8 replies to this topic

[TonyE]

Welcome to the Harpoon: Commander's Edition demo.

This demo revisits a storied part of Harpoon's history via the USNI battleset. Pooners Brad, Tony, and Ralf, with the help of the beta testing team, have re-made the five original USNI scenarios. The scenarios take advantage of game capabilities added since the original USNI version of the game was released more than 15 years ago! Not only that, but the weapons of war more closely match the real-world weapons thanks to post Cold-War release of information and the hard work of Brad in the DB editing department. These are no longer easy, nor introductory, scenarios, be prepared!

In addition to the ten USNI scenarios (there are two versions of each scenario, one for play as the Soviet side, one for the NATO side) you will find twelve scenarios in the WestPac battleset. There you will also find an introductory scenario, "1.0 Beginner Walk-Thru Scenario" that will help you grasp the game controls and some of the new features in HCE such as more variable radar RCS, submarine signatures, and land warfare between tanks and other vehicles.

Also note the excellent "Tactics 101" articles available at HarpGamer that provide both theoretical and game background/guidance.
http://harpgamer.com...php?showforum=4 (or do a search for Tactics 101).

As you investigate the game and have questions feel free to come ask those questions at http://www.harpgamer.com/, specifically in the Demo Discussion Thread. The game is being actively developed, supported, and expanded by the Harpoon community, AGSI, and Matrix Games. When you are ready to buy, please visit http://www.matrixgames.com/.

Just a few of the many benefits of buying the full Harpoon: Commander's Edition game:

• Over 200 more scenarios built in to the game including the classic GIUK, NAVC, MEDC, and IOPG battle grounds.
• The ability to load user created scenarios and databases. HarpGamer alone hosts 250+ user-made scenarios. These user creations are where the game really shines!
• Scenario Editor for crafting your own battles, testing your ideas, and sharing your efforts with the community.
• Database Editor that allows you to modify the platforms used in the game and again model different what-if situations.
• Battleset Builder for taking your battle to an area of the planet (real or imagined) that isn’t covered by the existing battlesets.

System Requirements & Technical Information:

• .
• The demo runs on Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7 (both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors), and Windows 8 (x86/ia64).
• Installer size is about 28MB. The installation takes about 75MB of disk space.
• Installing the demo will not affect your full installs of prior HC versions nor will it affect a full HCE install.
• The demo executes a rudimentary check to see if your system clock has been set back in time to defeat the demo expiration mechanism. Some computers that haven't had clocks set back will not pass this test. The full HCE game does not have this check so even if you can't run the demo, you will be able to run the full HCE game.
• Using the uninstaller will remove all files, registry settings, and shortcuts created by the installer. It will also remove all saved games in the HCDemo directory.

Downloads:

• Demo Download: http://www.harpgamer...mo-2009.069.zip or http://www.harpgamer...mo-2009.069.exe sans zipping

Attached Thumbnails

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[TonyE]

Just a note that the demo files have been uploaded to version 2008.066. If you already have the demo, you can install this right over the top if you desire. I wouldn't consider this in any way a mandatory update.

The changes are as follows:
HCE - 2008.066
==============
- Chg:B050 GE Hotkey C does not centre Unit window. Now when c is pressed in
the group window with a group selected, the Unit window will
center around that group on the Unit window as it did in
previousl releases (thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=50
- Chg:B052 GE Arrows keys now work to scroll the Unit window again.
(thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=52
- Chg:B049 GE Unit window display corruption with Textured Map turned off when
loading saved games. This has been fixed. (thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=49
- Chg:0000 GE Fixed the flawed active ECM. It was errantly doing extreme amounts of
jamming in many instances. (thanks Ralf)
- Chg:B046 GE Hornets with Decoy loadouts will now prompt the player to close
range in order to attack instead of ignoring the attack order.
(thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=46
- Chg:B051 DB Gave AS-6 the Land Attack flag. (thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=51

[TonyE]

The demo expiration has been extended to February 15, 2009 if you download anew.

Change Log:
HCE - 2008.068
==============
- Chg:0000 GE The aircraft speed/altitude dialog works as designed again. It
will show the proper speed for the altitude and speed selected.
If you manually enter a speed outside of the range of the band
or aircraft capability, the aircraft will go to an altitude
band and speed less than or equal to the manually entered
speed. (thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...?showtopic=2335
- Chg:0000 GE Added hotkey O to show any On Station rectangles for the
player's side. Press O to show them, O again to hide them.
In debug builds, Alt-F5 will show on station rectangles
once for all sides (the ones for Blue will be blue color,
Red will be red, etc.)
- Chg:0000 GE New escort jamming model. The player won't see as many phantom
shoot-downs anymore. The old model was flawed.
- Chg:0000 GE Logging will really work in Release builds this time around,
no kidding, unlike the previous however many times!

