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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

Pidgeot
Pidgeot

May-25-2009 14:27

Just to clear up a few things here...

No, I no longer play Sleuth, and no, I do not actively maintain the helper.

However, if there is something concrete that has changed in the page structure, and it doesn't require TOO big of a change, I don't mind popping in and finding these differences to modify the program, as long as I can be sure to encounter the problem quickly and without having to travel or anything.

Of course, since I don't actually play the game, I'll need to rely on you people to e-mail me and tell me that something has changed to break it, and then I can possibly try to look into it, as long as you describe the problem as well as you can.

If you've fixed/changed the source code, I'll be happy to compile it for you if you can't do that yourself. (Even if you *can* compile it, I'd appreciate it if you still send me a copy of the changes, and I'll update my hosted version accordingly.)

If there's ANY part of the source code you need help with - for example, if you want to know how you could add support for some new skill, or you can't figure out how it reads information about the suspects, go ahead and e-mail me, describing what you want to do in as much detail as you can. I've tried to keep the code simple and mostly self-documenting, but I know that it's never easy reading other peoples code, and I don't mind helping out.

And finally, it is indeed true that the helper isn't a replacement for your gray matter - the helper may be Dr. Watson, but you're Sherlock Holmes.

nicnic
nicnic
Battered Shoe

May-25-2009 21:20

Thanks Pigeot for popping back in! Many many people use your helper and it's nice to know your are still around to support it :-)

turtledove
turtledove
Gopher to the Sleuth Gods

May-26-2009 04:58

Well said nicnic and thanks Pidgeot :)

Mai Capome
Mai Capome
Old Shoe

May-26-2009 06:20

Big fan here saying a big thanks for a work of art :)

turtledove
turtledove
Gopher to the Sleuth Gods

Nov-13-2009 09:48

bump

turtledove
turtledove
Gopher to the Sleuth Gods

Nov-13-2009 11:13

Has anyone heard of a problem downloading this helper. I have a friend who has recently tried it and gets a message saying the file is corrupted. Since I am not computer friendly ( bows head in shame) I would appreciate your input. Thanks.

Peter O'Neil
Peter O'Neil
Old Shoe

Jan-27-2010 17:31

I also get the corrupted file message, and have no idea what it means (technically speaking). Disappointing considering the rave reviews. May a reloading of the source would help?

Ms Helen
Ms Helen
Con Artist

Jan-27-2010 18:19

As has been said above the original creator of this help site is no longer active in the community and is therefore no longer maintaining the helper. If you search back a few pages there is another link by Adam Carter which still works fine. I suggest trying that link instead.

Jesse Hunter
Jesse Hunter
Bibliophile

Jan-29-2010 18:39

Automated Sleuth Helper - Automatic Sleuth Helper
Download Links

This is the full install, version 1.18:
http://download.birdiesoft.dk/SleuthHelper.exe

Here's one you just drop on your desktop, no installation needed:
http://sleuthvhhelper.co.cc/SleuthHelper.exe

Both links and files worked the last time I checked (within the last month or so). The only problem I've noted is that one, maybe both, has problems identifying Sleuthetania contacts.


Pidgeot
Pidgeot

Jan-29-2010 20:27

For what it's worth, I've just attempted to download the installer and execute it myself. It works and installs exactly like it should, so it looks like some of you are experiencing issues with the connection to the server, causing the file to come out incorrectly on your end. Unfortunately, that's not really something I can do anything about - all I can suggest is clearing your cache and trying again. If it's still not working, you can e-mail me and I can send you a copy via that route. There's a contact form on http://birdiesoft.dk/mailform.php - use that or refer to the help file for my e-mail address (if you have an older version lying around).

As far as Sleuthetania contacts are concerned, I wasn't the one who made that change - I couldn't, since I had retired before it was added. Huglover made the change and I compiled it for her and released it as v1.18. To the best of my knowledge, the changes she made are correct, at least based on the information I have.

If you know of a concrete problem with the contacts, feel free to e-mail me with as many details as you can. If it's something I can do something about, then I don't mind doing so - as long as you're fine with testing if it works.

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