I use GIMP scripts for this. Instead of spreadsheet, just a call with arguments separated by commas like this:
(UrNammu-new-craftsman 1 "2Baubles.png" "Fleece the Tourist" "Got his pants! Gain 2 Baubles" "Google Images")
We print using thegamecrafter.com, which is a little struggle because our decks have 100+ cards, and they require EACH CARD to be 'proofed' by hand on their laggy webpage. Proofing 1 card is enough for our software-generated cards, they all align exactly the same vs the template.
This is impressive, I keep meaning to learn to script Gimp and Inkscape, sometimes I think web apps are the only way I can think anymore...
Great point about thegamecrafter, we had the same problem. We want to try their API though, as Paperize could dump entire prototypes in there at once. Makes it a lot easier on your playtesters, too!
I tend to use HTML to create my prototypes in. I find that it's a pretty good medium for the purpose and there are plenty of developer tools around that makes it easy to work with. Plus it's easy to script.
Very interesting! However, I think the landing page should be clearer. No customer watches a 9:00 minutes video of a product, no matter how good it is. I'd switch to a 30 seconds promo (who are we? Why do you need us?) and keep the longer one for users who already know the product – they are hooked – and look for the nitty-gritty details.
I agree! Totally didn't expect this to get big today, but very glad it did! Once we're done gathering requirements from the hardcore game designers we're targeting, we'll revert that page to something a little sexier.
I really love this concept and it looks really well executed. One thing I think would be really slick would be to live update the template as you pair columns with locations on the card, using the first row from the CSV for content in the preview
We hope to start inviting early adopters in in March to do final tweaking and load testing. We'll probably go to beta invites as soon as we think it's stable and useful. From there, it goes where the users take us!
Something seems unfinished with the column-to-position associations. Maybe they need some more style to communicate the purpose a bit clearer? (e.g. representing the columns-to-positions in a table style, or more vertical padding separation, or referencing positions by letter (A, B, C, etc.) instead of by #).
We would agree. The UI itself is still evolving rapidly, the core functionality just finally came together and got useful. Ideally, we get feedback during this process that helps us nail down the most important workflows and give it a serious UX paint job.
Not relevant to the tool, but he kept saying in the video that the game has 16 cards even though he proceeded to create 17 cards (5 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2).
Right now it is Prawn[0]. It slowly evolved from a script a year ago, where it was fine. We are considering switching to an HTML->PDF workflow, though, since I have to render all of this stuff in the web for quicker previews anyway!
Thanks for the clean design mention, we owe it mostly to Zurb Foundation[1]. Using those modal popovers to control the user's attention has really helped me narrow the UI variables.
[+] [-] JoeAltmaier|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
Great point about thegamecrafter, we had the same problem. We want to try their API though, as Paperize could dump entire prototypes in there at once. Makes it a lot easier on your playtesters, too!
[+] [-] troels|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Red_Tarsius|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] codewithcheese|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kenbellows|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
That feature is definitely on the short list, we have lots to do in terms of surfacing the data in the designs in a more "live" fashion.
[+] [-] jgoewert|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
Anything else you wish we had templates for?
[+] [-] bduerst|11 years ago|reply
Edit: Nevermind. I was able to use it :)
FYI, you get a csrf error when logging in with a google account.
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
Right now the only way to be considered for early access is to fill out our feedback form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pGhxa1NvBmqVvV4tPt0YTiUcDRx...
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] woebtz|11 years ago|reply
Something seems unfinished with the column-to-position associations. Maybe they need some more style to communicate the purpose a bit clearer? (e.g. representing the columns-to-positions in a table style, or more vertical padding separation, or referencing positions by letter (A, B, C, etc.) instead of by #).
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] strict9|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] matthuggins|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rjurney|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jldugger|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rikkus|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lorennorman|11 years ago|reply
Thanks for the clean design mention, we owe it mostly to Zurb Foundation[1]. Using those modal popovers to control the user's attention has really helped me narrow the UI variables.
0: http://prawnpdf.org 1: http://foundation.zurb.com