” checkbox if you do not wish to have sound effects when you teleport OR
- Click the “Select” button next to the Sound checkbox to obtain a menu of available sounds
- Add your own sounds by dragging them onto the HUD. They will now be available via the “Select” menu
- Uncheck the “Animation” checkbox if you do not wish to use animations when you teleport OR
- Click the “Select” button next to the Animation checkbox to obtain a menu of available animations
- Add your own animations by dragging them onto the HUD. They will now be available via the “Select” menu
- Click the -1 and +1 button next to “Effect Time” to decrease or increase the amount of time that effects are active when you teleport
- Uncheck the “PrimFX” checkbox if you do not want prim effects rezzed on arrival OR
- Click the “Select” button next to the PrimFX checkbox to obtain a menu of available prim effects
- Uncheck the “Particles” checkbox if you do not wish to have particles appear when you teleport
- Click the “Select” button next to the Particles checkbox to obtain a menu of available particle effects
- The “StartColour” and “EndColour” checkboxes allow you to select start/end colours for your TP particle effects
- Click the “Preview” button to see what your TPFX will look like
- Once you are done, click the “Return” button in the bottom right corner, or simply select a spell tab
Dash
- Click on the Options tab
- If you wish to disable the Dash facility, uncheck the “Dash” checkbox OR
- If you wish to disable particles when dashing, uncheck the “Particles” checkbox next to the “Dash” checkbox
Flight Assist
- Click on the Options tab
- If you wish to disable Flight Assist, uncheck the “Flight Assist” checkbox OR
- If you wish to disable particles when flying, uncheck the “Particles” checkbox next to the “Flight Assist” checkbox
- If you wish to customise your flight speed (may be necessary for particularly large or small avatars) click the Speed button
Spellcasting channel
The Empower HUD allows you to cast spells by sending text commands in local chat on a channel you specify. The default channel is 5. If this interferes with another item you are wearing which also accepts commands on channel 5, you can customise the channel used as follows:
- Click on the Options tab
- Click on the Advanced button
- Click the “CastChan” button to see the channel in use (defaults to 5)
- Click the Prev and Next buttons to cycle through channels
- Avoid 10-20 – these channels are used by some of the spells
- Click the Return button when done, or simply click on another tab
A list of the text commands you can use is available here
Weaponry
The Empower HUD allows you to fire a variety of weapons, including lightning bolts, energy balls, rocks and arrows by going into mouselook and clicking the left mouse button to fire.
You can control the ammunition type, firing speed, sounds, animations and particle effects used when firing Empower ammunition as follows:
- Click on the Options tab
- Click on the Weaponry button
- Click the Presets button to obtain a menu of pre-configured Weaponry types
- Tick or untick the Enabled checkbox to enable/disable your mouselook weaponry (this can also be done via the “Weapons” checkbox on the left page of the HUD)
- Tick or untick the Push checkbox to determine whether your weaponry will give an extra push on impact when used on push enabled land
- Click the Ammo button to obtain a menu of available ammunition types
- Click the Firespeed button to see the firing speed
- Use the -10, +10, -100, +100 buttons to adjust firing speed (relevant for some collision based combat meters or target objects which gauge damage based on impact speed)
- Tick or untick the Sound checkbox to control whether sounds are produced when you fire
- Click the “Select” button next to the Sound checkbox to obtain a menu of available sounds
- Add your own sounds by dragging them onto the HUD. They will now be available via the “Select” menu
- Tick or untick the Animation checkbox to control whether your avatar is animated when you fire
- Click the “Select” button next to the Animation checkbox to obtain a menu of available animations
- Add your own animations by dragging them onto the HUD. They will now be available via the “Select” menu
- Tick or untick the Firing checkbox to control whether your spell casting particle effect will be triggered when firing
- Tick or untick the Impact checkbox to control whether your ammunition will generate extra particles on ipact
- Click the Preview button to fire a single shot and see what your effects look like
- Click the Return button when done, or simply click on another tab
For more information on mouselook based weaponry, see here
Combat system compatibility
The Empower mouselook based weaponry and certain spells (see details here) are compatible with a range of combat meters, including DCS2, Spell Fire, Linden damage, MetaLife and the Gorean Meter
