No More Forge

[ProphetSword]

I used to love Forge. But ever since the change in the way it is distributed, I cannot get it to work. It used to be released with all the files already compiled and it was pretty simple to copy those files over the previous release and get it working. Now, it's released in a state that I don't know how to use and the programs that are supposed to make it work don't really do the trick. Every time I try, it just crashes.

At this point, it seems to me that the ease of use in regards to getting it working has been completely eliminated. I'm not sure why, but I do know that it will not make it easy for folks to use if there are no releases that can be easily put together. Not everyone knows how to make this stuff work and the old way was much easier.

So, I'm giving up on Forge. At this point, I haven't even been able to get it to work in about five months anyway. I can't enjoy any of the new releases because they don't ever seem to work. If they were released the way they were in the past where I could drop the files on top of the old ones, I'd be good to go. But they aren't.

So, good luck with your project. I know I can't be the only one who is frustrated.

[Chris H.]

We have changed the archival format from ".zip" to ".tar.bz2". There are utilities for Windows, Mac OS and the various *nix's that can be used to decompress these ".tar.bz2" archives. Do you need a utility recommendation?

Once the forge archive has been decompressed with a utility application you should then be able to launch forge by using the included launcher. Forge can no longer be launched by double clicking on the forge jar file. Forge's memory requirements have increased over time and the launchers increase the java heap space available to forge.

The forge releases over the last several months do work for me and other people.

[arkart]

Chris H. I think you might be the one to address this correctly.

The programming team needs to tell everyone the subfolder location of the opponent icons and tokens every time they post an update and not wait for a noob to ask somewhere later in the thread. The location of everyone's progress in "Quest Mode" should be posted every update because I doubt everyone knows that either.

I screw up %80 of the time when merging files and I wouldn't be surprised if some people other than ProphetSword are facing %100. So far I've figured out what I did wrong each time but no telling how long my memory's going to last me. A walkthrough of each folder and the important files would be a pretty simple text file to make and help us copy files from one version to another.

[friarsol]

So, I'm giving up on Forge. At this point, I haven't even been able to get it to work in about five months anyway. I can't enjoy any of the new releases because they don't ever seem to work. If they were released the way they were in the past where I could drop the files on top of the old ones, I'd be good to go. But they aren't.

So, good luck with your project. I know I can't be the only one who is frustrated.

Any reason you didn't ask for help on the forums in the last 5 months instead of just being frustrated? I know what it feels like for things not to work, but we can't help you if we don't know there's a problem.

[Xitax]

What I do is delete everything except the /res/pics and /res/decks folder and then extract the archive into the same directory. If you overwrite what's there but don't delete you will have problems as there are extra files in there that don't get overwritten and can cause problems. I used to have the same problem that you have until I started doing that.

-Ben

[Chris H.]

Chris H. I think you might be the one to address this correctly.

The programming team needs to tell everyone the subfolder location of the opponent icons and tokens every time they post an update and not wait for a noob to ask somewhere later in the thread. The location of everyone's progress in "Quest Mode" should be posted every update because I doubt everyone knows that either.

I screw up %80 of the time when merging files and I wouldn't be surprised if some people other than ProphetSword are facing %100. So far I've figured out what I did wrong each time but no telling how long my memory's going to last me. A walkthrough of each folder and the important files would be a pretty simple text file to make and help us copy files from one version to another.

`
We recently added a brief section to the included readme file that explains where to place the quest opponent icons, quest pet icons, quest booster package pics and the token pics. Could you take a look at this and let me know if this portion is OK?

We might need some additional installation info added to this file. Maybe a brief section for the deck files and the questdata file? I want to be careful and not add too much material to read as this can be a turn off.

We also want to encourage people to explore the game and learn in the process. And people should not feel uncomfortable asking questions when they find that they need some guidance.

[timmermac]

I always unzip the archive into a new folder on my external drive. I then copy anything that I plan on carrying over from the last version over to the new folder, such as pictures and quest data.

[jendave]

Forge would benefit from using user-friendly directories (~/Library/ApplicationSupport on OSX and $HOME/.forge on Linux) and installation/upgrade scripts. I have done some of this kind of work in the past, mostly on Windows using NSIS and InnoSetup. I can start researching it, but it will be awhile before I can get to it.

[moomarc]

We're also in the process of having all the additional images such as tokens, quest opponent icons, booster pack images etc download from within the game (as per the set images) so that the only download you'll need from the forums is the release archive. The files are all hosted now but we need to set up the links.

