Yugioh Card Summoner

CH.613 Printing Yugioh Cards

Today I was doing something a bit different. I was working on a distribution network for Yugioh cards.

See, with the new visitors to the Factory, plenty of whom are interested or already play Yugioh, the card game, there, I’ve been getting more requests to start selling the play versions of the cards.

So I pulled back up my plans on how to print them. When I last looked into it, I decided that at the numbers I needed for the tournaments, it was more effective just to make the cards with HomeBase. A single card is basically nothing in terms of resources. But when we are talking about thousands of cards, it adds up. And I already tax HomeBase with the phones and airship parts I need it to make.

But back when I looked into it, there were some problems. Mainly how do I get the correct kind of cardboard for the cards?

Now you may say that I can just get it from TinaWood. That dungeon produces cardboard. And while that is true, it also isn’t. The cardboard that comes from there is corrugated fiberboard, or basically the stuff used in cardboard boxes. 

Meanwhile, for playing cards, I need something that is more like paperboard, or even card stock or heavy paper. From what I know, the real world versions are made of bonded paper, but I’d rather use something a bit stronger, just so the cards last for longer periods of time. 

Sure I could also sell sleeves, but I think clear coating paperboard cards might be the best solution. 

But, problems. First, where on earth will I get the paperboard? HomeBase is the first answer, right? Well, back to the previous point. I don’t want to use that if I don’t have to. 

So instead, I should look at a process that can be done in this world. And luckily for me, I have an alchemist on payroll and after asking her about it, it didn’t take her too long to come up with a solution.

See, it is actually quite easy for an alchemist to produce paperboard, they just need a specific kind of wood. And to add to my luck, the perfect kind of wood is something that is quite common. … kind of. It comes from one specific forest. But that forest is the ever forest.

So yeah. We have the largest forest on the continent, which is basically in our backyard, to act as a source of the wood we need. And the ever forest trees are considered kind of trash trees.

They can’t be used for buildings or tools. They are used for some instruments, but that really isn’t a big use, and they are also decent as firewood. But that is it.

Well, it was. Now they will also be a source of paperboard for my cards. 

Now we just needed to ‘industrialize’ the process. So either I design an industrial machine that can do it, or I get myself more alchemists. Or better yet, both.

See the problem with alchemy is that it isn’t magic. It kind of is, but it is also a skill. In short, you can’t just make a magic circle to replicate the effects of alchemy. It is more difficult than that. 

No, it isn’t impossible. I just need to replicate everything the Alchemy skill does with regular magic, then turn all of that into a magic circle and then we are good. And by me, I mean my monsters, as I’m 100% shoving this job to them. I honestly lack the skills.

And while they are working on that, I can work on the paints we will need. As well as the printer. 

I have already made basic document printers. They took a bit of work, but with phones being more common now, and the smartphones being able to process documents, I decided that a printer would be necessary. 

But it can only print in black on white paper, so I need to figure out colored printing. And not just colored printing, but detailed colored printing. Printing text is already a challenge, but when there will be different colors right next to each other … that isn’t easy.

Could I just hire people to paint the cards by hand? Probably, but I’m not sure how difficult that will be. And quality control might be a challenge. … though on the other hand, having artists paint the cards by hand would make the cards more unique and more collectible, so maybe I should have both printed and hand painted cards. 

I could even introduce those ‘full art’ style cards that the Pokemon TCG has. And then just make them super rare. … or maybe that is a bad idea, as I’d want to have them for myself. The collector in me doesn’t want to release that kind of thing, unless I also have it. And since every card would be slightly unique … I’ll think about it.

Figuring out how to print on paperboard didn’t take too long. It is basically just thick paper. … okay, not quite, but also it is.

The printer itself was made by studying Scanner and Snowman Creator. 

Spoiler

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Scanner is literally perfect for what I’m trying to do, and while Snowman Creator might seem like it isn’t a printer at all, it is basically a 3D printer that works with snow and ice.

So turning a 3D printer into a 2D printer wasn’t all that difficult. It had some minor challenges, as I wanted to use paints that have a tiny amount of magic stone dust mixed in, so that when you run mana through the card, it will shine. 

