Forge Android App: 11-13-2016 Alpha 1.5.58.002

[friarsol]

Still not convinced no input there is a good thing. "Oh I meant to attack with my Blood Cultist, not target itself with it's own ability, why would anyone do that?"

I doubt you would actually need to add logic to determine valid/illegal targets. I believe we should already have all that in the targeting code. It gathers all of the potential valid entities, then filters out all the ones that can't be targeted (shroud, protection, etc). That's how we know to cancel a spell when there's no potential targets.


Pre-selecting the "first" target might be a better solution since it would still require some input to confirm the target, but doesn't require "hunting" for where the target is with your mouse (or finger). This should work with awkward targeting situations like Pyrotechnics too, where each target needs a value assigned to it.

So if we have that list in the targeting code, like I believe we do, you might be able to just bubble up the first entity in the list for whatever UI is handling the call, and highlight it as you mention. "You've been pre-approved to be hit by a Lightning Bolt"

[Agetian]

I agree that "no input at all" is not a good idea in certain circumstances - it might end up being a nuisance like the End Turn button used to be that skipped the entire turn without asking for any further confirmation. Pre-selecting targets is definitely a better idea (with possibly an option similar to auto-yield that allows to choose the same target for this particular card and ability the next time it shows up, but only if the player explicitly desires so).

- Agetian

[drdev]

How about I make the auto-targetting only occur for "target opponent" cards when there's only one opponent. That seems to be the main case here where it's super trivial and transparent and we could save the user a click.

For "target card" cards, I can consider implementing the pre-selection idea, but I won't ever have it auto-target without input.

Sound good?

[drdev]

I just released 1.5.25.005, which includes auto-targetting for "target opponent" cards. That support will also be in the next snapshot build and release of the desktop app.

1.5.25.005 also introduces a timeout when checking for updates on startup so the splash screen doesn't appear to freeze there if you have a bad Internet connection. That is, I believe, what bevryde was running into as reported a couple days ago.

Note that for anyone who had taken the 1.5.25.004 update, you should just be able to start the app and press Update Now to download and install this new update. As mentioned, the new update check should make taking updates now and going forward much easier.

Thanks.
-Dan

[Agetian]

Sounds great, Dan! (on both points). Thanks!

[bevryde]

Auto update of app and res files worked fine for me. It rocks. Now swiping cards pls

Re: "a bad Internet connection. That is, I believe, what bevryde was running into"
Yes, its possible, I was in a room in my house where the wifi connection is pretty bad.

[drdev]

When cards are tapped and I don't have card pictures, the image shown inside the picture frame is the Forge anvil (as it is when they are untapped), but the (edit: background of the) picture only takes up one of the four quadrants of the space. It's rather awkward looking.

I just released 1.5.25.006, which should fix this bug. It also fixes it so the fallback picture that displays in list views is not distorted and shows the proper background.

[drdev]

I just released 1.5.26.001, which ups the version inline with the Beta release from yesterday. It also includes a couple minor changes:

• Triggered abilities with only one valid target now auto-select that target
• Fixed bug where sometimes stack item was taller than both the text and card image
• Fixed bug where right button received the text "Undo" if the AI decided to float some mana

[drdev]

The X mana icon on the tab row shows the total amount of mana in your pool, and if you click it, you'll get a panel with a breakdown by color you can tap on to pay costs directly from your mana pool.

Ahh thanks. I could have sworn I remembered you saying it was somewhere but couldn't remember, and didn't notice the button. Part of me wants to suggest swapping to your mana pool during cost payment if you have mana floating, but I know that'd be very low on the scale of importance, and I'm not sure how useful it would actually be.

I just released 1.5.26.002, which makes it so it will now switch to your mana pool during cost payment if you have mana floating. I think that will prove particularly useful for players who have a tendency to tap lands before casting spells, as well as for playing X spells after tapping out. It's also good for situations where you have to float mana, such as if you use untap effects to access additional mana.

