[Released] CCG Kit: create your own collectible card game with Unity

I have a question about zones.
It looks to me that zones always belong to a specific player. I mean, when you create a zone, each player will have a "copy" of it.
Can I create neutral zones? A single instance for all players? I would like to have a neutral deck zone where both players can draw from.

 

Not currently, but it is a great idea, thank you! I have registered it into the official roadmap.

 

Stupid question... This looks like it can handle large trading card type games, but could this be used to create just a normal poker/texas holdem game? I'm wanting to create a Texas Holdem game for my local poker group. I eventually want to use a large screen TV as the main table and the players would use tablets/phones for their hands and placing bets.

 

The kit is definitely focused on traditional CCGs so, while technically speaking you could adapt it to suit your needs, that would not be an officially supported use case. For a poker game you probably want a specific, simpler solution instead, because there is a lot of functionality in the kit that is not needed in such a game.

I hope this helps!

 

Awesome kit! I just wondered what your timeline looks like for the next release, I am trying to decide which way to go on some things and if you are pretty close, I'll wait for the update.

 

Thank you for your kind words!

My plan is to release the next update before Christmas. The focus of this update has been on the integration with Master Server Kit, and that work is fundamentally finished. Still a few little things here and there left to implement and document, but it is coming soon.

 

Hi, do we have a list of implementations of this awesome Kit? I'd really like to feel and play this kit.

 

Thank you for your kind words!

I am not sure I understand your question, could you please clarify what you mean with 'list of implementations'?

 

I think he (firegate666) is asking if there are any games that have been completed using the framework...

 

I know several users are working on their own games, but have no specific information about them (like links or videos). I would love to know more about them, so please feel free to share!

 

I wan't to create an effect that is based on current/runtime (not base) attribute value of a card that owns this effect.
How should I implement this? It seems I can't use variables in effect conditions.
The effect I want to implement is roughly that: when this card enters zone A, kill all cards in zone A and zone B that have attribute X lower than attribute X of this card.

UPD.
If I want add new features (effect types, triggers, etc.) to my game, how exactly should I do it? Inserting my code directly into your code seems like a bad idea, but C# doesn't allow to override enums (e.g. CardEffectConditionType) or to extend static classes (e.g. EffectResolver)

 

You will need to implement such an effect yourself. The accompanying visual editor is helpful to define many of them, but there will always be some that are simply best expressed in code (it is not really intended to be a complete visual programming language, with variables, conditions, etc.).

I definitely agree with your thoughts on mixing your code with the kit's code. After 0.8 is released, I want to look into ways of making things easier for customizing and extending the core functionality. Also, you can always contact me if you have any specific ideas; if they are generally useful they may be officially incorporated into the kit in a future update.

 

Question about the master server integration ... is the intent to also integrate what you have running inside nodejs there too?

 

The Master Server Kit integration revolves around the authentication and the matchmaking. There is no additional functionality planned beyond that. Related to this...

CCG Kit is the first asset I have released on the Asset Store and, after several months of development, I have learned a lot of things. The optional Node.js server that is currently included with the kit was born as an extra addition to the core kit that I thought could be beneficial for learning purposes, as a reference implementation on how functionality like authentication and database storage (which are common in CCGs) can be tackled. But it really has turned into a support "nightmare". For users that have no experience on this area, it is hard to setup and understand, while experienced users are running their own systems instead. Some users would prefer PHP instead of Javascript, others would prefer MySQL to MongoDB. Some users want to know how to upload the server to AWS, others to Digital Ocean, others to Heroku. I always do my best to help, but there are many things that are simply outside of the scope the kit. Even when the server has been always announced as an optional, example implementation included as a nice extra, all this has translated into a lot of effort devoted to supporting it. Effort that I feel would be best used in improving and extending the most important part of the kit: the CCG features.

