[REL] Riiak's DotP 2013 Deck Builder v1.4.2.1

[RiiakShiNal]

It has been brought to my attention that the differences between "Load an Image" and "Build an Image" were not very clear from my descriptions of them so this image should be able to highlight the important differences:

[jacque]

Riiak, just started to use your Deck Editor, and it's BRILLIANT!!!

I managed to make a deck successfully using 3 colors... I tried making a 5-colored deck this time but I am finding it hard to make the lands in the actual game representing how I have designed it... I really have no clue what went wrong =( Can you please help me out? Thanks a lot...

In deck builder's settings...

imageshack.us/a/img46/3783/land001m.jpg

And in actual game's deck editor...

imageshack.us/a/img20/5520/land002.jpg

Thanks again... I'm really clueless here... Oh please include the "h t t p : / /" to the imageshack links above... I'm not allowed to post off-site links as a new user it seems =(

[thefiremind]

First, you did the right thing posting here, your questions are better being asked to the programmer rather than me. But this is a question for which I know the answer because it doesn't depend on the editor.

The number of lands that you set there is the minimum number, which still isn't a complete definition of what it means. The game automatically adds basic lands until you reach 60 cards, excluding the unlocks. When you add unlocked cards, it adds other basic lands in order to get to a reasonable number of mana sources. That "minimum" number is able to change the ratio of basic lands (but not the total, remember that) so that if you have 14 Forest and 10 Plains in a GW deck and you set minimum Plains to 2, you'll end up with 12 Forest and 12 Plains. Since you cannot change the total, setting a high minimum number for each basic land type won't have any effect because the game just can't add that number to all the basic land types.

This is all we knew... before discovering the "Ignore Cards with CMC over" attribute. That number means "don't bother adding lands to cope with the cards whose CMC is higher than this number". In the editor, -1 means that the attribute is disabled. If you set it to 0, it will basically ignore all cards, and you'll be able to use the "minimum" numbers to set the real amount of basic lands of each type, but you still won't be able to change the total, so you could still get different results if the sum of those "minimum" numbers isn't equal to the total lands that the game would add.

[BloodReyvyn]

Minor glitch I have on my end.

If I filter by name in your editor and type a name in, all is fine. However, if I do not delete the name and continue searching, it still filters by that name even if I toggle that filter off. You have to re-open the filter, delete the name and re-disable the filter.

[jacque]

First, you did the right thing posting here, your questions are better being asked to the programmer rather than me. But this is a question for which I know the answer because it doesn't depend on the editor.

The number of lands that you set there is the minimum number, which still isn't a complete definition of what it means. The game automatically adds basic lands until you reach 60 cards, excluding the unlocks. When you add unlocked cards, it adds other basic lands in order to get to a reasonable number of mana sources. That "minimum" number is able to change the ratio of basic lands (but not the total, remember that) so that if you have 14 Forest and 10 Plains in a GW deck and you set minimum Plains to 2, you'll end up with 12 Forest and 12 Plains. Since you cannot change the total, setting a high minimum number for each basic land type won't have any effect because the game just can't add that number to all the basic land types.

This is all we knew... before discovering the "Ignore Cards with CMC over" attribute. That number means "don't bother adding lands to cope with the cards whose CMC is higher than this number". In the editor, -1 means that the attribute is disabled. If you set it to 0, it will basically ignore all cards, and you'll be able to use the "minimum" numbers to set the real amount of basic lands of each type, but you still won't be able to change the total, so you could still get different results if the sum of those "minimum" numbers isn't equal to the total lands that the game would add.

Hmmm now I get it I guess... So when I was adding those cards, the "Basic Lands" field would denote how many lands added by the game automatically to sum up to a 60 card deck... right?

If that's so, in order to get the right amount of lands that I need, I should let the editor determine what lands it'll be setting for me... meaning that I'll work with a 60 card deck (INcluding the unlocks), test it out in game to see what kinda lands it gives, then only go back to the editor to set my minimum?

Once again firemind, you've been much more than a GREAT help, and thanks for being so patient with me =)

PS: What does CMC means btw?

