Information for Newcomers

Welcome to a comprehensive introduction to the WTactics project. This page is the best starting point for anyone that is new to WTactics. This introduction outlines what the project is and how it is structured. When given a suggestion to read certain documents, we beg you to actually read those documents in the order they are given.

About WTactics

We’re creating a game that’s open source, free to play both on the table and online. We’ll give you the rules and high-resolution graphics of all the cards. We’ll keep you updated on the game’s development and invite you to participate in that development. WTactics is a game by players, for players, with the community in mind. We already have all the graphics. All we need is a ruleset, and that’s where you and your friends enter the scene as developers.

What

• high on strategy, low on luck
• several unique factions and more than 120 unique units with their own traits and abilities
• only 30 – 60 cards needed for a complete army
• two players, an hour to play
• no need for a board or special material
• no collecting – we give you every card that exists
• none of the ads, sign-ups, fees, etc. that many so-called “free” games lure you into
• play for free, online or on the kitchen table

How

Tabletop

For tabletop play we’ll provide you with all the cards in various common high-resolution and high-quality formats such as PNG or PDF. You’ll be able to download them and print them out or, as we recommend, produce top-quality digital photographic versions by using a service that is to your liking. Once you have the cards, you only need to cut them out and put them in standard card sleeves.

Internet

If you want to play the game online instead, you will be able to download it as a patch for an open-source card-game engine. This will allow you to play for free as much as you want without being bothered by advertisements. We will support Windows, Mac, and Linux. We happily allow anyone to port the game to whatever platform he/she desires.

You

WTactics will be in development and alive as long as there are people like you showing interest in the game. The project is over two years old now, and we have a solid team of developers that are accelerating the progress. We're excited that you have shown interest in the project, and we hope you will help us. Our survival is in the hands of people that want to see this happen and are prepared to do some work. The number one rule in all open source projects is as true as ever: Want this done? Then either do it yourself or pay somebody else to do it.

Get Acquainted

To get your bearings with the general idea of WTactics, take a look at these pages:

1. FAQ - answers your basic questions.
2. General Design Document - heavy reading, but necessary: All about the fundamentals of the project and it's framework.
3. Rules System - an example of one rules system that is in development, called the Original Rules Concept (ORC).
4. The Blog - the most current news updates. Not very informative until you have read the above linked to documents.

Participate in Development

We invite everyone to participate in the development. If you are thinking about getting involved by joining an already existing team or want to create your own you will also need to read these documents when you are done with the above:

1. General Design Document
2. Project Philosophy
3. Newsletters - archive of newsletters
4. Development Team - short presentation

Get in Contact

There's a number of ways to contact us. Some of the best ways are, in given order:

1. E-mail: contact at wtactics dot org
2. WTactics Forums: Join up and participate.
3. IRC: irc.freenode.net, channel #wtactics.