I have decided that, starting with 0.8, the Node.js server will no longer be included with CCG Kit. I feel this is the best decision in terms of being able to devote more time to the core features of the kit in the future. Also, now that Master Server Kit has been released, users will have two clear paths to choose from:

- The default one, where you use Unity Services and player-hosted games. You download the kit, import it, setup a multiplayer project ID and click play.

- The one where you setup the kit on a dedicated server of your own. You can write your own authentication/matchmaking system, or you can use the included integration with Master Server Kit.

The game code is exactly the same for both, so users will be able to easily decide what they want to do depending on their experience and goals.

I believe this will also be much more understandable than the current default, because there will be an easy way to get up and running and a more complex one if you decide you want to host everything on your own server.

 

Thanks, that was helpful

 

Is it possible to give me some directions if i want to creat my own methods?

 

Please contact me at the support email with more details and your invoice number and I will be happy to help.

 

The latest update to CCG Kit (version 0.8) is now available on the Asset Store! These are the release notes of this version:

- Upgraded project to Unity 5.5.0.
- Added official integration with Master Server Kit for dedicated server setups.
- Win/loss conditions can now be specified in the visual editor.

I am personally very happy about this update, because it is the result of a lot of research work into providing better support for dedicated server setups in the kit (which has also generated a new, independent asset). The upcoming updates will be very much focused on the CCG side of things again, which also makes me very happy.

I hope you enjoy it!

 

I bought both of CCG and Master Server Kit.
Look like 0.8 "Added official integration with Master Server Kit for dedicated server setups." means CCG now can have rooms?
and also "Server-authoritative multiplayer by default" feature work? I need all of game logics can be calculated on Game Server not Clients. Is that correct?

 

Thank you for your purchase, Gunhi!

What the integration with Master Server Kit means is that you are now able to host your CCG Kit game on a dedicated server without writing your own, custom matchmaking system. The game logic of the kit has always been server-authoritative, so nothing has really changed in that regard (in fact, there are zero changes to the game logic in this update). The kit uses Unity Services, meaning player-hosted games, by default just because it is more convenient (as the setup is trivial and users can play right away).

Using Master Server Kit, the matchmaking calls used for Unity Services are replaced with custom ones that offer very similar functionality (create new public/private games, find and join existing games) but running on a dedicated server instead.

 

I want to update my work to 5.5 (gotta get those particle lights ) but I am currently using the Node.js method. I am sure I will get the Master Server kit as some point but can I still use the same method with this current version or are there some changes to that method?

 

The optional Node.js server has actually been removed from the kit starting from version 0.8. See a few posts above for the reasoning behind this decision.

Of course, you can still use it if you have it from a previous version, but it is not officially supported anymore.

 

So I can no longer test the demo game?

 

Yes, you can, just as always.

 

Okay now I'm confused

I had to use monodb and that .js file to get it working before...

Was I doing it wrong?

 

Everything works just as it did before. Only the functionality that was provided by the optional Node.js server (authentication, rankings, card packs) was removed.

 

I guess I need to get to my workstation and see exactly what I can do with this update but before I could not play the game until I used those two extensions... "authentication, rankings, card packs" was I going to over the top methods to play the demo before?

You had to login to play and you could not log in without monobd and the .js?

 

That was always optional, you have always been able to play as a guest without being logged in.

Let me be perfectly clear about this: the latest update of the kit (0.8) removes the optional Node.js server functionality. This means the following example functionality is no longer provided with the kit:

- Player authentication.
- Rankings.
- Card packs purchasing.

I explain the reasoning behind this decision in more detail a few posts above this one, but it all boils down to: it was too confusing for new users to understand and set up and caused a lot of support effort. Effort that I feel would be best devoted to the CCG side of the kit.

Also, the fact that the kit uses player-hosted games by default (leveraging Unity Services) but provided an optional server as an example of this type of functionality made many users think the games themselves were also running on that server. It was simply just too much information and too confusing for new users, and I felt that it would be much better to have the kit just work after being downloaded without any additional setup. More advanced users interested in having the kit run on a dedicated server setup can optionally use Master Server Kit (or write their own similar system) and go through that additional complexity voluntarily.