[thefiremind]

Hmmm now I get it I guess... So when I was adding those cards, the "Basic Lands" field would denote how many lands added by the game automatically to sum up to a 60 card deck... right?

If that's so, in order to get the right amount of lands that I need, I should let the editor determine what lands it'll be setting for me... meaning that I'll work with a 60 card deck (INcluding the unlocks), test it out in game to see what kinda lands it gives, then only go back to the editor to set my minimum?

I usually enter the deck manager once, see which basic lands the game has chosen, and if I'm not satisfied with the result, I tweak the minimum numbers until I get the ratio that I wanted. And if I really can't get the result I have in mind, there's always the "Ignore CMC Over" option.

PS: What does CMC means btw?

Converted Mana Cost. Example: = 6 CMC.

[jacque]

I usually enter the deck manager once, see which basic lands the game has chosen, and if I'm not satisfied with the result, I tweak the minimum numbers until I get the ratio that I wanted. And if I really can't get the result I have in mind, there's always the "Ignore CMC Over" option.

Converted Mana Cost. Example: = 6 CMC.

Ooo-kay... I did a few rounds playing with the figures of the lands, and I noticed that irregardless the number I put in, the total given to me by the deck builder is at 14... which is rather annoying now...

Is it faster this way to assign the basic land types to the main deck instead after you've checked what the editor gives u in the game's deck manager? I've seen a modder doing that whereby he assigned his basic land types... Thanks again!

EDIT:
I think I've found the reason why the total given to me is always stuck at 14... I recalculated the cards I have in my main deck + unlocks... 51 + 10 = 61... I am now assuming that your deck total, should never be more than 75 (including the unlocks), or rather it is capped to 75 instead.

So in order to get the satisfactory amount of lands that I need, I will need to trim down my main deck cards by another 8... reason why is that I am targeting 22 basic lands total, and since it's giving me a static 14, so yea the main should be cut of 8 cards...

I think I am finally using my brains now xD hehehe

EDIT 2:
IT IS TRUE!!! MUAHAHAHA xD... I get what I want now... CMC set to -1, I assigned my min lands accordingly =) Thanks again!!!

[RiiakShiNal]

I managed to make a deck successfully using 3 colors... I tried making a 5-colored deck this time but I am finding it hard to make the lands in the actual game representing how I have designed it... I really have no clue what went wrong =( Can you please help me out? Thanks a lot...

Basically, it is just as thefiremind said. The game has a limit of 60 cards for the main deck after which it will stop adding basic lands regardless of the land config settings.

Thanks again... I'm really clueless here... Oh please include the "h t t p : / /" to the imageshack links above... I'm not allowed to post off-site links as a new user it seems =(

A few more posts and you should be able to post links.

Minor glitch I have on my end.

If I filter by name in your editor and type a name in, all is fine. However, if I do not delete the name and continue searching, it still filters by that name even if I toggle that filter off. You have to re-open the filter, delete the name and re-disable the filter.

Yep, bug, I forgot to actually check the value of DoTitleCheck so it was always doing the Card Name check (now fixed in v1.3).

Version 1.3 also adds the ability to create a directory for custom cards in the game directory (basically a blank mod for the user to put stuff) and the ability to compile that into a "Core" wad. 6 New strings were also added for those new features.

I'm still working on the new "Advanced" filtering (not ready yet).

Hmmm now I get it I guess... So when I was adding those cards, the "Basic Lands" field would denote how many lands added by the game automatically to sum up to a 60 card deck... right?

The Basic Land Amount that you see on the main screen is the amount of basic land that will be in your deck in game. This number includes any basic land that you directly add to the deck as well as any basic land that the game itself will add.

So if you directly add Forests or Islands to the deck that will detract from how many the game will add to the deck so the if the Basic Land amount reads 20 and you add an Island to the main deck then it will still read 20, add a card that is not a basic land and that number will go down to 19. Remove a basic land from the main deck (like the Island you added) and the number will remain 19. Remove another card (not a basic land) and the number will go up to 20.

