This is the home page for Thud, an open-source graphical heads up display for BattleTech MUXes based on the public CVS tree available at Sourceforge. Thud can connect to any BTech MUX that supports a certain protocol known as 'hudinfo.' By default, it is set up to connect to 3030MUX and Frontiers.

Thud (Tony's Heads Up Display) is a pure Java client designed to retrieve combat-related data from the game and display it in a easier-to-read tactical display. It will display a tactical map, contacts list, weapons status, armor status, heat status, and more. The map displays terrain, cliffs, your own unit, and enemy units. There are a plethora of options available to customize the client to suit your style of playing. Thud is great for new players and veterans alike! See the screenshots to get a good idea of what Thud looks like.

For more information about helping to develop Thud, to report bugs, or to join the mailing lists about Thud, please visit our Sourceforge project page. You don't have to be a programmer to help -- we can use people to help write documentation or provide good insights into new features.

Thud Requirements

Thud requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.5 or better (also known as 'Java 5.0') and an internet connection. If you have Mac OS X, the JRE is already installed. If you are running Windows or Linux, you may need to download and install the JRE before Thud can run. Get the latest version of the J2SE package at java.sun.com J2SE Download site.

Download Thud

You can download Thud from Sourceforge. Make sure you get the latest version (it's the bt-thud package):

Download Thud
Current Stable Version: 1.2.1 - Released May 31, 2003

You can also see the list of changes in the most recent version.

Running Thud
To run Thud, download it and save it somewhere handy. Thud is written in Java, and so should run on any platform that can handle Java 1.5 or better.

• For Mac OS X: Thud should be double-clickable. You're up and running.
• For Windows: Try double clicking, or typing: java -jar Thud-version.jar where version is the version number, ie 1.2.
• For a command-line of some sort: For Mac OS X or any other systems with a command line, try typing this at the prompt (once you have navigated to the location of Thud.jar): java -jar Thud-version.jar where version is the version number, ie 1.2.
• For other systems: You're on your own... sorry. :) I'd love to hear from you if you get it running on some exotic system, though, and we'll put the instructions up here on the web page.

Features

Thud has the following features:

• ANSI color support
• An impressive tactical map display: see screenshots
• All enemy and friendly contacts with headings
• Unique icons for each movement type
• Current heading and desired heading indicators
• Weapons arc indicators
• An overall armor percentage display
• A heat indicator
• Display of hex numbers if desired
• Varying colors of hexes based on height
• A separate contacts window
• Customizable colors and font sizes
• Much more...

Brief Help

Until I get a more descriptive Help written, here are some basic instructions on how to use Thud. Note: The following instructions apply only if you have a character on a MUX already. If you do not, you must create one at the welcome screen of that MUX and follow the instructions on the MUX before you have the opportunity to get into a combat unit and try out Thud's main purpose.

Once Thud is started up (see 'Running Thud', above), choose a MUX from the HUD menu. You should see that MUX's welcome screen appear in the text window. Connect to your character as normal (type: connect "name" password) by typing in the box at the bottom of the main text window. Get yourself into a sim pod and startup your unit.

Now, you're ready to start: choose 'Start/Stop' from the 'HUD' menu, and you're up and running! There are plenty of options in the 'Map' menu to keep you busy, as well as lots in the preferences dialog.

Using Subversion to get the latest Thud source

This requires some knowledge of how to use a command line, a Subversion client (click here for info), and ant, a Java application builder (available at ant.apache.org). You'll also need the Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.5 or better, available at java.sun.com.

The SVN root URL is: https://svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/bt-thud/trunk/thud. Most GUI Subversion tools will allow you to input this directly. If you are using the "official" command line Subversion client (svn), you'll want to type:
svn co https://svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/bt-thud/trunk/thud
cd thud
ant
./Thud.jar

Thanks To

• Sourceforge, for hosting the project
• Focus @ 3030MUX, for hudinfo and the name of Thud
• Arthur @ 3030MUX, for hudinfo help
• Joe Osaka @ 3030MUX, for beta testing
• M3 @ 3030MUX, for beta testing and code support
• GJ @ 3030MUX, for optimization help