[[SOL] BattleForge: Shadows Over Lyr - a print & play card game]

6 hours ago, bobfrog said:

wow, you really did invest time in this

3-4 hours each day after work. Enjoyed it, and I'm glad to have gone through with it all... Really looking forward to playing this card game with my partner.
SOL or something similar would've been my entry to the BFR Contest anyway.

It was a long time coming, as I always wanted to create a BF themed card game but didn't have the necessary skills in Photoshop to do a semi-professional job.

1 hour ago, Sykole said:

Down to create a simple .NET multiplayer card game with the cards? I already have the base code for abilities, tricks etc. Code will need some tweaking since I was lazy to finish the server connections

Sounds like you already got it under control! PM me if you require something I might be able to provide.

[[SOL] BattleForge: Shadows Over Lyr - a print & play card game]

 Shadows Over Lyr (SOL) is a pet project of mine, spanning over 30 hours to create and finalise. The intention was to retain the art of Battleforge and turn it into a thematic, printable (i.e. physical) card game that’s perfectly balanced and playable.
Skip the dark grey text and jump to the Story and gameplay paragraph half-way below if you don't want to read about the history of how this project came to fruition.

Behind the scenes
My first choice was to create duel decks by copying Magic the Gathering cards, which I had to relinquish mainly because Wizards of the Coast don’t take kindly to copies of their card game. Creating mechanics mimicking MtG would’ve been fine, but not balanced enough to truly enjoy as an end product. After going through iterations of some of my beloved card games, I’ve finally decided to base SOL on the highly acclaimed Lost Cities. Which – due to its abstract nature – can be played using an expanded standard deck of cards, lending itself beautifully to iterations.
The rules of SOL are easy to learn but the gameplay is ripe with tension and tough decisions, which has made Lost Cities so well received and sought after by gamers and non-gamers alike.

I used card frames without the artwork, and stripped these of their power and orb counters, the rarity indicator then rebuilt missing parts to create a clean template for each card.
Card artwork was used from the original Battleforge files (thanks to @bobfrog for collating these, and to @MrXLink for offering his help in locating a missing one), then flavour text was added at the bottom of each. The developers of Battleforge have come up with lore for 19 creatures per faction. I’ve read each of these, and based on the creature and how interesting the lore was decided to pick 12 per faction.
The other reason why the cards were stripped clean is to replace the original barebones font with a display font that’s – in my opinion – gives cards more personality. The black bleed area around each card has been doubled, then replaced with a white trim to protect the edges of physical cards from damage caused by wear and tear.

For the fifth faction/colour, I’ve combined a gold frame with the textures of the original black frame and used mostly legendary creatures to create another 12 cards. All card values were allocated based on the original power cost. Card backs were created from the map of Lyr, a flourish design used in the Battleforge lore book and layer styles.
There were also five ‘location’ cards made without text and two rule cards included on a black solid card template to re-iterate each game phase and scoring to both players.

 

---

 Story and gameplay (thematic flavour text in italic)
Like a dark, ominous storm cloud creeping through the darkest crevices and gleaming mountain tops, an unknown force is gathering over the land of Lyr. You and another Skylord have been alerted to this presence and decided to deal with the incursion. After several key locations have been identified as the main target of this mysterious enemy, negotiations between you and the other Skylord have ceased. Now it’s a frantic race between the two armies, seeing who will be able to repel the impending shadow and secure the knowledge held within these sites of power.

Shadows of Lyr is a two-player hand management and set collection game. The objective is to achieve the highest overall score after three rounds by sending out the largest army possible for each faction, while hindering your opponent who’s trying to do the same.

Game components:
2 identical game rule cards
5 location cards with horizontal layout
45 creature cards (9 for each faction) ranging from numbers 2 to 10
15 scout cards (3 for each faction) with no numerical value

Give each player a game rule card to provide them with a quick reminder of game rules and scoring system.
Place the 5 location cards – also known as ‘sites of power’ – face up between the two players, in any order you’d like. These will act as dividers between the two Skylords’ armies, and as discard piles for roaming creatures of corresponding colours.

Shuffle the remaining creature and scout cards into a single deck of 60 cards, then deal 8 cards face down to each player. Place the remaining pile of cards face down within both players’ reach.

Then the game begins. Players alternate turns and must take two actions each before ending their turn.

 Play a card from your hand. You have three options here:

1. Start a new column of cards.
Place a card below one of the sites of power of matching colour on your side of the play area. As an example, units of the Nature faction may only be sent to reinforce and protect the green site of power. You’ve now committed to that location and have to do your utmost best to send enough forces to repel the enemy when it strikes against your army.

