Deck Editor V2 - Bug report with possible solution?
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Deck Editor V2 - Bug report with possible solution?
by ShadowRaven » 19 Jun 2011, 17:07
(pre-note: I will feel very embarrassed if I've missed something to cause this topic to be completely irrelevant
Also skip to bold/italic text if you wish to skip back story).
Hello everyone,
well, just discovered the awesomeness of this place today.
Then spent the next 4 hours trying to get anything functional =_=;
But besides all the hiccups that go wrong during installation,
it's mostly working, besides the deck editor V2.
I'm not sure who is working on this/if this is even being continued,
or worked on at all now?
But anyway, the point is, (and yes I've been all about the forum in my plight to try and get things working, that I've at least seen posts about it, and such), that even though responses talk about not worrying about it, etc...I CAN'T STAND the implemented editor.
It's near impossible to navigate through any long list of cards, and you can't 'scroll' you have to click along bottom area. But don't get me wrong I'm not trying to complain, what's here is absolutely incredible, and if I can get this working will be an absolute life saver for a friend of mine
(I should note I'm using the installation/setup/etc
that's on the wiki, and using the 'magiccustom.exe').
But, the implemented card editor is just too difficult to navigate, and not even able to search for specific card names, it kills me.
---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
But the point of this topic, sorry for taking so long to get to it, is I've been fiddling about and I'd like to report the issue that it is having as far as I can tell, in a way that if this is still being developed by someone, it is fixable.
Below is the list of complications that cause this program to not be functional.
LOADING/SAVING ISSUES:
notes-
This is very confusing to say the least, but I'll try explain below.
Point #1
Magiccustom loads the deck from C:\Magic\Program\custDeck
Point #2
However, the Deck Editor, even if you select the file of a deck in
custDeck, it will actually load the file in custDeck\all.
If you load a file that isn't in custDeck\all yet, upon loading the
file, it will in fact duplicate the file into the custDeck\all directory
as a blank file, and when you make changes, it won't save the changes
into the file stored in custDeck (which is the one your Magiccustom actually loads).
.dck Card Identifying Issues:
Point #1
Even if you discovered this and took the initiative to copy the file from
custDeck\all to custDeck, there is a major problem that causes the DeckEditor
to fail. It saves all card Id's, as -1, which is below 0, therefor when
creating your deck, getting excited, and loading up Magiccustom to use it,
you'll see it say '# cards in deck' but there are no cards visible nor statistics. It knows there are a number of cards there cause it writes that
correctly, however it doesn't know what they are so can't display them.
Point #2
It get's even more confusing, when you load the deck in the deck editor again
and all the cards show there correctly. The issue (my theory), is that the
deck editor doesn't load by the card ID, which Magiccustom does, it uses
the names of the cards stored instead.
Examples #1-
As you can see, all the numbers that identified the card ID for Magiccustom,
are now replaced with '-1'. So now if you try to open the above file with
Magiccustom, you wouldn't see any of the files.
However, of course 'realistically', it would work fine, because the Deck Editor
saved to custDeck\all while Magiccustom opened the file in custDeck.
Therein lies the additional confusion.
You may wander why cards aren't changing, for you in the game.
That would be why.
However as explained in previous notes, this confusion goes both ways.
If you start a new deck while in-game and save there, then try to load
it up into the deckeditor, Magiccustom saved to custDeck, while deckeditor
created a blank file for it in custDeck\all and loaded that instead.
Examples #2-
Another simple example, is if you were to create a new deck in the deckeditor.
You create it in their, and save it. That will be saved to custDeck\all.
And you will think 'okay yay, I have a new deck'. Go into Magiccustom, and
you won't be able to select/load it.
Why? Because it is looking for files in custDeck, not custDeck\all.
Then if you worked that out, and copied the file from custDeck\all to custDeck,
it would still be irrelevant. You could select it, but cards wouldn't show
because the Deckeditor saves them as '-1'.
