HCE State of the Art

[PaulWRoberts]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of getting back into HCE, and I have a simple question: What do I need to have the latest, most complete, most interesting version of the game?

Is it just a matter of getting the latest patches and beta, or should I update the database(s) independently as well? (In other words, do the patches include the latest database enhancements too?) What mods or other enhancements should I download to install the most mature version of the game?

All advice and opinions welcome.

[Warhorse64]

The patches tend to come with the most current version of the basic DB as of the date of the patch, but the DBs are updated far more frequently than the patches are issued, and there are multiple DBs. So you'd want to get the latest patches, and then get the latest versions of the various DBs.

[TonyE]

Oh, that's a fun one! The following is just my 2 cents...

First the game itself:
Start with your 2007.000 install
Patch to 2008.044
Patch to 2009.042 (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showtopic=2049)

Documentation
VitP's command cards from http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... showcat=12

Then database:
Yes, we ship the newest HCDB with each patch but the database is updated many times between patches so I'd grab the newest HCDB from (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... owfile=436)

Then prettiness, at least as much as you can ask of a 20 year old game
StalinTC's icon mod (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... owfile=330) these are standard in the Demo
StalinTC's SA mod (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... owfile=413)
StalinTC's Sound mod (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... owfile=329) there is a second sound mod at HG, also quite nifty, a further development of StalinTC's effort.
My replacement Nuke release dialog (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... owfile=390)
If you use the BattleSet Builder then prettier maps for it (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... owfile=268)


after that just random trinkets to mess around with:
Watch your game in Google Earth - it is neat to see altitudes and depths (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... owfile=323)
Prettier unit window in development (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... st&p=12342)
I have a funky ExportDLL that will send your message log items up to the #harpgamer on irc.stratsims.com chat channel which you can try if you ask nicely and provide feedback.

Scenarios
Sure the game has a lot of great built in scenarios but there are many beauties at http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.ph ... &showcat=5 both new and old.