GatlingEngine User's Guide

From CCG Workshop Wiki

This document is a work in progress. It covers gatlingEngine v1.6.1+

Installing

Main Server: The download page can be reached here.
White Wolf Server: The download page can be reached here.

If you are a first time user, download the package labeled "Full .EXE Install". The package is quite large, but contains all the necessary pre-requisites. The package is an InstallShield file and will install everything you need. Unless you are strictly against it, please install to the default location, as it can be easier for CCG Workshop staff to help you with any problems if your software is installed where they expect it.

Patching the gatlingEngine

Frequently, CCG Workshop will release patches to its gatlingEngine products. Most of the time the server is set to automatically download and install these patches. If you ever need to manually patch the gatlingEngine, the available patches are located:
Here for the Main Server.
Here for the White Wolf Server.

Creating an account

In order to log in to the engine, you will need a screenName and password. The registration pages are located:
Here for the Main Server.
Here for the White Wolf Server.

Launching the gatlingEngine

The InstallShield package creates shortcuts under your Start menu under the CCG Workshop folder. Find the folder and click the shortcut to launch the engine.

Logging In

In order to play a game you have to log in. When the engine starts up, the Login Window will appear.

Selecting a Game

After you log in, the engine will display the Select Game Window. You don't have to select a game immediately. Rather, you can close it and chat in the rooms for a while before making your decision. At any time, you can click the Select Game Toolbar Button to re-open the Select Game Window.

The gatlingEngine Interface

After you log in, the engine will display its main interface. The interface is broken up into several main components that will be explained in turn.

The Toolbar

The tool bar displays buttons of commonly used engine functionality. Buttons are color coded:

• Gray buttons are for general engine functionality
• Green buttons are for in-game functionality
• Red buttons are for in-game admin functionality

These buttons will be enabled or disabled based on the current state of the engine. For instance, the in-game buttons will only be available during a game. Many Gray buttons will only be available after loading a game.

Each button will open a panel of buttons. These buttons will slide down to expose themselves. If you do not click a button button from one of these exposed panels, the panel will close automatically.

gatlingEngine Popup Menu

Clicking on the Gear button in the upper left corner will produce a pop-up menu.

gatlingEngine Menu

Login: The login menu will be enabled whenever you are not logged in. The Login Window will open as soon as the engine launches, but if you accidently close the Login Window before logging in, you can re-open it by clicking this menu item.

Options: This will open the Options window.

Alerts: This will open the Alerts window to see any alerts that are active for this version of the engine.

Tools Menu

Image Downloader: This will open the Image Download window to download the images for your game. This menu will only be enabled if you have a game loaded.

Network Log: This will open the Network Log window to show you the messages going in and out of the engine

Error Log: This will open the Error Log window to show you any errors that have occured with images.

Reset Playpoint: During a game, will reset your PlayPoint back up to the upper left corner of your play area. This item will only be available during a game.

Game Support Menu

Game Rules: This will open a web page containing rules to your game.

Game Guide: This will open a web page containing a guide on how to play your game on the gatlingEngine.

Report A Defect: This will open a web page allowing you to post a defect on the gatlingEngine or the game you have loaded

Help Menu

Game Change Log: This will open a window showing the recent changes to the game you have loaded.

gatlingEngine Change Log: This will open the Version change Log window for the gatlingEngine.

New User Help: This will open the New User Help window. The New User window will open every time you start the engine until you configure it to never show again. This item will open it again.

About: This will open the About gatlingEngine window

Web Menu

Home Page: Will open a web page to one of the following pages:
Main Server: The CCG Worskhop Home Page
White Wolf Server: The CCG Workshop V:TES Home Page

Rules of Conduct: Will open a web page containing the Rules of Conduct for playing on the gatlingEngine.

Forum: Will open a web page to the following:
Main Server: The forum for the loaded game
White Wolf Server: The V:TES Online forums

The General Button Panel

The General Button Panel displays buttons that are used mostly out-of-game.

Select Game Button

This button will be enabled if you are logged in and if you are not in-game. This button will open the Select Game Window.

