New dB Spreadsheet Tool for H3

[aotino]

Hey Fellow Players,

I've developed a tool for players and (especially for designers) which provides info of units to be readily available at your fingertips. Rather than having to use the WINDOWS>PLATFORM DISPLAY pulldowns to access unit info in those small and cramped little windows within the game, the user can have a spreadsheet to scroll down to acquire the data necessary. With some deft management of windows, the user can have a broad array of info at-a-glance on a spreadsheet side-by-side to the open game on their computer screen. For those of you who use the Reimer dB Editor, you are probably happy using that, but it would be worth a quick look in the event there is something useful here to use.

I employed the Excel Program and created several sheets for all the different types of platforms. There are seperate sheets for Air, Surface and Sub - each with a listing done alphabetically and done by country - Radar Sites, SSM and SAM Sites, and Weapons listings are also included. I will add Facilities at a later date - I just need to take a break for a while!

One thing to note - this Spreadsheet was developed from the Caso dB. However, it will work very well with the Player's dB. The only difference between the two is that the Caso dB has added a broad variety of weapons Magazines for some ships that are aircraft-capable, as an option to load out the weapons on their aircraft. These same ships in the Player's dB do not have the necessary Magazines to loadout weapons for aircraft. However, no aircraft, ships or subs have had their launchers/weapons altered in the Caso dB. The only other change is in Anti-Mine weaponry. The Caso dB has increased the speed and distance of the anti-mine weapons in the game, and has shortened their reload time. Other than that - the two dB's remain the same, making this spreadsheet a useful tool for both dB's.

The Aircraft sheets are not entirely complete. They mostly only incorporate those units from the late 80's onward, and with weapons loadouts of ranges 5nm or more. When I started creating this tool, I was planning on only using it as an aid for quickly finding air units with heavier weapons. So, although the aircraft pages are somewhat abbreviated right now, I do plan on going back and adding all the other units later if there is positive response to this spreadsheet tool.

Finally, there is one item not added to the lists - sensors. Sorry about that, but to have added that category in these pages would mean I'd be working on this for the next 5 years. You will find, however, that aircraft with a primarily AEW role, have had their sensors listed.

Hope you all enjoy it, and let me know what you think. Cheers, Alan Caso

[Buddha]

Where do I DL the Reimer Editor? All the links I've found are broken.

Thanx

Buddha

[Herman Hum]

The Reimer database editor is no longer publicly available, even from the developer's site even though AGSI fraudulently claimed that not one, but TWO database editors were to be included with ANW v3.9.4 It says so right on back of the CD-Rom package for the game:

Editor.gif (2.2 KiB) Viewed 22309 times

However, there may be ways around your predicament. What version of the game do you possess? Is it the ANW v3.9.4 version that was released in 2006? Or, did you purchase the HUE v3.10 that came out in 2010?

HUE includes a version of the Reimer database editor. If all you want to do is look inside a database and you own the HUE version, then you have all the tools necessary to view and read databases.

However, if you want to modify a database for a game version other than the HUE v3.10, then you cannot use the Reimer database editor made for the HUE version. You must find a version of the Editor specifically made for either ANW v3.9.4 or H3 v3.6.3 if you want to modify those databases and play those game versions. Using databases modified with the Reimer (for v3.10) in other game versions will just end up in a crash.

So, what game version do you have and what are you trying to do with the Reimer editor?
Does it have anything to do with your Talos scenario (that I never got a chance to try)? Talos unrep

[Buddha]

The version shows as 3.11.1.0.

I had to reinstall a while back and lost the Talos scenario, but I thought I'd sent you that already. It wasn't that big, so if I work it up again, I'll send it on.

Buddha

[Herman Hum]

The version shows as 3.11.1.0.

Looks like you purchased the HUE v3.10.0 bundle. If you used the default installation paths offered by Matrix, look inside your "C:\Matrix Games\Harpoon 3 Ultimate Advanced Naval Warfare" folder. You should have two files:

H3RE_3_10.mdb - This is your Reimer database editor for HUE v3.10
Harpoon3Editor.exe - This is the In-Game editor

If you do not know the difference between the two, you can check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDGag4eW ... 8&index=13

Now, what are you planning to do? If all you want to do is look at other databases with the HUE v3.10 Reimer editor, then you have all that you need with these two files. If you want to make scenarios and databases for the H3 or ANW game versions, then you need additional editors.

I had to reinstall a while back and lost the Talos scenario, but I thought I'd sent you that already. It wasn't that big, so if I work it up again, I'll send it on.

No, I never received it. It would be nice to try it since the Talos Replenishment Magazine was added to the AE Nitro at your request. There's no such thing as a bad scenario.

