Second Battle

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GCS · Quick Start

Start with an empty scene, create six game databases, then add the status, card, deck, player, enemy, and encounter required to run the battle.

Before starting, run one demo battle and confirm that the Workbench opens.

Encounter structure

Asset	Name	Battle role
Card	Ember Strike	A 1-cost card tagged Attack: deal 6 damage and apply 1 Embermark.
Deck	Ember Trial Deck	Ten copies of Ember Strike, so the card is always available.
Player	Trial Hero	A simple player that draws the trial deck.
Enemy	Trial Dummy	A predictable enemy that telegraphs and deals a small attack.
Status	Embermark	A visible, stackable debuff applied by both the card and enemy.
Encounter	Ember Trial	The battle that joins the five content assets above.

Reuse the demo sprites, icons, and prefabs for the card, player, and enemy. Create only the data and behavior required by the battle.

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1. Initialize the battle scene

Create a new scene, then open the following window:

Tools > TinyGiants > GCS > Game Card System

Select Initialize System. GCS creates GameCardManager, EventSystem, Background, Battle Runtime, and Battle Fx Directors, including the battle board, hand, card piles, and presentation objects under Battle Runtime.

Select GameCardManager and assign any demo encounter in Encounter Bootstrap. Enter Play Mode and confirm the battle starts, then exit Play Mode and continue with the new game databases.

Switch databases with Active

Preset databases can be switched directly with their Active controls, so you can use those controls to change which preset database is active without removing it. Keeping the presets assigned also makes it quick to switch back for testing.

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2. Create the game databases

Return to Edit Mode. In the Card, Deck, Player, Enemy, Status, and Encounter sections, select + New once. GCS creates the following databases:

Section	New database
Card	NewCardDatabase
Deck	NewDeckDatabase
Player	NewPlayerUnitDatabase
Enemy	NewEnemyUnitDatabase
Status	NewStatusDatabase
Encounter	NewEncounterDatabase

After all six databases are assigned, select Active on each preset database to change it to Inactive and leave the new databases active. Each section now displays 1/2 Active: the preset database remains assigned, while the Workbench reads only the active new database.

Open the Workbench. Card, Deck, Player, Enemy, Status, and Encounter mode contain no entries. The assets created in the remaining steps are written to these active databases.

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3. Create the status first

In Status mode, create Embermark with the following settings:

Field	Value
Name	Embermark
Description	Marked by embers.
Type	Debuff
Tags	Tutorial
Icon	Status_Burn
Stack Rule	Additive
Max Stacks	9
Decay Rule	Never
Show Stack Count	Enabled
Behavior	Leave empty; no triggers

Embermark only defines the status and display rules. The card and enemy FlowGraphs created below apply this status.

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4. Create the card

In Card mode, create Ember Strike:

Field	Value
Name	Ember Strike
Description	Deal 6 damage. Apply 1 Embermark.
Cost	1
Type	Support
Rarity	Common
Target Mode	Single Enemy Unit
Tags	Attack
Keywords	Leave empty
Upgrade	None
Icon	Study
Template	Support

Support is the card's Type. Attack is its Tag; the two fields are independent.

Select Edit FlowGraph and connect the nodes in this order:

On Card Played → Deal Damage → Change Status → Group (Play Effect)
  Play VFX → Play SFX → Show Floating Text

Node	Field	Value
Deal Damage	Target	Opponent
	Amount	6
	Ignore Armor	Disabled
Change Status	Target	Opponent
	Amount	1
	Mode	Delta
	Status	Embermark
Group	Group Name	Play Effect
	Exposed Params	Leave empty
Play VFX	Target	Opponent
	Anchor	On Unit
	Prefab	VFX_BurnIgnite
	Lifetime	0 (automatic)
Play SFX	Clip	AttackMage/Mage2
	Volume	1
Show Floating Text	Target	Opponent
	Kind	Damage
	Content	Amount
	Amount	6
	Text	Leave empty
	Use Custom Color	Disabled
	Include Sign	Enabled
	Scale Multiplier	1
	Duration Multiplier	1
	Offset	(0, 0, 0)

Opponent is the enemy selected when the player plays the card. Connect Dealt from Deal Damage to Amount on Show Floating Text so the group displays the actual damage after armor, then let Change Status continue into the group's Play VFX input.