---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
So, there's the basic break down of why people, including myself, at least
in my own theory, are having so much trouble when using this. Everything
jumps over itself and you never think anything is functioning, yet in principle
it's really 2 main points.
#1
Custommagic loading from custDeck while Deckeditor is saving to custDeck\all.
#2
Deckeditor is saving card identifying numbers as '-1', which stops Custommagic
from understanding the cards, but the Deckeditor identify's cards by their name
so it's able to read the file correctly.
---------------------------------------------------
Welp this is officially the largest first post in a forum I've made,
anyway, hope this helps?
Hope someone is still wanting to fix this?
And if none of the above occur, for the love of anything does someone have a solution? I've already worked out that the identifying numbers don't equate to the actual card numbers so I can't even use an online searcher to choose specific cards for the deck.
Also skip to bold/italic text if you wish to skip back story).
Hello everyone,
well, just discovered the awesomeness of this place today.
Then spent the next 4 hours trying to get anything functional =_=;
But besides all the hiccups that go wrong during installation,
it's mostly working, besides the deck editor V2.
I'm not sure who is working on this/if this is even being continued,
or worked on at all now?
But anyway, the point is, (and yes I've been all about the forum in my plight to try and get things working, that I've at least seen posts about it, and such), that even though responses talk about not worrying about it, etc...I CAN'T STAND the implemented editor.
It's near impossible to navigate through any long list of cards, and you can't 'scroll' you have to click along bottom area. But don't get me wrong I'm not trying to complain, what's here is absolutely incredible, and if I can get this working will be an absolute life saver for a friend of mine
(I should note I'm using the installation/setup/etc
that's on the wiki, and using the 'magiccustom.exe').
But, the implemented card editor is just too difficult to navigate, and not even able to search for specific card names, it kills me.
---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
But the point of this topic, sorry for taking so long to get to it, is I've been fiddling about and I'd like to report the issue that it is having as far as I can tell, in a way that if this is still being developed by someone, it is fixable.
Below is the list of complications that cause this program to not be functional.
LOADING/SAVING ISSUES:
notes-
This is very confusing to say the least, but I'll try explain below.
Point #1
Magiccustom loads the deck from C:\Magic\Program\custDeck
Point #2
However, the Deck Editor, even if you select the file of a deck in
custDeck, it will actually load the file in custDeck\all.
If you load a file that isn't in custDeck\all yet, upon loading the
file, it will in fact duplicate the file into the custDeck\all directory
as a blank file, and when you make changes, it won't save the changes
into the file stored in custDeck (which is the one your Magiccustom actually loads).
.dck Card Identifying Issues:
Point #1
Even if you discovered this and took the initiative to copy the file from
custDeck\all to custDeck, there is a major problem that causes the DeckEditor
to fail. It saves all card Id's, as -1, which is below 0, therefor when
creating your deck, getting excited, and loading up Magiccustom to use it,
you'll see it say '# cards in deck' but there are no cards visible nor statistics. It knows there are a number of cards there cause it writes that
correctly, however it doesn't know what they are so can't display them.
Point #2
It get's even more confusing, when you load the deck in the deck editor again
and all the cards show there correctly. The issue (my theory), is that the
deck editor doesn't load by the card ID, which Magiccustom does, it uses
the names of the cards stored instead.
Examples #1-
- The below is an example of an original file of a deck from the playdecks. | Open
- The below is an example of that deck simply resaved. | Open
As you can see, all the numbers that identified the card ID for Magiccustom,
are now replaced with '-1'. So now if you try to open the above file with
Magiccustom, you wouldn't see any of the files.
However, of course 'realistically', it would work fine, because the Deck Editor
saved to custDeck\all while Magiccustom opened the file in custDeck.
Therein lies the additional confusion.
You may wander why cards aren't changing, for you in the game.
That would be why.
However as explained in previous notes, this confusion goes both ways.
