Topic: HARP: Character Generator Software Application

[DavidKlecker]

HARP: CG

I need to come up with good name for this. Any ideas?

I know there are a lot of Harp Character Generators out there but this one I think breaks a new mold. This is a full application written to look and feel and run like standard software. It's currently written in C++ with wxWidgets being the front end. Because of this, Harp: CG can be ported to run on not only Windows of course but on OSX and most Linux distributions.

Harp: CG is also Open Source, although I do not have the code available to download just yet. I will soon. I need to setup a repository and a project like that can take a chunk of time.

A couple of notes on Harp: CG.

1) It's still in an Beta state. What this means in computer lingo is that the software is ready to be used but it's not stable. There still exist the possibility of bugs. Actually there are a few known bugs that I have not been able to fix, however they do not cause any problems for the software. They are simply glitches that are kinda "weird". The first glitch occurs when you finish making a new character sheet. In order to see the Character Window you need to resize the main window. Once you do that you should see your Character sheet appear. Another "glitch" is that in the New Level Wizard none of the controls resize appropriately. This doesn't effect the program, just the way it looks. Software usually lasts in a beta state for a bit until the software is stable "enough" to graduate. It is normal to release software while it's a beta state. In fact this is standard operating procedure. The idea is to simply get more heads to use the software and to test it on different environments. The more people who use it and report issues, the more stable it gets.

2) There also might exist gaming issues. For example I may have something wrong when it comes to the rules or I may have missed something entirely. If that is the case sending an email to chrisklecker@yahoo.com is good or reporting it here is good as well, but since I check email more than I check forums, sending a copy to my email is a good way for me to get it faster.

3) This .exe is for Windows users only. The reason for this is because I do not own a Mac or a Linux box in order to compile Harp: CG under these environments. If someone who is familiar with wxWidgets/C++ and has a Mac or Linux box is willing to work on compiling this application under those environments that would be awesome! I can help you get setup on your machine so that things will be easier to port over. This shouldn't be a daunting task. Again, wxWidgets is meant to work on most operating systems with very little changes here and there. Given that I have used native controls exclusively, I don't anticipate this part taking very long.

If there are any questions by all means ask away. I'm hoping this program can grow as the Harp community grows.

[Mando]

First, thanks for all your efforts!


(it looks like the .exe installer file (3.66 Mo here) can't find any file during the installation process (message is: Error opening file for writing, file x) starts with missing bmp's, then xml files, etc.) In the end, I had to abort install. FYI, Win 7 64 bits here. Install dir changed to (program files (x86)).

It worked fine with the default path, anyway.

[DavidKlecker]

That's weird. I tried installing on my laptop which is a clean install and I didn't get any errors of missing files. I even tried changing the default path and I still got it to go through. the install file is a kinda of "self-extracting" file. All files should be a part of the main .exe install file so I'm not too sure why it would complain about missing files. But I guess it did.

If anyone else has an issue with the install file let me know.

[DavidKlecker]

I have created a repository for the code at the following URL

http://code.google.com/p/harpy-harp/

and yes, I have named the application Harpy. I found it whilst doing a search on mythological creatures and laughed at the coincidental name of this one creature. Unfortunately I think someone already snatched Harpy, but I called it Harpy all the same.

I have also move the install file over to this link->

Harpy

[CuChullain]

Looks good so far - Excellent work.

Not sure if you're wanting us to report issues here, but:

Bit of an issue around saving: if you create a character and save, then create a new one and save again, it over-writes the previous character. I'd have thought the first save of a new character would be the same as doing a "Save As" for an existing one.

[DavidKlecker]

Looks good so far - Excellent work.

Not sure if you're wanting us to report issues here, but:

Bit of an issue around saving: if you create a character and save, then create a new one and save again, it over-writes the previous character. I'd have thought the first save of a new character would be the same as doing a "Save As" for an existing one.