[Buddha]

I see the Reimer Editor opens the DB in MS Access as the PE does in the Classic version of Harpoon. If I'd known that, I wouldn't have asked the question. I've been fooling around with it already since I was already familiar with Access and the Classic Edition PE anyway. For some reason, I was under the impression that the Reimer Editor was a totally different piece of software that I didn't get somehow.

I did copy the blank DB into each of my DB folders and do a separate import on each to hopefully avoid snarling things up somehow.

Thanx,

Buddha

[Herman Hum]

I did copy the blank DB into each of my DB folders and do a separate import on each to hopefully avoid snarling things up somehow.

Putting a separate copy of the Reimer database into each database sub-folder is a very good idea, indeed.

Now, I will ask you, again. What are you planning to do with the Reimer editor? If you are only want to look and read the databases, then you are fine with what you have done. If you plan to create or modify databases, then you need a few additional steps before it will work.

Warning, if you watched the video, you will know that it is impossible to view the HUD database due to the high level of current bugs which prevent it from being used by the Reimer editor. The clown who manages HUD claims that it is some kind of encryption measure, but that's just nonsense. HUD is the only database that causes the crashes and he's simply too incompetent to find and fix his bugs. Once they are fixed, it is easy to use HUD with the Reimer editor.

[Buddha]

At the moment, I only plan on looking through the platforms in the various DBs. I may get around to creating a platform if I see the need, as I had to do witth the Midway in Harpoon Classic before they finally saw fit to include it.

What do I need to do to be able to edit? I suppose I could use the in'game editor, but I'm pretty comfortable with MS Access and would rather use that if I can.

Buddha

[Herman Hum]

What do I need to do to be able to edit? I suppose I could use the in'game editor, but I'm pretty comfortable with MS Access and would rather use that if I can.

I am assuming that you only wish to work with the HUE v3.10 version of the game. The only way to create a functional database is to use the Reimer database editor. The In-Game Editor will only allow you to view a database. Any attempt at creation of a database with the In-Game Editor will result in crash errors when you try to use the database.

Signature Error.gif (8.55 KiB) Viewed 22254 times

Since you have already placed a copy of the Reimer Editor within each of the individual database sub-folders, you should also place a copy of the "Database.dll" file in each folder, too. That way, when you use the Export Database command, the Reimer Editor will automatically create a Signature.BIN file to match the newly created database files. Without the presence of this file, you get all kinds of database mis-match errors.

Should you decide to create a database variant, it would be no problem for it to be included within the Library Installation file along with the other databases such as CasoDB and WinstonDB.

[Buddha]

I notice that the ANWDB and HUD4 folders don't have all the .dat files that the other DB folders have. HUD4 also says "Database Locked: when you open it, whatever that means. Does that mean those DBs can't be edited?

[Herman Hum]

I notice that the ANWDB and HUD4 folders don't have all the .dat files that the other DB folders have. HUD4 also says "Database Locked: when you open it, whatever that means. Does that mean those DBs can't be edited?

The ANWDB has only the annex.hsd, Database.XML, and the associated Signature.bin file in the folder. Make a backup copy of these three files before you proceed.

1. Open up the ANWDB with the In-Game Editor (H3Editor.exe) by selecting the ANWDB database in the Database Manager tab of the Configuration Launcher.
2. The words "Database *LOCKED*" should appear in the toolbar.
3. Select Database >> Secure Database >> Unlock Secure Database command.
4. When the "Enter Edit Password to Unlock Database" window appears, just hit Return to enter a blank.
5. Select the Database >> Save Annexes command from the pull-down menu. . This should create the 17x *.DAT files necessary for the Reimer Editor to read.

After you import the ANWDB into the HUE Reimer Editor, you should delete all the files within the ANWDB folder (just leave the Scenarios and Text sub-folders alone) and replace them with the annex.hsd, Signature.bin, and Database.XML backup files you previously made. Otherwise, the scenarios will report database mis-match errors if you try to play them.

Permission has been granted by AGSI for all users to edit and re-use the ODb and ANWDB as much as they like.

The HUD4 database is locked by password. Francois Guerin foolishly thinks that this will prevent people from seeing all the bugs within the HUD4 database. All anyone really needs to do is run the game to encounter the multitude of HUD4 bugs.

If you desperately need to examine that bug-infested database, send me your Reimer editor via e-mail. I will try to fix the bugs and send it back.

One more word of warning that I forgot previously. If you wish to edit and then export a functional copy of the PlayersDB in order to make or run scenarios, let me know because there are bugs within the HUE Reimer editor that will cause problems. When you import the PlayersDB into the HUE Reimer Editor, not everything is imported. Some of the data is lost during the importation process. If you are only looking around the database, you probably won't notice anything wrong. However, if you should try to modify the PlayersDB database and then export it for use with a scenario, you will see the bugs at that time. The missing data can be replaced, but it is a PitA. Let me know if you need help getting this done.