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Created by
Jasperre, last updated on Aug 05, 2025
3 minute read
These effects tend to be used for columns ConjSoundVFX, CastSound and ProjSound in spells.2da
Naming Convention
Bioware used these prefixes for these sounds (very similar to Conjuration and Casting Visual Effects):
- sco_ (Sound effect Conjuration) used for Conjuration column ConjSoundVFX. Sometimes such as for gazes there is no conjuration so it's instead used in the CastSound column.
- sar_ (Sound effect Area) is used for some cones and area effect spells in the CastSound column.
- sca_ (Sound effect Cast) is used for cast sounds in the CastSound column.
- spr_ (Sound effect Projectile) for the ProjSound column.
There are VFX related sound effects too (sim_ prefixed, Sound effect Impact) added below for completeness.
The naming convention of the files after sco_/sca_ tends to be abbreviations of their use (eg; "lgspr" is "Large, Ground, Spiral" - although I've made some assumptions here and there is no reason one "type" should not work in another "location" it'd just be centred on a different body part/be on the ground spot), along with the type of VFX it is intended for - eg; Fire for fire damage spells. These are generally recolours but not always. The Bioware "standard" ones are:
| Description | Default Colour | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Acid | Bright green | Acid damage spells |
| Cold | Darker blue and white | Cold damage spells |
| Electricity | Lighter blue and white | Electricity damage spells. Commonly used for "Hold" spells and "Spell Mantles" too |
| Evil | Red | Evil spells (Inflict Wounds etc.). |
| Fire | Orange | Fire damage spells. |
| Healing | Light blue and yellow | Healing spells (Cure/Restoration). |
| Holy | Yellow and white | Divine spells (Hammer of the Gods etc.). |
| Mind | Dark blue | Quite a variety use these |
| Nature | Light green, dust, leaves | Quite a variety use these |
| Odd | Purple | Quite a variety use these |
| Sonic | White | Sonic damage spells. Commonly used for Undead spells too |
| Cone | Various | Cones like Burning Hands or Cone of Cold |
| Breath | Various | Breath attacks, Dragon Breath, etc. commonly sized as a cone. Most are from the "Hand" position so sized only for particular creatures, Dragon Disciple breath is done from the "Head" position however. |
| Gaze | Various | Gaze spell effects commonly sized as a cone |
| Colour | Various | Mostly unused except for a few odd uses - likely early VFX Bioware had for testing |
| Special | Special | Skulls, wraiths etc. |
The order Bioware tended to use in escalating levels of "power" were:
- Small Hand (vco_smhan___.mdl)
- Medium Hand 01/02/03 (vco_mehan___.mdl) or Medium Ball Hand (vco_mebal___.mdl)
- Medium Hand plus Ground visuals (vco_grnd___.mdl)
- Medium Hand plus Large Ground Incantation visuals (vco_lgrin___.mdl) or Large Ground Spirals (vco_lgspr___.mdl)
See Conjuration and Casting Visual Effects for the VFX tied to most of these sound effects.