You can specify which combat system you wish the HUD to be compatible with, tell the HUD to automatically detect when you are hit with weaponry from a particular combat system and automatically switch to match it, as well as adjust a variety of settings which control how the HUD behaves when comat system compatibility is enabled, as follows:
- Click on the Options tab
- Click on the Combat button
- Click the “Presets” button to obtain a menu of pre-configured combat settings
- Adjust combat system autodetection by ticking/unticking the “Auto” checkbox. When ticked, the HUD will attempt to detect the combat system used by any object that collides with you and adjust accordingly
- Alternatively, leave “Auto” unticked and select your combat system by clicking the appropriate button (None, Linden, DCS, Safezone, Spell Fire, GM (Gor), MetaLife)
- Click the Combatsys button to generate a message in local chat telling you which combat system is currently selected (the button for the current selection is always highlighted)
- Click the Damage button to see what level of damage will be inflicted with your weaponry and combat spells under the Linden, MetaLife or Spell Fire systems (does not apply to spells)
- Use the -5 and +5 buttons to adjust your damage level
- Note that when using Spell Fire, the damage is divided by 5 to ensure equity when using the same damage settings as in other systems
- For collision based combat systems, such as DCS and others, the level of damage is not determined by this setting, but by your firing speed selected via Options->Weaponry
- Click the Firing Delay button to see what firing delay (in milliseconds) the HUD is enforcing for mouselook based weaponry
- Use the -100 and +100 buttons to adjust the firing delay to a level compatible with your firing speed and/or damage settings to ensure legal combat (Note that these will be overridden if you have the Balanced checkbox ticked, as the HUD will determine the delay)
- Specify whether the HUD should automatically fire back at avatars whose objects hit you by ticking/unticking the Retaliate checkbox (This can also be done from the left page of the HUD)
- If the Balanced checkbox is ticked, the HUD will automatically adjust your Firing Delay (for mouselook based weaponry) to attempt to ensure fairness with combat meters. This is important for some combat systems, particularly Gorean Meter
- Click the Return button when done, or simply click on another tab
Hit Detection
The Empower HUD can report the name and owner of objects which collide with you. It will also add the owner to the HUD’s radar. This can be useful when in an area where the sensors cannot be enabled and you are being fired upon from a distance.
If this becomes tedious, due to a large number of collisions, Hit Detection can be disabled as follows:
- Click on the Options tab
- Uncheck the “HitDetect” checkbox
By default, Hit Detection will not report collisions with objects you own. To change this, use the msglevel variable described here
Hide Options
The Empower HUD can be hidden from view in various ways by clicking the “[CHANGE]” button at the top of the left page of the HUD.
You can control how the HUD is hidden as follows:
- Click the Options tab
- Click the HUDConfig button
- Select the button for your preferred hide mode under Hide Settings:
- “CloseSm” closes the “book” and shrinks it
- “CloseLg” closes the “book” at full size
- “FoldL” folds the right side of the book back, showing only the left side and is used for when you have your HUD positioned on the left of your screen as it will keep the HUD aligned to the left
- “FoldR” folds the right side of the book back, showing only the left side and is used for when you have your HUD positioned on the right of your screen, as it will keep the HUD aligned to the right
- You can also change the Hide settings by clicking Options->Settings, or the “Settings” button on the left page of the HUD and selecting “HideMode”
- Click the Return button when done, or simply click on another tab
Chat Range Warnings
The Empower HUD can be configured to produce a message in local chat when avatars come within chat range (20m). This features is controlled by checking/unchecking the “ChatWarn” checkbox on the Options tab.
Particle Relay Check
The Empower HUD requires a prim attachment (particle relay) in order to generate particle effects, as SL does not allow HUD attachments to generate particles. By default, the HUD will check whether you are wearing a particle relay when you attach the HUD and offer you one if needed. If you decide you do not want particle effects generated for spell casting, dispell, TPFX etc. you can disable this check by unticking the “ChkRelay” checkbox on the Options tab.