Card Browser Toolbar Button

This button will be enabled when you have a game loaded. This button will open the Browse Cards Window. Games that do not have cards will not have this button displayed.

Play A Game Toolbar Button

This button will be enabled when you have a game loaded and if you are not in-game. This button will open the Find Game Window.

Observe Game Toolbar Button

This button will be enabled when you have a game loaded and if you are not in-game. This button will open the Observe Game Window.

Resume Game Toolbar Button

This button will be enabled when you have a game loaded and if you are not in-game. This button will open the Resume Game Window.

Chat Toolbar Button

This button will only be enabled when you are in-game. This button will open the Chat Room Window.

The Game Button Panel

The Game Button Panel displays buttons that are used mostly when you are in-game. The Game Button Panel will not be visible unless you are in a game.

Leave Game Toolbar Button

This button will completely remove you from the current game. You will not be able to return to the game if you leave the game. You will still be able to observe the game however.

Turn Order Toolbar Button

This button will show the Turn Order Window.

Observers Toolbar Button

This button will show the Observing Players window. You can use this window to see who is observing yoru game, and to kick them out if they are being disruptive. The observer will not be able to resume your game again.

Take Over Toolbar Button

This button will have you take over as the Game Controller, which will enable all the admin functions of the game. It is considered bad manners to take over a game from another player unless agreed upon before-hand.

The Admin Button Panel

The Admin Button Panel displays buttons that are used mostly when you are in-game, but only when you are Game Controller. The Admin Button Panel will not be visible unless you are in a game and you are controller of the game.

Force Next Phase Toolbar Button

This button will force the game to move to the next phase. This button should not normally be needed, but can be used if all players have clicked done and the game is stuck on a phase or turn.

Boot Player Toolbar Button

This button will open the Kick Player Window. Use this window to kick a player out of the game. The player will not be able to re-join the game.

Save Game Toolbar Button

This button will save the game. All players connected to the game will also save.

End Game Toolbar Button

This button will end the game. All players connected to the game will be returned to the Game Lobby Window.

Show Hands Toolbar Button

This button will be enabled when you are in-game. This button will pop-up a menu to choose from available hands. The menu will show check marks next to hands that are already open.

Spyglass

This button will be enabled when you are in-game. This button will open the Spyglass, which is a resizable window that can be used to get a better look at cards in the game.

gatlingEngine Built-in Windows

The gatlingEngine has several windows that are built-into the main window instead of floating. These windows contain functionality that are used often and would be better served embedded than displayed in a floating window.

The following Built-in windows are available on the gatlingEngine:

• Chat Rooms
• Deck Manager
• Info Window

Chat Rooms

The Chat Rooms are a built-in window that resides on the left-half of the gatlingEngine. The ChatRooms will be visible as a built-in window when you are not in-game. When in-game, you will be able to open the Chat Rooms as a floating window with the Chat Room Toolbar Button.

The Chat Room is comprised of smaller panels that server a function:

• The User List
• The Room List
• The Message Log Panel
• The Message Entry Panel

Chat Room User List

The Chat Room User List displays all players in the current chat room.

At the top of the User list is a status panel containing:

• The current room
• The number of players logged onto the server
• The number of players in the current room
• The number of players playing a game
• The number of games played in the last 24 hours

Below the Status Panel is a columnar display of each player is as follows:

• Screen Name
• Game Selected
• Level
• Experience Points

Additionally, each player will be displayed in a particular color depending on their gatlingEngine state:

Black	Available and engine has focus on Player's screen
Grey	Engine is minimized or does not have focus
Green	Player is Observing a game
Gold	Player is in a game

You can right-click on any player to get a pop-up menu. This menu will contain the following entries:

Page will page a user if they are in a game

Paste into box' will paste the selected screen name into the Message Entry Panel

Chat Room Room List

The Chat Room Room List Panel contains list the chat rooms available on the server, and a mechanism to navigate to them.

