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These programs are meant to be extras that help users of GCA in some way or another. These programs are not necessarily written by the author of GCA, so please check the documentation of the program before sending any email regarding them. Thanks, and enjoy.

GDF Data File Editor
GCA Character Printer
GCA Character Printer 2 (32-bit)
GCA Character Viewer
MakeSets--Data Set/FastLoad Maker
Alternative GCA logos for the character sheet
GCA alternative language files
GCA Toolbar/Add-ons Editor
.GCA to HTML translater
.GCA display ASP scripts

GDF Data File Editor

Marzo Junior has written a GDF editor program that helps folks to write GDF files. It should be considered an open beta right now, but it seems pretty solid. Please let Marzo know what you think, and help him make it the best program it can be. You can now download GDF Editor from Marzo's web site or from Marzo's mirror site.

GCA Character Printer

I've put some work in on GCAPRN in the past, which is the program that currently houses the FlexForm (customizable character sheets) stuff for GCA. This program is meant to be an alternative character printing system that also allows for a variety of character sheet styles. I won't be putting in any more work on this version, since I won't be using it in future versions of GCA. Instead, I'll be using GCAPRN 2, which will be incorporated into GCA v3 when it's released. The print/preview engine used is not the same one that's currently used in GCA, and may work for you better or worse than the engine in GCA. I think the interface is easier to work with, but you may decide otherwise :-). This is an open beta. This program is not finished at this time, and still needs a good deal of work. However, within its limitations, it does seem to work, so you can try it out. Read the system requirements and installation instructions before downloading any installers. Note: GCAPRN does not seem to work properly under Windows 98. I don't know what the problem is. The version 1.0b14 main installer (approx. 1 meg) is available here. This installer contains the main program files. All new users (or users of versions prior to 1.0b10) should run this installer. If you install from this program, and GCAPRN will not run because it needs additional files, please download and run the secondary installer as well. The version 1.0b14 secondary installer (approx. 570k) is available here. This installer contains the additional support files. Users with Win95 or WinNT4, and users with Win31 who've installed other VB4 programs, may be able to avoid running this installer. The version 1.0b14 update only installer (approx. 200k) is available here. This contains only the new files needed to update prior v1.0b10 or later installations. As of v1.0b11 the FlexSpec.TXT document was updated. If your prior version of GCAPRN is 1.09 or earlier, you must install the main installer above, and possibly also the secondary installer. System Requirements (Estimated) anything that will run GCA should work, but note the problem mentioned with Win98 above. How to Install GCA Character Printer Download the installer you need. Run the installer, and provide the info needed. I recommend that you install in a different folder than the one in which GCA is installed. FlexForm Character Sheets At this time, only one sample FlexForm character sheet is included in the GCAPRN installer. It is intended to give a quick impression of what GCAPRN can do so far, and somewhat mimics the sheet built into GCA now. There are some differences, though, such as the Point Summary being at the end and a completely different format for printing spells. I have just made available the CHRSHTFG.FLX sheet also. This sheet uses no drop shadows on the boxes of info, and doesn't even try to print out the character portrait. Also, Skills are started in a new column each time, so I moved the Point Summary to be printed after the Quirks, since there will usually be empty space there on the first page. You can see a sample output here. This sheet is intended for printers with less memory, so if it doesn't work for that purpose, I'll see about designing a completely different format that uses no graphic elements at all. Thanks to Roger Willcocks, we now have the CASTER.FLX sheet also. This sheet uses a three column format for the first page for those characters with lots of ads and disads, and then continues on with a two column format for the following pages, which cover skills and an enhanced spells section. It follows up at the end with a page for the portrait, description, and notes. You can see a sample output here. I put together the SCRUNCH.FLX file because I wanted a single sheet that I could plant down on the table at the start of the game, and not have to flip through pages to get needed info later. This FLX file uses a three column format (on letter size paper; A4 will only do 2 columns unless it's modified a bit) inspired by Roger Willcocks's file above (but not quite the same) to scrunch all the boxed info, plus all the ads, disads, quirks, and skills onto the first page (note that if you have a lot of skills, it may run onto the back unless you comment out the line that lets Skills begin in their own column). The second page is meant for spells, portrait, description, etc., and could be printed onto the back of the first page for a character sheet on a single piece of paper (of course, if your character has lots and lots of info, it may take more pages). The format changes back to wider columns following spells, which would result in a two column look on the back page (to better fit portraits and description text). You can see a sample output here. Thanks to Ken Burnside for contributing the 2COLCAST.FLX and DEFENSE.FLX sheets. The 2COLCAST.FLX format uses elements from CASTER.FLX and the standard CHRSHT.FLX, to provide a continuous two column format, but with the extended spell info and the spell ranging info. It looks something like this. DEFENSE.FLX is the same as 2COLCAST.FLX, save that it has the following modifications to active defenses: 1) It lists Dodge as being equal to Basic Speed, not Move. 2) It states that ALL active defenses are reduced by Encumbrance levels 3) For characters with Combat Reflexes, it lists the active defense in the format of N+1, where N is the normally calculated active defense, before Combat Reflexes is added in. This is useful for situations where Combat Reflexes wouldn't add to the defense, or for campaigns where Active Defenses only adds to one defense of the player's choice per turn. DEFENSE.FLX requires the following change to Combat Reflexes in the last .GDF file loaded, otherwise the active defenses will have one level too high on the character sheet before the +1: Combat Reflexes, 15, gives(+1 SK:Fast-Draw, +2 Fright Check), page(B20) The modified section of DEFENSE.FLX looks like this.

