@DATABASE "Primogen.guide" @(C) (c)1995 David Zvekic @$VER: Primogen Documentation 1.2 (June 17 1995) David Zvekic @AUTHOR David Zvekic @INDEX main @NODE MAIN " Primogen Guide Contents " @NEXT copyright @{I}Primogen 1.2@{UI} @{U}Table of Contents@{UU} @{" Copyright " link copyright} @{"What is Jyhad?" link jyhad} @{" Introduction " link introduction} @{"Contacting the Author" link author} @{" Registering " link registering} @{"Unregistered Version " link shareware} @{" Using Primogen " link layout} @{"Jyhad Tactics" link newsarticle} @{" Tool Types " link tooltypes} @{" Requirements " link requirements} @{" History " link history} JYHAD and the JYHAD symbol are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf, they are used here without permission and are not intended as challenges to those trademarks. The Primogen icon was created with the Help of Robert Gregory. It depicts the Jyhad Symbol. So go look for this symbol and buy the game. :) @ENDNODE @NODE copyright " Primogen Copyright Notice" @NEXT introduction @{B}@{U} Copyright @{UB}@{UU} @{U}Primogen (c) David Zvekic 1995.@{UU} All rights reserved. Primogen is shareware, you may distribute copies of the demonstration version freely. The registered version may not be redistributed, without the prior written consent of the author. This copyright only extends to the documentation (this file) and the main executable (Primogen). The author expressely denies any responsibility or ownership of any other files which may be included in this archive. JYHAD and the JYHAD symbol are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf, they are used here without permission and are not intended as challenges to those trademarks. This software is provided "AS IS", without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The author is not responsible for any damage or loss of data due to use of this program. Furthermore the author makes no claims either expressed or implied of the suitability of this software for any purpose. @endnode @NODE introduction " Primogen Introduction " @NEXT registering @{B}@{U} Introduction @{UB}@{UU} Primogen is a tool to help players of the game @{"Jyhad" link Jyhad}. Primogen will help you to keep track of your favourite Crypts, but more importanty Primogen will provide valuable statistical and analytical information about your Crypt. This will help you to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of your crypt and thus help you to select a more appropriate library. Primogen will also provide immediate realtime feedback on the effect the addition or removal of any vampires have on your crypt. Primogen is Shareware. Please support the continued development of Primogen and my bank account by @{"registering" link registering}. If you do not play Jyhad then you should. If you still don't play Jyhad, well, then will probably not find this program useful for anything. Do feel free to try however. :) @ENDNODE @NODE Jyhad " What is Jyhad? " @{B}@{U} Overview of Jyhad - An excerpt from the Jyhad rules. @{UB}@{UU} "Jyhad is a collectable trading card game requiring about 3 hours of playing time. In Jyhad two or more players take on the roles of ancient vampires, known as Methuselahs, engaged in an age-old political battle. So great and subtle are the Methuselahs that they are considered mere legend by the younger vampires. These younger vampires think they are pursuing their own ends even as they are being used by one Methuselah to undercut the power base of another. The Motivations for the war between the Methuselahs are lost in the sands of dead civilizations. Perhaps the Methuselahs are vying for world conquest. Perhaps they work under the influence of yet older vampires, believing as naively in their autonomy as do the vampires they control." Jyhad is based on White Wolf's game @{B}Vampire:The Masquerade.@{UB} Jyhad is produced by Wizards of the Coast, and is a Trademark of Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf. Jyhad was designed by Richard Garfield. WoTC can be reached @{"here" link contactwotc}. A Newspaper article I wrote can be found @{"here" link newsarticle}. Oh... and I almost forgot. Jyhad is being renamed to "Vampire:The Eternal Struggle". So if you can't find Jyhad anywhere look for V:TES @ENDNODE @NODE contactwotc " Contacting Wizards of The Coast " @{B}@{U} How to Contact Wizards of the Coast @{UU} WoTC Product Support:@{UB}Send SASE to Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707. Phone: (206) 624-0933. Internet: questions@wizards.com @ENDNODE @NODE layout " Using Primogen " @{B}@{U} Primogen Layout @{UB}@{UU} Primogen uses a GUI interface to communicate with the user. There are 4 main windows which the user has access to from time to time. These are as follows: @{" Main Window " link mainwindow} @{" Design/Edit Window " link edwindow} @{" Merits/Flaws Window " link Mflawwindow} @{" Evaluate Window " link evalwindow} To learn how to use Primogen follow the links to each window in turn, and start reading. If you think that sounds tedious, imagine how long it took me to write this manual! @ENDNODE @NODE registering " Registering Primogen " @{B}@{U} Registering this Fine Software @{UB}@{UU} To register Primogen please send a check or money order drawable on a Canadian bank for $15 Canadian Dollars to: David Zvekic 74 Briarwood Rd Unionville, ONT. L3R 2X3 CANADA I might also accept RARE or Uncommon Jyhad cards for payment. Contact me first, or if you can't reach me I'll accept ANY RARE Jyhad card for a $1 discount (no limit) and ANY UNCOMMON Jyhad card for a $.40 discount (no limit). By registering you will recieve by post or email or IRC DCC, (whichever method you prefer) the latest registered version of Primogen all features enabled. You will also recieve a keyfile which all future versions of Primogen will recognize to automatically enable all features of those versions. Thanks in advance for registering. 