Create Simple Plugin for Deckbuilder Types of Games

[rochambeaux]

How hard is it to create a plugin fro games like Thunderstone, Rune Age, etc.?

There's no need for all the card info to be available in a data, since they are pretty much WYSIWYG.

I have nice high quality scans of the games I want to setup - just need a "virtual table" to manage them.

Is there a tutorial for building a Chevy instead of the ones that build the Enterprise?

[Trevor]

The plugin creation tutorial can seem overwhelming only because there's so much you CAN do, but plugins don't need to do all of those things.
Make a blank plugininfo.txt file (black except for the stop and stop tags) and include a cardback.jpg (and a spawned.jpg for any missing card images). Then include the card data file (which is tab delimitted text that you can edit with a spreadsheet program. Read over the plugin creation tutorial and if a section doesn't seem important to your needs, skip it.

[AuraDragon]

If you're like me and you're better at modifying something rather than making something from scratch, you could take a copy of the default plugin (War3000) and modify it to suit your needs.  The most important files are the carddata file(s), the cardback image, and the plugininfo file; everything else is fluff.

[rochambeaux]

If you're like me and you're better at modifying something rather than making something from scratch, you could take a copy of the default plugin (War3000) and modify it to suit your needs.  The most important files are the carddata file(s), the cardback image, and the plugininfo file; everything else is fluff.

OK this works as a start but how do I deal out the decks I define?  I can't find anything on how to do that.

Does card/deck placement have to be coded in as well?

I really really really really wish there was a tool/app like CardWarden for the PC/Android.

It does 100% of what I want but has 2 main drawbacks (1) it's IOS only and (2) the largest iPad is 9.7" which makes for a really tiny playing area.

[Jared]

*WHAT* plugin creation tutorial? Your YouTube channel doesn't have one, and I have been searching for one. Your Tutorial page doesn't list one either.


Edit: Finally found it at the bottom of the FAQ, but it's really not easy to find.

http://www.lackeyccg.com/tutorialplugin.html

This link really needs to be added to the tutorial page.

[rochambeaux]

What would really help me is an existing plugin for a game I own that I could walk through the coding in the plugin file and match it up to the game components  I have.

It may be my lack of coding skills but the "tutorial" totally baffles me and my attempts at using the War3000 just made it more confusing.

Has anyone developed a plugin for one of the following?  I have my own card scans - just need a starting game to figure this all out:

RuneAge
Thunderstone Advance
Goblins vs. Zombies
Space Hulk:Death Angel
Friday
Hero Immortal King

[Jynks]

if you get me the scans for say Thunderstone or w/e .. I could make the plugin for you and then all you would need to do is maintain it.

[Jared]

Similar to the OP, I'm creating a deckbuilder game plugin to test a homebrew idea I had. I've read through the tutorial. I see how to make a deck and a hand for a person, or even multiple decks for the person (like a discard pile). What I don't see is how to make a defined deck for everyone.

I want to have 3 decks that everyone uses, an A deck that is face down and shuffled, and two fixed decks that are face up on the table. I'm not sure how to do this, because the gamezone and deckzone items don't have a way to specify that they're unowned/public.

[AuraDragon]

Hi! 

Here's the plugin building tutorial:  http://lackeyccg.com/tutorialplugininfo.html  At the bottom of the Game Zones section it says:

Shared zones are special kinds of game zones that are handled differently. Every player gets a copy of every regular game zone. But if a game zone is marked as a shared zone, only one copy of it is in the game, and all players share it.

An example of a game zone you would want to make shared would be the 52 card deck in a game of poker. No one owns it and it is shared among all players, so it should be a shared zone in LackeyCCG.

To turn a regular game zone into a Shared zone, include <isshared>yes</isshared> in that gamezone's definition (somewhere between <gamezone> and </gamezone>).

Don't forget to mark the fixed zones with <shuffle>no</shuffle>

[Jared]

Thanks, Snoogy. I didn't see that on my first read through. Also, I had found the link you mentioned, but only by searching the site multiple times. It's not on the page you get to if you click "Tutorials" on the main site, only the videos are. This oversight needs to be fixed.

[AuraDragon]

I didn't know that Trevor had changed it. 

It's tricky, but to get to the page I linked you go through the Tutorial button:  http://lackeyccg.com/gettingstarted.html
then click "Written LackeyCCG Tutorial":  http://www.lackeyccg.com/tutorial.html
then click "Plugin Creation Tutorial":  http://lackeyccg.com/tutorialplugin.html
and lastly click "The Main Plugin Info File":  http://lackeyccg.com/tutorialplugininfo.html
    Whew!

A number of people asking for help with plugin creation have showed up recently;  perhaps Trevor will reorganize the tutorials pages to make it more forgiving.

[rochambeaux]

Thanks but until the app gets some sort of GUI the level of effort is probably going to greatly restrict the acceptance/creation of plugins.

[Hyrulianpanda]

I mean if you need an example of a deck building game in lackey I made a Tanto Coure plugin.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9B_uMkIdxmNbnNVcF9oWGpyZHc/edit?pli=1

If you want info on a shared deck my plugin has that but I got the code from the Munchkin plugin as it uses shared decks.

IMO best way to learn is by example. Check out other games that are using code similar to what you need and adapt it to your situation.