[Corwin72]

Here are my recommendations to Manage your forge builds.
I use the directory of C:\Forge to hold all forge data.
In this location I save all new .tar.bz2 files. The .tar.bz2 files can be downloaded from http://cardforge.org/releases/snapshots/forge/forge/
I then extract them to a folder in this location using the program winrar. This program can be downloaded at http://www.win-rar.com/download.html
Rename the folder to a location like forge-1.1.7-20111018
Then paste the res folder that can be kept in the location
C:\Forge\res to the location C:\Forge\ forge-1.1.7-20111018
When prompted I overwrite existing files.
This res folder contains several folders.
cardsfolder
images
Old_decks
quest
The cardsfolder folder holds folders that contains user created cards or cards from the Half-Implemented Cards thread.
The images folder holds the symbols-13 folder that holds clear images. This is done to remove the foil card filters in forge.
The Old_decks folder is a location that I keep decks that I have previously created and would like to still have access to.
The quest folder has a customized quest.preferences file.
Once the res folder has been pasted in the extracted build location the Half-Implemented Cards need to be added to the cardsfolder.zip.
Browse to C:\Forge\forge-1.1.7-20111018\res\cardsfolder
Select all folders. Drag on to the cardsfolder.zip file and release. Win-Rar will then add the new cards to the folder.
Now to move your quest data if you would like to keep it from version to version.
The quest data is located in the quest folder in the res folder of the previous version.
This file would need to be copied and pasted in the C:\Forge\forge-1.1.7-20111018\res\quest folder

The last thing to do is to cut and paste the Pictures from the old version to the new version.
Browse to the res folder of the old version of Forge.
Right click on the Pics folder. Select Cut.
Browse to C:\Forge\forge-1.1.7-20111018\res\
Delete the folder Pics.
Go to the edit drop down and select paste.
This will paste your existing Pics folder.
You may now open forge using the forge.exe file in the C:\Forge\forge-1.1.7-20111018\ location.

Here is a link for my res folder that I use.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5saslpdthiz7ae2/res.zip

[moomarc]

The easier way to do most of that is to edit the "main.properties" file in the '/res' folder with something like notepad (or any basic text editor). At the are 'image/base--file=pics' and 'image/token--file=pics/tokens'. Just change these to absolute paths of your choice eg:

Code: Select all

image/base--file=F:/Personal/CardForge/Low Resolution Images
image/token--file=F:/Personal/CardForge/Low Resolution Images/tokens

and do the same for 'decks-dir--file=decks', 'quest--properties=quest/quest.properties' and whatever else you might usually copy from version to version (try to avoid folders that are usually updated in the releases). Just remember to use forward slashes for the pathnames. Then just copy this file from version to version. Occasionally compare it to the release version to make sure nothing else has changed, and if it has just replace the adjusted lines instead.

This way you don't have to waste as much time with all the copy/pasta. Hope it helps.

[Chris H.]

Currently, the included read me file states:

current readme | Open

Picture location info:

The quest opponent icons jpg picture files go into your /res/pics/icons folder. The quest pet icons jpg picture files go into your /res/pics/icons folder. The quest booster package jpg picture files go into your /res/pics/booster folder. The card token jpg picture files go into your /res/pics/tokens folder.

Your forge game may not come with one or more of these three folders as part of the forge archive. In this case you should use your computer's OS file system to create the proper folders with the correct names and they must be located inside of the /res/pics/ folder.


Memory Issues:

In the past, some people noticed java heap space errors and lengthy pauses. The memory requirements for Forge have increased over time. The default setting on your computer for the java heap space may not be enough to prevent the above problems.

The technically proficient can launch the forge jar with an argument from the CLI. The argument "-Xmx512m" may work for computers with 1 Gig of memory. Computers with 2 Gigs or more of memory should be able to use "-Xmx1024m" as an argument.

We have created several scripts that will launch the Forge jar with "-Xmx1024m" as an argument. People using Windows OS should double click the "forge.exe" file. People using Apple's Mac OS X should double click the "forge.command" file. People using one of the other *nix OS should double click the "forge.sh" file.

The script file must be located in the same folder as the "run-forge.jar" file and the "run-forge.jar" file name can not be changed. Otherwise, the scripts will not work.

If you have a low end machine you may find that the scripts above will prevent java heap space errors but will find that forge still runs very slowly at times.

In this case you can try the following. Remove the background jpg picture from /res/images/ui/ folder. You can try using low quality pictures rather than the high quality pictures. Or you can try removing all of the jpg pictures from the pics folder. You can also try using the old style battlefield UI rather than the newer battlefield UI.

We have changed the archiving format to ".tar.bz2" since this may help to store the file permissions for the Mac OS X launcher. The Windows launcher in this version does not require you to rename the forge JAR file to work properly. Please keep the forge JAR file name set to "run-forge.jar".