'cause like I know you all will! :) @ENDNODE @NODE mainwindow " The Main Window " @{B}@{U} The Main Primogen Window @{UB}@{UU} This window contains a number of gadgets. To be precise it contains 2 @{"listviews" link listview}, 14 button gadgets, a closewindow gadget and a depth gadget. The closewindow gadget and depth gadget of course do what you would expect them to do. If you don't know what to expect them to do I suggest you read your Amiga documentation, ask a friend or maybe just give it up right now. An Amigaguide representation of the available gadgets is given below. Click on them to see exactly what they are for. An brief overview follows... Available Vampires The Crypt ________________________ _____________________ | | @{"->Crypt" link Crypt} | | | @{"Storage Area" link availablevampires} | @{" Remove" link remove} | @{"The Crypt" link thecrypt} | | | @{" Quit " link Quit} | | ________________________ _____________________ @{" Add " link VAdd} @{" Delete " link Vdelete} @{" Edit " link Vedit} @{" Evaluate " link evaluate} @{" Print " link Cprint} @{"Save " link Vsav} @{" Reload " link Vreload} @{"Clear " link Vclear} @{"Save " link Csav} @{" Open " link Copen } @{"Clear" link Cclear} @{B}@{U} Overview @{UB}@{UU} The purpose of the main window is to allow you to select vampires from your storage area and place them in your Crypt. A statistical analysis of these vampires will appear in the @{"Evaluation Window" link evalwindow}. Vampires can be moved to your Crypt by pressing @{"->Crypt" link Crypt}. The evaluation window can be toggled on and off by pressing @{"Evaluate" link evaluate}. These 2 buttons, you MUST understand in order to use Primogen. Detailed descriptions of all of the buttons are available by clicking above. @ENDNODE @NODE theCrypt "The Crypt" @{B}@{U} The Crypt (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} This @{"Listview" link listview} is your crypt. It contains all the vampires, you've moved into it from the @{"Available Vampires" link availablevampires} Storage area with the @{"->Crypt" link Crypt} button. You can remove vampires from the Crypt by pressing the @{"Remove" link remove} button on the main window. The most important button is the @{"Evaluate" link evaluate} button. It will toggle on and off the @{"Evaluate Window" link evalwindow} which gives you statistical information about your crypt. @ENDNODE @NODE availablevampires "The Storage Area" @{B}@{U} The Storage Area (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} This @{"Listview" link listview} is your Storage Area. It contains all the available vampires which can be added to your crypt. If you own any vampires which are not already included in this listview you can add them in with the @{"Add" link VAdd} button. It would be appreciated (if you can) to contact the @{"author" link theauthor} and give him a description of the missing vampires so that other users will not also need to add them in manually. @ENDNODE @Node Crypt " Adding to the Crypt" @NEXT remove @{B}@{U} ->Crypt Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} This button allows you to add vampires to your @{"Crypt" link thecrypt}. The selected vampire in your @{"Storage Area" link availablevampires} will be added to your crypt. It is legal to have @{"duplicate vampires" link dupvamp} in your crypt, but be careful as the current version of Primogen does not yet take into consideration this tactics full effects. @ENDNODE @NODE dupvamp "Duplicate Vampires in the Crypt" @{B}@{U} Using Duplicate Vampires in The Crypt @{UB}@{UU} This tactis is strongly discouraged, and it should be warned that the currently Primogen does not accuratly reflect the effects of duplicate vampires in your crypt. This tactic will generally have the following effects. - loss of Crypt Speed - Increase in Control - Decreasing the purity of most disciplines while having minimal if any positive effect on the disciplines the duplicate vampires possess. The only real reason for using this tactic is to increase the probability that you will be able to get a certain vampire into play. However there are drawbacks. You run the risk of drawing duplicate (and hence useless) vampires from your crypt. An additional risk is that if someone puts a vampire (that you have duplicates of in your deck) into play, a significant portion of your crypt will become contested. Putting duplicates of the same vampire in your crypt is generally a bad tactic and is strongly discouraged. The current version of Primogen treats all vampires as unique so will give you misleading results if you