That number was intended to give you as a deck builder an idea of how much basic land will be in the deck in game.

If that's so, in order to get the right amount of lands that I need, I should let the editor determine what lands it'll be setting for me... meaning that I'll work with a 60 card deck (INcluding the unlocks), test it out in game to see what kinda lands it gives, then only go back to the editor to set my minimum?

Actually it is excluding the unlocks. The game only cares about the base deck when looking at the 60 card limit. The editor really doesn't determine that lands you get, it is the game that does that. The editor just lets you fine tune the land config tag that is added to the deck ultimately the game decides what to do with the land config tag.

PS: What does CMC means btw?

CMC = Converted Mana Cost

General rule is colourless mana (except for ) has a CMC equal to the number for the colourless mana. A mana symbol (like ) has a CMC of 1. A hybrid symbol (like {U/P}, {R/G}, {2/W}) has a CMC equal to the maximum of its components so {U/P} or {R/G} would have a CMC of 1 while {2/W} would have a CMC of 2.

Ooo-kay... I did a few rounds playing with the figures of the lands, and I noticed that irregardless the number I put in, the total given to me by the deck builder is at 14... which is rather annoying now...

If you have 51 lands in your main deck then the game will give you 9 basic lands to get you up to 60. The reason you are seeing 14 is because it is choosing 5 basic lands for your 10 unlocks. We have no control over the land added for unlocks.

Is it faster this way to assign the basic land types to the main deck instead after you've checked what the editor gives u in the game's deck manager? I've seen a modder doing that whereby he assigned his basic land types... Thanks again!

Putting basic land in the main deck directly is only recommended if you are making a deck with more than 60 cards (as then it would be required to get the right amount of land) otherwise when the user looks at the deck in deck manager they will see all the basic lands in the deck rather than as a number off to the side like most decks.

I think I've found the reason why the total given to me is always stuck at 14... I recalculated the cards I have in my main deck + unlocks... 51 + 10 = 61... I am now assuming that your deck total, should never be more than 75 (including the unlocks), or rather it is capped to 75 instead.

It is not capped at 75, it is capped at 60 for the main deck, the math changes once you add unlocks as we have no control over how the game adds land for unlocks.

So in order to get the satisfactory amount of lands that I need, I will need to trim down my main deck cards by another 8... reason why is that I am targeting 22 basic lands total, and since it's giving me a static 14, so yea the main should be cut of 8 cards...

trimming your main deck by 8 cards will give you 17 basic land for the main deck plus whatever is added for the unlocks.

IT IS TRUE!!! MUAHAHAHA xD... I get what I want now... CMC set to -1, I assigned my min lands accordingly =) Thanks again!!!

Again the land config only works for the main deck, we have no real control over what is added for unlocks. The game does seem to use the ratios established for the main deck, but there are some peculiarities. I had at least one test where if all my unlocks were colourless (artifacts, eldrazi, etc...) that it would not add any basic land when adding unlocks to the deck. (Though at this point I don't remember which version of the game or even which release that test was on.)

[Pinhel]

I'm having trouble opening the deck builder it goes just fine till the moment I have to choose the directore for the dotp executable and then when I apply it tells me I didn't choose a correct file type and simply doesn't download the data from the game and doesn't let me do anything! Could I get some ideas about how to deal with this I'm really eager to make my own decks! I'm also new on this forum and I really apreciate your work what everyone does here is great so if I can help in anything just ask!

[thefiremind]

I tried to upload the new translation via FTP as explained in the first post using FireFTP, but even if it showed the upload as successful, re-downloading the translation still retrieved the old one. I don't know if it's just cached data (I did delete the cache before re-downloading), anyway just to be sure, I replaced the attachment in my old post with the new one.

[RiiakShiNal]

I'm having trouble opening the deck builder it goes just fine till the moment I have to choose the directore for the dotp executable and then when I apply it tells me I didn't choose a correct file type and simply doesn't download the data from the game and doesn't let me do anything! Could I get some ideas about how to deal with this I'm really eager to make my own decks! I'm also new on this forum and I really apreciate your work what everyone does here is great so if I can help in anything just ask!

