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// H.O.L.O. FIELD MANUAL //

Plan faster. Brief cleaner. Export ready.

H.O.L.O. is the tactical planning workspace for building operation overlays, phase-based mission briefs, unit movement paths, danger zones, notes, and exports on top of a map image. This page is the single place for tools, shortcuts, workflow, room behavior, and practical usage tips.

11 Main map tools covering markers, zones, paths, notes, measuring, and intel.
3 Ways to work: offline, host a room, or join an active room.
2 Primary export modes: PNG board snapshots and WebM movement playback.

Best Use Case

Use H.O.L.O. when you need a visual briefing board with phased movement, faction markers, labeled zones, and quick exports for sharing.

How To Open

You can launch this manual from the H.O.L.O. start page or from More > Docs inside the editor. Both open in a new tab.

Important Habit

Save operation JSON regularly if the work matters. PNG and WebM are presentation outputs, but JSON is the editable source of truth.

Getting Started

Stay Offline

Everything stays in the current browser session unless you save JSON. This is the fastest mode for solo planning and rough drafts.

Create Room

Start a shared room with an admin password when you want one operation board tied to a room code and synced through the backend.

Join Room

Open an existing room with a room code. Add the admin password only if you need editor-level control.

First Action

Upload the map image first. Most workflows move much faster once the board is sized, centered, and ready for overlays.

Workspace Tour

Area What It Does
Top Bar Operation name, phase switching, playback controls, room status, and the View, Files, and More menus.
Left Panel Tool buttons, quick deploy shortcuts, color swatches, draw defaults, grid options, faction palettes, and custom marker placement.
Center Map The live planning board with the map image, grid overlay, drawings, placed objects, labels, hints, and status readouts.
Right Panel Properties for the selected object, operation notes, and the activity log when a room session is active.

Tools

Select

Select, move, box-select, and manipulate objects. This is the default editing mode when you are refining the board.

Rect Zone

Click and drag to create a rectangular zone. Use it for sectors, fire lanes, objectives, or holding areas.

Poly Zone

Click multiple points to trace an irregular area. Double-click or use Finish Shape to close it.

Draw

Freehand markup for quick emphasis, rough sketching, or temporary planning marks.

Arrow

Click points in sequence to build movement routes, patrol traces, or plain lines. Finish with double-click or Finish Shape.

Unit

Place faction icons on the map. Units can be labeled, recolored, resized, assigned to a path, looped, or reversed.

Ping

Drop an animated quick marker pulse for attention, observation, or temporary callouts.

Radius

Click and drag from the center outward to size danger radii, support coverage, artillery risk, or exclusion bubbles.

Ruler

Measure a straight-line distance between two clicks. The readout is shown in pixels and in grid cells.

Text

Place a tactical label box with configurable style, fill, border, width, and opacity.

Camera

Attach a reference image to a point on the map for ground-view intel, recon stills, or supplementary visuals.

KIA

Click an existing unit to toggle casualty or destroyed status without deleting it from the operation.

Keybinds

Z
Rect Zone ToolSwitches directly to rectangular zone placement.
L
Arrow ToolSwitches to route and line placement.
U
Unit ToolSwitches to unit placement.
Space
Play Or PauseToggles movement playback for the current phase.
Esc
Cancel DrawingCancels the current draft line, polygon, zone, or measuring action.
Delete
Delete SelectionRemoves the selected object or objects.
B
Brief ModeToggles briefing view by hiding side panels and most chrome.
M
Map LockToggles map interaction lock.
[
Previous PhaseMoves to the phase on the left.
]
Next PhaseMoves to the phase on the right.
Ctrl/Cmd + Z
UndoReverts the most recent operation change.
Ctrl/Cmd + Y
RedoReapplies the next available undone change.
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Z
RedoAlternate redo shortcut.
Ctrl/Cmd + C
CopyCopies the selected objects into the internal clipboard.
Ctrl/Cmd + D
DuplicateCopies and pastes the selection in one step.
Ctrl/Cmd + V
PastePastes the copied objects.
Ctrl/Cmd + P
PasteAlternate paste shortcut inside H.O.L.O.

Shortcut Scope

Most shortcuts are ignored while your cursor is typing inside an input, select, or notes field, so text editing stays safe.

Editing Objects

  • Use the right panel to edit label text, faction, base color, rotation, and scale for the currently selected object.
  • Lines can change between movement arrow, patrol arrow, and plain line, and can place arrowheads at the start, end, both, or neither.
  • Zones can change fill color, fill opacity, border color, border style, and border thickness.
  • Rect zones expose width and height controls. Radius zones size from center outward when drawn.
  • Units can be assigned to a path and optionally looped or reversed for playback.
  • Many labels support style controls including plain, holo, command, and warning looks.
  • Locked objects stay visible but cannot be moved or deleted until unlocked.

Playback And Phases

Each operation can contain multiple phases. Think of them as briefing slides with their own objects, positions, and timing context. Use the phase strip at the top to switch phases, duplicate the current phase, or remove one.

  • Use Play to animate units assigned to path lines on the current phase.
  • Use Battle to run a broader mission playback across phases.
  • Use Reset to restore units to their start positions.
  • Speed can be switched between slow, normal, and fast.
  • Multiple units on the same path move as a spaced formation line.
  • Snapped branch paths can split assigned movement across branches.

Files And Export

Action What You Get
Map Imports the base image used as the operation board.
PNG Exports the current board as a flat image. Turn on Legend first if you want the faction legend included.
Anim Exports movement playback as a WebM animation when the browser supports canvas capture.
Save Downloads the full editable operation as JSON.
Load Restores a saved H.O.L.O. JSON file into the workspace.

Rooms And Collaboration

Room Code

Joining a room only needs the room code. Admin password is optional unless you need elevated editing rights.

Activity Log

When room mode is active, the activity log appears on the right so collaborators can post short mission updates.

Return To Start

More > Start leaves the active workspace and returns to the H.O.L.O. entry screen.

Wipe

More > Wipe clears the current operation. Treat this as a destructive action and save JSON first if needed.

Recommended Workflow

  1. Open offline or create the room you need.
  2. Import the map image and set grid options if the operation needs cell references.
  3. Name the operation and create the rough phase structure.
  4. Place units and key markers using Quick Deploy or the faction palettes.
  5. Draw movement arrows, zones, and radius overlays.
  6. Add labels, notes, and camera reference images where needed.
  7. Assign units to paths and test playback.
  8. Export PNG for static sharing, WebM for animation, and JSON for the editable master copy.

Tips

  • Use Stay in tool when placing many of the same object in sequence.
  • Use Quick Deploy plus color swatches to speed up faction-specific unit placement.
  • Use Snap Nodes when you want movement arrows to share endpoints cleanly.
  • Use Brief mode before presenting so the map gets more screen space.
  • Use JSON save files as milestones before major phase edits or wipes.
  • Use camera markers for scout imagery, screenshots, or area-specific visual references.