adding card decks to my game

[rozar5]

HI. I am working on a module for VASSAL that is an original game I am working on. I have the MAPBOARD, I have 30 counters ready to be placed on the map. Now what I need is to add a deck with one card per 1 counter for a total of 30 cards. This deck will be drawn down each turn and then re-shuffled to be used on the subsequent turn. I have the cards ready to go but I can't figure out how to get them in the game. I need a draw pile and a discard pile. I need a toolbar button that I can use to bring up the decks and position the decks in a specific quardrant of the playing area. I just don't understand the process of adding a functioning deck to my play area.

HELP!

[capi3101]

Okay...I'll try my best to answer this question based on my understanding of what's going on. If I'm wrong, post back. It sounds to me like:
1) You want a single, 30-card draw deck,
2) You want a single discard pile (empty at the start),
3) You want them on a specific part of your board.
Is that right? I'm pretty sure it's not but I'll press on anyway.

So what you want to do is under your Main Board add two Decks, one for the draw pile and one for the discard pile. For your draw pile, you want to set the Width and Height equal to that of your cards, and set the X/Y position to 100x100 (for now). Set contents to Face Down Always, and set Re-shuffle to "via right click menu" (or always, if you want it to happen fully automatically). For the discard pile, set the Width and Height equal to that of your cards and set the X/Y position to 200x200 (for now). Set contents to Face Down Never, Re-Shuffle to Never, check Draw Outline when Empty, and check Include Command to send an entire deck to another deck - add a menu text and hotkey if you wish, and set the name of the deck to send to equal to the name of the Draw Deck.

Now that those are set up, right click on the Draw deck in the module editor and select "Add Card" (or "Add Multiple Cards", if you want them to all have the same properties). Set the face of the card under the Basic Piece trait and your card back on the Mask trait. You'll want to add a Return to Deck trait on the bottom; set the menu command to Discard and select the Discard deck as the specific destination. Rinse and repeat for all the cards in the deck (or if you used Add Multiple Cards, you're done).

Now, once the cards are in the draw pile, right click on it and select "Properties". Near the bottom there's a command called "Reposition Stack"; click on it and move it to where you want it to be on the board. Do the same for your discard pile, and you should be golden.

Incidentally, if your game uses the same setup every time and there are only thirty pieces in the game, you might consider using thirty At-Start Stacks on your main board (with each stack containing just one single piece). If not, then never mind.

Like I said, I'm pretty sure this does not answer your specific question; I can only hope that it does. If not, post again and we'll try to get this straightened out. Good luck.

[rozar5]

Thank you capi3101 for your reply!! You said:

"Okay...I'll try my best to answer this question based on my understanding of what's going on. If I'm wrong, post back. It sounds to me like:
1) You want a single, 30-card draw deck,
2) You want a single discard pile (empty at the start),
3) You want them on a specific part of your board."

This is exactly what I am after! After each turn the DRAW PILE is exhausted and the DISCARD pile is full at which point I re-shuffle the DISCARD PILE into a new DRAW PILE and start the next turn.

Here is the problem I am having:

The DRAW PILE and DISCARD PILE are not showing up on the main mapboard.

I have added the DRAW PILE(deck) and DISCARD PILE(deck) to the "Main Map (map window)" and then put a few test cards in the DRAW PILE folder. My cards are 200x286 png files. I save the edit and start the game. The mapboard appears and my toolbar buttons for PIECES, 1D6,1D20 and 2D6, ZOOM are across the top. No cards show anywhere. I am not sure where I have gone wrong. I did as you suggested and re-positioned the deck on the mapbaord but it doesn't show up after I start the game.

[capi3101]

Hmm...that sounds odd. Time to do some investigative diagnostics then. What I'd like for you to do is go ahead and open up your mod (Edit Module, of course) and go ahead and set it so the contents of the Main Board are visible (the little circle off to the side with the line attached; make it pointing down). Take a screenshot with <CTRL>-<PRT SCR>, open up MS paint (or whatever your standard OS graphics program is), paste the image and save it. I then want you to right-click on your Draw Deck, select properties and take a screenshot with that window open. Then do the same for your Discard deck. Then come back here, hit "Quick Reply", go into the FULL EDITOR and attach all those screenshots to your next post.

One other quick thing - on the Mask trait of your cards, do you have your card back image in both places? Kinda like what I've attached? If not, try that and see what happens.