If you start a new deck while in-game and save there, then try to load
it up into the deckeditor, Magiccustom saved to custDeck, while deckeditor
created a blank file for it in custDeck\all and loaded that instead.
Examples #2-
Another simple example, is if you were to create a new deck in the deckeditor.
You create it in their, and save it. That will be saved to custDeck\all.
And you will think 'okay yay, I have a new deck'. Go into Magiccustom, and
you won't be able to select/load it.
Why? Because it is looking for files in custDeck, not custDeck\all.
Then if you worked that out, and copied the file from custDeck\all to custDeck,
it would still be irrelevant. You could select it, but cards wouldn't show
because the Deckeditor saves them as '-1'.
---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
So, there's the basic break down of why people, including myself, at least
in my own theory, are having so much trouble when using this. Everything
jumps over itself and you never think anything is functioning, yet in principle
it's really 2 main points.
#1
Custommagic loading from custDeck while Deckeditor is saving to custDeck\all.
#2
Deckeditor is saving card identifying numbers as '-1', which stops Custommagic
from understanding the cards, but the Deckeditor identify's cards by their name
so it's able to read the file correctly.
---------------------------------------------------
Welp this is officially the largest first post in a forum I've made,
anyway, hope this helps?
Hope someone is still wanting to fix this?
And if none of the above occur, for the love of anything does someone have a solution? I've already worked out that the identifying numbers don't equate to the actual card numbers so I can't even use an online searcher to choose specific cards for the deck.
- ShadowRaven
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 19 Jun 2011, 16:08
- Has thanked: 0 time
- Been thanked: 0 time
Re: Deck Editor V2 - Bug report with possible solution?
by Sonic » 19 Jun 2011, 22:04
The simple answer is forget Deck Editor V2 and the Custom version - it was abandoned sometime back due to numerous problems people were having with it on individual PC set ups. There was very little the original developer (Jatill) could do, being unable to reproduce many of the problems on his own set up, and subsequently it is no longer supported.
Advise taken from the Wiki:
"Some people have a very hard time getting this tool [Deck Editor v2] working. If things do not work out easily for you, you may want to consider abandoning this tool."
Sorry.
Advise taken from the Wiki:
"Some people have a very hard time getting this tool [Deck Editor v2] working. If things do not work out easily for you, you may want to consider abandoning this tool."
Sorry.
Working On: Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Re: Deck Editor V2 - Bug report with possible solution?
by ShadowRaven » 20 Jun 2011, 00:35
Damn.
Thanks for the reply,
I did read that last quote from the wiki, I just..didn't want to have to, ^^;
I don't suppose there's any way at all to be able to workout what numbers in
the .dck file are associated with what card, so we are able to find out what
cards we need outside the deck editor and be able to add them manually?
Thanks for the reply,
I did read that last quote from the wiki, I just..didn't want to have to, ^^;
I don't suppose there's any way at all to be able to workout what numbers in
the .dck file are associated with what card, so we are able to find out what
cards we need outside the deck editor and be able to add them manually?
- ShadowRaven
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 19 Jun 2011, 16:08
- Has thanked: 0 time
- Been thanked: 0 time
Re: Deck Editor V2 - Bug report with possible solution?
by Sonic » 20 Jun 2011, 03:12
No, because the .dck (Playdeck) files have no bearing on what cards are actually programed into the game.
The problem is the game itself was never designed to allow end users to simply add or remove cards - the cards have always had to be 'programmed' into the 'magic.exe' file.
When it was discovered it was possible to run separate versions of the game from within the original games GUI shell it then became possible to create the separate constructed and limited 'exe' files - primarily to overcome a limitation in the original program which will only allow 2000 cards to be programed into the 'magic.exe'.
Deck Editor V2 was designed to allow end users to extract individually programmed cards from either the Constructed or Limited games and then automatically construct a new 2000 card 'magic.exe' file from the choice of a possible 4000 cards from both games.
