- Latest Windows version: https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/#jdk21-windows
- Recommend one of the installer options (e.g. "x64 MSI Installer")
⚠️ Take note of the directory you installed this in (e.g.C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-21)
- There's a chance Forge has fewer bugs with older versions of JDK based on posts I've read, but I don't know for sure; the latest works well enough for me
- JDK 11 (lowest version supported by the Eclipse IDE)
- JDK 8 (lowest overall supported version, some Forge devs stick to to this)
- All archived Java editions: https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/archive/
⚠️ I recommend ignoring these old versions and sticking to the latest, at least for initial setup and tinkering (just have these for reference later or potential troubleshooting if you have issues with the latest)⚠️ Installing more than one version will make the next steps a little harder
- (Guide I used to write these steps: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1672281/how-to-set-the-environment-variables-for-java-in-windows)
- a) Windows 11: Go to This PC ➡️ Properties ➡️ Advanced ➡️ Environment Variables
- b) Under "User variables for [login name]", click New
- Set the variable name to "
JAVA_HOME" - Set the variable value to the Java installation's version directory
- e.g.
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-21if you installed version 21 (the latest as of this writing) to the Program Files folder
- e.g.
- Set the variable name to "
⚠️ You will need to update this variable only (repeat this step) if you update JDK or change its install location
- a) Repeat the process above to add the following USER (not system) name/value pairs:
- (variable name) ➡️ (value)
JDK_HOME➡️%JAVA_HOME%JRE_HOME➡️%JAVA_HOME%\jreCLASSPATH➡️.;%JAVA_HOME%\lib;%JAVA_HOME%\jre\libPATH➡️your-unique-entries;%JAVA_HOME%\binJAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS➡️-Dfile.encoding="UTF-8"
- b) Under "System variables", select and edit the "Path" variable
- Remove Oracle's variables (e.g.
C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath;)- These installed with your JDK installer in Step 1
- We remove these because they may not get updated with JDK...
- ...whereas we now only have to update the "
JAVA_HOME" variable's path (Step 2) after an update since the rest of these variables/paths are derived from it (using%JAVA_HOME%)
- Remove Oracle's variables (e.g.
- Java's environment variables should now be set up
- You can test by opening command prompt and typing "
java"
- You can test by opening command prompt and typing "
- (Guide I used: https://maven.apache.org/install.html)
- Download a Maven binary (not source) archive: https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi
- Extract it anywhere (e.g.
E:\Studio\_\Maven\apache-maven-3.9.5) - Set Maven's environment variable
- Add its "
bin" subdirectory to your System's "Path" environment variables (as in Step 3b; not the User variables from the earlier steps ) - e.g.
E:\Studio\_\Maven\apache-maven-3.9.5\bin
- Add its "
- Confirm the installation with "
mvn -v" in a new shell
⚠️ You will need at least 1.2 GB of space — possibly as much as 20 GB depending on card image downloads — for this + stuff from other steps- https://github.com/Card-Forge/forge
- Their steps say to fork the repo to your GH profile, then clone it down
- I just straight cloned it down without forking; I don't think it led to any of my jankiness and I'm able to work just fine, but it may be better to do exactly as they say — whichever you prefer
- In a shell/terminal, go to the cloned repository's root directory (e.g.
cd "E:\Studio\Development\Card Forge\forge") and run "mvn -U -B clean -P windows-linux install"- This will get Maven to see/build all the random project files I don't understand yet
- You can code in whichever IDE you want (I use VS Code), but I have found no other way of successfully building the Forge program and testing it than using Eclipse; if I figure out a way to get VS Code to build the app, I'm uninstalling Eclipse
- Download page: https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/
- Direct download page if their page design baffles you as much as it did me: https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/download.php?file=/oomph/epp/2023-09/R/eclipse-inst-jre-win64.exe
- Open Eclipse
- Go to File ➡️ Import...
- Expand the Maven directory, select "Existing Maven Projects", and click Next >
- Next to "Root Directory:" click the Browse... button and open the cloned repo's root directory (e.g.
E:\Studio\Development\Card Forge\forge) - Make sure all the boxes are checked and click the Finish button
- If you're wondering, the top-level
/pom.xmlfile is the overall build instructions for theforgerepo's Maven (Java framework) projects; all of the nestedforge-(blah)/pom.xmlfiles are sub-projects, like the separate mobile and desktop apps
- If you're wondering, the top-level
- (Feel free to make changes in your IDE of choice, like changing a card's text, to test this; Step 8 here is only for testing any changes as you develop)
- In the Project Explorer pane, right-click on
forge-gui-desktop [forge master] - Select Run As ➡️ Java Application
- In the window that appears, scroll down until you find Main - forge.view then click OK
- 📌 Later, Main - forge.view should appear above this long list since it will now be in your history; less scrolling!
- You should now see the Forge splash/startup screen
- If you get errors while it's loading, you may be fine
- This happens to me every time: I get exactly 10 errors in a row and click Discard each time, then the program runs without any issue I've noticed
- I haven't troubleshot this yet; no idea what's causing it but could be my Java version being too new, or straight cloning down the repo rather than forking it, or nothing I did, or any number of things — I'm not really concerned for now but I'll let you know if I do figure it out
That's everything for dev! If you want to just play Forge, here's the User Guide
- The direct download "page" that links to: https://downloads.cardforge.org/dailysnapshots/
⚠️ You will need about 700 MB of space for this, possibly much more than that as you download card images- Download the
forge-desktopfile (should end in-installer.jar) - Extract it anywhere; it's basically Java's idea of a
zipfile - 📌 To play, open the
forge-java8.exefile, not theforge.exefile
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