Cockatrice - intended as successor to MWS

[CorwinB]

This is a fantastic program that I've been using for the deckbuilding module. Thanks a lot for the hard work !

[merfolkOTPT]

If you are looking for some feedback on the Mac version / interface in general I have a couple comments.

First in the Deck Editor, there should be a way to remove cards from the decklist.  Secondly, having the a resize button that does something besides fill the whole window would be nice (this refers to the third button on the top of windows in OS X marked with a plus). If there were multiple ways to search or something like the functionality of a search in itunes, searching for instances of the input string, not just leading edge instances would be nice.  Lastly, in the deck editor mode at the top of the screen there is a sets menu with an option edit sets, this opens a window that cannot be closed in the mac version.

[mbruker]

Hi,
thanks for your comments.

First in the Deck Editor, there should be a way to remove cards from the decklist

That is the purpose of the "remove row" button. Is that button not displayed on your machine?

having the a resize button that does something besides fill the whole window would be nice

What do you mean by "fill the whole window"? I've never used OSX, it would be nice to learn about it. What would the button do if it worked like it should?

multiple ways to search or something like the functionality of a search in itunes

Being worked on.

this opens a window that cannot be closed in the mac version

Why can't it be closed?

[CorwinB]

Hello Mbruker,

Do you know when the crystalkeep lists will be updated to include Zendikar card files ? I really prefer using Cockatrice to OCTGN for deck building, but as of now, Cockatrice can't handle Zendikar cards...

[mbruker]

I'm afraid I don't know that. However, the enormous delay has made me think about whether we should import from Gatherer directly. Although it's somewhat more complicated, it could prove useful in the future. What is dangerous about that is the possibility that Wizards could silently change their output format, but I guess we can't do anything about that...

[merfolkOTPT]

Hi,
thanks for your comments.

First in the Deck Editor, there should be a way to remove cards from the decklist

That is the purpose of the "remove row" button. Is that button not displayed on your machine?

No as far as I can tell there in no such button, however, hitting the delete button on the keyboard works (so maybe not an issue?)

having the a resize button that does something besides fill the whole window would be nice

What do you mean by "fill the whole window"? I've never used OSX, it would be nice to learn about it. What would the button do if it worked like it should?

If it worked properly it would work like the resize button in windows going back and forth between two sizes, preferably one being preset as half screen size or something.  I meant fill the whole screen when I said window.

multiple ways to search or something like the functionality of a search in itunes

Being worked on.

this opens a window that cannot be closed in the mac version

Why can't it be closed?

There is no x button or anything to close it.  On a mac the top of each window has 3 buttons the left most closes the middle resizes and the right most minimizes.  The window mentioned here has no buttons.  Further it has no menus (file>stuff or Edit>stuff) at all.  So I can see no way to close the window.

[noisome]

Has this been compiled on Linux by anyone?

If so, what distro and what were the steps?

I'm downloading and installing the QT dev kit now to see if it will compile.

Thanks for the efforts.  Please keep up the good work and keep this free.  I will donate if you have something on your page.

Noisome

Edit: I have tried autoconf against cockatrice.pro with no luck.  I have tried gcc main.cpp and it says a bunch of Qblah stuff and errors out, so I'm just a n00b at compiling.

Edit2: Compiling now.  I had to download from: http://qt.nokia.com/downloads/

Download the Qt SDK.  Install it and open it.  Click File/Open and go to the Cockatrice GIT download directory, and click on Cockatrice.pro.  Then build.

Thanks!

[mbruker]

The qt development packages should be available on all distributions via the respective package manager. There is no need to download the SDK manually.
In fact, Cockatrice is being developed on Linux, so there should be no problems.

[miseiler]

For Arch Linux users, the package can now be found in the AUR: http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=31133

Absolutely fantastic that you're doing this. I've only played around with it briefly, but I really like what I see so far. It's already more mature than Scroll Rack, the only other cross-platform open-source MWS variant of which I am aware. Plus, it's in active development

[noisome]

The qt development packages should be available on all distributions via the respective package manager. There is no need to download the SDK manually.
In fact, Cockatrice is being developed on Linux, so there should be no problems.