To move to another chat room, either:

• Select a room from the list and click the Move button
• Double-click the room from the list

You may also right-click on a room to obtain a pop-up menu

Who is in this Room? will list all the occupants of the selected room

Chat Room Message Log Panel

The Message Log Panel stores messages that have been entered by you and other players from the Message Entry Panel. You may right-click on the Log Panel to display a pop-up menu:

Timestamps: will re-display the Message Log with server timestamps when they were received. Note that these timestamps might not exactly match the timestamps on your Server Time display. This is ok.

Clear Banter: This will clear all messages in the Message Log

Copy: This will copy the selected contents of the Message Log to the Windows Clipboard.

Chat Room Message Entry Panel

The Message Entry Panel is where you enter messages to be entered into the chat room.

Type any text into the box and either press the Enter key or click on the Send button. Your text will be displayed with the Font and Background colors that you have selected.

To change the font color of your text, click the F button.

To change the background color of your text, click the BG button.

Click the Legend button to display a floating window containing a legend of all the icons and abbreviations shown in the Chat Room window.

Deck Manager

The Deck Manager (Your Decks) is a built-in window that resides in the upper-right corner of the gatlingEngine main screen. The Deck Manager will not be available when you are in-game. The Deck Manager will not be available if your game does not support deck building.

The Deck Manager allows you to manage your decks.

To create a new deck, click the + button.

To delete a deck, select it from the list and click the - button.

To edit a deck, select it from the list and click the Edit button, or double-click a deck from the list. This will open the Deck Editor

To copy (clone) a deck, select it from the list and click the Copy button.

To Rename a deck, select it from the list and click the Rename button.

To Share a Deck, select it from the list and click the Share button. The Share Deck window will appear.

Share Deck Window

The Share Deck Window will allow you to share a deck with another player who is online. Two options will be available:

Send to Another Player: This will send your deck to another player who is currently online. Select the player from the list and click the OK button. Your deck will be sent to the player.

If you are on the receiving end of a deck, the engine will inform you that you have received a deck from the sending player, and will inform you of the name of the deck and who sent it. If for some reason the deck name conflicts with an existing deck in your inventory, the gatlingEngine will prompt you to enter a name for the deck.

The gatlingNet Deck Directory: This option is currently not available, but will be implemnted in a future build.

Deck Editor Window

The Deck Editor Window allows you to edit your deck.

It displays several filter options to find cards needed for your deck.

Your Deck can be sorted in several ways:

• In the order the cards were added to the deck
• In Alphabetical order
• By Card Type

To add a new card to your deck, select the card in the Card List and click one of the + buttons.

To add another copy of a card already in your deck,

• select the card in the Card List and click one of the + buttons on the Card List side
• select the card in the Deck List and click one of the + buttons on the Deck List side

To remove a copy of a card in your deck,

• select the card in the Deck List and click one of the - buttons on the Deck List side
• double-click the card in the Deck List

To remove all copies of a card in your deck, select the card in the Deck List and click the -All button .

Info Window

The Info Window is displayed on the right side of the gatlingEngine. If your selected game allows you to build decks, then the Info Window will be displayed under the Deck Manager. The various Info panels can be displayed by clicking their repsective tabs on the right side of the Info Windows. Not all tabs will be available at all times.

The Info Window is not visible when you are in-game.

What's Going On Panel

The What's Going On Panel displays any headline news or Items of Interest for the players. This Info Window is visible at all times.

Featured Games Panel

The Featured Games Panel shows which games are featured for the week. A featured game starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday. Featured Games cost no tokens to play while they are featured.

The Featured Game Panel is not shown in the White Wolf Engine

Tours Panel

The Tours Panel displays the tours that are upcoming within the next two (2) days. The Day, Hour, Game, as well as who is giving the tour is displayed for each tour, as well as who is giving the game.

Game Wall Panel

The Game Wall Panel is only visible when you are in a chat room. It does not appear when you are in one of the # rooms, like #Main. The Game Wall serves as a utility to help find players. It offers three mechanisms to facilitate finding an opponent:

• A place where you can post when you plan on being online again
• A place where you can sign up for notification when someone is online and wants to play
• A place where you can notify others that you are online and want to play

Learn To Play Panel

The Learn To Play Panel is where players new to the game can post that they wish to learn the game. The Learn to Play panel also provides a mechanism for players who know the game to contact those players who wish to learn.

