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Guide to Install and play with XMage

PostPosted: 04 Feb 2014, 11:17
by LevelX
XMage Launcher
The easiest way to install and play XMage is to use the XMage Launcher.
The only thing you need before is a working java (see point 1 in the following steps).
Download it from here: Launcher
It installs its own Java and XMage and can start XMage server and/or client and updates xmage and java if updates are provided. This replaces the points 2-3 of the 5 easy steps.

The launcher creates some config/settings files in the directory the launcher.jar is located and creates also two subdirectories. One for java and one for xmage.
So best way to use the launcher is to create a new subdirectory (e.g. named xmage) and move/save the downloaded launcher jar file to this directory.
Then execute the launcher jar to install xmage and the xmage specific java.
All files will then be located in the directory you moved the launcher jar file to.


However, you can also do it manually step by step:

More detailed Mac OS install instructions

1) Check the preconditions
XMage is written in Java. So it can be used on different systems like Windows, Linux or Mac OS. To run XMage or even the xmage Launcher on these systems it needs a Java Runtime Environment that you have to download and install, if it’s not already installed on your system.
On this website you can check, if you can run java applications on your system (that means java is already installed on your system).
http://www.java.com/verify/
If it’s not installed you can download it from here for different systems:
http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
Use at least a 1.7.x version (versions previous to 1.7 are no longer supported from XMage).

2) Download and install XMage
Download the newest version of XMage here:
http://XMage.de/
If you want to play online using the public server, download the newest "dev" version of XMage (if one is offered), because this is the one that's installed on the public server.
You unpack the downloaded zip file to the location you like. There is no special install routine needed for MAGE, because it runs directly from the folder you unpacked it to.


3) Starting XMage
MAGE consists of a server and a client component. If you only like to play with other people on a public server, you only need the client component of XMage.
You only need to use the server component of XMage, if you like to operate your own XMage server. That can be useful if you want to play with others in a closed environment (local network) or you want to use features of XMage that are normally limited or deactivated on public servers (like playing against the AI opponent of XMage).

In the XMage folder you unpacked are two subfolder named “mage-client” and “mage-server”. In this folders are beside the applications itself the scripts to start the XMage client or XMage server. Depending on your operating system you can use:

Windows XP/Vista or older Windows systems
../mage-client/startClient.bat - starts the client only
../mage-server/startServer.bat - starts the server only
../startMage.bat - starts both server and client
Windows 7 or newer
../mage-client/startClientWin7.bat - starts the client only
../mage-server/startServerWin7.bat - starts the server only
../startMageWin7.bat - starts both server and client
Linux
../mage-client/startClient.sh - starts the client only
../mage-server/startServer.sh - starts the server only
../startMage.sh - starts both server and client
Due to creating and repacking the zip files on windows you have to perform a chmod 755 *.sh command to make the shell files executable.

Mac
../mage-client/startClient.command - starts the client only
../mage-server/startServer.command - starts the server only
Due to creating and repacking the zip files on windows you have to go in the terminal and perform a command called chmod +x startServer.command and chmod +x startClient.command to give the terminal access to the command files.
See also here

A good practice to handle this is to create a shortcut of the script you use regularly and copy the shortcut to your desktop to have an easy way to start XMage.

4) Getting image resources
If you start the client for the first time it’s useful to download some resources from the internet to make the use of XMage more enjoyable.
a) Download images for the symbols of mana, actions (like tap) and extensions. To do this you use the menu “Symbols” on the top right menu area of the client.
Mage4Symbols.jpg
Mage4Symbols.jpg (6.35 KiB) Viewed 661280 times

You confirm to download and see a result dialog, if the download was successful.

b) Download the card images from the wizards or cardinfo site.
You have to use the menu “Images” on the top right menu of the client.
Mage4Images.jpg
Mage4Images.jpg (6.34 KiB) Viewed 661280 times

It will open a small dialog, where you can select the site from where you download. To download all the pictures can need some time.