2. Place a card at the end of a column you already started.
If you already have a card played below one of the sites of power, you may choose another unit from your hand to strengthen the defense. This unit must be of corresponding colour to the previous card played, and to the site of power it will be guarding from the enemy.
This card must also have a higher value than the previous number in that column.
Be careful, as scouts must be sent to a site of power before your main army arrives. This will give them enough time to entrench themselves, gather information and explore the area to give tactical advantages to your main forces.
As an example, you may play up to three scouts per site of power of a colour – however once you place a unit that has a power value, you can no longer send scouts to that location.

3. Discard a card.
When discarding from your hand, you must place that card face up on the matching colour of a site of power.
Units discarded this way become roaming creatures, not part of either Skylords’ forces until enrolled in an army.

 Draw a card into your hand. You have two options here:

1. Choose one of the top cards from the five discard stacks (if any).
You may take any face up card irrespective of their colour, as long as it’s not the same card you’ve just discarded.
Units you take control of this way become part of your roster to reinforce your armies on the field when necessary.

2. Take the top card of the draw pile.
The unit you’ve summoned this way becomes part of your roster to reinforce your armies on the field when necessary.

 Now it’s your opponent’s turn.
Once a player draws the last card from the draw pile, the round ends immediately (the last card from the draw pile can't be played).
The above indicates that both Skylords have ran out of time and are unable to summon any more creatures. The mysterious shadow descends upon the land of Lyr and its forces lay siege to each of the five sites of power.

 Scoring:
Cards in your hand, and scouts placed on the battlefield are worth zero points.

1. For each faction (colour), add the card values together for each column on your side of the playing field.
This is the sheer strength of your army. If you haven’t placed any cards below a site of power, skip that location.
As a Skylord, you’ve decided not to commit any of your units to come to the aid of that site of power, endured neither losses nor victories, and have no knowledge of enemy activity in that area.

2. Subtract 20 points from each column where you’ve placed cards.
This is the power of the enemy forces at that location, determining whether the Skylord was able to repel the enemy force, seizing the site of power to themselves.

3. Multiply subtotals by the number of scouts +1.
Your scouts give your main armies tactical advice and strategic knowledge about the battlefield:

In case you failed to dispatch enough forces and the enemy prevailed, your forces have perished and your scouts scattered. Not only have your lost your creatures, your scouts have been taken hostage, exposing your weaknesses causing a major blow to your overall strategy.

In case your army has prevailed and destroyed the forces of shadow, your scouts have exploited the enemy’s tactics allowing you to turn their weakness against them. You’ve achieved a glorious victory.

4. Add 20 points for each column with at least 8 cards.
Your superior army has ruthlessly decimated the enemy forces and eradicated the surviving stragglers, wavering the morale of your foe.
Finally, add each column’s points together to form your victory points. The Skylord with the highest score begins the next round, preparing for another impeding attack. Whoever has the most victory points after three rounds is the winner of SOL.

 3-player game variant:

Plays exactly the same as the original base game of SOL for two players, but with the following differences:
- location cards are only used as scrap piles, as everyone will play cards (i.e. start columns) in front of them
- only 7 cards are given to each player at the beginning of the game, as opposed to the standard 8 (unless you're playing with 72 cards)
- enemy forces have 15 power per location, as opposed to the standard 20
- you receive 15 bonus points for each column with at least 7 cards, as opposed to the standard 20 & 8 split
Basically, 8 becomes 7 and 20 becomes 15  Please note this game mode has not been tested with 72 cards (6 factions) therefore slight tweaking may be required if you're adding the Forgotten to the mix.

This is what a typical game of SOL would look like from one of the Skylords’ point of view. The other player would be placing cards on the opposite side of the discard piles, where the explanation texts are:

And finally, here are some interesting tips and strategies to take into consideration:
-    be careful what you discard, as your opponent may want to use that card
-    you could discard cards with the intent of picking them up later, but in doing so you’re also giving your opponent the same option 
-    cards you keep waiting for could be at the bottom of the draw pile or in your opponents hand
-    would you risk playing high value cards with the intention of denying them from your opponent, even if that means losing points for that colour? 
-    make sure valuable cards in your hand get played, as once the last card from the draw pile is gone the round is over
-    be cautious about starting a new column, as once you place the first card in any given colour your opponent will try and deny those faction cards from you
-    you can keep discarding cards at the beginning of the game to guess what your opponent is after, but this might set you behind
-    if your opponent discards a card you want, do you take it right away and alert them to the fact that you want that colour?

