HCCG Tools Release Notes
     These are the release notes for the HCCG Tools software. To download the software, or to see other Highlander the card game links and info, see the HCCG Tools page.

The 03/24/2008 Release (v0.95)
     This release includes data, model and UI changes for full support of the 3 2nd Edition sets beyond the betas. This includes HtG (S3), HS1 (S4), and HtQ (S5), plus Quickenings and Promos.

The 04/05/2007 Release (v0.94 yeah I skipped one, so what?)
     Bug fix release, including a big one in the AutoUpdate tool. Also finally got the help files up to date. You've got the install download, the update package, here you can get the lated AutoUpdate. Sorry about that people.

The 04/02/2007 Release (v0.92)
     Caught a few minor bugs. Added gem columns to deck forms in DeckBuilder so you can see each card easy and sort on gems. After building a 2nd Edition deck, it became quickly obvious that that was needed.

The 03/30/2007 Release (v0.92)
     This release is a big one. 2nd Edition data has been imported, and many changes have been made to support 2E features. Like soft exertions, the new gems, GameManager now shows gem totals for most card location, deck builder now lets you specify what edition your deck is, and has a new 2E deck validator. Updates were make to deck validators. The DeckBuilder now uses a second database for user overrides that allows you to specify a card image and the number you own of cards so you can manager your collection too. I also found a bug that was introduced somewhere in the last couple releases, when dragging cards from Endurance and Disacard it wasn't pulling in order by removing the lowest occurance of the top card. I won't bore you with the details, but it's fixed in this release. There are enough changes in this release that I very well may have failed to test everything and there may be some bugs. Because of this, I'm posting it as a seperate download so you can still get the last build if there is a large problem. As far as I can tell, it is backward compatible with previous saved games and deck files, but there may be hick-ups there too. Please report any errors so I can get them fixed.

The 03/15/2007 Release (v0.91)
     Found a issue that I thought had been resolved previously, where when you look at your Endurance or Discard pile and it appears to be upside down. That should be fixed with this release. There was another issue I found where when looking at your discard pile, you choose to move files to your endurance an error was occuring. That has also been fixed in this release. Plus I've added the ability to mark an upper attack as a head shot instead of just a Power Blow.

The 03/13/2007 Release (v0.90)
     This release includes a few minor bug fixes I don't really remember off hand as would bore you to mention... And after doing some playing of forums, I decided to add a little customization to the "Copy Game State" approach to playing with this software. Your game state is represented with XML, if you look at your turn file (game state) you'll see it's just XML. You can now write your own XSLT style sheets to determine the format of your copied state. I've included a Plain style sheet, one taylored to Gnipp.com's forum, and one for BoneBoxes.com's forum. If you're proficient with XSLT, I've also included an XSD XML Schema file to help you with all the possible XML permutation. Anyway, that's the most notable change in this release.

The 02/02/2007 Release (v0.89b)
     Fixed a small bug introduce in the last release where the view is not updated with drawing a card by clicking on Endurance. Also fixed some card data issues that a few cards had with grids, types, titles, sub titles, weapons and immortals. (Thanks to Gnipp and CitiBrat) It has been reported though that the Game Manager changing icons issue has returned (or likely never left), which we will be working to track down. So in certain situations your icons may go goofy on you, don't be alarmed, just laugh at it and check for updates on occation.

The 02/01/2007 Release (v0.89)
     Contains a few bug fixes, some data structural changes, a new Automatic Update tool, and the MLE 6.5 cards for John Garrick. Plus some enhancements to some of the existing functionality.

The 12/11/2006 Release (v0.88)
     Couple little bug fixes. For one, I was using lazy cloning which would for example, marking one of two identical attacks in play as hidden would mark them both because they were actually referencing the same object. I went back and did it right this time and seems to have fixed the issue. I have seen some situations where icons change in the Game Manager, though I cannot find a pattern or trigger. This may be the same issue, but don't know for sure. Couple of other minor issues addresses with this release.

