In the event that TTopRPG.com and GameModel.com are down, I've set up this thread in case anyone wants to download TTopRPG. The new install .zip contains TTopLaunch 1.03, which will successfully update from ttoprpg2.com when the first two sites fail. Replace the TTopLaunch you have with that one, and use it to update. Remember, be careful doing this. Backup your campaigns if you're in doubt because I can't help everyone repair their mistakes. NOTE - if ttoprpg.com and gamemodel.com are down, it will take a while for both TTopRPG 094+ and TTopLaunch 1.03 to figure that out. Just let them work on it.

To run TTopRPG, you'll need to update your machine to run .NET 3.5 as well as acquire the VS 2008 distributable package:

NOTE: These are now Service Pack 1 versions. If you already installed the older versions, you may not need these, as I have tested the new application with the old versions of these updates and the program still ran fine. However, if you encounter strange behavior, you may want to go ahead and install these.

Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable SP1 Package (required) - usually installs quickly

.NET 3.5 framework SP1 (required) - This can be a longer install - 52 MB download plus up to ~25 minutes of update time with a reboot, depending on the overall speed of your PC/laptop. I recommend you close all other apps while it installs (possibly including AIM), since it may pause during the install and ask you to do so anyway. It starts as a small EXE that you execute, which then connects with another server to download the necessary files. One user from Mexico reported that this application repeatedly failed to connect to the download server, preventing him from updating. I will report a workaround here when one is found.

As of a latest test, the required packages to run TTop will NOT install on Windows 2000, even SP4. The user I spoke with couldn't get the VC install or even .NET 2.0 SP1 installed after updating to Windows 2000 SP4.

After you get the required packages installed, you may want to run Windows Update and grab any latest files your machine might need as a result of installing these packages.

When you're finished updating, you just need the single TTopRPG 2.0 EXE to run the program. Make a folder for it, put it inside, and you're set to go.

Here's the app: TTopRPG.zip (200KB) (v 0.99.033 in zip - use TTopLaunch 1.03 in zip to retrieve latest version from now on - latest is 0.99.110)

NOTE: This zip file includes a TTopLaunch.exe. Use this application to launch TTopRPG. It can check for an update and run TTopRPG. If you create a shortcut for it, make sure its starting directory is the same directory where TTopRPG.exe is located. If you get an index error when Checking for Updates, remove any version.txt and and version_old.txt files in your folder, and try again (for some reason one of my test folders had a blank version_old.txt file that was causing problems).

Just unzip it into an empty folder and run it from there (or create a shortcut for it, just make sure its starting directory is the one you unzipped the file to, since all the campaigns and graphics will be stored there). I DO NOT recommend running it from inside the ZIP file. The program will work, but the files downloaded from the host will end up in a temp folder somewhere, and it's unlikely that running it again from the ZIP file will allow you access to those files, so everything will be downloaded again. Extract it to its own folder!

If you are running under Vista, you may need to make sure you run these programs as an Administrator. TTopLaunch failed to download the update for one user until he did so.

WHEN UPDATING AN EXISTING EXE: Usually all you need to do is make sure the new EXE from the zip file overwrites the older EXE in your folder (TTopLaunch now does this automatically). If you are concerned about possible data loss, then I recommend you zip up the ENTIRE folder (campaigns, portraits, old EXE and all) before attempting the update. That way, if something goes wrong, you'll have all of your old data and old version of the program. I usually try to load old campaigns with my latest version to make sure it doesn't mess anything up. But I can't be held responsible for user error, and using TTop is at your own risk.