5) Connecting to a XMage server
Use “Connect” from the client menu.
Mage4Connect.jpg
Mage4Connect.jpg (10.56 KiB) Viewed 661280 times

In the opened connect dialog choose the appropriate server from the list of public server you see if you use the “Find...” button. It will fill out the server name and port number of the selected server. Enter the username you want to use on the server and push the “Connect” button to connect to the server.
Image
If you’re successful connected to the server, use the menu “game”, to enter the main lobby of the server and showing a list of all opened tables of matches and/or tournaments currently running or waiting for players to start. On the right side you also see a list of players currently connected to the server.
Mage5Players.jpg
Mage5Players.jpg (6.35 KiB) Viewed 661284 times

If a match or tournament needs more players, you see a button in the action column “Join” on the right side of the table line. Push this button to join the match.
Image
Depending on the format of the table you have to select a deck to use, that has to be suitable for the format that was set to the table.

Alternatively you can open a table for a match or a tournament by yourself with the buttons on the top left side, so that others can join your table.
Mage5NewTable.jpg
Mage5NewTable.jpg (3.43 KiB) Viewed 661280 times


There are a lot of sample decks included in the client if you like to start to play constructed formats immediately without building a deck.
Navigate with the file open dialog to:
..\mage-client\release\sample-decks\

Have fun!
See you on the public server.
:roll:

Some common problems and possible solutions

PostPosted: 02 Mar 2014, 22:34
by LevelX
I can't select AI player as opponent
You're probably connected to a server that has the AI player type deactivated. Because the AI player needs a lot of CPU resources it's mostly not available on public servers. Start your own local XMage server and connect to it, to play with AI players.

Do I have to download all card images again after an update of XMage?
No, you don't need to download the images again if you do the following:
Switch off this option in the XMage Preferences "XMage->Preferences->Images->Card images->Use default location to save images" and select a directory where XMage can save the donloaded images to. As default is used .../mage-client/plugins/images/. Change this default to a directory outside your XMage folder. If you already have downloaded the images before, move or copy the images from the default directory to the new one you set in the preferences. Restart the XMage client and from now on it will use and save the images from this new directory.
If you after that download a new version, it will automatically use the settings from the previous XMage version and use the images from this directory outside the XMage folder. So no more hassle with images after a XMage update.
XMagePref.jpg


No one on server(s) at all? What am I doing wrong?
Maybe you're connected to your local server. If on the top right you see [yourName]@localhost, you're connected to your local server. Use the [Find] button on the connect dialog, to select the public server. On the other hand there are times the server is not so much crowded. But then you should at least see the history of matches not beeing empty to be sure to be connected to the public server.

Installing and running XMage on a Mac system

PostPosted: 17 Sep 2014, 07:36
by LevelX
Install Java
Before installing XMage we need to make sure that a compatible version of Java is installed.
Open Terminal and type in
Code: Select all
java -version
If that command does not work for you don’t worry, it just means you don’t have the JDK or JRE installed either. We’ll be installing that soon though.
If the result is java version “1.7.0_67” or java version "1.8.0_20" or higher than you are good.
By default OS X Mavericks ships with java version “1.6.x_xx” so you will most likely need to upgrade your Java before you can proceed.

Upgrade java
First go here to get Java 1.8 http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/ ... 33155.html
From that page download and install the file jre-8u20-macosx-x64.dmg
We are also going to sank the JDK as well so now go to http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/ ... 33151.html
On that page download and install the file jdk-8u20-macosx-x64.dmg or a higher version if available.
If the java -version command previously didn’t work for you it will now. It will even tell you it’s using the current version. Unfortunately XMage may not still work.
We now need to verify and possibly update the symlink.
Open Finder and go to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/ directory.
You should see a folder called jdk1.8.0_20.jdk.
Back in terminal enter the following command
Code: Select all
cd /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/
then enter the command
Code: Select all
ls
Your results should include at least
Code: Select all
A   Current
You may have more like
Code: Select all
1.4      1.5      1.6      A      CurrentJDK
1.4.2      1.5.0      1.6.0      Current
Either result is fine, if you don’t see CurrentJDK then you should be good to go for java.
If you do have CurrentJDK then we need to enter the following commands in terminal
Code: Select all
rm CurrentJDK
ln -s /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_20.jdk/Contents/ CurrentJDK
Where it says jdk1.8.0_20.jdk in that command you should enter whatever version you saw in
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/
Java should now be ready to go.