include duplicate vampires in your crypt. A future version of Primogen will take these considerations into mind. @ENDNODE @NODE remove "Removing a Vampire from the Crypt" @{B}@{U} Remove Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} If you click this button the currently selected vampire in the @{"Crypt" link thecrypt} will be removed. @ENDNODE @NODE quit "Quiting Primogen" @{B}@{U} Quit Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} There are no instructions available for this button. I just wanted to see if there was anyone alive, so stupid, that they would actually need to consult the documentation for such a blatantly obvious thing like "Quit"! For additional information please see the @{"Biblographic Reference" link biblio}. @ENDNODE @NODE biblio "What?!" @{B}@{U} Blbiographic Reference @{UB}@{UU} You didn't actually think I was serious did you?! @ENDNODE @node vadd "Creating new Vampires. Woowoo!" @{B}@{U} Storage Area Add Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} By pressing this button you will open a @{"Design/Edit" link edwindow} window. Here you can enter information about a new vampire to be added to the Storage Area. If you do have a vampire that is not already in the default Storage file, it would be awfully nice of you to send a description to the @{"author" link theauthor} so that future versions of Primogen will not be missing that vampire. @ENDNODE @NODE vdelete "Removing a Vampire from the Storage Area" @{B}@{U} Storage Area Delete Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} If you click this button the currently selected vampire in the @{"Storage Area" link availablevampires} will be removed. @ENDNODE @NODE vreload "Reloading the Storage Area " @{B}@{U} Storage Area Reload Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} If you click this button the current @{"Storage Area" link availablevampires} selection will revert to its status saved on disk. There isn't much use for this button, but it remains here for historical reasons. A future version of Primogen may replace this button with something useful. @ENDNODE @NODE vclear "Clearing the Storage Area" @{B}@{U} Storage Area Clear Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} If you click this button the @{"Storage Area" link availablevampires} will be cleared. Perhaps you may want to then click on @{"Reload" link vreload} for hours of fun. Another value added (read: mostly useless) feature. @ENDNODE @NODE vsav "Saving the Storage Area" @{B}@{U} Storage Area Save Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} If you click this button the current @{"Storage Area" link availablevampires} will be resaved to disk along with any changed you may have made to it. @ENDNODE @NODE vedit "Editing a Vampire In the Storage Area" @{B}@{U} Storage Area Edit Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} If you click this button the currently selected vampire in the @{"Storage Area" link availablevampires} will be loaded into a @{"Design/Edit" link EDwindow} window for editing. If the changes are accepted, the @{"Storage Area" link availablevampires} will be updated to reflect these changes. @ENDNODE @Node listview "The Amiga Listview Gadget" @{B}@{U} Listview gadgets @{UB}@{UU} The listview is a special type of gadget. Designed for storing and displaying lists. That's all I have to say about listviews. If you need more information about listviews please consult the @{"Bibliographic Reference" link biblio}. @ENDnode @NODE author "Contacting the Author" @{B}@{U} How to Contact the Author @{UB}@{UU} The best way to contact me is via internet email: cs922097@ariel.cs.yorku.ca The 2nd best way to contact me is via the postal service: David Zvekic 74 Briarwood rd Unionville, Ont. L3R 2X3 Canada The last best way is to look for Deathland on IRC, on #amiga or #Jyhad. @ENDnode @NODE evaluate "Evaluate Button" @{B}@{U} Evaluate Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} This button will toggle, on and off, the status of the @{"Evaluate Window" link evalwindow}. @ENDNODE @NODE Cprint "Printing Your Crypt" @{B}@{U} Print Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} This button will generate a printout of the crypt. This might be useful on occasion. You will be prompted for a print destination, so it is possible to print to a file instead of the printer if you prefer. This feature is disabled in the unregistered version of Primogen. @ENDNODE @NODE Mprintc "Printing Your Crypt" @{B}@{U} Print Crypt (Main Window Menu Item) @{UB}@{UU} This menu option will generate a printout of the crypt. This might be useful on occasion. You will be prompted for a print destination, so it is possible to print to a file instead of the printer if you prefer. This feature is disabled in the unregistered version of Primogen. @ENDNODE @NODE Mprinte "Printing Your Crypt Evaluation" @{B}@{U} Print Evaluation (Main Window Menu Item) @{UB}@{UU} This menu option will generate a printout of the crypt evaluation. This evaluation provides even more details than the onscreen evaluation and is useful for constructing a library when away from your computer. You will be prompted for a print destination, so it is possible to print to a file instead of the printer if you prefer. This