Manalink Update 7/31: Challenge Mode + Launcher

[jatill]

http://www.savefile.com/files/1997761

Are you a master of Shandalar and the constructed gauntlet? Well I have a new challenge for you. Who will be the first to beat the challenge gauntlet?

Your goal is to win 9-straight challenge matches in a row, followed by an especially difficult "Boss Match".
Complete the goal, and you unlock not only a new challenge, but new cards that you can use in duels!

Here's how to play challenge mode:
Run Launcher.exe and choose Challenge Mode.
Alternately, open config.txt and set challengeMode to 1. If you do this, make sure all other debug properties in config.txt are turned off.
Fire up the gauntlet (1 game per match, and set # of matches to 50) and begin! You'll notice that your opponent will start with a Kobold in play.
That means everything is working.
Note: one quirk is that if you lose a challenge, you have to exit and restart the program to try another challenge.

Currently there are 6 challenges available. Can you beat them all and unlock all 21 new cards? (cards are listed here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1504)
Good luck!

Feel free to discuss strategies on this thread, but do not give out any cheats for unlocking the new cards.
Thanks.

And thanks to SomaCat for helping test this feature like crazy.

Additional Features Added:
-I included Squee's Launcher.exe utility. This lets you choose the mode of game play you want from a menu. Very convenient.
-There is a new config option called 'CheckDeckLegality'. If you turn this on, the game will warn you at the beginning of a game if you are using an illegal deck. Use this only for constructed.

Additional note:
If you are not interested in challenge mode, but don't want the "locked" cards polluting your drafts and sealed decks, change their'CODED' status to 0 in Manalink.csv, and then run csv2dat.exe.

[somacat]

Get ready to tear your hair out over some of these, gentlemen! Challenge mode definitely lives up to it's name. Good luck!

EDIT: I don't know how jatill feels about this, but I think it would be nice if people refrained from spoiling too much about the challenge mode, at least for a little while. Give others a chance to see some of the surprises for themselves

[aww1979]

Wow, this sounds nice I'm hoping for some sweet extra cards now! I think I'll probably try it first with one of my affinity decks, since they had the best records so far. Failing that, I'll probably use a Keeper deck or something slower, but just as effective or better even.

[aww1979]

Are the alternate launchers looking for playdecks in a different directory? None of them can find my playdecks.

[aww1979]

Hmm, wtf, all my decks are gone now. Something's seriously wrong with this launcher :p

[jatill]

Hmm, wtf, all my decks are gone now. Something's seriously wrong with this launcher :p

Hopefully Squee can comment on this. I haven't had any trouble personally. I hope you find your decks in the recycle bin!

[aww1979]

I got most of the decks back, but I can't even get the game to run, after reinstalling the July 14th edition. Anyway, I'll keep at it.

[aww1979]

Okay, I would suggest NOT installing this update :p I can't figure out how to repair the damage it did, and all I can run now is Shandalar.

[aww1979]

Okay, found the problem regarding why I couldn't run Duel. Some of the *.dck files were corrupted somehow, and after deleting the bad ones, I can now run everything as I could before. (instead of decklists they just had garbage characters) I lost some deck files due to those corruptions or due to not being able to recover them all, but most seem to be here except for those made in the last week or two. I don't know exactly how many I had, but I noticed a few of the elf decks I made in the last few days are gone, and my favourite 499 card deck has a date stamp for June 16th, and has cards in it that I know I removed at some point since then.

[Squee]

Hi
I didn't had any problem with it too and I tested it heavly before releasing it.
It must be in the same folder as your Magic.exe file (most likely something like "C:\Program Files\Magic\Program\"). When you run it, it just rename the extension of all *.dck files in the subfolder "Playdeck" so they don't appear in the game. Upon your choice, it will rename again only the files you want to use (like all T1 decks, all T2,...) and then launch Magic.exe. Make sure yours decks have the right naming convention : quote by jatill fromm this thread :http://www.slightlymagic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1289

All your Vanguard decks should begin with 'Vanguard'. Then, I classify my other decks into 3 groups by power, and prefix the deck names with T1, T2, or T3. It doesn't matter what's in those groups, as long as you name the decks appropriately.

It never deletes a file unless in Backup and Restore Mode and it'll always prompt for a confirmation.

@aww1979 :
Just make sure the launcher is in the right folder and yours decks respect the naming convention made by jatill. If all is correct, can you please send me the list of all your files and folder within the Magic folder ? Maybe the folder tree isn't always the same upon the version you've installed. Also, what is your operating system ? And I want to beg pardon for all your trouble

@jatill :
Don't know if it will be usefull, but I can make an another launcher in VBScript. It might have less compatibilty (it won't run under old Windows 95 & 98), but i can add more feature in it :
- read the Windows registry to determine the install folder so it can be run from everywhere
- a better interface using an HTML template
- more flexibility with the naming convention (something like a custom naming convention what will be save or a deck manager from which you can select only the decks you need)
- could change the decks without quiting Magic.exe (just go back to the launcher and select what you want...)
- etc...
I've initially wrote it in DOS Batch for the best compatibility but it's also very bad looking and not very "user friendly".
What do you think about it?


PS : I haven't tested the new version yet... I'll test it later today : maybe the bug is in compiled version.

[HS] I really must work my English too [/HS]

[Squee]

@aww1979 :
LOL I was replying in the same time
Once again I'm so sorry that you lost so much decks...
I was checking my launcher and it never deletes files (unless in Backup or Restore mode).
Can you tell me what is your Operating System please ? And, if it's possible, can you give me the full list of files from your "Playdeck" folder, please. Just to be sure (I think you allready know that), you can't just rename a deck but you must also edit it with a text editor to change his name in the file.
I will try to find this bug.

@ALL :
UNTIL I FOUND THIS BUG, PLEASE MAKE A MANUAL BACKUP OF YOUR PLAYDECK FOLDER BEFORE USING THE LAUNCHER.

[aww1979]

Okay, it might have something to do with the fact that I didn't rename any files in any way. And don't feel too bad, I doubt more than five or six decks disappeared; if it was more than that, I didn't even notice so it doesn't matter.

It may also have been user error on my part somehow, like not renaming files, in which case the problem is either my fault or the fault of the instructions, as opposed to code.

I'll try backing up the entire magic directory and putting the new install over that, and see if I can duplicate the problem or learn how it happened.

[aww1979]

I'm using Windows XP.

These are my playdecks that I have left. Still quite a few!

http://www.savefile.com/files/2168625

In the program directory there are 476 files, many of them being *.ao or *.asm or *.pic One of the installs a long time ago put all that stuff there, and I don't think it's actually needed in that directory, and probably belongs somewhere else, but I haven't taken the time to see which ones are extra. Looking at the dates, most of the files are from 3/15/2009, or else from 1996/97, suggesting those are original program files and that is the date of the update that put them there, or at least the date I downloaded it.

So... I can get you a list if you really need it, but I'd probably need to write a C program to output the names to a text file, because I refuse to type out 476 lines of file names :p

[Squee]

It's true that the launcher need a little tutorial. I will make one when I have a little time (probably tomorrow )
Glad to hear that you lost only a few decks

I might make it do an auto-backup on the first launch to be sure that no more problem will hapen.

EDIT : I didn't notice but there is allready a tutorial made by jatill on the Manalink's Wiki.
Thanks again jatill for all your hard work

[Blackblade]

awesome work guys:P
finally managed to beat first 9 matches:)

btw. Does second challenge start with that deck which has kobold in play aswell?