Install XMage
Go to http://xmage.info and download the current version of XMage
After it downloads unpack it and you will have a folder like mage-bundle-1 rename it to just XMage and move it to your Applications folder.
Back in terminal type in chmod +x (make sure to add a space after the X) AND DON’T HIT ENTER YET
Back in Finder navigate to your XMage folder and go to the mage-client subfolder.
In there find the file and drag that to your terminal window. Now terminal should have something like:
Code: Select all
chmod +x /Applications/xmage/mage-client/startClient.command
If you plan to run the server you will need to repeat this for the startServer.command file located inside made-server

Run XMage
We’re now ready to launch XMage
Due to the OS X Gatekeeper feature, the first time you run it you will need to right click (or control click) on the startClient.command file and chose “Open”

Congratulations, you are now running XMage on OS X

Thanks to argash for writing this instructions.

I can't see all my cards in hand (area too small)

PostPosted: 26 Sep 2014, 14:39
by LevelX
You probably don't see the scroll bar on the bottom of the hand cards area. This is caused by a too low vertical screen resolution.

What you can do:
1) Deselect the check box of Preferences-> Main -> Use big images.
Preferences.jpg
Option in the preferences to change

Restart the client so this change gets active.

2) Don't use the (windows/linux) desktop taskbar on the bottom or top of the desktop (move it to the left or right or auto hide it, to get a bit more vertical size).

If done correctly, you should see the scrollbar on the bottom like shown here:
Scrollbar.jpg
Example with scrollbar for the hand area

I don't see all the token images

PostPosted: 17 Nov 2014, 08:59
by LevelX
If you don't see all token images
Read here:
http://www.slightlymagic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=16367

A card is showing a wrong image

PostPosted: 21 Apr 2015, 09:59
by LevelX
This can happen if the set or collectors number attribute was set to a wrong value in Xmage at the time you downloaded the image for the card. Probably the wrong attribute is fixed meanwhile but that does not correct the wrong image automatically that is saved on your local storage.

To fix this you have to manually delete the wrong image in your image directory and call the image download job to download the correct image.

By default the images are stored in a subfolder of your XMage client directory.
../mage-client/plugins/images/[Setname].zip
Every set has it's own zip file with the images for the set.
You navigate to this file and open it and delete the file with the card name that shows the wrong image.
After that start the image download of Xmage again.


Cards that had wrong images in the past and are corrected now:
Urza's Saga - Phyrexian Processor (Showing Phyrexian Colossus)
Fifth Edition - The Wretched - (Showing Hill Giant).
Fate Reforged - Sultai Emissary (Showing Sultai Runemark)
Legends - The Abyss (Showing Recall)
Fixed beyond 1.4.3v3:
Fifthedition cards: Smoke, Stasis, Sea Serpent, Tsunami, Spirit Link, Mind Warp, Recall, Flare, Heal.
Fourthedition cards: Blessing.
Time Spiral - Timeshifted: Goblin Snowman
Visions: Tithe.
Miracles: Thirst.
FNMP: Anticipate (showing Roast).

Cannot find free port to use

PostPosted: 21 Apr 2015, 10:04
by LevelX
You get the java error message:
Unable to connect to the server: Cannot find free port to use
Probably a problem with your firewall or virus checker program.

Read here: http://www.slightlymagic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=14233&p=169801
And give feedback there about the cause if you could solve the probalem.

Commander and Tiny Leaders format

PostPosted: 05 Jun 2015, 10:22
by LevelX
Commander
  1. Deck needs 99 different (singelton) cards (except for basic lands) in the colors of the commander.
  2. Commander must be added as the only card to the sideboard.