Of course, it is never easy to remove features (even optional ones). It is not at all my intention to upset you; I truly believe this is the best decision for the future of the kit. Regarding the removed features:

- The authentication can now be optionally handled with Master Server Kit.

- The rankings will be added to Master Server Kit in a future update, so they will also be available in CCG Kit via the official integration.

- The card packs purchasing is something I want to add in a future update, but as an "offline" example that is server-agnostic and requires no additional setup.

Hopefully this makes things more clear!

Thank you for your understanding.

 

LOL I was one of those people you had to support so I could set it up

I understand now. I imagine I'll pick up the Master Server in a week or two. Thanks for the great CCG framework

 

No worries at all, and thank you for your kind words and understanding! I am always happy to help.

I have learned that having too many setup steps and too many information initially can be daunting for new users.
So hopefully this is going to make it much easier to start using the kit, while at the same time allowing to go deeper with a more advanced setup if you want or need to.

 

There seems to be a lot of compile-time errors in the master server kit that is present in the asset store, did you also push an update of that asset to 5.5?

Some of the errors are:

Assets/CCGKit/Demo/Scripts/Game/DeckEditor/CardInfoWidget.cs(79,25): error CS1501: No overload for method `OpenAlertDialog' takes `1' arguments

Assets/CCGKit/Demo/Scripts/Game/DeckEditor/DeckEditorScene.cs(288,25): error CS0117: `WindowUtils' does not contain a definition for `OpenConfirmationDialog'

Assets/CCGKit/Demo/Scripts/Game/Game/GameScene.cs(47,20): error CS1061: Type `ChatDialog' does not contain a definition for `Hide' and no extension method `Hide' of type `ChatDialog' could be found. Are you missing an assembly reference?

 

It looks to me like you are importing the entire Master Server Kit into your CCG Kit project. As explained in the documentation, you should only import the Core folder and the Demo/Scenes/AuthServer and Demo/Scenes/Master Server folders.

 

While looking for various bits and pieces/solutions for my project I had no idea I'd actually find a CCG kit like this, let alone one of such high quality so that's very exciting-however I'd like to please ask some questions regarding the multiplayer before I get ahead of myself and purchase an asset I might not be able to use.


I use a visual programming asset 'flowcanvas' that has reflection for getting various actions and was just wondering based on how your systems have been developed do you think the functionality could be expanded/twisted about much?
For example if I were to want to have cards layout on a 3d field instead, etc, or is it, though documented, hard coded to a degree where you'd really need to be twisting about its core functionality to make something like that happen?

Reading that this has functional AI is just awesome, however is there any flexibility to it? For example could I give the AI a flexible priority list that made some card effects more desirable to get rid of than others, e.g. prioritize defeating an enemy with lifedrain over one that had an affect activate as it was summoned? But then also give a degree of priority based on the cards values?
Or may I ask for a general summary of how the AI functions?

Regarding the multiplayer solution via UNET you are using,
I'm concerned about the potential related costs relative to the potential growth of a game.
On their page ' https://unity3d.com/services/multiplayer ' it lists optimistically $3 per month for 500 concurrent users, but then in the details of the unity licenses, you'd have to subscribe for $125 a month for pro just to get 200 concurrent users?
Is there something there I'm missing? Would I need to be paying $125 a month + usage, and if you have done any testing with it-is there 50b/sec a fair estimate?
Just for imaginations sake, if I were to have a game that could reach 500 concurrent players, do you know what I'd be needing to afford that playerbase?

Regarding matchmaking, I saw on the video of the asset store that you were able to connect to what looked like a custom game. Would you be able to search available games or have a password for that? Also would you be able to have additional statistics available in that screen or after entering the game like a win/loss ratio, or I imagine that would require additional work like a server database for tracking unhackable player statistics?