HCE - 2008.067
==============
- Chg:B047 GE Limited how the AI will execute BOL air to surface and
Surface to Surface missile launches. If the axis of the
uncertainty zone as seen by the firing unit to the target
is greater than 50nm (uncertainty zone width when drawing a
line from attacker to target), the AI will not fire. The
AI will also not fire if the weapon range/5 is less than
the uncertainty zone width. If the uncertainty zone is
< 1nm across, the AI will fire anyway (takes care of short
range ASMs). (thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=47
- Chg:B054 GE No longer show the correct count of land units and damaged
land units at a base if those units are not currently detected.
(thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=54
- Chg:B048 GE Don't prompt the player to use air-to-air cannon fire against subs.
Do prompt player to close range to launch depth charges.
(thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=48

[TonyE]

The demo expiration has been extended to March 15, 2009 if you download anew.

HCE - 2009.009
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Planes already within AAM range will not re-prompt to close to
fire. The prompt was errant since they were already in range.

HCE - 2009.008
==============
- Chg:2429 GE Fixed the 10x too large BOL range ring. (thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...?showtopic=2471
- Chg:0000 GE Only show BOL range ring as large as BOL capable weapons
instead of as large as the longest range ASM/SSM.
- Chg:0000 GE Made the BOL range ring yellow like it was meant to be.
- Chg:0000 GE Added a Staff Assistant information message when the group
has no BOL capable weapons and a BOL attack is attempted.
- Chg:0000 GE Don't let weapons launch their own BOL attacks.
(thanks Herman)
- Chg:0000 GE Fixed inability to retarget air groups already on a
mission.


HCE - 2009.007
==============
- Chg:0000 GE This build is the code reverted to the original 2008.068 plus
a number of tweaks. That means a number of issues are now
unfixed. This was done since the fixes presented more
challenges than the original issues. This returns the game
to a stable state from which we can move forward.

[TonyE]

HCE - 2009.020
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Upon scenario load, the raw event side is no longer checked
for MESSAGE_EVENT events
which was resulting in staff message events being ignored.
In sum, this should now allow the Red side to see staff
messages from the scenario file.
- Chg:0000 GE Here is a bit more explanation on the behavior of the
Staff Messages as entered by the scenario designer.
* Message length should not exceed 63 characters
* If you have a group selected when you enter the Staff
Message, that group will be referenced by the message
when viewed in the GE. What that means is you could
enter a message for the Blue side with a Red submarine
selected. When the Blue player receives that message
in the game, the Show or Select buttons of the dialog
will show the position of the Red sub, even if it
hasn't been detected. That could be useful but is
also a caution to be cognizant that the message stores
the selected group, if any.

HCE - 2009.019
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Extended demo timeout until March 15, 2010.
- Chg:0000 GE Added marketing glitz and links to the Demo.
- Chg:0000 GE Delayed dllexInitDLLs until after DoIntroScreen so that if
a DLL establishes a window, it won't cancel the intro screen
drawing.
- Chg:0000 GE Changed the window handle passed to DLLs from hwndFullScreen
to hwndMDIClient to allow more proper parentage.

HCE - 2009.018
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Made a new critical hit distribution table for mobile land
units. In other words, you should no longer see land units
with flooding.
- Chg:B084 GE ASW helicopters want to (errantly)close after firing last torpedo.
The fix isn't ideal but it does address the issue. Now after
that last torpedo is fired there is no prompt. If the player
cancels the attack, the prompt will appear since the game
thinks the target is actually North another 8nm.
(thanks ReoTeo)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=84
- Chg:B100 GE Planes missing from Divide Group command. The CombatFlags
value should have been reset when the landing command was
given but it was not being reset. In 2009.018 it is being
reset so the group doesn't get confused. (thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...amp;showbug=100
- Chg:0000 SE Enabled time editing dialog for staff notes so that they can
be shown to the player after the specified elapsed time. Also
added the side chooser dialog when in the SE to dictate which
side will see the message.

