Collectible Card Game Headquarters

Trying to clean the mess of the forum up a bit here.
Hopefully this will prevent another 120+ Threads with the same questions.

FAQ

Installation

Q:Any A-Z installation guide? How do i install this ???
A:
The manalink wiki should be up to date.

Q:Winzip won´t let me unzip .rar files ! What should i do ?
A:
Winzip versions below 11.0 do not support .RAR files . either update or install WinRAR and unzip with it.
7-zip works aswell and it's free.
7-zip

Q:My fonts are missing !Here is a screenshot!
A:
Couple things you have to do.
1.If you haven´t already apply the Compatibility Tool patch -> Tutorial + Links
2.Disable Visual Themes
->
Create a shortcut to your magic.exe (c:\Magic\magic.exe). rightclick ->create shortcut->desktop
Disable Visual Themes (rightclick the shortcut to magic ->properties->compatibility->check "deactivate visual themes".
Start the game with the shortcut on your desktop/anywhere.
3.Reboot!

Q:How do i update to get the latest cards?
A:
Follow the instructions:
1.Download the latest patch from the forum (manalink2 section - just check the upper threads)
2.unzip
3.browse to the folder with magic.exe in it (patch\magic\zips\magic)
4.copy everything
5.browse to your game folder (c:\magic\)
6.paste everything (overwrite existing files)

Missing Artwork

Q:I´m missing the artwork for card XXX !
A:Do it yourself !

1.find out the card ID
open the deckbuilder and put the card with the wrong/no artwork into a deck and save the deck.
browse to your Playdeck folder and look for the deckname . now open the .dck file with the notepad.
1st row contains the card IDs.

Code: Select all

ID      Quantity  Name
.1064   1     Sphinx of Jwar Isle


2.get the artwork for the card
google for the artwork or go to a random cardshop with pics. rightclick the image of the pic and save it to your computer.

3.edit the image
use paint or whatever to open the image of the card.
select just the artwork and cut it out.
create a new file and paste the artwork in. (so there is just the artwork visible).

4.save the image under the card id
so in this case you want to save the file as 1064.jpg.
the card must have 4 numbers -> so the artwork for card 27 must be named as 0027.jpg.

5.move the file to your CardArtNew

Q:Some cards do not have pictures ! Where can i get it ?
A:
You are missing the images in your CardArtNew folder.
Check the "Artwork Topics" in the "New Users Start Here" section.
There should be a sticky in this Forum section with the latest Artwork (Card Images).

Crashes

Q:I keep getting this error: Couldn't Initialize for card Drawin
Q:When I go to play the game the screen looks like this...How do I fix?
screenshot with missing background
A:
You´ve messed up the Duelart installation!
1.Download the New Duelart file.
2.Unzip
3.browse to the Duelartnew folder inside the downloaded folder (84 images in there)
4.copy all 84 files
5.browse to your game folder (c:\magic)
6.browse to the Duelart folder inside your game folder (c:\magic\Duelart)
7.paste the 84 images inside

Q: Why does the game keep crashing ?
A:
This can have many reasons.
The game was made for Win95 and does run under XP / Windows 7 (after a few tweaks).
Vista on the other hand is a hopeless case , the game will run but constantly crash.
All you could do is avoid cards that seem to cause crashes.
Hopefully you could get a Virtual Mashine going or got another operation system on a different PC.
If the Operation System is not your problem then it most likly is a messed up Duelart Folder (see above).

Q: The Deckbuilder keeps freezing when i tab out / hover the mouse over the Taskbar.Anything i can do to fix this ?
A:
Once it "crashes" press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and end the process drwatson. this will end the freeze.
drwatson is a debug tool from microsoft. you can deactivate it in your registry if you want to.
the registry key for drwatson is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug .
You can de-activate it there.
Note: BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU MESS AROUND IN YOUR REGISTRY !
Also try to avoid Alt+Tabbing or even move the mouse out of the actual window - it is only a problem for the Deckbuilder for some reason.

