Software for virtual playtesting?

i know this is not what you are asking about but unless the software youre looking for exists...

staples (and probably toys r us etc.) have blank flash cards that cost around $3 for a deck of 50. thats what ive been using when making early card game prototypes.

This might not help either but it's saved me from doing 6+ paste ups before getting to a good playable deck.

I make a document with all the cards color coded with Circus flohcati colors and Space beans colors. I then assemble a deck accordingly. Lastly I play solo at my desk and reference what each card represents. This gives me a lot of clues without having to print and cut anything. If I need to nerf a card I just change its text, do a "save as" and re-deal to see if that was a good idea.

All that said, I'd be glad to pay for a program that facilitates playtesting.

i think people have issed the subject of the post

"Software for virtual playtesting? "

virtual as in on the computer probably becase he wants to playtest with someone far away.

Although it may seem like a lot of work, I've used Multimedia Fusion 2. You can download the free demo (most likely adequate for your needs) here:

www.clickteam.com

I design software as well as games in my spare time, and this is what I use (while not knowing a lick of any "official" programming language, except for maybe BASIC). There are a few engines and demos out there that allow for the replication of a card deck, shuffling, movement across the board, etc. Additionally, I've designed other tabletop games using this software, and things have worked out splendidly. Taking screen shots of the board for later use has also worked fine.

Again, it may be more work than what you're looking for, but it's a tool that works for me fairly well.

Hahaha! I'm glad to hear someone else has at least heard about it, let alone owns a copy. :)

But since you're familiar with the program...I'd just make Active Objects into cards (Clone a Card object to make 52 of them, or whatever number of cards is in your deck), then simply edit the graphics of the cards however you wish. Pictures, words, colours, etc. Whatever makes sense to you for your mock-up. With MMF2, you can assign a "drag-and-drop" movement quality to the object, no event coding needed, so cards can be moved around in the runtime with a click and swipe of the mouse.

If you're familiar with MMF, then I still recommend you upgrade to MMF2. You can create projects and play them within the MMF kit; you just can't export them as stand-alone applications until you buy the full version. Additionally, there's a recently-released card engine that's free for download, although I'm not sure if it would work in MMF1 for you. Here's a link:

http://create-games.com/download.asp?id=8440

I haven't used it myself just yet; I've other non-computer projects in the works that are demanding my time. But it's definitely in my sights for future projects.

Yes, software like that exists. It's called Battlegrounds, and I'm the developer.

Battlegrounds doesn't require scripting, or programming, or even XML editing. It DOES, however, require that you create a bitmap to represent each unique card, and a bitmap to represent the backs of the cards. Judging from your last post, it doesn't sound like you want to design virtual cards.

If you watch this tutorial video, at around 3 minutes and 25 seconds it shows how a card deck is created in the software.

That said, if you don't play RPGs, Battlegrounds may be overkill for what you need, in which case you should be aware that I will soon be releasing a new (and much lower cost) virtual tabletop program exclusively for boardgames, wargames, card games and dice games. I will try an remember to post here again when it is released later this month.

In the meantime, you may wish to check out some of the other programs listed here, to see if they suit your needs.

Battlegrounds looks great! I downloaded it to try it out; I'm currently working on several card games and it could be of use for solo playtesting. However, when I tried to make a deck, the demo wouldn't let me; that feature is disabled for the demo. I really don't want to pay only to find that it won't fit my intended use. I tried using Vassel and Cyberboard but I couldn't make heads or tails out of them. I'd like to be able to make quick card decks, plain white with simple text. Is there a simple easy to use program like that? I generally print out cards on cardstock then cut out for testing but a simple virtual program would save me some time and ink. Any suggestions or any good tutorials for Vassel?

I've used Magic Set Editor for prototyping in the past. It works fine for playtesting.
Hope that helps,
Levi
www.bonsaigames.net

edgd00, I'm quoting my earlier post in case you missed it.

@heruca, I saw the video and the problem isn't how to make a deck. The problem is that the demo version has that feature disabled. So I'm unable to test it out for myself.

I didn't know about the virtual table in nanDECK. that is a great addition (I haven't used it for a while).

Is there a way to draw or turn a card face-down, or add a discard pile to the bottom of the deck?

Hello, long time listener, first time caller...

I recently got back into game design and wanted exactly the same thing to knock together a simple card game for my kids. All I needed was a way to visualize moving cards around, and shuffle. I couldn't find anything, so I built this:

http://dev.siege.org/decker/

It's really bare bones, but it works. The page is just a bunch of javascript, so if you really want you can save it and edit the page to create your own version with custom cards (which is more or less what I do).

This version, of course, just has a standard deck of playing cards installed so you can see how the thing works. Mouse over the blue symbols on the page and a description of the action will pop up. I suppose if there's interest, I can flesh it out and make it look purdy.

HTH.

@edgd00: Did you get my PM?

You can export MSE files as Apprentice or Magic Workstation files, which allows you to play online through those programs. I have not done it myself, but the functionality is there.