*stabs everyone that tries to take resources from the resource site, claim it's theirs and then when confronted, stick to the idea it's theirs...*
/stab
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IPOF's - General Discussion Thread | Current Topic: Artists and Audiences
- Thread starter Ice Arceus
- Start date
Current Topic: Power Balancing
One of the most crucial aspects to consider when creating a new fake is the balancing of power. This is important for several reasons, the most important one being that overpowered cards can break a metagame, making it unfair to play.
How do you go about creating a diverse metagame? What do you consider to be overpowered? Do your cards often turn out overpowered? If so, how do you fix them? Do you prefer to balance by introducing other counters, or changing the card itself? Do you prefer to decrease power or increase power levels in fakes?
Feel free to share any overpowered cards you’ve made in the past!
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I like creating a diverse metagame with unique but not overpowered effects - mix things up and make things interesting. An example of this would be Keeper's Smeargle's 'Diverse Palette' attack:How do you go about creating a diverse metagame? What do you consider to be overpowered? Do your cards often turn out overpowered? If so, how do you fix them? Do you prefer to balance by introducing other counters, or changing the card itself? Do you prefer to decrease power or increase power levels in fakes?
Feel free to share any overpowered cards you’ve made in the past!
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It doesn't break the game in any way, although is somewhat humorous and has strategical uses (i.e. swapping Double Colorless Energy for lesser Energy). That said, I've made multiple 'unique' effects that are what I would consider overpowered, especially when first designing them. I consider something overpowered when it does not match the standard damage output of its rank (i.e. Basic, Stage 1) as well as previous cards of the same/similar Pokémon in a similar era. I also consider something overpowered if it can wall your opponent to the extent of making a deck/win condition useless, which includes uncontrolled energy denial and streamed healing in high numbers.
To keep power levels acceptable (in my eyes), I will always check my fake with other real cards. In my set that I'm currently make spoilers for, there are a bunch of mildly powerful cards. I've added a bunch of different counters for the powerful card mechanics as a but of a cat-and-mouse type of game, although if a card is notoriously overbalanced I will take action on the effect itself. I do prefer decreased power over increased power, although through checking the official cards I generally have a balanced power.
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I, and I think a lot of image-fakers, don't like to go back to a card after finishing it. For me, it would mean recreating the card from scratch, since I don't save cards as .psd's unless they're really important (.psd's take up too much file space >_<). Text-based faking, on the other hand, just requires a simple clicking of the Edit button.
As for my cards turning out overpowered...well, that's happened more than I care to admit.
Tropius-EX was one of my first CaC entries, and it ended up being very overpowered. 
More recently, there's the aforementioned Garbodor, there was this Hydreigon:
So yeah, that's my story of power issues. ^_^
Honestly, power balancing and stuff is one of the things that's kept me away from fully making my own cards. Too much to keep track of. I'd rather just focus on making shiny pretty things and letting other people worry about the balancing aspect of things.
I'd rather just focus on making shiny pretty things and letting other people worry about the balancing aspect of things.
I'm working on a set of my own right now, and I'm finding that I worry so much about making my cards OP that even the cards I intend to be the best in the set tend to go the opposite direction and become kinda underwhelming, to the point where most of them would have no real presence if added to the modern Standard metagame (same thing with my region full of fakemons, some of which I try to balance for OU, but that project's kinda been on the backburner for a while). So far my main standard for balance is comparison to existing cards and metagame strategies, and any interesting new stuff going on is generally intended as a counter to things that already exist that I see as broken or otherwise unhealthy in the real game (I really need to work on figuring out creative counters to in-set strats within my own set). Lucky for me it's all text-based, so I can go back and edit them as I see fit, but it's still a little annoying.
One thing I do enjoy doing, though, is looking back at really old cards (think third-gen and older) and trying to fit similar effects and ideas into my current set, but more often than not I end up running into the same state of being underpowered as usual.
One thing I do enjoy doing, though, is looking back at really old cards (think third-gen and older) and trying to fit similar effects and ideas into my current set, but more often than not I end up running into the same state of being underpowered as usual.
Artists and Audiences – Themes, Feedback, and Improvement
While most decisions in faking are created on the part of the faker, faking has an audience to appeal to as well. This audience, aside from being a symbol of the faker’s prestige, is also vital for tips to improve faking. Selecting a theme that appeals to the faking audience can be a major contributor, albeit indirectly, to the success of the faker.
As a faker, how do you incorporate an audience’s suggestions into your fakes? Do you often hold ballots, asking an audience to vote on some aspect of your faking, be it a theme or otherwise? Do you seek help from your audience on wording, or on organization, or on something else entirely? How do you think this helps you grow as a faker?