GCA Character Printer 2 (32-bit)

GCAPRN 2 is a whole new version of the GURPS Character Printer program. This version is 32-bit only, so it requires Win95 or later to run. This is a very early beta, so there isn't really any documentation yet, but there are some sample FLX files included to give early birds a solid start (they're nearly strait across conversions of corresponding FLX files for v1 of GCAPRN). I have abandoned the script language that was used in v1 of GCAPRN, because it's slow and a pain to work with. I have, instead, switched over to VBScript as the script language, which is a much more powerful script language than I could do myself, and it runs with fewer odd quirks. I'm also using a new print/preview engine that is much better than the one I'd written, and offers more powerful features. This is the printing system that will eventually end up in GCA v3, although I expect the object model to go through quite a few changes by then. This is an open beta. This program is not finished at this time, and still needs a good deal of work. However it does work, so you can try it out. And with the power of VBScript, you could even write some of the features that are currently missing, such as the ability to print by category (which wouldn't be that hard to write as a couple of VBScript procedures). Some controls have been updated in this version. You may see some odd behavior with older scripts, since the new controls aren't quite as forgiving of some constructions that worked in the old version, and some things just work a bit differently. You may want to uninstall any previous version before installing this one. System Requirements (Estimated) Windows 95 or later 16 Megs of RAM, preferably more (as everything likes more RAM) Approx. 5 Megs of free disk space (probably less, as some of the included files probably already exist on your computer) How to Install GCAPRN 2 Download the setup program. Run the setup program, and provide the info needed. I recommend that you install in a different folder than the one in which GCA or GCAPRN 1 is installed. The version 2.0b14 setup program (approx. 2.5 meg) is available here. This setup program contains all necessary files. Thanks to Robben Leaf, we now have the SPELSCR2.FLX sheet. This sheet uses the 'scrunched' first page, and then continues on with a two column format that includes the extra spell info (such as casting cost and duration) that many folks want for a character grimoire (the character must be saved with that info, of course). You can see a sample output here.

GCA Character Viewer

The GCAView program is a very simple viewer for GCA character files (v2.12 or later). The GCAView installer (approx. 180k) is available here. This installer contains all the needed files except VBRUN300.DLL. VBRUN300.DLL is not included, but is required.

MakeSets--Data Set/FastLoad Maker

This is a program to create data file sets and their corresponding FastLoad files without having to load up and run GCA. I don't know that it will actually help anyone, but someone asked for it, and it only took me a few minutes to rip apart GCA and leave just the bits needed for this program. This program functions just like the Data Files tab in GCA's Preferences window, with the addition of a button to create the data file set/FastLoad file. The MakeSets 1.02 archive (approx. 40k) is available here. Makesets v1.02 is required for use with GCA 2.12, but is not compatible with GCA 2.2. System Requirements Anything that will run GCA All support files used are ones GCA already requires, so no additional files are needed. How to Install MakeSets Unzip the makesets.zip file into the GCA directory This program must be in the GCA directory, because it uses the GCA.INI file!

Alternative GCA logos for the character sheet

Here are a couple of alternative logos for the upper left corner of your GCA character sheets. At the moment, these are for use only with GCA, not with GCAPRN. To use them, just copy them into your GCA directory, and then copy the one you like over LOGO.BMP. GCA uses the file of that name as the logo. The Alternative logos archive (approx. 7k) is available here. There are three logos in this archive, the first of which is the current logo, and the other two are the alternatives. You can see what the logos look like on this page. If you'd like to make your own logos, you can: just make bitmaps (it must be in BMP format) about 200x100 pixels in size, and follow the same procedure to get GCA to use it. Try and keep them to 16 colors or less also.

GCA alternative language files

GCA is beginning to support an alternative languages feature. This feature will allow you to change all the captions/labels/text elements of GCA to alternative values. This is intended to be used to allow internationalized versions of GCA, but can be used just to change the items to names you prefer. At this time, this support extends only so far as the main GCA windows, but we hope to extend it to all aspects of GCA in the future. Also, as with other aspects of GCA, this feature is designed to be easily modified by the users. To use the alternative language file at this time, all you have to do is put a file called GCA.LNG into your GCA directory, and GCA will automatically make use of it. There's currently no documentation on the structure or formatting of the GCA.LNG file, but it shouldn't be hard to figure out by looking at the example given below. Most of the items under each heading should be pretty obvious as to where they'll be applied. If you don't want to change the text for a particular feature, just delete that entire line from the file. One note: the Alias items under Windows are the names that will appear on the main tab strip across the bottom of the GCA window. The sample gca.lng file (approx. 3k) is available here. It simply adds an XX to the end of each item's normal caption, so it's easier to see where all the items are applied. The GCA.LNG Portuguese version (approx. 3k) is available here. The GCA.LNG Spanish version (approx. 3k) is available here.

GCA Toolbar/Add-ons Editor

For those folks running GCA v2.2, Marzo Junior has written a program for editing the toolbar and the add-ons available on the Tools menu. You can now download the program from Marzo's web site or from Marzo's mirror site.

.GCA to HTML translater

Tim Hall has written a PERL script to translate saved .GCA character files into HTML files. You can visit his page to download the script and view a sample output.

.GCA display ASP scripts

From the author, Andrew Cunnington: "If you have a Windows NT web server running IIS4 or the personal web server version you may be interested in the 2 active server page scripts I've written. Based heavily on the gcatohtm.pl script by Tim Hall, they enable you to show your characters easily on the web without having to convert the files first. It even shows the portraits. The first file, GCALIST.ASP will list all the gca files in a given directory, and call the second script. The second file, GCA.ASP takes a gca file and displays it on a web page." Download the script archive here.