BZFlagWiki - User contributions [en]

Web BZFS Manager

2013-02-09T23:09:24Z

Cobra Fast: Add warning box.

{{InfoBox|Warning|The project described on this page is not actively maintained and may be limited in it's use to present situations.}}

The [[Web BZFS Manager]] is a third party project that allows server owners to manage BZFlag Servers via a web interface.
It was developed by [[User:Cobra_Fast|Cobra_Fast]].
The project is licensed under the GPL.

==Download and Installation==
You can easily download the actual version at [http://www.wtwrp.de/web_bzfs_manager http://www.wtwrp.de/web_bzfs_manager]. This page always is up to date and will offer the latest version for download.

For installation instructions see the ''setup.php'' via your browser that is contained in the package you downloaded, or view the [http://www.wtwrp.de/wbzfsm_demo/setup.php online variant] of it.

==Functions==

* Start, stop BZFS
* Web form for command line options to ease BZFS starting
* Create, delete and edit databases
* Upload and use maps and plug-ins
* User limits

==Future==

These features were planned for release with BSFlag 3.0 (AKA [[BZFlag 2.99]])

* Improved web interface
* [[Webadmin]] quick launchers

==See also==
[[Webadmin]]
[[Category:Server]]

Map making by hand

2010-11-13T18:03:16Z

Cobra Fast: added info on showcoordinates

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style. Need to reference pages elsewhere on the wiki in place of much of the content which appears to be building up here. Create them if necessary, or see the list [[Special:Allpages|here]].}}
Although there are a number of GUI options for creating maps such as BZ-Edit, 3D modelers, many map-makers use a basic text-editor. There are many times when it is necessary to make small changes to a map, such as including objects that are unavailable in GUI map-maker, but there are also some who enjoy the challenge of creating a map entirely from scratch with a text-editor.

==Text Editors==
Most text-editors designed for coding/programming are more than sufficient for editing bzw files. Although word-processing programs such as Microsoft Word can be used, there are many cheaper (free) and more efficient programs designed specifically for coding. If you are interested in syntax highlighting, look at the [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=16037&p=148953 forum topic].
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
*[http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ Notepad ++] - a tabbed editor based on Scite.

===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, or ed.
*GEdit
*Kate
*Scite

==Editing existing maps==
Beginning mapmakers should spend some time studying and making small changes in existing maps to see how things work. In the client, maps can be saved for editing by joining the desired server and choosing: Options>Save World. Maps can also be saved by issuing the /saveworld command. The map should be a simple map when getting started. One may find it easier to create a file in BZEdit and open the resulting file in the text-editor.

==Getting Started==
If you have created a box in BZEdit you may see:
{|
|
# World built with bzedit32 world class, available at
# http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/bzflag
world
size 400
end
options
+r
-j
-set _tankSpeed 25
-ms 5
-mp 0,2,0,2,0,2
end
box
name box1
position 0 0 0
size 10 10 10
rotation 0
end
|}

===What that means===
"There are set variables that define various things such as how fast your tank is, how fast the bullets are, or if it's raining or foggy. Put those in the options setting with "-set(space) " in front of it. You can also make those changes as an admin by using /set _variable (notice there is a space between the set and the _). A full list of these settings can be found on the [[Server Variables]] page. Other options, such as how many times a flag can be grabbed before it resets or if flags can land on buildings are explained [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/files/antigrav4teamconf_114.txt in this forum post]
Optionally, the variables can be placed in a separate configuration file and referenced when the server is started."
'''old'''

First, it says:
# World built with bzedit32 world class, available at
# http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/bzflag
(Note: the # sign is used for comments.)

This is the text added by the application initially, kind of like advertising. This will be the first thing anyone sees when they look at the map.

The next thing is:
<pre>
world
size 400 # Sets the world size to 400 (800 x 800 total)
end
</pre>
This is rather self-explanatory. It's the <size> of the <world> (The BZFlag arena).

Next is an <options> section:
<pre>
options
+r # Enable Ricochet
-j # Enable Jumping
-set _tankSpeed 25 # Sets the tank speed to 25 bzunits/second
-ms 5 # Sets the maximum shots (per tank) to 5
-mp 0,2,0,2,0,2 # Maximum of 2 Red Players, 2 Blue Players, and 2 Observers
end
</pre>
This allows you to define in the map file certain options that are also available from the command line when you start the bzfs server, or in the optional server config file. Options embedded into a world file will override those input on the command line or in a config file.

The commands listed here are:
Ricochet, Jumping, Tank speed, Max Shots, and Max Players.
These are rather self explanatory, except for Max Players. Each number represents how many of each of the following team players are allowed in the game (in the order listed): Rogue, Red, Green, Blue, Purple, Observer. Each number defines the max number of players per category.

For more, see [[Options_(object)|Options Object]].

We now come to:
<pre>
box
name box1 # Generally unused
position 0 0 0 # X Y Z Position
size 10 10 10 # X Y Z Size (bzunits from the position of the box)
rotation 0 # Rotation (in degrees)
end
</pre>
This is a <box> with a <name> of <box1>.
The <position> is 0,0,0 in R3[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R3].
The rest is pretty self explanatory.

'''Important:''' EVERY STATEMENT MUST HAVE AN END.

===Basic Definitions===
;Objects
:Objects are the basic building blocks of the bzw file. Objects begin with a line declaring the object, some fields describing that object, and a line that closes the object (usually with "end"). Each of these sections of the object is important.
;Comments
:BZFS ignores anything in a line following the #; the line has been "commented out." It is highly recommended that comments be used often, both for the mapmaker and for others that may see the map.
;3D Cartesian Coordinate System
:In most objects, you will see three numbers after position and size. These numbers are coordinates on a graph. The first number is the x coordinate (left and right) the middle number is the y coordinate (forward and backward) and the third number is the z coordinate (height and depth). Another way of thinking of it is: x = width, y = depth, z = height. (Those accustomed to the Y axis determining height will have to slightly adjust their thinking.)

===Optional client setup===
There are some options that appear useful when editing a map, especially when editing by hand.
;showCoordinates
:The BZFlag client is capable of displaying a tank's current location for the player at the top right corner, right below the clock. This feature is being activated by executing the "/localset showCoordinates 1" command to the chat line.

==Sample Objects==
===The Box===
Perhaps the simplest object is the box. There is actually nothing special you can do to it (but in versions of BZFlag from 2.0.8 up, you can do a lot more to it). Here is an example of a box:

box
name box1 # Optional, but good to include
position 0 0 0
size 10 10 10
rotation 0
end

In the first line, notice the word "box". It simply says the next object is a box. The next line is the name of the object. It is defined with the syntax "<tt>name ''objectName''</tt>". It is not required, but is good to include (if you have a LOT of boxes, how do you know which is which? Naming them--as well as other objects--helps you keep track). The third line defines the position of the center of the bottom of the object. The three arguments of <tt>position</tt> are the x, y, and z coordinates of the box, respectively. The x and y coordinates can be positive or negative, but the z coordinate should just be positive or zero. On the fourth line, the size of the box is defined. The arguments of <tt>size</tt> are the x, y, and z sizes of the object, respectively. The x and y arguments make the box that wide on both sides of it's position. However, the z argument makes the object exactly the number of units tall as defined. In other words, the box shown above, with a size of '10 10 10' is actually 20 units by 20 units by 10 units high, so if you want a box that is a perfect cube, you would need to make the height, or Z dimension, '20'. The next line just says how much the object is rotated. This number is the number of degrees of rotation, and can be negative or positive. The last line just tells BZFlag the object is done, and a new one can be defined. Be sure to '''always''' use this.

Below is an image of a box with a size of 5 5 10.

[[Image:box.jpg]]

===The Cone===
Most objects have similar parameters as the basic box. For instance, the code for a cone may look something like this:

cone
name cone1
position 0 0 0
size 10 10 20
divisions 128
end

Divisions basically decide how smooth the cone is. The higher the divisions the more smooth the cone is. A division of 4 would look like a pyramid. Another parameter that can be added to the cone object is angle. If you say angle 180, that would make 1/2 of a cone, 90 would make 1/4 of a cone, and so on.

===The Arc===

An arc is basically a cylinder. However it doesn’t have to be a perfect cylinder depending on certain options you select. For an arc the only required options are divisions, position and size. Just like the cone divisions have the same effect, position and size are all the same. Once again you can have an oval shaped cylinder type thing. Now, you WILL find more options to an arc than to a cone, for example the ratio option. The ratio options let you basically put a hole in the cylinder. So if you have the option: ratio 1 you would have a full cylinder. If you say for example ratio .3 or any number less than 1 you will get a hole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a semicircle. Rotation, once again, isn't really needed, unless you need a semicircle that has a certain specific orientation in your map. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later.

The screenshot below shows three arcs. The only difference between them is the inner radius number. The first is set to 1, the second to .5, and the third to .1. Notice how the texture on the top surface of the arc becomes "stretched" when the radius is less than one.

[[Image:Bzfi0015.png]]

Here is the code for the arc with the .1 ratio:

<pre>
arc
divisions 16 # number of subdivisions
angle 360 # the sweep angle
ratio .1 # (outrad - inrad) / outrad
position 0.0 -42 0.0
size 10 10 1
rotation 0.0
shift 0 0 0 # (repeatable)
scale 1 1 1 # (repeatable)
shear 0 0 0 # (repeatable)
smoothbounce # ricochets use normals
end
</pre>

Now lets see what happens if we change the angle value. The ones below use 60, 120, and 240. This is where you would need to use rotate to get the arc oriented the way you want.

[[Image:Arcs.jpg]]

Here is the code for the 60 degree arc:

<pre>
arc
divisions 16 # number of subdivisions
angle 60 # the sweep angle
ratio .5 # (outrad - inrad) / outrad
position 0.0 0.0 0.0
size 10 10 1
rotation 0.0
shift 0 0 0 # (repeatable)
scale 1 1 1 # (repeatable)
shear 0 0 0 # (repeatable)
smoothbounce # ricochets use normals
end
</pre>

Let’s move to the sphere:

===The Sphere===

The only options required to make a sphere are position, size, and divisions.
All these options do the same thing as they did in the objects above. You may also have an oval like sphere. You make an oval like sphere simply by making the x and y's different sizes just like in the cone and arc. The radius option is just a substitute for size. You can write size 10 10 10 or radius 10. Both do the same thing. However if you want an oval shaped sphere you have to use size. Rotation wouldn't really have an effect and the shear and spin works the same for this object.

==Getting more help==
*The links at the bottom of the [[:Category:Map Making|Map Making]] page.
*The original creator of this page is flight, you can email him at dirtbikerdude_91@yahoo.com and he will be happy to answer any questions that he is capable of answering.

==Special Objects==
There are certain objects that are often coded by hand because it is simpler or it is impossible to do with graphical map creation tools.

===Materials ===
Example:

material
name mat1
addtexture blue_bolt.png
end
meshbox
position 0 0 0
size 10 10 10
rotation 0
matref mat1
end

Material is letting the computer know that a material is about to be explained to it. You name it so that way you can reference it with the matref. The name can be any thing you want as long as it does not have any spaces. You type in <tt>addtexture</tt> and you state a texture name. Now, how do you know what texture names there are to use?

'''On Linux''': Running <tt>ls /usr/share/bzflag/*.png</tt> in a terminal will show the list of pictures.

'''On Mac''': If you control click (right click) on the bzflag icon, click show package contents, click contents, and click resources, those are the pictures you may use.

'''On Windows''': The default path is <tt>C:\Program Files\BZFlag\data\*.png</tt>

What you will find are images that are used in every day games. The top of a base, the wall of a base. A bullet which is blue_bolt.png (as was used above). The full path to the texture needs to be used if the texture is not found in that directory. Any customized textures should be uploaded to the [http://images.bzflag.org/submitimages/ BZFlag Image Submission System] before the map is hosted publicly.

Servers running bzfs 2.0.8 and earlier will require "meshbox" and "meshpyr" in order to apply textures and physics to these objects.

Instead of creating a new texture, many interesting and creative things can be done with the "diffuse" parameter in the material object. You can add the diffuse command and it will look like this diffuse 1 1 1 1. The first number is the amount of red that will be in the meshobject. The second number is the amount of green, the third is the amount of blue. So you can mix those colors to make more colors. You may use a range from 0-1. For example diffuse .3 .5 .26 1. The fourth number determines the opacity or transparency (the see-throughability). 0 is invisible, .5 is half invisible, and 1 is normal.

material
name mat1
diffuse .5 .25 .1 .6
addtexture mesh.png
end

===Physics===

The format of the physics driver is like this:
(note that not all the commands are used concurrently, there is no point in using a death driver with a linear driver, etc.)
<pre>
physics
name example_phydrv
linear 0.0 0.0 0.0 # x/y/z linear velocities
angular 0.0 0.0 0.0 # rotation freq, x/y coordinates
slide 0.0 # time until max velocity (> 0.0 enables)
death Message goes here.
# the 'death' property requires a non-blank message
end
</pre>

Physics drivers subject your tank to external forces. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman then you may have encountered on the outskirts of the map an object that you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics driver. Physics and materials are both similar in that you must first define them, and then apply them to an object. When you define a mesh object (regular BXFlag objects, such as boxes can't use physics drivers) you can reference that physics driver by using the phydrv command just like you would use the matref command for materials. There are different physics commands: Linear, Angular, Slide and Death. The physics driver used in the Louman map mentioned above is a linear driver. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are how much "force" is applied in a given axis x y z, and you can have force applied in more than one axis. The direction is NOT along the axis of the object you apply the physics driver to, but along the major world axis, so if your object is rotated 45 degrees, you would need to put values for both x and y in your physics driver. 45 degrees is fairly easy, but other angles would require figuring out the proportions needed to move the tank along an object rotated to a given angle, it can get a bit tricky.

Example:

physics
name phy1
linear 50 0 0
end

This will make your tank move at a speed of 50 in a positive x direction you may use -50 and it will make it go the other way.

physics
name phy2
linear 0 50 0
end

This will make your tank move at a speed of 50 in a positive y direction:

physics
name phy3
linear 0 0 50
end

This will make your tank jump (bounce) at a speed of 50:

physics
name phy4
slide 5 0
end

This will make your tank basically feel like it's on ice. Whichever way the tank is moving it will keep moving that way.

physics
name phy5
death haha! you died
end

This will make the tank die when it touches the object that refers to this and the message haha! you died will be displayed to that person.

example:
<pre>
physics
name phy1
death I like you better dead!
end

meshbox
position 0 0 0
size 10 10 10
rotation 0
phydrv phy1 # Or what ever you named the physics.
end
</pre>

This is applied to an object in a manner similar to that of a material. Both physics and materials must be created in the map file before they are referenced. The example below illustrates incorrectly placing a material definition after it is referenced by the meshbox:

<pre>
meshbox
position 0 0 0
size 10 10 10
rotation 0
matref mat1
end

material
name mat1
addtexture blue_team.png
end
</pre>

===Groups===
A group is cluster of objects that can be "gathered together" and treated as if they were a single object. Certain things cannot be included in groups:

*textureMatrix

*dynamicColor

*material

*physics

*links

*weapon

*zone

Notice that while teleporters aren't excluded from groups, you can't create links to teleporters within a group, except for purely random ones using "*"(asterisk) for the link. (this may not be entirely accurate, Trepan at one point hinted that there is a way around this...)

Groups can be nested (you can have a group that is included in another group).

For example if a map editor is making a forest, and each tree contains 2 objects, the editor doesn't want to type up the code for each tree over and over again. What he can do is tell BZFS that these objects = tree. And then whenever he wants to make a tree he just calls that group, as shown below.

Example:

First define a group of obects as a tree...
<pre>
define tree

box
position 0 0 0
size 2 2 4
end

pyramid
position 0 0 3
size 5 5 10
end

enddef
</pre>

...then, to call the "tree" group, just:
<pre>
group tree
position 0 0 0
end
</pre>

==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]
Transformations are simple ways of modifying objects so that maps have some variety. These can get complicated so I will only give you a sample of what they can do. There are 3 transformations shift, spin, and shear. You can find a more in depth page here:
[[3d Transformations]]

====Shift====

'''Shift''' moves an object by the amount of units that you specify from its present position.
the object..
box
position 10 10 0
end

is at place 10 10 0

while the object..

box
position 10 10 0
shift 0 0 10
end

is at position 10 10 10.

====Spin====
Spinning an object is just like rotating an object but can be on a different axis. (y and x)
When you rotate it is around the center of the object.
Remember: Only spin-able objects can be spun.
Here is what the code looks like:
meshbox
position 0 0 0
rotation 0
size 10 10 10
spin 45 0 1 0
end
The meshbox will now be tilted 45 degrees on its y axis.
Spin code has four numbers, the first one is how many degrees to spin.
The last three are for which axis's to spin, by placing a value of more than 0.
Spin can be a bit tricky and unintuitive to use. It is not exactly like rotate, because it is possible to "spin" something so that it ends up "underneath" the BZFlag playing field.