Okay, I just didn't know the steps to solve this issue.  I asked this question on your forum and this is the procedure to get it compiled for those who don't know:
Run the following from the console:

Code:

lrelease cockatrice/cockatrice.pro
lrelease oracle/oracle.pro
cd cockatrice
qmake
make
cd ../oracle
qmake
make

However I get a "Segmentation Fault" using "oracle" in Linux.  I can supply the strace and make logs if needed.

The "cockatrice" program works properly though.  Thanks!

EDIT:
I figured out the Segmentation fault with the oracle program.
I did the following:

mkdir ~/cockatrice/oracle -p
mkdir ~/cockatrice/bin -p
mkdir ~/cockatrice/pic -p
Copied the cockatrice and oracle binary files to the ~/cockatrice/bin/ directory.
Copied the sets.xml to the ~cockatrice/oracle/ directory.

Then go to the bin directory and run "oracle".  It should gather all the cards.
Enter into the cockatrice program and go into settings.  Change the Path to Cards Database to  ~/cockatrice/oracle/cards.xml. Change the pictures directory to ~/cockatrice/pics.  If you don't do the pics directory you will get a segmentation fault.


Thanks again.

[CorwinB]

Zendikar Oracle files are available on Crystalkeep.
You can add them to Cockatrice by adding the following to the sets.xml files (in the Oracle folder), before the </cockatrice_setdatabase> tag.
<set>
            <name>ZE</name>
            <longname>Zendikar</longname>
            <url>http://www.crystalkeep.com/magic/rules/oracle/oracle-ze.txt</url>
</set>

Then run oracle.exe again.

[mbruker]

I managed to rewrite the oracle importer so that it can download the cards from Gatherer directly. This fixes cards like Fire/Ice and Erayo as well. The code is in the git repository, a precompiled version for Windows is coming soon.

[Gekoratel]

Is this going to be able to pit Mac users against Windows users once it is completed.  Either with a direct connection or by trying to find games, thanks.

[mbruker]

The OS you're using doesn't matter to the protocol, so you can play against whomever you like. However, direct connections are not possible at the moment. That feature will be implemented eventually, but keep in mind that you can only play against a trusty opponent that way since whoever opens the server can look at all hidden information if he really wants (by changing something in the source code of the server).

[noisome]

Is this going to be able to pit Mac users against Windows users once it is completed.  Either with a direct connection or by trying to find games, thanks.

So far Gekoratel, I have play Linux vs Windows, so I'm sure Mac will work too.

Anyone have a compiled Mac version yet?  I would like to have a compiled version so I can pass it to a few friends.

Thanks!

[mbruker]

Anyone have a compiled Mac version yet?

I'd be happy to provide precompiled packages for Mac, but I don't have one. As the project grows, hopefully there will be somebody who will volunteer to do that.

A new version is out. Most changes are not directly visible, but the update is necessary so that the server will let you in again (it does a compatibility check so that there are no syntax errors while playing). The next update will provide working arrows. In fact, they partly work already, but they won't disappear again.

[The Atog Lord]

mbruker,

First, thank you very much for your work on this. The idea of an open source MWS project is very interesting.

I know that I should have done so earlier, but I finally downloaded and installed the program just now.

I have a few comments, entirely based on usability. I don't intend these to belittle your efforts -- please take these only as suggestions for improving your program.

First, I found that the constantly-shifting table was very jarring. Every time I drew a card, the other cards in my hand would shift around. And when either player searched his library, the entire table would dance around. It was fairly distracting.

I also found myself putting counters on things by accident. In MWS, I make heavy use of the keyboard shortcuts. And I applaud your keeping the mapping of the shortcuts the same. However, the 'move to graveyard' shortcut being changed kept confusing me. I wonder if being able to set these shortcuts under the preferences would be a bad idea.

I also kept finding myself typing and not seeing my text showing up on the input box. I'd suggest that, when text is entered that isn't doing anything else, and there's no right-clicking or control being pressed, that the text box be given focus. If nothing else, letting the 'tab' key bring focus to the text box would be a good idea.

Finally, and above all else: the placement of the OK button. In both Mac OS and Windows, the 'cancel' button is the one found on the lower right side. That is not, however, the case in this program. When I accidentally clicked 'f2' during a game, I tried to dismiss the 'new game' dialogue by clicking what I thought would be the 'cancel' or 'exit' button. Instead, it was the OK button and I accidentally ended the game.