Java Issues:

Some people that are using an early version of Java 7 under the Windows OS have reported errors that state "Split must have > 2 children". Anyone having this sort of problem should de-install java 7 and install java 6 instead.


Card Picture Issues:

The server which contained the high quality card pictures is now off line and these high quality card pictures are no longer available as a download from within the forge application. We apologize, but the current dev team do not maintain this server and this matter is out of our control.

Some people are choosing to re-download all of the low quality card and card set pictures when they install the next version of forge. This consumes large amounts of bandwidth needlessly.

The server containing the set pictures is limited to 30 gigs per month. At the current rate the server will hit the maximum of 30 gigs per month long before we reach the end of the month. Please be careful!

When you install the new version of forge find the forge/res/pics/ folder. Either move it or copy and paste the pics folder over to the recently installed new version of forge. This way you will only have to download the pictures for the new cards.

This should save enough bandwidth that everyone will be able to download the new set pictures from the cardforge server. We do appreciate your efforts to save bandwidth. Thank you.


Reporting Bugs:

To report a bug with an official beta release, please follow the instructions at http://www.slightlymagic.net/wiki/Forge ... do_I_do.3F .

To report a bug (1) with an alpha test, (2) with a nightly build, (3) with something compiled from the official Forge software repository, or (4) with the leading edge (formerly "SVN Bug Reports"), please do not submit your bugs to the forum. Instead, please follow the instructions at http://www.slightlymagic.net/wiki/How_t ... ith_Mantis .


Our Lawyers Made Us Do This:

This product includes software developed by the Indiana University Extreme! Lab (http://www.extreme.indiana.edu/).

`
I would like to propose that the following section be added to the read me file. Between the bug section and the lawyer sections:

Installation and Updating Instructions | Open

Installation and Updating to a newer version Instructions:

We have changed the archival format used for the Forge distributions from ".zip" to ".tar.bz2". There are utilities for Windows, Mac OS and the various *nix's that can be used to decompress these ".tar.bz2" archives. We recommend that you decompress the Forge archive into a new and unused folder.

Once the Forge archive has been decompressed you should then be able to launch Forge by using the included launcher. Launching Forge by double clicking on the forge jar file will cause a java heap space error. Forge's memory requirements have increased over time and the launchers increase the java heap space available to Forge.

After downloading and installing a newer version of Forge you may want to move certain files from the older version over to the newer version of Forge. You should maintain your older version of Forge as a back up incase you make a mistake while installing the newer version.

1) The /res/pics/ folder contains the card pictures, token pictures, quest opponent icons, quest pet icons and the booster package images.

2) The /res/decks/ folder contains your deck files. The /res/draft/ and the /res/sealed/ folders contains files for the sealed and draft mode. You should copy over your files inside of these folders that end in the extension ".draft" or ".zsealed".

3) The /res/quest/ folder contains your questdata file. This file includes all of the information for your current quest.

4) The Forge root folder contains a preference file named "forge.preferences" and you should also move a copy of this file over to the newer version.

[moomarc]

Currently, the included read me file states:

current readme | Open

Picture location info:

The quest opponent icons jpg picture files go into your /res/pics/icons folder. The quest pet icons jpg picture files go into your /res/pics/icons folder. The quest booster package jpg picture files go into your /res/pics/booster folder. The card token jpg picture files go into your /res/pics/tokens folder.

Your forge game may not come with one or more of these three folders as part of the forge archive. In this case you should use your computer's OS file system to create the proper folders with the correct names and they must be located inside of the /res/pics/ folder.


Memory Issues:

In the past, some people noticed java heap space errors and lengthy pauses. The memory requirements for Forge have increased over time. The default setting on your computer for the java heap space may not be enough to prevent the above problems.

The technically proficient can launch the forge jar with an argument from the CLI. The argument "-Xmx512m" may work for computers with 1 Gig of memory. Computers with 2 Gigs or more of memory should be able to use "-Xmx1024m" as an argument.

We have created several scripts that will launch the Forge jar with "-Xmx1024m" as an argument. People using Windows OS should double click the "forge.exe" file. People using Apple's Mac OS X should double click the "forge.command" file. People using one of the other *nix OS should double click the "forge.sh" file.

The script file must be located in the same folder as the "run-forge.jar" file and the "run-forge.jar" file name can not be changed. Otherwise, the scripts will not work.

If you have a low end machine you may find that the scripts above will prevent java heap space errors but will find that forge still runs very slowly at times.

In this case you can try the following. Remove the background jpg picture from /res/images/ui/ folder. You can try using low quality pictures rather than the high quality pictures. Or you can try removing all of the jpg pictures from the pics folder. You can also try using the old style battlefield UI rather than the newer battlefield UI.

