Thank you for Wagic!

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LostHeaven
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Thank you for Wagic!

Post by LostHeaven »

Hello all,

This probably is a pointless thread, but I just wanted to leave a message of appreciation to all of the developers who have worked on Wagic.

I first stumbled upon it by chance some years ago (2008 or 2009, maybe?), installed it on my old PSP and was blown away by what you've achieved.
Having been playing Magic the Gathering since Arabian Nights, I always wondered why Wizards of the Coast never put much effort into releasing a digital version of the game where you could build your decks from its entire library and play against an AI. This was well before the first Duels of the Planeswalkers game was released and only recently I found out about the PC game by MicroProse. It seemed odd that, with such a beloved and recognisable game, they insisted on releasing spinoffs or later focusing on Magic Online, which I was never able to tolerate as, every time I give it a try, honestly feels like what I remember Windows 98 applications felt like.
I always assumed that the complexity of developing a game where all of the cards from such a vast universe worked, as well as programming an AI capable of effectively making good decisions, both using and reacting to the huge amount of abilities and rules in the game, was the reason why such a thing was simply not possible, and certainly even less on a PSP.

So, it amazed me when I realised what Wagic did. I created in-game versions of all of the decks that I had been building and testing until then in real life, to find out that not only did all of the cards work (barring an odd bug here and there), but the AI, playing with my decks, would actually find ways to use them that I didn't anticipate before. Even after the DotP games started being released, (and I do enjoy them and find the graphical interface very neatly done and intuitive), they were always well below what Wagic was already able to do years before.

I can say with certainty that Wagic was, by far, the game that I played the most on that PSP. You achieved, years ago, what WotC hasn't been fully able up to this day. If someone had told me that Wagic was an actual best-selling PSP game being sold on retail and the PSN store, I would have totally believed it.
I ended up selling my PSP during a time of financial hardship, but I now regret it, as it's now pretty clear to me that having a PSP solely for running Wagic is totally worth it if you enjoy the game. I remember installing it at some point on an iPhone 3GS that I had at the time but, even though it was fully functional and pretty cool on its own merits, it didn't have the same feel as it did on the PSP. iOS eventually reached a point where I no longer needed jailbreaking it, so I recognise that I didn't gave this port much of a chance.

I recently found out, again by chance, that you guys ported it to macOS, which is pretty exciting, and this got me into it again. This actually convinced me to buy a Vita whenever I have a chance and use it as my portable "Wagic Machine".

Thanks again and congratulations to all of you involved in the project (even those who are no longer working on it and will never read this); Wagic was a groundbreaking achievement at the time, considering the challenge of its goal and the limits of the technology at the time, that still today hasn't been matched in what it does.
Last edited by LostHeaven on Tue Sep 20, 2016 5:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Wan73d
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:06 pm

Re: Thank you for Wagic!

Post by Wan73d »

This is an amazing Thankyou post, and anything I write in comparison feels cheap, but I'll go ahead anyway.

I wanted to second your gratitude towards the developers and fanatics behind this. I am also amazed at how this even exists. Bugs or not it's just fantastic. That said I have my own personal gripe because I play on iPhone and I have no idea how to get to the 0.19 update let alone 0.20. But anyway, up to 0.18.6 I was just amazed that this could even exist and the amount of cards that were coded, and even to this day, at the release of a new set, there's someone out there that's willing to jump in and code out what they can. Absolute huge Thankyou.

One of the reasons though that this works so majestically is that it really is a game for the fans and nerds. It's only obtainable if you want to commit a little bit of your time to figuring out how to get it and how to set it up. It's not just some app on the App Store that you can get with the scan of your index finger, and then at the first bug in a card go and write a nasty review on the AppStore questioning the developers committment and rating it 1 star. No, this game is one for the fans, and we appreciate and wonder at how it even came to be so good by a bunch of mostly unpaid fans.

Hats off to you all, but now don't stop there!!
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Bas
Posts: 425
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Re: Thank you for Wagic!

Post by Bas »

Yup, WTH looked very polished to me when I tried it out. There ARE some issues, but rather small, the addition of cards is simple (in comparision to real programming) and well made.

Prob by far the game I played most on my PSP, incl. PSX grind games like Yu-Gi-Oh! or FF8-grind savegame.
Forums are down atm.

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i-am-not-one
Posts: 304
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:36 am

Re: Thank you for Wagic!

Post by i-am-not-one »

I wish they added a feature to let you know how long you have spent playing the game.

It is a game I keep coming back to and wow have I sunk some time into it.

:D
Darth Agnon
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Re: Thank you for Wagic!

Post by Darth Agnon »

I love Wagic.

I first discovered it from casually following wololo.net, back in early 2014, and seeing it mentioned here and there. I'd just hacked my PSP and thus had just opened the Pandora's Box of Is0z and homebrew. Ah, the memories.

I figured, since it got mentioned so often, "it must be a good homebrew". Hey, wololo.net even had the Wagic cardshop ogre as its titlebanner/mascot back then :) :'( (oh, the feels). First time I tried it, I was home alone from school on a sunny afternoon, which I proceeded to waste gathering artwork zips, after eating lentil soup for dinner (heh, had that today, too). I had no idea how it worked; I thought that the artwork zips were the actual sets, and that by picking and choosing them, I could pick and choose what sets I'd get in game. Oh, and I knew nothing about MtG, either. As I recall, that attempt didn't come to much, other than getting me most of the Wagic files, bar the Divine vs. Demonic artwork zip.

