From: "James A. Simons" Subject: WinACE - A New GUI/Client - no attachments Date: 1998/04/20 Message-ID: #1/1 Sender: news@iglou.com (News) X-Nntp-Posting-User: [unauthenticated] X-Nntp-Posting-Host: lou-ts1-22.iglou.com X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.1712.3 Organization: IgLou Internet Services (1-800-436-4456) Newsgroups: rec.games.empire WinACE – Windows 95/NT Alternate Client for Empire Now that the tourney is over (for me, anyway!), I’ve found the time to get WinACE into a publishable form. Version 1.0.0. is available for anyone brave enough to try it. Overview WinACE is a GUI client, meaning that it features a scrollable map, and most (if not all) commands are submitted to the server by selecting options off menus, clicking on the map, and filling in prompt boxes. A command line is available as a backup. WinACE uses a local MS Access database with sector and unit information that it automatically updates after commands are executed. It also stores and displays enemy intelligence information coming in from look, spy, recon, etc. Currently, version 1.0 is short on tools, although it does have a quick exploration tool, a blitz setup tool, a scripting recorder/editor, and a tool that graphically shows ship navigation ranges. There are also several available “shortcuts”, like setting thresholds when you designate a sector, loading all commodities on a ship at once, and multi-fire options for forts and ships. More tools will probably follow. Minimum Hardware Configuration WinACE was developed on a Pentium II 233 w/16 MB RAM, but I would expect it would run well on any Pentium machine. I ran a test on a 486-66, and the program was slow but acceptable. The program directory is small (about 3-5MB), but the install routine could add several standard Microsoft DLL’s to your Windows system library. Installation A self-extracting install program has been created using InstallShield. To install the client, simply download and run the attached WinACE100.exe and follow the prompts. The program includes an uninstall option. To remove the program from your system, use the Add/Remove program option on your Control Panel. Be aware that the download is 7.63MB, so expect it to take a while. I couldn’t test the program with all possible PC Setups to make sure all the DLL installations would go smoothly, so its possible you may have some problems here depending on your machine configuration. If you do, please e-mail me so I am aware of it. Most of these problems can be worked out. Source Code WinACE was written in Visual Basic 5. The download includes just the executable and the system files necessary to run it. I am willing to share the source, so if someone else is a VB programmer and is interested, contact me and we can discuss it. Person to Contact WinACE is provided by Jim Simons (Escher) – simons@iglou.com If you install the program, like it, and end up using it, send me an email. Both Positive and negative feedback will be appreciated. If I don’t hear from anyone, I probably won’t bother publishing updates. I don’t currently have a web page to post the download file or documentation on, so I will continue to post it here to alt.rec.empire from time to time. If anyone from Wolfpack picks this up and want to put it in their client archive, feel free.