(I apologize if this topic duplicates info found elsewhere... but I could't turn it up, so I'm asking here).

 

The HCE seems to be undergoing constant development and "repair", so my question is, are there "Service Packs" or other such updates available, and if so, what is the best procedure for keeping current with the fixes and upgrades?

 

Currently, I can use only the Demo program (as I haven't yet been able to obtain the released full version). I see there are frequent updates to the Demo, although I guess the only way to get them is to check back here periodically?

 

Are the updates and fixes that appear in the demo also applied to the purchased version? If so, are they free updates for owners of the latest release, or would owners need to buy them separately or wait for a new release in order to get them? (And is the Demo actually more "current" than the purchased version?)

 

Thanks!

(I apologize if this topic duplicates info found elsewhere... but I could't turn it up, so I'm asking here). The HCE seems to be undergoing constant development and "repair", so my question is, are there "Service Packs" or other such updates available, and if so, what is the best procedure for keeping current with the fixes and upgrades? Currently, I can use only the Demo program (as I haven't yet been able to obtain the released full version). I see there are frequent updates to the Demo, although I guess the only way to get them is to check back here periodically? Are the updates and fixes that appear in the demo also applied to the purchased version? If so, are they free updates for owners of the latest release, or would owners need to buy them separately or wait for a new release in order to get them? (And is the Demo actually more "current" than the purchased version?) Thanks!

 

The only word I can think of to describe your "inability" to acquire the commercial release version of HCE is bizarre.

 

There is an entire subforum here at HarpGamer dedicated to beta testing of new patches and updates for HCE. It is here.

 

The commercial release version receives regular updates (which contains both fixes and upgrades), which are always posted for download here at HarpGamer. You can see the files and instructions here.

 

Official 'patches' are piped through Matrix on a less regular basis and are available for download at its website.

 

Fortunately for you, and others you have not yet purchased HCE thru Matrix, or are similarly caught in some inexplicable 'no mans land' part of the Interwebz, the Demo is also available in updated form here.

Looks like Brad covered most of it.

 

You can use a forum feature called "Track This Topic" to be e-mailed when topics such as the Demo topic or Beta\Current Files thread is updated. That makes it more of a push notification instead of coming to check them manually periodically.

 

Thusfar all patches to HCE have been free. It is up to Matrix and AGSI to decide when to next have the players pay-up. To my knowledge that is not a date soon approaching. There should however be a special package (20th Anniversary Edition) that players will have to buy if they want the special goods.

 

It has happened that the demo may be of a more recent build than the official Matrix version of the game. Right now is a unique situation in that both are at version 2009.042 except Matrix hasn't released 2009.042 officially for marketing/business reasons (it can be downloaded here at HG by those who own the game). We don't have to go thru the Matrix release process when updating the demo so it can see more frequent official updates than the game itself. Given that the game has been becoming more stable since release, it doesn't make any sense to put effort into digging out 'old' code from the last patch to make a demo. That being especially true when any owner of the game can grab the beta versions (which also so far have tended to be quite stable).

 

The demo and 'real' game share a common code base, so fixes in the demo appear in the 'real' game and vice versa. To get a demo build I literally uncomment one #define statement in the code then compile it all.

 

As to what serves each player best, that is up to the player. Some people will not use anything but a Matrix released patch. With HCE so far that isn't in my opinion the route to the best experience, running betas would have been more optimal. There is no promise the betas will stay that way, sooner or later larger changes will be made and at least for a time that will mean less stable beta versions.

Looks like Brad covered most of it.

 

You can use a forum feature called "Track This Topic" to be e-mailed when topics such as the Demo topic or Beta\Current Files thread is updated. That makes it more of a push notification instead of coming to check them manually periodically.

 

 

Which topic(s) is best to track in order to keep abreast of the latest Demo releases? (I'm currently at 2009.042 of the Demo).

 

BTW, I'm curious whether I'm invoking the eMail-notification-of-replies feature properly, because sometimes I get no notifications at all of replies to a topic thread, and in some other cases, I get notifications of replies by some people, but not for others. (In particular, I've noticed that I don't get notifications of replies by CV32, Tony E, and a few others - so I'm thinking it might have something to do with group membership or something).

 

Anyway, I just cleck the option to receive eMail notification of replies when I post a reply... so is there something else that I need to do in order to get the notifications?

 

PS - In another "operational" question relating to the forum, any idea why, occasionally, it won't allow me to post a reply and returns an error message stating that I'm not logged in - even though it shows me as being logged in and has allowed me to post other replies previously in the session? Weird!

 

Thanks.

Which topic(s) is best to track in order to keep abreast of the latest Demo releases? (I'm currently at 2009.042 of the Demo).

 

Anyway, I just cleck the option to receive eMail notification of replies when I post a reply... so is there something else that I need to do in order to get the notifications?

 

PS - In another "operational" question relating to the forum, any idea why, occasionally, it won't allow me to post a reply and returns an error message stating that I'm not logged in - even though it shows me as being logged in and has allowed me to post other replies previously in the session? Weird!

 

Thanks.

 

For demo releases, I'd say http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showtopic=3446 and when you do the Track topic use the immediate or digest messages. The default one sometimes won't e-mail you. I can't really speak to whether sometimes the forum skips sending messages. The Issue Tracker doesn't terribly reliably send e-mails but the forum to my knowledge is much better.

 

Dunno about reply and loging prompt either, can't say I've seen that. One situation in which it could happen is if your public IP address changes from the time you login to when you post the message. That would happen if you have a flaky Internet connection.