Note that it will switch back to whatever zone was open previously after either accepting or cancelling the cost payment. Also, to clarify, it will not switch to your mana pool if you haven't floated mana, so this won't affect you much if you're used to selecting spells/abilities before tapping lands.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this new behavior.

Thanks.
-Dan

[Agetian]

Nice to see you're implementing Momir Basic as a separate game mode, Dan! This is going to be a handy little shortcut to play Momir matches!
I have a little question: will it be possible to submit your own customized deck with changed basic land ratios to a Momir Basic round? As far as I can tell from the codebase it currently supports generating a balanced deck with 12 of each basic land (which is the standard, "randomest" Momir that is there, and is typically what most people are going to play, I believe). However, in the future it may be interesting to allow customized Momir decks as well since it's not always played with 12 of each basic land in the deck and there may be strategic reasons to actually customize the deck a little bit, as described e.g. here: http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/mult ... rimer.html (the game could possibly be made to either generate a standard Momir deck with 12 basic lands each for you and for the AI if you don't have any decks *or* choose a customized deck from a list if you have one, in which case it'll test it for legality (as in "only basic lands allowed, 60 cards in deck" if I recall correctly), add the Vanguard avatars to it unless they're already added and then proceed to the Momir game. Just an idea, of course, feel free to disregard if you don't feel like adding this form of customizability.

By the way, it's great that Momir will now be differentiated as a separate game mode. This will allow me to tinker with its AI a bit while distinguishing that the AI is exactly playing Momir and not anything else, which is something I've been willing to do for quite a while. Thanks for your effort, Dan!

- Agetian

[drdev]

Yeah, I wanted to make playing Momir Basic easier, as it used to be a favorite format of mine. As part of that, I've actually got a screenshot to share:

I found the format frustrating to play when the command zone was on a tab that could never be visible at the same time as your hand. So I decided to move it inline with the lands row but lock it to the right-side. This way you can tap it, tap lands for mana, and then tap a card in hand to discard much more easily.

This also means that commanders, schemes, and planes will now have a more prominent positiion for those variants, as I feel they deserve. Plus, it means all the other zone tabs will now be wider and easier to select.

As for customizing the deck, if you want to play a custom deck, you can still just choose the Vanguard format. Will that be enough?

[Agetian]

As for customizing the deck, if you want to play a custom deck, you can still just choose the Vanguard format. Will that be enough?

Yeah I think this'll work as well! Do you think it'll be possible to "auto-switch" the game to Momir mode internally in case a Vanguard match is started but the deck is detected to contain only basic lands + Momir Vig, Simic Visionary avatar?

EDIT: Looks like it won't even be necessary to switch over to any special mode since you made the command zone just show alongside basic lands, I think that'll just do it! Thanks again for your effort!

- Agetian

[drdev]

I just released 1.5.26.003, which not only includes the improved command zone display and new Momir Basic variant described above, but also improves Commander support by eliminating the display of the "Commander effect" black rectangle and instead rolling all the information related to that effect into the Commander card itself (at least as far as the UI is concerned).

This release also fixes a bug where the random generated deck for commander wouldn't be selected by default (despite what the button said), which could cause you to get an invalid deck message unexpectedly when trying to start a game.

Hopefully these enhancements should make playing variants much easier and more fun.

Thanks.
-Dan

[5enza]

Love the commander zone modification and inclusion of Momir as a game type. Where is the Momir deck located and is it possible to modify it? The deck that is being used by default contains 12 plains, 12 mountains, 12 islands, 24 swamps and 0 forests.

Edit: saw a few posts above that you recommended using the vanguard format for Momir if you want a custom manabase. That's doable, but is it possible to have the Momir game type generate a basic 12 of each land deck? Maybe that was your intention but is bugged at the moment.

[drdev]

I meant it to be 12 Forests and 12 Swamps. Must have been a typo on my part. I'll have that fixed for the next release.