Making your own power cards

[eloquentaction]

Sure I'm interested. It could be fun. Two people working to the same goal can get there twice as fast.

PM me here on ENWorld. I'll get you my contact info.

I won't be able to start until version 5 is out the door (read a week or two). And we should probably wait till they finalize the DnDI generator a bit more.

But we can get started on the raw basics of it. The 'proof of concept', as it were.

-- Hirahito

 

[DennisB]

eloquentaction, I still dont know how to put a card design into MSE and also do you know how to change the text area or modify it, i realey want to use MSE but none of the design works for me, could you please help me, right now i am using Paint.Net and it is slow going.

Also, how do i post my work on this site so anyone can download it when they want.

 

[eloquentaction]

eloquentaction, I still dont know how to put a card design into MSE and also do you know how to change the text area or modify it, i realey want to use MSE but none of the design works for me, could you please help me, right now i am using Paint.Net and it is slow going.

Also, how do i post my work on this site so anyone can download it when they want.

Dennis -

Not sure on how to post your stuff here, I went and got my own site to post my stuff up there (was running into size restrictions... (that's what SHE said...) and they weren't letting me put things up they way I wanted).

As far as moving to MSE, I would suggest d/l'ing a few of the simpler sets (like Ander's) and studying the GAME and the SET files. These control how MSE reads and displays your information. You can change out the background images very simply and then start modifying the SET data to place the fields where you want them. It's a trial and error process.

You can also go to Magic Set Editor's site and get more information there as well as posting questions on the forum there to the people that designed MSE. That's how I got the answers for how to do some of the more advanced stuff I'm doing with my Version 5.

Hope that helps.

-- Hirahito

 

[DennisB]

Could you give me a step by step on how to start the process of creating my own template. I have added all the card formats to MSE and the ones that was zip, i cant figure out how to add them to the MSE. For 2 days i have tried to add them.

 

[Fusky]

Here there are the spellscarred powers done using the Ander template.

 

[DennisB]

eloquentaction

If i send you my cards, could you post them on your sight for people to download?

 

[Alphastream]

I scrapped that idea in favor of a new one... take the output of the DnDI Character Builder and then spit out a new PDF sheet(s) based on your character. At the same time, customize and then print out a set of power cards that had all the correct math and text based on the feats your character had selected. (A dwarf's Second Wind power card, for example, would mention that it was not a standard action.) It's my thought that WoTC won't be pissed off at a project that requires their product instead of replacing it. PCGen replaced them for version 3.5E and WoTC went after them, basically making them jump through Mickey Mouse hoops.

That project is currently on hold until I get version 5 out the door, BUT... I would be much interested in collaborating with someone good at making PDF's for the output stage of this project. Interested?

I always like to give back. I'm in for some data entry to help get 5 out. I don't have any skillz to really contribute beyond that, though I can hack a file like anyone.

I do think you are focused on the right path. The DDI builder is surprisingly great, and once it handles all levels (and if it quickly adds the new content), it will be hard to see turning to something else. The pdf PC sheet is cool, but leaves some desires and the power sheet is terrible. Even with some improvements, the power sheet is likely to be behind the curve right now.

I recently typed up the first 3 levels of bard for Tintagel, and I'm glad to do that or other things for you as well.

Teos

 

[Thindaraiel]

I'm currently playing with two new types of cards; Initiative cards which allow the DM to quickly keep track of who is where in the initiative queue and mini-character cards which allow players to print their character sheet onto a set of about 5 cards.

* The headers now allow you to pick your own color, so you're not restricted to a fixed list
* There are now 10 user defined images , 10 user defined icons , 10 user defined header masks ,10 user defined card background images which allow you to customize the way the card looks

I too am playing with "character cards". The template shown on WoTC site is interesting but really ugly, and I'd like to revamp it. For the moment, I came to a 3-card model (profile, hit points/surge, and competence sheets), and I am trying a more dense model (based on an idea given sooner on this thread).

Concerning your template, I'm curious to see how you manage the "user defined" elements. It's an interesting idea.

It's interesting to note that I'm using much the same technique for my new Version 5.
The backgrounds, background images, headers and icons all use masks and base images.
I didn't steal this idea from you Thin, but it seems like both of us were moved towards the same conclusions.

This is not a problem for me, even if you "steal" code from my template ! I have, after all, stolen the design from Ander's, icons from Tintagel's, and some elements from your's.

I too went slowly in understanding what MSE can do (and indeed, it can do fantastic things !) by studying others' templates, and I surely came to the same conclusion than you and Tintagel : a card made of several small elements combined together is far more versatile and small-in-size than a bunch of monolythic cards !

 

[Thindaraiel]

Could you give me a step by step on how to start the process of creating my own template. I have added all the card formats to MSE and the ones that was zip, i cant figure out how to add them to the MSE. For 2 days i have tried to add them.

an MSE template is defined in 2 main files :
- game file in the mse-game directory
- style file in the mse-style directory

find a template you like, and analyse these files. You will understand how to modify them, than create your own.

Here are some hints to begin with :
- game file contains the card fields definition. For instance, name of the card is a one-line text field, where card color is (often) a choice between predefined values, and rule/flavor zones are multi-lines text fields. Game file contains only definitions, no display.
- style file contains the implementation of fields into a display. It defines where on the card each field appears (or not), by giving the coordinates (top-left, height-width) of the fields, the way it must be rendered (text, image...).
- both files can contain functions to compute values. For instance when you choose "Green" as a color in a menu for the card color, the card style for "background" field will use a function to compute which image file is associated with the "Green" keyword, and use this file for the card rendering. Functions that are defined in the game file can be used in the style file, but not the other way round.

Hope this helps !

 

[DrunkenEwok]

I've been lurking a long time, and have dabbled with several different sets...

I was wondering if any progress had been made towards standardizing the back-end data sets. It seems as though crowd-sourcing the data entry would make all the designers' jobs a lot easier. Instead of each designer spending hours and hours on data entry, we'd have a single consolidated set that everyone could use. Then the graphics gurus could focus their efforts on making prettier or more user-friendly templates.

I'd also like to offer my services towards the DDI project. My skill-set includes some basic-intermediate XML, PHP, and Python. I'd also be interested in picking up some GUI or PDF editing skills, if that would prove useful. My C# skills are virtually non-existent, but I could probably pick it up relatively quickly (assuming I can get access to a cheap/free compiler). I've perused the DDI XML output - and while it isn't nearly as user-friendly as I'd hoped, it does look like outputting customized char-sheets and cards is at least possible.

Feel free to PM me, and we can exchange more conventional means of communications.