---

 DOWNLOAD LINK: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/2v2lkal7pliop/Shadows_Over_Lyr
There are now three files in this folder:

BF_SOL.zip - first edition of SOL (standalone, not compatible with any of the below)
This is the deck of cards you need to print to play the game. All of the above videos, photos and pictures were made with these images and cards.

BF_SOL_revised.zip - revised edition of SOL with small cosmetic tweaks
Font size for card values increased by 25% ; gave more emphasis to Shadows Over Lyr text on cardbacks ; canvas proportions constrained to 63:88 ; white bleed extended by 2mm per edge
Please note that there is no difference in image quality or gameplay between the first and revised editions.

BF_SOL_expansion.zip - expansion set containing 12 new cards as a new colour (the Forgotten faction) ; requires revised edition
This is an expansion to boost the number of cards to Printerstudio's standard of 72 (6 factions x 12 cards each) i.e. as long as you don't use/print location and reference cards from the base game.
The expansion is only compatible with the revised edition due to cosmetic tweaks, and is not required to play the base game of SOL. Two main reasons why this was created: 1) Lost Cities has just received an expansion adding a sixth colour 2) to provide meaningful choice to people who want to use up their 72-card slot at Printerstudio and don't care about rule reference or location cards

Click here to look at a comparison photo between the two editions.


Many thanks to @Avire for pointing us to http://www.printerstudio.de/machen/blanko-spielkarten-63x88mm-personalisieren.html in his thread. Printerstudio also has an American website at http://www.printerstudio.com/personalized/custom_playing_cards_blank_cards.html which is a tad more expensive unless you actually live in the States. The UK website is defunct according to their customer services, so please use the German site if you live in Europe (i.e. the first link).

Have fun playing SOL with your partner, friends or gaming group!

[Talk about RTS]

32 minutes ago, SilenceKiller99 said:

also, who remembers a game called Age of empires online. It has been on steam for a while, but got killed in 2014 by microsoft (i think). https://www.ageofempires.com/news/2014/07/01/the-end-of-the-world/

I was quite happy for AoE's revival but didn't like the cartoony graphics and MMO elements to do with your hometown (waiting for days to get resources etc.).

[Talk about RTS]

Yeah, AoE2 and AoM were really good. Don't fancy playing them anymore though.
There haven't been (m)any good RTS games for years now. Spellforce is an all-time classic for me, quite time consuming due to its RPG elements but a brilliant and atmospheric game otherwise (developed by Phenomic who also made Battleforge of course). Then there's Majesty if you want something unique. Replayed both a couple of times since BF was shut down.

Though I also prefer TBS e.g. HoMM3, HoMM4 and all the MtG Planeswalkers titles. These I also play to this day.
Eador is another TBS gem not a lot of people know of. It's friggin' complex - in a good way - and the next installment in the series is in early access at the moment.

Steam has also added Caesar 3 to their repertoire of games which is another brilliant title I've been playing on and off since it got first released in 1998.
Cossacks 3 will be released next month, it might turn out well. The series is reminiscent of Age of Empires.

[Introducing Inwutsch, our new developer !]

4 hours ago, fiki574 said:

They are trying to replace me!

A subtle hint that you might want to step up your game, fiki! 

[Favorite Anime!]

13 hours ago, Reinard said:

My list in order:

Sword Art Online

SAO is one of my all time favourites. Code Geass is another good pick with Fate Zero and Fairy Tail.
I can't stand AOT, Death Note or FMA but that's probably due to my age and standards. Would've liked them 10 years ago.

Looking at your list, I'm sure you'd also enjoy Magi. Give it a go!

[Widescreen 21:9 support]

On 22/05/2016 at 0:18 PM, Falkum said:

Well I stated a question at the wide-sceen-gaming-forum as suggested. You can find it here: http://www.wsgf.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=31123

Lets see if someone answers it.

I've replied to your thread at WSGF in order to bump it.

In the meantime, here is a little something for you. BFR running in a 1720x720 window which is the closest I can get to emulating 21:9 on my setup. I see no distortions or cropping which is a very good sign.

[Announcement - Stream on 11/06/2016]

21 minutes ago, TheSInEater said:

 i have work saterday  

Not anymore 

[Widescreen 21:9 support]

3 hours ago, MarbSlonk said:

I'm quite sure I ran BF perfectly fine in 16:10. I have a 1680*1050 monitor and I never had any problems with it, so it should be fine I guess. I also never edited any files or changed settings.