The 12/06/2006 Release (v0.87.5)
     Emergency patch. Just realized that with the introduction of Egg data, games saved with Egg updated decks fail to save the game property and therefore cannot be opened later. Sorry if we screwed up anybody's game. This release will remedy the issue in the future, but there's nothing I can do about saved games that are broken. This release also includes data fixes for a few cards that were missing Grid information, so make sure you use the Zip update package.

The 12/05/2006 Release (v0.87)
     Removed the existing Validate Deck and View Deck Stats menu options from Deck Builder and added a dockable Deck Validator tool window that validates as you edit your deck so you get constant up to date validation. This tool includes the basic checks plus Master's Format eggs (gems, whatever you wanna call them).

The 12/03/2006 Release (v0.86)
     Added a dockable card viewer to Deck Builder. Now you can go to Card Viewer from the View menu or hit Ctrl+Shift+C on your keyboard to open it up. Then you can dock it wherever you want by dragging the window around. Once you have it loaded, selecting a card in any list, including a deck, will automatically display the card.

The 12/03/2006 Release (v0.85b)
     Few minor bug fixes. And a major bug fix with the Master's Format deck validation. It was pretty jacked up, but it's feeling much better now. :)

The 12/02/2006 Release (v0.85)
     Few minor bug fixes plus an About window (under Help) that shows the verion you have installed. Also added a filter drop down list to the Pre-Games list of Deck Builder so you can look at specific types since it's a rather large list. Still to come, I need to refine my Master's Format validation (the different versions of the same basics issue), and add some visuals to aid in Master's Format deck building.

The 12/01/2006 Release (v0.84)
     This release introduces the Master's Format Eggs O' Doom. I cannot stress this enough, if you already have it installed, use the Update Zip file! Otherwise the un-install may not remove the database before re-installing and the program will not run. Not all new functionality is complete for this feature. The Card Viewer (double click on a card) shows each cards eggs (representing the Master's Format scores). Persona cards show their full scores for each attribute. The Deck Builder's Validation tool now look at Master's Format validation and gives warnings based on them. It should be accurate, but it's not yet fool-proof: It's not checking basics by grid, but by card, so if you have two different versions of Upper Left Attack (example) the first of both cards will be discounted. (Master's Format rules say that you don't count the first of each basic attack and block.) The last egg feature implemented in this build is the ability to change or set your decks egg scores. I know, I'm eggstatic too... Currently, there is no other visualization for the eggs, you can't see them in the card lists yet, you have to double click them.

The 11/30/2006 After-Noon Release (v0.83)
     Added the ability in the Game Manager to view a specific number of cards from the top of Endurance. Right click on Endurance and choose "View Top X Cards". Also fixed a little bug, it was allowing you to try to move cards from the Card Search when no game was loaded, which of course errored.

The 11/30/2006 Morning Release (v0.82)
     In the Deck Builder, added the ability to make any card a Pre-Game, to accomodate effects like MLE's "The Game" pre-game card. Also added an Options menu that lets you filter out the non-TCG (1st edition) cards. Next, I'm planning to add an option in the Game Manager to view the top ## cards of endurance. Might have that out today as well.

The 11/29/2006 Release (v0.81.5)
     Enhanced text output while using the "Copy Game State" option. Also had an issue reported where Win32 machines (Win95/98/Me) couldn't run the Turn Viewer, this should be fixed in this release. Drawing a card for purposes of viewing it and returning it to Endurance (Dr. Alen Neyman, Ramirez persona ability, etc...) preserves your draw count. Still looking at ideas for allowing you to just view the top XX cards of endurance. Few other little bug fixes, and saved game now retains turn information.

The 11/27/2006 Release (v0.81)
     Hell, where to start... In the Game Manager, you can now label attacks and blocks as Power Blow/Blocks. You can label Pre-Games as Active (for use with MLE Place cards). When Unexpected cards are drawn, they automatically go into play and replace any existing UnX cards of that type in play. The Sweep options now only discards from play card types that only last for a turn (previously known as "Sweep All" and that's what it did, pretty worthless huh). Exertion now opens a new window that you can use to put exerted cards where you want, when done all leftovers go to discard automatically. There's now a turn number box and a Turn button next to it, you can use either to set the turn, which resets values that will be placed in your turn file. Don't forget to update the turn.

