High-Res Card Image Downloader [Needs New Image Source]

[apansson]

So I've developed a little something that should download images from magiccards(.)info, and I have a message sent to the site's administrators to make sure it's cool to distribute such a thing.

I threw that together yesterday before seeing the most recent post here from correioalternativo. After doing some light research I'm not quite sure who I would contact at mtg-forum.de to ask to use their images. I also don't speak a lot of German so that is an issue as well.

If anyone can find something on either site that straight up says it's cool to use their images; I'd be cool with releasing it after a few more tweaks.

This sounds great, hopefully they give you permission.
Will this be integrated in the android version as well?

[Randomguy234]

This sounds great, hopefully they give you permission.
Will this be integrated in the android version as well?

As far as it being an actual part of the android version I'm not sure. I don't know off the top of my head if it's open source, and if it is it seems like kind of a daunting task to add to it. Maybe it wouldn't be who knows. If it's not open source and the developer of the android version is interested in that sort of thing I'd have no problems with giving him the code I used.

The one I'm working on is stand alone and you'll just point it at your forge res folder. I could maybe try to make an app to do it for android, but I don't have a lot of android development experience. You could always use the stand alone pc version to download the images then move the files to your android device.

[apansson]

Ok I see. I guess it could be used in some way in the Android version but I understand that you don't know. Thanks!

[bevryde]

I threw that together yesterday before seeing the most recent post here from correioalternativo. After doing some light research I'm not quite sure who I would contact at mtg-forum.de to ask to use their images. I also don't speak a lot of German so that is an issue as well.

Oh yes, I see they seem to have a proper API to hi res cards... http://www.mtg-forum.de/db/picture_new. ... nd&set=BNG
But I don't think it would be an easy task to convince them, as it seems to be a rather conservative german forum (conservative = play real cards and probably do not know Forge, my impression after a search). Has to be asked in very sensible manner.

[Aetherbird]

I threw that together yesterday before seeing the most recent post here from correioalternativo. After doing some light research I'm not quite sure who I would contact at mtg-forum.de to ask to use their images. I also don't speak a lot of German so that is an issue as well.

Oh yes, I see they seem to have a proper API to hi res cards... http://www.mtg-forum.de/db/picture_new. ... nd&set=BNG
But I don't think it would be an easy task to convince them, as it seems to be a rather conservative german forum (conservative = play real cards and probably do not know Forge, my impression after a search). Has to be asked in very sensible manner.

Im from germany... i could ask them for permission if u'd like me to.
thy aren't super conservative i'd say.... its just the usual "magic-elitism".

best wishes,
Ae

[KrazyTheFox]

I threw that together yesterday before seeing the most recent post here from correioalternativo. After doing some light research I'm not quite sure who I would contact at mtg-forum.de to ask to use their images. I also don't speak a lot of German so that is an issue as well.

Oh yes, I see they seem to have a proper API to hi res cards... http://www.mtg-forum.de/db/picture_new. ... nd&set=BNG
But I don't think it would be an easy task to convince them, as it seems to be a rather conservative german forum (conservative = play real cards and probably do not know Forge, my impression after a search). Has to be asked in very sensible manner.

Im from germany... i could ask them for permission if u'd like me to.
thy aren't super conservative i'd say.... its just the usual "magic-elitism".

best wishes,
Ae

That would be appreciated. Just be sure to let them know it'd suck up a whole lot of bandwidth. The whole set of card images can get up to 2-3GB in size and the downloader has well over 1000 downloads for the latest version. That's several Terabytes of data they'd potentially be supplying.

[Aetherbird]

Hi Krazy,
Just PM me a letter you would send them in english and i'll translate it to german exactly how you would say it. Every ounce (in a matter of emphasis) will stay the same.

kind regards,
Ae

[KrazyTheFox]

Hi Krazy,
Just PM me a letter you would send them in english and i'll translate it to german exactly how you would say it. Every ounce (in a matter of emphasis) will stay the same.

kind regards,
Ae

Alright, thanks! I'm at work right now; I'll send one your way within the next day or two when I have time.

