Making your own power cards

eloquentaction said:

DennisB -

But I think you're misunderstanding what we mean by 'standard.' You've written your own GAME file, which means it's not standard.

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DennisB said:

And as far as eloquentaction post, all the decks that i am making is going to be the same template so that means no more downloading after that. the only problem I am having ts the monster cards, anyone got any ideas?

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I browsed through Sybaris' game file, this is the same used by Ander with some minor modifications. So when USC project will be done, I will be able to write a conversion procedure which will transform the sets written by DennisB into the new game file. All the job done won't be lost !

DennisB, I think you underestimate the task of maintaining the sets. WotC will continue adding some powers and monsters and other additions, so there will never be an end to the sets modification.
More over, the USC is usefull to let people choose their prefered style without having to re-write a full mse set. The sets you are writing would be useable with any compatible style. Actually, many authors have written their own set to correspond their own style. With the USC, there will be one set, and many styles.

I have been playing Dungeons & Dragons sines the AD&D 1st edition, trust me when i say i know about non stop adding information, but i figure when i get caught up that it would only take 24 hours a month to update. (I HOPE)

Thanks for the progress update guys, I am sure there are many folks here hanging on your every word.

If there is anything us less computer literate folks can do to help let us know.

DennisB said:

I have been playing Dungeons & Dragons sines the AD&D 1st edition, trust me when i say i know about non stop adding information, but i figure when i get caught up that it would only take 24 hours a month to update. (I HOPE)

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I don't doubt you understand all the implications of adding cards to your set, and I definitely admire your willingness to devote your time to updating your card set(s).

Right now, every designer who makes a card set has to put in those 24 hours a month (or more) to keep their card sets up to date. They also have to put in time/energy keeping their templates working, and potentially making improvements to those templates. By my admittedly hazy memory, there are at least six different designers working on card sets - which means six different designers all spending as much time as you are to get caught up to the current releases, as well as six designers who all have to put in time to keep their sets up to date.

The idea behind the UCS is to make it so all that duplicated data-entry effort is eliminated. Instead of 6+ designers each updating their separate game files, ALL of the designers can use the communal game file as soon as it's updated once. The advantages are many:

• Each new power will only be transcribed once when any new sourcebook is released.
• Every participating designer will have access to the most recent game file available, without having to expend any real effort at all - allowing them to devote more time to making new templates or improving existings ones
• End users will be able to use whichever style they prefer, without having to pick a different set just because it has more cards available.
• By having multiple templates available for the UCS, it will encourage more people to contribute to the UCS project, which in theory will keep it more up-to-date than any individual could hope to match
• With more people contributing, the UCS should be much less vulnerable to obsolecence. While you may be more than willing to devote 24 hours/month to keep your card sets up to date, what happens 6 months or a year from now, when your enthusiasm wanes or real life starts to intrude? By having more contributors to the communal project, someone else can step in and pick up the slack or carry on from where you leave off.

Distilled to its essence, the UCS is about making a team effort, pooling all our resources to make a better product for everyone involved (data-entry, designers, end users). It may also have the side effect of making it easier to incorporate new features - like the DDI character card generation project.

I don't mean to diminish your efforts - far from it, I think you've done an excellent job - but I (we?) are really hoping to harness your enthusiasm to help contribute to a goal I think will be an even greater benefit to the entire 4E gaming community.

DrunkenEwok said:

I don't doubt you understand all the implications of adding cards to your set, and I definitely admire your willingness to devote your time to updating your card set(s).

Right now, every designer who makes a card set has to put in those 24 hours a month (or more) to keep their card sets up to date. They also have to put in time/energy keeping their templates working, and potentially making improvements to those templates. By my admittedly hazy memory, there are at least six different designers working on card sets - which means six different designers all spending as much time as you are to get caught up to the current releases, as well as six designers who all have to put in time to keep their sets up to date.

The idea behind the UCS is to make it so all that duplicated data-entry effort is eliminated. Instead of 6+ designers each updating their separate game files, ALL of the designers can use the communal game file as soon as it's updated once. The advantages are many:

• Each new power will only be transcribed once when any new sourcebook is released.
• Every participating designer will have access to the most recent game file available, without having to expend any real effort at all - allowing them to devote more time to making new templates or improving existings ones
• End users will be able to use whichever style they prefer, without having to pick a different set just because it has more cards available.
• By having multiple templates available for the UCS, it will encourage more people to contribute to the UCS project, which in theory will keep it more up-to-date than any individual could hope to match
• With more people contributing, the UCS should be much less vulnerable to obsolecence. While you may be more than willing to devote 24 hours/month to keep your card sets up to date, what happens 6 months or a year from now, when your enthusiasm wanes or real life starts to intrude? By having more contributors to the communal project, someone else can step in and pick up the slack or carry on from where you leave off.