Spin is often best used with shift. Think of the center of your map as a sort of "construction yard". You position objects at location 0 0 0, then spin and shift them to the location you want.

Here is what you get if you use the above code in a map:

[[Image:Bzfi0012.png]]

Looks fairly normal in this screenshot, doesn't it. But if you drive around, the box will behave oddly, and appear to "float" in front of your HUD. What has happened is that the box hasn't rotated around it's own axis, but around the world axis for the whole BZFlag arena! But if we add some code to shift the box up above the z plane, it will look normal in-game.

So if we make a simple change to the above code and add a shift statement and shift the box up in z (this is not the z axis of the box, but the world axis of our game arena):

meshbox
position 0 0 0
rotation 0
size 10 10 10
spin 45 0 1 0
shift 0 0 10
end

...we get this:

[[Image:Bzfi0013.png]]

... and the box doesn't do the weird "float" thing any more. This "construction yard" technique is really handy, you just "build" your stuff smack in the middle of your map, then spin and shift it to where you want it (in the example above, it could have been shifted in x and y as well. Just don't shift and then spin, or you will be back to having things "float" again.

With shift and spin you can also work with groups and make a "master" group in the middle of your map, then shift and spin multiple copies to other locations on your map.

Packetloss

2010-10-02T21:33:44Z

Cobra Fast: typos, formatting

Packetloss is a term used in networking to describe an event where some of the data sent between computers does not reach the intended destinatioin.

This loss of data can have detrimental effects on software that is expecting the data. In the case of BZFlag this data loss causes player tanks to not show correctly on remote clients and causes the game play mechanic to fail.

Many BZFlag game servers will force a user to disconnect if his/her packetloss is too high in order to ensure a playable game for the rest of the players.

=Display=
BZFlag can display a '''packet loss percentage''' in it's lagstats. This represents an approximation of the current data loss for the user. The number is computed by keeping track of how many lagping packets are sent and how many are received. This ratio is the packetloss.

=Causes=
All packetloss happens int the network layer of a connection. The most common cause is a weak or intermittent network connection on a client's network. Low frame rate can [[Lag]] but not packetloss.

==Wireless networks==
By far the most common reason for both high packetloss and high [[Jitter]] is poor wireless networking at the client end. Wireless networks are easily interrupted by interference from other radio signals. This includes both WIFI, cellular, and satellite connections. Many of these connection technologies are not suited for high speed gaming.

===Common Solutions===
The most basic thing to try when attempting to resolve WIFI related issues is to connect client directly to the internet over an Ethernet cable. If that is not possible then changing the channel that the WIFI uses may help to reduce interference. Other issues are often are often not repairable by the end user, or just a limitation of the connection technology (i.e. satellite).

==Internet Route==
The route from the client to the server can also have packetloss, especially if the server is a long physical distance from the client, or the internet route is complex. These types of issues generally can not be resolved by the end user and are simply the nature of internet data transmissions.

FairCTF

2010-09-29T10:19:02Z

Cobra Fast: formatting, style, typos

fairCTF is a third party [[Plug-ins|plug-in]] written by L4m3r that disables CTF if team sizes are unbalanced. It can be downloaded from [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=6776 its thread on the BZBB].

==Variations==
The original version disables CTF entirely for both teams when there is an imbalance (no one can pick up any flags...even their own team's).

Constitution created a patch that changes this behavior so that only the stronger team cannot pick up the weaker team's flag and posted it in a reply to the above thread, which has been updated later.

On the second page of the thread, Optic Delusion had attached fairCTFstrong which is essentially Constitution's patch pre-applied.

==Usage==
Information on the usage of the fairCTF plug-in can be found in its README.

[[Category:Plug-Ins]]

Installing on Linux

2010-09-28T18:07:33Z

Cobra Fast: external links

There are various packages of BZFlag available to many different distributions.

== Compiling from Source ==
This document is not designed to cover information about compiling.

{{main|Compiling}}

== Installing from tarball ==
You extract it and run the install script as root.

== Installing using a package manager ==
This depends on your distribution. Different distributions use different package managers.

To understand the command lines please understand:
$ ''indicates a user shell''
# ''indicates a root shell''

$ sudo ''is replaceable by'' #

=== Graphical Package Managers ===
Search for "BZFlag" and install it. 
BZFlag will most likely be sorted to the Games category.

=== Fedora / Red Hat / Mandriva / SUSE ===
$ sudo yum install bzflag

For the server package:
$ sudo yum install bzflag-server

=== Native RPM ===
$ sudo rpm -ivh bzflag.x86.208.rpm

=== Ubuntu / Debian ===
$ sudo apt-get install bzflag

For the server package:
$ sudo apt-get install bzflag-server

=== Other Debian / DPKG ===

If you're only using the DPKG/Apt package manager you will be abled to install your downloaded package with the following command:

# dpkg -i package.deb

Replace package.deb with the particular package you want to install (e.g. bzflag-2.0.13.deb).

Download required packages from here: http://packages.debian.org/sid/bzflag

* bzflag
* bzflag-data
* bzflag-client
* bzflag-server

Please note that you need to resolve any further dependencies yourself, DPKG can't do this for you.

=== Gentoo ===

# emerge bzflag

== External Links ==
* http://sourceforge.net/projects/bzflag/files/ Official BZFlag file repository on SourceForge
* http://packages.debian.org/sid/bzflag BZFlag-packages for debian sid in the official debian repository

[[Category:Installing]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

Installing on Linux

2010-09-28T18:04:47Z

Cobra Fast: added instructions for DPKG and GUI installers, formatting & additional info

BZFS API

2010-09-28T16:10:28Z

Cobra Fast:

The BZFS API (Application Programmers Interface) is a set of C++ functions, structures, and classes that is exported by [[BZFS]] to be used by [[Plug-ins]]. The API provides access to the various states and data structures of a running BZFS game and is the primary method of communication between a plug-in and the game server.

==Overview==
The BZFS API is defined entirely in the '''bzfsAPI.h''' header file that is part of the [[BZFlag Source]] code. The header is also included with each install of the BZFlag installer for Microsoft Windows.

Plug-ins include this file in their source code so that they may access the functions it contains.

==Naming Conventions==
All BZFS API code structures will begin with the prefix '''bz''' or '''bz_''' for clarification and to prevent conflicts with names of code structures inside BZFS or any plug-ins.

==API Versions==
The API was added in version 2.0.4 of BZFlag. While working well for many users, it was found to be lacking in a number of features that would make make it difficult for plug-ins to run when the API itself was changed.

As of version 2.1 of BZFlag, the entire API was versioned and set up to use derived classes so that plug-ins written to use an older version of the API will work in newer versions of the software. Newer data structures would be put into further derived classes and would not be seen by the older plug-in. Due to this change a large number of API functions changed in name. This change causes all older 2.0.x plug-ins to no longer work with out a source code change. Once older plug-ins are updated to the new 2.1 API they will use the new versioning system and work fine in newer versions with out any needed changes.

==Entry Points==
There are 3 primary entry points into each plug-in. These entry points are the 3 core functions that every plug-in must implement.

BZF_PLUGIN_CALL int [[bz_Load]] ( const char* command );
BZF_PLUGIN_CALL int [[bz_Unload]] ( void );
BZF_PLUGIN_CALL int [[bz_GetVersion]] ( void );

[[bz_Load]] is called when the plug-in is first initialized. This is when the plug-in should register any [[Event(API)|event handlers]] needed and initialize any "one time" startup data.

[[bz_Unload]] is called when a plug-in is no longer needed and will be shut down. This is most commonly called when bzfs is shutting down, or when a plug-in is unloaded manualy.

[[bz_GetVersion]] is called by bzfs before any other functions are called. The function should return the version of the API that it is written for. This is to prevent bzfs from attempting to load plug-ins that use a newer incompatible API.

'''bzfsAPI.h''' defines a C MACRO to help ease the implementation of this function. All a plug-in must do is put the macro;

BZ_GET_PLUGIN_VERSION

somewhere in its sources, and then export the function. This will automatically return the API version of the current API you are using. See the sample plug-ins for examples. These will be the only 3 functions called by bzfs for non-event actions.

All entry point functions should be preceded with the BZF_PLUGIN_CALL macro. This macro will tell your compiler to export these functions so bzfs can call them after the plug-in is loaded.

==Types==

Due to how Microsoft Windows handles memory access between an application and dynamically loaded Libaries(DLLs), there are a few custom data types that are used in the API. These are used for common STL style containers, for strings and lists.

===bz_APIString===
Any text passed back from the API or events will come in the form of a [[bz_APIString]]. This is a class defined in the API that behaves much like a std::string. The 'c_str()' method can be used to get the text out as a normal 'const char*'. The class also supports many assignment functions for setting it's contents.

A plug-in should never need to make variables of its' own using the [[bz_APIString]] type, but should use a standard stl std::string instead, [[bz_APIString]] provides an appropriate assignment operator.

[[bz_APIString]] also includes some utility functions such as replace all and tokenize that are commonly needed by plug-ins.

{{main|bz_APIString}}

===bz_APILists===

A few API functions require lists of integers, strings, or floats. For these functions the plug-in will need to use one of the following list classes. These classes are similar to the std::vector in implementation. When a plug-in needs to allocate one of these lists, it must use the appropriate allocator function, so BZFS can make a new list for the plug-in to use. These will return a pointer to a new list for the plug-in to use. When the plug-in is finished with the list, it needs to tell BZFS to delete the list with a call to the appropriate delete function.
The lists types are;
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"
!List
!allocator function
!delete function
!contained type
|-
|[[bz_APIIntList]]
|[[bz_newIntList]]
|[[bz_deleteIntList]]
|int
|-
|[[bz_APIFloatList]]
|[[bz_newFloatList]]
|[[bz_deleteFloatList]]
|float
|-
|[[bz_APIStringList]]
|[[bz_newStringList]]
|[[bz_deleteStringList]]
|[[bz_APIString]]
|}

===Enumerations===
A number of enumerations exist in the API and are used by a number of API functions and events.
[[bz_eTeamType]]
[[Event(API)|bz_eEventType]]
[[bz_eShotType]]
[[bz_eGameType]]
[[bz_ePlayerStatus]]
[[bz_eWorldObjectType]]
[[bz_eAPIColType]]
[[bz_ePlayerType]]
[[bz_eRejectCodes]]
[[bz_ePlayerDeathReason]]

==Events==
Plug-ins can register callbacks so they can be notified of various actions and state changes in the current BZFS game. These events tell a plug-in when important things happen, such as when a player has spawned, or is killed. These events are the primary form of communication from the BZFS server into the plug-in.

{{main|Event(API)}}

==Functions==
The BZFS API provides a number of functions to plug-ins for use in querying the current game state. Functions are used both to get information about the game, and to trigger in game actions, such as activating a world weapon.

{{main|Functions(API)}}

==Wiki Documentation==
The documentation for the API provided on this wiki is mostly concerned with the current development version of the software. There have been changes over time to the API. Any changes to classes and functions will be noted in the new documentation under a ''History'' section. In general the initial API that was released with the 2.0.x product line was not consistent, and many of these inconsistencies are being worked out with newer versions of the API (3.0 and later)

All API developers should use the bzfsAPI.h file as well for exact spellings of methods and parameters.

==See Also==

* [[Event(API)|API Events]]
* [[Functions(API)|API Functions]]
* [[Plug-ins]]
* [[BZFS]]

[[Category:Development]]
[[Category:Plug-Ins]]

BZFS API

2010-09-28T16:07:35Z

Cobra Fast: remove obsolete DoDoc

The BZFS API (Application Programmers Interface) is a set of C++ functions, structures, and classes that is exported by [[BZFS]] to be used by [[Plug-ins]]. The API provides access to the various states and data structures of a running BZFS game and is the primary method of communication between a plug-in and the game server.

==Overview==
The BZFS API is defined entirely in the '''bzfsAPI.h''' header file that is part of the [[BZFlag Source]] code. The header is also included with each install of the BZFlag installer for Microsoft Windows.

Plug-ins include this file in their source code so that they may access the functions it contains.

==Naming Conventions==
All BZFS API code structures will begin with the prefix '''bz''' or '''bz_''' for clarification and to prevent conflicts with names of code structures inside BZFS or any plug-ins.

==API Versions==
The API was added in version 2.0.4 of BZFlag. While working well for many users, it was found to be lacking in a number of features that would make make it difficult for plug-ins to run when the API itself was changed.

As of version 2.1 of BZFlag, the entire API was versioned and set up to use derived classes so that plug-ins written to use an older version of the API will work in newer versions of the software. Newer data structures would be put into further derived classes and would not be seen by the older plug-in. Due to this change a large number of API functions changed in name. This change causes all older 2.0.x plug-ins to no longer work with out a source code change. Once older plug-ins are updated to the new 2.1 API they will use the new versioning system and work fine in newer versions with out any needed changes.

==Entry Points==
There are 3 primary entry points into each plug-in. These entry points are the 3 core functions that every plug-in must implement.

BZF_PLUGIN_CALL int [[bz_Load]] ( const char* command );
BZF_PLUGIN_CALL int [[bz_Unload]] ( void );
BZF_PLUGIN_CALL int [[bz_GetVersion]] ( void );

[[bz_Load]] is called when the plug-in is first initialized. This is when the plug-in should register any [[Event(API)|event handlers]] needed and initialize any "one time" startup data.

[[bz_Unload]] is called when a plug-in is no longer needed and will be shut down. This is most commonly called when bzfs is shutting down, or when a plug-in is unloaded manualy.

[[bz_GetVersion]] is called by bzfs before any other functions are called. The function should return the version of the API that it is written for. This is to prevent bzfs from attempting to load plug-ins that use a newer incompatible API.

'''bzfsAPI.h''' defines a C MACRO to help ease the implementation of this function. All a plug-in must do is put the macro;

BZ_GET_PLUGIN_VERSION

somewhere in its sources, and then export the function. This will automatically return the API version of the current API you are using. See the sample plug-ins for examples. These will be the only 3 functions called by bzfs for non-event actions.

All entry point functions should be preceded with the BZF_PLUGIN_CALL macro. This macro will tell your compiler to export these functions so bzfs can call them after the plug-in is loaded.

==Types==

Due to how Microsoft Windows handles memory access between an application and dynamically loaded Libaries(DLLs), there are a few custom data types that are used in the API. These are used for common STL style containers, for strings and lists.

===bz_ApiString===
Any text passed back from the API or events will come in the form of a [[bz_APIString]]. This is a class defined in the API that behaves much like a std::string. The 'c_str()' method can be used to get the text out as a normal 'const char*'. The class also supports many assignment functions for setting it's contents.

A plug-in should never need to make variables of its' own using the [[bz_APIString]] type, but should use a standard stl std::string instead, [[bz_APIString]] provides an appropriate assignment operator.

[[bz_APIString]] also includes some utility functions such as replace all and tokenize that are commonly needed by plug-ins.

{{main|bz_APIString}}

===bz_APILists===

A few API functions require lists of integers, strings, or floats. For these functions the plug-in will need to use one of the following list classes. These classes are similar to the std::vector in implementation. When a plug-in needs to allocate one of these lists, it must use the appropriate allocator function, so BZFS can make a new list for the plug-in to use. These will return a pointer to a new list for the plug-in to use. When the plug-in is finished with the list, it needs to tell BZFS to delete the list with a call to the appropriate delete function.
The lists types are;
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"
!List
!allocator function
!delete function
!contained type
|-
|[[bz_APIIntList]]
|[[bz_newIntList]]
|[[bz_deleteIntList]]
|int
|-
|[[bz_APIFloatList]]
|[[bz_newFloatList]]
|[[bz_deleteFloatList]]
|float
|-
|[[bz_APIStringList]]
|[[bz_newStringList]]
|[[bz_deleteStringList]]
|[[bz_APIString]]
|}

===Enumerations===
A number of enumerations exist in the API and are used by a number of API functions and events.
[[bz_eTeamType]]
[[Event(API)|bz_eEventType]]
[[bz_eShotType]]
[[bz_eGameType]]
[[bz_ePlayerStatus]]
[[bz_eWorldObjectType]]
[[bz_eAPIColType]]
[[bz_ePlayerType]]
[[bz_eRejectCodes]]
[[bz_ePlayerDeathReason]]

==Events==
Plug-ins can register callbacks so they can be notified of various actions and state changes in the current BZFS game. These events tell a plug-in when important things happen, such as when a player has spawned, or is killed. These events are the primary form of communication from the BZFS server into the plug-in.