 

@ SwiftIllusion
Well I also am working on a 3D CCG so that is at least 2 of us... Maybe David will get incentive to make this part of the kit?

A 3D demo would be much appreciated.

Any answers to getting this working in a 3D play field are at the top of my need to know list as well.

 

Thank you for your interest and your kind words!

I have no experience with FlowCanvas, so I do not know how feasible an integration with it would be. Having said that, it is highly recommended to have a knowledge of programming to use the kit.

There are three key parts to the kit:

- The visual editor, which is used to define the game, card and effect properties according to your game design. There are no hard-coded card types or attributes because the kit is intended to be flexible in that regard.

- The core library, which provides generally useful code that can be applied to a wide variety of CCGs and also access to the game information defined in the visual editor.

- The demo game, which provides a reference example on how to use the aforementioned utilities to build a complete game.

The kit tries to assume very little about your game and instead lets you configure its essential properties via the visual editor as much as possible. Having said that and, as mentioned before, programming knowledge (or having a programmer on your team) is definitely highly recommended because there are infinite variations on CCG mechanics and some are best expressed in code. Complete, documented source code for every component of the kit is included, so you can always modify it as needed. How easy that will be is something I cannot answer myself, as it will really depend on your familiarity with programming.

The core of the kit is representation-independent, meaning it can be used with both 2D and 3D visuals just fine.

Currently, the single-player mode is an example of how this type of functionality can be implemented within the context of the kit. Rather than being a special case in the codebase, it uses exactly the same networking code that is used for multiplayer (only locally instead). The current AI tries to make reasonable choices, but it is very very simple. A more flexible AI framework is something I want to implement at some point.

As far as I know (see here), the CCU on each of the available Unity tiers are only provided for development purposes. Once you go live, you pay $0.49/GB. I do not have exact numbers for the kit, because they will really depend on the game, but generally speaking multiplayer turn-based card games only send data through the network at very specific times (the start/end of a turn, when a card is played, etc.) so the bandwidth consumption should be much lower than other types of games.

Also, you do not strictly need to pay for Unity Services if you do not want to. You can run the kit on your own dedicated server if you write your own matchmaking system or use the provided integration with Master Server Kit. See my answer on this thread for some thoughts on the "Unity Services vs. a dedicated server" debate.

You can create public and private games, join them and also have the option to 'play now' (which will join the first available game or create a new one if none is available). You could implement more advanced forms of searching/filtering, but this is not included by default because it is very game-specific.

Regarding statistics, they make more sense with a dedicated server setup than with Unity Services (with player-hosted games, a hacked host could easily manipulate them). If you use the kit in conjunction with Master Server Kit, you have facilities for storing player properties in a database. You could easily use this for keeping track of win/loss stats in a secure way.

 

Noted!

Please note that the kit is not tied to any specific visual representation, so you can use it with both 2D and 3D just fine. Only the accompanying demo game is 2D and you can use it as a reference if you want to go 3D. The DemoProxyCard and DemoNetworkCard classes are your best starting points for anything related to the visual representation of the cards themselves. If you take a look at their SetCardData method, where the images and labels are populated from the card's data, it should be very easy to adapt the code to be used with a 3D model instead.

 

I imagine a good programmer can make quick work of it... I'm more artist than programmer.

A 3D Demo would go a long way with people of my skill type

Honestly the exact same game as the current demo but in 3D

GUI cards (panels) moving in 3D space (from a Canvas).

 

Ya I had that problem too. Is there a way on your end to have the other stuff not checked by the importer?

I started a new project and was about to just include the CCG Kit and Master Server Kit then realized I had no control over what does not get in unless I install Master Server Kit afterwards.

BTW Master Server Kit is a Great thing. I would rather set up a server on my own and just add servers as more people play keeping the cost and control in my own hands

 

I cannot say it is coming soon, but I agree with you in that it would be a nice thing to have at some point.

