Collectible Card Game Headquarters

Hello. As many of you already know, we are close to the 2000 cards limit in the CSV file, after which the game crashes. I don't know if it will be easy to be overcomed or not but, probably, it will take some time (I think).
Anyway, I would ask some time to stop and think about what the game has become: despite of the great mix of new cards (that I love, with some very little exception), there are some big and small things that can be done. Some examples are:

- udpate the banned/restricted list for type 1 (and hopefully 1.5. More, since we have a random environment, i would suggest to mark as "restricted" each card that has been so at least once accordingly with WotC rules).
- work on selaed deck to restore the right number of cards and create new sets for new cards
- enhance filters in deck editor, creating slots for new card abilities (cycling, echo, shroud ecc.)
- concentrate about game skin and allow the use of Mathusalem's arts.
- see if it is possible to add a sideboard.
- see if it is possible to have tokens to show up in deck editor using the filter option "tokens" in the creatures sub-menu

Also, about the 2000 cards limit, if we can't overcome it, I would like to know if it is possible to "compact" the space in the CSV by removing a lot of non-coded cards from Legends and the Dark that are still taking place and will never be coded because there is no interest in them. Yes, the easy solution would be just to replace the uncoded cards with new ones, but it would be even better to group all OUR cards (not Microprose) together by a logical order (that can be alphabetical or by expansion set). This would make easier to add new cards since the CSV would be less confused, but the backdraw is that we should re-update all of our decks because this would change cards ID, that is used by the game into the *.dck files.
Maybe a soultion could be to create a program that checks each file into the Playdeck folder and updates all of them automatically, matching each card with the CSV file and using the card name as fixed value and the card ID as variabile to fix if it is no longer matching the one in the CSV file. I don't know if this can be done or not.

Anyway, this is a list of cards from the Dark and Legends that I would still like to have (not only for their power but sometimes for sentimental value ):
The Legends
All Hallow's Eve
Ayesha Tanaka
Blazing Effigy
Caverns of Despair
Demonic Torment
Eureka
Evil Eye of Orms-by-gore
Field of Dreams
Firestorm Phoenix
Floral Spuzzem (lol! )
Gabriel Angelfire
Halfdane
Hell's Caretaker
Hellfire
Horror of horrors
Imprison
Livonya Silone
Lord Magnus
Mana Drain
Master of the Hunt
Nebuchadnezzar
Nether Void
Presence of the Master
Quarum Trench Gnomes
Rasputin Dreamweaver
Recall
Reverberation
Rohgahh of Kher Keep
Sentinel
Shimian Night Stalker
Stangg
Sword of the Ages
Takklemaggot
Venarian Gold
Wall of Putrid Flesh
Wall of Shadows
The Wretched
The dark
Dance of Many
Dust to dust
Eater of the Dead
The Fallen
Frankenstein's Monster
Gaea's Touch
Giant Shark
Goblin Wizard
Grave robbers
Living Armor
Necropolis
Preacher
Runesword
Safe haven
Scarwood bandits
Skull of Orm
Spitting Slug
Standing Stones

These are, instead, the cards that I would be more oriented to remove (at least, in my humble opinion):
.557 1 Aisling Leprechaun useless
.569 1 Arena of the Ancients affects only legends: too rare application
.577 1 Barktooth Warbeard terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost
.620 1 Elder Land Wurm terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost, horrible ability
.621 1 Elder Spawn terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost, horrible ability
.626 1 Energy Tap useless
.647 1 Ghosts of the Damned useless
.667 1 Headless Horseman vanilla card, it sucks
.669 1 Hell Swarm useless & obsolete
.676 1 Hunding Gjornersen terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost, horrible ability
.689 1 Jedit Ojanen terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost, horrible ability
.695 1 Kasimir the Lone Wolf terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost
.708 1 Lady Orca terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost
.727 1 Mold Demon terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost, horrible ability
.736 1 Osai Vultures horrible card, lame ability
.748 1 Princess Lucrezia terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost, horrible ability
.776 1 Riven Turnbull terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost, horrible ability
.790 1 Sivitri Scarzam terrible ratio among power+thoughness vs. Casting Cost
.839 1 Walking Dead boring clone
.853 1 Willow Satyr affects only legends: too rare application
.314 1 Erosion horrible ability
.370 1 Drowned too limited, boring card.
.335 1 Hidden Path horrible ability, low usage, suicide card
.757 1 Raging Bull vanilla card, it sucks
.345 1 Martyr's Cry horrible ability
.346 1 Mind Bomb horrible ability: is worst than a lightning bolt, can be used to cheat AI.
.371 1 Murk Dwellers horrible ability, very slow.
.355 1 Riptide useless ability
.948 1 Squire vanilla card, it sucks
.950 1 Tivadar's Crusade too specific for being used without a sideboard (and even with, where would you find place for it in a deck? Maybe with Ring of Ma'Ruf?)

I would also remove the 5 laces from the basic set, but I won't touch any other card because they are all part of completed sets and this is a very valuable matter.
And, of course this is not a "must do" but just something to think about

this is where i believe skymarshall came in and changed the code last time. i wish he would find this site. or if anybody else knows how to do this...Harry do you know how to fix this 2000 limit? maybe add a new csv?

The problem most likely lies only in the arrays being declared with 2000 elements, this means you would need to move them out to a new location and update all the calls to the new memory region.

