Collectible Card Game Headquarters

Tentative target release date: Friday May 09 2014.

Someone mentioned in another thread that they'd like to see counters on cards get an update so it's easier to see what's on them at-a-glance. My current thought is something like this:


Green counters would be +1/+1, red would be -1/-1, and the current blue ones would be other counters (or maybe user-selectable colors?). The text would start large-ish and scale down to a minimum size to try to fit the number, but in the event that it can't, it would overflow as can be seen on the green counters.

Thoughts?

KrazyTheFox wrote:Green counters would be +1/+1, red would be -1/-1, and the current blue ones would be other counters (or maybe user-selectable colors?). The text would start large-ish and scale down to a minimum size to try to fit the number, but in the event that it can't, it would overflow as can be seen on the green counters.

I'd say the important counters are: +1/+1, -1/-1, Loyalty, Charge. Those 4 should probably each have their own color. Any other counters can be a more general color as you mention. I think if you have more than like.. 999 of a specific counter, >999 should be adequate instead of accurate values. (Especially since those values are still available from the CardDetailPanel.)

If you'll forgive my intrusion in the dev area (I like to see what's in the works), I'd suggest to avoid mana colors.

So, well, I'd pick:
- Purple for Loyalty (blue actually symbolizes loyalty, but I think purple is close enough)
- Yellow for Charges (obvious)
- Orange for + counters
- Brown for - counters
- Gray for miscellaneous counters.

Mana colors could even be used for some color-specific counters, if there are (or will be) any.
That's my take at least, hope it helps

friarsol wrote:>999 should be adequate instead of accurate values. (Especially since those values are still available from the CardDetailPanel.)

Good point. I've got a better idea, though. Anything >= 1000 will become something like "1k", "50k", "125m", "2b". That way you still get a general idea of the number of counters without taking up too much space.

mastroego wrote:If you'll forgive my intrusion in the dev area (I like to see what's in the works), I'd suggest to avoid mana colors.

I'm not sure I'll be able to avoid mana colors. The problem with using something like orange to signify +1/+1 counters is that red/orange are "warning" colors—people perceive them as being "problematic". I'd like counters that I (probably) don't want on my things to be clearly marked as such. Blue and green are more "everything's good" colors. The counters should also be easily distinguishable. If I have two things that are orange-ish in color, then when only one of them is on a permanent I control, it'll be harder to identify which one it is.

My current thinking is the following:

• White for Loyalty
• Yellow/Gold for Charges
• Green for + counters
• Red for - counters
• Purple for miscellaneous counters.

Since the counters already in the game are of a lower resolution than I'd like, I've gone ahead and made new ones that I have more control over. Since white is a neutral color that's easily converted to more colors, I made that one first:



It's slightly transparent so you can see a little of the card underneath still, unlike the current counters. This would be the maximum size for the counters—it's easier to scale down than up. Let me know if there's anything you'd like changed.

I refer to my old post about counters, where I suggested colors and forms:

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1516&p=137804#p137804

My idea was to have counters of two shapes: round beads and ovals.
The beads would be individual counters and would be simply placed on the card. The ovals would be used once the number of counters goes over a limit (could be settable, default value could be 5 or more) and they would have counter symbol on the left and "x <number>" on the right.

I was operating under assumption that the counters would have 1/16 of card picture size (1/4x1/4) and oval would be twice as wide, so a card could have up to 16 individual counters displayed or up to 8 ovals, which I don't think I've ever seen surpassed.

This proposal suggests simple symbols on some counters, which is why the number can't be simply written on them. On the other hand, only a few symbols are needed since they are combined with colors so each can serve for several cards. For example the symbol of hourglass would be shared by age, delay, hourglass and time counters.

Marek14 wrote:I refer to my old post about counters, where I suggested colors and forms:

The problem with multiple sizes/colors/symbols/etc is that there's a very limited amount of space for me to introduce new images without increasing the spritesheet size, which I'd like to avoid. It also adds an enormous amount of complexity to something that should probably be kept relatively simple. If you've got counters on something that isn't one of the common ones, then chances are that you know what they are. I like the idea, but I feel that having so many variations will do more harm than good.

I'm also thinking one more color should be introduced for level counters, as those are used somewhat frequently.

Here's the counters I've got so far:

KrazyTheFox wrote:

Marek14 wrote:I refer to my old post about counters, where I suggested colors and forms:

The problem with multiple sizes/colors/symbols/etc is that there's a very limited amount of space for me to introduce new images without increasing the spritesheet size, which I'd like to avoid. It also adds an enormous amount of complexity to something that should probably be kept relatively simple. If you've got counters on something that isn't one of the common ones, then chances are that you know what they are. I like the idea, but I feel that having so many variations will do more harm than good.

I'm also thinking one more color should be introduced for level counters, as those are used somewhat frequently.

Here's the counters I've got so far:

counters.jpg

Couldn't the counters have their own picture files like cards/tokens?

Speaking about "frequent" counters -- I would say that any counter that is a part of a mechanic should count as one of these. +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters fit. So do charge counters (sunburst). Level and loyalty counters also fit. There are three others -- age (cumulative upkeep), fade (fading) and time (suspend/vanishing).

Here's another idea. What if instead of a circle, we have a shield that has the name of the counter like +1+1, or a 4 letter abbreviation, if the name of the counter is longer than 4 at the top. The font size would have to be pretty small, though. And keep the colors, too. I also like the idea of placing the counter on the art of the card, instead of on the text.

hey did someone messed with forge.sh the line ending?
downloaded from http://cardforge.org/releases/snapshots ... -SNAPSHOT/
it has windows line ending, and not unix style

Hanmac wrote:hey did someone messed with forge.sh the line ending?
downloaded from http://cardforge.org/releases/snapshots ... -SNAPSHOT/
it has windows line ending, and not unix style

 
The forge.sh file in my Forge workspace is using the new line character and there is no carriage return character to be found in this file.

After doing a build and deploy to cardforge I checked the forge.sh file that is included in the forge archive. And found the carriage return character.

Something in the Maven goal that builds and deploys is causing this to happen. I do not know how to fix this myself.

Chris H. wrote:The forge.sh file in my Forge workspace is using the new line character and there is no carriage return character to be found in this file.

After doing a build and deploy to cardforge I checked the forge.sh file that is included in the forge archive. And found the carriage return character.

Something in the Maven goal that builds and deploys is causing this to happen. I do not know how to fix this myself.

 
Apparently, the forge.sh file appears in the forge-gui and the forge-gui-desktop modules and the wrong file was fixed.

The newest snapshot now has a forge.sh file that is using the new line character.

I have purchased a condo for my wife and myself. We have just about packed up all of our possessions and the moving company will move our stuff on Tuesday May 6. I will be very busy over the next few months and will not be able to release betas and snapshots on a daily basis.

I am not leaving the Forge project but I do need to concentrate on this moving process for the near future. Here are the links to the newest snapshot builds to tide people over.

forge-gui-desktop-1.5.18-20140503.223028-5.tar.bz2

forge-gui-desktop-1.5.18-20140503.223028-5-osx.tar.bz2

Who and how is to release betas instead, or... is the project suspended till Chris handles his relocation?
(or is there just a typo in words about being busy for the next few months? - were there days or weeks meant?)

I could build and deploy the project if I had the login details to do so, however I don't and Chris hasn't logged in in a week. If anyone's interested in snapshot builds, at least, I got the whole thing working on a Linux virtual machine that handles OSX and Windows/Linux builds.