As an audience, is there any type of theme that you enjoy seeing more than others? If so, why? What sorts of things do you recommend to a faker to help them improve? How about for a faker just starting out? How do you feel about contributing ideas and seeing those ideas implemented? How do you think this helps the faker grow?
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I tend not to edit suggestions into finished cards, because I don't save said cards as psd's. That said, I do notice all suggestions, and take them into account for future fakes. @bbninjas is amazing knowledgable about proper wording, and has helped me out with that more times than I can count. I unfortunately don't always edit his suggestions into the cards, however, because of the aforementioned issue with too little file space for psd's.–––––––––
@aschefield101 is also always ready to share tips on the aesthetic aspect of cards, and even creating the gold linework for full art cards.
The list goes on and on. Everyone who's ever commented on anything about my cards, for a tip or otherwise...thank you.
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I actually feel like I have a very low selection of themes and options when I begin making cards, so I don't really provide viewers too many options. I do, however, try to make sets that are interesting but realistic, and make themes that allow for restriction but also creativity and flavour.
I love and really appreciate receiving feedback in the form of critique, wording fixes and power suggestions, and generally implement fixes as soon as possible. I generally try and make sure I don't repeat my past errors, which is how I grow as a faker. However, outside of that, I don't really provide options for card designs and the like, as I'm a bit more solitary in my designing process.
As an audience, I really encourage themes that are different and not the norm, and is not overly predictable and/or has creativity room. Those that I find fairly generic are often the "Forest" or "Tech Room" or "Beach" themes, as they are somewhat predictable. That doesn't mean I won't enjoy them necessarily, but I don't get hyped as much. Instead, I like themes that focus around a few specific points like a particular weather mechanic or a particularly group of Pokemon, such as felines. It's interesting that the themes that I prefer often require more thought and consideration when picking Pokemon over themes such as "Beach", which also means that more complicated themes may not live up to my hype.
I often like to make it fairly clear that I will be helping them with their wording and design in general unless they ask me not to, as I feel that newcomers can thrive from learning what to and not to do in faking. I generally also encourage newcomers to think outside the box. I don't like seeing Scratch for 10 or Triple Kick for 30x. I like to see more interesting effects through the combination of flavour and mechanics twisted so they are a bit more fresh. I don't often like to get any faker to make a card from an effect I make myself, however I sometimes will give suggestions that are just under the bar of 'average' and 'awesome' for a pointer. I prefer to give perhaps an flavourful attack name or a boring Pokemon and ask them to make an interesting card. I've seen some average fakes become people I enjoy watching through these principles.
I love and really appreciate receiving feedback in the form of critique, wording fixes and power suggestions, and generally implement fixes as soon as possible. I generally try and make sure I don't repeat my past errors, which is how I grow as a faker. However, outside of that, I don't really provide options for card designs and the like, as I'm a bit more solitary in my designing process.
As an audience, I really encourage themes that are different and not the norm, and is not overly predictable and/or has creativity room. Those that I find fairly generic are often the "Forest" or "Tech Room" or "Beach" themes, as they are somewhat predictable. That doesn't mean I won't enjoy them necessarily, but I don't get hyped as much. Instead, I like themes that focus around a few specific points like a particular weather mechanic or a particularly group of Pokemon, such as felines. It's interesting that the themes that I prefer often require more thought and consideration when picking Pokemon over themes such as "Beach", which also means that more complicated themes may not live up to my hype.
I often like to make it fairly clear that I will be helping them with their wording and design in general unless they ask me not to, as I feel that newcomers can thrive from learning what to and not to do in faking. I generally also encourage newcomers to think outside the box. I don't like seeing Scratch for 10 or Triple Kick for 30x. I like to see more interesting effects through the combination of flavour and mechanics twisted so they are a bit more fresh. I don't often like to get any faker to make a card from an effect I make myself, however I sometimes will give suggestions that are just under the bar of 'average' and 'awesome' for a pointer. I prefer to give perhaps an flavourful attack name or a boring Pokemon and ask them to make an interesting card. I've seen some average fakes become people I enjoy watching through these principles.
That is something I would never do. If I had chosen to edit your blanks, it would be for personal use only, like adding the respective type symbol to the Darkness Blanks, replacing the Dark Energy symbol for Pokémon with Dark in their names, for a personal project offline. Though I do leave your name on them, as you were the original designer of the blanks.
Though the Dual type Stage 1 and Stage 2 Blanks, once they become available, will be perfect for those who want to see an XY version of Dark Charizard from Team Rocket, Dark Houndoom from Neo Destiny, or Dark Tyranitar from EX Team Rocket Returns. I can definitely see fakers creating a set dedicated to the villains. Rather than having Team Rocket, Team Magma, team Aqua, Team Galactic, Team Plasma, or Team Flare in their names, they would have Dark in their names.