{{main|Event(API)}}

==Functions==
The BZFS API provides a number of functions to plug-ins for use in querying the current game state. Functions are used both to get information about the game, and to trigger in game actions, such as activating a world weapon.

{{main|Functions(API)}}

==Wiki Documentation==
The documentation for the API provided on this wiki is mostly concerned with the current development version of the software. There have been changes over time to the API. Any changes to classes and functions will be noted in the new documentation under a ''History'' section. In general the initial API that was released with the 2.0.x product line was not consistent, and many of these inconsistencies are being worked out with newer versions of the API (3.0 and later)

All API developers should use the bzfsAPI.h file as well for exact spellings of methods and parameters.

==See Also==

* [[Event(API)|API Events]]
* [[Functions(API)|API Functions]]
* [[Plug-ins]]
* [[BZFS]]

[[Category:Development]]
[[Category:Plug-Ins]]

BZFS API

2010-09-28T16:06:37Z

Cobra Fast: formatting

{{DoDoc|fill in articles for all API functions}}

The BZFS API (Application Programmers Interface) is a set of C++ functions, structures, and classes that is exported by [[BZFS]] to be used by [[Plug-ins]]. The API provides access to the various states and data structures of a running BZFS game and is the primary method of communication between a plug-in and the game server.

==Overview==
The BZFS API is defined entirely in the '''bzfsAPI.h''' header file that is part of the [[BZFlag Source]] code. The header is also included with each install of the BZFlag installer for Microsoft Windows.

Plug-ins include this file in their source code so that they may access the functions it contains.

==Naming Conventions==
All BZFS API code structures will begin with the prefix '''bz''' or '''bz_''' for clarification and to prevent conflicts with names of code structures inside BZFS or any plug-ins.

==API Versions==
The API was added in version 2.0.4 of BZFlag. While working well for many users, it was found to be lacking in a number of features that would make make it difficult for plug-ins to run when the API itself was changed.

As of version 2.1 of BZFlag, the entire API was versioned and set up to use derived classes so that plug-ins written to use an older version of the API will work in newer versions of the software. Newer data structures would be put into further derived classes and would not be seen by the older plug-in. Due to this change a large number of API functions changed in name. This change causes all older 2.0.x plug-ins to no longer work with out a source code change. Once older plug-ins are updated to the new 2.1 API they will use the new versioning system and work fine in newer versions with out any needed changes.

==Entry Points==
There are 3 primary entry points into each plug-in. These entry points are the 3 core functions that every plug-in must implement.

BZF_PLUGIN_CALL int [[bz_Load]] ( const char* command );
BZF_PLUGIN_CALL int [[bz_Unload]] ( void );
BZF_PLUGIN_CALL int [[bz_GetVersion]] ( void );

[[bz_Load]] is called when the plug-in is first initialized. This is when the plug-in should register any [[Event(API)|event handlers]] needed and initialize any "one time" startup data.

[[bz_Unload]] is called when a plug-in is no longer needed and will be shut down. This is most commonly called when bzfs is shutting down, or when a plug-in is unloaded manualy.

[[bz_GetVersion]] is called by bzfs before any other functions are called. The function should return the version of the API that it is written for. This is to prevent bzfs from attempting to load plug-ins that use a newer incompatible API.

'''bzfsAPI.h''' defines a C MACRO to help ease the implementation of this function. All a plug-in must do is put the macro;

BZ_GET_PLUGIN_VERSION

somewhere in its sources, and then export the function. This will automatically return the API version of the current API you are using. See the sample plug-ins for examples. These will be the only 3 functions called by bzfs for non-event actions.

All entry point functions should be preceded with the BZF_PLUGIN_CALL macro. This macro will tell your compiler to export these functions so bzfs can call them after the plug-in is loaded.

==Types==

Due to how Microsoft Windows handles memory access between an application and dynamically loaded Libaries(DLLs), there are a few custom data types that are used in the API. These are used for common STL style containers, for strings and lists.

===bz_ApiString===
Any text passed back from the API or events will come in the form of a [[bz_APIString]]. This is a class defined in the API that behaves much like a std::string. The 'c_str()' method can be used to get the text out as a normal 'const char*'. The class also supports many assignment functions for setting it's contents.

A plug-in should never need to make variables of its' own using the [[bz_APIString]] type, but should use a standard stl std::string instead, [[bz_APIString]] provides an appropriate assignment operator.

[[bz_APIString]] also includes some utility functions such as replace all and tokenize that are commonly needed by plug-ins.

{{main|bz_APIString}}

===bz_APILists===

A few API functions require lists of integers, strings, or floats. For these functions the plug-in will need to use one of the following list classes. These classes are similar to the std::vector in implementation. When a plug-in needs to allocate one of these lists, it must use the appropriate allocator function, so BZFS can make a new list for the plug-in to use. These will return a pointer to a new list for the plug-in to use. When the plug-in is finished with the list, it needs to tell BZFS to delete the list with a call to the appropriate delete function.
The lists types are;
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"
!List
!allocator function
!delete function
!contained type
|-
|[[bz_APIIntList]]
|[[bz_newIntList]]
|[[bz_deleteIntList]]
|int
|-
|[[bz_APIFloatList]]
|[[bz_newFloatList]]
|[[bz_deleteFloatList]]
|float
|-
|[[bz_APIStringList]]
|[[bz_newStringList]]
|[[bz_deleteStringList]]
|[[bz_APIString]]
|}

===Enumerations===
A number of enumerations exist in the API and are used by a number of API functions and events.
[[bz_eTeamType]]
[[Event(API)|bz_eEventType]]
[[bz_eShotType]]
[[bz_eGameType]]
[[bz_ePlayerStatus]]
[[bz_eWorldObjectType]]
[[bz_eAPIColType]]
[[bz_ePlayerType]]
[[bz_eRejectCodes]]
[[bz_ePlayerDeathReason]]

==Events==
Plug-ins can register callbacks so they can be notified of various actions and state changes in the current BZFS game. These events tell a plug-in when important things happen, such as when a player has spawned, or is killed. These events are the primary form of communication from the BZFS server into the plug-in.

{{main|Event(API)}}

==Functions==
The BZFS API provides a number of functions to plug-ins for use in querying the current game state. Functions are used both to get information about the game, and to trigger in game actions, such as activating a world weapon.

{{main|Functions(API)}}

==Wiki Documentation==
The documentation for the API provided on this wiki is mostly concerned with the current development version of the software. There have been changes over time to the API. Any changes to classes and functions will be noted in the new documentation under a ''History'' section. In general the initial API that was released with the 2.0.x product line was not consistent, and many of these inconsistencies are being worked out with newer versions of the API (3.0 and later)

All API developers should use the bzfsAPI.h file as well for exact spellings of methods and parameters.

==See Also==

* [[Event(API)|API Events]]
* [[Functions(API)|API Functions]]
* [[Plug-ins]]
* [[BZFS]]

[[Category:Development]]
[[Category:Plug-Ins]]

Bzfscron

2010-09-28T15:59:33Z

Cobra Fast: more information on syntax given

{{DoDoc|
* cleanup the article according to the standards, and other plug-in articles.
* explain more of how the plugin works and how to set it up.}}

One of the first plugins, and still arguably the most powerful, bzfscron allows you to run arbitrary /slash commands on a schedule. It supports a very complete crontab parser that closely approximates those found on most modern *nix systems.

With bzfs 2.0.x, limitations in the server API force bzfscron to use an ingenious, but hackish way to deliver its commands. An "observer" called "bzfscron" joins the server. The plugin promotes itself (the pseudo-player) to administrator automatically, so you don't need to worry about permissions. Establishing a TCP connection to one's own thread is very weird and very ugly. However, for the limited purposes of this plugin, it works.

Bzfscron in version 2.0.10 accepts a config file to to specify crontab and observer name.

Bzfscron has been completely redesigned to use a server-side player in BZFlag 2.99 and newer.

==Syntax and Examples==

1 * * * * /flag reset all # reset all flags on the first minute of every hour, every day, every month
* * * * 1 /flag reset all # reset all flags every monday
59 23 31 12 * /shutdownserver # shut down the server at the very end of the year

* * * * * /command
┬ ┬ ┬ ┬ ┬
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └──── Day of the week (0-7) (Sunday =0 or =7)
│ │ │ └────── Month (1-12)
│ │ └──────── Day (1-31)
│ └────────── Hour (0-23)
└──────────── Minute (0-59)

==See also==
*Original bzfscron announcement: http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5018
*Bzfscron rewrite information: http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=10095

[[Category:Plug-Ins]]
[[Category:Server]]

Bzfscron

2010-09-28T15:49:26Z

Cobra Fast: DoDoc updated.

Wwzones

2010-09-28T15:46:25Z

Cobra Fast: complete article review, DoDoc removed

The plugin will fire a map defined world weapon whenever a player is in a map defined volume.

It could be used for landmines, booby traps, clearing campers in difficult locations, general amusement, etc.

Multiple zones with different weapons, etc. may be used in same map file.

=Usage=

The general form of a wwzone [[BZW]] map entry looks like the following:

wwzone
cylinder <X> <Y> <Zmin> <Zmax> <radius>
zoneweapon <flagType> <lifetime> <X> <Y> <Z> <tilt> <direction> <shotID> <nowiki><DT></nowiki>
playermessage <message>
servermessage <message>
infomessage
repeat <seconds>
timedelay <seconds>
end

or with a bbox instead of a cylinder

wwzone
bbox <Xmin> <Xmax> <Ymin> <Ymax> <Zmin> <Zmax>
zoneweapon <flagType> <lifetime> <X> <Y> <Z> <tilt> <direction> <shotID> <nowiki><DT></nowiki>
playermessage <message>
servermessage <message>
infomessage
repeat <seconds>
timedelay <seconds>
end

=Parameters=

===bbox / cylinder===

These define the volume on the map that will trigger a world weapon whenever players enter it.

bbox <Xmin> <Xmax> <Ymin> <Ymax> <Zmin> <Zmax>

or

cylinder <X> <Y> <Zmin> <Zmax> <radius>

===zoneweapon===

This defines the world weapon. 

zoneweapon <flagType> <lifetime> <X> <Y> <Z> <tilt> <direction> <shotID> <nowiki><DT></nowiki>

<properties>
flagType=The [[FlagCode]] of the weapon to be used. This must be a valid weapon.
lifetime=Defines the lifetime of the weapon's shots in seconds.
X Y Z=The position of the weapon. The xy-plane is the ground, and z is up.
tilt=The tilt of the weapon, measured from the ground. Units are degrees.
direction=Defines the direction of the weapon in the xy-plane (the ground). Units are degrees.
shotID=All shots have an integer ID. This is the ID to be used for this shot. If this is 0, a shot ID will be automatically generated.
DT= Defines the initial delay time of the world weapon in seconds.
</properties>

===playermessage===

If used (optional), this sends a custom message to a player when he or she triggers the world weapon.

playermessage "your message here"

===servermessage===

If used (optional), this sends a custom message to all players when a world weapon is triggered.

servermessage "your message here"

===infomessage===

If used (optional), this will issue a standard message to all players, stating which type of world weapon was triggered by whom. This message cannot be customized.

infomessage

===repeat===

If used (optional), this will repeat weapon fire while a player is in the defined volume. The parameter <seconds> defines the repeat time of the weapon (minimum 0.1 seconds). If <seconds> not specified, the default is 0.5 seconds. If repeat is not included in definition, the weapon will only fire once when a player enters the zone.

repeat <seconds>

===timedelay===
If used (optional), this will delay the initial fire of the world weapon by the specified number of seconds.

timedelay <seconds>

=Examples=

In the following example, a cuboid-shaped wwzone with the dimensions 50 x 50 x 1 and centered at (-50, 50, 1) is created. If a player remains in the defined zone for at least two seconds, a [[ShockWave]] weapon will fire in (approximately) 0.25 second intervals thereafter. The [[ShockWave]] world weapon is positioned at the coordinates (0, 0, 1), and the message, "You triggered Shockwave!" will be sent to the player who triggers it.
{|
|
wwzone
bbox -80 -30 -80 -30 0 2
zoneweapon SW 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
playermessage "You triggered Shockwave!
repeat .25
timedelay 2
end
|}

This will fire a laser in 0.5 second intervals while a player is in the volume defined by the bbox. In this example, the volume is a rectangular box with the dimensions 50 x 50 x 1 centered at the coordinates (50, 50, 1). The laser is positioned at the coordinates (5, 5, 1) and is tilted up 45 degrees from the xy-plane (the ground) with a heading of 25 degrees. When initially triggered, the message, "Laserz rule!" is sent to all players.
{|
|
wwzone
bbox 30 80 30 80 0 2
zoneweapon L 1 5 5 1 45 25 0 0
servermessage "Laserz rule!"
repeat
end
|}

In this example, a cylindrical wwzone that fires a Guided Missile is defined. The defined volume has a radius of 20 [[World units]], a height of six, and is centered at the coordinates (50, -50, 3). The weapon is centered at (0, 0, 1) with both the tilt and heading set to 0 degrees. If a player remains in this volume for one second, the weapon will fire only once, and when it is triggered, the message, "GM triggered by <callsign>" is sent to all players.
{|
|
wwzone
cylinder 50 -50 0 6 20
zoneweapon GM 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
infomessage
timedelay 1
end
|}

=External Links=
* http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=9949&p=98931&hilit=wwzones#p98931 Wwzones plugin page.

[[Category:Development]]
[[Category:Plug-Ins]]

Teamflagreset

2010-09-28T15:39:58Z

Cobra Fast: typo

The teamflagreset plugin will look at the team flags and see if they have been held by a player and dropped - if so, it will start timing to a limit. If the flag is not picked up again within that time limit the team flag will reset with a message saying which team flag sat idle too long.

It will also automatically disable itself for teams with no players and for only 1 team in the match (no opposing teams).

=Usage=

The plugin will allow the time limit to be passed to it through the -loadplugin command line with bzfs. The format is as follows:

-loadplugin <filepath>[,<m>]

where <m> is the timer value (in minutes) for timed ctf. 
For example, "''-loadplugin plugins/teamflagreset,2''", would start the plugin with the timer set for 2 minutes. 
The minimum is 1 minute and the maximum is 120 minutes. 
If no time is specified, the plugin defaults to 5 minutes.

=Server Commands=

There are 4 administrator commands available with the plugin:

/tfrtime <m> - this will set timer interval for checking idle flags to <m> minutes (1-120).
/tfroff - this will disable the timer.
/tfron - this will enable the timer.
/tfrstatus - this will return the status of the timer (enabled or disabled and time interval).

[[Category:Plug-Ins]]

Teamflagreset

2010-09-28T15:39:23Z

Cobra Fast: complete article review, DoDoc removed

Timedctf

2010-09-28T15:33:13Z

Cobra Fast: complete article review, DoDoc removed

The timedctf plugin will start a timed capture the flag game in which a team must capture another team's flag in a configurable amount of time.

=Description=
* If the time expires before the team captures a flag, all members of the team will be destroyed and the timer will restart for that team.
* If the team captures another team's flag before their time expires, their timer is reset and starts counting down again.
* All 4 teams have individual timers.

There are '''warning messages''' sent to individual teams as their time starts to expire:

* A warning every minute (with time remaining) until the last minute. 
* A warning at 30 seconds before time expires.
* A warning at 20 seconds before time expires.
* A warning at 10 seconds before time expires.

The plugin also monitors the '''balance of teams''' and will disable the timer if teams are uneven. To determine if teams are balanced or not, at least a 75% match is used. This means that even teams would be considered:

These would work:
* 2 vs 2 (100%)
* 3 vs 4 (75%)

These won't:
* 2 vs 4 (50%)
* 1 vs 4 (25%)

The percentage is calculated this way:
smaller team / larger team * 100

If the teams are uneven, capture the flag is disabled; if a player tries to pick up a team flag, it will almost immediately be dropped.

The plugin is set up for all 4 teams (red, green, blue and purple) and will monitor/time all 4 teams. However, it is best suited to 2 team capture the flag type maps in that it only looks for the 75% match between any 2 team sizes. This means that it is possible (on a 4 team ctf map) to have teams considered to be even if:

1 vs 1 vs 3 vs 1 
2 vs 2 vs 8 vs 1 
and so on.

There are also informative messages when the status of the game changes, for example:

If a new player joins/parts that causes team imbalance, a message is sent stating that teams are uneven and timed ctf is disabled. If a new player joins/parts that balances teams out, a message is sent that timed ctf is enabled and how much time there is to capture a flag. And so on...

There are also standard CTF sounds used whenever significant events take place.

Note that the balance of teams will still be monitored when the ctf timer is off, and team flags will be dropped if teams are uneven (as described above). This allows this plugin to be utilized for fair, normal ctf play as well, if the ctf timer is turned off. If both functions (tctf and fairctf) are turned off, the plugin is effectively disabled. If the fair CTF function is disabled and the timed CTF function is enabled, the plugin will check for at least 2 teams
present before allowing timed CTF to take place.

