Installation
Keeping in line with my “noobs-friendly” vision, installing OCTGN 2.0 is a breeze. It could hardly be easier.
OCTGN.net is built with Microsoft .NET 2.0. The 2.0 version is very new, so it’s probable that you don’t have it yet. If that’s the case, you can just go to Ms website to download it and install it. There should be no problem installing this framework. Microsoft is pushing this technology forward, and every new OS is shipped with .NET installed. So as time goes by, more and more people will have it installed by default.
Once you have .NET on your computer, installing OCTGN is just matter of copying the files somewhere on your hard drive. Yep, that’s it, nothing more. OCTGN 2.0 does not write to your registry, or put DLLs in your windows\system directory, or anything of that kind. Neither does it need things like the VB6 runtimes, the Jet Driver, or MDAC components. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you are very lucky. Lots of users had headaches with those when installing OCTGN 1.x.
No more so…
jods
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OCTGN.net development 
January 17, 2006 at 5:38 pm
Wow, thats awesome. I mean everytime I decide to install OCTGN, its a matter of extracting the full RAR patch (whihc takes a good 10 minutes), installing the software (2 minutes), installing the full RAR patch (15-20 minutes), and then installing all the minor patches (2 minutes). You have just cut a 20 minute intall down to the time it takes to copy files from a cd/dvd, this is great news, however minor it may be in the grand scheme of things, simplicity and headache free installation is always welcome. Great work jods!
January 17, 2006 at 5:40 pm
whoops! meant to say a 30+ minute install down to a few minutes 🙂
January 17, 2006 at 6:40 pm
I guess my initial goal with this post was to say that OCTGN.net has very little dependencies (only .NET) and doesn’t mess with your system. Which is a great improvement over the current version.
Rob, you seem to have understood it in a rather different way, thinking about the time needed to install one system. So let me tell you more about it.
Right now, there are several ways to install games and cards, and I don’t know how it’s exactly going to turn out. Probably a mix between all possibilities.
On a fresh install (i.e. with no game at all), you can import game definition files into OCTGN, and card sets files. One good thing here is that you can import several sets in one click, which avoid the situation where you have to import 10+ sets one after the other, and just makes the whole process faster. How fast is importing a set compared to OCTGN 1.x, I can’t tell for sure right now, although I would say from my experiments that the process is ‘pretty fast’.
There also is an option to distribute pre-installed OCTGN.net games. In that case, you can just copy a few files on your hard drive, and you have a complete working game installation. I guess that’s pretty cool.
Finally, once you have an installation with all your favorite games and cards, it is possible to copy the whole installation to a CD or DVD. Later, you can deploy your whole OCTGN (core, game and cards), just by copying your disc to any hard drive. As simple as that.
Don’t forget that there are physical limits which can’t be broken. When installing a game, you have to copy all the pictures, and this can’t be faster than the time your hard drive needs to write them and your source drive to read them…
January 27, 2006 at 6:09 am
So…if you’re running multiple CCGs on your computer, you would be able to have a seperate OCTGN2 folder for each one, with no conflicting registries? Sounds good.
Of course, I don’t know if you’re planning on the “multiple CCG” front….if you can switch back and forth easily(with different cardbacks, themes, etc), then all the better.
Discord
January 27, 2006 at 7:31 pm
Thanks for leaving a comment Discord!
I’m going to write about the points you mentionned very soon… Probably the next time I’m posting, or the post after that.
So please bare with me!
jods
January 28, 2006 at 1:13 am
i agree, being able to select ‘mods’ would be ideal, instead of integrating it all into one db (or having to copy / paste dbs). But I”m sure jods is already all over this point. on another note, which is not really on topic: I think the server should control the ‘table’ background. This will allow the server who is hosting a game to load specific table images, for example: say we created a board game, and had little tokens as game pieces, being able to set the table background would be good. This also gives the user a feel of ‘visiting’ the host to play a game. Also, for the case of CCG’s, each player should have cardbacks that they choose visible. Again jods, I feel that my comments are useless, as I’m sure you’ve already had these in mind.
January 28, 2006 at 2:51 am
Well, if individual folders work(which they should with no registry), then that’s nice and simple. But if it’s easily switchable, that’s even better as it’s a little more professional-looking.
Also, in regards to backgrounds and board games….
* When you release OCTGN 2.0, make it LOOK as impressive as possible. My themed OCTGN 1.0 looks at least twice as good as the original default. For instance,I think it should have defaulted to that Wood Background it shipped with.
* I agree with Rob. The OPTION for Servers to enforce backgrounds/boards is good. Think of the money we could make selling advertising space! 🙂
* Seriously though, I’ve just thought about it some more…..and now I disagree. (I’m like that) Players can easily load any game-related backgrounds they need, and enforcing backgrounds could lead to abuse…i.e. pornographic backgrounds.
* DISCORD CCG won’t need a specific background, but my next project( STRIFE ) will. It’ll also need card-shaped rectangles on the background that will stay the same size as the cards regardless of resolution/zooming. 🙂
Keep up the good work…
Discord
January 28, 2006 at 7:45 am
Well I think by default it should be enforced, but a setting to ignore would be good i suppose. The problem with a user loading the backround he needs is resolution. I don’t know how 2.0 will run, but often my OCTGN theme gets warped/stretched when connecting to various servers. If your trying to play a boardgame, this wouldn’t work, because the objects on the table wouldn’t neccessarily be in the same places on both user’s PC. I guess it all depends on how the game table is implemented.
January 28, 2006 at 12:48 pm
About those backgrounds…
I don’t think the server will ever force a background. It’s probably better if we let each user free to choose the background they prefer. And if you play a game that needs a specific background, you can set it yourself!
Speaking about backgrounds that are needed for games, it’s a bit tricky. I’m still not sure how it will be done. You need to know that there’s another feature which devs would like to have, and which conflicts with the background. This feature is the ability to resize the table. Make it another aspect ratio, or make the cards bigger/smaller.
It’s a nice feature because it helps you use your screen space at best. Do you play a 2 player Magic ? Make cards big. A 6 players game ? Make cards a lot smaller.
Now, the problem is: how do you display the game background on screen, if the play area changes aspect ratio ?
I’m not sure yet how we’ll do it, but surely a solution will be found in time!
Kindly,
jods
March 14, 2007 at 11:35 am
Hi
Where can I obtain/download octgn.NET? Is it available freely?
June 9, 2008 at 11:48 pm
i have no idea, anyone care to post the link? i had it before, now i lost it 😦
i can’t find a download link anywhere!
June 9, 2008 at 11:50 pm
found it:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YR47N6J9
March 12, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Hey guys, question: Where can I find more sets of Magic than just the last 6 for OTCGN2? Ideally I’d like to have all 15000+ cards, as I know was possible with the first OTCGN- or is there a way to convert those old card (.txt) files used in the first OTCGN to the new type (.oSc) used in OTCGN2?
May 25, 2009 at 9:16 pm
kersh check IRC chat for that kind of question.
April 28, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The words in your article seem to be running off the
screen in Internet explorer. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know.
The layout look great though! Hope you get the issue resolved soon.
Thanks
September 8, 2013 at 9:18 pm
Eleanor Roosevelt stated that brand-new days come with brand-new energies
andbrand new thoughts. I would like to thank you
for making me think today.
November 28, 2013 at 4:28 am
I have enjoyed reading every single word. Anyone that believes that
writing is a lost art, need to read this.