The easiest way for me that I found to make a custom deck is to use photoshop and simply import the template image into a file exactly its size and fit it in, and then fill in the squares with separate images by making them 490 x 490 and bringing them in. Each of the little squares for images is 490 x 490
I am looking to start making a prototype for my idea and this helps so much. I was extremely nervous about how to do it but this video makes it look super simple.
After watching this, I added an export feature to a card constructor I'm building for a friend's TCG and now we can easily playtest. Saved me hours building a playtester. Didn't know TTS had such easy custom card support.
Thanks for the videos, Ryan. Good stuff. Could you talk a little about editing cards on the fly/in game? Is it even possible? Maybe with the marker tool?
I had plans to maybe do a video on prototyping "Legacy" aspects in Tabletop Simulator, which may cover some of what you would be looking for. It is a good idea though, being able to tweak and edit things without reimporting can be really helpful in tightening your design loop.
Definitely on the list! I will probably transition to interspersing more non-Tabletop Simulator content now that I have the primary TTS topics covered, and nanDECK is one that will make an appearance for sure.
What's so frustrating is that you can't customize card text or values on the fly. It'd be really nice if you could set dynamic text areas that are associated with a text document/table.
Ideally, you want to use software that allows you to define layouts that can be updated based on a data source without needing to manually change every card. This can be done in InDesign, but nanDECK is a free option that I have some tutorials for here: nanDECK Tutorials: th-cam.com/play/PLdHW9On5G8NJm5m1mULabskVYsM84M_SL.html
these instructions are great, but 10x7 seems to be the limit, I'm scanning in munchkin expansions, and just tried my first batch of 78 cards and it doesn't like it, so does that make your optimisation tip moot? (i have well over 400 cards to input) also the file type that the software you show exports isn't recognised by tts for me, which seems silly any idea on how to remedy this situation, i'm giving up for today
Ok, I really love this tutorial, and I was successfully able to make a deck into a game out of it, but I have a quick question: I tried exporting a new deck with fewer cards in it than the first deck I successfully made, but the java was unable to export it, saying that the image was too big, despite it being less than 5000 by 5000. I tried putting fewer cards in it, but the picture dimensions were exactly the same, despite having fewer cards in it, and it also failed to export. Do you have any idea what might have caused this or how to fix it? I have the latest java update, and I cannot see what would be causing the massive file size despite fewer cards.
Thanks so much. This was very helpful. I was wondering how you got the card images set up initially. I’m very new to it but created my cards with a simple 6 card per page table on word with equal spacing and typed in what I wanted. Do I need jpgs for each card?
Thank you very much, great video and great serie. If i have a deck where each card was labeled with description, but I need to change a few cards, do I have to erase the deck and re-enter it, or can I change the images of the existing deck? (if its easy to do, how do you do that?)
This works great and I was able to create custom decks, however when put into the hand they reveal the final card on the list? Do I need to have the number of cards on the sheet increased by an extra one, to have a blank for the front of cards to copy when revealed in hands? Not sure if that explains it well: When a card is flipped in a hand, what is revealed is often censored, such as the normal in-game cards showing a question mark. In the deck I made, no such censor exists, so I assume the final card on the list is used
This is a nice set of videos you have created! I am brand new to TTS. I have an inital proto I created in the "real world" but would like to learn how I could create it in TTS. A key component in my game are my cards that are like puzzle pieces. Each piece as an "output" and other pieces have matching "inputs." Each piece is actually a retangle. I wanted to be able to hook the pieces together. All the pieces have the same keys, so they can all connect to each other, depending upon the rules. I couldn't seem to figure out how I might do this. Do you have any ideas?
If I am understanding correctly, it sounds like when playing the physical prototype, it is simply the players' responsibility to place cards correctly. In TTS, it would end up being similar, it is kind of like you are just sitting around a physical table without rules being enforced. You can make sure the cards snap to a grid though, for details on that, I have this video: th-cam.com/video/FP9vF6z3Vl4/w-d-xo.html
even after building a deck and using 490 x 490 pix size and double checking the save location and copy as a path to custom deck + back image TTS loads a deck with only backs visible fronts are blank ?
A great tutorial but I cannot get it to work. I have square tiles. When I follow your steps and choose rectangle deck It just not look correct. It is so difficult this even if other people claim TTS is easy.