=Usage=

The plugin will allow the time limit to be passed to the plugin through the -loadplugin command line with bzfs. The format is as follows:

"'''-loadplugin <path>timedctf,i'''" where i is the timer value (in minutes)for timed ctf. For example,"-loadplugin plugins/timedctf,7" would start the plugin with the timer set for 7 minutes. The minimum is 1 minute and the maximum is 120 minutes. If no time is specified, the plugin defaults to 5 minutes.

=Server Commands=
The plugin has the following '''administration''' commands available:

/tctftime <iii> - this will change required capture time to <iii> (1-120 minutes). 
/tctfoff - this will disable timed CTF. 
/tctfon - this will enable timed CTF. 
/tctfsoundoff - this will disable timed CTF sounds. 
/tctfsoundon - this will enable timed CTF sounds. 
/tctfstatus - this will return the current status of functions and the current time limit. 
/fairctfoff - this will disable the fair ctf function. 
/fairctfon - this will enable the fair ctf function. 

[[Category:Development]]
[[Category:Plug-Ins]]

KeepAway

2010-09-28T15:23:15Z

Cobra Fast: complete article review, DoDoc removed

The keepaway plugin will create a Keep Away game mode in which a player/team must hold a "Keep Away" flag (defined in map file) for a defined amount of time; if held long enough all other teams (or players) are killed.

=Description=
* [[Server]] messaging for Keep Away flag is free (which one to hold), Keep Away flag held (by whom and how long they have to hold it), regular countdown warnings while someone is holding the Keep Away Flag (every minute and 30, 20 & 10 seconds until flag is held long enough), and successful Keep Away announcements. Long callsigns are truncated in server messages.

* Players cannot pause while holding Keep Away flag - if they try the flag will be taken away with a warning message not to do so.

* Keep Away will be disabled until there are 2 or more teams, 2 or more rogue players, or at least 1 rogue player and 1 or more team player(s).

* It is highly recommended to add exactly 1 flag to the map file for each type of flag that might be considered the Keep Away flag. Duplicate Keep Away flags has not been tested.

* There is an autotime function (optional) that will reduce the time to hold the Keep Away flag, based on the number of players in the game. With this option enabled, the time is reduced a certain percentage (default is 3%) with every additional player (after 2) to a certain minimum percentage (defaut is 50%) of the original specified time to hold. This means that (with default settings) the time to hold would not be affected for 2 players, but would be reduced by 3% for 3 players, 6% for 4 players and so on. The minimum 50% of the original time to hold would be reached at about 19 players and would remain at 50%, no matter how many additional players were to join after that.

* Local sounds for dropped Keep Away flag, team grab, successful Keep Away, etc. are incorporated into plugin. In general, these sounds correspond to standard CTF sounds.

* There is a "/kas <message>" command available to all players to send a message to person holding the Keep Away flag.

* There is a "/kaf" command available to all players that will return the current Keep Away flag to find.

=Usage=

There are 2 modes of play available:

# '''Teamplay''': if a player from a team holds the Keep Away flag long enough, all other teams (except his/hers) are killed. Score credits are given to the team, but not given to player that kept the flag. If a rogue manages to hold the Keep Away flag long enough in this mode, all players (except him/her) are killed and he/she gets individual score credit for all of the kills.
# '''No teamplay''': for this mode it is recommended to set up a map with only rogue players allowed. If a player holds the Keep Away flag long enough, all other players are killed and score credit is given to the player who held the Keep Away flag for all of the kills. Obviously, if teams are allowed in this mode, it would result in repeated team kills - no fun. Basically this is a free-for-all mode for Keep Away.

The parameters of the Keep Away (keepaway) map definition are follows:

* '''teamplay'''

Optional. This will enable the teamplay mode of Keep Away (see above). If not included, teamplay is disabled and it becomes as basic free for all Keep Away mode.

* '''holdtime <seconds>'''

Optional. This defines the time (in seconds) required to hold the Keep Away flag before a player is declared winner and other teams/players are zapped. If not included, the default setting is 120 seconds (2 minutes). The limits of this setting are controlled to a minimum of 1 second and a maximum of 7200 seconds.

* '''autotime <multiplier> <minimum multiplier>'''

Optional. This will enable the automatic time reduction feature of the plugin that will reduce the time to hold the Keep Away flag, based on the number of players in the game (see description above). The multiplier field will set the hold time reduction percentage per new player. The minimum multiplier field will set the minimum hold time reduction percentage. If these fields are left blank, the default multiplier = 3% and the default minimum multiplier = 50%. The
multiplier fields should be between 1 and 99 (percent).

* '''forcedflags'''

Optional. This will force sequential Keep Away flag selection based on flags defined in flag parameter (below). If a player is holding the next flag to be used as Keep Away flag, it is taken away from him/her with a message apologizing for the take ("Sorry, server needs your flag for Keep Away :/"). If this parameter is not included, the plugin will take away the winner's flag and search for the next available Keep Away flag that is not held. If it cannot find one, it will repeat the Keep Away flag that was just used.

* '''keepawayflags <flag type> <flag type> <flag type> <flag type> <flag type>...'''

Required. This will define which flags the plugin will cycle through as Keep Away flags. At least one is required. If no flags are defined, the plugin will be effectively disabled. Remember, the plugin has not been tested for duplicate flags on the map, so it is highly recommended to explicitly define only 1 flag per Keep Away flag type to be present on map.

* '''nosound'''

Optional. This will disable sounds associated with Keep Away plugin(some clients seem to have issues with this feature).

* '''noflagreset'''

Optional. This will disable automatic flag reset function of the Keep Away plugin (enabled as default).

=Examples=

Examples of map (.bzw) entries:

keepaway
holdtime 90
autotime 2 40
keepawayflags SB G TH MG GM L
forcedflags
teamplay
noflagreset
end

This would set up a Keep Away game using Super Bullet, Genocide, Thief, Machine Gun, Guided Missile and Laser flags for Keep Away flags. Teamplay would be enabled and the initial required time to hold the Keep Away flag would be 90 seconds (1.5 minutes). Time to hold would automatically adjust downward with new players; 2% per new player after 2, to a minimum of 40% of the original time to hold (36 seconds). The automatic flag reset function of the plugin would be disabled.

keepaway
holdtime 60
keepawayflags IB PZ US RO
teamplay
nosound
end

This would set up a Keep Away game using Invisible Bullet, Phantom Zone, Useless and Reverse Only flags for Keep Away flags. Teamplay would be enabled and the initial required time to hold the Keep Away flag would be 60 seconds (1 minute). Time to hold would not automatically adjust downward with new players - it would remain at 60 seconds. The sounds associated with Keep Away would be disabled.

Obviously, the plugin must be loaded to the server at startup, or it will not recoginize these map parameters.

=Server Commands=
There are two commands '''available to all players''' with the plugin:

/kas <message> - this will send message to the player holding the Keep Away flag.
/kaf - this will return the current Keep Away flag to be found & who holds it.

There are several '''administrator commands''' available with the plugin:

/kaon - this will turn Keep Away mode on, if turned off previously.
/kaoff - this will turn Keep Away mode off for normal gameplay.
/katimemult - this will set auto time multiplier (per new player).
/katimemultmin - this will set minimum auto time multiplier.
/kaautotimeon - this will enable the autotime function.
/kaautotimeoff - this will disable the autotime funtion.
/katime <seconds> - this will change Keep Away hold time 1 -> 7200 seconds.
/kastatus - this will return the status of the plugin modes, times, etc.
/kaffon - this will turn on forced flags.
/kaffoff - this will turn off forced flags.
/kaf+ - advance to next Keep Away flag.
/kasoundon - enables Keep Away sounds.
/kasoundoff - disables Keep Away sounds.
/kaflagreseton - enables Keep Away sounds.
/kaflagresetoff - disables Keep Away sounds.

=External Links=
* http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=10066&p=100833#p100833 Keepaway plugin page.

[[Category:Plug-Ins]]

Koth

2010-09-28T15:10:23Z

Cobra Fast: complete article review, DoDoc removed

The plugin will create a King of the Hill game mode in which a team (or player) can occupy a defined volume ("Hill") for a defined amount of time and kill all other teams (or players) if occupied long enough.

=Description=
* Server messaging for Hill unoccupied (can be taken), Hill occupied (by whom and how long they have to hold it), regular countdown warnings while someone is holding Hill (every minute and 30, 20 & 10 seconds until Hill is "captured"), and successful King of the Hill announcements. Long callsigns are truncated in server messages.

* In teamplay mode, if any team player manages to lay claim to the Hill and kill all other team players, his/her entire team must exit the Hill volume and at least one would need to re-enter to try and hold the Hill again. If the player that captures the hill is a rogue in teamplay mode, only that player will need to exit and re-enter to try and take the Hill again.

* In no teamplay mode, if a player manages to lay claim to the Hill and kill all other players, only he/she must exit the Hill volume and re-enter to try and hold the Hill again.

* Players cannot pause on the Hill (everywhere else is ok) - if they try they will be killed with a warning message not to do so.

* King of the Hill will be disabled until there are 2 or more teams present.

* Explicit spawn zones are recommended in map files to prevent player spawns on the Hill.

* There is an autotime function (optional) that will reduce the time to hold the hill, based on the number of players in the game. With this option enabled, the time is reduced a certain percentage (default is 3%) with every additional player (after 2) to a certain minimum percentage (defaut is 50%) of the original specified time to hold. This means that (with default settings) the time to hold would not be affected for 2 players, but would be reduced by 3% for 3 players, 6% for 4 players and so on. The minimum 50% of the original time to hold would be reached at about 19 players and would remain at 50%, no matter how many additional players were to join after that.

* There is a "/kingsay <message>" command available to all players to send a message to person holding the hill.

* When Hill is initially occupied and when hill is taken, standard team audio alerts take place.

=Usage=

There are 2 modes of play available:

# '''Teamplay''': if a player from a team occupies the Hill long enough, all other teams (except his/hers) are killed. Score credits are given to the team, but not given to player that was King of the Hill. If a rogue manages to become King of the Hill in this mode, all players (except him/her) are killed and he/she gets individual score credit for all of the kills.
# '''No teamplay''': for this mode it is recommended to set up a map with only rogue players allowed. If a player occupies the Hill long enough, all other players are killed and score credit is given to the player who became King of the Hill for all of the kills. Obviously, if teams are allowed in this mode, it would result in repeated team kills - no fun. Basically this is a free-for-all mode for King of the Hill.

The parameters of the King of the Hill (koth) map definition are follows:

* '''bbox <Xmin> <Xmax> <Ymin> <Ymax> <Zmin> <Zmax>'''
* '''cylinder <X> <Y> <Zmin> <Zmax> <radius>'''
Required. These define the volume on the map to be occupied for the King of the Hill.

* '''teamplay'''

Optional. This will enable the teamplay mode of King of the Hill (see above). If not included, teamplay is disabled and it becomes as basic free for all King of the Hill mode.

* '''holdtime <seconds>'''

Optional. This defines the time (in seconds) required to occupy the King of the Hill volume before a player is declared King of the Hill and other teams/players are zapped. If not included, the default setting is 60 seconds (1 minute). The limits of this setting are
controlled to a minimum of 1 second and a maximum of 7200 seconds.

* '''autotime <multiplier> <minimum multiplier>'''

Optional. This will enable the automatic time reduction feature of the plugin that will reduce the time to hold the hill, based on the number of players in the game (see description above). The multiplier field will set the hold time reduction percentage per new player. The
minimum multiplier field will set the minimum hold time reduction percentage. If these fields are left blank, the default multiplier = 3% and the default minimum multiplier = 50%. The multiplier fields should be between 1 and 99 (percent).

* '''nosound'''

Optional. This will disable sounds associated with Keep Away plugin (some clients seem to have issues with this feature).

=Examples=

Examples of map (.bzw) entries:

koth
bbox -30 30 -30 30 10 40
teamplay
holdtime 60
end

This would set up a King of the Hill volume 60 x 60 x 30, centered at 0 0 25. Teamplay would be enabled and the required time to occupy the "Hill" would be 60 seconds (1 minute). Time to hold would not automatically adjust downward with new players.

koth
cylinder 0 0 20 40 15
holdtime 100
teamplay
autotime 5 25
nosound
end

This would set up a King of the Hill cylindrical volume 30 x 30 x 20, centered at 0 0 30. Teamplay would be enabled and the required time to occupy the "Hill" would be 100 seconds. The time to occupy the hill would adjust downward with an increasing number of players (see autotime description above). Each new player after 2 will reduce the hold time by 5% to a minimum of 25% of the hold time (25 seconds). The sounds associated with the plugin would be disabled.

Obviously, the plugin must be loaded to the server at startup, or it will not recoginize these map parameters.

=Server Commands=

There is one command available to all players with the plugin:

/kingsay <message> - this will send message to the player occupying the hill.

There are several administrator commands available with the plugin:

/kothon - this will turn King of the Hill mode on, if turned off previously.
/kothoff - this will turn King of the Hill mode off for normal gameplay.
/kothtimemult - this will set auto time multiplier (per new player).
/kothtimemultmin - this will set minimum auto time multiplier.
/kothautotimeon - this will enable the autotime function.
/kothsoundon - this will enable the plugin's sounds.
/kothsoundoff - this will disable the plugin's sounds.
/kothautotimeoff - this will disable the autotime funtion.
/kothtime <seconds> - this will change King of the Hill hold time 1 -> 7200 seconds.
/kothstatus - this will return the status of the plugin modes, times, etc.

=External Links=
* http://d41games.freehostia.com/bzflag.php?map=bbox An easy way to make bboxes.
* http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=10005&p=99894#p99894 KotH plugin page.

[[Category:Plug-Ins]] [[Category:Server]]

GU League

2010-09-27T16:05:35Z

Cobra Fast: link to the bb-whitlist under "Rules"

The GU League is currently the most successful and active BZFlag league. It launched on January 23rd 2005, and since then has recorded over [http://www.guleague.org/Matches/ 21,100 matches]. There are currently [http://www.guleague.org/Teams/ 28 teams], 20 of which are active. There are over [http://www.guleague.org/Players/ 350 players] representing 47 different countries. All matches are played on the [[Hix]] map. (Statistics as of June 2, 2010)

The GU League offers challenging competition and includes some of the top BZFlag players. New players learn fast by getting involved in fun matches and by watching other players. People from all age groups play and many are willing to help new players get started.

Make sure to visit the [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewforum.php?f=103 official GU League forum] and read the "sticky" threads at the top of the page. They contain a lot of important information.

[[Image:GUMatch.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A GU match in progress. ]]

=Playing in GU=

For players that are new to BZFlag, it is recommended to check out the [[Getting_Started|Getting Started]] page. A [[Getting_Started#Registering_a_callsign.28Optional.29|globally registered name]] is required for league play.

A player can then [http://www.guleague.org/Login/ register in the league] using the same name. One of the [http://www.guleague.org/Contact/ GU League Admins] must be contacted with a request to be added to the [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/memberlist.php?mode=group&g=20506 gu.league spawnlist] on the BZBB forums. This will allow the player to spawn and talk on league servers.

==Rules and Guidelines==

The league keeps very high standards of behavior and sportsmanship. So check these rules before doing anything else:

*Match disturbance, player harassment, language, cheat accusations in public (1 day -7 days ban)
*Using cheats on public servers or in other leagues (6-9 months)
*Using cheats in the GU league (1 year to life)

These are subject to change, so please always check the [http://www.guleague.org/Rules/ GU Rules page] directly.

Please also consider reading the [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=103&t=13245| inofficial whitelist] on the BZBB, as it's often been referred to it in an actual issue.

===Fun Matches===

A good way to get started in the league is to play fun matches (typically abbreviated as 'fm'). These types of matches are very popular. Only official matches are entered into the website, so there is less pressure during a fun match. Players do not have to be in a team, and players from specific league teams don't have to play on the same color.

Fun matches can also have additional players join during play. Make sure that the current players don't mind before joining a match. Players should '''self-kill''' by shooting while facing a wall or self-destructing with the delete key. This ensures there is not an unfair advantage due to initially spawning on the team base. The phrase "sk please" is used quite often to request that someone self-kills.

Fun matches are not to be reported.

