I'm using Metacreator to manage the Fire in the North saga at the moment, and overall I'm pretty impressed with it. I've shelled out for all the add-ons, including the Societates/Lion and the Lily data sheet that's supposed to work with the new beta version. Thing is, I can't seem to download the beta version, try though I might.
Am I getting something wrong with the download process, or has the beta just been withdrawn? If the latter, does anyone know if there are plans afoot to put it out again, or has Metacreator become (useful) abandonware?
Metacreator is definitely not abandonware. People might take that the wrong way and think, "Ooh! Abandonware! Open season to illegally copy it!" Please don't. I don't know anyone at Alter Ego Software but it's obviously a small part-time software company probably run as a hobby by a couple of developers. Even the name of the company suggests as much. The market of Ars Magica players is small enough, a significant amount of piracy probably would kill Alter Ego's support of our game.
Alter Ego has their own support e-mail and that is probably a better place to ask your question. I'd encourage you to write them because you are almost certainly not the only person who has had this problem.
That said, you need to download the "Metacreator Update Downloader" from Alter Ego's Web site (mcupdown.exe). When you run it you will see a check box marked "Beta Version" in the lower right. Edit: It is no longer necessary to check this box, as of September 10, 2010. The key is to check that box before you hit the "Check for Updates" button. It's not the most intuitive thing in the world, I agree.
Now that I try that myself, I see there has been a new beta version of Metacreator and all my templates since my last update. 8)
We are definitely still alive at Alter Ego Software and really appreciate your business!
The beta release will soon be upgraded to production. It's a major release with a lot of game systems to support, so testing is taking a great deal of time. It's completely stable for Ars Magica. Please contact us through our support link at www.alteregosoftware.com for specific questions about our products.
I just wanted to mention, since I read this thread, that the Kvams and Alter Ego are fantastic licensees to work with, from our perspective at Atlas Games. And their coming by our boards to answer a question in this thread is just the latest example...
Meta Creator is an incredible program that I have gotten several others of my game to get it as well so that we can exchange chr files to keep campaign upto date.
A Realms book supplement would be invaluable, or four data sheets one for each book. I'sd love to see more releases, and just hope the community is big enough to support them.
Okay, cool. I realise that this is, of necessity, a small-scale project, so I'm willing to wait. Lord knows, we roleplayers get used to doing that!
Also, I want to second Mr Nephew's comment - I didn't expect anyone from the company to actually drop by and answer my (slightly rude, now that I think about it) question. Doing so was a classy move.
By the way, I had pre-ordered the Societates/Lion and the Lily module for Metacreator and yesterday I got a note from Alter Ego telling me it's out of beta. 8)
A great program, very usefull, it saves an awful lot of time, and protects from many, many mistakes. I would be lost without it
I just hope they'll quickly go through the other books
Oh, I forgot to mention, but the Societates module has been out of beta for a while. It now works with the "normal" release of Metacreator, if you update to the latest version.