I wouldn't say TTS is always easy, there are a lot of little quirks that can be frustrating to work through. :) If your deck doesn't look correct, it is probably because your Width and Height properties weren't quite right. You will want to double-check your image file and make sure that your Width is the number of square tiles that fit in each row, and your Height is the number of square tiles that fit in each column. Think of it like Tabletop Simulator is going to cut a big Width x Height grid in your image, and then only take as many cards as you specified with the Number field.
How do you combine a custom card to a custom deck? I have catharsis and there are cards and then there are cards with a back that says boss, so I had to create a custom card so that the face and back are different than the deck, but when I try to combine the custom card to the deck, they dont snap together as in they dont combine and they just lay on top no matter how even i make it
TX so much for the great video. I have nasty problem here. I managed, after several tries, to make a deck of cards with horizontal orientation that would flip on the short side. Now, when the cards are dealt to players they do remain horizontal and that's what it's supposed to happen but, when I go and click search on the deck, all the cards in the right side panel are rotated 90° counterclockwise, and that's not ideal. Is there any way you know that could fix this (keeping the cards horizontal also when browsing them in search mode)? Thanks!
Hello! I would like to know if there is a way I can create a card game in Tabletop Simulator using my own images as the card art? Like, is there any way I can get some images from google or Pinterest, for example, to put for art on my cards? I asked this because I've seen some other tutorials on youtube, but they didn't make it clear, you know? So, how can I do this? Sorry for my bad english.
Definitely! The image that I import into TTS in the video is completely defined by me, so you could put whatever images you want in there before importing.
Hi i tried this and it was a really easy tutorial to follow! but i kept getting crashes whenever i would want to upload the deck and import it "Tabletop simulator unity 2019 error.4.40f1_ffc62b691db5" this is the error that crashes me everytime without fail. do you happen to know how to fix it? Thanks alot!
I'm having a weird problem that when I click export nothing happens... No drop down menu, no reaction, no nothing... What am I doing wrong?! I've tried resizing and lowering the card count, but the problem remains
hey, I know you're not the game developer and might not know why this is but once I try to do everything once I get to the part where I must export the file it simple doesn't happen, the computer completely ignores my clicks on the "export" button for no apparent reason, and I wanted to know if by any chance you would know why that could be
I was able to get it running using Wine, this post by the creator of nanDECK might help: www.boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/18232/running-nandeck-osx-winebottler
I need to have cards with an unique back but multiple faces which you can trigger with states. Is that possible? That'd be to emulate using double-faced cards put into opaque back sleeves. That way the back would still be hidden but you have the option to flip the card that's inside and get the other face of it. Thanks.
Interesting... maybe you can create a card for each different face (all with the same backs) and then combine them using TTS states? I have a video on states if you haven't seen it: th-cam.com/video/ME1-fwgBrTU/w-d-xo.html
You'll want to upload the images to the steam cloud when setting them or link to another publicly accessible URL. If you just upload from your computer, the files are still only on your computer so your friends' games won't be able to load them.
If I am importing my deck locally (local images), will my friends or other player joining my game session be able to see the card with no issues? Like do the images actually go to the simulator cloud?
At 12:00, you can see that I choose "Local" instead of "Cloud." With "Local," it is referencing the local file on your computer, and online players would not be able to see the image. However, if you use "Cloud," it will upload it to your steam cloud profile, and it will be accessible to anyone unless you end up deleting it from the cloud storage.
Unfortunately, there isn't a good way to add text to components that I am aware of, besides using the pen tool (which is pretty annoying). You might find my video tutorial on some rapid prototyping options that are possible in TTS useful: th-cam.com/video/0VM0SmXYTKM/w-d-xo.html.
Hi really like your content! I'm new to this and am having issues uploading decks to TTS. I've saved my cards into the deck builder but when I upload them in to TTS the cards are showing the entire grid on each card. I can't seem to get it to work I've tried both the old java version shown in this video and the other version in the modding folder, any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?
@@LudoLodge Thanks for the reply, I've managed to figure out the issue with a chap on the steam discussions page, keep up the great work I'll certainly be watching the rest of your TTS series.
Hmm I'm not sure about loading dynamically from a web API, found some similar conversation here but not a lot of answers: www.reddit.com/r/tabletopsimulator/comments/5ifes4/connecting_to_an_external_server/
Yeah, this tutorial assumes you already have the images of the cards you want to import. However, I am planning on doing my first video tutorial on nanDECK soon, which is a tool for actually creating card templates. Consider subscribing if you think that might be helpful to you!