Unfortunately, due to the original games notorious post Win98 compatibility problems, being heavily patched to overcome it, plus regular updates of new cards adding new game mechanics - it all became a bit too much for the 16-bit old girl, and she refused to play ball with Deck Editor V2 anymore.
The problem is the game itself was never designed to allow end users to simply add or remove cards - the cards have always had to be 'programmed' into the 'magic.exe' file.
When it was discovered it was possible to run separate versions of the game from within the original games GUI shell it then became possible to create the separate constructed and limited 'exe' files - primarily to overcome a limitation in the original program which will only allow 2000 cards to be programed into the 'magic.exe'.
Deck Editor V2 was designed to allow end users to extract individually programmed cards from either the Constructed or Limited games and then automatically construct a new 2000 card 'magic.exe' file from the choice of a possible 4000 cards from both games.
Unfortunately, due to the original games notorious post Win98 compatibility problems, being heavily patched to overcome it, plus regular updates of new cards adding new game mechanics - it all became a bit too much for the 16-bit old girl, and she refused to play ball with Deck Editor V2 anymore.
Working On: Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Re: Deck Editor V2 - Bug report with possible solution?
by ShadowRaven » 20 Jun 2011, 07:13
Darn, that's a real shame. Perfectly understandable as to why they wouldn't have wanted to continue with it though.
Thank you very much for the indepth explanation ^^;
Thank you very much for the indepth explanation ^^;
- ShadowRaven
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 19 Jun 2011, 16:08
- Has thanked: 0 time
- Been thanked: 0 time
Re: Deck Editor V2 - Bug report with possible solution?
by Sonic » 20 Jun 2011, 10:59
Since the 2000 card limit was discovered it's always been a goal for the guys in the development forum to find a way of cracking it - The editor was one such attempt.
But I don't believe the game will ever have the ability for end users to simply add their own cards. From a copyright point of view this ability would probably attract attention from WotC themselves - by giving the game an ability which none of their own computer products will allow.
As long as the program remains much as it was when Microprose released it, and primarily a small niche user 16-bit development with no commercial viability, it would seem we are of little interest.
But I don't believe the game will ever have the ability for end users to simply add their own cards. From a copyright point of view this ability would probably attract attention from WotC themselves - by giving the game an ability which none of their own computer products will allow.
As long as the program remains much as it was when Microprose released it, and primarily a small niche user 16-bit development with no commercial viability, it would seem we are of little interest.
Working On: Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Re: Deck Editor V2 - Bug report with possible solution?
by ShadowRaven » 21 Jun 2011, 11:16
Ahhh.
What I actually meant by that, was just finding the number/name association, for example ".259 4 Unholy Strength". But discovered that in the .csv files, not sure which file it's getting the cards from but if it is getting it from those it shouldn't be too difficult to workout which file it is.
Can immagine that though, wouldn't want a large amount of attention on this product from them.
Yeah, welp your all certainly of large amount of interest to me at least :3, just experimented with multiplayer today. Yet to have a whole battle so not sure if it would crash through that, but setting up the battle was much easier than I thought it might be, was very happy. Would be great to be able to play against my friend in Magic again, even if I always do lose XD.
Thanks again for all your responses
What I actually meant by that, was just finding the number/name association, for example ".259 4 Unholy Strength". But discovered that in the .csv files, not sure which file it's getting the cards from but if it is getting it from those it shouldn't be too difficult to workout which file it is.
Can immagine that though, wouldn't want a large amount of attention on this product from them.
Yeah, welp your all certainly of large amount of interest to me at least :3, just experimented with multiplayer today. Yet to have a whole battle so not sure if it would crash through that, but setting up the battle was much easier than I thought it might be, was very happy. Would be great to be able to play against my friend in Magic again, even if I always do lose XD.
Thanks again for all your responses
- ShadowRaven
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 19 Jun 2011, 16:08
- Has thanked: 0 time
- Been thanked: 0 time
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