Hey these are awesome. I really dig the mushroom cloud finisher on your fireball :} Also the effects that play on the ground during the bursts. Are you enjoying the particle editor? I always have a *lot* of fun when im working with it. I mean it could use some work but as it is, I feel like there's a LOT you can do with it.
You should try making a better Arrow particle. We didn't really have the support to do what i wanted with it (making it a beam) so all I could thing to do was to throw in a little white bar for the projectile... :{
I think it's just Arrow.xml and you can hook it up to the archers in RangedAttackSpells.xml, internal name BasicBowAttack (at very top). It might be a challenge, but a nice one of that could be really valuable! Maybe if it's sweet we could even throw it in?
Thanks a bunch. :]
The Cauldron does have its limits, yeah, but it's still a ton of fun to play around with even if, like with your arrow, your vision sometimes has to take a backseat because of the functionality. Having each individual particle only interpolating between two points -- the beginning and end of its lifetime -- can be limiting, but for something like fire, it worked out okay to just use a few more of the suckers to get the look down. I do have my own little wishlist for the Cauldron, too -- many entries of which come from using the Torchlight modding tools. I'd love having seperate keyframe sets for the emitter and then the particles themselves. Also, doing color/alpha seperately (and more simply -- having to make a seperate little color strip texture isn't the most streamlined!), particle affectors like vortices and gravity wells, etc. I admit originally hating that there's fewer bells and whistles than other tools, but Raven X's prediction is still coming true -- the Cauldron is growing on me. I can't do everything I want in it, but the possibilities are still endless, if you know what I mean. : )
Though the tool isn't perfect, it's definitely the easiest time I've had of actually getting my effects hooked into the game. I'll happily give an arrow effect a try!
Annatar: It's certainly an idea :] It could cover all the bases faster, though I think if he and I partnered up, I would still eventually go on and complete my own set, for fun if nothing else.
MagicwillNZ: Thanks for the kind words :] I do plan on sharing, though things might get dangerous. I might be as obsessed with special effects as Frogboy is with AI -- hopeuflly I can force myself to put these things up for download, even though I'll forever consider them works in progress.
Bobby Hardenbrook: Thanks! Special effects I'm quite passionate about -- On more than one occasion I've purchased a game just because the spells looked awesome! My dream job is to do special effects art for videogames. Doing so for Stardock, a developer I respect very much, might cause my brain to implode from awesomeness (It's so on, Arrow.xml!). I see a lot of games get stuck with really bland looking effects, or only a very small variety. Not everything has to be of mushroom cloud-inducing intensity, but every time I see yet another game settle for a lifeless little puff of circles as an explosion, or 15 ranks of a spell that all look identical, I shed a tear in mourning. 