Again, please take these comments as suggestions for improving the software, and by no means criticisms of your efforts. I appreciate how difficult designing good interfaces is, and how it is a process often challenging to an entire group of developers, not just one person.

[mbruker]

Rich,
thanks for your suggestions.

I found that the constantly-shifting table was very jarring. Every time I drew a card, the other cards in my hand would shift around.

These are two different matters. I realize that the shifting of cards in your hand is something many people dislike, and I can see why. However, when you organize your hand vertically, the shifting yields a great improvement of clarity because you can see a much larger area of each card at very little cost. For that reason, I don't see the possibility of reverting to the strictly vertical arrangement. However, many people seem to prefer a horizontal arrangement anyway, so I'm going to make that configurable. If you choose horizontal arrangement, there is no need for cards to be shifted. The reason why the hand was arranged vertically in the first place was that I wanted to maximize the zoom onto the play area and minimize the free (black) space in the window. With that in mind, the aspect ratio of most monitors favors a vertical arrangement.
As for the shifting of the table, I would welcome a suggestion on how that should be done. The current solution provides an arbitrarily large play area with the maximum possible zoom level, though I agree with you on the point that it can be annoying when it shifts all the time. Additionally, a friend of mine recently discovered that you can keep moving a card beyond the border of the area, making the zoom level smaller and smaller so that your opponent has a hard time playing as he can't properly recognize or even click the cards any more. I wonder how these issues could be fixed, apart from the obvious method of setting a size constraint.

And when either player searched his library, the entire table would dance around. It was fairly distracting.

What do you mean by 'either player'? The scene is not supposed to be resized when your opponent searches his library.

I wonder if being able to set these shortcuts under the preferences would be a bad idea.

Not at all. In fact, this suggestion has been made multiple times, and it will be implemented eventually.

When I accidentally clicked 'f2' during a game, I tried to dismiss the 'new game' dialogue by clicking what I thought would be the 'cancel' or 'exit' button.

Most dialogs work like you would expect them to. The 'new game' dialog is another thing because it belongs to the first experimental version of the code and hasn't been changed since. At the moment, the dialog cannot be dismissed and thus has only one button. It needs a complete rewrite, along with sideboarding features. I also want to be able to save deck files on the server when I'm logged in with a password. All this still needs some days of consideration and will be released together in one update as there will be some protocol changes necessary. Protocol changes force users to update (the server does a version check), which I try to do as rarely as possible.

Edit: I always wondered if 'Atog' was pronounced 'Attog' or 'Aytog'.

[miseiler]

Suggestion: Mulligans

Also, it seems silly to have to connect to a server when goldfishing..

[mbruker]

Mulligans have been implemented in the current git version.
The protocol is undergoing a complete redesign. After that, a transparent local server can be implemented without much effort or new code so that you can goldfish without connecting to a remote server. Expect that to take a few more days though.

[noisome]

Looking forward to it.  Anyone here play on Cockatrice regularly?  I've only been able to get one game on the server.

[AmbivalentDuck]

That's really the issue: we don't have critical mass on players such that we can regularly find games.

Btw, all can feel free to IM me requesting a game (see my profile for contact info).  I'm almost always up for one and I have it working on both of the OSes I use.

[miseiler]

Bugs:
Lim-Dul's Vault is for some reason not classified as an instant
Pictures aren't auto-downloaded for looking at cards from a decklist (say, that you got online), only for looking at cards in the whole library
Pictures aren't auto-downloaded for Portal/Starter cards
Restarting the game doesn't reset the client's library/yard/exile counts until something affects them, say by drawing a card/saccing something

I love this program.

[mbruker]

Thanks for the bug report.
Lim-Dul's Vault is not classified as an instant because there is no card with that name. The name of the card is Lim-D$l's Vault where you have to replace the $ with a u with a caret over it. I don't know how to write that on a keyboard. You can find it in the deck editor though
The problems with the auto-downloader will be checked. I thought I had fixed everything, but apparently not.
The bug mentioned last has been known for a long time, and it's really tricky because it doesn't seem to be in the program. The items are told to update themselves, but they just don't do it. Strangely, the same thing happens when you draw cards/whatever with a zone view open. I'll fix that eventually, but it's going to take a whole day.