feature is disabled in the unregistered version of Primogen. @ENDNODE @NODE Cclear "Clearing the Crypt" @{B}@{U} Crypt Area Clear Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} This option clears the crypt. All vampires are removed from memory and the crypt is gone forever (unless of course you saves your crypt with the {"Save" link csav} button. @ENDNODE @NODE csav "Saving the Crypt" @{B}@{U} Crypt Area Save Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} If you click this button the current @{"Crypt" link thecrypt} will be resaved to disk along with any changed you may have made to it. @ENDNODE @NODE copen "Loading a new Crypt" @{B}@{U} Crypt Area Open Button (Main Window) @{UB}@{UU} This button opens a file requestor, prompting you for a crypt file to load. This file will be then be loaded into your crypt and the vampires it contains will be displayed in the @{"Crypt" link thecrypt} area. @ENDNODE @NODE edwindow " The Design/Edit Window " @{B}@{U} The Design/Edit Window @{UB}@{UU} This window is used to enter information about a vampire into Primogen. It uses a series of gadgets to allow the entry of data. The gadgets are as follows: Gadget Description ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ Name This string gadget allows the entry of a vampire's name. You click on this gadget and then type it in. Generation This integer gadget allows the entry of the vampire's generation. Clan This cycle gadget allows the entry of a vampire's clan. The default is Brujah. To change this, click on the gadget repeatedly until it cycles over to the desired clan. Animalism ... These cycle gadgets represent the status of the disciplines. Thaumaturgy By default the vampire has a rating of 'None' in each discipline, however, by clicking on these gadgets, the status of any particular discipline can be cycled through the 3 available ratings 'None', 'Standard' and 'Superior'. For a description of how to tell what a standard or superior discipline is consult your @{"Jyhad" link jyhad} rules. Accept This gadget indicates to Primogen you are satisfied with the changes you have made. This window will close and you will be returned to the @{"Main Window" link mainwindow}. If you were adding a new vampire it can now be found in your Storage Area. If you were editing an old vampire, it will be be modified to represent the new information. Merits/Flaws Pressing this button will open the @{"Merit/Flaw window" link mflawwindow}. Cancel Pressing this button will close the Design/Edit window (losing all changes) and return you to the @{"Main Window" link mainwindow}. @ENDNODE @NODE Mflawwindow " Merit/Flaw Window " @{B}@{U} The Merit/Flaw Window @{UB}@{UU} This window is used to modify a vampire's merits and flaws. In Jyhad these are given as the text of a vampire card. It was necessary to come up with possible effects these special abilities would have on the game, and this lead me to devise 8 different @{"strategies" link strategies} for winning the game. Every discipline and every special ability has an effect on these strategies, making them easier or more difficult paths to victory. As there is a finite number of permutations of disciplines, it was possible to devise a simple algorithm to calculate the disciplines' effect on the 8 strategies. However there are theoretically an infinite number of different special abilities, and as such there is no deterministic way of calculating an arbitrary special ability's effect. This being the case, it has been left to the human user to determine the effect any special ability might have on gameplay. I have already entered each vampire that I own into the database, along with my estimation of that vampire's special abilities' effects on the strategies. Each strategy has a rating from -2 to 5. A rating of 0 is normal. Negative ratings are refered to as flaws and positive ratings are merits. There are a few hard fast rules, I've devised which will cover a great many vampires. These are given in the description of the relevent @{"strategy" link strategies}. @ENDNODE @Node STRATEgies " The Strategies" @{B}@{U} The Strategies @{UB}@{UU} The 8 Strategies along with any special rules follow: @{B}@{U} Offensive @{UB}@{UU} This deck is specialized in offensive combat, or at bleeding the opponent. The idea is to put as many of your opponents vampires into torpor as possible, by multiple damage points or agravated damage, and then hit your opponents pool with multiple bleeds. Special abilities which give +1 to offensive include: - +1 hand damage - 2 hand damage - +1 Bleed - hand damage is treated as agravated - pay 1 blood to gain 1 maneuver @{B}@{U} Defensive @{UB}@{UU} This deck is strong in keeping its minions out of torpor. Your opponent can't bleed you if she spends all her efforts just hurting your minions. Aggravated damage doesn't scare you because it is easily soaked. And when your opponent does manage to bleed you, it doesn't matter because you've always got a card to reduce bleed handy. Special abilities include: - spend 1 blood to gain 1 dodge - change aggravated damage to normal - Don't need to tap to block vampires of 3rd gen or less (+2 bonus) @{B}@{U} Stealth @{UB}@{UU} This deck is strong at doing things without being blocked. If