GURPS(R) Character Assistant 2.2 Copyright 1995-1998 Armin D. Sykes. All rights reserved. GURPS is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, used by permission. All rights reserved. The GURPS game is copyright (c) 1986-1989, 1991-1994 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. This product includes copyrighted material from the GURPS game, which is used by permission of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's New in Version 2.2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Added a Table View for attributes, so that the user can now directly change stats without having to mess with data files. Be cautious about the changes that are made, because it's easy to really mess up a character this way. You still can't directly create a brand new stat, however, without editing a data file. * Added an option to print the real 'value' of the character on the character sheet. Officially, once play begins the cost of attributes is double the listed cost, but the value of the character is still calculated based on the listed cost, not the doubled cost (see the Unspent Points sidebar on page B81). This means that a 100pt character in play that raises an attribute from 10 to 11 would be only a 110pt character, not a 120pt character as GCA would normally display it. * Block and Parry should now be calculated based on the specified item's true total levels, not on the base levels (i.e. without bonuses from any other items) of the specified items. * Realigned the code that handles spells to work more like that for skills does. You can now use upto() with spells, although other skill tags (such as gives() or default()) still do not work for spells. This means that the FastLoad files must be recreated, also. (If you use the MakeSets program, you'll need to get a v2.2 compatible version.) * Added a section for Add-ons to the bottom of the Tools menu. This section gets the info for running the add-ons from the GCA.INI file, where a new section is now supported. This section looks something like this: [Addons] GCA Character Viewer=d:\vb\gcavw-s\gcaview.exe %charfile% GCA Character Printer=d:\vb\gcaprn\gcaprn.exe The name of the add-on (as it is shown on the Tools menu) is on the left of the equals sign, and the command line of the add-on program, including the full path information if necessary, is on the right. The special variable %charfile% will be replaced with the name of the character file GCA is currently using, including the path. The special variable %filelistquoted% will be replaced with the names of each data file currently loaded, surrounded by quotes, separated by spaces, and including full path information. * Added a View Info window, so right-clicking in an Available list will send the selected items (up to 15 of them) to the View Info window where the particulars may be viewed. * Added an optional toolbar. You can customize the toolbar by using the [Toolbits] section of the GCA.INI file. The default [Toolbits] section will be created for you the first time you exit GCA, and it looks like this: [Toolbits] New=NEW|1 Load...=LOAD|2 Save=SAVE|3 space4=| Print=PRINT|4 Print Preview=PREVIEW|5 space7=| Preferences...=PREFERENCES|6 Exit GCA=EXIT|7 The order of the items determines the order in which the toolbits will be displayed, so these items are shown in the default GCA order. To the left side of the = sign on each line is the Tag for the item, which is displayed as a tooltip when the mouse pointer hovers over the button for a second. On the right side of the = are two items separated by the | character: the command to be executed, and the BMP to be displayed on the button. GCA has internal support for 8 toolbit bitmaps, corresponding to the numbers 0 through 7. The default buttons all use one of these bitmaps, except for number 0. Bitmap 0 is a red X, which GCA will use instead of any external bitmap that it can't find. You can specify an external bitmap to use for a button by putting the path and filename (including extension!) of the bitmap after the | sign, in place of the numbers shown above. GCA's default bitmaps are 16x16 pixels, and external bitmaps should be that size or smaller. GCA will always renumber gaps to correspond to their position in the toolbar, as shown above, where space4 and space7 are actually gaps between the toolbits rather than actual buttons. You can specify a gap yourself simply by specifying a Tag with nothing to the right of the = sign. When specifying new toolbits, you must be certain to use a unique Tag, or the duplicate items will be lost when GCA refreshes the INI file. Below is a list of the commands currently supported by GCA. Most of these correspond directly to items in the current menu structure. Two or more commands on the same line below mean that they call the same function. NEW