Yep the game runs in 16:10, however the edges of the screen are cropped. Let me explain.

Below is a screenshot taken in 16:9 aspect ratio. The two horizontal red lines depict 16:10 ratio.
When games support gaming monitors (i.e. 16:10 displays), you'd expect the vertical field of view to be extended and the two black bars to be filled in, so you can see more of the game area.

 

 

Batteforge only suppots hor+ which means it can only add to, or reduce the horizontal gaming area. It can't extend the screen verically which is the requirement for 16:10 compatibility. Yes, it supports 16:10 resolutions but isn't fully compatible with this ratio.

Here is a screenshot taken using a screen resolution in 16:10 aspect ratio:

As you can see, the building that was on the previous screenshot to the left is not visible anymore. The game zooms in and crops the edges of the screen, instead of extending the gaming area.
Which means you're at a disadvantage if you choose a 16:10 resolution.

[Widescreen 21:9 support]

Hi Falkum,

Battleforge was one of the first games to support both DX11 and Eyefinity. In theory it should also support ultra wide monitors...

Unfortunately WSGF have taken off their pages regarding Battleforge when the game was officially pulled, however some threads remain. If none of us are able to answer you on these forums, then I urge you to register at WSGF and ask the question there. Some users might recall running BF on an ultra wide monitor and answer your query. Who knows, you might find people there who'd be delighted to know that BF is getting unofficial support and will rush to this forum or to your aid 

That's all I can do to help, as I'm using a 16:10 monitor. Unfortunately BF is incompatible with this ratio, and doesn't even support letterboxing (instead, it crops the edges of the screen).

Here are a couple of WSGF links to get you started:
http://www.wsgf.org/article/amd-eyefinity-5x1-portrait-review-battle-forge
http://www.wsgf.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=19155&p=6844

Eyefinity:

Hope you'll find what you're looking for!

[Discord - Our new voice server !]

[Introducing ... Bolrader]

Good to have you with us @Bolrader. Welcome to the BFR community and enjoy your stay!

[New DevPlatform]

17 hours ago, Lord NullPointer said:

For the people that have not noticed, You can now access the DevPlatform from the menu

Wow, what a pathetic excuse for an arrow... We should consider ourselves truly blessed for not seeing any of your drawings and artwork 

 

Any chance of including a small notification / counter of the number of unread updates (or just an exclamation mark) if there are any news? Clicking on DevPlatform would then mark these as 'read'.
Or at least the date of your last update?

[New DevPlatform]

Good effort, but - out of curiosity - is there a reason why this couldn't be merged with the homepage by positioning those two links at the top? Would make information less fragmented and more accessible.

 

[Wanted: Skylords Reborn Company Manager]

so you would never have any problems regarding laws. regardless of the legal form (llc, GmbH, ev ....) the member of the board, directors, president or board/Management will have a residual risk if you dont get the permission of ea.

That's exactly why no sane person would want to do it for free or without being fairly compensated for their trouble.
There are legal obligations one may decide to take on for the sake of runnig his/her (private) company, but without perks and benefits the risks and potential backlash is simply not worth it.

[The Battleforge Dictionary]

I'm not too keen on game specific jargon, as you're assuming others are aware of the abbreviations like you are - which is rarely the case.

You could add some more generic ones like 'gtg' but then again, you're relying on players reading through the first post (which they won't do ). 

[windowed mode fix (~borderless)]

Do I need to run this program before opening BFReborn in windows mode everytime to make it borderless ?

Unfortunately, yes. This tool doesn't manipulate any game data or settings, just repositions running processes that are already in windowed mode.

We need to wait for Pointer's magic to happen before something like this can become a permanent fix.

[windowed mode fix (~borderless)]

Hey guys,

Some of you have a problem when running Battleforge in windowed mode, as there is no true borderless setting. Therefore if your screen is not capable of displaying a vertical resolution larger than 768 (e.g. 1366x768 or 1024x768) then the bottom of the gameplay area will be chopped off, due to the title bar adding another 27 pixels making the image 795 tall.

I found an application that is able to fix this, by allowing you to reposition the window (therefore hiding the title bar).

1) download this file
2) extract the contents (swru.exe) anywhere
3) run swru.exe
3) start Battleforge Reborn (make sure it's running in a window)
4) select the resizing utility, then find and highlight Battleforge 1.2 retail
5) now you need to play around with either or both x and y coordinates (horizontal and vertical positions)
Try setting y to -27 first, then press <enter> or Set Size in the bottom left corner. This should move the window up, hiding the title bar by placing it outside the display area.
(changing the x coordinate will move the window left or right, in case the edges are cropped and are not fully visible)



credits go to Scott who created this handy tool

[[POSTPONE] 3 - Booster wrapper randomizer isn't randomising properly]

Bought less boosters lately, but no randomised wrappers nonetheless.