===Teams, Matching & Reporting===

So, you've registered and want to get some action? First of all, you're going to need a team. You can join a team by visiting the [http://www.guleague.org/Teams/ teams] page and hitting the "Join" button next to the team, that is, if the team is open to anyone. Most teams however, are closed and can only be joined by invitation sent from the team leader.
Usually you will always find some teams that are interested in new and active players. If you want to contact the leader of a team or the team itself, use the "BZMail" option that can be found at the top or bottom of any Team/Player profile page.
Don't be discouraged if the first couple of requests get turned down, most teams like to get to know the players before they accept them into their team. But it's easy to establish yourself within the GU community. You can get to know players best by playing fun matches, spending time on the various public servers and talking to others in Observer during matches. It's a learning by doing system.

Once you've found and joined a team you like you can immediately start matching! There are some rules you should take into account before doing so though.

===Official Matches===

Basic commands needed during official matches:

* '''/countdown''' - Start the 30 minute match timer.
* '''/countdown pause''' - Pause the match timer. Should not be abused and should only be used when necessary. (E.g. a player has to stop for a moment, etc.)
* '''/countdown resume''' - Resume the match timer and allow the match to continue.
* '''/gameover''' - This will abruptly end the match at any given time. (Do not abuse! Ending a match with out any notice will most certainly lead to a ban.)

Guidelines:

* Do not start the match timer before all participating players are ready and make sure everyone has agreed on playing an official match.
* Make sure all players agree with opponents lag before starting the match. It is frowned upon to start a match and realize half way in that the lag is unplayable.
* Everyone participating should either able to finish the match or have a substitute available in case.
* Make sure the server is an official GU League match server.
* If a player goes [NR] (which means they are 'Not Responding', thus have lost their connection to the server somehow), pause the match and wait for a substitute or for the player to rejoin
* Make sure everyone is ready for a substitute before it happens to prevent major chaos in the match.
* If two more players want to join from the respective teams, make sure everyone is prepared and has said yes to the addition of players.
* Pick a server closest to the majority of players. If it is a half/half case, just agree on one.

If for some reason a match has to be canceled, make sure a player of both teams somehow saves score, remaining time, position of flags/players. (Easiest by taking a screenshot - hit F5)
When the match can be resumed later, adjust the timer to the remaining time the match was stopped at. Use the /timelimit <minutes go here> command to adjust the timer before a match.

===Entering/Reporting official matches===

After you've successfully played an official match, you need to either report the match to one of the [http://www.guleague.org/Contact/ referees (aka 'refs') or admins] by BZMail on the GU site, or just have a present ref/admin enter it. When reporting by BZMail, you '''must''' include: Teams, Score, Time, Date.

==Official league servers==

It is very important that you only play official matches on the official league servers.

Here is a list of the servers and their respective locations.

'''Europe:'''

* brad.guleague.org: 5158
* bzf.guleague.org: 5157 and 5158
* dub.guleague.org: 59997
* longdon.guleague.org: 5158
* destroyer.guleague.org: 5158

'''America:'''

* quol.guleague.org: 5157 and 5158 (Quebec, Canada)
* my.inexplicably.org: 5158 (Texas, USA)
* brl.arpa.net: 5158 (California, USA)

'''New Zealand:'''

* bzflag.enuffsaid.co.nz: 5158

The replay servers can be found on port 5159, except for dub.guleague.org: 59996

If a match is not played on one of these servers, than it cannot be counted as official.

===Replays===

Every match, official or fun, is automatically recorded and saved to the respective replay server. Some servers have websites where the replay file, time, date and players are posted.

* http://longdon.guleague.org/
* http://destroyer.guleague.org/
* http://bzf.guleague.org/matchlist.html
* http://quol.bzflag.bz/bzmatches/ (New design!)

You can find help on how to get a replay start and running on the servers but here's a quick summary:

#Find the replay file you want by either using the above mentioned web-sites or by using
##/replay list -n (if possible, will display a list of recent replays in chronological order)
##/replay list *10042009* (will show you all replays played on April 10th, 2009)

#Once you've found your replay file
##/replay load #index number

Use /replay skip + or - <amount of seconds> to navigate within a replay
Use /replay pause and /replay resume to pause and resume a replay

===Public Servers===

Along with the various official servers, there are quite a few public servers set up using either identical or similar settings to the league. Players usually meet up there to get warm and just shoot around before or after a match. Anyone can play there, regardless of being registered in the league or not. All of these public servers are running the HiX map, some are CTF and some are just FFA.

List of popular HiX public servers:

* bzf.bzflag.net:5154 [FFA - HiX map]
* bzf.bzflag.net:5155 [4-Team CTF HiX]
* bzf.bzflag.net:5160 [2-Team CTF HiX]
* quol.guleague.org:5156 [2-Team CTF HiX]

=Settings and Options=

A big part of the GU league, is being able to compete. But the premise for that, is having good settings that will make things like dodging, shooting and jumping a lot easier. A very large amount of the GU players use mouse and only a dozen keyboard. If you are just starting out, I would recommend you try playing with mouse first, as many things will be easier to do later on.
In this game, it's impossible to become the best dodger, jumper and shooter at the same time. These are two if not three completely different types of playing that require many different settings.

Most of the setting adjustment is done by the [[Config_File]], as you can not exercise all your possibilities in the GUI options. You can find a lot of detailed information by using the [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/search.php Search option on BZBB]. Many players have posted their personal configs and other tips there.

For mouse players, these individual playing styles, also mean individual mouse settings. Mousebox size, mouse DPI, mouse sensitivity are all crucial. Usually slower mouse settings and a big mouseboxsize, will enable you to be a better jumper and or shooter, while fast, sensitive, precise mouse settings and a small to even negative mouseboxsize will be enable you to dodge better.
Next to all the native options, some players use mouse enhancement applications, see [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=103&t=13245 Whitelist] for further info.

Very experienced players however, are known to be able to jump, shoot and dodge with extreme precision. So, no setting in the world is going to help, if you don't practice and play enough.

=Stats=

You might have asked yourself how you're supposed to find other players online if you want to arrange a match.
There are some very useful BZStats and Player checkers that are have been useful to the whole community for years.

#The general BZStats checker that Strayer coded shows a massive amount of information on everything BZFlag related.
##http://bzstats.strayer.de
##http://bzstats.strayer.de/leagues/gu/online/?lang=en (that shows all current GU players that are online)

#The second checker is Saturos' GU League Checker
##http://guc.saturos.de (V.1)
##http://guc.phago.de (Beta V.2, this version is still in the makes but already has many features and fixes that V.1 does not)
The GUC displays all main Public and Official GU League servers with scores, players, timer and teams. (Very useful for following matches without opening a client)

=Abbreviations you should know=

As mentioned already above, there are some abbreviations used very often in the league. If you haven't already, check out [[Jargon]] for more non-league specific abbreviations and Jargon. Below are some league specific abbreviations. Note that this is not a complete list, just the most common terms you should know in order to prevent confusion between players or in a match.

<properties>
offi=Referring to an official match. ("offi?" means somebody wants to play an official match)
fm=Referring to fun match. ("fm?" means somebody wants to play a fun match)
sk=Selfkill. (Expression often used when new players join an already running fun match. New players should kill themselves once immediately after spawning.)
tk=Teamkill. (More frequently used outside of league play too)
def=Defense. Your flag is under immediate attack or about to be taken. Watch out for yours!
att=Attack. Focus on getting your opponents flag.
gs, ns, n1, g1=Good shot, nice shot, nice one, good one. Frequently used when a player does something that the other regards as nice or skillfull.
ty, thx=Thank you. Thanks.
hf, gl=Have fun, good luck.Usually always said to the opposing team before a match starts
gg=Good game. Usually said by all participating players after a match has ended.
</properties>

[[Category:Leagues]]

Ricochet

2010-09-26T21:23:40Z

Cobra Fast: behaviour information

The ricochet effect causes standard and laser shot types to rebound off of objects.

The effect can be acquired with the Ricochet (R) superflag or as a server option with the +r [[BZFS Command Line Options|BZFS Command Line Option]].

The ricochet flag is often under-estimated, in the right hands and on a map not expecting it ricochet can be a deadly weapon.

A ricocheting bullet or laser follows the rule 'arrival angle equals emergent angle', so you cannot bend ricochets by shooting in a turn or similar tactics.

==Unaffected Flags==
Ricochet on the server does not affect Super bullet, Phantom Zone, Guided Missile, and Shockwave superflags. See the [[Flag List|Flag List]] for a list of all flags available in BZFlag.

==Strategy==
Ricochet introduces some unique strategies to BZFlag. Here are some moves that involve ricochet. Variations are encouraged.

{|{{Prettytable}}
|{{Hl3}}|'''Brief'''
|{{Hl3}}|'''Details'''
|{{Hl3}}|'''Requirements'''
|-
|Simple Bounce
|When you cannot fire at your enemy directly turn towards the wall and fire a couple shots far apart. Use the radar to track the shots and when you have the best angle to ricochet off of shoot a spray of bullets. If you don't kill your enemy repeat, if they jump round the corner and fire under them.
|An object between you and the enemy, a wall almost parallel to the line between you and your enemy.
|-
|Pseudo-cide
|If you find yourself being pursued with no chance of turning around try driving straight for a wall, at the last minute fire a spray of bullets and jump. The bullets will ricochet off the wall and hopefully hit the enemy behind you. If the enemy dodges, you're screwed, otherwise if they jump you will likely land before them and be able to turn around or repeat the move.
|Enemy trailing you, wall perpendicular to the line of pursuit in front of you, jumping enabled by server.
|-
|}

{{Stub}}

Ban File

2010-09-26T21:13:03Z

Cobra Fast: information on file layout

{{Stub}}[[Category:Server]]
The [[banfile]] is a file in which a list of banned player accounts and IP addresses are saved. Server administrators may issue bans to players who use foul language, [[Team Kill]], use a cheat client or who behave inappropriately or against the spirit of the game.

==Creating a Banfile==
A server administrator wishing to use a [[banfile]] (eg: ''filename.txt'') would add:
-banfile filename.txt
to the [[BZFS]] [[BZFS Command Line Options|configuration]].

==Layout==
A banfile follows a specific layout, which can also be written or modified by hand.

Example entry:
12.34.56.*
end: 1282088135
banner: admin
reason: (badguy) cheating.

The first line can either be an IP, a ranged IP, a host, a ranged host or a BZID (Syntax: 'bzid: 12345').
The second line 'end:' defines the expiry date with a unix timestamp.
The third line 'banner:' defines the callsign of the privileged player who executed the ban.
The fourth and last line 'reason:' specifies a reason why the specific subject was banned and classically contains the banned callsign.
Each ban block is divided from the others by one empty line.

Unix timestamps can be generated on this website: http://www.unixtimestamp.com/index.php

==See also==
* [[BZFS]]
* [[BZFS Command Line Options]]
* [[Creating_A_Server#Good_Administration|Good Server Administration]]
* [[Slash Commands]]
* [[Known Cheats]]
* [[Ban]]
* [[How To Ban]]

Ban File

2010-09-26T21:00:59Z

Cobra Fast: removed topic about banning which and added see-also-links to ban and how-to-ban

Server Administration

2010-09-26T20:47:20Z

Cobra Fast: finally remove the stub, most information is covered pretty well now.

Server [[Administrator|administrators]] can ban players from their server. There are several methods of banning, including banning ranges of addresses. Ban durations can vary from minutes to "forever".

==Banning==
Banning is what the administrator does to permanentely restrict access to the server from certain people.

{{main|How To Ban}}

==Caught in a ban==
If a player is caught in a ban, the server will refuse to allow the player to join. A message should appear at the very bottom of the chat box that says why the ban is in place, and who created the ban. This ban may not necessarily be targeting the player that is joining. Many times an admin or cop will have to enter a range ban in order to keep a trouble player off the server. This can have the side-effect of banning innocent players as well.

Sometimes the player will not see a message. This is usually the case when caught in a host ban (a ban on the hostname instead of the IP). The world will show up, but the player will be unable to spawn and the connection will drop shortly after. For this, the player will have to contact the server owner or an administrator to find out where the issue lies.

===Contacting an administrator===
A ban may be lifted or worked around by contacting an administrator. Generally it is best to contact the administrator or cop that issued the ban. This can be found at the end of the ban message when joining.

One way to do this is to [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/ucp.php?i=pm&folder=inbox send a private message] to the user on the BZFlag forum. The admin or cop might also be online somewhere else.

Do NOT post a forum thread asking to be unbanned. This is a private matter and it should be handled in private.

===Whitelisting===
Many servers use a "whitelist" group for players mistakenly caught in bans. This group would be assigned a permission that allows them to join through any existing bans. This allows the server to keep the trouble players out while also allowing others caught in the ban to still play. This would require that the innocent players play under a registered account and that the account is added to the correct whitelist group.

===Evading bans===

If a player causes a change on their network in order to evade a ban, they can expect their existing ban to be updated to include a range of addresses and a much longer ban duration. It is better to accept the ban and/or contact the administrator to find out how long the current ban will last.

==See also==
[[Master Ban]]

Server Administration

2010-09-26T20:29:42Z

Cobra Fast: formatting

{{stub}}
Server [[Administrator|administrators]] can ban players from their server. There are several methods of banning, including banning ranges of addresses. Ban durations can vary from minutes to "forever".

==Banning==
Banning is what the administrator does to permanentely restrict access to the server from certain people.

{{main|How To Ban}}

==Caught in a ban==
If a player is caught in a ban, the server will refuse to allow the player to join. A message should appear at the very bottom of the chat box that says why the ban is in place, and who created the ban. This ban may not necessarily be targeting the player that is joining. Many times an admin or cop will have to enter a range ban in order to keep a trouble player off the server. This can have the side-effect of banning innocent players as well.

Sometimes the player will not see a message. This is usually the case when caught in a host ban (a ban on the hostname instead of the IP). The world will show up, but the player will be unable to spawn and the connection will drop shortly after. For this, the player will have to contact the server owner or an administrator to find out where the issue lies.

===Contacting an administrator===
A ban may be lifted or worked around by contacting an administrator. Generally it is best to contact the administrator or cop that issued the ban. This can be found at the end of the ban message when joining.

One way to do this is to [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/ucp.php?i=pm&folder=inbox send a private message] to the user on the BZFlag forum. The admin or cop might also be online somewhere else.

Do NOT post a forum thread asking to be unbanned. This is a private matter and it should be handled in private.

===Whitelisting===
Many servers use a "whitelist" group for players mistakenly caught in bans. This group would be assigned a permission that allows them to join through any existing bans. This allows the server to keep the trouble players out while also allowing others caught in the ban to still play. This would require that the innocent players play under a registered account and that the account is added to the correct whitelist group.

===Evading bans===

If a player causes a change on their network in order to evade a ban, they can expect their existing ban to be updated to include a range of addresses and a much longer ban duration. It is better to accept the ban and/or contact the administrator to find out how long the current ban will last.

==See also==
[[Master Ban]]

Server Administration

2010-09-26T20:29:08Z

Cobra Fast: moved the link to how to ban

{{stub}}
Server [[Administrator|administrators]] can ban players from their server. There are several methods of banning, including banning ranges of addresses. Ban durations can vary from minutes to "forever".

==Banning==
Banning is what the administrator does to permanentely restrict access to the server from certain people.
{{main|How To Ban}}

==Caught in a ban==
If a player is caught in a ban, the server will refuse to allow the player to join. A message should appear at the very bottom of the chat box that says why the ban is in place, and who created the ban. This ban may not necessarily be targeting the player that is joining. Many times an admin or cop will have to enter a range ban in order to keep a trouble player off the server. This can have the side-effect of banning innocent players as well.

Sometimes the player will not see a message. This is usually the case when caught in a host ban (a ban on the hostname instead of the IP). The world will show up, but the player will be unable to spawn and the connection will drop shortly after. For this, the player will have to contact the server owner or an administrator to find out where the issue lies.

===Contacting an administrator===
A ban may be lifted or worked around by contacting an administrator. Generally it is best to contact the administrator or cop that issued the ban. This can be found at the end of the ban message when joining.

One way to do this is to [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/ucp.php?i=pm&folder=inbox send a private message] to the user on the BZFlag forum. The admin or cop might also be online somewhere else.

Do NOT post a forum thread asking to be unbanned. This is a private matter and it should be handled in private.

===Whitelisting===
Many servers use a "whitelist" group for players mistakenly caught in bans. This group would be assigned a permission that allows them to join through any existing bans. This allows the server to keep the trouble players out while also allowing others caught in the ban to still play. This would require that the innocent players play under a registered account and that the account is added to the correct whitelist group.

===Evading bans===

If a player causes a change on their network in order to evade a ban, they can expect their existing ban to be updated to include a range of addresses and a much longer ban duration. It is better to accept the ban and/or contact the administrator to find out how long the current ban will last.

==See also==
[[Master Ban]]

Template:Main

2010-09-26T20:27:54Z

Cobra Fast: create template.

→ ''Main article: [[{{{1}}}]]''

GU League

2010-09-25T19:40:56Z

Cobra Fast: general information moved to the top as it would be on a standard wiki page.