What if I had cards that had a blank box that requires a person to roll dice, then type in that information inside that box for future posterity? For example, roll D3+3 to get 9mm rounds then type that inside the white box within the card until it ends up in zero and the player has to discard the card. Where can I find that?
This is amazing. I've felt so held back because I had no clue where to start but this totally solves that. Bless you.
I wish you the besttt
The easiest way for me that I found to make a custom deck is to use photoshop and simply import the template image into a file exactly its size and fit it in, and then fill in the squares with separate images by making them 490 x 490 and bringing them in. Each of the little squares for images is 490 x 490
I am looking to start making a prototype for my idea and this helps so much. I was extremely nervous about how to do it but this video makes it look super simple.
Incredibly useful tutorial. Everything is explained in clear detail, with visuals and examples. Thank you very much for this series of videos.
After watching this, I added an export feature to a card constructor I'm building for a friend's TCG and now we can easily playtest. Saved me hours building a playtester. Didn't know TTS had such easy custom card support.
Good explanation for the card width and height! That saved me a huge headache, haha
Always glad to prevent headaches haha. -Ryan
Making my first card game! Thanks! :)
Thank you for the straight forward instructions, it was a good help.
Needs more likes and views. Thanks for the walkthrough, this is exactly what I needed
This video finally helped me figure out where I was going wrong with creating a custom deck. Thank you.
Very interesting. I'm glad its not too complex, just found out about this game today (which is crazy) but it looks like a blast for the community
You saved my (game design) life. May the Lord bless you!
These videos are so helpful - thank you!
Great series! Looking forward to the next instalments and will definitely be coming back if I forget something ;)
Thanks so much for the amazing walk through!
Thanks for the videos, Ryan. Good stuff. Could you talk a little about editing cards on the fly/in game? Is it even possible? Maybe with the marker tool?
I had plans to maybe do a video on prototyping "Legacy" aspects in Tabletop Simulator, which may cover some of what you would be looking for. It is a good idea though, being able to tweak and edit things without reimporting can be really helpful in tightening your design loop.
Love these videos! Hoping to see a Nandeck tutorial from you one day.
Definitely on the list! I will probably transition to interspersing more non-Tabletop Simulator content now that I have the primary TTS topics covered, and nanDECK is one that will make an appearance for sure.
Very helpful! Thanks for this.
What's so frustrating is that you can't customize card text or values on the fly. It'd be really nice if you could set dynamic text areas that are associated with a text document/table.
So helpful!!!!
Hi, did you individually made each card in illustrator, one document at a time? then export it to PNG? or is there an easier way ? Thanks in advance
Ideally, you want to use software that allows you to define layouts that can be updated based on a data source without needing to manually change every card. This can be done in InDesign, but nanDECK is a free option that I have some tutorials for here: nanDECK Tutorials: th-cam.com/play/PLdHW9On5G8NJm5m1mULabskVYsM84M_SL.html
@@LudoLodge I'll check the tutorial Thanks a lot!!
these instructions are great, but 10x7 seems to be the limit, I'm scanning in munchkin expansions, and just tried my first batch of 78 cards and it doesn't like it, so does that make your optimisation tip moot? (i have well over 400 cards to input)
also the file type that the software you show exports isn't recognised by tts for me, which seems silly
any idea on how to remedy this situation, i'm giving up for today
Thank you so much!!!!
This dude looks like fred from the live action from scooby doo, very good video tho
Oh god I can’t unsee it
Ok, I really love this tutorial, and I was successfully able to make a deck into a game out of it, but I have a quick question:
I tried exporting a new deck with fewer cards in it than the first deck I successfully made, but the java was unable to export it, saying that the image was too big, despite it being less than 5000 by 5000. I tried putting fewer cards in it, but the picture dimensions were exactly the same, despite having fewer cards in it, and it also failed to export.
Do you have any idea what might have caused this or how to fix it? I have the latest java update, and I cannot see what would be causing the massive file size despite fewer cards.
Thanks so much. This was very helpful. I was wondering how you got the card images set up initially. I’m very new to it but created my cards with a simple 6 card per page table on word with equal spacing and typed in what I wanted. Do I need jpgs for each card?
Super useful, thanks!
Thank you very much, great video and great serie.
If i have a deck where each card was labeled with description, but I need to change a few cards, do I have to erase the deck and re-enter it, or can I change the images of the existing deck? (if its easy to do, how do you do that?)
super useful thx!!!
