Ok Gencon is ending so out with it....

[dartnet]

What is the "Official " list of games you are going to support?

Thanks in advance.

[rob]

We returned home late Monday night and we've been playing catch-up all week. Now that we're getting back on top of everything, here's a recap of how things played out at GenCon this past week....

1. Our booth was constantly busy throughout the show - it was absolutely awesome, and our sales were excellent. Hero Lab garnered quite a bit of attention, both from consumers and publishers. The down side is that we're all completely exhausted now.

2. We previewed portions of the upcoming Campaign R&D functionality, and the response was fantastic. It appears that our vision is consistent with what players are looking for in a GM tool. We'll provide more details on the campaign functionality as development continues and we get closer to release.

3. We're a "go" with Margaret Weis Publishing's line of RPG products. A formal press release went out last week. Hero Lab will be supporting the Serenity RPG, the upcoming Battlestar Gallactica RPG, the Castlemourn d20 setting, and additional titles being released in the future.

4. World of Darkness data files are in the home stretch, and the WoD team seems quite happy with how everything is working. We're in the process of heavy testing right now, plus we've still got some small stuff to get added. Based on the conversation with White Wolf earlier today, the plan is to have the WoD files released in early September (they just moved offices and there just isn't adequate time to test everything to the extent required). Support for Mage, Werewolf, and Changeling will follow in the months to come. We'll also be announcing details shortly regarding supplements for the Vampire component, such as optional add-ons consisting of all the covenant books, all the bloodlines, etc.

5. Mutants & Masterminds data files are well underway, and the feedback from Green Ronin was extremely positive. Based on discussions with Green Ronin, our expected release timeframe is late October, and we'll be releasing a public preview a few weeks prior to final release so you can see what's coming. By the way, in case you haven't heard, Ultimate Power set a new record for the most awards garnered by a single product at the ENnies this year. Congrats to Green Ronin!!

6. We're waiting on a formality at this point regarding Shadowrun support, but we're 99% of the way there. The only 'gotcha' is that the formality is out of our hands, so there's no way to know exactly when everything will be finalized. Rest assured, we'll make a formal announcement as soon as possible.

7. Discussions regarding GURPS support are currently in a holding pattern. It remains to be seen whether we'll be able to work something out with SJGames anytime soon.

8. We spoke at length with a number of the major RPG publishers with whom we're in the early stages of discussions. All of these meetings went exceptionally well and look quite promising, but everything is preliminary at this point, so there's nothing to announce. Since we're still in the early stages of discussions, it would be inappropriate to name these publishers, but they are all in the top 10 (based on sales) and produce RPGs for which we've had lots of requests.

9. We discussed our plans for HL with a few of the smaller publishers, and things look very promising on those fronts. Once we release the ability for users to create their own complete data files for a new game system, we'll likely be working with some of these publishers to facilitate the process and assist whoever the publisher tags as their data file developer.

10. For those of you who've been in an alternate dimension for the past week, D&D 4th Edition was announced at GenCon. We spoke with the Sr. Brand Manager for D&D, and we've confirmed that we'll definitely be able to support 4thEd within HL. Wizards still hasn't finalized details regarding the d20 License, so it's possible we'll need to shift our support to operate under the OGL, but we'll definitely be able to leverage one or the other.

All in all, we're approaching critical mass right now, and our momentum is definitely building. Since this process involves detailed licensing agreements, it tends to move slowly. As much as we'd all love to have our favorite games supported tomorrow, we have to take things one step at a time. The good news is that we're making steady progress and things get easier as we build momentum.

For those of you looking for HL to support a particular game system, a *POLITE* lobbying effort directly with the publisher may prove helpful. If publishers hear that their fans are clamoring for something, they are usually much more receptive to an idea and much more motivated to make it happen. :-)

Thanks for your continued support of Hero Lab!

-Rob

[cryptoknight]

It's been over a year.. any news on Shadowrun? I'd buy Herolab in a heartbeat if it could make SR 4th ed characters and manage them.