Hero Lab V3.2 is Out!

[rob]

We just released the new V3.2 release of Hero Lab. This new release features new core product functionality, extensions to the Authoring Kit, and a bunch of enhancements to the data files for the various game systems. There were also a number of bugs fixed, both within HL itself and within the data files.

For details on the changes made to HL, please refer to the readme file included with the installation. For changes made to the Authoring Kit, please refer to the wiki (note that the wiki docs probably won't be fully updated until sometime tomorrow). For changes made to each game system, please refer to the FAQ included with each game system and accessible via the Help menu when the game system is loaded.

The new release can be downloaded from our website or via the Updates mechanism built into the product.

May the dice be with you...

[chiefweasel]

This is nice, but the installer wont work. It goes through ther process to download the file, then goes to restart HL, but never does, it just dies.

[rob]

That's strange. I tested that whole process multiple times before officially releasing V3.2. In addition, none of that logic has changed in quite awhile, so the behavior should be identical between V3.2, V3.1, V3.0, etc. This would imply that something has changed on your computer that is gumming up the download and updates logic within HL.

The first thing to do would be to try changing HL to be run in compatibility mode. Locate the shortcut that you use to launch HL. Right-click on it and select Properties. Under the Compatibility tab, check the box to enable compatibility and select Windows 2000. Save the change and try launching HL again. Does this fix the problem?

If that fails, try downloading the new V3.2 installer directly from our website, then installing it manually. You can obtain it from the URL below:
http://www.wolflair.com/index.php?context=hero_lab&page=downloads

[chiefweasel]

I'll give that a try.

But its seems that this is a recurring problem with HL updates. I remember having the same issues with the last 2 updates. I have several friends with HL that are having the same problem as well. I know there was a thread on this before, but it looks like many of the older threads are removed.

My set up is pretty standard, using a Vista laptop. Let me poke around with it and see what happens. Thanks.

[Adammar]

I'm having the same problem on a vista business laptop. The download worked fine on my xp machine. Haven't had a problem up to this update.

[rob]

I know there was a thread on this before, but it looks like many of the older threads are removed.

Our forums were hacked in December. As a result, we lost some material. We restored everything we could, but we couldn't recover everything. I've got a personal copy of everything, since I get it all via email. If you tell me what content you're specifically remembering and looking for, I can dig through and see if I can find the old thread for you.

[rob]

We all run Vista in the office, and we've had no problems on any of our machines. We've got both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors running here. The only thing I can think of is that there are certain Vista security settings and/or a particular 3rd-party internet security product in use on the machines that are having the problems. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to narrow down what those settings are.

If you guys have any ideas on how to identify the variable(s) that are problematic, that would be much appreciated. If we know what those variables are, we can reproduce the problem and should be able to get it fixed. But without knowing the variables, we're just grasping at straws.

[Adammar]

I wish I could help a bit more. I have disabled virus/firewall and I don't get any error messages. It downloads the update file tells me it is going to close out and update and only does the first.

[Colen]

Try right-clicking on HL and choosing "Run as Administrator", then downloading and installing the update. For some reason, running as administrator once sometimes helps to poke Vista into doing the correct thing with the update.

[Unseelie]

Try right-clicking on HL and choosing "Run as Administrator", then downloading and installing the update. For some reason, running as administrator once sometimes helps to poke Vista into doing the correct thing with the update.

It looks at though the installer is not properly asking for elevation of privilege, which it needs for some reason. I can't tell if that's because of what files are being updated, or if the installer is being written to a directory that requires privilege. I'll see if I can enable installer logging and get the failure for you.