ADVANCED CUSTOMISATION
THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS ARE FOR ADVANCED USERS AND REQUIRE EXPERIENCE EDITING AND/OR SCRIPTING OBJECTS
!!ALWAYS WORK ON A COPY OF YOUR HUD WHEN PERFORMING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CUSTOMISATIONS, AS A MISTAKE MAY DESTROY YOUR HUD!!
Customising your “Word of Power” for visible casting of spells through text commands
One of the ways to cast spells using text commands is to use a “word of power” followed by the text command in local chat.
Although not a common way of casting, it does work in some roleplay scenarios where you want people to see your character verbally invoking a spell using a “magick word”
Click here for some examples of text commands
The default word of power is “magick”, however this can be changed as follows:
- Find the HUD in your inventory
- Right click the inventory entry for your HUD and select “Detach from Yourself”
- Wait 10-30 seconds after the HUD detaches to allow SL to update your inventory
- Right click the inventory entry for your HUD and select “Properties”
- Click on the General tab of the edit window if it is not already selected
- Change the word of power specified in the Description field to one of your choosing and hit Enter
- Close the edit window
- Right click the inventory entry for your HUD and select “Wear”
Customising the internal channel used by the Empower HUD
The Empower HUD uses an internal channel for passing details to its spells. In very rare circumstances, this might interfere with another item you are wearing. Do not change this unless you find it interferes with another scripted object you have. Do not use particularly large or small numbers or you will break the HUD. Move it from the default as little as is required to avoid interfering with other scripted objects.
In the event that you do need to change the internal channel, you can customise it as follows:
- Click on the Options tab
- Click on the Advanced button
- Click the “SpellChan:” button to see the channel in use
- Click the Prev and Next buttons to cycle through channels
- Click the Return button when done, or simply click on another tab
Adding particle effects to your own objects/avatar
It is possible to add particle effects to objects of your own (e.g. a staff) or to your avatar itself (e.g. beams that come from your avatar’s prim eyes/hands etc.) by placing the ParticleRelay script in them. This script can be found in the Empower Magick Extras box that came with your HUD and is named “EmpowerParticleRelay v5 xxxxxxxxxx” (where xxxxxxxxxx is the revision number). Simply rez the box and unpack it into your inventory.
The ParticleRelay script will read its configuration from the first notecard whose name begins with “ParticleConfig” in the contents of the object it is placed in. The format of the ParticleConfig notecard is as follows:
Prim,ComponentType,ParticleType,ManaFlag
- Prim – Specifies the number or name of the prim to be configured with the remaining parameters. Set to 0 for a single prim object, or a number from 1 to the number of prims in the object. Can be set to the name of the prim, in which case all prims with the specified name will be configured
- ComponentType– If you wish to be able to change the textures on your object via the Wand tab on the HUD, set the ComponentType to one of the following (exact case as shown), otherwise set this parameter to “NA”
- handle
- shaft
- inlay
- setting
- tip
- ParticleType– Specifies what sort of particles are generated on this prim. Specify one of the following:
- PARTICLES_NONE – Do not generate particles on this prim (may be needed if a prim is only to serve as a Mana display – see below)
- PARTICLES_FLARE – Generate the IdleFX (particles “drip” from the prim when idle) and CastFX (additional “flare” on spell casting) effects if these are enabled via the Wand tab on the HUD
- PARTICLES_STATIC – Generate the Static particles selected via the HUD
- PARTICLES_TARGET – Generate the Targeted particles selected via the HUD
- ManaFlag – Set to TRUE or FALSE depending on whether you want this prim to display the current Mana level when the Mana feature is enabled via the Wand tab on the HUD
You may also enter one of the following commands to set the parameters of the “Flare” particles used when IdleFX or CastFX is enabled via the Wand tab. Note that (with the exception of the FLARE_SIZE parameter) these can be overridden by the user through the Wand tab and will simply provide default values which differ from the “Gold” particles which the script otherwise uses as default:
- IDLE_START_COLOUR,<x,y,z> – Specifies the starting colour of the idle particles
- IDLE_END_COLOUR,<x,y,z> – Specifies the end colour of the idle particles
- FLARE_START_COLOUR,<x,y,z> – Specifies the starting colour of the flare particles
- FLARE_END_COLOUR,<x,y,z> – Specifies the end colour of the flare particles
- FLARE_SIZE <x,y,z> – Specifies the size of the flare particles
If no ParticleConfig* notecard exists, the ParticleRelay script will default to generating static particles on a single prim object and no particles on a multi-prim object. In both cases, the root prim will be treated as a “shaft” object if the Wand tab is used to retexture it and the Mana display will not be active.