0rion79 wrote:Hello. As many of you already know, we are close to the 2000 cards limit in the CSV file, after which the game crashes. I don't know if it will be easy to be overcomed or not but, probably, it will take some time (I think).
Anyway, I would ask some time to stop and think about what the game has become: despite of the great mix of new cards (that I love, with some very little exception), there are some big and small things that can be done. Some examples are:

- udpate the banned/restricted list for type 1 (and hopefully 1.5. More, since we have a random environment, i would suggest to mark as "restricted" each card that has been so at least once accordingly with WotC rules).
- work on selaed deck to restore the right number of cards and create new sets for new cards
- enhance filters in deck editor, creating slots for new card abilities (cycling, echo, shroud ecc.)
- concentrate about game skin and allow the use of Mathusalem's arts.
- see if it is possible to add a sideboard.
- see if it is possible to have tokens to show up in deck editor using the filter option "tokens" in the creatures sub-menu

Just a couple notes....

1) The csv file is unlimited, so there's no real harm in leaving cards in there. It's the number of actually coded cards that is the limit.
2) As I've mentioned before, the only thing I know how to do is add cards, basically. I wish I had the knowledge to address the other concerns, but unless I'm taught or shown examples of what to do, I'm worthless.
3) I really really hope Snacko or someone else with the proper knowledge addresses the 2000 card limit. I am planning on submitting only 1 more batch of cards updates, and then quitting until the limit is broken.

There are some other options to improve the game apart from adding cards, for example changing the way how the creature's damage works. For example on the real game mogg fanatic is able to trade for a 2/2 if it blocks it or is blocked by it, damage on stack and sacrifice it, same goes for triskellion for example which is able to trade for a 7/7. This ain't possible on Manalink since this feature didn't existed on the beggining of the game.

Just a suggestion

Please, remember that there are nostalgic of old rules here, too!
It would be great if the game could support both rules: the ones before and after the great change when interrupt has been turned into instants. But I bet it is not possible...

Sad to hear we're close to 2000

I'm amazed at how far the game has come, and what you coders have been able to achieve. I never thought I'd be playing Affinity and most of the vintage restricted list in Manalink!

I cant code to save my life so I have no idea what is possible but as a humble player what I'd most like to see one day is:

1. ability to duel with a sideboard. This would be the ant's pants. Sealed deck allows you to sideboard sort of so in some fashion the game can handle it, maybe one day we will have it.
2. re-sorted sealed deck. Sometimes I'd like to be able to play just with the original sets, but we currently have new cards scattered throughout. Or even maybe 3 sealed options , Original (sets up to The Dark), New (all the post-Dark cards that have been added), and All.
3. The non-vista friendly cards working.

Well, actually only a minority of cards are scattered among basic sets. most of them are playable in 5th edition and I will update the whole set and filters when Jatill will release his final product. Anyway, yes: i agree, but I don't know if it is possible or not. Anyway, using a sideboard would allow the use of a lot of cool cards that, being specific, are too hard to include in the basic deck.

Agreed, except:

0rion79 wrote:.950 1 Tivadar's Crusade too specific for being used without a sideboard

I thought about this in relation to Shandalar, where card limit is still not removed, and it'll be a good thing to fix playability (and power) level a little

Mr_Grey wrote:Agreed, except:

0rion79 wrote:.950 1 Tivadar's Crusade too specific for being used without a sideboard

I thought about this in relation to Shandalar, where card limit is still not removed, and it'll be a good thing to fix playability (and power) level a little

Lots of cards are related to shandalar, and can't be touched/replaced, unless you want to screw shandalar...
Since now I have my own projects (even in life), I really don't have time to help here anymore... good luck for the coders that "still alive" ...

One thing that could be done while people try to figure out how to bypass the 2000 limit is to rework some of the approximation cards or just work on bug fixes. There are other things to do to contribute to the game besides just adding new cards, although that is always good, too. Trying to get the new cards into Shandalar would be another project to tackle.

Just out of curiosity, how close are we to the 2000 limit?

aww1979 wrote:One thing that could be done while people try to figure out how to bypass the 2000 limit is to rework some of the approximation cards or just work on bug fixes. There are other things to do to contribute to the game besides just adding new cards, although that is always good, too. Trying to get the new cards into Shandalar would be another project to tackle.

Just out of curiosity, how close are we to the 2000 limit?

Well, once I post my final update, well be at about 1850.

Another option we could use if/when the max card limit is reached. We could always just make index points for the sets used in a manalink version. What I mean is like say we make a version and name it Manalink 3.0 ect. it would only have cards from sets A-D and then in version 4.0 we would have sets E-H ect.. We could always use manalink 2.0 as a compilation of all our favorite cards which we could vote on if we want them in the version or not. This would take quite a bit of time to both do and to get everyone into the project. What do people think of ideas like this (cause I like the voting in set)? Heck also then you could have a manlink version X.XX all fan cards and we could even start posting ideas on those kinds of cards and maybe draw more people into the site.
[EDIT]
If someone with the knowledge wanted to I know you could make a smalll batch file that could pop up a menu and start up Magic that would ask you what version you want to play and then it would move the proper files (just backups) into the Magic folder before the exe. starts to run.

Yeah, that's an idea. Another thing that could be done is to have an 'official' 2000 card set, for internet play (if any of you have made that work; I had problems with LAN play being unstable/not working), and then extra cards for against the AI, where you can edit your csv, either manually or with a program, and you could get rid of all the cards that you personally don't like or use. For example, I never put laces, bouncelands, or quite a few other cards in my decks, either because they are weak or because I don't like them. Some other cards I don't use often because either the AI bungles them, or bungles against them, and not because the card is bad. (like 1/1s charging into Mishra's Factory, which is a good card, but interacts poorly vs AI)

just throwing this out there what if we were to move the doe from inside the exe to inside the dll files that we have. could or would that create the illusion for the game to continue thinking it dosent have more than said amount in the exe? i seem to remember skymarshall saying something about this and how it would be easy to overcome if we have another limit...how bout it snacko what is your thoughts...or anyobdy that is a coder here. I wish i knew code. Or what is someone recoded the game into c from asm? just throwing out ideas here.