AutoHarp Version 1.0.0.2 now available (including linux build)

With this version, both Windows 7/Vista/XP and Linux Ubuntu are supported. I do believe that other linux distros will work with this build so for those not running Ubuntu try it out anyways and let me know what distro your using and if it works.

This version does address a few bugs

• Combat Tracker Save state file was malformed and has been addressed. 
• Movement maneuver would crash if you didn't give a value for the feet per hex. It was defaulting that value to zero and as a result dividing by zero. 
• The "TwoFourSixRules" node appearing in the character save file has been changed to "CategoryCosts".

Enhancements include

• Icons now customized for each application: a better resolution icon for harp and a new icon for the combat tracker. 
•  The type font for Harp Sci-Fi is now consistant in AutoHarp. 

Next on the list is to get my Martial Law and College of Magics databases updated as well as start working on the Sci-Fi Extreme database.

Happy Harping!

[Patch] Version 1.0.0.1 now available

UPDATE

Version 1.0.0.1 is now available. This is an emergency patch that resolves an issue where AutoHarp will randomly crash after completing the New Character wizard. Other issues addressed with this patch are:

• Resolves crash in XP when the application is closed
• Added color coding to the Human column when the user selects user as to better indicate user action. This happens as well when the user selects Human for greater hybrid
• Icon added to installation file.
• Tooltips added for menus and toolbar
• Hybrid lesser selections will change to none when the user selects a greater hybrid or a new race.
• Hybrid greater and hybrid less change to none when user selects a new race.
• Combat tracker application is now renamed to AutoHARP-Combat Tracker.exe
• Banners added for the New Character Wizard.

Currently working on a linux build. Next update should happen on Dec 9th.

AutoHARP is officially in Beta!

Iron Crown has officially made public AutoHarp on their website. You can go to the following link to follow the thread on their forum,

http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?topic=12795.msg164962#msg164962

The plan is to let users play with the application for a few weeks and then GCP will release the commercial version of the database on OneBookShelf. The application again is Freeware under a Reciprocal Public License 1.5. Currently the code found on Source Forge is old and not updated. I am having problems logging into my SVN account from where I live. Hopefully I can resolve the issue soon and start keeping the repository updated.

I will make further announcements about releases here as well as updates made or being made. Currently I am keeping up with whatever bug reports come in and any suggestions for the future. I will make concurrent releases of AutoHarp based on time or number of bugs or urgency of the bug itself. The next update to AutoHarp will be 1.0.0.1 and currently includes the following

• Banners for the New Character Wizard that illustrate which database the character is designed under
• If a user selects a human for a race, the human column is now color coded green to indicate user action, rather than just asterix in the cell. Also when a user selects a human for a greater hybrid, the blood column is also color coded green to indicate user action.
• Installation file now called AutoHARP<version>-Install.exe.
• Combat Tracker now called AutoHARP-Combat Tracker.exe
• Default install directory now the Program Files directory.

Future plans include finishing up work with Martial Law and College of Magics so these databases are ready to go when Iron Crown is ready to make the books available. I also plan to start work on the Harp Sci-Fi Xtreme database which include information from the Harp Sci-Fi Xtreme book.With Martial Law will come a new Combat system as well.

Happy Harping!

From the Iron Crown Website

This is the tenth of our scheduled Director’s Briefings.

Normally John Seal of Aurigas gets to talk about the business aspects and the cool software tools that have already arrived or are being built to support ICE games, and I focus on upcoming books. So to mix things up a bit, I thought I would say a few words about the business end and about software.

On the business end of things, I am very pleased to report that our accountant has crunched the numbers and Guild Companion Publications Ltd made a reasonable operating profit in 2011. (Of course, I already knew that we had made a profit but the accountant’s job is to ensure that all the numbers are reported in a way that conforms to how the UK taxman wants to read them.) These profits will be and are being ploughed straight back into the business to finance the next waves of new products across multiple game lines. That’s the good news. There isn’t any bad news.

Onto cool software tools and the Rolemaster Classic Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop. I’ve never used any virtual tabletop software, being fortunate enough still to be a participant in an active local gaming group, so the demo I had of the software in April was a real eye-opener. Prior to the demo, I had downloaded all the necessary software and had a ten-minute go at trying to do something with the trial version, but really hadn’t made significant progress. An hour and a half later in the company of two very experienced users/developers and I could see how it worked and how to use it. This is a fantastic package for running distributed games where the gaming group is scattered across a country. It is also a great package for running a face-to-face game where the GM and the players want the computer to do the legwork. I hope that we’ll see a HARP/HARP SF edition in the future.

