Frequently Asked Questions
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Let me ask you this: Have you read A Quick Tour of GCA?

This document contains a bunch of the most frequently asked questions about GCA, and the answers to those questions. The questions are in no particular order, so just skim over them all if you are looking for one in particular.

Q. How much does GCA cost?
Q. When will I receive my copy of GCA?
Q. Do I have to re-register every time a new update is released?
Q. Why don't you reply to my email?
Q. What's the best way to get answers to my questions?
Q. Why is my Packages option greyed out? How do I turn it on?
Q. How do I make GCA use the optional rule of Fatigue being based off of HT and Hit Points being based off of ST?
Q. Are you planning support for equipment?
Q. Are you planning a program for Vehicles/Robots/Mecha?
Q. Are you planning a Mac version of GCA?
Q. When is version 3 coming out?

denotes a new, modified, or updated item since the last update of this FAQ.

Q. How much does GCA cost?

A. GCA costs $22 for electronic delivery, generally via download from the web. Ordering information is available here.

Q. When will I receive my copy of GCA?

A. If you order from us via PayPal, you should generally receive download instructions within 24 hours, although it's frequently much faster. If you mail a check, I have to get that check into the bank, and then wait to make sure that the check clears. This can take as few as five days, or as long as two weeks. Once the payment clears, it should only take a day or two more to put the GCA packages together and mail them out, but it often takes a bit longer. If you order via Hyperbooks Online Bookstore, and take electronic delivery, you should receive your copy as soon as Hyperbooks makes it available to you, which is usually within 24 hours. If you order a disk, the disk will usually be mailed out within two days after that. Once in the mail system, snail mailed orders frequently reach their destination in the US within a couple of days, but it has been known to take over a week in some cases. Overseas orders take rather longer, given the vagaries of overseas mails.

Q. Do I have to re-register every time a new update is released?

A. No. Your registered version of GCA will be good for all versions of GCA v2. Until we come out with a v3, your registration covers you for all interim versions.

Q. Why don't you reply to my email?

A. I reply to every piece of email I receive that requires a reply. If you asked a question of me, and do not receive a reply, chances are very good that I was unable to send email to your address for some reason. Many of you have email systems that mangle your address in some way, and I'm not always able to determine the correct address. Try explicitly mentioning your email address in your letter if you send me a query. If you're on AOL, please make sure that you allow for receipt of external mail, or you'll never see my attempts to reach you.

Q. What's the best way to get answers to my questions?

A. The best way to get answers to your questions is to post them to either the GCA mailing list or the GCA message boards. Both are monitored by myself and a crew of smart folks who have been working with GCA for quite some time, so even if I don't know the answer to your question, one of them probably will (I don't know a lot about many GURPS books, since my collection is pretty small). And you may also receive a reply sooner if the question is posted to the one of these, because I don't always have time to answer mail right away. Check the gca-l page for details on the mailing list, how to join, and how to post questions. The message boards can be found be found here.

Q. Why is my Packages option greyed out? How do I turn it on?

A. The Packages option is disabled unless you have loaded a data file that includes packages. GCA does not allow you to create packages within the program, so this is the only way to make the option available to you. Simply load a data file that includes packages, such as FFRaces.GDF, and it will turn on.

Q. How do I make GCA use the optional rule of Fatigue being based off of HT and Hit Points being based off of ST?

A. To do this in all current v2 versions of GCA, you just need to modify a data file to redefine the stats appropriately. You'd include a section like this in the data file: [Stats] Fatigue, basevalue(HT), step(0), display(no) Hit Points, basevalue(ST), step(0), display(no) I recommend that you put this in some kind of campaign specific data file that you maintain for yourself, so that it won't be overwritten if you get data file updates later. Note that in the v2.2 beta, you can make this change for a specific character just by going into the Table View for stats and changing the Base Value for Fatigue to HT and Hit Points to ST. The GCA v2 Data File Format Specification (aka GCASpec) has more information on writing your own data files. You can find it on the Docs page.

Q. Are you planning support for equipment?

A. Yes. I originally planned to support equipment in v2, but a lack of time, and the amount of work that supporting equipment properly would require, resulted in my dropping it from my plans for v2 during development. You will see support for equipment in GCA 3. At this time, there are a pair of workaround data files written by users available on the Data Files -- Other page. These files make use of stats and powers to let you take equipment. The equipment lists are shown as powers that cost 0 points each, but taking equipment adjusts stats that keep track of money and weight. Take a look and see if they will work for you until true support is added to GCA.

Q. Are you planning a program for Vehicles/Robots/Mecha?

A. No.

Q. Are you planning a Mac version of GCA?

A. I'd love to write a Mac version of GCA, but any chance of my doing so has to wait until well after v3 of GCA is done. GCA v3 will use a new engine that should be easier to port to other platforms, and once that is done I will take a look at what needs to be done to create a Mac version of GCA. It will be a long time yet, and I'm making no promises. GCA has been found to work acceptably with Virtual PC and appropriate Windows software, if you'd like to give that a try. I don't have a Mac right now, however, so I can't offer support in getting such a configuration working.

Q. When is version 3 coming out?

A. In The Future. Sorry, but that's about as close as I can guess at this point. My schedule is currently pretty hectic, and unfortunately GCA doesn't make enough for me to give up my day job. I can tell you that at the time I'm writing this, there's no danger of v3 showing up any time soon.