Are we able to do the same thing but with tiles? Or is it preferable to do this with cards?
thanks man
This works great and I was able to create custom decks, however when put into the hand they reveal the final card on the list? Do I need to have the number of cards on the sheet increased by an extra one, to have a blank for the front of cards to copy when revealed in hands?
Not sure if that explains it well: When a card is flipped in a hand, what is revealed is often censored, such as the normal in-game cards showing a question mark. In the deck I made, no such censor exists, so I assume the final card on the list is used
What if you want a deck with over 300 cards? How would you go about implementing such a card game?
This is a nice set of videos you have created! I am brand new to TTS. I have an inital proto I created in the "real world" but would like to learn how I could create it in TTS. A key component in my game are my cards that are like puzzle pieces. Each piece as an "output" and other pieces have matching "inputs." Each piece is actually a retangle. I wanted to be able to hook the pieces together. All the pieces have the same keys, so they can all connect to each other, depending upon the rules. I couldn't seem to figure out how I might do this. Do you have any ideas?
If I am understanding correctly, it sounds like when playing the physical prototype, it is simply the players' responsibility to place cards correctly. In TTS, it would end up being similar, it is kind of like you are just sitting around a physical table without rules being enforced. You can make sure the cards snap to a grid though, for details on that, I have this video: th-cam.com/video/FP9vF6z3Vl4/w-d-xo.html
even after building a deck and using 490 x 490 pix size and double checking the save location and copy as a path to custom deck + back image TTS loads a deck with only backs visible fronts are blank ?
A great tutorial but I cannot get it to work. I have square tiles. When I follow your steps and choose rectangle deck It just not look correct. It is so difficult this even if other people claim TTS is easy.
I wouldn't say TTS is always easy, there are a lot of little quirks that can be frustrating to work through. :)
If your deck doesn't look correct, it is probably because your Width and Height properties weren't quite right. You will want to double-check your image file and make sure that your Width is the number of square tiles that fit in each row, and your Height is the number of square tiles that fit in each column. Think of it like Tabletop Simulator is going to cut a big Width x Height grid in your image, and then only take as many cards as you specified with the Number field.
How do you combine a custom card to a custom deck? I have catharsis and there are cards and then there are cards with a back that says boss, so I had to create a custom card so that the face and back are different than the deck, but when I try to combine the custom card to the deck, they dont snap together as in they dont combine and they just lay on top no matter how even i make it
TX so much for the great video. I have nasty problem here. I managed, after several tries, to make a deck of cards with horizontal orientation that would flip on the short side. Now, when the cards are dealt to players they do remain horizontal and that's what it's supposed to happen but, when I go and click search on the deck, all the cards in the right side panel are rotated 90° counterclockwise, and that's not ideal. Is there any way you know that could fix this (keeping the cards horizontal also when browsing them in search mode)? Thanks!
What if I have one deck of 150 cards? How would I do that?
I have been trying to import my first deck (6*4, 23 cards) but for some reason the game keeps crashing once I hit the import button, is that common?
Hello! I would like to know if there is a way I can create a card game in Tabletop Simulator using my own images as the card art? Like, is there any way I can get some images from google or Pinterest, for example, to put for art on my cards? I asked this because I've seen some other tutorials on youtube, but they didn't make it clear, you know? So, how can I do this? Sorry for my bad english.
Definitely! The image that I import into TTS in the video is completely defined by me, so you could put whatever images you want in there before importing.
Hi i tried this and it was a really easy tutorial to follow! but i kept getting crashes whenever i would want to upload the deck and import it "Tabletop simulator unity 2019 error.4.40f1_ffc62b691db5" this is the error that crashes me everytime without fail.
do you happen to know how to fix it? Thanks alot!
how can i build an hex deck? im trying everything and my prototype is a hex game card. HELP!
I'm having a weird problem that when I click export nothing happens... No drop down menu, no reaction, no nothing... What am I doing wrong?! I've tried resizing and lowering the card count, but the problem remains
Weird, unfortunately I don't have any ideas beyond trying some really simple small examples to see if it changes anything. :(
hey, I know you're not the game developer and might not know why this is but once I try to do everything once I get to the part where I must export the file it simple doesn't happen, the computer completely ignores my clicks on the "export" button for no apparent reason, and I wanted to know if by any chance you would know why that could be
Why can't I just type text onto a card in tabletop simulator? Why must I use an external image editor - this makes it very tedious to workshop cards
Great Videos. How are you using Nandeck in Mac OSX?