you opponent can't get you into a fight, then you dont need to be good at it. However keep in mind that occasionally you will need to block an opponent's minions, and stealth is completely useless for this. Special abilities include: - +1 stealth for any 1 type of action - +1 stealth for ALL actions (+2 stealth bonus) @{B}@{U} Detection @{UB}@{UU} This is the opposite of stealth. It helps you to prevent your opponent from taking actions which might otherwise go unblocked. Detection abilities are ALWAYS useful. Many of the more fundamental actions a minion might take, take place at +1 stealth. If you can get a +1 intercept bonus, you could for example block a hungry vampire from feeding (probably sending it into torpor in the process). Stop a political action before it starts. A deck that is strong in Combat and Detection is a frightening prospect indeed. Special abilities include: - +1 intercept against any 1 type of action or minion. - +1 intercept for ALL actions (+2 detection bonus) @{B}@{U} Political @{UB}@{UU} A political deck should have many political action cards, and if possible vampires with votes. Political actions can be used effectively to achieve almost any game effect. They can allow you to exert more control over the game. Special abilities include: - Primogen (+1 bonus) - Prince (+2 bonus) - Justicar (+3 bonus) @{B}@{U} Speed @{UB}@{UU} A speed deck has many small vampires, and few large ones. It relies on overwhelming your opponent by the sheer number of minions you might throw at him. Special abilities include: - any ability to put blood on uncontrolled vampires. - any ability to increase the size of your hand - any ability to discard cards. @{B}@{U} Control @{UB}@{UU} A control deck is one which allows the methuselah alot of choices over what happens in the game, and allows the methuselah to deny those choices to others. A deck with a high control rating will tend to cause your opponent to lose control of his deck and vice versa. Special abilities include: - any vampires which can take an action which would be illegal otherwise. i.e. act out of turn, attack another minion, give blood to another controlled minion. - any power that help the controller to win contested cards. - any power which will deny another kind of vampire a certain kind of freedom. i.e. Control powers are +1 when they only apply to a certain kind of vampire (based on clan or generation typically). They are usually +2 when they apply to everyone. @{B}@{U} Knowledge @{UB}@{UU} A knowledge deck allows you to have more information, and thus make better decisions when playing Jyhad. Methuselahs with a high knowledge rating tend to know everything, about everyone (at least as far as the game goes). Special abilities include: - any that let you look at cards which you would not otherwise be allowed to look at. @endnode @node evalwindow " The Evaluation Window" @NEXT checks @{B}@{U} The Evaluation Window @{UB}@{UU} This window lists many statistical and calculated results for the current crypt. It is updated in real-time as modifications are made to the crypt and may be left open without interfering with the operation of the @{"main window" link mainwindow}. It also contains a series of checkmark boxes. Explained @{"here" link checks}. The results of the data fields are explained below. Field Description ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vampires: The number of vampires in the Crypt Generations: The sum total of all generations of vampires in the Crypt. Clans: The number of @{I}different@{UI} clans in the crypt. Average: The mean average generation of each vampire in the Crypt. @{B}Disciplines Box@{UB} Standard: The total number of slots of disciplines vampires possess, rated at standard. Superior: The Total number of slots of disciplines vampires possess, rated at Superior @{B}Totals Box@{UB} Quality: A special weighted total which adds extra emphasis on very high or very low ratings. This is not an average. But a calculation of the general quality of disciplines in your crypt. A deck with many different disciplines will tend to score low here. A deck with only a few disciplines will tend to score high. This reflects the reality that a deck which is very strong in a few disciplines has better chances of succeeding than a deck which is 'average' in many. The same rule applies to strategy strengths. Strength: A special weighted total strength of the strategies. This is not an average, but a calculated final strength which should hold, provided you design your library while keeping your strengths and weaknesses in mind. Typically only choose cards which help your best strengths. Trying to compensate for your crypts weaknesses in your library will most likely result in a fruitless up-hill battle. The secret to winning at Jyhad is to face your enemy on your own terms, using your best weapons. The same rule applies to disciplines. @{B}@{U}Strategy Strengths Chart@{UB}@{UU} This chart shows the calculated strengths of each strategy type based on both vampire special abilities and the particular strengths and qualities of disciplines which affect those strategies. Speed is mostly affected by the average generation of the vampires in the crypt compared to the 'typical' crypt. Each