View source for Introduction to Modding 2013


==Prelude==
This guide aims to teach you how to mod custom cards and decks into [[Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013]] in a local, simple, and easy-to-follow manner. The following will hopefully get you on your feet and into the world of card-coding.

==Getting Ready to Modify==
Before you start, you'll need some tools to work with, and to tweak Duels of the Planeswalkers to allow your custom content to be run. All of the necessary files can be found [http://www.slightlymagic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=99&t=7341 here].

Download the [http://svn.gib.me/builds/duels/ tools] and extract them into a folder. I created a folder on my <tt>Desktop</tt> to put them in.

Depending on your version you may need to do some work so that your game can accept custom content.  If you are running Theta 1.0r36 or Theta 1.0dc120919 then you can move on to the next step now.

If you are running the Steam or Skidrow versions or the very first Theta version then you will need to download the [http://mod.gib.me/dotp2013/d3dx9_43.dll patcher DLL] and put it in the game directory where <tt>DotP_2013.exe</tt> is. This could be <tt>C:\Program Files\Wizards of the Coast\Duels of the Planeswalkers</tt>, or <tt>C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\magic 2013</tt>.

==Using the Tools==
The two tools you'll be using the most are <tt>Gibbed.Tools.Pack.exe</tt> and <tt>Gibbed.Tools.Unpack.exe</tt>.

Open up two windows; your tools folder in one, and your game folder in the other.

Drag-and-drop <tt>Deck_0001_ST.wad</tt> onto the Unpack tool. You should see a console window open and flash some text at you, and when its done you will have a folder named <tt>\Deck_0001_ST_Unpacked</tt>, which contains all of the content contained in that particular deck, (Ajani's deck, in this case).

Packing a folder works exactly in reverse, but we'll get to that soon.

==Your First Card==
Rename the <tt>\Deck_0001_ST_Unpacked</tt> folder to <tt>\MY_SUPERAWESOME_DECK</tt>, then open it up and click through past <tt>\DATA_ALL_PLATFORMS</tt> until you've found the "main" section of the folders, with <tt>\CARDS</tt> and <tt>\DECKS</tt>, etc. Open <tt>\CARDS</tt> and delete everything there. That's right, you don't need any of it right now. While you're at it, delete everything in <tt>\ART_ASSETS\ILLUSTRATIONS</tt>.

Now before we actually get started, I'd like to recommend that you download [http://notepadplusplus.org/ Notepad++]. Its a wonderful text editor and you will have a much better time with it than if you try to write these in Windows' default Notepad.

Back to the task at hand, make another folder for you to keep all of your custom cards in a centralized place. I have a <tt>\Custom Cards</tt> folder in my tools folder. This isn't necessary, but makes organization a lot simpler. This is where you will save the cards you write. Open Notepad++ or your favorite text editor and we'll get started.

===A Simple Example===
The following is not an existing Magic card, but it will show the basic structure of a card file. Most of the tags are self-explanatory, but the details will get filled in later.

<tt>FLYING_MAGIC_BEAR_12345.xml</tt>
<code><pre><nowiki>
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<CARD_V2>
  <FILENAME text="FLYING_MAGIC_BEAR_12345" />
  <CARDNAME text="FLYING_MAGIC_BEAR" />
  <TITLE>                              
    <LOCALISED_TEXT LanguageCode="en-US"><![CDATA[Flying Magic Bear]]></LOCALISED_TEXT>
  </TITLE>
  <MULTIVERSEID value="12345" />         
  <ARTID value="A12345" />              
  <ARTIST name="Joe Cool" />
  <CASTING_COST cost="{G}" />          
  <TYPE metaname="Creature" />           
  <SUB_TYPE metaname="Bear" />
  <EXPANSION value="DPG" />             
  <RARITY metaname="M" />               
  <POWER value="1" />                    
  <TOUGHNESS value="1" />
</CARD_V2>
</nowiki></pre></code>

Once again, I want to assert that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony this is not an existing Magic card]. This is what a barebones creature file looks like. Look it over a few times, sleep on it, then look over it again. Save this file into your centralized cache, then copy it into the <tt>\CARDS</tt> folder.

