神河当時 - Magic Onlineへの実装

Introducing Rachel Reynolds

IntoTheAether: Alan says that he starts on the "complex" cards, you start on the "straightforward" cards, and then the two of you meet at the middling cards. Is this accurate?

RachelR: Yeah, that’s about right - it usually means I program about 90% of the cards, some of which are fairly difficult, but not too terrible. For Champions, Alan programmed the splice cards, the flip cards, the new legend and targetting rules, Time Stop, Struggle for Sanity, Takeno, Sensei Golden Tail, and Sideswipe. I think I programmed pretty much everything else.

IntoTheAether: What was the trickiest card for you to code in Champions of Kamigawa and why?

RachelR: Two cards stick out in my mind:

The last card I programmed was Swirl the Mists, and since I start with the easiest ones and work up, it was likely to be tricky. I had never programmed a continuous effect with this level of complexity, as most of them tend to either only affect one card or just make simple modifications like +1/+1. After procrastinating as long as possible, implementing it was easier than I expected. My first attempt at coding it crashed the game, my second attempt only worked for one color, and the third attempt worked like a charm. I was done with the set and extremely happy!

Another card I found tricky was Imi Statue. I started that card, got frustrated with it, and went back to something else multiple times. The combination of Imi Statue, Static Orb and optional untap cards like Vedalken Shackles kept making my head spin. Eventually, I just resolved to sit down and hammer it out, and it turned out to not be as bad as I thought.

引用元
MEN, VEDALKEN, AND RACHELR Posted in Feature on October 5, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/men-vedalken-and-rachelr-2004-10-05

記事の前半はトライバル・ウォーズの話です。ただ、神河に関する話はほとんどないので飛ばします。

後半では、Magic Online (MO) プログラマーの Rachel Reynolds へのインタビューが掲載されています。

気になったのは、MOに『神河物語』を実装する上での話です。伝説ルールの変更、連繋や反転や《時間停止/Time Stop》などの特殊な挙動、といったように、単純にカードのデータを追加する以外の仕事も多かったようです。

中でも、《渦巻く霧/Swirl the Mists》と《忌みの像/Imi Statue》の2枚がトリッキーだったと語っています。

前者は、「色を指定する言葉」を置き換えるという複雑な継続的効果なので、先延ばしにしてしまったほどです。

後者は、それ単体では（当時としては）珍しくもないアンタップ制限ですが、他の同類カード《静態の宝珠/Static Orb》との相互作用は苦心したようです。

こういう裏方の話は中々目にすることがありません。興味深い話でした。