Game Sounds

Q:The game sound are way too loud ! Can i lower it somehow ?
A:
There is no option ingame to reduce the sound.
So instead you will have to use "lower volume" sounds to work around this.
(replacing the current files with ones the same sounds with decreased volume)

1.download the lower-volume sounds
2.unzip
3.browse to the sound files within the download
4.copy all soundfiles
5.browse to your game folder (c:\magic)
6.open the folder "DuelSounds" (c:\magic\Duelsounds)
7.paste the soundfiles and overwrite existing files

Q:Is there any option in the game to turn off the sound completly ?
A:
There is no option ingame to turn off the sound.
The workaround to turn off the sound completly is very simple.
The game will look for the sounds at magic\Duelsounds - so if it doesn´t find the files it can´t play it.
Rename the Duelsounds folder and the game can´t find the sounds.(something like DuelSoundsX will do).
Just rename the folder again to "DuelSounds" if you want to have sound again.

General Issues

Q:But when I run the Magic.exe to get to the main menu I don't have the green gem to "Connect" ...
What am I missing here ?
A:
Run the "Registry Entry" file in your Magic directory, and the gem will appear the next time you open the game.(Magic.reg in your game folder -> c:\magic\Magic.reg)

Q:Why do some files get recognized as malicious software?
Q:My scanner detected a Virus in your software!What are you up to ?
A:
Some files do various things that a couple Virus-scanners detect as being malicious.
It is a false alarm.
CSV2dat.exe / the launcher write inside config.txt/cards.dat/magic.exe to enable/disable challenge mode for example - they also move around your decks to different folders (copy and then delete the old ones) - this will get detected as malicious software.There is no virus/trojan/keylogger hidden in the software.
Use an online scanner if you don´t trust us.

Q: I´ve downloaded a deck , but i cannot use it somehow . How do i fix this ?
A:
Most likly the deckname and the filename don´t match.
Open the .dck file with a text editor and make sure the first entry contains the filename.
Example:
dredge.dck -> ";dredge"

Challenges

Q:Where can i see what i have to do for each challenge?
Q:Where can i see the rewards for each challenge?
A:
Check out the WIKI, every Challenge is described there.
http://www.slightlymagic.net/wiki/Challenge_Mode

Q:I keep loosing the game instantly when i´m trying a challenge ! what did i do wrong ?
A:
This can be caused by a couple things .

1.Your config settings are incorrect:
1a.Open the file "config.txt" in your game folder (c:\magic\config.txt).
1b.make sure that Debug,CrippleAI,QuickStart,AutoHaste,UnlimitedMana,AutoMill are all set to "0".
1c."RulesEngine" and "ChallengeMode" must be set to "1".
1d.SmartTarget and AlphabetizeDeck are optional (can be either "0" or "1" // 0=off/1=on).
1e.save the file

2.Your deck contains banned cards.
2a.Check the current banned list
2b.remove the banned cards from the deck you are trying a challenge with.(you are not allowed to play any of "banned" cards)

3.Your deck contains more than 1 copy of restricted cards.
3a.2a.Check the current restricted list
3b.remove the additional copies of restricted cards from your challengedeck (you are allowed to only play 1 copy of "restricted" cards)

4.The current challenge "banned" one or more cards in your deck.
4a.Check out the challenge description
4b.adjust your deck to the challenge.

Autotargeting

Q: How do i de/activate Autotargeting?
A:
Follow the instructions:
1.browse to your game folder (c:\magic)
2.open the config.txt (c:\magic\config.txt)
3.fine the line "SmartTarget:"
4.set the number behind it to 1 if you want to use autotargeting and to 0 if you do NOT want to use it.
5.save the changes

Q: How does Autotargeting work ?
A:
As long as there is just one legal target for a spell/ability the card will automaticly target it.
There are 2 different lists that define the targets.
TargetsAI.txt defines the spells/abilities that are supposed to autotarget your opponent/your opponents permanents.
TargetsHuman.txt defines the spells/abilities that are supposed to target you/your permanents.
(Note:When the target got protection from the spell it is still trying to target it! - this will cause the spell to do nothing.)

Q:How can i adjust Smarttargeting ?
A:
The spells are defined in TargetsAI.txt and TargetsHuman.txt in your game folder (c:\magic\TargetsAI.txt).
just add the card id that should use autotargeting to the list and see if it works.

Q:The "Done" button is missing while playing the game under Windows 7 Operating System
A:
Aero theme need to be disabled in order to make it appear in the window left corner.

