DeckSkin template made harder to use for non-programmers

[VictinZero]

The original Deck Skin template was geared towards artists without programming background to be able to easily modify it to mod textures into the game. The lack of comments in the current version of the template is a downgrade from the original in this sense.

[WilsontheWolf]

We're welcome to any pr's adding comments you might want to add. The main reason for the upgrade was due to the previous example just not working, and changes in the deck skin format. I don't really see where the most confusing parts are (xkcd 2501 moment). For the most part any questions you might have about anything is described in good detail in https://github.com/Steamodded/smods/wiki/SMODS.DeckSkin (maybe just linking there in the example would be enough?).

[VictinZero]

We're welcome to any pr's adding comments you might want to add.

I started writing a PR but I did not understand how the new format works from the documentation alone. (Therefore, I found the documentation lacking, at least in clarity.) I shelved it until a later moment when I do understand it better.

The main reason for the upgrade was due to the previous example just not working […]

I would like to know what did not work. My DeckSkins using the old format still work, because SMODS provides backwards compatibility, so I'm curious.

I don't really see where the most confusing parts are […]

Anything that requires coding. The previous version of the template simply had users replace variable contents in a way intuitive even to non-programmers, with comments explaining everything. The DeckSkins were constructed in a loop without needing to be touched by users.

(maybe just linking there in the example would be enough?)

I just want to make a small comment here, because I noticed you changed the template's JSON. As the name implies, it is meant to be a template, not an example. As a template, it should only need to have some elements be filled-in by users, and doesn't need to cover every capability of the feature. An example is an instance of the feature in use, and it makes sense for the example to be comprehensive.

I had originally asked if it made sense to bundle the template alongside the examples, for ease of access, despite it not being an example, and I got the approval to do so. The fact the template was updated to not be a template seems like an issue to me. The example should've been uploaded separately from it.

[WilsontheWolf]

I would like to know what did not work. My DeckSkins using the old format still work, because SMODS provides backwards compatibility, so I'm curious.

The header was just invalid. Not only that but with no assets it couldn't have loaded. Although the old format still works, we don't want new projects using it (so providing an example with it is counterintuitive). If you do want to make an uploaded simpler template we can have both.

Anything that requires coding. The previous version of the template simply had users replace variable contents in a way intuitive even to non-programmers, with comments explaining everything. The DeckSkins were constructed in a loop without needing to be touched by users.

The definition of coding is real vague. In this example if you want to modify the existing skin you just need to change the values here: https://github.com/Steamodded/examples/blob/master/Mods/DeckSkinTemplate/DeckSkinTemplate.lua#L29-L56. These values are explained in the focs and are mostly self exploratory (but some comments probably wouldn't hurt).

just want to make a small comment here, because I noticed you changed the template's JSON. As the name implies, it is meant to be a template, not an example. As a template, it should only need to have some elements be filled-in by users, and doesn't need to cover every capability of the feature. An example is an instance of the feature in use, and it makes sense for the example to be comprehensive.

I'd argue that the difference is negligible in this context. The only real extras included that aren't required are pos_style which uses the defaults, suit icons which are likely something people want to use and are easy to remove if not and colour which is a simple 1 line and also something people would want to use.