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Automated Sleuth Helper complete!
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Pidgeot
Pidgeot

Jan-30-2007 12:13

Hello, fellow Sleuths!

Over the last two months, I've been working on a brand new Sleuth helper. You might not think that sounds all that special - after all, great helpers are already available - but what makes this one different is that it's automated!

What it does is monitor your progress in the game, and extract relevant information from the pages. The information is stored and analyzed, in order to help you determine who did it, and who didn't.

It's heavily inspired by Evita's JavaScript-based Sleuth Helper, so a special "thank you" goes out there.

The application is made with Delphi 2005, and should run on any machine with Windows NT/98/ME/2K/XP/Vista and Internet Explorer 4 or later. Additionally, source code is included (ZLib license) in case someone wants to port it to another platform and/or language (such as Java).

The program can be downloaded from http://download.birdiesoft.dk/SleuthHelper.exe (330 KB), and a screenshot of the program can be seen at http://download.birdiesoft.dk/sleuth_helper.png.

Please take a look at the help file before using the program (it's very short), so you are familiar with how the program works.

(Disclaimer: The application depends heavily on the current structure of the game pages, and changes to this may break the program. Although the application is designed in such a way that it should fail entirely if something goes wrong, this cannot be guaranteed. Use of this program is entirely at your own risk, and any cases lost because of errors in the program should not be blamed on the program or the author.)

Replies

Sleuth Sindy
Sleuth Sindy
Pinball Wizard

Oct-10-2007 20:01

Sorry Dave Von Wave. I didn't mean to be contrary. I'm afraid I can be a little too "abrupt" at times, or so I've been told. :) Pidgeot posted:

" . . . but I can see I need to get v1.15 out ASAP, since v1.14 is causing problems. "

And I just wanted him to know that not EVERYBODY was having problems and that his efforts really are appreciated. My post wasn't really meant to be directed at you. Sorry if I ruffled your feathers.

ctown28
ctown28
Huntsman

Oct-10-2007 20:26

I agree with you Sleuth Sindy, Pidgeot made a great program for this game.

I occasionally have some probs, but can't complain about them. Pidgeot did this on his own time and asks for nothing in return.

It's still up to us to do our own notetaking or trust the program. I elect to trust the program to a degree and if there is something I don't agree with, ask a few more questions to get it nailed down.

Lady Zeugirdor
Lady Zeugirdor
Pinball Amateur

Oct-11-2007 00:07

Hee hee, I guess my post may have been misunderstood too. I wasn't saying it was a problem with the helper. I was saying I smack myself for being in the same situation of not paying attention. Hence, why I directed it at Mr. Von Wave. Oh, well. I do love the helper. It makes cases finish quicker and I don't get writer's cramp with all my note taking!

Vary
Vary

Oct-21-2007 07:12

Hi, Pidgeot. Thanks for the incredible program! I'm using version 1.14; the version notes say that version fixed the issue where the helper assumes that a suspect is innocent if he or she doesn't match the physical evidence you find, and ignores that there may be missing evidence. But I'm still having that problem. I don't have either thread or hair searching skills, I don't know if that has anything to do with it. It's not a huge problem, and it's certainly easier to work around it than it is to make notes myself - I just leave PE questions as a last resort. But I thought it was worth mentioning.

Again, thanks for the program, it's a huge help!

Dave Von Wave
Dave Von Wave
Well-Connected

Oct-21-2007 14:57

The fix is that someone can still become guilty after being declared innocent. Not that they won't be declared innocent.

Vary
Vary

Oct-22-2007 16:14

Ah, I see. So is there anything I can do to avoid this behavior, other than not investigating PE until I've run out of WE options or earning some darn skill points?

Dave Von Wave
Dave Von Wave
Well-Connected

Oct-23-2007 16:05

Check all PE except for two.

Those two will remain yellow.
That will of course fix nothing. But at least it won't all go green.

Your real problem is that you're not finding all the evidence. No matter how the helper is fixed, that's a problem.

Sinus Felina
Sinus Felina

Oct-23-2007 18:13

I'm looking forward to a version that can be run on Ubuntu. This is not to criticise Pidgeots work, on the contrary: it seems to be a great program. But since Sleuth runs nicely in other environments than windows, why can't the helpers? Anyone up for the task?

Dave Von Wave
Dave Von Wave
Well-Connected

Oct-24-2007 01:31

There's always the "dr watson" sleuth helper. You have to enter stuff yourself, but it works anywhere that sleuth itself works.

On the other hand if you can run firefox on Ubuntu, try AKA's sleuth helper. Don't know how far he's gotten at this point though.

As for Pigeots helper, it could easily be converted by someone who knew what he or she was doing. (Though I'm given to understand that Ubuntu can run anything windows related so I'm unsure why pigeots helper wouldn't run there. It is an internet explorer-addy ony thingy so one might need that.)

Sinus Felina
Sinus Felina

Oct-25-2007 15:44

Thanks, Dave. I'm using Dr. Watson today, but I'm a little tired of cutn'paste. I read Pidgeots instructions to use IE for Linux, but I don't want to use IE for security reasons. So I guess I'm stuck to glueing my suspect for now. I still want to urge anyone who feel technically fit to take up this glove.

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