Quest thoughts

[RumbleBBU]

I thought they already were:

Code: Select all

this.allowedSetCodes = Collections.unmodifiableList(sets);       
this.bannedCardNames = Collections.unmodifiableList(bannedCards);

[Max mtg]

I thought they already were:

Code: Select all

this.allowedSetCodes = Collections.unmodifiableList(sets);       
this.bannedCardNames = Collections.unmodifiableList(bannedCards);

Oh, indeed, they are, i am sorry.

See also the quest QuestUtilCards issue in the last message on previous page.

[Agetian]

I really like the ideas suggested here, I actually had this dream going on in my mind (and even a few ideas about getting back to helping with coding Forge, in this aspect this time, but sadly, my current business schedule won't allow it ) - I'm not sure if this was suggested before or not, but in addition to starting at a certain period of time and then progressing forward would be a nice option to have, limiting the "current time period" might also prove to be interesting - for instance, a player wants to play only with the pre-8th edition cards, as if he were still in the good ol' days of the 7th Edition (except for the modernized rules, of course), he chooses 7th Edition from a box, and then the formats (Standard, Extended, etc.) get updated accordingly as to how they were back then, along with the limitation on cards available in the quest card pool. Of course, this might not be as easy to implement as it sounds (and might require a bit of research about which sets were in different formats at different periods of time, as well as potentially restricted/banned lists, which might be a heck of a lot of work), but it might be interesting to ponder about something like that.
At any rate, whatever limited quest modes you guys might implement in the future, they would be a fun and welcome addition to the full cardpool quest mode currently available! I'll see if my schedule will allow me to get back to coding Forge closer to the New Year's, so maybe I'll be able to help out with this or with something else.

[friarsol]

Hey Rumble,

Started my first limited quest mode for Standard. Here's some brief thoughts:

1. Snow lands probably shouldn't be available (in the spell shop) if Ice Age or Coldsnap isn't in the restricted group settings.

2. When offering the booster choice at the end of the match, the full name as opposed to the Set Code would be more clear.
Looks pretty smooth so far.

[RumbleBBU]

Thanks for the feedback. I believe I have now caught and fixed all issues reported so far by Sol and Max.

Agetian: That is definitely a possibility, and it might not be particularly difficult to code. Just some hard work...
The research part would be more of a problem. I found that this thread viewtopic.php?f=52&t=6636 already contains some very helpful info on the formats that could be utilized, but I didn't see any historical info on bannings and restrictions there.

My next aim is to figure out an "expansion unlocking" scheme for the current format-limited implementation. But it would be nice if the Quest Deck Editor worked first... (see my post in the Developing Bugs thread.)

[RumbleBBU]

A little update on what I've been up to been up to of late... (My commit messages tell some of it, I just thought I'd be a bit more verbose).

Two notable new features:

1) I have now enabled "unlocking" new expansion in limited-format quests. I'm not sure whether the unlocking prices are "right"...unlocking a newish expansion isn't that expensive ATM, while you have to pay something like a million credits to unlock an early core set (Alpha, Beta, Unlimited). When you unlock a set, you also get a free starter pack for that set. Or 3 boosters, if there are no starter packs for the set. If the there are no boosters either (e.g., the Media Promo expansion), you get nothing at all.
You get that chance only once per 100 wins. If you don't have the money right then, too bad...
Aside from the "next"/"previous" sets, I'm not entirely happy with how the selection of unlockable sets is formed. I would like to have a stronger emphasis on sets that are historically close to the sets currently in your format, and maybe just 1 totally random set (but if you choose a totally unrelated set, the current implementation of "next"/"previous" set identification will be broken). And maybe more options than just 5. At some stage, I will rewrite that part of the code.

2) I have just added a dialog that allows you to define custom quest formats (and then, of course, enforce the format during your quest).
First of all, I would like to be the first one to point out that the dialog is not very pretty nor does it always work seamlessly (sometimes, I got the dialog opening several times unrequested...I added some silly code in the CSubmenu part trying to eliminate that). I'm not very comfortable at UI design/UI programming, and I'm afraid that's the best I can do for the time being. At least the dialog is, I hope, more userfriendly than manually editing the formats.txt file (that's what I'm trying to achieve). If someone more experienced in UI coding wants to redo the dialog, be my guest...I'll be grateful!
Now maybe you say: "Ah, but what's to stop a cheeseball from starting a custom quest with an Unlimited + Arabian Nights + (some other exteremely expensive/undercosted/overpowered sets)?" Nothing much really. But if you want to, you could actually do it already in the current betas via the formats.txt file. This dialog is simply intended as a user-friendly alternative for formats.txt file editing, and it actually is a bit more restrictive than the formats.txt file (I've made it impossible to add Alpha and Beta to your format via the dialog, see comment in the code). Obviously a cheeseball can use it start a boring cheeseball quest, but a cheeseball will as easily just use the dev mode. The intended use of the dialog is, of course, to easily enable quests in whatever historical (or 'fantasy') environments you like.

...plus a couple of assorted fixes.

[Doublestrike]

I'll have a look at that dialog after a while Rumble, see what can be done

100 wins sounds steep...but I haven't played the latest version, so maybe it's normal.

What's your opinion of the "Quest Preferences" submenu - too much cheating available, or something you'd like to keep around?

[friarsol]

I'll have a look at that dialog after a while Rumble, see what can be done

100 wins sounds steep...but I haven't played the latest version, so maybe it's normal.

What's your opinion of the "Quest Preferences" submenu - too much cheating available, or something you'd like to keep around?

Yea 100 definitely sounds high to me too. I'd put it at 40 or 50.

I like the quest preferences submenu, and think it's something good to keep.

[RumbleBBU]

@Doublestrike & Sol - Thanks for the comments!
I have now decreased the unlocking threshold from every 100 wins to every 50 wins.

And yes, I too would keep the preferences menu...