 

As far as I know, that is not something I can control directly. What I will try to do is to rearrange things a bit so that this does not happen in the first place.

In the meantime, just importing the required parts of the kit (or removing the unnecessary parts afterwards) should be easy enough.

And thank you! Happy to know the kit is being helpful.

 

Followed the instructions and integrated the master server (Thanks for that). But, when I run the game, and select single player, I get a popup that says "waiting for game to start..." with a back to lobby button. Any ideas what the issue could be?

 

Thanks so much for the incredibly thorough response ! It's all very helpful and appreciated.

Thanks a lot for that breakdown. It'd be awesome to have a programmer available but regrettably I've attempted it many times and reaching a point where I couldn't store all the information required to program, but I can functionally understand it enough to be fine with visual programming tools.
As flexible as it sounds, it looks like it might just be out of reach for me, especially if I wanted to pull it into 3d space by the sounds of it too.

Sounds like the AI is well enough for the entry point then and to branch off it later if the game grows its audience which is nice.

Thanks for that thread, I've read it a few times and think it could be infinitely clearer, especially on the site where their services are offered, but I kind of get it now, even though I don't know how they'd know/interpret 'live' for a game to change the method of charging.
Similar to your debate I think starting off direct connections/peer to peer or using unity's servers would be ideal for the initial playerbase flexibility any non-AAA dev needs regarding a potential flop or massive growth of users, but it's great that your Master Server Kit is available for anyone that can break through that initial stage.

That's an awesome amount of matchmaking functionality available. It's so frustrating to see online games that obviously need private games for friends not include them, so great that you've had that forethought.

Thanks again for your awesome response, regrettably though I desire a lot of what is here, especially the functional multiplayer, I'm not confident I'd be able to tap into it in a way that would give me access to the gameplay design structure I'm looking for, but it's clear there's a lot of good stuff here so thanks for the awesome asset and goodluck with it in the future ^^!
If I can't end up finding the individual elements I need or want a good reference point though I'll be looking to this immediately so keep up the good work .


Side note: the link for "player server" in the documentation http://www.spelltwinegames.com/ccgkit/documentation/editor/
"A card rarity indicates the chance that card has of appearing in a card pack (see player server)." leads to "oops! that page cannot be found".

 

You are welcome!

Single-player mode is working just fine on my end. The waiting popup is there for a few seconds, after which the game against an AI opponent starts automatically. Are there any errors on your console?

 

You are welcome! And thank you for your kind words.

Thank you! I just fixed it.

 

No Messages at all.

The game starts to play, but the waiting for game never goes away.

Do I need to start the server separately?

 

There is no need to start a server separately, just click on the 'Single-player game' button and everything is setup automatically for you. I assume this is happening with no changes on your side? In that case, can you try increasing the waiting time for the AI opponent to be added to the game to a higher value (the default is 1.5 seconds)? You can find this value in the Start method of the GameScene class.

 

It just occurred to me that maybe you still have the USING_MASTER_SERVER_KIT preprocessor define enabled on your player settings. Is that the case? You need to remove it when playing through the default lobby (the one that uses Unity Services instead of Master Server Kit).

 

Correct, no changes on my side. Just imported the packages and followed the instructions.

I changed the timeout to 10 seconds, no change in behavior.

From inside the editor is it supposed to actually start the GameServer.Exe process? I don't see it in the task manager.

 

Yes it is defined.

So if I understand what you are saying, playing single player doesn't actually use the master server currently? So, do I need to deploy the master server using the instructions to be able to run without using the unity services for the lobby and matchmaking; or is that a completely separate work effort where I will need to replace the lobby with an implementation similar to what you have in the master server kit?

 

I am not sure I follow. The single-player mode is only available in the default lobby, not the Master Server Kit one. So it really has nothing to do with the GameServer.exe binary spawned if you are using Master Server Kit.