BattleTech THUD 1.3.0 review

BattleTech THUD is a Java client designed to connect to Battletech MUXes and display combat data in a easy-to-read tactical display

License: BSD License File size: 0K Developer: Anthony Parker and the Thud Team

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BattleTech THUD is a Java client designed to connect to Battletech MUXes and display combat data in a easy-to-read tactical display. BattleTech THUD client displays a tactical map, contacts list, armor status and more.

Here are some key features of "BattleTech THUD":
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...

Requirements:
Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.5 or better

What's New in This Release:
New Features:

A new 'status' report window. Displays hex, heading, speed, heat, status (destroyed/fallen/etc) and weapon/ammo information
Armor/internal diagrams can be superimposed on tactical map. Must be activated under ‘Map’ menu [based on patch by Peitao Ting]
Support for loading/saving maps. From the File menu, if you select 'Load Map', Thud will attempt to load terrain information from that file. Thud will also automatically update that file every 5 minutes with new map information. If your unit changes maps, that is detected and auto-saving is stopped (so as not to overwrite "good" (RS) map information with "bad" (hangar) map information).
Thud now automatically detects when you enter/exit mechs and suspends/resumes operation accordingly. The 'Start/Stop HUD' button (Ctrl-G) still works – Thud will not automatically activate if the HUD has been stopped by a user (or not started yet)
Cliff detection is now done per-vehicle type – if you’re in a vehicle, the cliff lines will change (automatically) to show on 2 z difference instead of 3.
All windows can be made “always on top” via preferences
The font size of the status bar at the bottom of the tactical window can now be configured via preferences.
The amount of time old contacts should be kept around can now be configured via preferences.
A new Window menu that can be used to restore accidentally-closed windows.

Bug Fixes:

The tactical display will reload quicker when you first start the HUD or when you change units.
Enemy contacts no longer in LOS now change color properly.
Disconnections are now handled much more gracefully (CPU no longer spikes, can’t send commands)
Closing the main window of Thud now gracefully exits the whole program
Disconnecting from a MUX closes all windows except the main one
Airborne/quad unit arcs are now displayed correctly.
Changing the contacts window font size no longer changes the main window font size

Misc:

For Thud developers: The repository has been converted from CVS to Subversion.