This is a good place to report bugs. This one made me laugh the minute I read it as I knew exactly what I "forgot" to do. Sorry about that. Easy yet stupid bug. Forgot to reset things.

Thanks! Keep 'em coming.

[DavidKlecker]

Another note:

Please remember, this is only a beta so I wouldn't be using the program for anything "real" as shown above data got overwritten. That is I wouldn't want someone to spend hours on a sheet only to have that sheet overwritten and write off the whole application right then and there.

Right now the idea is to "play" with it. Try building characters and see how far you can get before something doesn't look right. Hopefully in a few weeks, I can have something that is both stable and reliable for actual campaigns. 

[jasonbrisbane]

good program. even works installing direct to linux under Ubuntu 10.04.
had some issues with the talents and other areas but Im not surprised since it was a straight install without any windows files.

Good work!
(I'll test it under windows when I can be bothered to boot into it!)

[DavidKlecker]

It works under Linux?! Awesome!!! What do you mean by direct install? 

[DavidKlecker]

I just finished adding in changes for an update and will start the task of testing tomorrow. In order to give a bit of time for anyone else to put forth any issues they have found I will set a date for its release on August 29th.

Here is a list of what I have in this update thus far

Fixes to Build 1.00

Fixed a bug during New character development. If you start allocating ranks in step 3 and click next before you have allocated all ranks, it will reset the fields with the skills for Adolescence ranks.
Character sheet will now display after creating a new character without having to resize window.
Fixed talent information when clicking on talent
Fixed defenses bonuses so that they are equal to what is shown in Martial Law. Some descrepancy might arise still.
Fixed: If after saving a character then creating a new character, saving this new character overwrites the older character.
Fixed: Resistance information is now printing
(b)Be sure to now print the intiative bonus.
(b)Get rid of the message "Couldn't retrieve information about list control item -1."

Enhancements
1) Adding functionality to allow usage of multiple databases. To use copy the harp folder from Harp Databases and rename this folder to whatever name you wish: "Star Wars", "Middle Earth", "HarpSF", etc. Then make any necessary changes to the database files in this directory. After you have completed this database goto the preferences.xml where you installed Harp:CG and open that file. You are going to make a new entry into this xml file. To do this copy the node from <Database> to </Database> and copy that below. Change the <Name> node to whatever you want to appear in the menu selection and change the path to whereever the database is located inside the Harp Databases folder. All database must be stored in this folder. The structure inside doesn't matter, so long as <Path> points to the proper folder and the XML files are all inside this one folder. this update will include an example with three databases to give you an idea of how this is setup.
2) Added a new node to the xml files which details which "Book" the information came from. Can now setup the database to take only from certain books. This is a part of the preferences.xml file under the attribute "use".
(e)Weapon information now prints on sheet. All information comes from the Offensive list under the Defense Tab
(e)Can now update your character picture with a BMP, JPG or PNG file.
(e) Can now flag a skill as frequently used (can unflag it as well). This is will show up on your printed sheet. Frequently Used Skills will be highlighted in the program as red.
(e)Training packages are now a part of the new level development.

todo
(e)Make the spell list editable.

I do not plan to add editable fields to the spells right now unless time affords this change. It's not a priority as all one needs to do is open the character xml file and adjust this information in the XML file itself.

[-Dain-]

Well done, can't wait to test it

[jasonbrisbane]

I use Ubuntu Linux 10.04.

I right click on it runs the install program using Wine - a windows emulator.
So it installs it with the defaults that Wine has and it worked with the exception of some drop down lists but I think if I tweaked Wine then I could probably get it working.....

PS: Idea point to you as this is the cleanest and best program that I have seen work under Wine with NO MODIFICATIONS WHATSOEVER!!!

[Widukind]

 I`playing HARP on Middleearth. How i can paste the Races of ME into the Programm??
What kind of programm for to play HARP online does you all prefer, guys?

[DavidKlecker]

I use Ubuntu Linux 10.04.

