Okay, here's the situation...

 

I just upgraded to Windows 7, and I love it, but the scenario editor no longer works. The game itself runs fine, though. I understand this has something to do with the difference between 64-bit and 32-bit systems.

 

I know there are some work-arounds for this, including Virtual Machines, etc., but I don't have any of those set up yet and I'm honestly not sure when I will get around to it.

 

Any chance someone is working on a new version of the scenario editor? You know, one that will work under Windows 7?

 

In any event, it occurred to me that I can still contribute to the Harpoon community by posting detailed scenario ideas for other people to use. Maybe I can't create scenarios for a while, but I can help others do so by giving them ideas. I will try to post as much information as possible with each scenario idea, but I assume people who are interested will take these ideas and expand on them. Folks may assume if I post something in this thread it can be treated as "Please feel free to use this as is, alter it as necessary, etc." The only thing I ask is that you please give me credit somewhere, maybe something like "Original scenario concept by Mark Gellis" listed somewhere.

 

Just to get things started...

 

GIUK 2003 Battleset

HCDB database

 

A few years in the future...

 

As fish populations collapsed around the world due to overfishing, nations began to come into conflict--some nations were not overly careful about whether or not they strayed into some other nation's fisheries or territorial waters.

 

In the last few months, Norwegian fishing boats have violated British waters. The British government intends to send a strong message. The British task force commander is ordered to capture or sink Norwegian fishing boats found north of the Shetland island. The task force is currently south of the Shetland islands.

 

British (Blue) forces

1 x FFG Type 23 CUP

1 x OPV River

1 or 2 Lynx 8 helicopters

 

At some northern UK base

1 x Nimrod 4

2 x Typhoon F2

 

Norwegian Forces (all dispersed...no one working together as a group, just isolated vessels within 100 miles of the Shetlands, but the FFG and the sub would be near one of the fishing boats, but leaving the other two to fend for themselves)

4 x Fishing Boats

1 x Type 210 Ula submarine

1 x FFG Nansen

 

At some Norwegian base (west coast)

4 x F-16 AM/BM MLU

1 x Naval P3-N Orion

 

Time Required: One day? Maybe only hours?

 

Victory conditions: Blue min = sink 2 fishing boats; Blue max = sink 4 fishing boats; Red min = sink 1 ship; Red max. = sink 2 ships

 

Any takers?

Just to be clear, the scenario editor runs fine on the 32-bit version of Windows 7.

 

Yes, there is an effort to conver the SE to a 32-bit application which would allow it to run on 64-bit operating systems. No, you needn't expect it anytime.

 

I urge you to check out http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx for virtualization on the fairly cheap. At worst you'd have to shell out some money for a fancier version of Windows 7 that then includes the virtual windows XP package license.

Just to be clear, the scenario editor runs fine on the 32-bit version of Windows 7.

 

Yes, there is an effort to conver the SE to a 32-bit application which would allow it to run on 64-bit operating systems. No, you needn't expect it anytime.

 

I urge you to check out http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx for virtualization on the fairly cheap. At worst you'd have to shell out some money for a fancier version of Windows 7 that then includes the virtual windows XP package license.

 

I don't think I can do that...I only have the Home Premium edition, so I'd have to pay for it, which I don't feel like doing. Fortunately, there should be a freeware application somewhere that will do the same thing for me. I just have to find it.

 

I'll get the thing running eventually. I have a lot of other projects going on right now so it may be a while. But meanwhile, I will post ideas here for anyone who wants to use them.

I know that Microsoft's free Virtual PC is only supposed to work up to XP, and when I installed it on Vista I received a warning that my version of Windows wasn't compatible. It work fine with Vista however, and it turns out that MS really meant that they don't provide tech support beyond XP. It may be the same with Win 7. I clicked past the warning and installed it anyway, and haven't had a single problem in over a year. If it doesn't work for you, you can always uninstall it.

 

Buddha

Hi Mark,

 

Okay, here's the situation...

 

I just upgraded to Windows 7, and I love it, but the scenario editor no longer works. The game itself runs fine, though. I understand this has something to do with the difference between 64-bit and 32-bit systems.

 

I know there are some work-arounds for this, including Virtual Machines, etc., but I don't have any of those set up yet and I'm honestly not sure when I will get around to it.

 

Any chance someone is working on a new version of the scenario editor? You know, one that will work under Windows 7?

 

In any event, it occurred to me that I can still contribute to the Harpoon community by posting detailed scenario ideas for other people to use. Maybe I can't create scenarios for a while, but I can help others do so by giving them ideas. I will try to post as much information as possible with each scenario idea, but I assume people who are interested will take these ideas and expand on them. Folks may assume if I post something in this thread it can be treated as "Please feel free to use this as is, alter it as necessary, etc." The only thing I ask is that you please give me credit somewhere, maybe something like "Original scenario concept by Mark Gellis" listed somewhere.

 

Just to get things started...

 

GIUK 2003 Battleset

HCDB database

 

A few years in the future...

 

As fish populations collapsed around the world due to overfishing, nations began to come into conflict--some nations were not overly careful about whether or not they strayed into some other nation's fisheries or territorial waters.

 

In the last few months, Norwegian fishing boats have violated British waters. The British government intends to send a strong message. The British task force commander is ordered to capture or sink Norwegian fishing boats found north of the Shetland island. The task force is currently south of the Shetland islands.