LOAD, OPEN SAVE SAVEAS PRINT PREVIEW PREFERENCES EXIT, QUIT PRINTSETUP VIEWPICTURE VIEWDESCRIPTION, VIEWDESC VIEWNOTES VIEWMISC PACKAGES, VIEWPACKAGES NEEDSADSCHECKALL NEEDSADSCHECKMARKED NEEDSADSTOGGLEMARKED NEEDSSKILLSCHECKALL NEEDSSKILLSCHECKMARKED NEEDSSKILLSTOGGLEMARKED NEEDSSPELLSCHECKALL NEEDSSPELLSCHECKMARKED NEEDSSPELLSTOGGLEMARKED RESYNC, TOOLSRESYNC REINTEGRATESTATS, TOOLSREINTEGRATESTATS RECALCALL, RECALCULATEEVERYTHING EXPORTASCII, EXPORTTEXT EXPORTHTML, EXPORTHTM HELPCONTENTS, HELP HELPCONTACT HELPTIPS, TIPS HELPABOUT, HELPABOUTGCA HELPABOUTDATA, HELPABOUTDATAFILES RUNADDONNUM, RUNADDONBYNUM RUNADDON, RUNADDONNAME, RUNADDONBYNAME I've listed the RunAddon commands last, even though they technically belong with the other Tools items, because they need a bit more explanation. Some commands, specifically these, require parameters to be given to GCA so it will know what part of a command to run; in this case GCA needs to know which add-on needs to be run. Parameters are added onto a command by including them in parenthesis after the command, but before the | symbol. Here's an example of the RunAddon command: Run GCAView=RunAddon(GCA Character Viewer)|e:\bitmaps\camera.bmp Note that the name of the add-on desired is specified within the parenthesis of the command. This name *must* match the associated name in the [Addons] section of the INI file *exactly* (case is ignored). The RunAddonNum commands are similar, but they specify the number of the add-on to be run. The number is determined by the way the add-ons are listed in the [Addons] section of the INI file, counting from top to bottom of the list, and starting with the number 0. Note that it is not recommended to use this version of the command, since the add-on numbers are much more likely to change than the add-on names. GCA allows up to 50 toolbits to be specified, but most screens will not allow nearly that many to be displayed on GCA's toolbar. * Made a slight change to the way Ads/Disads/Quirks/Powers are handled internally, which fixes the bug GCA had with some ads being incremented by the amount of a bonus every time the character was loaded, resulting in a creeping up of the level for that item. This should also help avoid similar problems that might have cropped up. Squashed Bugs ------------- * Print Powers By Cat should now be saved and reset correctly. * In packages, in rare cases, adding or creating one item would strangely change the values of another item. This is corrected. * When checking Needs, a need that does not specify any name extension is supposed to find an item that has one, but it didn't. Now it does. * Calculation of items with Mods that round up should now be corrected. * When an advantage type item had a bonus from another item, loading the character in GCA would result in the advantage type item being incremented an additional time by the bonus, resulting in a higher level for the item than it should have. Subsequent saving and loading of the character increased the problem. Handling of bonuses to ad type items was changed, which should fix the problem. * Bonuses added by an edited item should now carry through to all affected items that are influenced by the bonus. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's New in Version 2.12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Added some additional error checking to the FastLoadFileWrite routine, where GCA seems to have occasional problems. The extra checking should allow for easier determination of the problem, and should prevent GCA from having to shut down after the error. * GCA will now quickly check each line of a datafile during normal loading to be sure that it has an equal number of left and right parenthesis. One of the most common causes of crashing during loading is mismatched parenthesis, and this should catch most such occurances. * GCA now uses tab characters internally to separate fields for display, and in the handling of FastLoad files. It previously used semi-colon characters for this purpose. This means that semi-colons no longer need to be considered reserved characters, and you may use them in names, notes, etc. NOTE: This means that all of your FastLoad files will be recreated. Also, if you use the MakeSets program, you'll need to download the updated version. * Preliminary support for changing the captions/titles/text of GCA windows has begun. At this time, you can only affect the main GCA windows, but we intend for this support to eventually apply to all of the windows in GCA. This support is intended to allow people to create language files for international use, but you can also use it to just change things if you like. A sample GCA.LNG file should be available on the Add-ons page of the GCA web site. Squashed Bugs ------------- * Resync should now handle the