===Deckbuilding 101===
Find that <tt>\DECKS</tt> folder we talked about earlier, and open up <tt>DECK_AJANI_GOLDMANE.XML</tt> with Notepad++. Here you will find everything that defines the loadout of the deck. Now to bend it to our needs.

In the very first line, find <tt>uid="1"</tt>. As you can see, Ajani's deck is using a <tt>uid</tt> of 1, so we can't use that for <tt>MY_SUPERAWESOME_DECK</tt>. Change it to something unique but reasonable, such as your birthday (mmddyy) or the next sequential uid after the in-game decks (79 is the highest used uid).

Next you have a list of cards in the deck. Change all of the <tt>name</tt> fields to <tt>FLYING_MAGIC_BEAR_12345</tt>, and voila! you've edited a deck. We're going to ignore the only-four-of-a-card-in-a-deck rule for a bit.

From here all you have to do is get back to the <tt>\magic 2013</tt> folder, drag <tt>\MY_SUPERAWESOME_DECK</tt> onto <tt>Gibbed.Tools.Pack.exe</tt> and you'll have a lovely new <tt>.wad</tt> file. Launch <tt>DotP_2013.exe</tt> and see if it works.

''<nowiki>[Note: This deck will be using Ajani's art, deck box, and deck name, so the first time you find it may take some guesswork.]</nowiki>''

===Notes on Tags===
At this point, you're able to experiment a bit with our flying bear, or create your own other simple creatures, so let's fill in the details on the not-quite-explanatory tags.

'''<tt><nowiki><FILENAME></nowiki></tt>''' — This is what your file is saved as, and consists of the card's name followed by its multiverse id.

'''<tt><nowiki><LOCALISED_TEXT></nowiki></tt>''' — Displays most of the text in-game. If you take a look at the official cards, you'll see that they have multiple <tt>LOCALISED_TEXT</tt> tags in each section for each language, but we're just going to work in English. Between the tags you'll see <tt>CDATA</tt>, this just tells the game that there's text here. Your text goes between the brackets.

'''<tt><nowiki><MULTIVERSEID></nowiki></tt>''' — Generally pulled from [http://gatherer.wizards.com Gatherer], the multiverse id can be found in the url of a card's page, ie. ''<nowiki>http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?</nowiki>'''multiverseid=262876'''''

'''<tt><nowiki><ARTID></nowiki></tt>''' — The community generally uses 'A'+multiverseid as the art id, and this number references the file used for the card's art. Naturally, more on this later.

'''<tt><nowiki><CASTING_COST></nowiki></tt>''' — This defines how much the card costs to play. Each cost is put inside {}'s; {B} for black, {U} for blue, {G} for green, {R} for red, {W} for white, {number} for an amount of colorless mana, or {X} for variable costs. Costs that can be paid with either of two colors can also be used, such as {G/W}. Phyrexian mana is defined as {R/P} or {G/P}. ''{3}{W}{R} for 3 colorless, a plains, and a mountain.'' Other mana costs like {2/W} are recognized by the engine as valid costs and work as expected (2 colourless or 1 white), but will NOT display the mana cost icon.

'''<tt><nowiki><TYPE></nowiki></tt>''' — Decides the card type: Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Creature, Artifact.

'''<tt><nowiki><SUB_TYPE></nowiki></tt>''' — This is usually for creature types, but is also used for equipment, auras, and curses.

'''<tt><nowiki><RARITY></nowiki></tt>''' — Just the first letter of the rarity, '''L'''and, '''C'''ommon, '''U'''ncommon, '''R'''are, or '''M'''ythic rare.

[[Category:DotP_Editing]]