Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,690
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Hero Lab 3.0 is now available! This release, a free update for all users, has one major update - the long-awaited Authoring Kit.
(Note: Although all users will be able to view the new 'sample game system' and any game systems created with the authoring kit, Hero Lab will operate in demo mode with those games unless you purchase the "Authoring Kit / Savage Worlds" data package.) PLEASE NOTE! The authoring kit, and the Savage Worlds data files, are NOT YET COMPLETE. The documentation for the authoring kit still needs to be updated, and the savage worlds data files still need a few days work. However, after consultation with our beta testers, we decided that it was better to release this incomplete version, then update it later - that gives any users of the authoring kit an extra few weeks during the holidays to start learning it. The d20, Mutants & Masterminds and World of Darkness game systems have not had any major updates yet, due to the fallout from the hack we discovered last week. These will be updated in the coming weeks. As always, you can download Hero Lab 3.0 through the updates mechanism, or from our website at http://www.wolflair.com/ . If you're interested in using the authoring kit to work on new games, you can find searchable work-in-progress documentation here: http://hlkitwiki.wolflair.com/ A new forum for discussion of the Authoring Kit has been created here. Please post any questions or comments about it in that forum. Once again, PLEASE NOTE! The authoring kit, and the Savage Worlds data files, are NOT YET COMPLETE. More complete versions will be released in the upcoming weeks. Happy gaming! - Colen |
#1 |
Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,690
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If you want to package up your data files to move to another computer, or to back them up, you should use HLExport, which you can download here:
http://www.wolflair.com/download/hp/hlexport.exe HLExport requires Hero Lab 3.0 to be installed to run. To use it, download it to your Hero Lab directory and run it. Full instructions should be included within the program. |
#2 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 5
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The authoring kit page is a little out of date. Maybe I'm missing something obvious here, but I'm a little confused. Do I have to purchase the Savage Worlds data files to get any of: the Authoring Kit, the Authoring Kit docs, or the example files?
I tried to see if Savage Worlds was available as a separate purchase, but you can't get prices for datafiles without an activation code. Thanks. |
#3 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 52
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I think Savage Worlds comes automatically bundled with the Authoring kits, so once you buy the Authoring Kit, you automatically get full access to the full Savage Worlds files. I don't think you can get SW by itself, separately.
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#4 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 5
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Thanks. From visiting other spots in the site, I've concluding that the authoring kit is treated as a "game" by which I mean it's one of the things that you can pick as your "free" download when you purchase a copy of HL.
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#5 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 73
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You're correct Balok, it's treated as a game, but with the added side benefit of having savage worlds... it's a two for 1 deal.
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#6 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 5
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Thanks.
Does anyone know if the Authoring Kit may be used to alter the behavior of other game systems one might purchase? For example, to add house rules? |
#7 |
Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 13,243
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From what I've seen, for the d20, M&M and WoD files, the core files are stored on your computer as compiled versions. So, you're able to add new versions of existing things or create replacement versions with the editor, but you can't modify the way the system works, to convert d20 to a spell point system, for example.
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#8 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 5
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That's a shame. Providing the source would certainly improve folks' chances of getting the Authoring Kit to do what they want. I've found looking at how other folks solved certain problems enormously helpful.
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#9 |
Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 13,243
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Providing the source would also let them, with a little bit of copying, create a usable data file set. Someone could buy the authoring kit package, copy d20, M&M, and WoD over to custom games with new names, and they'd all be licensed.
I do of course agree with you on needing the examples on the authoring kit. There are a few d20 things I want to look up now. |
#10 |
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