(Incidentally, if you want to download Kerbal Card Program, crack it open and get ideas, go right ahead; it's my mod and I don't mind).

I apologize for all the "Is it plugged in" questions; I want to make sure everything is as it's supposed to be before we cry foul to the admins.

[capi3101]

Actually, it might be worth my while to post a screenshot of KCP's main board open like this. The "Parts Deck" is my game's draw pile, and the Main Board happens to also be named "Parts Deck" (bad name choice on my part). For your draw deck, you'll want it in with the Main Board, and you'll want to set it so that it belongs to whatever you've named your Main Board. Try setting up the rest of it like I've got (sans the position and sizing information) and see if that does the trick.

[rozar5]

Hi. Here are the screen captures. It's like the deck is there but under the mapboard image or invisible on top of it. I can randomly mouse click on sections of the map and sometimes I get a card to appear.

[rozar5]

Here is the other screenshot you requested....

[capi3101]

Okay...received your PM image of the Discard Pile, BTW, and it was large enough that I could read what was going on. The decks are in the right spot in the mod file (Under Main Map), that's good, and they both belong to the same board - which I'll assume is the name of your Main Board.

The draw pile commands look fine; there's some weirdness going on with the Discard pile, though. I'd set the reshuffle aspect to "Never". What exactly do you intend for the CTRL-H hotkey to do when the Discard pile empties?

Are you wanting cards that are drawn to go straight to the Discard Pile (i.e. no intermediate steps)? If so, go to your Main Map properties. Towards the bottom there should be an option that says "Key Command to Apply to All Units Ending Movement on This Map" - set it to CTRL-ALT-1, and I'll explain why in a moment.

At this point, we need to check the Traits of your cards. Each card should have the following Trait Set in this order from top to bottom:
1) Basic Piece - This contains the image with the card front on it and the card's in-mod name.
2) Mask - This will contain the image of the card back and let you set such fun things as whether or not you want a player to be able to "peek" at their card while hiding it from everybody else. You'll need the card back image on both the top and bottom if you want the card to actually be visible and available for drawing (see p. 53 of the Designer's Guide for what I'm talking about here).
3)Return To Deck - Set the Keyboard Command here to CTRL-R. This should catch the CTRL-R hotkey when it's thrown (either by the draw pile emptying out or when it's manually selected by a player). Set the destination deck to DRAW PILE.
4)Return to Deck - Set the Keyboard Command here to CTRL-ALT-1, and the destination deck to DISCARD PILE. What this will do is catch the Main Board's key command when a card is drawn. It does not matter where the card is released as long as it's released somewhere on the Main Board - when it's released, the board will send the command that automatically sends the card to the DISCARD PILE. This Trait is only necessary if you want drawn cards to go straight to the Discard pile without going anywhere else first, of course.

Bear in mind that if you have the DRAW PILE to throw a hot key when it's empty, that last card isn't going to be playable (it gets to the Discard pile, the Draw pile recognizes the fact that it's empty and sends the hotkey that returns all the cards to the Draw deck immediately). So depending on your rules, you might want to uncheck that box in your DRAW PILE.

I'm also thinking that you might have your DISCARD pile at least partially set underneath your DRAW pile. Take one of your example cards and go ahead and place it in the DISCARD pile for the time being, fire up your mod and see if you can see where it is. If you can see it sticking out from under the draw pile, you'll need to re-position one or both decks.

Try all that and see what happens. If you still have problems, there may be some layering issues going on.

[rozar5]

Thank you. I will try these suggestions. The CTRL-H thing was an exasperated attempt to get something to happen. I think I was brain dead by the time I did that.

[rozar5]

Everything seems to be working just right. I got the DRAW PILE and the DISCARD PILE in the correct position. I am now going to work on the AT START counter placement. After that comes the specific game play elements that make this a fun game instead of just a skirnish combat simulation. Capi3101, I REALLY appreciate the help you have provided.

[capi3101]

Glad to be of assistance. If you need any more help, feel free to ask. And if you do decide to distribute your mod when it's done, lemme know so I can try it out.

[rozar5]

Glad to be of assistance. If you need any more help, feel free to ask. And if you do decide to distribute your mod when it's done, lemme know so I can try it out.

You got it! It is a LOT of work and very time consuming. I need to work out the shortcuts that make creating counters and cards faster. I am still doing each one seperately. I am adding layers with the units condition shown - overwatch, wounded, etc. It's actually a bit of fun.