Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013

[Aiodren]

@Firemind: did you already try to convert your old transform mechanic from 2012 to 2013? In 2012 i did some cards like Delver and Huntmaster of the Fells with it and i would love to use them in 2013 I already tried to convert it but it didn't go very well because i'm not familliar enough with what changed in the code and what stayed the same...

[thefiremind]

@Firemind: did you already try to convert your old transform mechanic from 2012 to 2013? In 2012 i did some cards like Delver and Huntmaster of the Fells with it and i would love to use them in 2013 I already tried to convert it but it didn't go very well because i'm not familliar enough with what changed in the code and what stayed the same...

In DotP2013 the clones work better so it should be easier to use the same tricks to make the transform mechanic, but I still have to try. At the moment I'm working on an infect deck and a ninjutsu deck, once I'm satisfied with them I can try to work on it.

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EDIT: I just discovered something that isn't obvious: while granting a characteristic now is enough for most of them to work properly, CHARACTERISTIC_SHADOW seems to be an exception. In order to make shadow work, I had to specify:

Code: Select all

    <CONTINUOUS_ACTION>
    local characteristics = Object():GetCurrentCharacteristics()
    characteristics:Characteristic_Set( CHARACTERISTIC_SHADOW, 1 )
    characteristics:CanOnlyBeBlockedBy_Set( EVASION_INDEX_SHADOW )
    characteristics:CanOnlyBlock_Set( EVASION_INDEX_SHADOW )
    </CONTINUOUS_ACTION>

[GamerXYZ0]

I was wondering if there's a way to improve manual tapping? I was playing Bolas's deck and had 3 of each land and 1 of each Mox. I wanted to cast something, and of course wanted to tap my Moxes first since Artifacts are way more vulnerable (and it was possible with the casting cost of course!), but no matter how I cycled through the combinations the game gave me, the game only let me tap 1 Mox and no other.

[thefiremind]

I experienced a similar problem with my Plague Myr: I couldn't avoid using it even if I had enough lands to keep it untapped. I think they tested manual tapping only with lands, so it has some problems with other mana sources. I don't think we can do anything about that, it's a characteristic of the engine.

[RiiakShiNal]

I don't know if anyone is interested or not, but I've made a deck art template to make creating deck images easier and I thought I would share.

D13_DeckArtTemplate.psd

Edit: Oh I forgot to mention that UIDs at least for decks seem to work fine even with 9 digits. Which leads me to believe they used a 32-bit integer for it (though I don't know if it is signed or unsigned) so some ten digit ids may also work.

[Persee]

Where is the colorless artifact frame ? I think it's name is A.TDX but I don't find it.

[thefiremind]

Where is the colorless artifact frame ? I think it's name is A.TDX but I don't find it.

It's called C_ARTIFACT.TDX.

[Persee]

Thx very much.

I'm beginning to convert my mod into Dotp 2013.

[sumomole]

What is the difference between GetObjectX and GetEffectX?

[thefiremind]

What is the difference between GetObjectX and GetEffectX?

If it's the same as ObjectDC and EffectDC, maybe GetObjectX can retain its value as long as the object doesn't change zone, while GetEffectX is reset when the ability ends. But if it's true, the core cards never take advantage of this difference.

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EDIT: This stupid restriction on manual mana tapping that forces the selection of non-basic-land cards will ruin more than one idea... I just managed to code an Eldrazi Spawn token that sacrifices itself automatically when the mana is needed (by putting the mana ability in an invisible token and sacrificing the Eldrazi Spawn when that invisible token becomes tapped), but having to use Eldrazi Spawns before basic lands goes totally against the idea of accumulating them for big spells...

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EDIT 2: Oh, I was forgetting, I have question, too. Did anybody understand what's the purpose of the LKI_shield_effect_source tag? It seems they put it in all the abilities that deal damage... but it's also on Followed Footsteps.

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EDIT 3: I understood what ignore_filter means. Sometimes you find it in core cards also when it's not needed, anyway if you look at Day of the Dragons it's clear: it makes the action repeat only once, no matter how many cards the FILTER block selects. It's really useful, I missed something like this in DotP2012.

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EDIT 4: I just understood while I was searching examples for coding Warstorm Surge correctly: LKI = Last Known Information. That must be DotP2013's way to assure that the last known information about something is checked (so for example, if a creature goes to the graveyard, we can see power and toughness it had when it was still in play). Even in this case, I think the developers used the tag LKI_shield_effect_source many times when it wasn't needed. The tag should preserve the effect source's LKI, while in order to preserve LKI for something else, there's a specific function to call on the pointer: LKIShield_CardPtr(n). Flayer of the Hatebound doesn't use that function, but I used it in Warstorm Surge, just to be sure.

[RiiakShiNal]

EDIT: This stupid restriction on manual mana tapping that forces the selection of non-basic-land cards will ruin more than one idea... I just managed to code an Eldrazi Spawn token that sacrifices itself automatically when the mana is needed (by putting the mana ability in an invisible token and sacrificing the Eldrazi Spawn when that invisible token becomes tapped), but having to use Eldrazi Spawns before basic lands goes totally against the idea of accumulating them for big spells...