The GU League is currently the most successful and active BZFlag league. It launched on January 23rd 2005, and since then has recorded over [http://www.guleague.org/Matches/ 21,100 matches]. There are currently [http://www.guleague.org/Teams/ 28 teams], 20 of which are active. There are over [http://www.guleague.org/Players/ 350 players] representing 47 different countries. All matches are played on the [[Hix]] map. (Statistics as of June 2, 2010)

The GU League offers challenging competition and includes some of the top BZFlag players. New players learn fast by getting involved in fun matches and by watching other players. People from all age groups play and many are willing to help new players get started.

Make sure to visit the [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewforum.php?f=103 official GU League forum] and read the "sticky" threads at the top of the page. They contain a lot of important information.

[[Image:GUMatch.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A GU match in progress. ]]

=Playing in GU=

For players that are new to BZFlag, it is recommended to check out the [[Getting_Started|Getting Started]] page. A [[Getting_Started#Registering_a_callsign.28Optional.29|globally registered name]] is required for league play.

A player can then [http://www.guleague.org/Login/ register in the league] using the same name. One of the [http://www.guleague.org/Contact/ GU League Admins] must be contacted with a request to be added to the [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/memberlist.php?mode=group&g=20506 gu.league spawnlist] on the BZBB forums. This will allow the player to spawn and talk on league servers.

==Rules and Guidelines==

The league keeps very high standards of behavior and sportsmanship. So check these rules before doing anything else:

*Match disturbance, player harassment, language, cheat accusations in public (1 day -7 days ban)
*Using cheats on public servers or in other leagues (6-9 months)
*Using cheats in the GU league (1 year to life)

These are subject to change, so please always check the [http://www.guleague.org/Rules/ GU Rules page] directly.

===Fun Matches===

A good way to get started in the league is to play fun matches (typically abbreviated as 'fm'). These types of matches are very popular. Only official matches are entered into the website, so there is less pressure during a fun match. Players do not have to be in a team, and players from specific league teams don't have to play on the same color.

Fun matches can also have additional players join during play. Make sure that the current players don't mind before joining a match. Players should '''self-kill''' by shooting while facing a wall or self-destructing with the delete key. This ensures there is not an unfair advantage due to initially spawning on the team base. The phrase "sk please" is used quite often to request that someone self-kills.

Fun matches are not to be reported.

===Teams, Matching & Reporting===

So, you've registered and want to get some action? First of all, you're going to need a team. You can join a team by visiting the [http://www.guleague.org/Teams/ teams] page and hitting the "Join" button next to the team, that is, if the team is open to anyone. Most teams however, are closed and can only be joined by invitation sent from the team leader.
Usually you will always find some teams that are interested in new and active players. If you want to contact the leader of a team or the team itself, use the "BZMail" option that can be found at the top or bottom of any Team/Player profile page.
Don't be discouraged if the first couple of requests get turned down, most teams like to get to know the players before they accept them into their team. But it's easy to establish yourself within the GU community. You can get to know players best by playing fun matches, spending time on the various public servers and talking to others in Observer during matches. It's a learning by doing system.

Once you've found and joined a team you like you can immediately start matching! There are some rules you should take into account before doing so though.

===Official Matches===

Basic commands needed during official matches:

* '''/countdown''' - Start the 30 minute match timer.
* '''/countdown pause''' - Pause the match timer. Should not be abused and should only be used when necessary. (E.g. a player has to stop for a moment, etc.)
* '''/countdown resume''' - Resume the match timer and allow the match to continue.
* '''/gameover''' - This will abruptly end the match at any given time. (Do not abuse! Ending a match with out any notice will most certainly lead to a ban.)

Guidelines:

* Do not start the match timer before all participating players are ready and make sure everyone has agreed on playing an official match.
* Make sure all players agree with opponents lag before starting the match. It is frowned upon to start a match and realize half way in that the lag is unplayable.
* Everyone participating should either able to finish the match or have a substitute available in case.
* Make sure the server is an official GU League match server.
* If a player goes [NR] (which means they are 'Not Responding', thus have lost their connection to the server somehow), pause the match and wait for a substitute or for the player to rejoin
* Make sure everyone is ready for a substitute before it happens to prevent major chaos in the match.
* If two more players want to join from the respective teams, make sure everyone is prepared and has said yes to the addition of players.
* Pick a server closest to the majority of players. If it is a half/half case, just agree on one.

If for some reason a match has to be canceled, make sure a player of both teams somehow saves score, remaining time, position of flags/players. (Easiest by taking a screenshot - hit F5)
When the match can be resumed later, adjust the timer to the remaining time the match was stopped at. Use the /timelimit <minutes go here> command to adjust the timer before a match.

===Entering/Reporting official matches===

After you've successfully played an official match, you need to either report the match to one of the [http://www.guleague.org/Contact/ referees (aka 'refs') or admins] by BZMail on the GU site, or just have a present ref/admin enter it. When reporting by BZMail, you '''must''' include: Teams, Score, Time, Date.

==Official league servers==

It is very important that you only play official matches on the official league servers.

Here is a list of the servers and their respective locations.

'''Europe:'''

* brad.guleague.org: 5158
* bzf.guleague.org: 5157 and 5158
* dub.guleague.org: 59997
* longdon.guleague.org: 5158
* destroyer.guleague.org: 5158

'''America:'''

* quol.guleague.org: 5157 and 5158 (Quebec, Canada)
* my.inexplicably.org: 5158 (Texas, USA)
* brl.arpa.net: 5158 (California, USA)

'''New Zealand:'''

* bzflag.enuffsaid.co.nz: 5158

The replay servers can be found on port 5159, except for dub.guleague.org: 59996

If a match is not played on one of these servers, than it cannot be counted as official.

===Replays===

Every match, official or fun, is automatically recorded and saved to the respective replay server. Some servers have websites where the replay file, time, date and players are posted.

* http://longdon.guleague.org/
* http://destroyer.guleague.org/
* http://bzf.guleague.org/matchlist.html
* http://quol.bzflag.bz/bzmatches/ (New design!)

You can find help on how to get a replay start and running on the servers but here's a quick summary:

#Find the replay file you want by either using the above mentioned web-sites or by using
##/replay list -n (if possible, will display a list of recent replays in chronological order)
##/replay list *10042009* (will show you all replays played on April 10th, 2009)

#Once you've found your replay file
##/replay load #index number

Use /replay skip + or - <amount of seconds> to navigate within a replay
Use /replay pause and /replay resume to pause and resume a replay

===Public Servers===

Along with the various official servers, there are quite a few public servers set up using either identical or similar settings to the league. Players usually meet up there to get warm and just shoot around before or after a match. Anyone can play there, regardless of being registered in the league or not. All of these public servers are running the HiX map, some are CTF and some are just FFA.

List of popular HiX public servers:

* bzf.bzflag.net:5154 [FFA - HiX map]
* bzf.bzflag.net:5155 [4-Team CTF HiX]
* bzf.bzflag.net:5160 [2-Team CTF HiX]
* quol.guleague.org:5156 [2-Team CTF HiX]

=Settings and Options=

A big part of the GU league, is being able to compete. But the premise for that, is having good settings that will make things like dodging, shooting and jumping a lot easier. A very large amount of the GU players use mouse and only a dozen keyboard. If you are just starting out, I would recommend you try playing with mouse first, as many things will be easier to do later on.
In this game, it's impossible to become the best dodger, jumper and shooter at the same time. These are two if not three completely different types of playing that require many different settings.

Most of the setting adjustment is done by the [[Config_File]], as you can not exercise all your possibilities in the GUI options. You can find a lot of detailed information by using the [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/search.php Search option on BZBB]. Many players have posted their personal configs and other tips there.

For mouse players, these individual playing styles, also mean individual mouse settings. Mousebox size, mouse DPI, mouse sensitivity are all crucial. Usually slower mouse settings and a big mouseboxsize, will enable you to be a better jumper and or shooter, while fast, sensitive, precise mouse settings and a small to even negative mouseboxsize will be enable you to dodge better.
Next to all the native options, some players use mouse enhancement applications, see [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=103&t=13245 Whitelist] for further info.

Very experienced players however, are known to be able to jump, shoot and dodge with extreme precision. So, no setting in the world is going to help, if you don't practice and play enough.

=Stats=

You might have asked yourself how you're supposed to find other players online if you want to arrange a match.
There are some very useful BZStats and Player checkers that are have been useful to the whole community for years.

#The general BZStats checker that Strayer coded shows a massive amount of information on everything BZFlag related.
##http://bzstats.strayer.de
##http://bzstats.strayer.de/leagues/gu/online/?lang=en (that shows all current GU players that are online)

#The second checker is Saturos' GU League Checker
##http://guc.saturos.de (V.1)
##http://guc.phago.de (Beta V.2, this version is still in the makes but already has many features and fixes that V.1 does not)
The GUC displays all main Public and Official GU League servers with scores, players, timer and teams. (Very useful for following matches without opening a client)

=Abbreviations you should know=

As mentioned already above, there are some abbreviations used very often in the league. If you haven't already, check out [[Jargon]] for more non-league specific abbreviations and Jargon. Below are some league specific abbreviations. Note that this is not a complete list, just the most common terms you should know in order to prevent confusion between players or in a match.

<properties>
offi=Referring to an official match. ("offi?" means somebody wants to play an official match)
fm=Referring to fun match. ("fm?" means somebody wants to play a fun match)
sk=Selfkill. (Expression often used when new players join an already running fun match. New players should kill themselves once immediately after spawning.)
tk=Teamkill. (More frequently used outside of league play too)
def=Defense. Your flag is under immediate attack or about to be taken. Watch out for yours!
att=Attack. Focus on getting your opponents flag.
gs, ns, n1, g1=Good shot, nice shot, nice one, good one. Frequently used when a player does something that the other regards as nice or skillfull.
ty, thx=Thank you. Thanks.
hf, gl=Have fun, good luck.Usually always said to the opposing team before a match starts
gg=Good game. Usually said by all participating players after a match has ended.
</properties>

[[Category:Leagues]]

Server Administration

2010-07-09T14:29:50Z

Cobra Fast: added information on how to do it wrong ;)

{{stub}}
[[Administrator|Administrators]] can ban players from their servers if they see fit. It's an extreme measure but it's their server so why put up with disruptive, abusive or cheating players? Bans can be applied to individually named players and/or their IP address and/or whole ranges of IP addresses. Bans can have whatever duration the administrator deems appropriate, ranging from minutes, through days, to permanent.

Don't worry though, play nice and you won't be banned!

==Caught in a foreign ban==
If you try to join a certain server but it refuses you and you know you have not been banned from that server, then you're probably caught in a ban that was thought to get rid of someone else.
This is mostly caused by ranged IP- or host-bans (like 12.34.*.* or *.provider.net); although this is a bad idea to ban it happens often enough to get people caught in such a ban regularly.

===Way out: Contact administrator===
The most efficient way to get out is to contact an admin or cop with unban permission on the particular server, best would be to contagt the person running the server. Do this via a [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/ucp.php?i=pm&folder=inbox PM on the BZBB] or try to find this person in game.

A lot of servers also use a so called "whitelist" which prevents registered players from being banned (+ANTIBAN), you could also ask to get on the whitelist for this particular server in case it's got one.

===Way out: Changing your IP===
This isn't the master solution but something you should at least give a try. Most people are given another IP every day when they connect to the internet, so you could have bad luck and get a banned IP for a server. The solution would be to simply disconnect your router/modem from the phone/DSL line and plug it back in after waiting a second or two. You will then be given a new IP and you've got a chance to be out of the ban.

===Doing it wrong===
You will probably not be heard and ignored if you start topics somewhere in the BZBB asking how a ban coulb be 'undone' or messing with random people on the IRC or other servers. Additionaly forum topics regarding unban-requests get deleted very frequently.

==Caught in a purposed ban==
You misbehaved and got banned. If you're a known troll your chances to be unbanned are almost zero.
If you just had an accidently freakout you could try contacting the server owner, excuse for your behaviour and ask to be unbanned nicely, they'll probably accept it.

==See also==
[[Master Ban]]

Server Administration

2010-07-09T14:24:49Z

Cobra Fast: added whitelist possibility information

{{stub}}
[[Administrator|Administrators]] can ban players from their servers if they see fit. It's an extreme measure but it's their server so why put up with disruptive, abusive or cheating players? Bans can be applied to individually named players and/or their IP address and/or whole ranges of IP addresses. Bans can have whatever duration the administrator deems appropriate, ranging from minutes, through days, to permanent.

Don't worry though, play nice and you won't be banned!

==Caught in a foreign ban==
If you try to join a certain server but it refuses you and you know you have not been banned from that server, then you're probably caught in a ban that was thought to get rid of someone else.
This is mostly caused by ranged IP- or host-bans (like 12.34.*.* or *.provider.net); although this is a bad idea to ban it happens often enough to get people caught in such a ban regularly.

===Way out: Contact administrator===
The most efficient way to get out is to contact an admin or cop with unban permission on the particular server, best would be to contagt the person running the server. Do this via a [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/ucp.php?i=pm&folder=inbox PM on the BZBB] or try to find this person in game.

A lot of servers also use a so called "whitelist" which prevents registered players from being banned (+ANTIBAN), you could also ask to get on the whitelist for this particular server in case it's got one.

===Way out: Changing your IP===
This isn't the master solution but something you should at least give a try. Most people are given another IP every day when they connect to the internet, so you could have bad luck and get a banned IP for a server. The solution would be to simply disconnect your router/modem from the phone/DSL line and plug it back in after waiting a second or two. You will then be given a new IP and you've got a chance to be out of the ban.

==Caught in a purposed ban==
You misbehaved and got banned. If you're a known troll your chances to be unbanned are almost zero.
If you just had an accidently freakout you could try contacting the server owner, excuse for your behaviour and ask to be unbanned nicely, they'll probably accept it.

==See also==
[[Master Ban]]

Server Administration

2010-07-09T14:22:42Z

Cobra Fast: added much information on how to be unbanned

{{stub}}
[[Administrator|Administrators]] can ban players from their servers if they see fit. It's an extreme measure but it's their server so why put up with disruptive, abusive or cheating players? Bans can be applied to individually named players and/or their IP address and/or whole ranges of IP addresses. Bans can have whatever duration the administrator deems appropriate, ranging from minutes, through days, to permanent.

Don't worry though, play nice and you won't be banned!

==Caught in a foreign ban==
If you try to join a certain server but it refuses you and you know you have not been banned from that server, then you're probably caught in a ban that was thought to get rid of someone else.
This is mostly caused by ranged IP- or host-bans (like 12.34.*.* or *.provider.net); although this is a bad idea to ban it happens often enough to get people caught in such a ban regularly.

===Way out: Contact administrator===
The most efficient way to get out is to contact an admin or cop with unban permission on the particular server, best would be to contagt the person running the server. Do this via a [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/ucp.php?i=pm&folder=inbox PM on the BZBB] or try to find this person in game.

===Way out: Changing your IP===
This isn't the master solution but something you should at least give a try. Most people are given another IP every day when they connect to the internet, so you could have bad luck and get a banned IP for a server. The solution would be to simply disconnect your router/modem from the phone/DSL line and plug it back in after waiting a second or two. You will then be given a new IP and you've got a chance to be out of the ban.

==Caught in a purposed ban==
You misbehaved and got banned. If you're a known troll your chances to be unbanned are almost zero.
If you just had an accidently freakout you could try contacting the server owner, excuse for your behaviour and ask to be unbanned nicely, they'll probably accept it.

==See also==
[[Master Ban]]

Getting Started

2010-05-01T12:56:22Z

Cobra Fast: Undo revision 7023 by 61.68.26.182 (Talk)

This article covers the basics of getting started with BZFlag. It is intended for new players who have just found the game and require assistance. More detailed help can be found on our [[Getting Help]] page.

==Getting Started==
These simple steps have been designed to allow new users to begin playing the game as quickly as possible.

===Downloading and installing the game===

The main thing users need to play is the game software. Users can [[Download]] the software for a number of different [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system|operating systems].

====Windows====
The most common operating system for players is Microsoft Windows. A simple installer can be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/bzflag/files/bzflag%20win32/2.0.14/bzflag-2.0.14.exe/download . Simply double click the downloaded file to install the game.

====Mac OSX====
The next most popular system for players is Apple's MacOS X for the Macintosh family of computers. The version for macs can be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/bzflag/files/bzflag%20Mac%20OS%20X/2.0.14/BZFlag-2.0.14.dmg/download . Simply drag the BZFlag icon from the mounted DMG to your Applications folder to install the game.

====Linux====
The project does not distribute a pre-made binary package for Linux, but many Linux distributions have BZFlag in their package management systems ( APT, YUM, emerge, etc.. ). Linux users can always build the game from the source code. Please see the [[Download|downloads]] page for more information.

