MAGE FAQ

[BetaSteward]

MAGE FAQ

What is MAGE?
MAGE stands for Magic, Another Game Engine. It is a game engine that allows up to 16 human or computer players to play Magic against each other for free. The goal of the MAGE project is to create the ultimate tool for playing Magic, casually or professionally. It is hoped that it will become a useful tool for tournament play testing.

What platforms can I play MAGE on?
MAGE is developed using standard Java libraries. This means that you can run MAGE on any platform that supports the Java run-time. What this really means is that you can run MAGE on almost any platform including Windows, MAC, Linux, Ubuntu etc. (although it has not been tested on all these platforms).

What do I need get started?
MAGE is setup as a client/server application. One part of the application is the server which keeps track of clients and games and enforces the rules. The other part of the application is the client. The client only knows how to display the game and send simple actions back to the server. It doesn't know anything about the rules.

If you already know someone who is running a MAGE server then you will only need to run the client and connect to the remote server. If you want to host your own server or play a single game without any other players then you will need both the client and the server.

Why do I need two applications to play MAGE?
This is necessary to allow players to play against each other remotely. One machine hosts the server application and any number of remote client machines can connect to the server. This also allows the game logic to be controlled by the server so that you can rest assured that your opponent is not cheating by using a modified client. If there is enough interest, a stand-alone version may be released that would allow play only against computer players.

How much is this going to cost me?
MAGE is and always will be free! The client application is free. The server application is free. The source-code is free. If anyone wants to charge you to download MAGE, tell them where to go and download it for free from https://github.com/magefree/mage.

Can I contribute to MAGE?
Certainly. I have already had several people provide their efforts and coding expertise to MAGE and I welcome all new-comers. Java experience would be preferred but I won't turn down help from any competent coder.

[BetaSteward]

MAGE client
Using the MAGE client you can play a game against another human or against a computer. You can also edit or create a deck.

Playing a Game
The MAGE client is responsible for displaying the current game state and sending user actions back to the server. The first step is to connect to a MAGE server.

Connecting to a MAGE server
The "Connect" button on the toolbar will display the Connect dialog:



Enter the server name or IP address of the MAGE server, the port number and your user name. If you are playing a game against the Computer and are hosting your own server then you can use localhost as the server name.

Creating a Table
Each game is played at a table. If there are no tables with available slots you can create one by clicking on "New Table". The New Table dialog will be displayed:



If you want to play against a computer opponent select a Computer player from the Player Type drop down menu. You will need to supply a player name and deck for the computer opponent.

The Deck Editor
The Deck Editor is available by clicking on the "Deck Editor" button on the toolbar. You do not have to be connected to a MAGE server to use the deck editor.

[BetaSteward]

Running a MAGE Server

If users are having trouble connecting to your server here are a few things to try:

Server Configuration
A configuration file is used to control the MAGE server settings. This file is located in your MAGE server folder under config/config.xml. You can edit this file using a text editor or any capable xml editor.

In the "server" node change the "serverAddress" attribute to your external IP address. This may not necessarily be the same IP address as the machine that the server is running on. This site will tell you what IP address you should use: http://www.whatismyip.com/

Port Forwarding
If you are behind a router then you are probably using NAT (Network Address Translation). You will need to modify you router settings to forward the port. See this site for more details: http://portforward.com/

[Xitax]

I just discovered this application, and it looks to have a lot of promise! Thanks!

One thing the FAQ doesn't mention: Adding card pics: I see in config.properties where I can specify some directories, but what's the expected file format or naming convention? Is there any chance I can use my archive of HQ pics (from this site) with names like Eldrazi Conscription.full.jpg?

[nantuko84]

cards-resource-path from config.xml worked only in previous versions.
As we now use new gui, it is not possible to configure it, though it's still possible to copy the images to plugins/images folder. All images should be separated by set names in the format you mentioned Eldrazi Conscription.full.jpg.

I've added feature request so this configuration will be back in next release (0.7)

[Iran]

I'd like to know when the next beta will be release?

Thanks

[nantuko84]

Hopefully today.

[fjdkslan]

I've not been able to play against the computer yet. When I'm setting up a 2-player game on my localhost (the whole local server works fine), the player drop-down menu doesn't even let me choose computer. Its only option is human. In fee-for-all, I can choose a computer player for player 3, but I can't choose one for player 2, and since its on localhost, I can't even just ignore player 2. help??

[LevelX]

I've not been able to play against the computer yet. When I'm setting up a 2-player game on my localhost (the whole local server works fine), the player drop-down menu doesn't even let me choose computer. Its only option is human. In fee-for-all, I can choose a computer player for player 3, but I can't choose one for player 2, and since its on localhost, I can't even just ignore player 2. help??

Did you really connect to your local server? Servername = localhost

That fact that the computer player is missing can mean, that you connect to the public server.
There is no computer player available to lower the server load. Which players are available on the server is configured in the "mage-server\config\config.xml" file.

Old question new answer

[FuzzyBunnyofDoom]

Hi,
I am trying to run my own server for my friends to connect to.
I have it running on the standard port 17171 and have tried an alternate port as well, i have used sites to confirm the port is open, I also have other ports open for other apps and confirmed they are working fine.
So as far as I can tell everything from that side should be fine (assuming there are no extra hidden ports/ranges i need to open?)

So far when a friend tries to connect they are getting errors, we have also tried to go the other way with the server on their site with the exact same results.
I have tried modifying the the config file and had it as the settings below with corresponding issues;

0.0.0.0, -- "Unable to connect to server. PC-Name"
(This is actually resolving the PC name so its getting into the environment, just wont connect to the mage server software

machines IP (eg 192.168.0.10) -- Unable to connect to server. server is not responding

external facing ISP IP -- (from the server log) Failed to start server - ***.***.***.***:17171/?Serializationtype=jboss java.io.IOException: SocketServerInvoker[***.***.***.***:17171] error creating ServerSocket[***.***.***.***:17171]: Cannot assign requested address: JVM_Bind

I should have added that connecting internally to the server works fine on the network from other PCs.

Please help me, I'd love to get this going properly.
Thanks

[LevelX]

Can you connect to and play on the public server (109.200.159.89) with your friends?

Isn't this a workaround for you?

[FuzzyBunnyofDoom]

we can and it is, however I would like to run my own server as something a little more permanent and private if possible?
what is it that's different about the public server setup compared to the downloaded one with the above setup/s?

[jeffwadsworth]

we can and it is, however I would like to run my own server as something a little more permanent and private if possible?
what is it that's different about the public server setup compared to the downloaded one with the above setup/s?

No difference, but you need to know what you are doing in relation to your firewall on the outside. Are you forwarding the port traffic inside to that Mage server? Is it NAT or PAT?

Set up an Apache web server on that box and practice accessing it from the outside.

[Copy]

Hi all,

I am new to MAGE. Now that I am using 1366x768 resolution on my laptop, the lower part of the zoomed card is always missing. Is there some walk-around to avoid such problem in the current version?

BTW, MAGE is really fascinating~

[LevelX]

Hi all,

I am new to MAGE. Now that I am using 1366x768 resolution on my laptop, the lower part of the zoomed card is always missing. Is there some walk-around to avoid such problem in the current version?

BTW, MAGE is really fascinating~

I guess you mean the big image on the right pane. If you make this pane a bit smaller, the next zoomed card should be displayed without cutting the lower area.
But btw I'll take a look if the limitation of not using all available space in this pane for the image is really neccessary.