[cpmckinn00149]

Hi Max,
Sorry for the double-post (I posted on the forum on the website as well), but the program looks really neat and I'm anxious to get it working. I downloaded the latest windows binary for my 32-bit vista computer, and while the main program seems to work, and the oracle importer starts fine, when I click on "start download," the buttons go gray and I soon get a window that pops up that says HTTP in the title bar and "Error" as the only text. I checked that it had permission through the windows firewall and it seems to, and I quickly ran out of ideas.

Any thoughts?
Thanks a lot.

[cpmckinn00149]

Hello again,
Resolved the issue. I was connecting to the internet through a proxy server on-campus, and once I connected through a VPN I was able to get the cards through the oracle importer.

[mbruker]

Hi,
sorry for the empty error message, that issue reminds me to fix that. I see no point in implementing proxy server support though because the game itself will not work through a proxy server.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Having tried to use cockatrice a few times...here are the biggest issues I see:

1) SBing is a must-have.
2) The 'snap to' grid is really f-ing annoying.  Make it possible to turn off.  I want my lands positioned the way *I* like to see them.
3) P/T changes, useful token creatures (with shortcut!), and replication of cards (ie for jitte counters).


Recommended tweaks:
1) When viewing a library, sort by default.  Sort by card type, THEN name.
2) The first time cockatrice is run, run oracle if necessary.  Be able to raise a server flag that will prompt to run oracle when a new set is released.
3) Make it possible to select among available arts.  I already have Gatherer parsing code that does this for my cube, PM if you want it.
4) Leave hooks for an AI.  This may require opt-in deck/play decision harvesting for AI training.  I'm happy to write/host/analyze this.  The ability to test against nearly optimally piloted netdecks on a whim is a killer app.
5) Automatic tracking of storm seems useful (trivial to count how many non-lands entered the battlefield zone this turn).

[miseiler]

I'm sorry, it seems to be just those Portal cards with 's in their name, like "Nature's Ruin" and "Virtue's Ruin," that refuse to download card pics.

[mbruker]

AmbivalentDuck, thanks for your suggestions.
1) I know that sideboarding is important, but please be patient as the protocol is undergoing a complete redesign to facilitate that, and along with it server-based decklist managing. As soon as that is finished, there will be support for server-less playing as well, and other things people have been asking for.
2) The fact that you can arrange your lands how you like without that information being contained in the protocol was considered important during early development. I think we're both saying the same thing, however, there may not be enough arrangement modes at the moment so that the one you want is not there. Essentially, for everybody, there has to be a function which maps the "land index" (1,2,3) to a point on the table (and backwards). The purpose of this is not only that your opponent sees *your* lands how *he* likes (that is only a side effect), but that you can double-click on cards in your hand, placing them on the table at the right point (which is determined by the aforementioned index) with regards to your arrangement preferences. That being said, how would you like your lands to be placed? If you want just the horizontal arrangement like the other table rows have it, you can already have that by unsetting that checkbox in the settings dialog. I'm sorry if I misunderstood what you said.
3) of course

tweaks:
1) Good idea! I'll make that configurable though. Keep in mind that Cockatrice is not meant solely for playing Magic; at least we have to say that
2) Again, good idea.
3) If you have card pictures installed, you can already do that by changing the order of the sets (there is a separate window for that accessible through the deck editor). Maybe it can be extended so that you can sort the sets for each card individually.
4) I think this could be a VERY difficult task. However, it would technically be possible to implement that via the existing client code. The protocol code (but only the new one, which is not ready for release yet) is encapsulated in classes, which can easily be used by another program. Decision harvesting could be done by joining a game as a spectator and gathering all the events. Of course, you need to be able to look at one player's hand to do that (which spectators cannot do at the moment for obvious reasons), but I don't regard that a major concern.
5) This is a very Magic-specific thing, and it is also very prone to counting errors. Resolving Fact or Fiction will add anything from zero to five to your storm count, for example. While it might be a useful feature, I'm afraid of implementing too many details of the game rules. However, the thing about free software is that my opinion on any feature is irrelevant as soon as the community wants to have it (since you could just write it yourself if I didn't do it). So I'm always happy to discuss such issues.

I think that for further development, it has to be clear whether Cockatrice should be like MWS or like MTGO. I've already been "borrowing" a lot of good, non-game-specific ideas from MTGO, though I feel it would be nearly impossible to write a correctly working rules engine.