We could soon see the likes of Dark Talonflame and Dark Noivern.
Hmm, most Pokemon names are a combination of two other words (i.e. Turtwig ---> Turtle + Twig). What is your OC based on or inspired from? If it had a Pokemon Species name (like Electric Mouse for Pikachu), what would you give it? Is there anything particularly unique about your OC? Do you have an PokeDex entries that could give us an idea on any of these?
Well, HoneyTrap is inspired from Sylveon because of her form, but she doesn't have the ribbons n stuff
and her species...its like a rabbit crossed with a fox if you know what i mean, and PokeDex entries... well she loves to eat honey.. you know, the honey you use in pokemon diamond to attract other Pokemon?
im just thinking about when she evolves, she wont be a Fairy and Fighting type, she'll be a Fairy and Flying type....i'm stuck on what to call her right now...lol
Hmm, okay then. Honey is probably the most unique thing about your OC, so I would recommend using one of 'honey', 'nectar', or 'ambrosia' as part of the name. The other half could probably be something about rabbits (or the scientific name "Leporidae") or foxes. Cotton or tail could also be interesting. Here's a few combinations I like:
Ambrabbit (Ambrosia + Rabbit)
Necteon (Nectar + Cotton)
Cotrosia (Cotton + Ambrosia)
Ambrabbit (Ambrosia + Rabbit)
Necteon (Nectar + Cotton)
Cotrosia (Cotton + Ambrosia)
wow, thanks! i think i like the idea of Necteon =)
Congratulations! Your HoneyTrap evolved into Necteon! heheh =3
When I design my cards, I do so based on current meta trends or how they may exist in a new format. With my recent cards, I designed my Pidgey line to be self-contained so they can perform well and the swarm tactic is fitting of birds since they are often seen in groups so the theme works. In real life, parent birds are often not far away from the child which is why that Pidgey is able to put down a Pidgeot-GX if you have one.
For me, I'm very careful about how I design my cards. I'll never design a card that will win you the game. Such effects should never be explored because it remove autonomy from the player. You want to avoid things players can't control and such an effect will do that. Another thing I do is be careful about how I explore my instant KO effects. With my Articuno-GX, it can KO any Pokemon with a Frost marker on it. It won't KO your opponent's Pokemon but your Pokemon as well if they have any Frost markers on them so it become a deterrent since Articuno-GX is splashable.
I also check my fakes with current card but for GX Pokemon, it feels like they are designed to exist and fight back against XY and BW cards so I want my cards to as well. With so many busted cards printed, I can understand how players can see them as overpowered. As for overpowered. I consider cards to be overpowered if they have too much synergy with the card pool or if they are just badly designed.
For example, Giratina-EX, Volcanion-EX, M Mewtwo-EX, Greninja-BREAK, M Rayquaza-EX and Xernas are overpowered. Giratina-EX can just gridlock an opponent for no effort based on deck choice and then prevent them from playing three card types. This is a Yugioh level card and they should never exist. Volcanion-EX and Greninja BREAK would be less broken they their Abilities could only be used once per turn. M Rayquaza-EX and Xerneas were poorly designed considering they were to work from the set they were printed in. Instead of these attacks being 30x, they could have been 20x and I guess the same is true for M Mewtwo-EX.
I feel that any card that could effortlessly nuke a Pokemon is overpowered since it actually cost resources to do something with Pokemon. Pokemon aren't free so I would like to see cards going back to a 2HKO or 3HKO format but I don't see that happening. Fakes I designed back then would be under-powered compared to what cards are now.
Happy New Year, IPOF fakers! As 2016 is behind us (thank Arceus!!), what do you hope to accomplish this year when it comes to faking? Are you working on any new projects? Hope to get into creating your own artwork for your cards? Want to jump into trying to create your very first image-based fake set? Plan to create your first fan-made game? Do you want to reach a new personal record for creating the most sets in a year? I'm curious to see what you have planned this year.
Right now I'm working on a graphical fake for a Destiny boss in basic EX and Mega EX. Just need to get commissions out of the way and install all the missing fonts so I can make the card. Going to try a different style for these cards that don't look like normal full art cards.
Hello. I want to make my own Pokemon card sets. How many cards do sets/expansions usually have?
Well for the main sets It can vary, Fossil has the least amount of cards, with 62 cards in the set and Expedition has the most amount of cards, with 165 in English.
Here's a list of the number of cards each set had from XY-on, excluding secret rares, so you can get an idea of the number of cards in a set:
XY - 146
FLF - 106
FFI - 111
PHF - 119
PRC - 160
ROS - 108
AOR - 98
BKT - 162
BKP - 122
GEN - 115
FCO - 124
STS - 114
EVO - 108
SM - 149
So you're looking at around 110 cards for standard size sets and up to 160 for the larger sets.