SCO Sound Effect List
| Model File (all .mdl) | Category | Head/Hand (not prescriptive!) | Descriptive Name | Usually Used In Column | Spells.2da Entries | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sco_gazeevil | ||||||
| sco_gazemind | ||||||
| sco_gazeodd | ||||||
| sco_grndskul | ||||||
| sco_lgrinelec01 | ||||||
| sco_lgrinevil01 | ||||||
| sco_lgrinfire01 | ||||||
| sco_lgrinheal01 | ||||||
| sco_lgrinholy01 | ||||||
| sco_lgrinmind01 | ||||||
| sco_lgrinodd01 | ||||||
| sco_lgsprelec01 | ||||||
| sco_lgsprevil01 | ||||||
| sco_lgsprfire01 | ||||||
| sco_lgsprholy01 | ||||||
| sco_lgsprmind01 | ||||||
| sco_lgsprnatr01 | ||||||
| sco_lgsprodd01 | ||||||
| sco_lgupelec01 | ||||||
| sco_lgupevil01 | ||||||
| sco_lgupfire01 | ||||||
| sco_lgupholy01 | ||||||
| sco_lgupmind01 | ||||||
| sco_lgupnatr01 | ||||||
| sco_lgupodd01 | ||||||
| sco_lgupsonc01 | ||||||
| sco_mebalacid01 | ||||||
| sco_mebalelec01 | ||||||
| sco_mebalfire01 | ||||||
| sco_mebalodd01 | ||||||
| sco_mebalsonc01 | ||||||
| sco_megrdevil01 | ||||||
| sco_megrdfire01 | ||||||
| sco_megrdholy01 | ||||||
| sco_megrdmind01 | ||||||
| sco_megrdnatr01 | ||||||
| sco_megrdodd01 | ||||||
| sco_mehanacid03 | ||||||
| sco_mehancold03 | ||||||
| sco_mehanelec01 | ||||||
| sco_mehanelec02 | ||||||
| sco_mehanelec03 | ||||||
| sco_mehanevil01 | ||||||
| sco_mehanevil02 | ||||||
| sco_mehanevil03 | ||||||
| sco_mehanfire01 | ||||||
| sco_mehanfire03 | ||||||
| sco_mehanheal02 | ||||||
| sco_mehanheal03 | ||||||
| sco_mehanholy01 | ||||||
| sco_mehanholy02 | ||||||
| sco_mehanholy03 | ||||||
| sco_mehanmind01 | ||||||
| sco_mehanmind02 | ||||||
| sco_mehanmind03 | ||||||
| sco_mehannatr01 | ||||||
| sco_mehannatr02 | ||||||
| sco_mehannatr03 | ||||||
| sco_mehanodd01 | ||||||
| sco_mehanodd02 | ||||||
| sco_mehanodd03 | ||||||
| sco_mehansonc01 | ||||||
| sco_mehansonc02 | ||||||
| sco_mehansonc03 | ||||||
| sco_mehedelec01 | ||||||
| sco_mehedevil01 | ||||||
| sco_mehedholy01 | ||||||
| sco_mehedodd01 | ||||||
| sco_mehedsonc01 | ||||||
| sco_positive | ||||||
| sco_swar3blue | ||||||
| sco_wraith |
SAR Sound Effect List
| Model File (all .mdl) | Category | Head/Hand (not prescriptive!) | Descriptive Name | Usually Used In Column | Spells.2da Entries | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sar_conecold | ||||||
| sar_conedisea | ||||||
| sar_conefire | ||||||
| sar_conepois | ||||||
| sar_conepris | ||||||
| sar_conespar | ||||||
| sar_dragcold |
SCA Sound Effect List
| Model File (all .mdl) | Category | Head/Hand (not prescriptive!) | Descriptive Name | Usually Used In Column | Spells.2da Entries | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sca_coneacid01 | ||||||
| sca_conefire | ||||||
| sca_conesonc01 | ||||||
| sca_dragacid | ||||||
| sca_dragcold | ||||||
| sca_dragelec | ||||||
| sca_dragfire | ||||||
| sca_draggas | ||||||
| sca_dragmind | ||||||
| sca_dragodd | ||||||
| sca_outholy01 | ||||||
| sca_outmind01 | ||||||
| sca_outnatr01 | ||||||
| sca_outneg | ||||||
| sca_outsonic |
SPR Sound Effect List