[bevryde]

Yes Ae, please do it, much appreciated. Are you a regularly writing member there? I think it would help if they knew you. I just wrote like 5 postings there.

[Aetherbird]

Yes Ae, please do it, much appreciated. Are you a regularly writing member there? I think it would help if they knew you. I just wrote like 5 postings there.

I'm not a regular member nor do i have reputation.

| Open

Not having an Illusionary Mask makes me want to watch scripting tutorials but(!) not having the latest shiny pics is something i truly can't stand. -> I'll do my best!I just hope they catch a glimpse of this hidden masterpiece called forge and grant us access to what it desperately needs imo. We should encourage them to try Forge. They soon will recognize that its the best tool out there for deck building n testing n just having fun in quest mode. Last but not least its visually appealing!!! It's ridiculous that it is for free and if one day an online mode is fully implemented it would just wreck like every other (non)purchasable software.
they test it
they get addicted
they support
q.e.d.

If u gained some reputation maybe you should get in contact + Maybe i'll send you what i translated and you could change whatever needs to be changed.

Beste Grüße :') ,
Ae

[bevryde]

No lets not overcomplicate it, also I have 0 reputation there, so just go ahead

[Aetherbird]

I found out a guy called "error" is responsible for such requests as he is the administrator of "mtg-forum".
His profile stated he's living in england so i've written a german letter and refered to Krazy's letter.

This is the mail I did sent. Maybe bevryde can tell you if it appeals appropriate .

| Open

Guten Tag Error,
nachfolgend sende ich die Anfrage eines Programmierers der für ein verheißungsvolles Projekt die API des genannten Forums zu nutzen wünscht.
Als Wohnort wird England angegeben in deinem Profil, daher ist eine Übersetzung sicher überflüssig.
Hier die Anfrage die ich anbot für dieses Projekt zu übersetzen im originalen Wortlaut:

Hi,
I'm contacting you to request usage of your high resolution MtG card images in a downloader for a game called Forge that lets you play Magic on your computer against AI. Recently, mtgimage.com got shut down and I'm looking for a new image source. Your API contains such images in an easy-to-use format. The bandwidth requirements would likely be well over 1TB per month and usage would be frequent, so I will understand completely if you would prefer that I do not use your API.
Thanks,
KrazyTheFox

Das Programm Forge war für mich eine zufällige Entdeckung und ist nun fixer Bestandteil meines Hobbys im Decktest und Deckbau dank Rules Enforcement und guter HUD (derzeit über 99% aller Karten fix einprogrammiert) geworden. Das Programm bietet sogar einen kurzweiligen Questmodus uvm.. Zu guter letzt ist es völlig kostenlos und wird in hoher Frequenz weiterentwickelt.
Solltest du dich verständlicherweise gegen eine Nutzung entscheiden hoffe ich auf einen weiteren Nutzer wie mich der schlicht Spass an dem Projekt hat und möglicherweise wichtiges Feedback liefert.

Beste Grüße,
Aetherbird//Ansgar

hopefully they'll say "YES"

[Aetherbird]

Nils (Error) said no.
He said that part of the reasoning behind MTG Image being shut down is because(!) it was used by programms such as Forge as a source. To dodge such consequences he has to reject our request.

His original answer:

| Open

Hallo Ansgar,

vielen Dank für die Anfrage. Ich würde das zwar gerne unterstützen, aber aufgrund der rechtlichen Lage wird das leider nicht gehen. MTG Image wurde ja unter anderem deshalb gezwungen zu schließen, weil sie genau von solchen Programmen als Quelle für Kartenbilder genutzt wurde. Um uns dieses Schicksal zu ersparen, muss ich da leider nein sagen.

Sorry

So what to do now?

[KrazyTheFox]

That wasn't all that unexpected. I didn't see this one panning out from the start. From here I'll keep looking around for something that might work.

[xbon]

still no hq image sources available? the lq ones are hard to look at @_@