Monster cores, of F-rank at least, are basically waste products. They can be used for things like art and accessories, but their combat and magic device usefulness is zero. So I can pick up a ton of them for cheap. And converting them into magic stones doesn’t take long.

I just need to make sure each stone is made with a specific attribute, then we crush them and mix them in with the paint. And after printing, we have a card that shines.

Now, as to where to make the production facility. I really have two choices. One, I could make it in the plains near Alewatch. I could get the land cheaply, or even for free, and it is close to the ever forest so we can get all the trees we need.

But let's be realistic here. I’m making it on HomeBase, inside the dungeon. I’ll turn one of the early floors into a card factory. That way, I can just have my monsters, in avatar dolls, work the card factory.

I need a better name for it. The Factory refers to my Different Dimension Factory, so I don’t want to have another factory.

I could call it something like The Print Shop, but I don’t quite like that either. … Maybe I’ll call it Yu-Paint. For Yugioh Paint Shop. Or would it be Yugioh Paint Studio? I mean technically it is a factory, but the word factory is banned from the name. I guess it doesn’t matter. Yu-Paint will be the newest addition to HomeBase facilities.

And now that the printing side has been figured out, I need to figure out how I’ll distribute the cards. As in, will I put them in packs, do I just sell single cards, do I follow the sets I have in Pack Opener or make my own and so on. And naturally, how do I get the cards from the Yu-Paint shop to the stores that will actually sell them.

The distribution part was actually the easiest. Because of Unika, I had already made a Storage Access Device that can access a specific folder of Storage. So I can just make a folder in Storage that holds the cards and send someone with a Storage Access Device to visit the stores.

The stores, by the way, will not be under my direct control. I’ve had offers from Royal and Imperial families, as well as some other nobles, to be the ones in charge of the stores. I’ll just make the cards and packs for them, and they deal with the rest. Which is great for me, as it means less work. Sure I’ll still check their records just to confirm that no funny business is going on, but Tahlia will do something like that in a few seconds.

As for how I’ll be doing the packs, at least at first, I’ll make my own custom set. I think I’ll call it ‘Release Set 01’. 

It is basically , except that I removed some of the OP spells that got banned, and replaced them with some weaker spells or monsters I wanted the set to have.

I also removed the Divine-Beast version of Obelisk and made a new one called ‘The Great Soldier - Obelisk’. Still needs three tributes and all of that, but I just didn’t want to release a monster that had ‘Divine-Beast’ as its monster type.

Also, all Xyz monsters were removed and replaced with cards like Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon that special summon themselves from the hand under certain conditions. I’ll release Xyz monsters later, after I’ve hosted an Xyz tournament.

Each pack had 10 cards. I went with 10, instead of 9, as it just felt better. By the way, Battle Pack: Epic Dawn packs usually have 5 cards each, so I definitely didn’t want to follow that rule.

After I had gotten the Yu-Paint shop running, and had had it produce the first packs, it was time for a release tournament. I didn’t host it, I was just an observer. And the backup judge, in case there were rulings that I needed to clarify. 

I had written a rulebook, but you all know how Yugioh goes. It follows the rules, until it doesn't.

Oh, by the way, the first release tournament was held in the Crystal Empire. Hiro was the one that really wanted it, so of course I helped him set it up. … by bringing the cards there first. 

Each competitor got 10 packs, which were paid for by the Empire as well as the sign up cost. The sign up cost wasn’t as high as the cost of the packs, thus the Empire having to pay for some of them.

Hiro was also a competitor, and he got some nice cards, like 2 Cyber Dragons, Jinzo and even Gorz.

Spoiler

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His tournament run ended when an insect-folk girl beat him with Injection Fairy Lily. She honestly seemed terrified by the fact that she beat the prince, but Hiro was a good sport about it.

The insect-folk girl ended up being the runner up in the tournament, after she lost to a snake-folk man in the finals. 

Also, since this wasn’t my personal tournament, I didn’t duel the winner. To get that honor, you either have to know me, or win one of my tournaments. 

… or just visit the Factory when I feel like dueling, which is often enough. But I’m not that serious in those duels. Serious duels from me are for tournament winners only.