For large objects, if you wish to use the texturing facilities on the Wand tab of the Empower HUD without having to specify every prim in a ParticleConfig notecard, you can name the prims in your object as “handle”, “shaft”, “inlay”, “setting” and “tip” to receive the appropriate textures from the HUD. Note that the following prim names will behave specially:
- WandParticleEmitter – The ParticleRelay will use any prim with this name as if it had PARTICLES_FLARE defined, unless overridden by a ParticleConfig notecard entry
- tip – Unless otherwise defined in a ParticleConfig notecard entry, prims named “tip” will generate Static particle effects as defined in the Empower HUD and will act as a Mana display
- setting – Unless otherwise defined in a ParticleConfig notecard entry, prims named “setting” will generate Targeted particle effects as defined in the Empower HUD
Expanding on Particle Relay functionality
It is possible to extend the particle relay, as every message it processes from the HUD is also sent as a link_message with num set to -99770044.
The Empower Magick Extras package that comes with your HUD contains a sample of how to do this. You will find two objects whose names begin with “Empower Magick Eye Beam” (one for left eye, one for right eye). Simply wear them when you cast spells on other avatars, your spellcasting will be accompanied by green “eye beams” directed at the target. They are mod/copy and contain the ParticleRelay script, a Config notecard configured not to relay particles (so you can substitute your own effects) and a full perm script named “EmpowerParticleExtension – EyeBeams v4.0 2010091801″ which you can tailor to your liking.
Notes on editing avatar attachments
When placing the ParticleRelay script into avatar components, you may need to detach them and rez them on the ground in order to add the script. Be careful when doing this as it will change the permissions on some components, depending on how they are constructed and distributed. ALWAYS keep a copy of your original!!
Explaining how to edit objects and add scripts is beyond the scope of this user guide, however it is usually just a matter of the following:
- Make a copy of your object in your inventory, if possible (no copy objects obviously do not allow this)
- Rez the object you wish to modify on the ground
- Right click the object and select “Edit” from the pie menu
- Click on the Contents tab
- Drag the Particle Relay script and an appropriate sample ParticleConfig notecard from your inventory into the Contents tab
- Edit the ParticleConfig notecard to specify how the particle relay should operate. Rename it to a more meaningful name for your item (as long as its name still begins with “ParticleRelay”)
- Close the Edit window
- Right click your object and select “Take” to take it back into your inventory
Unfortunately I cannot provide training or support in the basics of editing objects and adding scripts.
Creating your own particle effects
The Empower HUD supports two types of particle effects:
- Static particle effects – these are particle effects which appear around you and/or a target
- Targeted particle effects – these are particle effects which travel from you to your target when casting spells
Both types of particle effects are specified via configuration notecards named either StaticP-NAME or TargetP-NAME, where NAME is the name of the particle effect that you see in particle selection panels. These notecards specify, using an abbreviated form, the parameters to the llParticleSystem() call.
It is therefore possible for you to alter the notecards to customise particle effects to your liking, or make a copy of the notecards to create your own new particle effect. If you wish to make your own additional particle effects, name the notecard “StaticP-NAME” or “TargetP-NAME” where NAME is a unique name not already used by the HUD.