The Panel is mostly taken up by a list of players who wish to learn the game. To place yourself on this list, click the checkbox at the bottom of the panel.

if you wish to teach the game to one of the players on the list, select the player in the list, then click the EMail button at the bottom of the panel. That player will be emailed your contact information (the email address you used to create your screen name).

Tournaments Panel

Under Construction

gatlingEngine Floating Windows

Various windows will open and close as you use the gatlingEngine. Below are descriptions of all the important windows you will encounter and how to get to them.

Login Window

Access

• When the engine starts up
• From the gatlingEngine Menu

When the engine starts up, it will automatically open the Login Window. Enter your screenName and password then click on the Ok Button to log in. If there is any problems connecting to the server, the engine will inform you and offer you the chance to log in again. The default port is automatically selected for you. An alternate port is available if that conflicts with any software you are running locally.

Select Game Window

Access

• From the Select Game Toolbar Button

The Select Game Window lists all the games available to you. You may filter these games by clicking the buttons along the top. These buttons are either pushed in or pushed out. If a button is pushed in, all the game in that category will be displayed. A special filter button "ALL" can be used to toggle all the buttons on or off.

To view more information about a game, click on its icon. A Game Info window will pop up close to where you clicked.

If you wish to load this game, first select the version of the game you want to load, then select your expertise (Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced). By default, you will change to the chat room for your game once the game is loaded. If you do not want to automatically change rooms, uncheck the "Change Rooms After Loading" checkbox. Click on the Check button and the game will load.

Card Browser Window

Access

• From the Card Browser Toolbar Button

The Card Browser window displays a list of all the cards in the game. The Card Browser is not available in games that do not have cards. You can filter the cards that are displayed by:

• Card Set
• Card Type
• Keywords
• text in its title
• text in any part of the card

After a list has been filtered you can also incrementally search for its title. Type the title of the card you are searching for in the Incremental Search box, and the title of the card will float to the top of the list.

Find Game Window

Access

• From the Find Game Toolbar Button

The Find Game window displays a list of all available games you can play. If you don't see anything you like, or there are no games currently being offered, you can start a new game.

To join a Lobby, double-click the lobby entry, or click the lobby entry and click the Join button.

To create a new Lobby, fill in the required fields:

• Check whether or not you want observers watching your game
• Enter the name of the lobby or click the drop-down array to pick from a list of lobby names you have entered previously. You may click on the Clear *button if you want to clear the list of previously used lobby names.
• Choose whether you would like to determin the turn order, or have it chosen randomly
• Choose the game type from the Type drop-down. Casual games are most common. Tour can only be chosen if you have signed up for a tour at that time.

Click the OK button when you are ready to create the Lobby.

Observe Game Window

Access

• From the Observe Game Toolbar Button

The Observe Game window displays a list of all available games you can observe. It will only show the observable games for the game you have loaded.

To observe a game, double-click on a game in the list, or click on a game in the list and cick the Ok button. The game will load and you will be able to observe the game in-progress.

You may leave a game you are observing by clicking the Leave Game Toolbar Button.

The Game Lobby Window

Access

• From the Find Game Window

The Game Lobby is where player congregate before starting the game. The lobby has several visual configurations depending on the following factors:

• Random Turn Order
• Manual Turn Order
• Player is Game Controller

Game Lobby, Random Turn Order

This configuration will appear if the Lobby Creator has chosen Random Turn order.

Press the Ready button when you are ready to begin the game. The Lobby Controller will not be able to start the game unless all players in the lobby are ready.

The Lobby Controller has a special button Re-Randomize if they chose to have a random turn order. This button will mix up the turn order again. This is extremenly useful if a game ends and players are sent back to the lobby. The Game Controller cam re-randomize the turn order so the same player does not start again.

The Lobby Controller also has a Begin Button to start the game, as well as a Ban button to ban any player from the lobby. Once banned, a player will not be able to join the game again for the life of the game.

All other players will not see the Re-Randomize button, the Ban button, or the Begin button.

