Harpoon 3 Mac Intel only at 3.6.2?

[Alan Lewis]

Ok, I'm slumming around the harpoon sites and come across the link to buy Harpoon 3 for Mac OS X intel and it's version 3.6.2. I realize it's only community supported but I can't find the community. Is this the right place to start one?

[Herman]

I think that this place is as good as any. What do you need?

[TonyE]

Yep, we can give you some measure of assistance, still on my iBook G3 though on the Mac side so be ready for delays

[Alan Lewis]

Thanks for responding. I realize this is not being worked on actively and I guess I'm trying to determine what is meant by community support. Does it mean the PlayersDB and associated scenarios will work for example, or is there a community group allowed access to the source for volunteer and unpaid development? The latter in particular interests me. I would be willing to sign whatever AGSI requires if allowed to contribute directly to the mac version.

[TonyE]

or is there a community group allowed access to the source for volunteer and unpaid development? The latter in particular interests me. I would be willing to sign whatever AGSI requires if allowed to contribute directly to the mac version.

 

Community supported doesn't mean that in this case. It means you can come to us for help getting things working, help in answering questions, etc. You could however contact AGSI directly about contributing to future Mac development of the game where I think you'll find them most interested in discussing your abilities.

[Alan Lewis]

Will the PlayersDB work with 3.6.2 on the Mac?

[Herman]

...what is meant by community support. Does it mean the PlayersDB and associated scenarios will work for example, or is there a community group allowed access to the source for volunteer and unpaid development? The latter in particular interests me. I would be willing to sign whatever AGSI requires if allowed to contribute directly to the mac version.

I am pretty certain that "Community support" means that the developers will not be answering any questions. Only third-party users (game owners) can help you out with questions; which means there won't be any code changes.

 

AGSI has publicly stated that there won't be any Mac version of ANW due to the small potential number of users. A number of Mac owners have reported that they are able to play ANW through the use of an emulator like VPC. Therefore, I don't think it matters what you are willing to do since AGSI is simply not interested in pursuing a Mac version of the game (evident by the departure of the last Mac programmer, Jesse Spears). [Of course, I am not a representative of AGSI and can only repeat what others have told me]

 

Since you have the Mac 3.6.2 version of H3, you will be able to enjoy PlayersDB scenarios. Just make sure that you load the correct version for your game. I am pretty certain that the file structure is similar to the H3 PC version. If not, please let me know.

 

http://www.harpdb.com/h3/pdb/scen/Complete...6.3_Library.exe

[kip]

The PDB and other third-party scenarios work fine on Mac with Harpoon 3.6.2. Simply load the third-party battleset into the Resources folder.

 

Note that this only is true for the 3.6.x version.

 

Kip

[Herman]

Simply load the third-party battleset into the Resources folder.

That's interesting to know. I always thought that the file structure was the same as H3 where you had the Battlset, Resource, DAT2, and Database folders inside the main H3 folder.

 

Learn something new every day.

[Alan Lewis]

AGSI has publicly stated that there won't be any Mac version of ANW due to the small potential number of users. A number of Mac owners have reported that they are able to play ANW through the use of an emulator like VPC. Therefore, I don't think it matters what you are willing to do since AGSI is simply not interested in pursuing a Mac version of the game (evident by the departure of the last Mac programmer, Jesse Spears). [Of course, I am not a representative of AGSI and can only repeat what others have told me]

http://www.harpdb.com/h3/pdb/scen/Complete...6.3_Library.exe

 

I can understand that reasoning, but however they determined that, they could be mistaken. I realize spending money to see if your mistaken is unlikely, thus my nonpaying proposal to work unpaid on a Mac version.

 

I should have tried it before asking, I'm not surprised it works and I do use the PC version in a VM and it works great, but the purist in me keeps me from playing as much as I would like because of the lack of a current Mac versions support for multiplayer, etc.

 

I'm working on a proposal for AGSI and will never give up the good fight! :-)

[Alan Lewis]

So on the gamesquad forums I see there is a PlayersDB for 3.6.3, and another for ANW. I suspect the reason for that is because of some structural differences between 3.6 and 3.9. Is there someplace I can see the specifics of those differences and how they relate to playing the same scenario in 3.6 and 3.9?

[TonyE]

So on the gamesquad forums I see there is a PlayersDB for 3.6.3, and another for ANW. I suspect the reason for that is because of some structural differences between 3.6 and 3.9. Is there someplace I can see the specifics of those differences and how they relate to playing the same scenario in 3.6 and 3.9?

 

In large part the two databases are the same, but where the files go in the directory structure is fairly different, and ANW has a database signature. So the two installers aren't because the mechanics are so different but so that players stand a chance of maintaining a valid install.

 

That said, there are ANW specific database capabilities, they just aren't a focus of PDB.

 

Game mechanics in general the games are quite different and growing moreso all the time, 3.10 will bring fairly significant changes to missions among other things.

[Herman]

So on the gamesquad forums I see there is a PlayersDB for 3.6.3, and another for ANW. I suspect the reason for that is because of some structural differences between 3.6 and 3.9. Is there someplace I can see the specifics of those differences and how they relate to playing the same scenario in 3.6 and 3.9?

The H3 version of the PlayersDB is about 98% the same as the ANW version.

 

As mentioned, the file/sub-folder organization is different between the two. Also, there are some things that worked/didn't work between the versions. For example, the land units in H3 do not have any attached magazines for reloading weapons such as SAMs and guns because this function is buggy and just doesn't work in H3. Magazines are included with those same units in ANW because it works in that version.

 

Also, some long-ranged SAMs do not have ASuW capability in H3 but do in ANW because that was buggy in H3 and now works in ANW.

 

In ANW, there are more flag settings available. In general, the PlayersDB doesn't use most of them primarily because I don't believe that they work. If it is of dire consequence to you, I can provide additional detail. Suffice it to say, that the two versions are nearly identical.

 

If you want to run a comparison between them, utilities are available so that you may do a complete analysis. Ownership of the Harpoon3 Database Editor [Reimer edition] is required.

[Alan Lewis]

Unfortunately I don't have time to investigate it myself, but it sounds like for my purposes the 3.6 with the PlayersDB is sufficient for now. It sounds like pretty much what I was expecting to be different and I thank all those involved in continuing to support the 3.6 users, I'm actually surprised by that continuing support. Besides the Mac version, why continue to support 3.6?

[TonyE]

Oh that's a scary question. Some people vehemently hate where the game went after 3.6.3 and have that neverending desire to return to what they consider the glory days. They aren't entirely wrong but they are less and less right as time goes by and ANW matures.

 

Now excuse me while I put on the flame retardent clothing and prepare to put my moderating talents to work!