Tiny Leaders
  1. Deck needs 49 different (singelton) cards (except for basic lands) in the colors of the leader.
  2. Up to 10 sideboard cards to the sideboard.
  3. Tiny Leader card name must exactly be set to the deck name in the left top area of the deck editor before you save the deck file. The tiny leader is only in the deck name. So you may not add it to the main deck or sideboard.
  4. To create a table you need to select Deck Type: "Variant Magic - Tiny Leader" and Game Type "Tiny Leader Two Player Duel".

Re: Guide to Install and play with XMage

PostPosted: 06 Jul 2015, 22:32
by Aegisthus
Hi, how can I run a server for myself (to play against AI) and a few friends?

Re: Guide to Install and play with XMage

PostPosted: 15 Jul 2015, 02:36
by DingleMcCringleberry
I have never installed XMage before and I am having some trouble using the launcher to install. I have tried for a couple of days, and keep running into the same issue. This is from the dialog box in the launcher after I have tried a few times to install:
Reading config from ***********
XMage folder: C:\Users\Christy\Downloads\XMage
XMage Launcher version installed: 0.3.4
XMage Launcher version available: 0.3.4
Java version installed: 1.7.0_75
Java version available: 1.7.0_75
XMage version installed:
XMage version available: 1.4.2v3 (2015-07-15)
XMage not found
Downloading XMage from ***********
Java version installed: 1.7.0_75
Java version available: 1.7.0_75
XMage version installed:
XMage version available: 1.4.2v3 (2015-07-15)
XMage not found
Failed to download XMage from ***********
Downloading XMage from ***********
Failed to download XMage from ***********
Downloading XMage from ***********
Failed to download XMage from ***********
Downloading XMage from ***********
Failed to download XMage from ***********
Downloading XMage from ***********
Failed to download XMage from ***********
Downloading XMage from ***********
Java version installed: 1.7.0_75
Java version available: 1.7.0_75
XMage version installed:
XMage version available: 1.4.2v3 (2015-07-15)
XMage not found
Downloading XMage from ***********
Removing previous versions ...
Installing XMage ...Java version installed: 1.7.0_75
Java version available: 1.7.0_75
XMage version installed:
XMage version available: 1.4.2v3 (2015-07-15)
XMage not found
Reading config from ***********
Java version installed: 1.7.0_75
Java version available: 1.7.0_75
XMage version installed:
XMage version available: 1.4.2v3 (2015-07-15)
XMage not found
Any help would be delightful.

I am running Windows 7

I had to remove all the urls that it was trying to grab from and replaced them with *********** because the forum wouldn't let me include them.

Re: Guide to Install and play with XMage

PostPosted: 17 Jul 2015, 21:16
by AmanarPL
cannot download the latest launcher.....
the site has been... suspended? changed? whatever.

xmage,info doesnt work properly
now i am unable to play mtg online (hasnt play 3 months)

Re: Guide to Install and play with XMage

PostPosted: 17 Jul 2015, 22:09
by LevelX
AmanarPL wrote:cannot download the latest launcher.....
the site has been... suspended? changed? whatever.

xmage,info doesnt work properly
now i am unable to play mtg online (hasnt play 3 months)
A simple search for xmage or xmage download would solve your problem also.
http://www.slightlymagic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=17230

Re: Guide to Install and play with XMage

PostPosted: 21 Jul 2015, 04:08
by DingleMcCringleberry
So, no input on my issue from 6 days ago? I am still running into the same issues.

Re: Guide to Install and play with XMage

PostPosted: 21 Jul 2015, 09:04
by LevelX
DingleMcCringleberry wrote:So, no input on my issue from 6 days ago? I am still running into the same issues.
No real idea what's your problem.

1) I would move the launcher to another directory (named xmage) not located in downloads (but shouldn't matter).
(Best no blanks or special chars in the device name and path).
2) You should have a user with admin rights for the installation.
3) Start the xmage launcher jar file.
4) If it fails to install xmage again look into the ../xmage/xmage_launcher.log if it shows something related.

Re: Guide to Install and play with XMage

PostPosted: 07 Aug 2015, 20:10
by raistlinim1979
I need to update and I hit update in launcher and it shows progress and at the end still says new version available and I still need to update. Does anyone have any idea how to fix?