===Registering a callsign(Optional)===
It is not mandatory to register a callsign ( the name a player uses in-game), but it is highly recommended.

A few of the benefits of registering are:

* The callsign is reserved, and can not be used by any other player.
* Registered users can post on the BZFlag forums.
* Registered users can join leagues and global groups.
* Many servers require registration to play.

Users that wish to register can do so at the [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/ucp.php?mode=register BZFlag forums registration page].

===Running the game===

Once the game is installed, it must be run to play.

====Windows====
Windows users that have installed the game with the provided installer will find a shortcut to the game in the start menu, under program files. Users simply have to click this shortcut to start the game.

====Mac OS X====
Macintosh users simply have to double click the BZFlag icon that they dragged to their Applications folder to start the game.

====Linux====
Linux, and other UNIX based platforms can start the game by typing the command '''bzflag''' in a terminal.

===Joining a game===
When the game is first started it will show the main menu screen. Users navigate the menu by using the Up and Down arrow keys to highlight a menu item, and using the enter key to select and activate the highlighted item. The red tank on the left visually depicts what command line is the current focus.

{|
|-
|
====Main Menu====
The main menu includes a number of menu items that lead to sub menus. The most important menu for new players is the '''Join Game''' item.
|[[Image:MainMenu.png|right|thumb|300px|The Main Menu]]
|-
|

====Join Game Menu====
Users wishing to join an internet game in progress should choose the '''Join Game''' item from the main menu.

On the first run of the game software all the fields in the '''Join Game''' Menu will be empty. Players need to use the arrow keys to highlight the '''Callsign''' item and input a player name. This name will be how other players see the user. Registered users should use the same callsign that they registered when playing. Registered users should also enter in their password into the item marked '''Password'''. This password is only used for to verify your identity and is NEVER sent to the game server. The '''E-mail''' entry is optional and is usually used to put a personalized message, like a signature, by many users.

Once the callsign, password, and optional email sections have been filled out, the up and down arrows should be used to move up to the '''Find Server''' that is on top of this page. This is how you choose an existing, running server to play on. The '''Start Server''' option on the bottom of this page is for running a server off your own machine, generally for more advanced users. Hitting enter on '''Find Server''' will give you a list of BZ Flag games that are hosted on the internet by other users. There are often over 300 servers to choose from. The various types of games are explained in the objectives section below.

|[[Image:JoinGame.png|right|thumb|300px|]]
|-
|

====Server List====
The server list menu shows a listing of all publicly available internet games. The list is sorted by the number of players on each server at any time, and will dynamically change over time. The servers with the highest player counts will always be at the top of the list.

The various servers can be highlighted using the arrow keys, and additional information about the highlighted game will be shown at the top of the screen. Once the user has chosen a server to join they must hit the enter key to select the server and return to the Join Game Menu.

|[[Image:ServerList.png|right|thumb|300px|The Serverlist]]
|-
|

====Entering a Game====
When a server is choosen from the Server List, it's information will be automatically entered into the appropriate fields in the Join Game menu. The user may then choose a team color, or leave the setting on automatic if they wish the server to assign them to a team.

When all the information is entered, the user simply has to choose connect menu item, and they will join the game. If additional textures or resources are needed to join the game, they will be downloaded automatically.
|-
|

====Playing BZFlag====
Once the user has joined the game they will be able to enjoy the gameplay that has made BZFlag one of the most popular open source games in history.
|-
|

=====Controls=====
The basic controls for the game are rather simple.

By default the mouse is used for movement. Moving the mouse up and down will move the tank forwards and backwards, while moving the mouse left and right will cause the tank to turn in that direction. Returning the mouse to the center of the screen will cause the tank to stop moving.

The left mouse button is used to fire the tank's weapon.

Optionally the keyboard can be used. The arrow keys control movement in the same way as the mouse, and the space bar is used to drop the flag you are carrying. The 'enter' key is used to fire the tanks weapon

Some servers offer a feature that allows tanks to jump. The ''tab'' key is used to start a small jump into the air. When jumping a tank normally can not change its speed or direction until it lands. Depending on the map, it may be possible for tanks to jump and land on various world objects and continue to fight.
|-
|

=====Objective=====
BZFlag is a team game, and has various objectives depending on the game type.

The default game type is '''Free For All''', commonly abbreviated as ''FFA''. This mode is similar to a team death match in other first person shooting type games. The objective is to destroy as many tanks as possible on other teams, while minimizing your own losses. Tanks are destroyed by being shot, in most cases one shot is all it takes to kill an enemy tank.

'''Capture the Flag''', commonly abbreviated as ''CTF'', is another common game type. Its objective is to pick up the flag from an opposing team's base and return it to your base. This is known as capping, where all the members of the team whose flag you are capping are destroyed when you return their flag and land on your home base. Just as in the Free for All game, you shoot at the opposing teams tanks.

The least common type of game is '''Rabbit Hunt'''. In this game mode, one user is a white-colored '''rabbit''' tank, and everyone else is a orange-colored '''hunter''' tank. The '''hunter''' tank(s) must chase and kill the rabbit tank. The '''hunter''' tank which kills the '''rabbit''' tank then becomes the '''rabbit''' tank, although there is the rarer randomly generated '''rabbit''', particularly when the '''rabbit''' and '''hunter''' are destroyed at the same time.

There are also a variety of games designed to practice some particular skill. A few of these are jumping/climbing skills, wings/flying skills, mazes with puzzles to figure out, racing courses, and dodging bullets without jumping allowed.
|-
|

=====Non-Standard Teams=====

Usually, you may not shoot members of your own team. But, there is one exception to this rule, called the '''rogue''' team. '''Rogue''' tanks are black in the view window, and yellow on the radar. They may shoot their "teammates", and gain points for it. This is because '''rogue''' tanks are each on a one-man team of their own. '''Rogue''' tanks are usually found on '''Free For All''' maps, but are occasionally found on '''CTF''' maps.
|-Rogue.
|

=====Flags=====
There are four different kinds of flags on an average server:
* Team flags are colored to correspond with the teams on the map. The idea is to grab the other team's flag and bring it back to your base.
* Superflags are "power ups" for your tank. Some examples of superflags can be '''Guided Missile''' (Allows your tank to lock onto and shoot others), '''laser''' (Allows your tank to shoot an infinitely fast and long laser beam), and '''Stealth''' (Your tank does not appear on radar).
* Bad Flags restrict the movement or actions of your tank. Some bad flags are ''''No Jumping, Obesity, Trigger Happy,''' and '''Left turn only.'''
* Antidote flags are flags that appear only when you have a bad flag. Driving over an antidote flag removes the bad flag from your tank.
|-
|

=====Customizing Controls=====
You can alter most of the controls in the menu (or, if you prefer, by editing the BZFlag config file.)
In the menu it is located at Options > Input settings > Key mapping

To assign a keystroke, mouse button or joystick button to a particular command select the command with Up or Down arrows, press Enter and press the keystroke or button you wish to associate with that command.
You can assign two different keystrokes/buttons to a given command, by repeating the assignment process.

Note: you can assign a keystroke or button already in use for a different command, but if you do remember that the old command will be unmapped..

To delete an assignment select the command with Up or Down arrows and press Delete.
If the command has two assignments, the first (leftmost) assignment is deleted, and the second (rightmost) assignment takes its place.

|-
|

=====Interface Elements=====
Most of the interface elements can be changed in the GUI settings, or by editing the config file.
|-
|

======Scoreboard======
Once a player has joined a server, they should notice a number of things, including the scoreboard.

Internet games commonly feature between 5 and 20 players. The names of these players will be listed in the scoreboard on the left hand side of the screen. The scoreboard can be hidden and shown by using the ''S'' key. The scoreboard is usually set up to show a players name, score, teamkills, email string, flag, kills/deaths, and the amount of kills/deaths you have scored against that player. For example, in this scoreboard, player "Andrey" has a score of 2, 0 teamkills, and email string of "Andrey@andreypc", has the SW (shock wave) flag, has 8 kills, 6 deaths, and has been killed by player "me1" 0 times, and has killed player "me1" once. Flags whose names are in white are powerful flags. Team flags are always the color of that team on the scoreboard. Other flags are just the same color as the player using them.

|[[Image:Scoreboard.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Scoreboard]]
|-
|
======Team Scoreboard======
There is also a scoreboard for team scores. In FFA this shows the kills, deaths, and overall score. In CTF this shows the amount of flags that team has captured, and the amount of times their flag was captured, and the score. Also, to the right is the amount of players on that team. The rogue team is never included on the team scoreboard.
|[[Image:Teamscoreboard.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Team Scoreboard]]
|-
|

======Radar======
The [[Radar]] (In the bottom left), shows a bird's eye, 2d view of the map. This is useful for dodging bullets, and seeing where other players are in relation to the users' tank. The user's tank is displayed in the center of the radar, in white. Two lines from the user's "blip" on the radar represent the user's FOV (Field of view). The user's bullets are also displayed in white. Other teams are shown on the radar in their respective color, red shown in red, green shown in green, etc. The rogue team is shown in yellow. Flags are shown as little x's, and team flags as colored x's. A square is also around each radar "blip." This represents height. The larger the square, the higher something is. If a "blip" has an X through it, that tank has a flag.

|[[Image:Radar.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Radar]]
|-
|

====Sportsmanship====

When playing BZFlag, it is important to keep a few simple rules in mind:

* Players should never shoot tanks on their own team (except for the rogue players).
* Players should be civil to other players in all respects.

|[[Image:Screenshot1.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A Screenshot of a standard 2.0.9 client playing on Missile War 2]]
|}

Web BZFS Manager

2010-04-06T14:44:25Z

Cobra Fast:

The [[Web BZFS Manager]] is a third party project that allows server owners to manage BZFlag Servers via a web interface.
It was developed by [[User:Cobra_Fast|Cobra_Fast]].
The project is licensed under the GPL.

==Download and Installation==
You can easily download the actual version at [http://www.wtwrp.de/web_bzfs_manager http://www.wtwrp.de/web_bzfs_manager]. This page always is up to date and will offer the latest version for download.

For installation instructions see the ''setup.php'' via your browser that is contained in the package you downloaded, or view the [http://www.wtwrp.de/wbzfsm_demo/setup.php online variant] of it.

==Functions==

* Start, stop BZFS
* Web form for command line options to ease BZFS starting
* Create, delete and edit databases
* Upload and use maps and plug-ins
* User limits

==Future==

This features will come with [[BZFlag 3.0]]

* Improved web interface
* [[Webadmin]] quick launchers

==See also==
[[Webadmin]]
[[Category:Server]]

BZFlag on IRC

2010-04-06T14:42:41Z

Cobra Fast: added #powerbzedit to unofficial channels

=FreeNode=
The official BZFlag org. and its associated communities use the [http://freenode.net/ freenode IRC network] for communication and collaboration.

==Channels==
===Official channels===
BZFlag maintains 2 official channels run by the org.
====#bzflag====
The [irc://irc.freenode.net/bzflag #bzflag] channel is the primary development and support channel. The major developers and many long time community members are users. Discussions in the channel range from development and coding discussions to technical support and bug reports. #bzflag is a great channel to discuss new features and bugs. The channel is moderated by the project administration and development staff. '''This channel is not for help with specific servers or administration issues'''

====#bzflag-chat====
The #bzflag-chat channel is a more informal channel designated for player community discussions.

===Other projects and unofficial channels===
A number of players, servers, and [[leagues]] have their own channel for more focused discussion. Some of these include:

* ##bar (DUCLeague team, The Barbarians)
* #badgerking (Official Channel for Badgerking's FFA)
* #BoomBZ (Team Channel for GU team [BoOm])
* ##bz-inc (DUCLeague team, [http://my.bzflag.org/league/index.php?link=teaminfo&id=689/ Bz-Incorporated])
* ##bzexcess (Support channel for the [http://bzexcess.com BZExcess.com servers.])
* ##bzflagr (Support channel for the [http://bzflagr.net BZFlagr.net servers.]) - closed down
* #bzfx (Support channel for the bzfx.net BZFlag servers)
* ##bzpod (Channel to discuss the BZFlag podcast, BZPod)
* ##bzpro (Support channel for the [http://bzpro.net BZPro.net servers.])
* ##bztank (Unofficial support channel for the [http://bztank.net BZTank.net servers].)
* #bztraining (Official support channel for the [http://bztraining.org BZTraining server network] and for [http://bznetwork.googlecode.com BZNetwork])
* ##bzw (A place to discuss map making for BZFlag, including ideas and help)
* ##divi (Support channel for [http://divi.fairserve.net Divibox] and other [http://fairserve.bzflag.org Fairserve] servers)
* #dub (Support channel for the dub.bzflag.org BZFlag servers)
* ##ducleague (Support channel for [http://my.bzflag.org/league/ Ducati League (DucLeague)])
* #forestforce ([http://gu.bzleague.com/index.php?link=teaminfo&id=10 GULeague Team])
* ##guleague (Support channel for [http://gu.bzleague.com/ GamesUnited League (GULeague)])
* ##hepcat (Support channel for borrego.hepcat.org BZFlag server)
* ##icf (Support channel for [http://gu.bzleague.com/index.php?link=teaminfo&id=112 Invasive Chaotic Frenzies, (GULeague)])
* #inleague (Support channel for [http://in.bzleague.com InterNational League (INLeague)])
* #kas (GULeague team, KAS)
* ##norang (Support channel for [http://bzflag.norang.ca Norang.ca] BZFlag servers)
* #pillbox (Support channel for [http://pillbox.bzleague.com/ Pillbox League (PBLeague)])
* ##planetmofo (Support channel for [http://www.planet-mofo.com planet-mofo.com] servers)
* #plosileague (Support channel for [http://bzfx.net/league/ Plosileague]) ''defunct''
* #silvercat (Support channel for [http://silvercat.bzflag.org/ Silvercat BZFlag servers]) ''defunct''
* ##t42 ([http://gu.bzleague.com/index.php?link=teaminfo&id=39 GULeague team])
* ##untamed ([http://my.bzflag.org/league/index.php?link=teaminfo&id=909 DUCLeague team])
* #powerbzedit (Support channel for [http://pbzewiki.doenemeier.de/wiki/ PowerBZEdit])

When the Freenode Group Management System is implemented, channels with a single # will need to either register their organization with Freenode or rename to begin with ## (a "reference" channel, one that holds no legal claim to the name).

=stormcenter.net=
An unofficial bzflag channel is run on irc.stormcenter.net
* #bzflag (official support channel for [http://www.bztank.net BZtank] servers)

=IRC Clients=
To access the IRC network you need to use an IRC client. [http://irchelp.org/ http://irchelp.org/] is an excellent resource for more information on general IRC.

=External links=
*[http://irchelp.org/ IRC help docs]

[[Category:Development]]
[[Category:Support]]

Genocide

2010-03-25T09:25:36Z

Cobra Fast: removed from stubs: enough information

The definition for "Genocide" is "The deliberate and systematic destruction of an entire people who belong to one group of any kind," or quite simply the hunting down and elimination of anyone in a certain group. This flag works in a similar fashion.

== Use ==
The Genocide flag (referred to as 'Geno' or 'G') allows you to kill an entire team, simply by killing ''one'' of the team's members. Because shooting a single tank while holding Genocide wipes out their entire team, the amount of points you get
is equal to the amount of players on that team. For example, if you were to shoot a green tank with the Genocide flag, and there were four green team members, you would get four points.* Genocide is a powerful flag and usually does not have a high number of shots. Some servers only let you have one shot with Genocide!

:*Genocide does not kill players who are not active, like players who have not yet [[spawning|spawned]]. However if you are paused and a teammate gets hit with G, you still die, and become un-paused.
:*If you have G, and step on a player with [[Burrow|BU]] (or kill someone by any other means, except shooting them), you do not kill all of that player's team.
:*'''It is possible''' to kill your own team with G. This will happen if you shoot yourself while holding G, or shoot one of your teammates with G. This will cause you to have multiple TK's, and can get you kicked from a server.

== Strategies ==
=== [[CTF]] ===
The flag can be disastrous if it hits a team, and can be the turning point of a battle, giving you and your team time to maneuver. On the other hand, if your team is hit with G the other team has the upper-hand. If you yourself are hit with G, your team will get frustrated at you for giving the other team the upper-hand. It is advised to stay away from whoever has Genocide.

=== [[Rabbit Hunt]] ===
Genocide will kill everyone on one side, therefore a rabbit in rabbit hunt with genocide is very dangerous. If you are the rabbit with Geno, kill a hunter and let the points rack up!

