MarvelsDB cards JSON data

The goal of this repository is to store marvelsdb card data in a format that can be easily updated by multiple people and their changes reviewed.

Validating and Formatting JSON

Steps have been verified with Python 2.7.x and 3.7.x.

Set Up Python Environment

The validation script requires python package jsonschema which can be installed using pip via pip install jsonschema. It is recommended that you use a virtual environment, but this is strictly optional.

# use a virtual environment (optional)
virtualenv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install jsonschema

If you see an error like "No module named jsonschema" when running the script, you have not installed the jsonschema package correctly.

Run the Validation Script

To check the JSON files:

./validate.py

# or for more detailed output, include the --verbose flag

./validate.py --verbose

To check and apply formatting to JSON files:

./validate.py --fix_formatting

# or for more detailed output, include the --verbose flag

./validate.py --verbose --fix_formatting

Pack schema

• code - identifier of the pack. The acronym of the pack name, with matching case, except for Core Set. Examples: "Core" for Core Set.
• name - properly formatted name of the pack. Examples: "Core Set"
• position - number of the pack within the cycle. Examples: 1 for Core Set
• released - date when the pack was officially released by FFG. When in doubt, look at the date of the pack release news on FFG's news page. Format of the date is YYYY-MM-DD. May be null - this value is used when the date is unknown. Examples: "2016-10-08" for Core Set
• size - number of different cards in the pack. May be null - this value is used when the pack is just an organizational entity, not a physical pack. Examples: 120 for Core Set

Card schema

• attack - Character's attack value
• attack_cost - Cost for the character to attack (commonly, the amount of consequential damage)
• attack_text - Ability text associated with the character's attack
• code - 5 digit card identifier. Consists of two zero-padded numbers: first two digits are the cycle position, last three are position of the card within the cycle (printed on the card).
• cost - Play cost of the card. Relevant for all cards except agendas and titles. May be null - this value is used when the card has a special, possibly variable, cost.
• deck_limit
• deck_requirements - Alter-ego/hero only - describes the character's requirements for an investigator. e.g.:

  "deck_requirements": [
    {
      "aspects": 2
    }
  ]

• defense - Character's defense value
• faction_code
• flavor
• hand_size - Character's hand size
• health - Character's health
• illustrator
• is_unique
• name
• octgn_id
• pack_code
• position
• quantity
• recover - Character's recover value
• resource_[energy|mental|physical|wild] - Amount of resources of the given type
• subname - Subname associated with a character (e.g. Carol Danvers is a subname for Captain Marvel)
• text
• thwart - Character's thwart value
• thwart_cost - Cost for the character to thwart (commonly, the amount of consequential damage)
• thwart_text - Ability text associated with the character's thwart
• traits - List of traits following the pattern Trait1. Trait2.
• type_code - Type of the card. Possible values (in quotes):
  • hero
  • alter_hero
  • ally
  • event
  • support
  • upgrade
  • resource
  • villain
  • obligation
  • main_scheme
  • side_scheme
  • minion
  • attachment
  • treachery

JSON text editing tips

Full description of (very simple) JSON format can be found here, below there are a few tips most relevant to editing this repository.

Non-ASCII symbols

When symbols outside the regular ASCII range are needed, UTF-8 symbols come in play. These need to be escaped using \u<4 letter hexcode>.

To get the 4-letter hexcode of a UTF-8 symbol (or look up what a particular hexcode represents), you can use a UTF-8 converter, such as this online tool.

Quotes and breaking text into multiple lines

To have text spanning multiple lines, use \n to separate them. To have quotes as part of the text, use \". For example, "flavor": "\"I'd run if I were you.\"\n - Scott Lang", results in following flavor text:

"I'd run if I were you." - Scott Lang

Game Symbols

These can be used in a card's text section.

• [boost]
• [energy]
• [mental]
• [per_hero]
• [physical]
• [wild]

Translations

To merge new changes in default language in all locales, run the CoffeeScript script update_locales.

Pre-requisites:

• node and npm installed
• npm -g install coffee-script

Usage: coffee update_locales.coffee