TargetP-NAME notecards must contain the line TARGET_KEY, “TARGET_KEY” in the particle notecard (see below)
Whilst no scripting is required, this will require a knowledge of the parameters used by the llParticleSystem() call and the ability to edit notecards. Unfortunately I cannot provide support in changing these notecards beyond describing their format here – you are on your own. Keep a copy of the original in case you break it. I cannot guarantee to deliver new copies of the HUD if you break your only copy. There are some excellent places and tutorials on particles effects available in SecondLife – I would suggest starting at The Particle Laboratory if you need help. Type “Particle Lab” in the search bar to find it. Custom particles can be created for a fee. IM Blackdog Ashbourne with your request, or drop a SupportRequest notecard on my profile.
The format used in the notecards is PARAMETER[,VALUE];PARAMETER[,VALUE];… across multiple lines.
| Parameter | llParticleSystem() | Allowed Values |
| START_SCALE | PSYS_PART_START_SCALE | Vector |
| END_SCALE | PSYS_PART_END_SCALE | Vector |
| START_COLOR | PSYS_PART_START_COLOR | Vector |
| END_COLOR | PSYS_PART_END_COLOR | Vector |
| START_ALPHA | PSYS_PART_START_ALPHA | Float |
| END_ALPHA | PSYS_PART_END_ALPHA | Float |
| TEXTURE | PSYS_SRC_TEXTURE | “Texture Key” |
| PART_MAX_AGE | PSYS_PART_MAX_AGE | Float |
| SRC_MAX_AGE | PSYS_SRC_MAX_AGE | Float |
| BURST_PART_COUNT | PSYS_SRC_BURST_PART_COUNT | Integer |
| BURST_RADIUS | PSYS_SRC_BURST_RADIUS | Float |
| BURST_RATE | PSYS_SRC_BURST_RATE | Float |
| BURST_SPEED_MIN | PSYS_SRC_BURST_SPEED_MIN | Float |
| BURST_SPEED_MAX | PSYS_SRC_BURST_SPEED_MAX | Float |
| PATTERN | PSYS_SRC_PATTERN | EXPLODE, DROP, ANGLE, ANGLE_CONE, ANGLE_CONE_EMPTY |
| ANGLE_BEGIN | PSYS_SRC_ANGLE_BEGIN | Float or one of PI, PI_BY_TWO, TWO_PI |
| ANGLE_END | PSYS_SRC_ANGLE_END | Float or one of PI, PI_BY_TWO, TWO_PI |
| ACCEL | PSYS_SRC_ACCEL | Vector |
| OMEGA | PSYS_SRC_OMEGA | Vector |
| TARGET_KEY | PSYS_SRC_TARGET_KEY | “TARGET_KEY” (replaced by the spell’s target key on invocation) This parameter is required for targeted particle effects |
| FLAGS | PSYS_PART_FLAGS = 0 | N/A – Clears all PSYS_PART_FLAGS values, which can then be set using one of the following parameters |
| EMISSIVE_MASK | PSYS_PART_FLAGS |= PSYS_PART_EMISSIVE_MASK | N/A |
| BOUNCE_MASK | PSYS_PART_FLAGS |= PSYS_PART_BOUNCE_MASK | N/A |
| WIND_MASK | PSYS_PART_FLAGS |= PSYS_PART_WIND_MASK | N/A |
| FOLLOW_VELOCITY_MASK | PSYS_PART_FLAGS |= PSYS_PART_FOLLOW_VELOCITY_MASK | N/A |
| FOLLOW_SRC_MASK | PSYS_PART_FLAGS |= PSYS_PART_FOLLOW_SRC_MASK | N/A |
| INTERP_COLOR_MASK | PSYS_PART_FLAGS |= PSYS_PART_INTERP_COLOR_MASK | N/A |
| INTERP_SCALE_MASK | PSYS_PART_FLAGS |= PSYS_PART_INTERP_SCALE_MASK | N/A |
| TARGET_POS_MASK | PSYS_PART_FLAGS |= PSYS_PART_TARGET_POS_MASK | N/A |
Creating custom spell casting messages
Most of the messages used by the spells are stored in a notecard inside the HUD named HUDConfig-20-Messages. Whilst you can edit this notecard, your changes will be overwritten by future updates. If you wish to override spellcasting messages, I recommend you create a notecard called “EmpowerCmds-Messages” and drop it onto the HUD after each update or HUD reset to apply your overrides. Alternatively you can name your notecard “EmpowerSettings-CastingFX-Messages” to have it available from the Settings menu under CastingFX so it can be easily selected after each update/HUD Reset.
