User:Kempeth/OCTGN

OCTGN which stands for "Online Card and Tabletop Gaming Network" is a family of computer programs used to play collectible card games over the internet. The programs allow its users to create and share sets and modules for any card game they wish to play. Both the original version of OCTGN and the new OCTGN 2 currently in development come with a built-in deck editor.

OCTGN 1
The original version of OCTGN is windows only application originally designed to play Magic the Gathering over the internet. Over time it has been adapted to allow other games to be played over it as well. The application includes the card playing client which allows the user to both host games or join existing servers, a deck editor and collection manager and a bundled IRC chat client enhanced with a feature to help connect to public servers.

The development has been discontinued in favor of the new OCTGN 2 version.

OCTGN 2
In early 2006 the development of a new version started. The goal was to shed the game-specific legacies that still lingered in the original version and also remedy other criticized points like the unconventional user interface. OCTGN 2 is developed on the .NET 3.5 platform and employs the windows presentation framework for it's graphical user interface. The design is completely game neutral and provides a custom XML schemata for the creation of game modules. On Silvester 2007 a first alpha version was released that allowed the card game "Blue Moon" to be played online. A second milestone was reached on September 28th 2008 with the release of a second alpha version now open to play any card game the users would create. Since then the software has been steadily improved with additional functionality and bug fixes largely based on user feedback.

Current Features

 * Game-neutral design
 * User Friendly Deck and Hand Interface
 * Versatile XML schemata to define card properties, card images (from JPG over PNG to HDP), card piles, game board, counters and actions.
 * Unbounded play area with manual and auto zoom
 * Intuitive targeting arrows between cards
 * Token creation
 * Two sided table (Mimics the way cards are layout out when played on a real table.)
 * Multiplayer (2+) capability
 * Built-in deck editor with multiple card searches
 * Distributed game engine that complicates cheating

Coming Features

 * Advanced card pile manipulation
 * Sorting and Searching piles
 * Grouping/Viewing of piles

Games, Sets and Decks
For legal reasons OCTGN does not come with any games included. Instead players create and share them through their personal websites, chat rooms or file hosting websites such as Filebeam. A game is divided into three different file types:
 * 1) The game modules (.o8g files) which describe the card properties, card back image, playing board, card piles available to the players, counters and actions.
 * 2) The card sets (.o8s files) which contain a collection of cards (images and card text) and optionally a number of decks. One such file usually contains one expansion of the game.
 * 3) Decks (.o8d files) which can come from the builder of the game files or be created by the users through the deck editor.

The following card games are currently know to be implemented on OCTGN 2:
 * Android: Netrunner
 * Blue Moon
 * EVE: the Second Genesis
 * Fight Klub
 * Hokuto Battle
 * Magic: The Gathering
 * The Spoils
 * Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
 * VS System
 * World of Warcraft