People often seem to think making a plugin requires some sort of computer programming background. It doesn't, and making a plugin is very different from programming.
There is a plugin tutorial that should be accessible to any lay person without computer programming experience. As a matter of fact, I don't think any computer programming experience would be particularly relevant.
http://lackeyccg.com/tutorialplugin.html
Thanks. I was actually going to use that. I think the only problem I'm actually facing is the fact that I've never seen the program in action. I should DL the MTG plugin and play game or two to see what the end-product looks like, and what I should expect mine to look like. That, and I'll have to ask elsewhere on the forums if I run into another problem.
Whoa, that's pretty cool. I was actually thinking of doing something similar with the information from this site, though it isn't active and what's there could use some fleshing out as far as game rules go. There are a lot of cards already organized neatly into an Excel spreadsheet, but it seems half-translated; maybe he mass-translated certain phrases but nothing else (I never got as far as asking him about it). Considering the state of the translations I figured the end result of such a plugin wouldn't really be playable for me or anyone else who's unfamiliar with the game, so I never followed through. But I wish you luck on this endeavor. I've always been curious about the game and even ordered the movie this past week just for the half-hour tutorial on the card game.
I'd actually offer to help but I'm a bit tied up with college-related events right now. If you're still working on this in a few months, maybe I can provide some help then. Just this past month I started learning how to make plugins myself by adapting the Evangelion TCG, and it isn't hard nor is it complicated (for the most part all you're doing is copying the examples off his tutorial to write down how many piles of cards are used in the game and what right-click shortcuts you want to make available). I think people get intimidated because they skim the tutorial page, see "blocks of code", and assume there must be some decent amount of programming involved. I thought the same thing until I actually sat down and read it, and so too did my friend until I sat him down and got him to read it. It's surprisingly simple and straightforward. The only hard part is the tedium of writing all the card data into an Excel spreadsheet if you so wish (and since this is a translation project you probably will).
Good luck! I'm looking forward to it.
Nice. Actually, I found the same site as one of my resources. In fact, the only reliable source for images I've found is that site, which means a lot of the cards will have "SAMPLE" superimposed over then unless I find a way to remove it, or find better images. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an equivalent to Gatherer for this game. I have found a few scattered card images otherwise, and plan to scan the cards I own, but all the "SAMPLE" laden cards will at least provide two complete sets for the plugin.
And as far as rules and translation, that shouldn't be a problem. I'll have to write up the rules in a complete example later, because I have about three or four different sources for different rules. That, and a few rules I equated to Magic and never fully learned the other details of. And I've seen that excel file you're talking about. A complete mess I'd say. Fortunately, translating the cards is a pretty easy process. Most cards have predetermined keywords or stock abilities, and most other cards have predictable abilities. Only a few cards have unique or complicated text that it takes more than a few minutes with a Japanese dictionary to figure out. Oh, and names. Card names are pretty awful, and I expect that when I release the plugin that a number of the cards will have google translator names.
Its good to see someone other than me is interested though. Thanks for the offer to help. I can understand the college student thing. I'm stuck in that boat for about four more weeks. Honestly, all I would ask is that if you find a better resource for card images, or even an inventory (like Gatherer) to link it to me. I think that excel document is all there really is, but if you find anything else the help would be appreciated.
