What is Magic Scout?

Magic Scout is the ultimate reference guide for Magic the Gathering:™

Cards: a complete list of the official and updated text for every card published for the Magic the Gathering™ game from Wizards of the Coast (www.wizards.com).
Rules: a complete list of the official and updated Rules for Magic the Gathering™, including individual card rulings.
Prices: updated prices for the cards in Magic the Gathering™, based on eBay trading prices.
Search: the most powerful card search functionality for Magic the Gathering™. Lightning fast search by nearly any card criteria.
Updates: download the publicly available source data from the Internet, and build new up-to-date databases for Magic Scout. Stay current with the latest expansions, rulings and card prices.

If you've ever played Magic the Gathering™, then you've probably experienced the frustration of needing a rules clarification. With all the cards, rules, and current trading prices on your handheld, Magic Scout is the ultimate reference guide for every class of player.

How does this program work?

Magic Scout is composed of two separate programs, one for your Windows desktop computer, and one for your Palm handheld device. Both are installed through the single download installation program from our web site (www.MagicScout.com).

Magic Scout Generator: this program runs on your Microsoft Windows desktop computer (Windows 98 or higher). You use the Generator to create the Magic database for the Magic Scout program for Palm OS. The Generator downloads public and freely available Magic from the Internet and merges this information into a single dataset for Magic Scout.
Magic Scout for Palm OS: this program runs on your Palm handheld device. It's here that you can view the cards, rules and card prices. You can also perform powerful searches for Magic cards, based on many different criterion. Magic Scout for Palm OS does not include any Magic information with the program. You must use the Magic Scout Generator program on your Windows desktop computer to download and create databases that are then installed to your Palm device.

How do I get updates?

Registered users may download free updates for the Magic Scout for the Magic Scout for Palm OS program. Do not uninstall your existing version... simply download the latest version, and install it over top of your existing version. If you uninstall first, then you will have to re-enter the registration code you received when you purchased the program.

To update your Magic database of cards, run the Magic Scout Generator program on your desktop computer. Simply follow the instructions in the Generator to create an updated database and install it to your Palm device.

As new card sets for Magic the Gathering™ are made available, new versions of Magic Scout may be required. The The Generator will warn you when you need to download a new Magic Scout installation program and update your version. Although you can always download and build older magic databases, newer data sets may require a product update.

Depending on the registration license you purchased, you may have to purchase a database update to install newer data sets into Magic Scout for Palm OS. For example, if you purchased a one year registration code, then you will be able to install databases based on cards sets up to one year from the date of your registration. Note that you can always continue to run the Magic Scout program with older data sets, and you can always freely download and install new product updates to get the latest bug features and minor enhancements.

Product requirements

Magic Scout has the following computer and device requirements:

Handheld:

160k of main device memory for the Magic Scout program. Magic Scout must be installed in main memory. This Help file can be removed, or put on media slot memory (see version info).
4.5 megabytes of main memory or media slot expansion memory for the generated Magic Scout databases. The Windows Generator program builds the databases from public Magic™ sources, and lets you specify where the files are installed.
A Palm device running Palm OS 3.5 or higher. This supports all recent Palm devices in the last few years, from the Palm IIIc and forward. Colour devices are supported, and are recommended, but not required.
Palm Desktop synchronization software, or manufacturer's equivalent. You must synchronize your handheld device at least once prior to running the Magic Scout Generator.

Windows desktop:

1 megabyte of hard disk space for the Generator program.
5-7 megabytes of hard disk space for each downloaded and built Magic™ database.
Microsoft Windows 98 or higher.