The format of the notecard should be a series of lines of the following format:
setmsg:SPELL:THEME|*:CASTING MESSAGE:TARGET MESSAGE:DISPELL MESSAGE
Note that DISPELL MESSAGE can be left blank, but if so, the “:” after TARGET MESSAGE should still be present. A blank DISPELL MESSAGE will cause the default to be used. To disable the dispell message entirely, specify “none” in the DISPELL MESSAGE field. To set the target message the same as the casting message, specify ! (exclamation mark) in the TARGET MESSAGE field.
THEME should be one of “Light”, “Dark”, “Mer”, “Dragon” or specify “*” to have the message apply on all themes.
If an entry specifies a Theme of “*” for a spell and there are other entries for a specific theme, then the entry with a theme of “*” will apply on all themes except the one where a specific theme is provided.
e.g.
setmsg:Shield:*:/me summons a shield of concentrated light to protect %t.:/me has summoned a shield of concentrated light to protect you, %t. Touch or sit on the shield for full protection.:
setmsg:Shield:Mer:/me summons a watery shield to protect %t.:/me has summoned a watery shield to protect you, %t. Touch or sit on the shield for full protection.:
setmsg:Shield:Dark:/me summons a shield of dark power to protect %t.:/me has summoned a shield of dark power to protect you, %t. Touch or sit on the shield for full protection.:
Provides overrides to the Shield messages for Mer and Dark themes – all other themes use the default in the first line.
You can specify “default” as the SPELL and “*” as the THEME in order to change the default spellcasting message for spells without a specific override, as follows:
setmsg:default:*:DEFAULT CASTING MESSAGE:DEFAULT TARGET MESSAGE:DEFAULT DISPELL MESSAGE
The following symbols can be used in the messages and will be replaced at run time as follows:
- %c – Your name
- %s – Spell name
- %t – Target name (blank for non-target spells)
- %a – Will be replaced with “a” or “an” as appropriate for the spell name (“a glow spell”, “an exile spell”)
- %o – Will be replaced with ” on ” for target spells, or “” for non-target spells (Casting and target messages only)
- %f – Will be replaced with ” from ” for target spells, and “” for non-target spells or where a target is not specified for dispelling (Dispell messages only)
WARNING:
- When overriding messages, you are at risk of crashing the scripts in the HUD, either due to the limited format checking they do to preserve memory, or due to exceeding the memory they have available for holding messages
- Remember that LSL can only read 256 characters per line from a notecard, so keep each line under the 256 char limit
- !!!!! ALWAYS work on a copy of your HUD when changing messages, as you may crash your HUD !!!!!
Adding your own entries to the Settings menu and backing up/transferring settings
The Empower Magick HUD allows you to record any combination of settings for quick access through the Settings menu.
If you wish to add your own settings, follow the steps below:
- Configure the HUD to your liking as described at the top of this page (CastingFX, DispellFX, etc)
- Click the Dump button on the Options tab
- Open the Local Chat window in your SL client and copy and paste the output into a notecard named EmpowerSettings-CastingFX-NAME (where NAME is whatever meaningful name you want to appear on the Settings menu)
- Edit your new notecard to remove any settings you don’t want activated
- Drag your new notecard onto the HUD
Your configuration options will now appear as an option in the Settings menu under CastingFX.
There is a Delete button next to the Dump button on the Options tab, which can be used to delete settings notecards that you do not want appearing on your Settings menu. If you delete one of the default settings by mistake, you will need to unpack a new copy of your HUD and copy the appropriate notecard from its inventory.
Alternatively, you can create a notecard which is applied in a “one off” fashion (not added to the menus) by naming it EmpowerCmds-xxx This notecard can be dragged onto the HUD and will be processed, then deleted.
This approach can be used to transfer your settings from one copy of the HUD to another, or to backup your current settings to a notecard so that they can be reapplied should you ever inadvertently change them.
