New Version

The only time that I use Windows awful calculator (calc.exe) is to figure out how many cards have been added to Forge.  The good news is MANY cards have been added, specifically 1,339 new cards and no that isn't a typo.  Forge now supports an outrageous 5,441 cards which is enough cards to keep (most) people happy for the rest of their life.

The reason for the huge number of new cards is twofold.  One, it has been about a month and a half since I posted a new version of Forge.  And two, Forge went through a major change in the codebase (source code) which is good because Forge can support more cards.  Thanks to everybody that helped with this difficult conversion.  The additional good news is that a large number of bugs have also been stamped out of existence.  (Forge still has a number of bugs but the number is far smaller.)

Chris H (from the forum) mentioned quite a few changes and here are a few of them.  (I'm quoting from Chris so I'm not stealing, its borrowing.  Hey, if he ever starts up a blog, he can "borrow" from me, ha.)  For a complete list of changes, see "changes.txt"

Rob Cashwalker added code that can display different images for cards that are included in multiple sets. There's a Image Base folder, by default {ForgeFolder}/res/pics, but you can change that in the forge.properties file. Under that, the three-letter set code as a folder, then the card_name.jpg. I'm giving some thought to also try the alternate mostly 2-letter code that the HQ archives use, if the other doesn't exist. Now supports pictures using MWS filenames and folders.  (mtgrares - For more details, post a question in the forums.)

Right now, there's no support for promo sets or duel decks. The primary impetus is to enhance the booster pack generation, (for draft and quest) with pictures being a somewhat secondary benefit.

Friar Sol added code that gives you and the computer access to the other phases that were missing in earlier versions. There is a pull down menu named "Phase Stop" that lets you turn off and on the various phase steps. The phase stop menu is available when using the new and the old GUI battlegrounds.  (mtgrares - Sounds good, many people have requested this feature.)

(Alright, back to mtgrares.)

OK, the good stuff, here are some of some of the unusual new cards that you can use.  Silent Arbiter (cost: 4, artifact creature, 1/5) which has "No more than one creature can attack each combat.  No more than one creature can block each combat." Scourglass (cost: 3WW, artifact) "tap, sacrifice Scourglass: Destroy all permanents except for artifacts and lands".  Platinum Emperion (cost: 8, artifact creature, 8/8) "You life total can't change.  You can't gain or lose life.  You can't pay any amount of life except 0".

And lastly, a card that will improve almost any deck, Pithing Needle. You probably own me 5 or 10 dollars since you don't have to buy a set of these yourself but I'll let it slide this time. :-)

On a side note, the decks that are named AI-something, means that the AI should be able to use the deck pretty well, since the AI has trouble using certain types of decks and cards.

Keep on tapping,

mtgrares

Link (11 MB) - Download Forge 11/30 version - The date 11/30 is when it was first released on the forum.

Card Pictures (150 MB) - Unzip these in your /res/pics/ directory.  These are the low quality (LQ) pictures. (This link has been fixed, sorry about the inconvenience.)

p.s. Magiccards.info is the bets place to view high-quality scans of Magic cards.  The card scans are much better than Gatherer.

--Many people helped with this version. A special thank you goes out to them:

Dennis Bergkamp

Rob Cashwalker

Friar Sol

Slapshot5

Sloth

Snacko

Hellfish

Zerker2000

Jeff Wadsworth

Silly Freak

PhoenixAvenger

Bladescape

Chris H