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New Users Guide
This guide will teach you the basics on how OCTGN works, so that you can start playing games stress-free!
OCTGN is a community-driven, open-source card game engine capable of playing many different types of games.
Game plugins have the file extension .o8g. These files are the rules of the game and provide OCTGN with all the relevant information to handle that game. Things like counters, deck piles, background images, and game functions are all provided by this file.
In order to play a specific game, you must download and install the Game Plugin for that game first. Please note that the Game Plugins DO NOT contain any cards; you must download Set Plugins for those.
Set plugins have the extension .o8s. These files contain all the card data, including the spoiler text and images. Set plugins are typically released separately for each expansion or set created for the game, although some games may do it differently. You need to have a Game Plugin installed first before you can start installing set plugins.
NOTE: Many games provide a set specifically designated for "Tokens and Markers". These are very important for the Game Plugin to function, and it is highly recommended that they are downloaded and installed.
Decks are created in OCTGN's deck editor and are used to build your own customized decks for play. Once a game has started, you may load your decks to play with.
Set Patches have the extension .o8p. These are specialized files that can update sets you currently have installed to add/fix/update card images or spoiler text in the sets. These patches have the benefit of being significantly smaller in download size than re-downloading newer versions of Set Plugins, and they can also update many sets all at once. Set Patches are loaded via the "Patch All Sets" button in the Games tab.
NOTE: Not all games provide Set Patches, so re-downloading newer versions of Sets may be required.
OCTGN is a community-driven project, and there are many different people creating game and set plugins for you to play with. It is recommended to do a quick search in your favorite search engine to see if a particular game you wish to play is available to download.
Once you find the Game and Set Plugins for your game, you must install them into OCTGN's database. To do this, go to the Game Management tab. You will see Install under Game Options and Install under Set Options. You can use these to install games and sets into OCTGN.
When you install a Game or Set Plugin, OCTGN will automatically copy the file from its original location and save them in OCTGN's directory. By default, this is in C:/users/your_name/documents/octgn/. After the file is installed successfully, you may delete the original file (usually your browser saves them to your downloads folder).
Some games require a large amount of hard drive space for all the card images. If you want to change the directory that OCTGN installs the Game/Set Plugins to, you may do so by clicking Options and changing the Data Directory option. You will need to restart OCTGN for this to take affect.
OCTGN has a server that it automatically connects to when you log in. Once logged in, all games are hosted through the network. This makes it very easy to find games to connect to or to host your own. OCTGN also provides a chat room that all players have access to, including friends lists and private messaging.
OCTGN's server sometimes becomes unavailable. If this is the case, it will not allow you to log in. But don't fret! You can still host games through direct IP connection like with OCTGN2. Click the Custom Games tab and click Host. Then make sure to check Self Hosted Game. Currently it listens only to port 5000. This will allow you to create local area network (LAN) games, or connect to another player via IP address. NOTE: You may need to forward the ports on your router for this option to work.