other strategy is affected by some combination of discipline and their respective quality ratings as well as other factors. The exact algorithm used is beyond the scope of this document (for now). @{B}@{U}Discipline Strengths Chart@{UB}@{UU} This chart shows the frequency of each discipline in your crypt. The Weighted column shows a weighted frequency, which values Superior disciplines higher than standard disciplines. The Standard column shows the number of vampires with the discipline at Standard rating divided by the total number of vampires. The Superior column shows the number of vampires with the discipline at superior rating divided by the total number of vampires. The Quality column shows a special calculated total, which takes into account the generation of the individual vampires which possess the discipline in question as well as such issues as Superior and Standard Frequencies, and weights. It is this column that gives you the most meaningful information on the true strengths of the various disciplines in your deck. In general practice this is the ONLY column I look at when determining which disciplines to emphasize in my library. @endnode @Node shareware " The Unregistered Version" @{B}@{U} Unregistered Version Information @{UB}@{UU} The unregistered version of Primogen has a number of limitations. Namely you can't load more than 12 vampires into your crypt, and you can't create printouts. Other than that there are no restrictions on its use or distribution. I hope you do register however so I can afford to buy lunch. To see how to register click @{"here" link registering} @ENDNODE @node newsarticle "An article I wrote on Jyhad tactics" @{B} @{U}Jyhad: If You think its like Magic. Think Again.@{UU} by David Zvekic @{UB} Jyhad is without a doubt one of the most sophisticated tradable card games on the market. It requires both wit and careful planning in order to play a strong and consistent game. The Jyhad is an ancient and secret war, between the most ancient and powerful of vampires, the methuselahs. It is fought for reasons, that are known only to the methuselahs, by soldiers who often do not even know that they are all mere pawns, manipulated by these ancient vampires in the Jyhad. In the game Jyhad the players play the role of Methuselahs. As you might expect their out to win the Jyhad. Many new players find it tempting to compare Jyhad to another game 'Magic:The Gathering' (henceforth referred to as MTG). In doing so they fall into a common trap. They design an MTG deck using Jyhad cards. In Jyhad, new cards are drawn from the library as fast as you can play them, much unlike MTG where only a single new card is drawn each turn. In addition there are no killer card combinations in Jyhad. Not often is a Jyhad game played, where victory can easily be traced to a single card or 2 that turned the tides of battle. Victory can only achieved through a steady and relentless onslaught. Drawing and playing many cards in a single turn. With that in mind, it is likewise very important to keep your opponent on the defensive. Here are some tips I have for those finding it difficult to play a strong game. Don't let your prey get the Edge. If your prey has the Edge, he'll only become more and more powerful while your blood pool diminishes. Get it away from him. Even when you know he'll only take it back again, it is still better than letting him gain the extra pool each turn. If you're lucky he'll be succumb to the same defeatist attitude, that you're only going to take the Edge back from him and he'll let you keep it. Keep lots of 'Computer Hacking' cards around. These cards are one of the most useful in the game. You spend them like there's no tommorow, and they immedietly get replaced. If only 1 in 5 go unblocked thats 1 extra point of bleed that didn't cost you anything. Don't save, discard!. While in MTG, discarding is a scary thing, in Jyhad discarding is good for you. Discarding lets you replace your least useful card with something that is probably better. You should take advantage of your discard phase the moment you have a card you don't see yourself being able to use within the next turn or 2. Likewise, don't be cheap with the extra bleed cards, extra damage, or damage prevention cards. Use them, even when your vampires have plenty of blood left and you believe they can soak the damage. You'll get more, and if the card you draw to replace them with isn't useful in this fight, it will be useful outside of combat. Wake with Evening's Freshness Put a few 'Wake with Evening's Freshness', or 'Rats Warning' cards in your deck and use them. Put many in fact. If your predator believes that you have these ready, he may think twice about assuming you can't defend yourself. Moreover if you have many of these, you might be able to take the Edge knowing that you can still respond to bleeds attempts afterwards. 