Thanks for all the quick answers. Very helpful. Since I'm not an online player-type, Matrix's HUE seems to be what I would want and would feel comfortable with. I also found my Harpoon DOS disks! I installed them under DOSbox and boy do they take me back to the days of RAMDISKS of spending $319 for 1 mb of additional memory for my 286, 12 MHz machine!

..and I thought my first 286, with one whole meg of RAM (and whopping 20 meg HD) was hot stuff. That's what using old XTs to do remote database searching does to you I guess.

Don Thomas

 

286? Whazzat? I got my preps for playing Harpoon by playing sub games on my Atari 800... and I thought that was cutting edge with a 5-1/4" floppy disk drive (instead of the cassette drive), and 64K of RAM. Well, at least I didn't have to program for an 8086 or Z80...

I have Atari 800XL, C-64 and Apple IIe+ emulators on my desktop. Playing Carrier Force again (my first game), along with USAAF, War in Russia (the original) and, of course, 50 Mission Crush (among others).

I have Atari 800XL, C-64 and Apple IIe+ emulators on my desktop. Playing Carrier Force again (my first game), along with USAAF, War in Russia (the original) and, of course, 50 Mission Crush (among others).

 

I also have the Amiga version of Harpoon that I play occasionally with the WinUAE emulator, as well as the Mac version I run with Sheepshaver. That Amiga version is a real bear to play, interface and game mechanics-wise.

 

Buddha

OK, back to the present after that pleasant stroll down emulator lane!

 

I now have Harpoon Ultimate and besides HCE I don't really see a use for the other stuff. I don't like the interface and look of ANW, H2, and H3 and the earlier HC's are really just a patch or update to earlier executables. HCE seems to be the final word in HC and includes all the scenarios and battlesets from the past.

 

Now I am interested in the databases and playing What If? scenarios from the 50s or WWII. To that end I have downloaded (without knowing what I was doing) a file called hce-databases, which includes three subfolders: hce-stock-db, hce-timeline-dbs, and hce-media-file. The timeline folder has five folders (I deleted the hc-10-to-xxx folder), each has a commondb.res file in them. I saw a file called commondb.rsr which looked like something necessary and I put it in the hce-media-file folder, for lack of anywhere else to put it. the hc-stock-db folder is empty. I also have launcher.exe.

 

So, what do I need, where does everything go, and how can I get it work?

 

Thanks in advance.

So, what do I need, where does everything go, and how can I get it work? Thanks in advance.

 

The 'commondb.res' file is the primary database component and you swap it out to switch between databases.

 

The 'commondb.rsr' file is the image file for the platform display and may be correlated to a particular database. You can swap it out too to match images with the database you use above.

 

The launcher will automate a lot of this for you.

OK, back to the present after that pleasant stroll down emulator lane!

 

Now I am interested in the databases and playing What If? scenarios from the 50s or WWII. To that end I have downloaded (without knowing what I was doing) a file called hce-databases, which includes three subfolders: hce-stock-db, hce-timeline-dbs, and hce-media-file. The timeline folder has five folders (I deleted the hc-10-to-xxx folder), each has a commondb.res file in them. I saw a file called commondb.rsr which looked like something necessary and I put it in the hce-media-file folder, for lack of anywhere else to put it. the hc-stock-db folder is empty. I also have launcher.exe.

 

So, what do I need, where does everything go, and how can I get it work?

 

Thanks in advance.

In addition to what Brad has said;

the commondb.rsr file you downloaded is needed to use divefreak's databases (the 'res' type files in the download, or update them at harpgamer). It includes all the standard harpoon stuff so you can put it in the base harpoon folder (to replace the standard after saving it somewhere). That way you don't have to do any swapping or selection (in Launcher) or the 'rsr file.

The time line system is well set up for using the launcher, when you open it you'll see that you can select the battleset, the database and the scenario or saved game, as well as other stuff. The time line folder system just makes it all organised.

Don Thomas

I figured that if I'm going to use an earlier database I should have a scenario written for that database. I have two 50to65 scenarios for the WestPac battleset but can't figure out where the files go. There are no folders containing scenarios that I can find and a serach on my hard drive for *.sc1 came up blank. I know they're all there because I can play them. But where?

 

I put them in the HUCE folder. I started launcher and guessed on all the entries. The HC directory is C:\Matrix Games\HUCE. The GE Name is Winharp32.exe. I have the following boxes checked: Scenario by filename (I used the SCq file from my HUCE folder); CDB.res FileName (the commondb.res file from the appropriate timeline folder); Battleset by Number (26-WestPac, correct for the scenario); CDB.rsr FileName (the commondb.rsr from the hc-media-file folder). Game Play Options are checked and selected to my choices.

 

Everytime I click on Launch GE, I get a random game. So far all have been standard scenarios. Sorry to be such a bother, but there are some concepts I'm not getting here. Your patience is much appreciated.

I figured that if I'm going to use an earlier database I should have a scenario written for that database. I have two 50to65 scenarios for the WestPac battleset but can't figure out where the files go. There are no folders containing scenarios that I can find and a serach on my hard drive for *.sc1 came up blank. I know they're all there because I can play them. But where?

 

*.sc1 refers to GIUK (original) Battleset. Use *.scq for Westpac.

ref: http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showtopic=2380

 

I put them in the HUCE folder. I started launcher and guessed on all the entries. The HC directory is C:\Matrix Games\HUCE. The GE Name is Winharp32.exe. I have the following boxes checked: Scenario by filename (I used the SCq file from my HUCE folder); CDB.res FileName (the commondb.res file from the appropriate timeline folder); Battleset by Number (26-WestPac, correct for the scenario); CDB.rsr FileName (the commondb.rsr from the hc-media-file folder). Game Play Options are checked and selected to my choices.

