iOS/iPad/Mobile spellbook builder (photos of my work)

[sIKE]

Maybe I am in the minority but the screenshots he has shown look very rough. Its difficult to see how the app is meant to work, it doesn't look like an iOS app at all and the idea of having to save alphanumeric strings leaves me cold.

Not to insult and as you are the man I will tread lightly here. The alphanumeric string is as he describes, a way to share spellbooks. E-mail the string to a friend, bring it into the App (think about bump sharing with your Galaxy-S3/4) and you have a new built spell book. Total awesomeness!

I love the game, I love Arcane Wonders, but like it or not are very slow. If AW wants to build a online Card Reference and Spell Book Build, please do. But if it is going to take a year and you have a partner ready and willing....license it out for a year. AW is happy and the Community is happy. Same same with the IOS builder.

[pixelgeek]

The alphanumeric string is as he describes, a way to share spellbooks. E-mail the string to a friend, bring it into the App (think about bump sharing with your Galaxy-S3/4) and you have a new built spell book. Total awesomeness!

I suspect that there may be a cross-platform limitation with tool being used to develop it or maybe there is just no way to develop a simple way to email out a file from the app itself but any time you have to copy strings you provide room for error.

I love the game, I love Arcane Wonders, but like it or not are very slow.

I'm not sure what you are expecting from a company as small as Arcane Wonders but even someone the size of Privateer Press had to outsource development of a game tool for Warmachine.

If AW wants to build a online Card Reference and Spell Book Build, please do. But if it is going to take a year and you have a partner ready and willing....license it out for a year. AW is happy and the Community is happy. Same same with the IOS builder.

Licensing isn't as easy as you make it out to be.

I am sure that everyone is excited about the prospect of a cross-platform tool but I think that in this case everyone is getting more excited than warranted by a few screenshots.

[Cosworth]

I think we (the players) need to appreciate the complexities of managing intellectual property of a CG like Mage Wars. The company needs to strike a perfect balance between allowing "fair use" and giving up their copyright.
Fortunately this is a small company so the number of IP lawyers is probably very low (which is a good thing) but also invites caution on arcane wonders side because mistakes are easily made. All in all the best strategy for AW is to _not_ sanction any fan made app or program as it opens the door to trouble.

So what is an avid fan to do with an idea for a utility?
Go ahead and "publish" it as a non-profit fan made tool and be prepared for a cease & desist notice if it get's out of hand or threatens the business model of AW.

Unfortunately for Ipad's you can't publish stuff under the radar, but that's an entirely different discussion.

[Fentum]

Check out the love for the Xia Kickstarter on the geek and on KS. Open source boardgaming. Boardgamers do it for the love.

[pixelgeek]

So what is an avid fan to do with an idea for a utility?

I don't think that anyone wants to squelch a fan's love of the game. The problem is that if a company lets one fan have free reign with IP then it opens the door for other people, and perhaps less scrupulous people, to do the same.

A small company like AW spends a disproportionate amount of time and money on items like art and they have to be protected quite rigorously.

Work is underway on getting an online tool ready but the size of the team and the amount of other tasks means that this project is not moving forward as fast as fans would like.

I am one of them so trust me, I want this done probably as much as anyone else. :-)

[pixelgeek]

Check out the love for the Xia Kickstarter on the geek and on KS. Open source boardgaming. Boardgamers do it for the love.

It isn't open source per se, they have licensed parts of the game under a Creative Commons license. Catalyst Game Labs did that for their Leviathans game as well.

The folks behind Xia have a lot less invested in terms of art than a game like Mage Wars since they haven't had to create 100s of pieces of art for individual cards.

For Xia the benefit is that they allow people to create their own expansions and help to build and expand the audience for the game.

[Wiz-Pig]

Wow, that does look cool! Pixelgeek is right though, there is far less investment in the art of this game, not only in terms of quantity of pieces but also in terms of quality. I'm not sure that a modable system would be at all effective for a competitive strategy game like Mage Wars, but it seems like a great opportunity for inovation in the realm of multiplayer board games. Correct me if I am wrong, but even the idea of a Sandbox style board game sounds new and is one of the enabling factors in it being open to modding.

[Fentum]

I guess it depends what you mean by a sandbox boardgame.  There are a few that may qualify such as Civilisation, clash of Cultures, etc.

I also just found a site which has Mage Wars available on line on PC. It is down right now but looks interesting.

[pixelgeek]

I also just found a site which has Mage Wars available on line on PC. It is down right now but looks interesting.

Can you PM the URL to me?

Thanks

[Fentum]

I also just found a site which has Mage Wars available on line on PC. It is down right now but looks interesting.

Can you PM the URL to me?

Thanks

I don't know the URL but the site us called OCTGN. they have several on line card games up.

How about releasing a Vassal module for Mage Wars?

[pixelgeek]

How about releasing a Vassal module for Mage Wars?

We'd need to find someone with Vassal development experience.

[szendroib]

Personally I prefer OCTGN much more (for cardgames at least), and the guy's plugin is kind of playable already, you just have to do a lot of things for yourself. Or are you against OCTGN? (but than it would mean that Vassal is a no go aswell, right?)

[pixelgeek]

Or are you against OCTGN? (but than it would mean that Vassal is a no go aswell, right?)

Never used OCTGN as it is a Windows only app but the question was about Vassal and there appears to be an OCTGN plugin already.

[Fentum]

I'm a boardgamer much more than a card gamer, so I have never heard of OCTGN but I am very familiar with Vassal. In fact, Zun Tsu is probably the best option for Mage Wars. But, heck, I don't care as long as I can find a way to play Mage Wars on line.

I spent four hours today trying to get Mage Wars on  OCTGN to work , and finally succeeded. It is rough and clunky, but..

I CAN PLAY MAGE WARS ON LINE!

OUTSTANDING!

Pixelgeek - are you ok with me posting this more generally, or are you lukewarm to OCTGN?

[pixelgeek]

Pixelgeek - are you ok with me posting this more generally, or are you lukewarm to OCTGN?

I am not sure what the official Arcane Wonders line on OCTGN but I just view it as a way for people to continue to game and help expand the community so I am personally fine with it.