Fantasy Grounds as a 2 player or Vs. game.

[grimm182]

Question for the code monkeys...it there a reasonable possibility of having FG use a card system (much like an adventure deck) where the player(s) and the host(GM) draw cards but can't see the others until revealed by their owner?

In this fashion cards are dealt to GM and Player(s) and they would not see which cards the other(s) were dealt.

If this was doable, then some totally new games could be played with a generic ruleset.

[Willot]

Wasnt there some sort of card based mod thing done awhile back? .....or did I dream it?? mmmmm???

[damned]

it cant be done right now as i dont think players can own and share images but i believe that this could be coded as an extension...

[Moon Wizard]

Cards could be done as icons, so you wouldn't have to worry about sharing.

Zeus wrote a port of Three Dragon Ante quite a while back, but couldn't release it due to lack of licensing. I think he posted some screen shots too.

Cheers,
JPG

[Zeus]

Yes as MoonWizards says Cards games can be supported by FG. For TDA and for 4E Fortune Cards, I opted to use tokens to symbolise the deck cards and cards in a players hands, double clicking the token revealed a full size image of the card. I believe SavageWorlds uses a similar approach for Wild Cards.

Having said that Doug, MoonWizard and I have recently been discussing how we can potentially better support Cards for the next major version of FG (Unity). We haven't established the full design yet but you can be assured Cards are on our list of improvements to introduce.

[damned]

Cards could be done as icons, so you wouldn't have to worry about sharing.

Zeus wrote a port of Three Dragon Ante quite a while back, but couldn't release it due to lack of licensing. I think he posted some screen shots too.

Cheers,
JPG

Game mechanics cant be copywritten right?
Can you release a version of 3 Wyrm Bet?

[grimm182]

Having said that Doug, MoonWizard and I have recently been discussing how we can potentially better support Cards for the next major version of FG (Unity). We haven't established the full design yet but you can be assured Cards are on our list of improvements to introduce.

Well, I have a couple of projects that would benefit from this, so if you need someone (or a game) to test then let me know.
I would be happy to help out.

[Griogre]

Game mechanics cant be copywritten right?
Can you release a version of 3 Wyrm Bet?

True but its trickier with card games because the cards are art and copyrightable as are the rules so you would have to make up a deck of your own art that isn't similar enough to be considered a knock off in court but is similar enough for you users to make the connection to the original rules or cards. That's a pretty fine line.

Dealing cards, shuffling cards, flipping cards, trading cards, discarding cards, forcing others to discard, drawing from a deck or discard pile, etc, are not copyrightable and would be great addition to FG, I'd love to play some of the old West End games that had a drama deck.

[Nylanfs]

And plus you would have to have the money to prove in court that your stance on the mechanic's aren't copyrightable.

[Trenloe]

And plus you would have to have the money to prove in court that your stance on the mechanic's aren't copyrightable.
As long as you're sticking to purely mechanics this is spelled out on the US Copyright Office website: https://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

Don't use artwork, don't use "written text" (base statistics are OK, but descriptions aren't). So, as an example, you could have: "Leather Armour, AC: +1", but couldn't include any description of the armour, as the description would be seen as "literary form", but the stats would be game mechanics.

Of course, a particularly persistent company with lots of money to spend on lawyers could contest even a clear law, hoping that it never gets to court where the law would actually be applied correctly. Which is what I guess you're referring to Nylanfs?

[Nylanfs]

Until the attack lawyers send a C&D yes. Look up the term Copyright &/or Patent troll. :(

[damned]

Court costs a lot of money - particularly when you wont win.

[Griogre]

Courts also cost a lot of money - *even* when you win.