Speaking of software for HARP, Aurigas has licensed the creator of AutoHARP to commercialise his character creator and support tools for HARP. We are currently testing AutoHARP to check the character reconstructions for HARP Martial Law. Expect to see a version of AutoHARP that is wholly compliant with the new HARP Fantasy to be released in the near future. This will be sold through our presence in the OneBookShelf network.

And back to news about product development.

HARP Fantasy has now entered its layout phase – we expect to see it emerge in both pdf and print-on-demand versions in a couple of months. We also hope that we’ll be able to put HARP Fantasy into distribution (and hence game stores) via an imprint partner perhaps later this year. A quick reminder about the time-limited discount coupon for the HARP Fantasy pdf – once we release it as pdf, there’ll be announcements via a newsletter and the forums about how to get the discount. Keep watching so you don’t miss out. In terms of its revision, work is underway to make the characters at the back of HARP Martial Law consistent with HARP Fantasy. Once that is complete and that’s all we have to do, then Martial Law will go into the layout queue as its new artwork is already finished. HARP College of Magics and Loot: a Field Guide are next on the revision queue and we will be commissioning a similar enhancement of Cyradon and the new HARP Bestiary.

Last month, we noted that we might speed up the pdf return of some RMSS products where we had secured agreement to rescue them from copyright limbo. Peter Mork’s School of Hard Knocks was duly returned as a searchable scanned pdf in April. With Cyber Europe, we’re simply waiting on confirmation that its author can access his royalties via OneBookShelf.

Rebranding of the Spacemaster: Privateers products continues slowly but surely. As they emerge, we will put them back on sale directly.

The authors working on the seven Rolemaster projects continue to toil away to finalise their drafts. I expect to be talking in detail about some of these projects next month.

The next scheduled Director’s Briefing will be presented in early June.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

Director, Guild Companion Publications Ltd.

I would like that thank both John and Nicholas for the license and I look very forward to the future of AutoHarp with Iron Crown.

Update with Screen Shots!

A frequently asked question has come up asking if AutoHarp will work with Rolemaster. Right now, AutoHarp is only for Harp Fantasy. There are plans to encorporate Harp Sci-Fi but right now there are no plans for Rolemaster unless there is a large response for a Rolemaster version. ICE, according to the forum and newsletter believes that a re-issue of Harp Fantasy will be released in Q2 (April, May, June). It was also mentioned that the database for Autoharp: Character Creator and Combat Tracker might also rollout with this release. Hopefully more news will come as we get closer to the release date. Also, after Harp Fantasy Core Rules has rolled out it has been said that Martial Law Companion and College of Magics is to be released soon after. From what I can tell there are no plans to re-release Bazaar and I do not know if there will be a re-release of the Codex or not. I am planning to have an update for the database for both the Martial Law Companion and College of Magics. 

In the meantime, here are some screenshots of Autoharp: Character Creator and AutoHarp: Combat Tracker.

AutoHarp: Character Creator - Main Page

  

AutoHarp: Character Creator - Editing Skills

AutoHarp: New Level

AutoHarp: Print Preview

AutoHarp: Combat Tracker - Main Screen

AutoHarp: Combat Tracker - Attack window

Blog merge.

I'm going to merge this blog with my other blog for AutoHarp, making the AutoHarp blog the main blog for both applications: Character Manager and Combat Tracker. I will therefore be eliminating this blog in a few weeks. If you have a subscription to this blog please sign up at my other blog site

http://autoharprpg.blogspot.com/

and subscribe. Thanks for your interest in AutoHarp.

We're Back!!

It's been a hellish last year for me, but everything has been stabilized for now and AutoHarp is again back on my plate. This time with an awesome update.

I have submitted the database to ICE and they have approved it. Right now its release it dependent on when Harp Fantasy is released which could be in a couple of months. I'm unsure as to the details of its release but I'm sure as things come together for Harp Fantasy those details will be more clear. It is my hope to have AutoHarp, both the Character Manager and the Combat Tracker ready by then for both Windows and Linux. I also plan to have a manual ready for both which includes help on how to tweek the database and also how to create a custom database if you want. Currently the only rules included in the database are the Core Rules. The rule set for Martial Arts Companion, Codex, Bazaar and College of Magics will be released over time in conjunction I believe with ICE schedule of releases.

The database includes just about everything when it comes to the core rules, races, professions, cultures, items, herbs, talents, statistics, movement maneuver, experience, encounter tables and a full combat table for Core Rules only. It is my hope in time when Martial Arts Companion and Bazaar is released to have both Combat Rules sets also a part of the Combat Tracker. 


More to come in the next few months.