     With the Deck Builder, hands are now displayed, and all Combat Tricks are listed in that list (was excluding Immortal Specifics). Also fixed a little bug where it would allow you to "Add to Deck" when there was no deck.

     Next to come, I have several things to do... First and foremost (assuming no life threatening bugs are reported...) I need to get all the new turn information saved to your saved game, currently it isn't, including turn number (lame huh, I know I'm working on it). Also I'm thinking about adding yet another column to In Play to specify the amount of damage an attack does, maybe even blocks. Not sure how necessary this will be, hell you have the Notes text box for GOD SAKE!!! Also, looking at including validation in the Deck Builder for Master's Format. Phukin eggs anyway...

The 11/16/2006 Release (v0.80)
     Primarily just added support for cards with hand icons. Though there are only 4 in the TCG set (not counting weapons of choice). I don't yet know what cards (if any) in the non-TCG sets have hand icons, so there may be a database update in the future.

The 11/09/2006 Release (v0.79b)
     Has a few little bug fixes and enhancements. Also removed the Send Feedback menu option under help, that means you'll just have to wait till the site has a contact form, or catch me at the MLE chat for suggestions.

The 11/08/2006 Release (v0.79)
     Includes a few added bells and whistles to the turn viewer. Now after your turn, you can copy game state to paste into chat, or you can save to a turn file for email. When you get a turn file in email, you can open it with the Turn Viewer, or from the Game - Open Turn File menu option in the Game Manager.

The 11/07/2006 Morning Release (v0.78)
     Added ability to save game state to a turn file for emailing. Also added a new tool for viewing turn files. This is a very early release for this tool, a lot of features need to be added.

The 11/06/2006 Morning Release (v0.77)
     Added some options to Deck Builder under the Cards menu. You can now drag cards to your deck, cut copy and paste cards between decks, increase or decrease quantities or remove a card completely reguardless of it's quantity. Also did a little menu re-arranging. Now I REALLY need to update the Deck Builder help file... I just don't wanna.

The 11/02/2006 After-Noon Release (v0.76)
     Mostly changes to file associations in the registry, related to the new file types. You really want to re-install this time instead of using the patch, that way you get the benefit of the registry changes. The patch doesn't do anything for the registry. Also made the stack viewer (Look Through options) draggable in the case of Dojo, so when looking through Dojo you can drag cards from Dojo to whereever. Reverse is not true, but you can still drag them to the Dojo card and leave the viewer open.

The 11/02/2006 Morning Release (v0.75)
     Instead of XML files, decks are now saved to an .HCCGDeck file extension. Same format, just different file extension. So if you already have deck files, you can rename them from .xml to .hccgdeck Also made a new file format for deck templates, partial decks to start with, with file extension .hccgtemp.

The 11/01/2006 Evening Release
     Includes an improved Deck Validator.

The 11/01/2006 After-Noon Release
     Includes a few little bug fixes, some further work on list sorting in the Game Manager, a couple minor data tweaks, and a new Deck Validator feature in the Deck Builder. Now I need to update the Deck Builder help file... :(

The 10/31/2006 After-Noon Release
     Includes a couple of bug fixes: In Play & Your Hand now sorting is only temporary. So when you exert you can keep track of the cards that need to be discarded. Also a little bug using cards from the Card Search in the Dojo. Cards pulled from Card Search can be in Play, your Hand, the Pre-Game box or the Dojo. Trying to move them to Endurance, Discard or Removed from the Game just removes them from your session completely. "Happy Halloween ladies!" - Kurgan

The 10/31/2006 Noon Release
     Includes help file updates for Dojo and some re-arranging. Added a Quick Start guide and a few FAQs.

The 10/31/2006 Early Morning Release
     Includes a new card location for card effects like Dojo and Fixed Cards.