'Cat's Guidance' is also useful for keeping your blockers available. Act with a Purpose. Design your deck with a specific purpose and keep to it. If your deck is designed for high damage in combat, then stick to this. Take only those cards that let you put your enemies minion's into torpor. Do not be tempted to make a deck that can handle any situation. If you keep in mind that winning the game requires many turns of continual pressure, you will see that it is not important to be able to deal with every kind of threat. If your deck is poor politically, then put your opponents Primogen's and Princes into torpor to balance the playing field. Even better, be on your prey's case so hard that he doesn't call a vote for fear of letting you slip in a multi point bleed when he leaves too many minions tapped. If your deck is a political deck, then vote your prey to death. Commit diablerie often and with vigour, as you can probably overturn any calls for a blood hunt. Don't miss the opportunity to take your opponents minions right out of the game. Use 'Political Backlash' to punish any that try to call a Blood Hunt. Keep in mind that you can't play Reaction cards during your turn so this tactic only works if you diablerize during someone elses. Amaranth is useful for this, as is any card that will let you intercept a vampire trying to recover from torpor. With a political deck you can also let people bleed you, and then get revenge with 'Domain Challenge'. Finally always remember that Political Action cards can also be used as votes, and that you'll get replacements soon enough so spend, spend, spend! Try to concentrate on only a few disciplines. This way you'll always be able to play the cards you've got in your hand. Also don't underestimate 'Master:Skill' cards. They make a huge difference, in a well designed deck with only a few disciplines. Speed In Jyhad your cards are typically replaced immedietly. The consequence of this is that you want to be able to use all of your cards as soon as you draw them. If a card isn't immedietly useful, discard it, and think twice about even including it in your library in the future. Another note on speed. Cheap vampires, are better than expensive ones. In my crypt over 1/2 of my vampires are 2nd generation or LESS! If you don't have enough minions in play, then your entire game suffers. Your deck plays slower and you'll lose the Edge. If most of your vampires are small and cheap, you'll naturally work your way through your crypt and get at the powerhouses soon enough. With 'Master:Skill' cards your cheap vampires can use the disciplines just as well as vampires that take several times more blood to get into play. Contested Cards. Many people use contested cards the wrong way. In a multiplayer game you should almost never contest someone's card unless that methuselah is so low on pool they will be forced to yield very soon. If they don't yield, you both waste blood while all the other players get stronger. When you are winning the game, it is a good time to contest cards. If you are losing the game you should seriously consider yielding as you are in no position to throw away the blood pool. If you aren't prepared to go the full distance in a contest, then it's probably better to yield. Avoid conflict. In a multiplayer game, your predator is probably very leery of tapping all of his vampires. If it looks like he will be satisfied by gaining control of the Edge, then he'll probably stop bleed attempts as soon as he gets the Edge. You may want to simply allow his first minion to bleed you, instead of blocking it. If you don't have the Edge, 1 pool is a small price to pay, to save your minions from slaughter. Winning is Everything While some may say "the most important thing is to have fun." We all know that the best way to have fun is to win! Hopefully, these tips will help you to formulate a stronger playing strategy, and win more games. If you happen to have fun along the way, well hey, fun is good too! The Author: David Zvekic is a computer science student at York University, and author of the soon to be released PRIMOGEN shareware Jyhad deck analysis tool. His internet email address is: cs922097@ariel.cs.yorku.ca @endnode @Node history "Primogen History" @{B}@{U} The History of Primogen @{UB}@{UU} 1.2 June 17 1995 -still going. 15 wins no losses. :) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ - made busypointer work for evaluation window. - Strategy Strengths now only tally those disciplines which are actually used (selected). - more vampires. - Fixed manual to work with amigaguide v40. (as best as I could). - Some more tweaking of the internal weighting of various disciplines towards strategy strengths. - About window now shows total vampires in storage. 1.1: June 2 1995 -haven't lost a single game since writing Primogen!- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ - Added support for Tool types and command line arguments. - Added Discipline Checkboxes to improve Total Quality rating system (these automatically scale for fontsize in OS 3.0 or higher) - Improved Font sensetivity of Evaluation Window. - Primogen uses user preferences busypointer (for OS 3.0+ only) - Adjusted default standard for deciding on what an 'old' vampire is and how much difference there is between the ages. - all known errors from 1.0 corrected. 1.0 May 26 1995 -Original Release!- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 0.5 May 15 1995 -original CLI based version of primogen. called: VampEval- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 0.0 Early May -idea for this program dawned upon me- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ @ENDNODE @NODE ToolTypes "Primogen Tool Types @{B}@{U} Icon Tool Types @{UB}@{UU} A number of Tool types are supported by Primogen. In all cases where there is a tool type, an equivalent command line parameter is supported, and is described along with the tool type below. You can change the tool types by clicking on the Primogen icon and selecting 'Information...' from the 'Icons' menu in Workbench. See your Workbench manuals. The purpose of these tool types is to let you change the way primogen calculates its Discipline Qualities. The only reason to do this is if you disagree with my subjective oppinion on the subject. @{B} SHIFT=#@{UB} Usage: Where # is the Generation Shift Index. A low shift index (0-2) favours low generation vampires more while a high shift index (greater than 2) favours low generation vampires less. This works as follows. When comparing vampires the shift index is always added as a constant. If the Shift index where 0 then a 10th Generation vampire would be considered 10 times older than a 1st generation vampire. If the shift index where 10 then a 10th Generation vampire would only appear to be slighty less than twice as old (as 10+10 = 20 and 1+10 = 11. 20 is slightly less than twice of 11). This value is used when calculating Discipline values, as a discipline is considered more valuable on a young vampire than on an old one. Young vampires tend to get into play while old vampires cost so much blood that they often don't get used or take a long time to put out. CLI Usage: Primogen -shift # Default Shift Index is 2.0. @{B} BASE=#@{UB} Usage: Where # is the Base Blood Index. This indicates the Generation which you consider to be NORMAL. Vampires are considered either 'young' or 'old' based on this Base Generation ClI Usage: Primogen -base # Default Base Generation is 4.0. @{"Here" link basegenwhy} is why. @{B} WEIGHT=#@{UB} Usage: Where # is the Superior/Standard weight Index. All superior rated disciplines are multiplied by this number, to determine their value while all standard disciplines are divided by this number. If you wanted to get perverse you could put a value less than 1 here and standard disciplines would be considered more valuable than superior. If you wanted to be REALLY perverse you can put a value of 0 here. (I don't suggest trying it. I only mention it, as an illustration of something you should not do.) If your system crashes consider that a "feature" of Primogen. CLI Usage: Primogen -weight # Default Superior/Standard Weight Index is 1.25 @{B}@{U} Complete CLI Example@{UB}@{UU} primogen -weight 1.25 -Base 4.5 -shift 2.0 @ENDNODE @NODE basegenwhy " Why is 4th Generation so special?" @{B}@{U} Why is 4th Generation so Special? @{UB}@{UU} The reason for this is fairly straightforward. I used to believe that 5.5 should be the base generation. This number was fairly arbitrary, but I felt it had some logic behind it as 1/2 the generations are less than 5.5 and 1/2 of them are greater. It seemed sensible. However while walking home one day it suddenly dawned upon me. Every turn there are 4 transfers. The largest vampire one could possibly bring out in 1 turn is 4th gen. And there you have my justification. Any vampire higher than 4th gen takes at least 2 turns to get into play, and will slow down your deck. Vampires of 4th gen are 'normal' (taking 1 turn) and vampires of younger than 4th gen are 'fast' (allowing you to get multiple vampires into play during the same turn). @ENDNODE @NODE checks "The checkboxes" @{B}@{U} What are these Check Boxes. @{UB}@{UU} The Check Marks are there for you to tell Primogen which disciplines you intend to use. Primogen then uses these disciplines to accurately calculate a Total quality in the Totals Box. As you build your crypt and play with the check boxes you will soon see that making a cypt that is strong at more than 2 or 3 disciplines is difficult (if not impossible). The Strategy Strengths are affected by which disciplines you put in your crypt, as you will see the ratings are highest when you use many disciplines. This is because any discipline you do not choose to use is considered to be rated at 0 for the purpose of determining how it affects your strategy strengths. Obviously if you don't put any celerity cards in your library, your effecting rating in celerity is 0 regardless how many vampires may have celerity. Don't fall into the trap of using too many disciplines to boot the total strength rating. Total quality is equaly important, and a wise player knows the proper balance. If you are only using version 2.x of the OS the checkboxes may look the wrong size. It's time to upgrade to 3.x or higher. In version 2.x checkmark gadgets are not scalable. @ENDNODE @NODE requirements "What do you need to use Primogen?" @{B}@{U} The Requirements @{UB}@{UU} Primogen requires an Amiga using version 2.0 or higher of the Operating System. Primogen doesn't require an FPU although it does use floating point math and will exploit an FPU if there is one present. If you are using version 3.x of Amigados Primogen looks nicer, and obeys the user preferences better. 1.3 users are out of luck as I used Gadtools.library. Time to upgrade! @ENDNODE