HCE - 2009.017
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Fixed the Speed/Altitude event processor to do what I mean in
2009.016, not what I coded (Tony). Planes in the group should
now all end up at the proper altitudes and speeds after
take-off and at waypoints.
- Chg:0000 GE Remember that force 1:1 time hotkey addition in 2009.016? Well,
it is now the L key, not \.
- Chg:0000 GE Subs that surface due to damage will now split off into a new
group so that they can be told what to do. In debug builds
a message like the following will be shown for enemy and
neutral subs when the damage is applied...
"Unit %s(%s) is surfacing due to damage."
Friendly subs in all builds have a line in the Message Log...
"Friendly Unit %s(%s) is surfacing due to damage."
- Chg:B070 GE Guns on planes in formation will no longer cause the GE to
crash with a GetAnnex error when attempting to fire at
targets. (thanks Herman)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=70
- Chg:0000 GE Further efforts to keep subs surfaced due to damage or
damage + flooding on the surface. Player should no longer
be able to submerge such subs, even if joined to another
undamaged sub group.

HCE - 2009.016
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Added the ability to stop the game clock without the pause
dialog and without minimizing the game. The new methods are
the Ctrl-Alt-p hotkey (pause without dialog) and pressing
the - key from 1 sec time compression. The pause is indicated
by 0 sec listed in the time compression box.
This does not mean a player should issue orders while paused
since planes may not be marked as in use, weapons may not be
marked as launched, etc. until the next game second elapses.
- Chg:0000 GE Added additional hotkeys for 1:1 time compression. The existing
hotkey is Return/Enter, the new hotkey is the \ | key. The
new hotkey may need to change to accomodate non-US keyboard
layouts.
- Chg:0000 GE Stopped hogging the entire CPU core worth of processing power
when the game is minimized.
- Chg:0000 GE The Speed/Altitude event processor (internal to the game)
now can apply the event to a single unit if the unit was
fed in as part of the event. This should mean only the
damaged sub in a multi-sub group will surface when damage
is critical.

HCE - 2009.015
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Answering yes to RTB ASW bird out of weapons message will now
RTB, answering no will leave it on station. (thanks Wombat)
http://harpgamer.com...?showtopic=2495
- Chg:B073 SE When adding more than two variable start points, don't crash.
Note the often incorrect highlighting of the selected start
point still exists, fixing it is proving most challenging.
(thanks Ralf, and many others)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=73
- Chg:0000 SE Improve the logic for enabling and disabling the Delete Unit button
when editing a group. The designer should not be able to delete
an installation, not the last ship/sub/land unit in the group.
http://harpgamer.com...?showtopic=3431

HCE - 2009.014
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Fixed game crash in certain circumstances when some planes out
of a group are shot down, but not the whole group. (thanks Brad)

HCE - 2009.013
==============
- Chg:B095 GE Don't ask player where to land enemy tankers who have just split
from the refueled planes. (thanks Brad)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=95


HCE - 2009.012
==============
- Chg:B094 GE More work on the aircraft Speed/Altitude dialog. It is now
driven by the typed in speed. If you type in a speed faster
than Cruise with Cruise selected and click OK, the throttle
setting will be kicked up to Military (or AB if appropriate)
if the aircraft has such a speed available. If not, the
speed is dropped down to the fastest available at that
altitude. It will also bump up any speed less than loiter.
(thanks Brad)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=94
also re-verified that the below is still fixed
http://harpgamer.com...?showtopic=2335
- Chg:0000 GE If the player types in a custom speed, it will be maintained
when re-opening the dialog (for air groups, does not apply to
surface groups.
- Chg:B096 GE Once the player deletes a formation air patrol it will stay gone,
even if the returning aircraft is shot down before it
has a chance to land. (thanks Brad)
http://harpgamer.com...a...&showbug=96

HCE - 2009.011
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Started adding the code framework/templates to make maintaining
backwards compability with saves games possible. Players can
now load saves from 2007.000+ in the current GE.
- Chg:0000 GE Make sure Nuclear Release event sound stops playing when dialog
goes away. Also completed putting the nuclear release DLL
code in the game (it wouldn't have worked in 2009.010 if the
player was the Red side). (thanks Buddha)

HCE - 2009.010
==============
- Chg:0000 GE Added a Nuclear Release event to the ExportDLL interface.
See: http://harpgamer.com...mp;showfile=390

[TonyE]

Demo version 2009.042 has been uploaded. See the ReleaseNotes.txt file or Release Notes Thread for details on the changes. Expiration extended to September 2, 2010.

[TonyE]

Demo version 2009.050 has been uploaded. Expiration extended to January 1, 2012.

[TonyE]

Demo version 2009.064 has been uploaded. Expiration extended to January 1, 2013.

[TonyE]

Demo version 2009.069 has been uploaded. Expiration extended to January 1, 2014.