We have changed the archiving format to ".tar.bz2" since this may help to store the file permissions for the Mac OS X launcher. The Windows launcher in this version does not require you to rename the forge JAR file to work properly. Please keep the forge JAR file name set to "run-forge.jar".


Java Issues:

Some people that are using an early version of Java 7 under the Windows OS have reported errors that state "Split must have > 2 children". Anyone having this sort of problem should de-install java 7 and install java 6 instead.


Card Picture Issues:

The server which contained the high quality card pictures is now off line and these high quality card pictures are no longer available as a download from within the forge application. We apologize, but the current dev team do not maintain this server and this matter is out of our control.

Some people are choosing to re-download all of the low quality card and card set pictures when they install the next version of forge. This consumes large amounts of bandwidth needlessly.

The server containing the set pictures is limited to 30 gigs per month. At the current rate the server will hit the maximum of 30 gigs per month long before we reach the end of the month. Please be careful!

When you install the new version of forge find the forge/res/pics/ folder. Either move it or copy and paste the pics folder over to the recently installed new version of forge. This way you will only have to download the pictures for the new cards.

This should save enough bandwidth that everyone will be able to download the new set pictures from the cardforge server. We do appreciate your efforts to save bandwidth. Thank you.


Reporting Bugs:

To report a bug with an official beta release, please follow the instructions at http://www.slightlymagic.net/wiki/Forge ... do_I_do.3F .

To report a bug (1) with an alpha test, (2) with a nightly build, (3) with something compiled from the official Forge software repository, or (4) with the leading edge (formerly "SVN Bug Reports"), please do not submit your bugs to the forum. Instead, please follow the instructions at http://www.slightlymagic.net/wiki/How_t ... ith_Mantis .


Our Lawyers Made Us Do This:

This product includes software developed by the Indiana University Extreme! Lab (http://www.extreme.indiana.edu/).

`
I would like to propose that the following section be added to the read me file. Between the bug section and the lawyer sections:

Installation and Updating Instructions | Open

Installation and Updating to a newer version Instructions:

We have changed the archival format used for the Forge distributions from ".zip" to ".tar.bz2". There are utilities for Windows, Mac OS and the various *nix's that can be used to decompress these ".tar.bz2" archives. We recommend that you decompress the Forge archive into a new and unused folder.

Once the Forge archive has been decompressed you should then be able to launch Forge by using the included launcher. Launching Forge by double clicking on the forge jar file will cause a java heap space error. Forge's memory requirements have increased over time and the launchers increase the java heap space available to Forge.

After downloading and installing a newer version of Forge you may want to move certain files from the older version over to the newer version of Forge. You should maintain your older version of Forge as a back up incase you make a mistake while installing the newer version.

1) The /res/pics/ folder contains the card pictures, token pictures, quest opponent icons, quest pet icons and the booster package images.

2) The /res/decks/ folder contains your deck files. The /res/draft/ and the /res/sealed/ folders contains files for the sealed and draft mode. You should copy over your files inside of these folders that end in the extension ".draft" or ".zsealed".

3) The /res/quest/ folder contains your questdata file. This file includes all of the information for your current quest.

4) The Forge root folder contains a preference file named "forge.preferences" and you should also move a copy of this file over to the newer version.

Seeing as installation is the first thing users need to do, I'd rather insert the new section at the very beginning so that it follows in logical order. But it will probably need to be revised again when slapshot finishes making the quest icons and tokens etc available for download from in-game.

[mtgrares]

Chris H,

Great stuff, I included both files in my blog post for Monday, Oct 24.

[Zirbert]

Just FYI for any of my fellow newbs who have trouble upgrading Forge when new versions come out, here's my process. Seems a bit simpler than some of the ones outlined in this thread, and hasn't failed me yet.

I always extract the Forge archives into a folder cleverly called "Forge", always on the same drive. This way all my shortcuts, stored command line commands, etc., can continue to point at the same place. Here's my process when a new version comes out:

1. Rename my current Forge folder, to something like Forge-old.

2. Create a new empty folder called Forge.

3. Extract the new Forge archive into that new empty folder.

4. Copy /res/pics and /res/decks from Forge-Old into Forge. If prompted what to do about duplicate files, I "Merge All" in Linux. I forget the exact wording of the Windows equivalent - it's been a while. (I always copy-and-paste, then later delete the file from the original location, rather than cut-and-paste. This is a general computer usage tip that'll save you a lot of headaches if something goes wrong in the file move - once in a while keeping that "backup" of the file you were moving is a lifesaver!)

5. Fire it up and download the images for the new cards.

That's it, 5 easy steps and I'm ready to play!

It's even easier to get the new version copied to other PCs. I copy the entire new Forge folder onto a jump drive, delete the old Forge folder from the target PC, and copy the new one into its place.