I could use the exact error it gives you, because the only one I can think of off the top of my head that it could be saying is:

Code: Select all

We are unable to continue without a valid Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 directory.
Please give one before applying.

Which essentially means that you picked a directory that doesn't exist. It won't let you exit the options screen until you pick a directory that actually exists.

The text box for "Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 Directory:" takes a full complete path to an existing directory.

If you use the "Browse" button to look for the directory then by default it puts in the DotP 2013 executable filename in the filename box, but you can't "OK" it until you have selected the correct directory (or change the filename to one that exists in that directory).

I tried to upload the new translation via FTP as explained in the first post using FireFTP, but even if it showed the upload as successful, re-downloading the translation still retrieved the old one. I don't know if it's just cached data (I did delete the cache before re-downloading), anyway just to be sure, I replaced the attachment in my old post with the new one.

I'm seeing the new translation on the site without any problems, maybe your browser is caching the page? If it shows the correct version number on the page then it should download that version.

I will, however, see if I can force no browser caching for that page.

Edit: I have added some headers to the page that should stop caching of the page, but it may require that users first get this new version of the page before the no caching will take effect permanently.

There are other places that the data could be cached other than the browser (ISP, Proxy, etc...), but hopefully the new headers will stop that.

The reason caching of the page is important to stop is that the page checks the uploaded localizations to see if they've changed and copies over those that have changed to a location they can be downloaded from then builds the page from the copied localizations. If the page is cached then the PHP script doesn't run and doesn't copy over the new localizations to the proper download location. This way I make sure all localizations are up to date, everyone gets proper credit, and I prevent people from uploading malicious code and then being able to run that code (security feature).

[jacque]

Again the land config only works for the main deck, we have no real control over what is added for unlocks. The game does seem to use the ratios established for the main deck, but there are some peculiarities. I had at least one test where if all my unlocks were colourless (artifacts, eldrazi, etc...) that it would not add any basic land when adding unlocks to the deck. (Though at this point I don't remember which version of the game or even which release that test was on.)

Ya know, I really appreciate all the support that you have been giving with much patience and understanding on me... And taking time to explain how the program works, etc.

I have made my third deck... thanks to you, and thefiremind, I am able to enjoy DOTP in a whole new perspective. Of course, decks that I made didn't "abuse" cards like duels, moxes, ancestrals, etc. yet I see a whole new side of it.

I am wondering though if there's anyway, I can use to make the cards scroll faster. I understand that the system auto sorts the cards accordingly, and it takes time probably due to the preview of the cards? I am not sure. I am taking an average 2 hours to construct a deck to make it working, any method you could suggest in improving time spent would be swell =)

Once again, great work, and been enjoying the program a lot myself, pretty satisfied despite the above mentioned. Thanks!

[jacque]

I'm having trouble opening the deck builder it goes just fine till the moment I have to choose the directore for the dotp executable and then when I apply it tells me I didn't choose a correct file type and simply doesn't download the data from the game and doesn't let me do anything! Could I get some ideas about how to deal with this I'm really eager to make my own decks! I'm also new on this forum and I really apreciate your work what everyone does here is great so if I can help in anything just ask!

I encountered that when I first ran the program as well, the whole thing just freezed and then it won't work... what I did was, I went to the main executable, ran it as "Administrator" (I didn't mess with the compatibility though)... then I restarted the program, selected the directory for the deck builder to work on, and here I am today =) Hope it works for you too...

[RiiakShiNal]

Ya know, I really appreciate all the support that you have been giving with much patience and understanding on me... And taking time to explain how the program works, etc.

Supporting the users and explaining how the program works is part of releasing a program. If I didn't do it I would be remiss in my duties.

I have made my third deck... thanks to you, and thefiremind, I am able to enjoy DOTP in a whole new perspective. Of course, decks that I made didn't "abuse" cards like duels, moxes, ancestrals, etc. yet I see a whole new side of it.

...

Once again, great work, and been enjoying the program a lot myself, pretty satisfied despite the above mentioned. Thanks!

