MoBo - Electronic Mo-Board

[XLjedi]

Some of you are aware that I'm developing an electronic mo-board application that works off in game graphics via the Print Screen button.

The first official Beta is now available for download here: MoBo_Beta.zip (http://www.xl-logic.com/SH/MoBo_Beta.zip)

As this is still a beta, I'm not yet providing help file support in the application itself. I've learned that it's best to wait til the thing is close to finished so I don't have waste time rewriting.

The next post below is the ReadMe.txt file. If you have questions about features, feel free to post back. If you download it, consider yourself on the beta-test team. I want to hear your ideas for improvement and bug reports.

Screen Shots:
http://www.xl-logic.com/SH/MoBo4.png[/URL]
[URL="http://www.xl-logic.com/SH/MoBo_Beta.zip"] (http://www.xl-logic.com/SH/MoBo4.png)http://www.xl-logic.com/SH/MoBo5.png
In this screenshot I'm showing off the ability of the tool to plot intercept courses for relative positions. Here I've got a target cruising along at 6kts and I'm submerged and doing 7kts. I want to know what course will allow me to arrive at the target so my AoB is 30°.

[XLjedi]

MoBo - Electronic Maneuvering Board

System Requirements:
Installation of the .Net Framework 2.0 is required to run this application.

The .Net Framework comes pre-installed with Vista and is a free download available from Microsoft. Other than that, if you can run Silent Hunter 3, you're system is plenty adequate!

Installation:
Unzip the MoBo.zip file to it's own directory and you can run the MoBo.exe directly from there.

Quick Commands:
Add Contact: Double-Click anywhere in the map area
Delete Contact: Select Contact and press the Delete Key
Select Contact: Single-Click on it

Move Contact: Use the mouse to click and drag it around
Nudge Contact: Arrow Keys
Adj Speed/Hdg Vector: Double-Click on contact, move mouse to size, single-click to set
Acquire Map: Use the Print Screen button
Menu Commands: All menu items in bold blue are contact-related tools that apply to the currently selected contact. If nothing is selected, nothing will happen.

Your Ship:
All commands above also apply for manipulating your own ship (or sub). You cannot delete your own ship. Your ship always appears in the center of the map at startup. On a real mo-board your ship would always be fixed in the center, and you would plot relative positions around the centerpoint. MoBo is more flexible and easier to use in that it allows you to move your ship around, change relative positions of contacts, and easily add multiple contacts. You'll notice it does all this while dynamically updating the vector-based display.

Map Background Updating:
If you press the Print Screen button a bitmap image is stored in the Windows clipboard. MoBo automatically reads that to use as the background. You can refresh it or remove it using the Map menu item. Multi-monitor users should remember, that a PrintScreen image spans all monitors. If you just want the in-game map remember to use Alt-PrintScreen to capture the game window and not the entire desktop! Single-monitor users; it doesn't matter.

Beta Release 4/25/07 Features:
* Retained Mode Graphics System
* 2D Vector Math-Op Engine
* Easily Add/Edit/Delete and Track Multiple Contacts
* User Adjustable Options Including Default Color Selection
* Auto-loads Map Background from Windows Clipboard
* Contact Data Display Includes:
- Name
- Contact Graphic
- Speed/Heading Vector Graphic
- Speed Display
- Heading Display
- Bearing Line Graphic
- Relative Bearing
- True Bearing
- Angle on Bow Display
* Contact Toolset Includes:
- Rename
- Speed Lock
- Heading Lock
- Course Intercept Plotter
- Connect Contacts
- Disconnect Contacts
- Convert Connected Contact to Relative Position Marker


Next Release (probably some time in May, Beta or 1.0?) Planned Features:
* Contact Data Display:
- Observation Time for Each Contact
- Elapsed Time Between Connected Contacts
* Contact Toolset:
- Map: Pixel Distance to Map Scale Unit Conversion
- TMA: Speed/Heading/Distance Calculator for Connected Contacts
* Whatever other good ideas the beta testers come up with

Also planned for some unknown time in the future:
* Instruction manual including a few relative position mo-board examples
* Menu-Based Help Features
* Appropriate MoBo exe icon and associated graphics
* Some analog display gadgets...
* If you'd like to assist in the development, please let me know...

Things I'm thinking about:
* Map Storage & Recall: automatically store the last n map images


Don't Be Stupid:
* This was developed to use strictly for computer games
* Do not attempt to use MoBo for any sort of real-life navigation...

[SteamWake]

Wow thats some nice work.

Really needs to be posted in the modding forum.

[jmr]

Very impressive!

[XLjedi]

:hmm: Just wondering if anyone has actually tried or is currently using the MoBo tool.

[lurker_hlb3]

I am, works great, what is needed is distance between ownship and the targets, you had a "scale" setup in your other version, if you can add that it will work even better. As I'm retired Navy I think your project is outstanding

[XLjedi]

I hadn't heard anything from anyone on it, so I was beginning to wonder if I should even bother to post updates. Thanks for the feedback!

Yes, the scale and distance measurements... good point. :yep:

I'm working on a number of new features (as mentioned above) and the scale will definitely be in there on the next version. I called it, "Pixel Distance to Map Scale Unit Conversion". I'm hoping I'll be able to make it a little more sophisticated than that scale tool you saw previously.

Since you're Retired Navy, I would love to hear more of your ideas! :up:


...and any other ideas any of the other beta testers have are also welcomed.