The game actually prioritizes colourless mana sources for generic mana over coloured sources. I'm working with an artifact deck I put together and I have several mana sources in the deck including artifacts with colourless mana (Sol Ring), artifacts with coloured mana (Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet), non-basic colourless lands (Academy Ruins), non-basic coloured lands (Seat of the Synod, Vault of Whispers), and creatures (Plague Myr). And when I cast a spell it will prioritize the usage of Sol Ring, Plague Myr, and Academy Ruins over Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Seat of the Synod, and Vault of Whispers. Beyond those two distinctions at least in my experience it then prioritizes whatever was put out last over things that were put out before.

So if I put out a Seat of the Synod, Sol Ring, Mox Sapphire, and a Plague Myr then next turn try and cast Tinker the game will force me to tap Plague Myr, Sol Ring, AND Mox Sapphire (total 4 mana even though I only needed 3). If I change up the order like this: Mox Sapphire, Seat of the Synod, Plague Myr, Sol Ring then the next turn when I try to cast Tinker the game just wants me to tap Seat of the Synod and Sol Ring.

So some things still make no sense, like being forced to tap extra mana when there is no need to do so or why they force the prioritization of using colourless mana sources before coloured sources instead of letting the user choose.

Edit: I've also noticed that the game refuses to stack Artifact Lands (Seat of the Synod, Vault of Whispers) even though has no problem stacking Artifacts (Sol Ring, Moxes) or other non-basic lands (Cloudpost).

Edit 2: I guess it should also be noted that if you add an Artifact Land (Seat of the Synod) or a Legendary Land (Academy Ruins) that you will also need to give the game the appropriate text for these types: COMPOUND_TYPE_ARTIFACT_LAND, and COMPOUND_TYPE_LEGENDARY_LAND (by adding them to a standard xml string file in the TEXT_PERMANENT directory like we do for deck names, etc...)

[agentx]

Yes, a repository is needed. Maybe a dropbox? Also, it's possible to create some kind of private server that allow people to play multiplayer with custom decks?

I spent hours pouring over many different DLCs pulling out the duplicate cards to create one giant 500MB DLC for DOTP 2012. (In some cases I had to choose who did a better job coding the card )
Would love to see one repository where new DLC and unique cards can be added, and exported.

[GamerXYZ0]

Firemind, what did you exactly mean when you said that the guild decks lack their TEXT_PERMANENT? I just unlocked Azorius's deck (just because it was the first) to take a look, and it worked perfectly: names, text, lores, even pop-ups specific to the deck like putting a Feather Counter on a creature. Just 1 single thing didn't work right as far as I saw, and that was the AI name (which is not a single problem at all of course). Oh, and the deck name of course, but I always unlock Revenge opponents (and "Super Jace", as he got a third deck for some reason), so I'm used to that. Anything important that doesn't work right that I didn't notice?

[thefiremind]

Firemind, what did you exactly mean when you said that the guild decks lack their TEXT_PERMANENT? I just unlocked Azorius's deck (just because it was the first) to take a look, and it worked perfectly: names, text, lores, even pop-ups specific to the deck like putting a Feather Counter on a creature. Just 1 single thing didn't work right as far as I saw, and that was the AI name (which is not a single problem at all of course). Oh, and the deck name of course, but I always unlock Revenge opponents (and "Super Jace", as he got a third deck for some reason), so I'm used to that. Anything important that doesn't work right that I didn't notice?

I actually judged the lack of TEXT_PERMANENT from the AI name... if you say that everything else is right, making a TEXT_PERMANENT with the names shouldn't take more than a few minutes. That's great news!

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EDIT: I just discovered that SetHasCounterType works also for the counters we don't usually call by string, so for example by writing:

Code: Select all

filter:SetHasCounterType( "-1/-1" )

I'll simplify my version of Crumbling Ashes, without using evaluation.

[RiiakShiNal]

I actually judged the lack of TEXT_PERMANENT from the AI name... if you say that everything else is right, making a TEXT_PERMANENT with the names shouldn't take more than a few minutes. That's great news!

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EDIT: I just discovered that SetHasCounterType works also for the counters we don't usually call by string, so for example by writing:

Code: Select all

filter:SetHasCounterType( "-1/-1" )

I'll simplify my version of Crumbling Ashes, without using evaluation.

They don't really put much in the TEXT_PERMANENT anymore, just Kicker texts, some text prompts, AI name, and Deck name. Most of the text prompts are pretty standard and are already included in the base game (CARD_QUERY_*), Kicker texts are card specific so if any of the new decks have cards with kickers we'll probably need to add those as well as the deck and AI names. Overall, yes I agree most of the text probably should not take more than a few minutes to put in.

You can also use "+1/+1", "+1/+0", "+0/+1", "CHARGE", and "QUEST_COUNTER" there in addition to our custom counter texts ("BLAZE", "FEATHER", "FATE", etc...). From what I've seen that text string is NOT case sensitive. It's just like using the text string for counter costs.