Distilled to its essence, the UCS is about making a team effort, pooling all our resources to make a better product for everyone involved (data-entry, designers, end users). It may also have the side effect of making it easier to incorporate new features - like the DDI character card generation project.

I don't mean to diminish your efforts - far from it, I think you've done an excellent job - but I (we?) are really hoping to harness your enthusiasm to help contribute to a goal I think will be an even greater benefit to the entire 4E gaming community.

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Well said. That's exactly what the UCS is all about. We're also trying to expand the basic idea behind it to make it more versatile.

That way, you don't have to create a set that does everything. Attempting to do so is exhausting (trust me on this).

End Users and Designers are constantly coming up with new ways to modify and add to their sets. Initiative cards are new. So are character cards.

Taking the information put out by the DnDI monster creator and throwing it onto a nice card for the DM is an idea I've thought about.

There are many others, including making new projects entirely.

I currently don't have time to do that BECAUSE I keep having to spend those 24 hours a month (which is expensive when you factor in time that could be spent having family time, reading the latest book, playing the latest game, playing DnD, getting ready for the next DnD session, sex, eating.... and well, the thousand other things I could be doing.) Quite simply put - I don't want to be forced to spend 24 hours a month updating when I don't have to.

I think the greatest reason, however, is that there is currently a perceived 'rivalry' between the card designers... at least among the end users. So some are 'sticking' to their favorite card designers even when that designer is burnt out of having to update on a constant basis. This should not be the environment to foster in a Public domain setting. There should be constant updates of people adding to the 'SET' and then other designers (new and old) releasing new looks and tweaks to the possible ways to show that SET data. There should be an open camaraderie between all the people working on the cards. Not an environment of competition.

The last thing a new designer should worry about is that no one is going to give up their current set to look at his, because his doesn't support all of the cards. Nor should an older designer feel ripped off because someone took his card set data and made a new look to it (without giving him credit). Since the card set is Universal, no one 'owns' it. Since the different templates are public, who cares if they get tweaked.

'Nuff said.

-- Hirahito

I do totally understand what you are doing, however, The reason i am doing it like this is because some people, like myself, have a laptop and has all the books and information on the laptop so i bring it to the games. You're project is great, however, as far as I can tell, you have to be online in order to use it. With my setup, you don't need to be online and if you need a card in a pinch, just click and print (It does help if you have a compact cheep printer)
You don't need to be online with this. But don't get me wrong, i do agree in what you all are doing and like i said, if you need help with the information input just ask me and i would love to help, til then, I will keep working on the offline project as well.

DennisB said:

I do totally understand what you are doing, however, The reason i am doing it like this is because some people, like myself, have a laptop and has all the books and information on the laptop so i bring it to the games. You're project is great, however, as far as I can tell, you have to be online in order to use it. With my setup, you don't need to be online and if you need a card in a pinch, just click and print (It does help if you have a compact cheep printer)
You don't need to be online with this. But don't get me wrong, i do agree in what you all are doing and like i said, if you need help with the information input just ask me and i would love to help, til then, I will keep working on the offline project as well.

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I'm a little lost here. Unless I missed something in a post, no one needs to be online to use the UCS. Just as someone would have your set on their computer, so would anyone using the UCS. I also use my laptop at some games (some GMs don't permit it, personal preference), so I'm fully anticipating this release. If you're referring to the DDI project, that's only going to be during the intial character creation, per my interpretation (possibly needing it for character leveling?). However, this is not a mandatory requirement. Your cards are nice and by all means, if you feel a stand-alone approach is right for you, feel free. This is purely a voluntary project that other designers are being invited to join. Some will, some wont.

I may not be a designer myself, but I feel that this is a great approach for the exact reasons DrunkenEwok and elequentaction pointed out. once complete, not every design need to feel pressured into keeping the set up to date. Contributors could actually alternate updating the UCS. It's efficient and logical, as Spock might say. Also, no one designer can predict the future and crap happens. This way, any one designer can feel comfortable knowing that when life throws a wrench at you, someone out there will continue the work until you're able to get back.

I agree, but I am a stay at home father and i have more than enough time on my hand, in fact, i just got the manual of the planes and there is even more paragon paths in there as well as plenty of magic items. so this is going to be longer now until i get caught up, unless some wants to help me with this project.

Has Grandpa updated his cards yet with the Martial Powers book? Tried searching here without luck!

For what it is worth Moniker, i have the fighter powers with all powers from all sources. And right now i am working on the rangers powers as well.
just click on the link below and pick and choose.