I was able to get it running using Wine, this post by the creator of nanDECK might help: www.boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/18232/running-nandeck-osx-winebottler
Ludo Lodge cheers. I last used WINE a few years ago and found it a PITA, maybe it is time to re-visit. Thanks for the video series, very helpful.
I need to have cards with an unique back but multiple faces which you can trigger with states. Is that possible?
That'd be to emulate using double-faced cards put into opaque back sleeves.
That way the back would still be hidden but you have the option to flip the card that's inside and get the other face of it.
Thanks.
Interesting... maybe you can create a card for each different face (all with the same backs) and then combine them using TTS states? I have a video on states if you haven't seen it: th-cam.com/video/ME1-fwgBrTU/w-d-xo.html
Hello. What is the best format to use jpg or png? Png weighs more, but is jpg enough for cards? What do you think?
I think either should work fine, as far as I know. :)
How do I make it so my friends can also see the cards I upload? When I uploaded them to a game it was blank for everyone else.
You'll want to upload the images to the steam cloud when setting them or link to another publicly accessible URL. If you just upload from your computer, the files are still only on your computer so your friends' games won't be able to load them.
Thank you so much!! I alway want to play my homemade yugioh card.
I’m on Mac, when I click export from tsdb the export button just doesn’t click?
If I am importing my deck locally (local images), will my friends or other player joining my game session be able to see the card with no issues? Like do the images actually go to the simulator cloud?
At 12:00, you can see that I choose "Local" instead of "Cloud." With "Local," it is referencing the local file on your computer, and online players would not be able to see the image. However, if you use "Cloud," it will upload it to your steam cloud profile, and it will be accessible to anyone unless you end up deleting it from the cloud storage.
Is there a way to add custom text to a card like the note card. I really need this for rapid prototyping but cant find any info on the subject
Unfortunately, there isn't a good way to add text to components that I am aware of, besides using the pen tool (which is pretty annoying). You might find my video tutorial on some rapid prototyping options that are possible in TTS useful: th-cam.com/video/0VM0SmXYTKM/w-d-xo.html.
how do i get a deckw ith 72 cards, why is this so complicated? why can't i just upload an image and just play with it?
Hi really like your content! I'm new to this and am having issues uploading decks to TTS. I've saved my cards into the deck builder but when I upload them in to TTS the cards are showing the entire grid on each card. I can't seem to get it to work I've tried both the old java version shown in this video and the other version in the modding folder, any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?
Does the image exported from the deck builder look right? The numbers you enter for rows, columns, and total cards needs to match that image.
@@LudoLodge Thanks for the reply, I've managed to figure out the issue with a chap on the steam discussions page, keep up the great work I'll certainly be watching the rest of your TTS series.
Hi, I'm look for "how to give a name to each card", any idea ?
(16/10 ratio sux for youtube & phones >.> )
out of date they put in a new deck builder app as far as I know
What about foil
this is cool but how would it work if i wanted to onLoad import a deck from a web api i am running
Hmm I'm not sure about loading dynamically from a web API, found some similar conversation here but not a lot of answers: www.reddit.com/r/tabletopsimulator/comments/5ifes4/connecting_to_an_external_server/
@@LudoLodge thx for the reply
Posso importar minhas cartas de pokemon e one piece agora, eu aprecio muito isso
I m not sure what i m doing wrong but when i ever i go to click the export button nothing happens, how to solve this problem？
Perhaps the window for selecting the save location is hidden beneath other windows? Hard to say without more info.
@@LudoLodge no, just nothings happens.....too confused
@@LudoLodge I'm having the same issue. Using High Sierra. Just seems to lock up.
@@mgbspeedy Strange, I'm really not sure. :(
Ludo Lodge thanks for the reply. I’ll keep looking into it. If I discover anything, I’ll be sure to post here in the comments for others.
It is not helping me though, I want to create custom cards with custom art, and I have no idea!
Yeah, this tutorial assumes you already have the images of the cards you want to import. However, I am planning on doing my first video tutorial on nanDECK soon, which is a tool for actually creating card templates. Consider subscribing if you think that might be helpful to you!
the deck editor is busted for me and a number of other people, very frustrating.
umm
What if I had cards that had a blank box that requires a person to roll dice, then type in that information inside that box for future posterity? For example, roll D3+3 to get 9mm rounds then type that inside the white box within the card until it ends up in zero and the player has to discard the card. Where can I find that?