Dr. Who's Harpoon Pages

HULL FAQ

This FAQ consists of answers to a number of frequently asked questions on the Harpoon I, Harpoon Classic/97 and Harpoon II naval warfare simulations. It is intended to help out new players and particularly those who have recently subscribed to the HULL Mailing List (more info below).

While I have tried my best to keep the FAQ updated, there may be inadvertent mistakes or omissions. If there a question that you find frequently asked, but not mentioned, please feel free to send all suggested additions, corrections, deletions, comments, etc. to edladner@infionline.net. The latest public version of this FAQ can always be obtained on the World Wide Web at: http://www.foto.infi.net/~edladner/hullfaq.htm

History
Harpoon 1/Classics/97
Harpoon 2002
Harpoon 2
Harpoon 3
Harpoon 4 (Unreleased)
Recommended Reading
Acknowledgements

HISTORY

Harpoon I was developed by Three-Sixty in 1989 (shipping December 17th, 1989). Three-Sixty continued selling and updating the product until early 1994 (last version was 1.32a), at which time the rights reverted to Applied Computing Services Inc., the original developer and rights holder. Harpoon 2 was not developed using the Harpoon I code base. Alliance Interactive licensed the code and rights from ACSI in mid 1994 and brought out Harpoon Classic after some additional development (from DOS to Windows 3.1) and addition of new BattleSets.
Alliance licensed Harpoon Classic '97 to Interactive Magic in 1996, which brought the game over to Windows 95 and added yet another set of BattleSets. Kesmai Corp owns the multiplayer rights to Harpoon and developed Harpoon Online which is currently available on Compuserve, Prodigy, AOL and Earthlink.
So there you have it!
Gordon Walton - Alliance Interactive

Harpoon(based on IBMPC releases)

1989: v1.1 released (the original release by Three-Sixty)
1990: v1.2 released (distributed direct from Three-Sixty)
1992: v1.30 released (distributed with HDS1, by Three-Sixty)
1993: v1.32a released (via Internet and with HDS2, by Three-Sixty)
1994: v1.5 released (a.k.a. Harpoon Classic, includes HDS3, by AIS)
1994/5: v1.51-v1.57a patches released (by AIS, via Internet and direct mailing)

Harpoon for Windows

1994: v1.5 Harpoon for Windows released (by AIS)
1994/5: v1.51-v1.55f for Windows released (by AIS)
1996: Harpoon 97 for Windows released (Interactive Magic)
2002: Harpoon 2002 for Windows update released (volunteer effort)
2003: Harpoon 2002 Full CD Version released (volunteer effort)

Scenario Editor

1989: DOS v1.01 (by Three-Sixty) - Allows the player to create their own scenarios for any battleset that they own, which can then be loaded in to the main Harpoon program to be played out as either side.
1995: Windows v1.5(beta) (by AIS) - Same as above, but for Windows. Still in beta form, distributed with Harpoon for Windows.
2003: Windows v2.0 debugged version shipping with Harpoon 2002

Database Editor

2003: Database Builder based on MS Access shipped with Harpoon 2002

Battlesets

1989: Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) Gap - distributed with original version of Harpoon
1989: North Atlantic Convoys (NACV) - New scenarios set in different region of the world. Includes many new platforms.
1990: Mediterranean Conflicts (MEDC) - As for NACV
1991: Indian Ocean/Persian Gulf (IOPG) - As for NACV
1992: Harpoon Designers' Series I (HDS1) - Up to 4x12 new scenarios (12 for each of the four original battlesets owned), with an expanded platform database for user created scenarios. The upgrade to v1.30 was included (by Three-Sixty).
1993: Harpoon Designers' Series II (HDS2) - The same format as HDS1, with about 48 completely new scenarios, using the same expanded database of platforms as HDS1. Note HDS2 does not need HDS1 to work (by Three-Sixty).
1994: Harpoon Designers' Series III (HDS3) - Lots of new scenarios designed to be used with new features in v1.5 of Harpoon (by AIS).
1996: EC2000 - Based on the US vs the European Commonwealth. Lots of new platforms. Mines and airborne troops are implemented. Tanker loadouts for most aircraft. 50 new scenarios.
2003: Common Databse created for Harpoon 2002

Harpoon 2

Not available yet

Harpoon 3

05/09/1999 Harpoon 3,Mac, Available online for sale
06/13/1999 Harpoon 3,Mac,Demo Released
06/05/2000 Harpoon 3,PC,Not enough time to complete before H4 ships so H3PC cancelled
12/07/2000 Harpoon 3,All,Regional Conflicts 1 & 2 available from Harpoon3.com
03/05/2001 Harpoon 3,PC,Jesse announces H4 cancelled last week so H3PC development can resume
08/28/2001 Harpoon 3,All,Jesse anounces quitting his job to become an independent game developer
11/02/2001 Harpoon 3,Mac,First OS X native Beta released
11/21/2001 Harpoon 3,PC,Beta Testing starts
01/03/2002 Harpoon 3.Max,OS X Demo available but OS X version still Beta
01/31/2001 Harpoon 3,PC,Jesse announce Gold CDs were sent for duplication/distribution
02/07/2002 Harpoon 3,PC,Demo released
03/14/2002 Harpoon 3,Mac,OS X Version available (not a Beta!)
04/04/2002 Harpoon 3,All,Nuclear Weapons enabled
04/10/2002 Harpoon 3,PC,H3 Scenario Editor available
08/08/2002 Harpoon 3,All,Harpoon HQ Takes over main tech support for H3
12/20/2002 Harpoin 3,All,GIS feature available to public

Recommended Reading & Viewing
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Non-Fiction:

Brooks Rowlett recommends David and Chris Miller's "Modern Naval Combat," David Miller's "The World's Navies," Eric Grove's "Big Fleet Battles," and several of Terzibaschitsch's books. Call 1-800-233-USNI and ask for the book catalog from Naval Insititue Press for more info. Tom Clancy wrote "Submarine: A Guided Tour" and is good for info about modern U.S. and Brittish subs. Good non-fiction videos to watch include the "Submarines" series from The Discovery Network as well as any of their other "Wings" and "Weapons of War" shows.

Fiction:

Larry Bond, the original creator of the Harpoon board game, has written a number of very good techno-thriller books like "Cauldron" and "Red Phoenix." Larry also co-wrote "Hunt for Red October" and "Red Storm Rising" with Tom Clancy and both are good reading because of their naval warfare content. Barrett Tillman's "The Sixth Battle" centers around modern naval conflict and Stephen Coonts' "Intruders" series focuses on carrier aviation. Good fictional videos to watch include "The Hunt for Red October," "Das Boot" (The Boat), "Flight of the Intruders" and "Crimson Tide."

Acknowledgements
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Tom Wenck for exposing the inner workings of the Harpoon II database and for creating a Platform Editor.Without his help, few of the database errors would have ever been corrected.

Alliance Interractive for picking up Harpoon Classic and providing continued support for this mailing list. Also thanks to the original 360 research and programming staff for a whole new level of wargames based on naval combat. If they had only been managed by better people...

Thanks to all the men and women serving in the various branches of the military working hard to ensure peace through readiness. Your efforts today are as important as ever.

A special thanks to Ian Coates, Scott McCrory and the programmers from 360 for maintaining the original FAQs.