 

British (Blue) forces

1 x FFG Type 23 CUP

1 x OPV River

1 or 2 Lynx 8 helicopters

 

At some northern UK base

1 x Nimrod 4

2 x Typhoon F2

 

Norwegian Forces (all dispersed...no one working together as a group, just isolated vessels within 100 miles of the Shetlands, but the FFG and the sub would be near one of the fishing boats, but leaving the other two to fend for themselves)

4 x Fishing Boats

1 x Type 210 Ula submarine

1 x FFG Nansen

 

At some Norwegian base (west coast)

4 x F-16 AM/BM MLU

1 x Naval P3-N Orion

 

Time Required: One day? Maybe only hours?

 

Victory conditions: Blue min = sink 2 fishing boats; Blue max = sink 4 fishing boats; Red min = sink 1 ship; Red max. = sink 2 ships

 

Any takers?

 

Since I have always admired your small, sensible scenarios (one of my all time favs is "Jap Fish") , it would be a pleasure for me to build it for and with you.

 

Best Regards,

Ralf

Hi Mark,

 

since there´s no reply and yesterday the ANW version of your idea was published by Herman Hum, using his database, I assume you´ve chosen your partner and thus the issue is closed for me.

 

Regards,

Ralf

Hi Mark, since there´s no reply and yesterday the ANW version of your idea was published by Herman Hum, using his database, I assume you´ve chosen your partner and thus the issue is closed for me. Regards, Ralf [CV32: Emphasis mine]

 

I would not make that assumption, Ralf.

Hi Mark, since there´s no reply and yesterday the ANW version of your idea was published by Herman Hum, using his database, I assume you´ve chosen your partner and thus the issue is closed for me. Regards, Ralf [CV32: Emphasis mine]

 

I would not make that assumption, Ralf.

 

Sorry...I was out of town for a few weeks with no internet access. Actually, I don't care. If people want to make multiple versions of the scenarios, that's fine. Please go right ahead.

 

Mark

 

P.S. If anyone else wants to post ideas here for scenarios they don't have time to put together, can't get the SE to work, etc. please feel free. The more the merrier!

 

P.P.S. Any news on the 32-bit conversion of the SE?

P.P.S. Any news on the 32-bit conversion of the SE?

 

No significant progress the last while. I'm trying to indicate some signs of life by noting any decent chunks of time I spend in the code via the following topic, http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showtopic=9950

Okay, here's what I've been doing...

 

I copied the newest version of the HCDB to my copy of an earlier version of Harpoon (2004), which runs fine on my old Windows 98 laptop. I wrote and saved a short scenario (Japanese Navy vs. Russian subs). I could not get the CD-ROM drive to burn a disk (it reads them fine but won't burn them for some reason) so I copied the scenario to a floppy disk so I can see if it runs on my new computer (the scenario editor was acting a little buggy, but I think the scenario saved all right) and...

 

[...wait for it...]

 

...my new computer, the one with Windows 7, doesn't have a floppy drive. It has slots for pretty much everything else (SD cards, etc.) but no 3.5" drive.

 

[Please insert hideous primal screaming here. Seriously, if you made a movie of this, no one would believe it...]

 

Okay, I'll find someone who has a floppy drive and have them copy and e-mail me the file and then I'll see if it works. So it's not a tragedy, just a pain in the neck to write scenarios now.

 

I'm hoping that when Harpoon Ultimate Edition is released this summer that its scenario editor WILL run under Windows 7. If so, the problem is solved.

 

On the bright side, I can run Nobunaga's Ambition II (one of my favorite old games) in DosBox. (Can't run the Scenario Editor, unfortunately...it says it needs Windows...)

 

More later...

I'm hoping that when Harpoon Ultimate Edition is released this summer that its scenario editor WILL run under Windows 7. If so, the problem is solved.

 

The Ultimate Edition SE is still a 16-bit program so it will not run on 64-bit operating systems. Just to be clear, the SE runs on Windows 7 32-bit without jumping through any hoops.

... and if you've got Win 7 Pro or Ultimate, you can download a free XP virtual machine for it from MS that will run the Scenario editor just fine.

... and if you've got Win 7 Pro or Ultimate, you can download a free XP virtual machine for it from MS that will run the Scenario editor just fine.

 

Yes, I may have to go that route if the Harpoon Ultimate SE is still going to be 16-bit. I just hate to spend $100 (or however much it costs to upgrade Home Premium to Professional) to be able to run ONE program. (I mean, for that kind of money, I can get a used laptop on e-bay with XP on it and have a laptop.) Grrr!

Well, you could also install Win 98 on your new machine in a dual-boot configuration. Or you could connect your two computers by cable. Or possibly even email the scenarios from one machine to the other, as they're small enough to be pretty quick even at dialup rates.

I'm hoping that when Harpoon Ultimate Edition is released this summer that its scenario editor WILL run under Windows 7. If so, the problem is solved.

 

The Ultimate Edition SE is still a 16-bit program so it will not run on 64-bit operating systems. Just to be clear, the SE runs on Windows 7 32-bit without jumping through any hoops.

 

*Sigh* I understand...Harpoon is a niche market and it probably isn't cost-effective in terms of the hours needed to create a new version of the SE program. However, I hope some kind of workaround will eventually be made available for those of us who like the 64-bit version of Windows 7 but wish to avoid having to upgrade to Premium, download Virtual Machine, yada yada yada.