Fast forward a few months, a friend (known as biomaster10 online) taught me how to play MtG. It was love at first sight. Memories of looking up MtG on Wikipedia in an ICT lesson as a YuGiOh alternative years before (ca. 2012) resurfaced. Just before heading off to the US of A, the land of all things Magic, for an epic summer holiday, I loaded Wagic onto my and my brothers' PSPs for the trip.

Playing hours of Wagic in the USA is one of my most pleasant memories of that trip. I became obsessed; Wagic fed that obsession. I wanted the JOU Intro Deck "The Wilds and the Deep" , and another deck, for my birthday I had in the USA. Mom decided MtG was nasty, and didn't get me them :( The lack of actual cards only fed my love of the game.

I had fun and spent some time, trying to add the Journey into Nyx cards into my Wagic game, finally figuring it out, not long before the end of our holiday.

I'll forever remember it as the Summer of Wagic. It was so fun. I have pleasant memories, of trying to cast Craw Wurm, half asleep in the rental car, on the way to our first waypoint on the holiday. Thanks, community, for the good times!

Upon returning from the USA, I signed up for these Wagic forums, and tried entering the wololo.net monthly tutorial contest by trying to explain how campaigns worked. (still haven't finished that tutorial; still haven't completely cracked for myself how campaigns work :roll: ) Around the same time, I tried modding my birthday present Skyrim with 200+ mods, making a pretty slideshow :D. I couldn't see why Mom would let me get Skyrim, but not MtG.

Following that, my best friend, biomaster10, gave me the Mardu Raiders KTK Intro Deck for Christmas 2014/15. Probably the best time ever, to get into paper MtG. Khans had such awesome flavour. Ah, the smell of woodsmoke around Christmas and playing Mardu vs Temur with biomaster10. He's an expert on just about every nerdy game out there, especially TCGs. Playing Wagic, though, had given me an edge and a lot more knowledge. Reckon I even influenced him to play less YuGiOh and get seriously into MtG. Good times.

Throughout 2015, I went through a very obsessive phase, wherein I made a load of fancy themes for Wagic (check my signature ;) , you won't regret it!). I finally finished them, and uploaded them, after [too many] hours of work. Also designed my I, Machina robots deck on one brother's PSP, while playing late at night. Initially with 4 Mox Opals, then 4 Sol Rings. It is now Modern legal :D. Have even made some friends here on the Wagic and /talk forums (shout out to i-am-not-one and woolio! wololo, and the rest of you guys, too!)

Today, I have three modern decks and one commander deck, a hundred or so unused cards, and plans for a couple more decks before I stop collecting. Funny thing, I always used to play Green/Blue back when I first started, but now my decks are mostly within Mardu colours, and no Green to be seen. (My tappedout.net account with links to my decks: http://tappedout.net/users/Darthagnon/)

Anyway, I've been rambling. TL;DR: Wagic is awesome. I have epic, sentimental memories of amazing times, playing Wagic, and it got me loads of experience of the real game. And WotC has never equalled it (DotP is too heavily animated, not streamlined, not enough cards, freemium, etc etc. MtGOnline is online-only, buggy by reputation, and subscription based).

Thank you guys, for making an awesome game. I hope the Wagic community continues to

Live Long and Prosper.

Darth Agnon
Monster Hunter, Planeswalker and Sith
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Like Wagic? Check out my custom themes, etc. at viewtopic.php?f=9&t=66181
Wololo's article: http://wololo.net/2016/07/14/new-wagic- ... rth-agnon/
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Bas
Posts: 425
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Re: Thank you for Wagic!

Post by Bas »

Cool thanking post.
Throughout 2015, I went through a very obsessive phase, wherein I made a load of fancy themes for Wagic (check my signature ;) , you won't regret it!). I finally finished them, and uploaded them, after [too many] hours of work. Also designed my I, Machina robots deck on one brother's PSP, while playing late at night. Initially with 4 Mox Opals, then 4 Sol Rings. It is now Modern legal :D. Have even made some friends here on the Wagic and /talk forums (shout out to i-am-not-one and woolio! wololo, and the rest of you guys, too!)
Moxes and Sol Rings are NOT modern legal. Why do you think they are?
Forums are down atm.

Please join the discord server in order to not miss stuff and be reachable:
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Darth Agnon
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Re: Thank you for Wagic!

Post by Darth Agnon »

Bas wrote:Cool thanking post.
Throughout 2015, I went through a very obsessive phase, wherein I made a load of fancy themes for Wagic (check my signature ;) , you won't regret it!). I finally finished them, and uploaded them, after [too many] hours of work. Also designed my I, Machina robots deck on one brother's PSP, while playing late at night. Initially with 4 Mox Opals, then 4 Sol Rings. It is now Modern legal :D. Have even made some friends here on the Wagic and /talk forums (shout out to i-am-not-one and woolio! wololo, and the rest of you guys, too!)
Moxes and Sol Rings are NOT modern legal. Why do you think they are?

Bad wording; I was tired. I meant that I removed all Moxes and Sol Rings and similar stuff, rebuilding the deck to be Modern legal.
Image
Like Wagic? Check out my custom themes, etc. at viewtopic.php?f=9&t=66181
Wololo's article: http://wololo.net/2016/07/14/new-wagic- ... rth-agnon/
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