After configuring Play VFX, Play SFX, and Show Floating Text, select those three presentation nodes and press Ctrl + G to merge them into the Play Effect group node. Keeping damage and status changes outside the group makes the gameplay sequence easy to read while the reusable presentation chain stays together. For group nodes and exposed parameters, see the next FlowGraph Window chapter.

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5. Create the deck

In Deck mode, create Ember Trial Deck:

Field	Value
Name	Ember Trial Deck
Description	Ten Ember Strikes for the second-battle tutorial.
Tags	Leave empty
Icon	Deck_Warrior_Start
Cards	Ember Strike × 10

6. Create the player

In Player mode, create Trial Hero:

Field	Value
Name	Trial Hero
Description	A tutorial player with a guaranteed Ember Strike draw.
Tags	Leave empty
Icon	Avatar
Template	Prefab
Base HP	60
Base Energy	3
Starting Deck	Ember Trial Deck
Energy Name	Energy
Energy Description	Leave empty
Energy Icon	None (Sprite)

Starting Deck determines which deck the player uses when the battle starts. Trial Hero draws Ember Strike from Ember Trial Deck.

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7. Create the enemy

In Enemy mode, create Trial Dummy:

Field	Value
Name	Trial Dummy
Description	A predictable tutorial enemy.
Tier	Normal
Tags	Leave empty
Icon	Avatar
Template	Prefab
HP Min	24
HP Max	24

Select Edit FlowGraph and connect the nodes in this order:

On Enemy Behavior Start → Leaf Intent (Attack) → Deal Damage → Change Status → Group (Play Effect)
  Play VFX → Play SFX → Show Floating Text

Node	Field	Value
Leaf Intent	Intent	Attack
Deal Damage	Target	Opponent
	Amount	3
	Ignore Armor	Disabled
Change Status	Target	Opponent
	Amount	1
	Mode	Delta
	Status	Embermark
Group	Group Name	Play Effect
	Exposed Params	Leave empty
Play VFX	Target	Opponent
	Anchor	On Unit
	Prefab	VFX_ImpactHit
	Lifetime	0 (automatic)
Play SFX	Clip	HitLight/Hit002
	Volume	1
Show Floating Text	Target	Opponent
	Kind	Damage
	Content	Amount
	Amount	3
	Text	Leave empty
	Use Custom Color	Disabled
	Include Sign	Enabled
	Scale Multiplier	1
	Duration Multiplier	1
	Offset	(0, 0, 0)

Connect Dealt from Deal Damage to Amount on Show Floating Text. The player sees the Attack intent before ending their turn; the behavior then deals 3 damage, applies Embermark, and runs the Play Effect group to play the impact VFX, SFX, and actual-damage text.

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8. Assemble the encounter

In Encounter mode, create Ember Trial:

Field	Value
Name	Ember Trial
Description	A complete second-battle tutorial encounter.
Difficulty	Normal
Tags	Leave empty
Icon	Background; this is also the runtime battle background
Player	Trial Hero
Enemy Units	Trial Dummy × 1
Reward Deck	Ember Trial Deck
Starting Hand Size	5
Draw Per Turn	5
Max Hand Size	10
Starting Energy	0
Card Reward Count	3
Armor Decay Rule	ResetOnTurnStart
Hand Discard Rule	DiscardOnTurnEnd
Enemy Intent Display	Full
Animation Gap Per Step	0.28 seconds

Full shows the enemy intent icon and value. IconOnly shows only the icon, and Hidden shows no intent.

Finally, set Ember Trial as the manager's Encounter Bootstrap choice. It is the one asset the runtime starts.

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9. Run and verify the encounter

Enter Play Mode. You should see the player, one enemy, a hand that includes Ember Strike, and a full enemy intent. Play Ember Strike, target the enemy, and then end the turn.

Select an Ember Strike, choose Trial Dummy as its target, and resolve the card.

Trial Dummy's HP drops from 24 to 18, and its status bar shows one stack of Embermark.

End the turn and let the enemy's graph resolve. Trial Dummy's Attack deals 3 damage, then applies the same visible Embermark to Trial Hero.

Confirm all of the following results:

• Ember Strike appears in hand, spends 1 energy, and deals 6 damage.
• Embermark appears on the enemy after the card resolves.
• The enemy displays an Attack intent before its turn.
• Ending the player turn makes the enemy deal 3 damage and apply Embermark to the player.
• The encounter has a valid preview image, player, enemy, reward deck, and no Console errors.