THUD:Getting Started
From BattletechMUX
THUD > Getting Started
Contents |
Getting Thud: The Short Way
Thud is now available to be web-started, meaning no files need to be downloaded. If you already have Java installed, you should be able to click on this link and run the latest version of Thud automatically. This link will run the latest stable version of Thud automatically, and will even help you upgrade your JRE if a new version requires an upgrade. You do have to have at least Java 1.4 installed to be able to use it (see Step 1 under 'The Long Way' to get it). Once the Thud window opens, see Once you have Thud running below.
Alternately, if you prefer to actually download Thud...
Getting Thud: The Long Way
Step 1: Get Java
THUD is a Java-based application, so you will need at least Java Runtime Environment to run it. Thud requires version 1.5 (also known as 'Java 5.0').
Windows
Most Windows installations should have Java pre-installed, but just in case, it can be downloaded from Sun. You'll want the JRE package.
Linux
The instructions here really depend on what distro you're running. Some distributions will have Java included or available as an optional source. Worse case you may need to do a manual install. See the Java Downloads page and grab the binary JRE installer if this is the case.
Mac OS X
Mac OS X comes with a relatively new version of Java as standard, so you don't need to do anything.
Step 2: Get THUD
Once you have Java set up, refer to the THUD SourceForge File Section for the latest THUD release. The bt-thud package has the latest release that has been extensively tested, while the bt-thud-beta package may have more cutting-edge features but might also be a little less stable. Download either THUD .jar file to a location that you can find later.
If you'd like the bleeding edge, the latest source code is available from THUD's Subversion repository. If you don't want to deal with setting up and using Subversion, you can grab an hourly build. This is generally mostly attractive to developers or beta testers.
Step 3: Start THUD
Windows
Ideally you should be able to just double-click the THUD .jar file and be greeted with your shiny new THUD. If this is not the case, Right Click on the .jar file, select Open With, and select Java Runtime from the list of choices. Select the Always Open With checkbox and hit ok.
Linux
Depending on how your distribution is configured, you may just be able to double-click on the THUD .jar file. If not, fire up a console, cd to the .jar file's directory, and enter the following:
java -jar thud.jar
Replacing thud.jar with the .jar's actual filename.
Mac OS X
Just double-click the THUD .jar file.
| Note: Some Unix/Linux systems are case-sensitive. Depending on the THUD filename, you may need to adjust accordingly. |
Once you have Thud running
Once THUD is started up, you can either go under the HUD menu and choose one of the games there (btmux.com 5555, etc.).
Optionally, select HUD->Add New Host in the menu to add a game to the list that isn't already there. Enter your desired game's host and port then save your changes. You'll need to go back under the HUD menu and select your newly added game from there if you go the route of adding a new entry.
Select the game you'd like to connect to and you should be greeted with a login screen. Read the instructions presented to you and follow suite.
Activating the HUD is as simple as selecting HUD->Start/Stop in the menu. If at any time the HUD loses synchronisation with the game state, you can select Update->Update Tactical Map Now, but this is rarely necessary.