If you wish to also backup your Spell Specific Casting Effects (SpellFX), you can do so by issuing the following local chat command: “/5 HUD FX DUMP”
This will output your SpellFX to local chat. You can then copy/paste them into a notecard as described above (ensuring to delete everything prior to the “HUD FX SET” command on each line) to include your SpellFX.
NOTE: Future updates may alter the SpellFX for certain spells and may alter the format of the HUD FX SET command. If you customise your SpellFX heavily, you will need to integrate your changes with those made by the updater and decide whether you wish to use your own FX or those provided with the update.
Adjusting Mana parameters
The Empower Magick HUD includes an optional Mana system, whereby casting spells uses Mana, which replenishes over time.
You can configure the Mana replenishment rate via two settings available under Options->Advanced:
- ManaFreq: This is the frequency (in seconds) at which Mana is replenished. Defaults to every 10 seconds
- ManaInc: This is the amount of Mana to be replenished at the frequency determined above. Defaults to 10 Mana points
You can also use the following commands, either from the command line on the spell casting channel (e.g. “/5 HUD ManaIncFreq 10″) or by creating a notecard named EmpowerCmds-Mana or EmpowerSettings-Mana as described above.
| Command | Description |
| HUD Mana xxx | Set your Mana amount. Note that in most roleplaying environments, this will be considered cheating, however you may wish to change your Mana level manually for testing purposes. |
| HUD ManaIncFreq xx | Increase Mana by ManaIncAmt every xx seconds |
| HUD ManaIncAmt xx | Increase Mana by xx every ManaIncFreq seconds |
| HUD ManaDecAmt xx | Decrease Mana by xx per spell for every 5 seconds a spell is active |
| HUD SpellMana Default xx | Set default Mana required for spells to xx (e.g. HUD SpellMana Default 10) |
| HUD SpellMana Reset | Reset all Mana requirements to all spells to value specified by Default above |
| HUD SpellMana SPELL xx | Set Mana requirement for spell SPELL to xx (e.g. HUD SpellMana Shield 100) |
Adding TP (Portal) support to your own vehicles and objects
The Empower vehicles (Carpet, Cloud, Cushion, Dolphin) support travel through the Empower portals (cast from the Travel tab).
It is possible to add Empower portal support to vehicles and objects for which you have Modify rights by placing scripts in them which can be found in the Empower Magick Extras box that came with your HUD.
Rez the Empower Magick Extras box and unpack it into your inventory. It contains, amongst other things, the following three scripts:
– TRTP Teleport Script – This script performs the teleport. Must go in each object, along with one of the following:
– TRTP Vehicle Script – Use this for physical vehicles
– TRTP Object Script – Use this for objects which are not vehicles (e.g. prim monsters or animals). Note that if used in non-physical objects, they will only go through the portal if within 10m of it when the portal is activated, either by being clicked, or by having an avatar go through it. Vehicles going through a portal will not take non-physical objects with them. If you wish to travel through a portal on a vehicle and take non-physical objects with you, move within 10m of the portal on your vehicle without colliding with it, then click the portal. Both vehicle and non-physical objects within 10m of the portal will then travel through it
For Vehicles, drop in the TRTP Teleport Script AND the TRTP Vehicle Script
For objects, drop in the TRTP Teleport Script AND the TRTP Object Script
The scripts will generate a “whooshing” sound at the departure point and again on arriving at their destination. If you wish to override these sounds with your own, add sounds called “TPDepart” and “TPArrive” to the object and the scripts will use those. If you wish to customise further, please contact me.
If you wish to activate the TRTP Teleport Script via your own scripts (e.g. to specify co-ordinates to teleport your vehicle to without using an Empower portal, or for use in non-physical vehicles which must maintain control of object position) it can be activated using the following code snipped:
llMessageLinked(LINK_THIS, 100, (string)(llGetRegionCorner() + CoOrds), NULL_KEY);
Where CoOrds is a vector of region local co-ordinates to which you wish the TRTP to take you.
Specify other sims relative to the current sim – i.e. using negative values for x/y or values greater than 256, or by calculating the global co-ordinates yourself instead of using the llGetRegionCorner() code above.