Game Lobby, Manual Turn Order

This configuration will appear if the Lobby Creator has chosen Manual Turn order.

Press the Ready button when you are ready to begin the game. The Lobby Controller will not be able to start the game unless all players in the lobby are ready.

The Lobby Controller has special buttons at the bottom of the window to set the turn order. As players join the lobby they will be added to the Not Added pane. The controller then uses the right arrow to move them to the Added pane. The controller can then use the up and down arrows to set the order of the players in the Added column.

The Lobby Controller also has a Begin Button to start the game, as well as a Ban button to ban any player from the lobby. Once banned, a player will not be able to join the game again for the life of the game.

The Begin button will not be enabled until all players are ready and all players have been moved to the Added column

All other players will not see the Re-Randomize button, the Ban button, the Turn Order buttons, or the Begin button.

The Status Bar

The Status Bar lies on the bottom of the gatlingEngine interface. It has two areas: the Minimized Window Area, where minimized windows are tored, and the Icon Area, which stores icons to indicate various status of the engine.

Minimized Window Area

The Minimized Window Area will contain icons that represent all the windows you have minimized. You many click on the any of the icons to restore the window. If you click on a Toolbar button to re-open the Window, the minimized icon will disappear.

Icon Area

The Icon Area will contain icons that represents various states of the engine. In order as shown, the icons are as follows:

• Saving Game: If the engine is saving the game, this icon will be visible
• Game Pass: If you have a game pass, this icon will appear.
• Copper Tokens: Shows the number of Copper Tokens you have
• Silver Tokens: Shows the number of Silver Tokens you have
• Gold Tokens: Shows the number of Gold Tokens you have
• Ping Time: The turtle shows the time in milliseconds a round trip to the server takes
• Number of Observers: During a game, this icon will appear if there are observers in your game. The number of observers will be superimposed on the eye.
• Observing Game: The eye will appear if you are observing a game
• Game Controller: The red fist will appear if you are the Game Controller

The In-Game Interface

When in-game, the Main Screen will change to something similar to the above screen shot. Every game is different, so the actual content of the screen will vary. What will remain the same between games is described below:

A: Log Filter Buttons are used to filter Log and Chat Messages. Toggle the Show Log button to show and hide Log messages. Toggle the Show Chat button to toggle Chat messages.

B: The Log and Chat Panel will display any Log and Chat messages that you have been entered from players or the system.

C: The Chat Entry Panel is where you can send chat messages to all, or one player in the game. To send a message to all players, make sure the drop down is selected to ALL. To send a message to one player only, select the player from the drop down list.

Enter your message in the Chat Entry box, then either click the Send button or press the Enter key.

D: Various control buttons are located in this area to allow you to change your font and background color. Click the dark grey gear to get a pop-up menu of various pre-entered Kibitz messages.

The DONE button is also located here. When you are done with your turn, you may press this button to tell the system you are ready to advance to the next phase or turn.

E: The Lower View Controls are used to maniplulate the lower view for you, the player. Hold the Info button down to see information about your hand and deck. Click the Refresh button to refresh the lower view.

Several indicators line the bottom of the lower view.

The indicator in Blue is the turn number. If the game does not support turns, this indicator will not be shown.

Next indicates who's turn it is. If it is your turn, the indicator will be displayed in green. If it is not your turn, the indicator will be shown in red. If the game does not support turns, this indicator will not be shown.

The phase indicator takes up the remainder of the bottom. It will show the current phase name and the upcoming phase name. If the game does not support phasen names this indicator will not be shown.

F: The Upper View Controls are used to manipulate the upper view. The upper view can be set to show any opponent's view, or even your view if you wish. All upper view playing pieces are shown in "true-life" form, meaning they are shown upside-down, like you would view them across the table.

A dropdown is available to change the upper view. It will contain the screen names of every player in the game. Select a player from the drop-down to change show that view. You may also use the <<Prev and Next>> buttons to cycle through the various player views.

The upper view has its own Info button. Hold it down to see the stats for the player in the upper view.

The upper view also has its own Refresh button. Click it to refresh the upper view.