[[CLIENT SIDED?] 9 - incorrect error message when bidding fails]

NAME: incorrect message given in chatbox when player can't bid due to low BFp
SEVERITY: 4
LOCATION: auction house & chatbox
REPRODUCIBILITY: always
DESCRIPTION: Trying to Bid on a card with less than enough BFp results in a 'You do not have enough Battleforge Points to buy this item.' message, which is normally generated when clicking on Buyout.
It should say 'You do not have enough Battleforge Points to bid on this item.'
SCREENSHOT:

I have 25 BFp, bidding on Eruption which is already at 666 BFp.

[3 - trading window unresponsive / disconnects client]

NAME: Trading window becomes unresponsive and the card moved around disappears.
SEVERITY: 3
LOCATION: trading window
REPRODUCIBILITY: three times in a row before server restart
DESCRIPTION: Moving a card to the trade window makes that copy disappear. Happened twice with an upgraded card, and once with a standard one.
The trade window then becomes unresponsive for a short while. Closing it down using the top right X button works after a long delay, but makes the client laggy afterwards.
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/2BP4hiA1FIk (unlisted)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Happened the same time as this: cards turn into black when trade is cancelled therefore possibly related.

UPDATE: After the window freezes and recovers, the client now disconnects itself from the server after a short delay.
Ultrakool reckons one successful trade transaction between two players is the limit before the server needs to be restarted.

[Community run YouTube channel]

So then what should I do to get rid of the warning? I varied my bitrate between 3.5k and 15k with no noticeable effect. Bitrate shouldn't matter if I'm not streaming, should it?

I'm using a laptop, FYI. So I don't want to overload it. 

Also, I don't have a microphone. Does anyone know if there's a way to hook up my phone to my computer in such a way that I can use my phone's mic to record on OBS?

I've never seen that warning message, but it sounds like an error message between the output format  and encoder settings... If it doesn't affect the final video then I'd just ignore it.

Bitrate matters whether you're streaming or not, as it directly influences the quality of the recording. A lower bitrate will result in pixelated, choppy imagery (SD) while a higher bitrate transmits more data  therefore more pixels per second (HD). You're basically selecting the detail and resolution of the video.
Of course it all depends on what you're recording and the size display you're watching it on e.g. a lower bitrate (e.g. 480p or 720p) video will look good on a mobile screen but not on a 24" monitor. But if it's Minecraft you've recorded then the difference between the two will be minor

If I were you, I'd use the mobile to record my voice separately then add it to the video after. You might be better off doing that anyway, as it's much easier to concentrate and talk about something while not multitasking (i.e. playing). Additionally, it gives you the freedom to mix game sound with your voice and manipulate volume levels or edit the two sound stream separately etc.

[Proposal: Rewards]

What about quests rewarding pre-made play?

I'm sure a lot of people will like this idea as it's quite a popular feature nowadays, even though I'm not convinced by some if the things people do to circumvent it.

For example, adding every stranger as a 'friend' so you get the bonuses/rewards. This makes for a frustrating experience as in case you don't go through this ordeal each time, you're missing out. And then you end up with hundreds of people in your list, just to make sure there are a bunch of people to play with at any given time of the day.

[Community run YouTube channel]

So I figured out some of the basics of OBS. Anyone have any tips for what settings to use (I have no idea what bitrate is for instance). When I record is says WARNING: HIGH ENCODING in red letters, but it doesn't seem to be adversely affecting anything.

Bitrate is just that. The rate at which bits are transferred i.e. the higher the number, the more information is transmitted therefore you get higher quality audio and video. Kind of like bandwith, if you will.

I'm using about 10k video bitrate (at 1920 x 1200) with an audio bitrate of 320 to avoid grainy image. My advice is not to change the base resolution at all, because downsampling will cause further ssues.

[Wanted: Skylords Reborn Company Manager]

You might be correct on the merging part, I just thought some things might have needed clarifying as the main post is pretty... Vague.

That I don't disagree with. More information covered in the first post would be preferable for general discussion, but most things have been brought up (and answered) by members of the forum.

Although the bottom line is that whoever applies for this role shouldn't need to read any of it. If he/she has to, then that person is the wrong candidate.