I'm glad it's working out for you, the whole point was to make it so that anyone could easily create decks to play with. That way everyone can enjoy modding the game.

I am wondering though if there's anyway, I can use to make the cards scroll faster. I understand that the system auto sorts the cards accordingly, and it takes time probably due to the preview of the cards? I am not sure. I am taking an average 2 hours to construct a deck to make it working, any method you could suggest in improving time spent would be swell =)

theonecynic reported that the (image) casting cost column really slows down the scrolling, so he turned it off and wanted to know if there was a way to turn on a textual representation of the casting cost. So I told him he could add this to his settings.xml (inside the "CardViewColumns" tag with the rest of the columns):

Code: Select all

    <Column Name="CostText" Type="System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewTextBoxColumn, System.Windows.Forms, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" DataProperty="CastingCost" HeaderText="COLUMN_TEXT_CASTING_COST" SortMode="Automatic" Width="143" Visible="True" DisplayIndex="10" />

Additionally, it will scroll faster using the mouse than with the keyboard, because every time the selection changes it will forcibly redraw the preview image, whereas if you scroll with the mouse wheel I turn off redrawing of the preview image while scrolling and for 1/10 of a second afterwards.

Also you can change the sort by clicking on the column you want to sort by (except for the image casting cost column), you can also reduce the number of cards in the list by filtering them to limit which cards you see while building a deck (by clicking the "Set Filters ..." button. Having fewer cards in the list will mean less scrolling.

I encountered that when I first ran the program as well, the whole thing just freezed and then it won't work... what I did was, I went to the main executable, ran it as "Administrator" (I didn't mess with the compatibility though)... then I restarted the program, selected the directory for the deck builder to work on, and here I am today =) Hope it works for you too...

If running it as Administrator worked, then that probably means there is a permissions issue with the directory where you have DotP 2013. The builder requires read/write access to the DotP 2013 directory and if it freezes when it doesn't have administrator access that probably means that you have it in a location where regular users only have read-only access.

I'll look into this in more detail and see if I can at the very least come up with a descriptive message to show the users when the program runs into a permission problem.

[jacque]

theonecynic reported that the (image) casting cost column really slows down the scrolling, so he turned it off and wanted to know if there was a way to turn on a textual representation of the casting cost. So I told him he could add this to his settings.xml (inside the "CardViewColumns" tag with the rest of the columns):

Code: Select all

    <Column Name="CostText" Type="System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewTextBoxColumn, System.Windows.Forms, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" DataProperty="CastingCost" HeaderText="COLUMN_TEXT_CASTING_COST" SortMode="Automatic" Width="143" Visible="True" DisplayIndex="10" />

Additionally, it will scroll faster using the mouse than with the keyboard, because every time the selection changes it will forcibly redraw the preview image, whereas if you scroll with the mouse wheel I turn off redrawing of the preview image while scrolling and for 1/10 of a second afterwards.

Also you can change the sort by clicking on the column you want to sort by (except for the image casting cost column), you can also reduce the number of cards in the list by filtering them to limit which cards you see while building a deck (by clicking the "Set Filters ..." button. Having fewer cards in the list will mean less scrolling.

Now that worked like a charm! Thanks a lot!

There's another thing I noticed as well... I sort of asked thefiremind if there's a way to increase card's randomness in the decks that you construct on your own... Maybe it's just me, but after I did a few decks and used diff methods to construct them, I noticed that:

- If you have "key" cards, and if you want to have 4 copies of them, during the deck building process, do not put all 4 copies in the main deck column, or the promo column. It gives a better "variety" if you do 3 in main, 1 in promo.
- Try to minimize duplicated copies of the cards in the "Promo" column... If you want to have 2 cards, put 1 under "Promo" and the other under "Main"...

After trying the above, I noticed that my card draws are more consistent for instance... my decks run on 23/24 basic lands + 4 search lands in a 75 cards (in total) concept... before doing what I did above, I would usually get draws where all spells were together, lands together, big cc cards together, etc.

I'm not sure, what you think? It works for me tho... Thanks again!