GridReady

The simulator

Stand on the ground. Read the map. Get graded.

Stand on the ground, look around, find yourself on the map, plan a route, and walk it. Then find out what an instructor would say about it. A land nav video game, built for training.

One full run, about a minute: plot the point, plan the route, walk it, read the debrief.

Gridland, a world built for training

The simulator runs in Gridland, a training world with its own topographic map sheet. You learn the tools there before you take them onto real ground.

Real maps for the field

Separately, GridReady has free topographic maps of real U.S. regions, built from U.S. Geological Survey data. Downloaded regions work with no cell signal. GPS works offline.

Tools

Everything in the simulator

Ground view and map sheet

A first-person 3D view of the terrain beside a topographic map sheet of the same ground.

Protractor

Place it on the map and rotate it to plot points and read grid azimuths.

Compass

Shoot azimuths and back azimuths from where you stand.

Point marking

Mark where you think you are and where you plan to go.

Measure leg

Measure each leg of your route on the map.

Teleport and Return

Aim a teleport to move along your route. Return undoes it.

Go look

Stand off a named terrain feature and look at its shape from the ground.

Pitch gauge

Read how steep the ground is in front of you.

Coach

Narrates the handrails and backstops on your route as you plan and walk it.

I think I'm lost

A recovery ladder. You call your position first, then it tightens the area step by step.

Pace-and-drift walk

Measures your pace count and how far you drift off azimuth. The result feeds your route grade.

Instructor-style grading

Checks leg length against your drift, catching features, attack points, and backstops, with plain-English reasons.

Plotting a grid coordinate on the Gridland map with the coordinate scale
Plot a grid with the coordinate scale, then check your plot.
Protractor on the Gridland map reading 49 degrees, 1570 meters, 816 paces
The protractor gives azimuth, distance, and paces.
The I think I'm lost screen
I think I'm lost: call it within 500 m, then 1,000 m, then work a technique.
Setting a compass course in the Gridland simulator
Set a course on the compass, then walk it.
First-person ground view in Gridland with the pace count
On the ground in Gridland, counting paces.
Gridland debrief: off the point by 44 meters, with the actual and called positions on the map
The debrief: how far off you were, and where you called it.

Grading

How a route gets graded

The grade looks at the decisions that decide land nav, not just whether you arrived.

  • Is each leg short enough for your measured drift?
  • Is there a catching feature where you could overshoot?
  • Did you use an attack point you cannot miss?
  • Is there a backstop beyond the objective?

Each answer comes with a plain-English reason.

Example route plan with handrail, attack point, and backstop Two legs from a start point to a hilltop objective. Leg one follows a stream as a handrail to a stream junction used as the attack point. Leg two is a short leg to the objective. A road beyond the objective serves as the backstop. START LEG 1 · 066° · 2,190 m HANDRAIL: STREAM ATTACK POINT STREAM JUNCTION LEG 2 · 056° · 1,210 m OBJECTIVE HILLTOP BACKSTOP: ROAD OVERSHOOT ENDS HERE GN 1,000 m
Illustration. Grid azimuths and distances are for this diagram only. Grid squares are 1,000 meters.

Get on the ground

The simulator is included in both plans.

See plans