With Aero theme:


Without Aero theme:

hey thanks for all the info, i downloaded and installed it, and did everything it said like twice. but i still errored somewhere. My game continually sends an error report and crashes after i get attacked and have nothing to defend the attack with.. do u know whats worng? (btw i have windows XP)

it is the first time i heard of this kind of bug. i need some more informations ,

what version do you use ?
I recomend using the version from the guide (20091014), it is stable.
the new zendikar version (20091015+) is still a beta and crashes are expected.


does this only happen with specific cards or in general ?

as stupid as it sounds but did you reboot after the installation ?

i downloaded the ones that were recommended in another thread. whenever i get attacked and do not choose a defender prettymuch with rare exceptions and sometimes when they dont defned my attacks it crashes.

but ya i didnt reboot bc i didnt have the password to log back in. sorry, i feel like an idiot now, i didnt think it really mattered. ill delete the files and reinstall and then reboot. sorry again for wasting your time

no problem , just enjoy the game

I'm having trouble extracting the files from the Micropose MTG Mok's Manalink 2.0Version.Part2 .rar file. It keeps telling me that there is a "bad block" error with the file Magic/Program/CardArt/MedArt.cat. I've noticed that its ratio is listed as 60% while others are listed at around 86% or above (most at 99%). I can't really seem to get around this, and I can't use the file at Rapid Share because it would require the activation of a paid account.

Solutions/suggestions?

Thanks.

removed the outdated links from the FAQ (i´m kinda inactive latly). use the WIKI for the latest installation guide please.

I just found out about this project of "injecting life" into that old but sweet MicroProse game, and I must say, it´s really awesome! I didn´t even know there was a ManaLink v2.0. That alone brought many new cards into the game.


However, I run into trouble when I try to apply the new patches. I suspect I am not putting the files into their correct folders.

Yes, I´ve studied the wiki and read this thread, but I still have questions:


1. Everywhere I read, it´s assumed that the game directory is called C:\magic. Is that the directory with all the game folders and the magic.exe and so on?
Because for me, it ended up like this:

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m156/jiansonz/Explorerimage.jpg

So the folder with all the 'good stuff' is actually called C:\magic\Microprose MTG Mok's Manalink 2.0 Version\Magic\Program and not just C:\magic

Is this a problem? If yes, can I simply cut & paste all the files and folders so they are in C:\magic instead, without screwing the whole thing up?


2. I think I understand the part about the main patch - to unzip it somewhere, copy files and paste them to the game folder so they override the old magic.exe and so on. But, do I need to actually run the Patch.exe also?

3. I understand that the CardArtNew and the CardArtLim .jpg files should be extracted into their respective folder (and I need to create the CardArtLim folder myself). But I do not understand where I am supposed to extract the .bmp files in the Non-Card Art download. Straight into the game folder or should I make a new one for these as well?

Thankful for any help.

1 just cut & paste anything in the Program folder into the magic root folder
2 No
3 The non card art should be already in his folder in the zip update file, just extract it into the magic root folder (card art files should not be in the magic root folder, I think it's DuelArt or something else don't remember) :p

Thanks a bunch - it seems to be working now.

I didn´t know that a .zip file can have instructions to put files (that are in the 'root' of the archive) in subfolders, and even create new subfolders. This is what confused me - and of course this also led me to end up with a lot of card art that didn´t work, because it ended up in a CardArtNew folder inside the CardArtNew folder in the game folder, etc.
I moved them to the right place, and now it works. Yay!



I think the wiki could use these instuctions to make it less likely that people will make the same mistakes I did:

* After ManaLink 2.0 is extracted, move everything in the 'Program' folder to a folder named C:\Magic.

* All patches and updates should be extracted into this C:\Magic 'root' folder, not into any subfolders.

You can edit the wiki I think, don't remember if there are members restrictions.

No restrictions, just make an account with your current users name.

I looked around, couldnt find the answer.

Where are the Serndib Efreet/Djinn/Ghazban Ogre and the set symbols?

The cards themselves don't have expansion symbols in microprose. (would you give Land Tax the Legends symbol, or no symbol, like 4th edition? I think that kind of thing is why they didn't do symbols) In deckbuilder, there are some filters for arabian nights, the dark, etc, but some of the community coded cards were put into whatever set 'felt right' for them.

Does the option "ChallengeMode" really exist ?

Because I don't see it in the config.txt of the latest version
and typing ChallengeMode:0 in my config.txt does not do anything.