The 10/30/2006 Release
     Includes a few minor bug fixes, and couple little data changes. Major changes in this release are help file updates.

The 10/28/2006 Evening Release
     Includes a couple preliminary tools for web output. When you choose the "Look Through" menu option for Discard Pile or your Endurance, that window now has a "Copy List" menu option. The Game Manager's "Hand" list also has this menu option. That menu option will copy the information for cards that are selected or all cards if none are selected. This is meant to give you an easy way to handle "show your opponent" effects, be it the top six of your endurance or your entire hand. You just use the "Copy List" tool and paste that information into whatever you're using to play.

     Also, the Game Manager now has a "Copy Game State" menu option on the "Game" menu. This copies basic information about your setup (ability, endurance size, discard size, and cards in play) to the clipboard so that you can quickly and easily let your opponent know what you did during your turn.

     These are very preliminary solutions to the Web Output issue. I would like to have a highly customizable Web Output option, to cater to all possible outlets. Since most message boards won't let you post HTML, some have their own silly little mark-up code, and some will let you post HTML. Different Instant Message clients have different capabilities. Email can do HTML, but some people have the option disabled. I can just do plain text, but what's the fun in that? Anywho, my wheels are currently cranking on this issue, still trying to visualize a solution. But in any event, this should be a playable release.

The 10/28/2006 Release
     Includes a new mechanism to refresh card data in a deck from database. The Game Manager automatically uses this when you load a deck or open a saved game, the Deck Builder has a menu option to do this. Running this in the Deck Builder alters your deck so you can save it to another file if you want to verify the refresh, which might be a good idea for a while until the kinks are ironed out. This feature first tries to look up the card by it's Id, failing that it looks up by Title, SubTitle and Type/SubType information. That doesn't check for Series, which shouldn't matter game-wise if you wind up with a Series Edition card instead of a Movie Edition reprint. If that bothers anybody, it can be changed, but I don't want to look up by too much information, since the whole point is to get new information. I don't expect Title/SubTitle/Type info to change too often. More than likely data updates will update grids and whatnot.

     Also made improvements to Open Saved/Save Game code. Which also uses the deck refresh now. Also added a Discard context menu option to "Shuffle into Endurance" for the rare situation that allows you to recover your discard without exhaustion (NEXUS). Also added a menu to Card Search for Game Manager so you can use those instead of dragging cards. Changed the saved game icon in the install too. Now to work on Web Output...

The 10/27/2006 Release
     Includes a card search utility in the Game Manager, which you can drag cards from to your hand, into play, or to your pre-games location. Also added the ability to mark attacks in play as un-blockable or un-dodgeable.

Future Plans
     This initial release of the Deck Builder and Game Manager tools is primarily to get feedback from those that would use it. Below is a list of features that I would like to implement soon.

• Game Manager: Card search utility to allow you to quickly look up opponent's cards. As a work around, you can use the Deck Builder to lookup cards.
• Game Manager: Another dragable location for effects like Dojo. As a work around you can use the Pre-Game slot for a temporary storage location.
• Deck Builder: Still need to update help files from previous releases.
• Game Manager: A customizable "Web Output" command that will output your current game state to text suitable for posting on message boards or chat sites.
• Game Manager: Want to make a "Game Pad" tool window to hold whatever information you want. A card list to hold whatever cards you want to view often or to recreate your opponents hand or whatever. A text box for notes, maybe track the turn count, maybe check boxes for Disarmed, Prone and similar things you need to remember.
• Game Manager: Thinking about a "Stack the Deck" option where you can manually setup your game state. Could be handy for people switching in mid game from physical to virtual, or for testing, or demonstration... But could obviously be a bad deal if there are cheaters out there. Hell, I make the saved game files binary specifically so they couldn't edit it. Still thinking on that idea...
• Game Manager: Also thinking about a "Save Turn File" option to save the info your opponent needs, so those playing through email can just send the file, which could be opened with another little tool to view it, mabe even enteract with it for countering cards etc... Just ideas.
• Deck Builder: Need to make cards draggable. Leaving it off was just pure laziness.