DECK COLLECTOR v0.3.1
Big update for DECK COLLECTOR! v0.3.1 brings in a multitude of new features such as Collector’s Boxes, trading card grading game, card textures, a new TCG set, selling bulk or singles, more holo shaders, and more!
Collector’s Box
Collector’s Boxes are a trading card product type where the game opens a series of items, cards, packs, or decks. The concept is similar to real life TCG collection boxes where you open a couple collectible cards (in game they’re called “Collector’s Cards”), then a few packs. But with the Collector’s Box, there are endless possibilities. Mystery packs, collection boxes, randomizers, etc. Here are a couple examples:
Standard Collection Box with a Collector’s Card and 4 packs:
Card Insert, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack
Mystery Box with 15 cards from various sets:
Card (from Set C), Card (from Set B), Card (from Set A), Card (from Set C), Card (from Set B), Card (from Set A), Card (from Set B), Card (from Set A), Card (from Set A), Card (from Set A), Card (from Set C), Card (from Set A), Card (from Set B), Card (from Set B), Card (from Set C)
Medium sized Collection Box with 1 of 4 randomized Collector’s Cards, 2 items, with 12 packs:
Card Insert (1 of 4), Item A, Item B, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack, Pack
Large Collection Box with a set box, deck, 5 random packs, and 1 of 10 Collector’s Cards:
Card Insert (1 of 10), Set Box, Deck Box, Pack (from Set A), Pack (from Set C), Pack (from Set B), Pack (from Set B), Pack (from Set A)
To put it simply, the Collector’s Box allows you to open a sequence of trading card items in order to mimic opening a real life collection box instead of just random loose packs. It gives a sense of immersion and realism. The possibilities are endless!
Card Textures
I wanted to experiment with the normal maps to give a card a texture and it came out almost exactly as I hoped. All I had to do was make a height map image with a bunch of parallel lines, space it out by 2 or 3 pixels and stack a bunch on top of one another (and align them with the diffuse image). Then I put it though a normal map maker and that’s all there is to it! There are only 12 textured cards in the game in the Urbana (1st Edition) set.
Trading Card Grading Game (Beta)
To start my entry into the grading feature, I decided to make a grading game where you can earn (in game) money by grading cards. Once a day you can grade up to 20 cards from various rarities. There is already a predetermined grade for the card, and you need to guess what it is by viewing the front and back of the card.
Each card will give you $5 regardless if you guess correctly or not. If you guess correctly, you will also receive 10% of the new value of the card (some cards are worth beyond $1000 raw). And if you grade multiple correct, there is a “streak” bonus as well!
These cards are not from your collection and will not end up in your collection. Real grading will come soon for your cards, I just need more time polishing it up.
Sell Bulk or Singles
You can sell many cards for $0.10 each. This is a good way to get some in game money by selling a ton of unneeded bulk that isnt worth much. You can quickly select all commons, uncommons,… You can also select whether you want to keep 1 or more. You can also sell any card less than a certain value. Once you sell bulk, you cannot get it back, but you do get paid! It helps to buy more cards and try to get those ultra rare cards!
The higher valued cards you can put up as a listing. To do this, go to you collection (button with 9 squares), then click on a colors square in the top corner of any card. This will spawn the card attached to your player. Click the “C” button which will send to to the listing page. Enter any price (ideally less than or equal to market) and click list. The higher you put your card up above its market price, the longer it will take to sell. If lower than market, the quicker it will sell. You can have as many as you like. You will head a “ding” sound effect when it sells, telling you that you received money.
Holo Shaders!
I revamped some of the old holo shaders to increase it’s realism. Over the last few months, I grey my skills and knowledge with Unity, allowing me to get a better grasp on how Shaders work and all of the intricate nodes.
I updates these shaders for a better “streak” or “laser” effect: Horizontal, Vertical, Diagonal, Glitter. In real life, these holographic patterns have a more zig-zag style to it and the rainbow effect that comes from it varies depending on its rotation.
I also updates the “rainbow” image file for these shaders for more realistic holo foil colors: Holo, Rainbow, Foil.
New Shader! Fireworks is a holo effect I’ve wanted to make for a long time. As you rotate the card, the fireworks pattern comes to life (exploding or imploding depending on the angle) creating a really unique visual effect. It uses a built-in 2x2 image file that masks out the rainbow foil. Only one of those images is visible at a time, so as the card rotates, it cycles through them to create a smooth, animated look.
New Shader! Shimmer is another new holo shader where there is a glitter-like pattern that animates as you rotate the card. Just like fireworks, it has a 2x2 image file incorporated within so as the card rotates, it “shimmers.” It’s nothing more than a bunch of animated speckles, but it looks SO good (especially with Bloom enabled in the camera effects)!
Urbana (1st Edition)
I always wanted to do a creature style set and expand on a fictional world, but I wanted to keep it simple. There are a total of 264 cards in this set with most of them being a reverse holographic style card in various holo patterns.
I also wanted to use this set to test out a new function I implemented into the game to enhance realism. In real life, trading cards are printed onto a sheet of cardstock, there are obviously duplicates on that sheet. BUT! Not all cards will be duplicated the same amount. Some cards are printed less due to the size constraints of the sheet. Therefore, some common, uncommon, and rare cards are printed less.
Before the update, it was a random pick from whatever card rarity pool. In the new update, it still is a luck of the draw, but there is another choosing factor that it must go through in order to get picked. I call it the “rate system.” Essentially, in the Card*.txt file, it you put “Rate,1” at the end on a new line, the game will pick that card everytime and not go through a secondary selection process.
Now, this may be confusing, but if you put “Rate,3” or “Rate,10” or whatever number you want that is greater than 1, the game will then put that card through a secondary selection process. It will choose a number from 0 through (rate number[excluded]), and if it chooses 0, that card will be picked. If not, then it will find a new card to pick, and then put that card through the secondary selection process. And so on, until the game gets however many cards to display in the pack.
I’m going to write much more in depth on the rate system at a later time so you can truly understand it.
Anyway, I also added 3 Collector’s Boxes: Mystery Collection Box, 4-Pack Blister, and a Mystery Pack. The Mystery Collection Box contains 1 of 4 Collector’s Cards and 8 packs. The 4-pack Blister contains 3 Collector’s Cards and 4 packs. The Mystery Pack contains 20 cards from the Urbana (1st Edition) set, with a higher chance to get an Ultra Rare!
I will make more as time goes on, but it’s just an entry to Collector’s Boxes.
Future Projects
This game is really coming along, I just need more time. I really want to dive deep into grading, add more shaders, improve and streamline quality of life settings, add more sets, etc. It’s almost like this game will never be 100% completed! But, as I gain knowledge and experience with Unity, I will incorporate some really cool features! Here is a list of some things I will be working on next (but not limited to):
Redo all holographic shaders for even more realism and efficiency and correct mathematics.
Send your own cards off for grading. Also add randomized fringe, edge dots, and wear to cards while opening.
Update the import process for Card*.txt.
Redo the unboxing script (it’s a mess).
Create a feature where all cards from a set can be laid out to see each one side by side one another.
A button where it takes 1 of each card from a set and add them to a binder.
Color picker so you can choose the exact color you want to colorize all UI.
Update the settings scene so it can be viewed in game.
Music player with playback buttons (pause, stop, resume, next, previous, first, last, seek…).
Pooling system where the game builds a product, card, box, etc once, then stores it away and hides it. Then whenever the game needs any of those again, it can simply duplicate it instead of building it from the ground up, causing a “hiccup” in FPS. This will cause more memory to be used…
There’s definitely more. I just can’t think of any right now!