 

Everytime I click on Launch GE, I get a random game. So far all have been standard scenarios.

 

Not sure if this is a question, but you have "enable instant action" selected in the "select Battleset" window.

Not sure if this is a question, but you have "enable instant action" selected in the "select Battleset" window.

 

Sometimes I *like* some randomness...will instant action pick from the CDB battlesets, too?

I figured that if I'm going to use an earlier database I should have a scenario written for that database. I have two 50to65 scenarios for the WestPac battleset but can't figure out where the files go. There are no folders containing scenarios that I can find and a serach on my hard drive for *.sc1 came up blank. I know they're all there because I can play them. But where?

 

The scenarios that come with battlesets aren't in separate files, but reside within the battleset files.

 

I put them in the HUCE folder. I started launcher and guessed on all the entries. The HC directory is C:\Matrix Games\HUCE. The GE Name is Winharp32.exe. I have the following boxes checked: Scenario by filename (I used the SCq file from my HUCE folder); CDB.res FileName (the commondb.res file from the appropriate timeline folder); Battleset by Number (26-WestPac, correct for the scenario); CDB.rsr FileName (the commondb.rsr from the hc-media-file folder). Game Play Options are checked and selected to my choices.

 

A matter of choice where you put your custom scenarios, but if you become addicted (like many of us) you'll soon clutter up your HUCE folder, I use a separate folder "addons" (in which I have my custom scenarios [and custom battlesets] in folders named after their respective database, so I can remember which database I need to play the scenario).

 

Everytime I click on Launch GE, I get a random game. So far all have been standard scenarios. Sorry to be such a bother, but there are some concepts I'm not getting here. Your patience is much appreciated.

Have fun, and I invite you to try out some of my WWII scenarios in the Westpac section of Harpgamer downloads.

Don Thomas

Sometimes I *like* some randomness...will instant action pick from the CDB battlesets, too?

It will not since I haven't written any code to verify if the correct database is in place for those scenarios, making randomness in CDB battlesets chancy.

I have Atari 800XL, C-64 and Apple IIe+ emulators on my desktop. Playing Carrier Force again (my first game), along with USAAF, War in Russia (the original) and, of course, 50 Mission Crush (among others).

 

Side question:

 

What is your opinion of the Atari 800XL emulator?

I have Atari800win emulator and it does what it says. However, the Atari was more difficult to use because of the start, reset, restart and option buttons. The C-64 is easier to use and has more old games available.

Let me first say "Thank You" to everyone who has answered. Let me say "Thank You Again" to everyone who has answered. Now I will try to clarify my question. When I type in the specs into the launcher:

 

HC directory is C:\Matrix Games\HUCE. The GE Name is Winharp32.exe. I have the following boxes checked: Scenario by filename (I used Korea_51.SCq); CDB.res FileName (the commondb.res file from the 50to65 folder); Battleset by Number (26-WestPac); CDB.rsr FileName (the commondb.rsr from the hc-media-file folder). Game Play Options are checked and selected to my choices. There is no button I see that says "enable instant action." When I hit "Launch GE" I never get the Korea_51 scenario, nor the correct database. I have even swapped the commondb.rsr and commondb.res files from the HUCE directory with the database from the 50to65 folder with no evident change in database. Is the Charles deGaulle supposed to be in Korea?

 

The launcher is HC Launcher v.2010.0.1.1.

 

If it's any help, I checked "log all." Here's the log:

 

Logging begins. Build Date = May 8 2010, Build Time=22:41:34

0 harpoon.c:542 - BattleSet Specified: 26

0 harpoon.c:569 - Scenario Specified: C:\Matrix Games\HUCE\KOREA_51.SCq

0 harpoon.c:619 - Database RES Specified: C:\Matrix Games\HUCE\hce-databases\hce-timeline-dbs\hc-50to65-db\commondb.res

0 harpoon.c:644 - Database RSR Specified: C:\Matrix Games\HUCE\hce-databases\hc-media-file\commondb.rsr

0 harpoon.c:675 - Game Options Specified: 001110001

0 harpoon.c:732 - done processing arguments. Activating logging for:

0 DLLExport.c:150 - ExportDLL Loaded: DigMilArt.dll Interface Ver: 2 DLL Ver: 2 DLL Desc: Digital Military Art DLL

0 Setup.c:1168 - SetUp(0x0) entered

0 Setup.c:1171 - Deleting old memory

0 Setup.c:1179 - init_global_variables

100000 Setup.c:1201 - BattlesetSelector

100000 Setup.c:1228 - load Map

100000 Initannx.c:612 - this scenario is from battlesetnumber 14, using annex version 0

100000 Initannx.c:657 - reading scenario file version 0

100000 Initannx.c:658 - Database Versions:

Res: ,0

Rsr: 0

100000 Setup.c:1303 - OpenBattlsetResFile

100000 Setup.c:1338 - not_saved_game

100000 Setup.c:1431 - InitDisplayOp

100002 Memfs.c:1474 - test

Start the game without using the launcher. When you are tossed into the random scenario, go to File\New to get to the battleset selector. Uncheck "instant action". Start any scenario and then exit the game. Now use the launcher like you were and life will hopefully be as you desired.