Any Assistance from Non-Programmers?

[Resonantg]

Okay, it's official. I don't get programming. That being said, I would like to help out this project some. I saw something about compiling text for cards, and was then wondering, what kind of help could be given by us who are not programmers or have just a little programming knowledge but can't figure out stuff like Eclipse or any coding environment?

Anything like that lying around that can be done?

[mtgrares]

Personally I think it is good to file bug reports and spread the word about MTG Forge by mentioning it in a few Magic forums. Those two activities help to improve and advertise MTG Forge.

[DennisBergkamp]

Yes, definitely. Testing + Bug reports are a great way.

[Chris H.]

I agree with mtgrares and Dennis. Testing and bug reports are a great way for a non-coder to get involved in the project. Testing the newest cards that were released helps by letting us know there is a problem while the coding is still fresh in our memories. It is also nice to hear on occasion that someone ran a test and no problems were detected.

And testing the new cards is also a lot of fun. Discussing the bugs and/or features will also help you and us get to know one another. This helps to strengthen the sense of community on our CCGH forum. Creating interesting decks that showcase the newer cards and uploading them to the Decks area also helps the project.

[zerker2000]

Definently testing, possibly in the form of looking for combo decks on the internet and adapting them to forge (which is bound to turn up a lot of bugs, in cases it doesn't, various cool decks that you can post on the deck forum).

[apthaven]

Everyone nailed it already.

Another thing would be to search cards that are similar to the ones implemented in Forge and post them in the forums for programmers to put in easily. This would increase the card pool which everyone wants and loves.

In short, everyone shouldn't really run of things to do here. Magic is an evolving game after all

[fsntf]

First of all, was introduced to MTGForge by a friend and just discovered the wonderful cardlist.txt! Anyways, where should we post the new cards? Is there already a thread for them or should we start a new one? And lastly, I love the card Horn of Greed, but just cannot seem to make it work. I see Baru hjas a similar ability but I just can't figure how to make it work. I see that Landfall is just a flag so hopefully cards that trigger off of lands coming into play isn't far off. Keep up all the great work guys! It is greatly appreciated in my little circle of friends.

[zerker2000]

If you're a non-programmer, stop reading here.
1.In the forge release, there should be a file named source.rar. Unpack it, and look for a file named CardFactory.java.
2.Open that file in a t"ext editor,( wait ~5 minutes for it to load ,) and search for "Baru". The section of code you find should contain the ability.
3.Copy the code you find relevant to it into a new if block next to the old one (containing horn of greed code) and save.
4.Compile the resulting file, and replace the CardFactory.class in run-forge.jar with it.
5. Run forge.
If anything works, tweak values until it works perfectly(loop from step 3). If nothing does (forge pops out an error when it starts up / starts a game / you play the card, or the ability doesn't trigger), restart (loop from step 1).

[fsntf]

You sir are a gentleman and a scholar, and thanks btw. I wrote that last night before i realized the beta version had 3 landfall cards in it. Trying to see if i can make Horn of Greed maybe work like Ior Ruin expedition where it will get a counter and i can remove a counter to draw a card with out the sac. Not really working though, so going to see if I can make the Baru work instead with the "you may draw a card" instead of the PTpump.

[DennisBergkamp]

Actually, Horn of Greed is trickier, since it only triggers on when you play a land (not "comes into play", or "enters the battlefield"). The code for this is somewhere else entirely, also currently we have a hacky implementation of cards like Exploration and Fastbond, these cases would have to be taken into account as well

[mtgrares]

To quickly find out if MTG Forge already implements a specific card, the easy way is to open up the file "cards.txt" and search for the card's name or text. Of course you can always use the deck editor too.

[Marek14]

To quickly find out if MTG Forge already implements a specific card, the easy way is to open up the file "cards.txt" and search for the card's name or text. Of course you can always use the deck editor too.

Name only for best results - it's not 100% sure that the text in cards.txt matches Oracle.

[mtgrares]

The text doesn't match. Usually static abilities have the same text, like Glorious Anthem, but the best way is just to search for a card's name.