zone vs active_zone vs influencing_zone

by **Eglin** » 15 Mar 2012, 04:30

Howdy folks,

I'm having trouble with a few cards, and I suspect it's related to my failure to understand the difference between the zone specifiers. My triggers are either not getting picked handled or are getting handled at inappropriate times (blue flashing from cards in hand or in library). If I have a card that's supposed to do something while it's in hand (like change the casting cost) depending on something that happened on the battlefield, what zone keywords do I need to use? Is that zone="hand" and influencing_zone="in_play"?

On a related note, if I need to use an end-of-step trigger to reset a flag or something, is there any way to suppress the blue glow and sound effect? Can I just reset my flag inside of the trigger block and return false?

Thanks in advance,
Eglin

by **thefiremind** » 15 Mar 2012, 09:47

Eglin wrote:I'm having trouble with a few cards, and I suspect it's related to my failure to understand the difference between the zone specifiers. My triggers are either not getting picked handled or are getting handled at inappropriate times (blue flashing from cards in hand or in library).

When I took a look into the executable's code, I got this information:

Code: Select all: STATIC_ABILITY tag commaspace zone layer influencing_zone simple_filter unlikely_to_attack immunity SPELL_ABILITY tag commaspace zone layer internal simple_filter forced_skip suppress_fizzle UTILITY_ABILITY tag commaspace MANA_ABILITY tag commaspace unlikely_to_attack TRIGGERED_ABILITY tag commaspace zone layer internal pre_trigger auto_skip dont_ask unlikely_to_attack forced_skip active_zone suppress_fizzle immunity ACTIVATED_ABILITY tag commaspace zone layer sorcery_time during_your_turn during_opponents_turn upkeep combat non_combat per_turn_limit simple_filter immunity auto_skip firebreathing unlikely_to_attack forced_skip active_zone suppress_fizzle any_player

These are the ability types, and for each type, the attributes that can be used. As you can see, only the static abilities have influencing_zone, while the triggered and the activated ones have active_zone. Also note that all those 3 types have zone.
The names suggest that influencing_zone sets the zone in which the static ability will have effect, while active_zone sets the zone in which the card must be in order to make the ability active: in that zone, you'll be able to activate the ability if it's activated, or it will trigger if it's triggered. About the zone attribute, I haven't understood it clearly, so I can't tell you what it really means.
I still have problems deciding when I have to use those attributes, so I search for abilities that are similar to the one I'm coding.
By the way, searching for similar cards and looking at their code is a thing I really recommend, and I discovered a software that makes it easier. Try searching on Google for "depeche view": you provide a directory, and it opens all the files it contains, allowing you to search words inside them, and copy portions of text on clipboard. The commands are weird but they are designed to make everything faster once you get used to them.

Eglin wrote:If I have a card that's supposed to do something while it's in hand (like change the casting cost) depending on something that happened on the battlefield, what zone keywords do I need to use? Is that zone="hand" and influencing_zone="in_play"?

According to me, the influencing_zone should be hand, but as I said, I'm not really an expert about it, so I would try to find a similar card and then go on by trial and error until the ability works. #-o

Eglin wrote:On a related note, if I need to use an end-of-step trigger to reset a flag or something, is there any way to suppress the blue glow and sound effect? Can I just reset my flag inside of the trigger block and return false?

The blue glow and sound effect is suppressed by using internal="1". Note that you can't do everything while using this attribute, but if you just have to modify a flag, you can do it. As a rule of thumb, first test your abilities without declaring them as internal, then, if they work, you can try using internal. If the ability stops to work, you can substitute internal with forced_skip: you'll have the glow, but at least the card won't make you wait (and, more important, the ability will work again :lol:

).

by **Eglin** » 15 Mar 2012, 19:20

thefiremind wrote:By the way, searching for similar cards and looking at their code is a thing I really recommend, and I discovered a software that makes it easier. Try searching on Google for "depeche view": you provide a directory, and it opens all the files it contains, allowing you to search words inside them, and copy portions of text on clipboard. The commands are weird but they are designed to make everything faster once you get used to them.

Thanks for the tip. In Win7, you can actually type "content:random_search_query" to search for content within files. Personally, I use a combination of egrep and sed - it's how I generated the wiki pages for the filters/triggers/many of the objects, etc. Even still, it's not always easy pickup on the patterns and synthesize an understanding.

thefiremind wrote:
Eglin wrote:If I have a card that's supposed to do something while it's in hand (like change the casting cost) depending on something that happened on the battlefield, what zone keywords do I need to use? Is that zone="hand" and influencing_zone="in_play"?
According to me, the influencing_zone should be hand, but as I said, I'm not really an expert about it, so I would try to find a similar card and then go on by trial and error until the ability works.

Haha - I was asking for information in hopes that I could get away from trial and error. It's a pretty inefficient way to program.

thefiremind wrote:
Eglin wrote:On a related note, if I need to use an end-of-step trigger to reset a flag or something, is there any way to suppress the blue glow and sound effect? Can I just reset my flag inside of the trigger block and return false?
The blue glow and sound effect is suppressed by using internal="1". Note that you can't do everything while using this attribute, but if you just have to modify a flag, you can do it. As a rule of thumb, first test your abilities without declaring them as internal, then, if they work, you can try using internal. If the ability stops to work, you can substitute internal with forced_skip: you'll have the glow, but at least the card won't make you wait (and, more important, the ability will work again ).

This, sir, is /awesome/. Thank you a million for teaching this to me.