| Model File (all .mdl) | Category | Head/Hand (not prescriptive!) | Descriptive Name | Usually Used In Column | Spells.2da Entries | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| spr_arrowfire | ||||||
| spr_beholdbeam | ||||||
| spr_ectoacid01 | ||||||
| spr_ectocold01 | ||||||
| spr_ectoevil01 | ||||||
| spr_ectofire01 | ||||||
| spr_ectomind01 | ||||||
| spr_ectonatr01 | ||||||
| spr_ectoodd01 | ||||||
| spr_ectosonc01 | ||||||
| spr_fireball | ||||||
| spr_los | ||||||
| spr_magicmissile | ||||||
| spr_ringsmal |
SIM Sound Effect List
These tends to be used in visualeffects.2da instead of spells.2da
| Model File (all .mdl) | Category | Head/Hand (not prescriptive!) | Descriptive Name | Usually Used In Column | Spells.2da Entries | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sim_barkskin | ||||||
| sim_blinddeaf | ||||||
| sim_bonabil | ||||||
| sim_bonac | ||||||
| sim_bonholy | ||||||
| sim_cntglobe | ||||||
| sim_cntmantle | ||||||
| sim_cntresist | ||||||
| sim_destruct_low | ||||||
| sim_destruct | ||||||
| sim_disease | ||||||
| sim_exp2flame | ||||||
| sim_exp2frost | ||||||
| sim_exp2light | ||||||
| sim_explacid | ||||||
| sim_explflame | ||||||
| sim_explfrost | ||||||
| sim_explight | ||||||
| sim_explsonic | ||||||
| sim_explsun | ||||||
| sim_heal01 | ||||||
| sim_heal02 | ||||||
| sim_heal03 | ||||||
| sim_heal04 | ||||||
| sim_heal05 | ||||||
| sim_healcond | ||||||
| sim_healdead | ||||||
| sim_holheal02 | ||||||
| sim_holheal04 | ||||||
| sim_holheal06 | ||||||
| sim_lashfire | ||||||
| sim_magblue | ||||||
| sim_magbreach | ||||||
| sim_magdisj | ||||||
| sim_magdisp | ||||||
| sim_magdoom | ||||||
| sim_magknock | ||||||
| sim_magpoly | ||||||
| sim_magsee | ||||||
| sim_magsilenc | ||||||
| sim_magsilence | ||||||
| sim_magsleep | ||||||
| sim_magsuper | ||||||
| sim_mentcharm | ||||||
| sim_mentconf | ||||||
| sim_mentdaze | ||||||
| sim_mentdomn | ||||||
| sim_mentfear | ||||||
| sim_mentstun | ||||||
| sim_movhaste | ||||||
| sim_movparal | ||||||
| sim_movslow | ||||||
| sim_negabil | ||||||
| sim_negative | ||||||
| sim_negdeath | ||||||
| sim_negdeath2 | ||||||
| sim_negharm | ||||||
| sim_poison01 | ||||||
| sim_protdeath | ||||||
| sim_protelem | ||||||
| sim_protevil | ||||||
| sim_protgood | ||||||
| sim_protmagic | ||||||
| sim_pulscold | ||||||
| sim_pulse | ||||||
| sim_pulsfire | ||||||
| sim_pulsholy | ||||||
| sim_pulsnatr | ||||||
| sim_pulsneg | ||||||
| sim_pulswater | ||||||
| sim_pulswind | ||||||
| sim_raycold | ||||||
| sim_rayevil | ||||||
| sim_rayfire | ||||||
| sim_rayholy | ||||||
| sim_raylight | ||||||
| sim_raymind | ||||||
| sim_rayodd | ||||||
| sim_shadeshield | ||||||
| sim_shwngacid01 | ||||||
| sim_shwngcold01 | ||||||
| sim_shwngelec01 | ||||||
| sim_shwngevil01 | ||||||
| sim_shwngfire01 | ||||||
| sim_shwngheal01 | ||||||
| sim_shwngholy01 | ||||||
| sim_shwngmind01 | ||||||
| sim_shwngnatr01 | ||||||
| sim_shwngodd1 | ||||||
| sim_shwngsonc01 | ||||||
| sim_spike | ||||||
| sim_stoneskin | ||||||
| sim_strkfire | ||||||
| sim_strkholy | ||||||
| sim_unsummon |