Attention card game makers

Somehow I've thought about that a little, but then I realized that writing a playable program is very time-consuming (there's another active Thread here that discuss about this kind of program too but they only make a program to check the game, the counters, etc, not a full playable program).
So, rather then wasting my time making the program, I put the time to playtest the game some more.

So, istead of making the program, I use this methods :
I've put the Rules in the site, so they can download and read the rules first to see if the game is OK for them to download (and make) or not, and I've upload some sample cards (today I will upload sample cards for IOD2).
And I think that's enough (I use my point of view when I look at a free print to play game).

Of course, it is always better if the designer can (and will) make the program you mention :)

That's me. How about another print and play designer outthere ?

These are good ideas. I would love to see some card-type BGDF games playable online. I know nothing about programming, so I really can't help, except to give you guys ideas.

Krietler, Among the options you presented, I did not see the capability of playing a multi-player mode on the same computer (also known as hotseat). This way, you don't need to write AI, and you don't have to play against other players online while trying to learn the game.

I am not envisioning using this method as the end product, but rather as a great way to playtest a game solo. As a solo-player, you could play each player's turn in a way that is very difficult to pull-off in regular playtesting. If you have just one other person to help you out, you can play 2-p games on the same computer or each take 2 or more players in a mulit-player game.

Once the bugs are ironed out, you can either write AI or go online.

Just checked it out. I see what you mean now. I think this is a good start.

Here are some ideas for you:

How about making several separate webpages, each with a different card. If a player has a certain result, then he must click on the corresponding link to go the next card. Kind of like a choose your own adventure on the web.

Also, you mention there is no dice in your logo for the game, but the rules below require dice rolling.

http://www.geocities.com/boken88/mogab.html

That's pretty neat!

One suggestion: save your images as GIF files instead of JPG. They will still be small (probably smaller) and won't be as blurry.

I see now what you mean by "not a video game". With a small amount of "web code" (like ASP or JSP), you could actually create web-pages on the fly that would shuffle your cards into a deck, and such. It would still play by clicking web links to open cards, but you could automate the setup and make it easier for players to manage cards (1 card to a browser frame, as Mark suggested earlier).

Anyway--thanks for sharing -- you've got a good idea going.

K.

about the dice, originally in the game the dice was cards 1-6
you just shuffle and randomly pick. hence no dice needed.

Or maybe you could incorporate a random dice roller into the website. I am not sure where you could find one, but I have seen them before. Maybe other's here would know.

Thoth (which looks perfect)
http://digilander.libero.it/zak965/thoth/

Vassal
http://www.vassalengine.org/community/index.php

Cyberboard
http://cyberboard.brainiac.com/

Or they may be met by the joint application being discussed here on the board:
http://www.bgdf.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=25

But I like reinventing the wheel... :-)

K.

Nearly there huh. Have you done all the stats etc for each card? What happens if you find you have to change some of the values of the cards because they are imbalanced? Will you make them all again?

Bulldog,

Hopefully I'm reading your posts wrong. 30,000 cards for one game! Thats just plum crazy. Personally I would never play a game, no matter how good it is that has 30,000 cards! I wouldnt be able to shuffle them all, and to make matters worse setup would be a ________! (use your imagination)

By the way, if I was reading them wrong please excuse the words above!

Thanks
- Justin

My guess is that it's a CCG.

The first-released set of Magic cards had 295 cards, and only through twelve years of additions and refinements have they gotten to the number mentioned, if they have indeed reached it.

295 cards, and a playable, manageable game, with the built-in potential for expansion.

Maybe I misunderstand your intention, but I can't see how anyone could ever start playing a game which launches with 30,000 unique components... it's kind of daunting, y'know? I can't even really imagine how you could've thought up 30,000 different items/characters/whatevers to go on the cards, let alone integrated them together so that they a) work as a game and b) have distinct meaning from each other and therefore value as different cards. I can appreciate the insane level of deck customization players can experience with that much to choose from, but maybe it's a bit overkill....

Hopefully you've got an Alpha Set in mind that has the basics all in one place... a smaller (say 300 cards) deck with good representation from all categories, feet planted solidly in the mechanics of what certainly must be a remarkable game, given all the time and effort you've given to it.
Once people can play and enjoy the game, and a level of interest has been determined, you release new waves of cards in expansion sets... drip-feed the fans.

That being said, I commend you for your focus and am interested to see some examples of the cards. I have a CCG variant "in the works" (a.k.a. "started but gathering dust in a drawer somewhere") and was starting to reach what I felt were reasonable limits at around 450 different cards.

Even at that point, I was starting to add items that were "intensifiers" of previously invented cards. Already having a "Light Laser" (futuristic game), I would add an "Amped Light Laser" which adds range/damage. Stuff like that. Perhaps the universe of my game was too confined for inventories of your game's magnitude, but I really am stumped by how you could've come up with that many cards, all with attributes and unique meaning in the game. Even with "intensifiers" (Sword, Rusty Sword, Silver Sword, Jeweled Sword, Rusty Silver Sword, Rusty Silver Jeweled Sword, etc etc..)

Help me out here, bud. Explain more.

Thanks,

~Josh

A friend of mine who plays Magic online gave me that "16,000 number of cards" number. However, it should be added that he estimates that 7,000 of those cards "duplicates;" premium versions of the same card, or different artwork versions of the same card. So, while still huge, Magic seemingly has "only" 10,000 unique cards, and that after 12 or 13 years of development.

Still pretty impressive.