extra fields in Spells items correctly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's New in Version 2.11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Added support for the MA/VH type of skills. This is effectively a skill or maneuver that goes up by 2pts per level. * You can now edit Mods much the same way you can edit ads, skills, etc. * The Mods window will now remember it's postion on screen between uses. * The Edit windows will now remember their position on screen between uses. * Some additional error handling routines have been added. Other New Features (Check the GCA Data File Spec for details) ------------------------------------------------------------- * The following functions have been added in the math handler: @fac or @factorial [ @fac(x) ] returns the factorial of 'x' @sqr or @sqrt [ @sqr(x) ] returns the square root of 'x' @logn or @nlog [ @nlog(x) ] returns the natural log of 'x' @log [ @log(base, x) returns the log of base 'base' of 'x' @power [ @power(x, y) ] returns 'x' raised to the 'y' power @int [ @int(x) ] returns 'x' converted to an integer number; if negative, the returned number will be farther from zero @fix [ @fix(x) ] returns 'x' converted to an integer number; if negative, the returned number will be closer to zero Squashed Bugs ------------- * The Attributes window will now display the correct encumbrance/move information for a character which has had those stats redefined by a package that made changes (such as a centaur, or a dwarf). * GCA should now directly calculate your new attribute scores and costs if you enter the new score you want in the text box. No more rolling up or down one point at a time. * The handling of the splash screen has been modified so that it should no longer cover up any error messages if there is a problem during the startup of GCA. * GCA should now correctly record the costs for spells in the saved character file. While this did not affect GCA, it did affect certain add-on programs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's New in Version 2.1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Character portraits can now use a variety of graphics formats, including GIF, JPG, WMF, and BMP. * Added internal support for the Natural ST and Lower-body ST stats, although these stats are not specifically predefined by GCA. * GCA can be told to query you upon startup for the data file set that you'd like to use that session. * It's now possible (by setting a preference) for GCA to allow you to add multiple identical items from the Available list. * A slot for your character's race has been added to the Misc window. * The way GCA increments levels for skills has been drastically improved. Now, if you have something that multiplies effective points (such as Eidetic Memory), GCA will take that into account, and only use the number of points needed to actually reach the next level (minimum of .5 point spent). This will probably make the option of having the spin buttons increment by .5 points obsolete. * Skills and spells now use the same tables for type (M/A, P/H, etc.), although there is code to make sure that spells use 1 pt minimum (unless the 1/2 pt option is set). This means that P/A, M/E, or whatever, spells should now be possible. Note that spells are still based on IQ at all times, because spells don't support the stat() tag. * The Resync command is now a little bit smarter. Other New Features (Check the GCA Data File Spec for details) ------------------------------------------------------------- * The @if function has been added in the math handler, so it can be used anyplace full math support is provided. * Additional evaluation possibilities in needs() tags, and some math support for the right side of the evaluation in a needs() tag. Squashed Bugs ------------- * GCA should now respect the 75% maximum cost reduction limitation for modifiers on ads/disads. * GCA should now respect hard returns in the Other DR and Other PD fields of the Misc window. * The problem with GCA not correctly integrating items from Groups defined in more than one data file is fixed. * Disads with modifiers should now round correctly. * Disads or Quirks that are included in a needs() tag should now be added correctly. * Skills that default from skills with a name extension should now work correctly. Also, circular default chains should no longer cause problems. * Adding packages that include packages that come alphabetically before the current package should now correctly add that package, then continue on with the current package items. * An option has been added to preferences that should fix the problem some folks have with the main tab strip covering the points bar when starting up GCA. * Adding skills from packages at .5pts should now work. * FastLoading should now work for everyone.