I right click on it runs the install program using Wine - a windows emulator.
So it installs it with the defaults that Wine has and it worked with the exception of some drop down lists but I think if I tweaked Wine then I could probably get it working.....

PS: Idea point to you as this is the cleanest and best program that I have seen work under Wine with NO MODIFICATIONS WHATSOEVER!!!

lol! If it is, I owe to wxWidgets and the fact that everything is coded for native controls. I am also currently not able to get talents working for New Level so it might be a bug in itself. Maybe this sunday, this next update will clear it. * Crosses fingers*

[DavidKlecker]

I`playing HARP on Middleearth. How i can paste the Races of ME into the Programm??
What kind of programm for to play HARP online does you all prefer, guys?

You could do one of two things. If you have races you have made yourself and want to get those races into Harpy (I dunno about this name) all you need to do is take the relevant information from your database and insert it into the proper node fields under HarpRaces.xml. You need to do this for any database you want to change. This requires a knowledge of XML but it's really not all that hard to figure out. Two, you could wait until this Sunday for my database which will have not only Harp, but Middle Earth and Star Wars. With the Middle Earth database all I changed were the races. All information other than races matches exactly that with Harp. Star Wars is a lot different. It contains different skills, spells, races and professions. A lot of the database is effected in that I was trying to emulate a sci-fi database so all spells under Harp have been replaced with Force powers.

Hope this helps.

[CuChullain]

... want to get those races into Harpy (I dunno about this name) ...

I actually thought that HARP:CG was a good name.

[DavidKlecker]

The idea of calling it AutoHARP was given to me. I may just decide to call it that.

[CuChullain]

Harpsichord? 

[Widukind]

I`playing HARP on Middleearth. How i can paste the Races of ME into the Programm??
What kind of programm for to play HARP online does you all prefer, guys?

You could do one of two things. If you have races you have made yourself and want to get those races into Harpy (I dunno about this name) all you need to do is take the relevant information from your database and insert it into the proper node fields under HarpRaces.xml. You need to do this for any database you want to change. This requires a knowledge of XML but it's really not all that hard to figure out. Two, you could wait until this Sunday for my database which will have not only Harp, but Middle Earth and Star Wars. With the Middle Earth database all I changed were the races. All information other than races matches exactly that with Harp. Star Wars is a lot different. It contains different skills, spells, races and professions. A lot of the database is effected in that I was trying to emulate a sci-fi database so all spells under Harp have been replaced with Force powers.

Hope this helps.

Ok, i will wait till sunday.
But i`m searching also for a mappingtool compatible to Rolemaster. Any suggestions?

[DavidKlecker]

I`playing HARP on Middleearth. How i can paste the Races of ME into the Programm??
What kind of programm for to play HARP online does you all prefer, guys?

You could do one of two things. If you have races you have made yourself and want to get those races into Harpy (I dunno about this name) all you need to do is take the relevant information from your database and insert it into the proper node fields under HarpRaces.xml. You need to do this for any database you want to change. This requires a knowledge of XML but it's really not all that hard to figure out. Two, you could wait until this Sunday for my database which will have not only Harp, but Middle Earth and Star Wars. With the Middle Earth database all I changed were the races. All information other than races matches exactly that with Harp. Star Wars is a lot different. It contains different skills, spells, races and professions. A lot of the database is effected in that I was trying to emulate a sci-fi database so all spells under Harp have been replaced with Force powers.

Hope this helps.

Ok, i will wait till sunday.
But i`m searching also for a mappingtool compatible to Rolemaster. Any suggestions?

Fantasy Grounds has a ruleset for Rolemaster, not sure which game type it uses (RMSS/RMFRP/RMC). Other than that I think they are only one with a ruleset that comes close. There is another VTT called MapTools which I highly HIGHLY recommend (it's the best I have used), however it doesn't contain a ruleset either. I think one is possible, just requires a lot of work.