=== [[FFA]] ===
Genocide is not as useful in free-for-all, but can still be used effectively. Normally the rouge team will not be killed by G, but they will if the [[RogueGenocide]] plug-in is enabled. If you are rouge on a server like this, you can kill yourself with G and kill every other rouge!

Hix

2010-03-25T09:21:10Z

Cobra Fast: fixed an internal link pointing to a false destination

HiX is a [[CTF]] and [[FFA]] map that is included with the BZFlag installation. The map is a derivative of a map originally createdby [[Tim Riker]]. The most prominent change from the original, is that the X that divides the map into quadrants extended to the ground - prohibiting tanks from driving under them. Forcing the driver to either go over or around the X.

[[Image:Hix-ctf.png|thumb|right|Hix Screenshot in 4 team CTF Mode]]
[[Image:Hix-ffa.png|thumb|right|Hix Screenshot in FFA Mode]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:CTF Maps]]
[[Category:FFA Maps]]
[[Category:4 Team Maps]]
==Description==
HiX's most prominent features are the raised "catwalks" that form a "High X." The map is made with two lines of symmetry, so it is a 4-way map. There are three main levels of play: 0 units, 15 units, and 30 units, 0 units being the ground, 15 units being the boxes on the ground and the lower catwalks, and 30 being the upper catwalks. There are 4 raised bases on each side of the map, centered on the outer wall, and vertically aligned with the upper catwalks. There is a fourth level at 45 units high, which consists of 5 boxes on the catwalks, 1 in the middle, and 4 behind each base. There are two [[teleporter]]s located in each corner of the map which lead from the ground level to the upper catwalks. On each side there are two boxes turned 45 degrees in between the teleporters and the base. Under each base there are 4 pyramids, and under the lower catwalks there are 10 pyramids in each quadrant meant to resemble supports for the catwalk. Each support features 1 upright tall pyramid, 2 upright short pyramids, and 2 inverted short pyramids. There are two supports per quadrant.

==Leagues==
The HiX map is the signature map of the [[GU League|Games United League]]. In this league the map is set up to have two teams opposite each other--red and purple.
The HiX map is also used in the [[Leagues#1vs1_League|1vs1 League]] in FFA mode.
==CTF Strategies==
On the HiX map in its 2 team form, flags should be placed either behind a teleporter or against the box half way between the teleporter and the base. These two spots make it easy to kill opponents trying to grab your flag. In its 4 team form, flags should be left on the base or on the box behind the base.
==Other forms==
The map can be found in other forms besides [[FFA]], 2 team [[CTF]], and 4 team [[CTF]]. Some servers use the map in a [[Rabbit Hunt]] format, a [[Hold the Flag]] (HTF) format using a plug-in, and a [[King of the Hill]] format.
==Hix Tricks==
The Hix map contains many secret shots, tricks, glitches, and moves.
===Glitches===
*All four pyramids below the bases, and the eight pyramids below the lower catwalks can be used to ricochet bullets off of to go through the catwalks/bases above them. This glitch may or may not have been fixed in BZFlag 3.0.
*Under the lower catwalks near the corner of the cube shaped boxes tanks can get stuck momentarily at the top when they jump, not really a useful trick, but cool to try. This trick also works on the ends of the walls that forms the X under the upper catwalks, although this is extremely rare to see.
*Tanks can get jammed and stuck between all teleporters and the outer walls. If you're versing someone who is between the teleporter and the wall and you can make them jump, there's a good chance you can get them jammed there. While there is still a chance of becoming unjammed and falling after becoming stuck, this is rare and the only definite way to get yourself out is to self-destruct.

===Flag Passing Tricks===
Passed flags will either go to the middle of the map, or to their respective bases, depending on how the map is set up. (In the [[GU League]] setup, the flags go to the middle of the map.)
====Teleporter Passes====
In 3.0 versions of BZFlag, teleporters act like boxes, enabling flags to rest on top of them. In 2.0 versions of BZFlag, teleporters act like a pyramid, meaning flags go to safety zones instead of sitting on teleporters.
*Above Tele Pass: This is the easiest of the 3 teleporter passes. When holding the flag, jump above the upper level teleporter, make sure the flag is over the teleporter, and release. This is the easiest pass, but the most time consuming and can give an enemy more time to kill you.
*Below Tele Jump Pass: This pass is also easy, although not as easy as the Above Tele Pass. Simply drive under the top teleporter, jump, and when you hit the top of the teleporter, release the flag and it will go mid. With practice, this method can be a fast reliable way to pass the flag to the middle of the field.
*Below Tele Jumpless Pass: This is the hardest pass to use, and is rarely used in battle. This pass can be done in any teleporter, top or bottom, front or back, making it the most versatile. To use this pass you must be touching the edge of the teleporter. The pass has to be done while under the teleporter, but before you go through it, because the teleporter moves you slightly toward the center upon entering it. It cannot be done when entering the teleporter from an angle. When all of these requirements have been met, release the flag and it will fly to the center of the map. This pass is hard to use with consistency, and due to the extreme difficulty of using it, rarely used. If ever mastered though, it could be the quickest, safest, and most efficient way to pass the flag. This pass is also know as the "Tele Hax Pass". It received this nickname due to the difficulty of the pass, the unusual list of requirements in order to perform the pass, and the difficulty in discovering the pass. The name has nothing to do with any improved/modified clients.

====Pyramid Passes====
*Base Pyramids Mid Pass: Simply make sure the flag is over the pyramid, but not under the box, and release it. It will travel mid.
*Base Pyramids Up Pass: Simply make sure the flag is over the pyramid and under the box, also make sure the box is not a base of a different color than the flag your passing, and release it. (i.e. this pass will mid a green flag under any base other than a green base or a regular box) This will not happen if you are under an enemy base, and it will have the same effect as dropping the flag on the base.
*Rear Base Pyramid Up Pass: Simply make sure the flag is over the pyramid and under the box located behind the base. Release the flag and it will land on top of the box. If you have the flag over the pyramid but under the base instead of the box, this pass will not work.
*Support Pyramid Mid Pass: Make sure the flag is located over one of the short upright pyramids and that your tank is above 5.0 units above the ground. Release the flag, and it will go to the middle of the map.
*Support Pyramid Up Pass: Make sure the flag is located over one of the short upright pyramids and that your tank is under 5.0 units above the ground. Release the flag, and it will travel up to the lower level of the catwalk.
*Middle Pyramid Mid Pass: This pass is close to totally useless (never rule any trick out in GU though). Jump onto the pyramid, turn sideways slowly, drive till you reach a corner, jump 45 degrees, land, and drive forward on that side of the pyramid. Continue doing so until the flag is over the pyramid, then release. The flag will simply fall down to the middle of the map.

===Pyramid shots===
*Shooting at pyramids at a certain angle can cause bullets to go up to different levels of play, so, for example, a tank on the bottom level can kill tanks on the upper and lower catwalks, and tanks jumping up to the base.
*The four pyramids below the x-pattern rails closest to the corner of the map can be used to kill people jumping from the box infront of the base to the base as well, although this is hard to time and hard to aim properly, you must be facing toward the outer edge of the map that the base you're shooting at is along, and jump and shoot at the upper section of the pyramid to do it.

Web BZFS Manager

2010-03-25T09:19:25Z

Cobra Fast:

The [[Web BZFS Manager]] is a third party project that allows server owners to manage BZFlag Servers via a web interface.
It is developed by [[User:Cobra_Fast]] and the WTWRP Community [http://wtwrp.doenemeier.de/].
The project is licensed under the GPL.

==Download and Installation==
You can easily download the actual version at [http://www.wtwrp.de/web_bzfs_manager http://www.wtwrp.de/web_bzfs_manager]. This page always is up to date and will offer the latest version for download.

For installation instructions see the ''setup.php'' via your browser that is contained in the package you downloaded, or view the [http://www.wtwrp.de/wbzfsm_demo/setup.php online variant] of it.

==Functions==

* Start, stop BZFS
* Web form for command line options to ease BZFS starting
* Create, delete and edit databases
* Upload and use maps and plug-ins
* User limits

==Future==

This features will come with [[BZFlag 3.0]]

* Improved web interface
* [[Webadmin]] quick launchers

==See also==
[[Webadmin]]
[[Category:Server]]

HiX

2010-03-25T09:17:29Z

Cobra Fast: its a duplicate (from wantedpages) so i created a redirect

#REDIRECT [[Hix]]

Map making by hand

2010-03-04T16:06:15Z

Cobra Fast: box doesn't take shift, so i made it meshbox (Transformations)

Material

2010-03-04T15:57:07Z

Cobra Fast: summed stuff up and formatting

A material is used in a BZFlag world to define a new look for otherwise regular objects, such as [[Meshbox|meshboxes]].

==Code==
To put a material in your map, first it must be defined:
{|
|
material
name example_material
texture filename
addtexture filename
notextures
notexcolor
notexalpha
texmat -1
dyncol -1
ambient 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
diffuse 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
color 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
specular 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
emission 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
shininess 0.0
resetmat
spheremap
noradar
noshadow
noculling
nosorting
nolighting
alphathresh 0.0
groupalpha
occluder
end
|}
Valid parameters for a Material are:
<properties>
name=name for reference
texture=set the texture (must be .png but don't include the extension unless on the Internet)
addtexture=add a texture (again, no extension is needed)
notextures=don't use textures.
notexcolor=don't apply the [[Color(BZW)|color]] to the texture
notexalpha=don't use the texture's alpha channel
texmat=specify a [[TextureMatrix|texture matrix]]. -1 for no texture matrix. (addtexture must be used before texmat)
dyncol=specify a [[DynamicColor|dynamic color]]. -1 for no dynamic color.
ambient=ambient color
diffuse=diffuse (main)[[Color(BZW)|color]]
[[Color(BZW)|color]]=synonym for diffuse
specular=specular [[Color(BZW)|color]]
emission=emission [[Color(BZW)|color]]
shininess=shiny!
resetmat=restore default values
spheremap=use spherical texture coordinate mapping
noradar=do not display on radar (except normal mode)
noshadow=do not render shadows
noculling=do not cull by face winding (double-sided)
nosorting=do not do front-to-back alpha sorting
nolighting=disable lighting
alphathresh=alpha thresholding value
groupalpha=sort translucent faces as a group
occluder=faces with this material will occlude
</properties>
To actually apply a material, you must use some sort of reference in an object, like so:
{|
|
meshbox
position 0 0 10
rotation 0
size 10 10 5

# refer to the previously defined material with its particular name we gave it before
# compare underlined text in the code at the [[#Code|page top]]
'''matref example_material'''
end
|}
Please note the ''matref'' is the '''name''' of the defined material, not the name of the .png/url file!

==Translucency==
Material translucency is enabled by setting the alpha component of a material's [[Color(BZW)|color]] to a value less than one. Translucent objects should be sparingly, because everything behind them must always be rendered. In addition, very large translucent objects may be sorted and drawn in the wrong order. This is caused by the fact that the Z-buffer cannot be used because it would allow another translucent object to cover the translucent object, which would not look right. Thus, the translucent elements are instead sorted by determining the distance to a point in the center, which works well as long as there are not too many large translucent objects.
The same applies to textures that have translucent sections.

==Magic Material Names==
===General===
[[GroundMaterial]] 
WaterMaterial 
LinkMaterial For Teleporter Links 
TeleMaterial For Teleporter Frame (BZFlag version 3.0)

===Skybox===
[[LeftSkyboxMaterial]] 
[[RightSkyboxMaterial]] 
[[FrontSkyboxMaterial]] 
[[BackSkyboxMaterial]] 
[[TopSkyboxMaterial]] 
[[BottomSkyboxMaterial]] 

==History==
Materials were added in [[BZFlag 2.0.0]].

==Editor Support==
Materials are supported in [[Blender]] with [[BZWTools]], [[pyBZEdit]], and [[Wings3D]] with the [[BZW Exporter for Wings3D]]. Materials are NOT supported in [[BZEdit]], [[BZFed]] or IBZEdit.

==A note about textures==
A material can be composed of colors and textures. Textures are .png files that are either in the client directory or on the Internet. The terms ''material'' and ''texture'' are often confused and misunderstood, so bear the above in mind.

[[category:Map_Objects]]
[[category:Map Making]]

Cone

2010-03-04T15:49:19Z

Cobra Fast: tweaked Mr Burns tweak (bottom matref)

The cone object is a [[BZW]] object that defines a cone in the game arena.

==Code==
[[Image:ConePic.png|right|frame|300px|Cone Appearance]]
To place a cone into your map file, the following template is suggested:
{|
|
cone
name example_cone
divisions 16
flatshading
position 0 0 0
rotation 0
size 10 10 10
shift 0 0 0
shear 0 0 0
scale 1 1 1
spin angle nx ny nz
phydrv physics_driver_name
smoothbounce
matref material
bottom matref material2
end
|}
Valid parameters for a cone are:
<properties>
name=defines the name of cone, often unused
divisions=defines the number of subdivisions (number of sides) in the cone, a higher value leads to a slower map with more detail
flatshading=defines the use of flat shading, smooth is the default
position=defines the position of the cone in X-pos, Y-pos and the height of the cone in Z.
rotation=defines a rotation around the Z axis for the cone, in degrees.
size=defines the distance from the center to the side of the cone in X and Y, and the total height of the cone in Z.
shift=shift the cone (repeatable)
shear=(repeatable)
scale=defines the scale of the cone in x,y, and z, 1 is the default, lower values make it smaller (repeatable)
spin angle=rotate the cone around a vector by angle. The vector <nx, ny, nz> must be a unit vector. Because the BZFlag client doesn't clip objects against the ground, it is advisable to ensure that the cone is rotated up and away from the ground. Otherwise, the cone will appear to be super-imposed on the ground, rather than embedded into it. (repeatable)
phydrv=reference to a predefined [[physics|physics driver]].
smoothbounce=defines that shot bounces use normals
matref=reference to a predefined [[material]].
bottom matref=defines a different [[material]] for the bottom surface (optional)
</properties>

==Appearance==
The cone, by default, has the red brick wall texture on the curved surface, and the grey roof appearance of a normal box on the bottom. However, using [[material|matref]] one can change the appearance of the cone.

==History==
The cone object has been supported since [[BZFlag 2.0.0]]. In previous versions of BZFlag, this object will not work.

==Editor Support==
Editors that support the cone object include [[Blender]] using the [[BZWTools]], [[Wings3D]] using the [[BZW Exporter for Wings3D]], and [[pyBZEdit]]. [[BZEdit]] and [[BZFed]] do NOT support the cone.

[[Category:Map Making]]
[[Category:Map_Objects]]

User:Cobra Fast

2010-03-03T16:19:40Z

Cobra Fast:

=About me=

I'm playing BZFlag since 2003.
I registered at the BZBB 2006.

So far i'm playing in several leagues and own a server mainly for BZFlag related use.
While playing I had a handful of callsigns but most commonly played (and playing) as 'Cobra_Fast'.

=WTWRP=

In autumn 2007 i foundet [http://www.wtwrp.de/ WTWRP] (short for ''We Think We aRe Pros'') as a small group of players playing, discussing and building maps and games. After another year passed by WTWRP entered the GU league and became a bit more popular.

=Projects=

I developed the barely known [[Web BZFS Manager]] (which isn't finished yet, and development freezed so far).
The project im currently working on is PowerBZEdit, a entirely new bzw editor built up from scratch. Info can be found there: [http://pbzewiki.doenemeier.de/ http://pbzewiki.doenemeier.de/].

And recently i'm enhancing the BZWiki in some small aspects because I sometimes have nothing better to do.

=Further evidence=

If you are still interested in me you are invited to read my blog at http://doenemeier.de/ or take a look at my other software projects at http://doenemeier.de/software/ .

User:Cobra Fast

2010-03-03T16:18:38Z

Cobra Fast: Projects.

=About me=

I'm playing BZFlag since 2003.
I registered at the BZBB 2006.

So far i'm playing in several leagues and own a server mainly for BZFlag related use.
While playing I had a handful of callsigns but most commonly played (and playing) as 'Cobra_Fast'.

=WTWRP=

In autumn 2007 i foundet [http://www.wtwrp.de/ WTWRP] (short for ''We Think We aRe Pros'') as a small group of players playing, discussing and building maps and games. After another year passed by WTWRP entered the GU league and became a bit more popular.

=Projects=

I developed the barely known [[Web BZFS Manager]] (which isn't finished yet, and development freezed so far).
The project im currently working on is PowerBZEdit, a entirely new bzw editor built up from scratch. Info can be found there: [http://pbzewiki.doenemeier.de/].

And recently i'm enhancing the BZWiki in some small aspects because I sometimes have nothing better to do.

=Further evidence=

If you are still interested in me you are invited to read my blog at http://doenemeier.de/ or take a look at my other software projects at http://doenemeier.de/software/ .

BZFS Command Line Options

2010-02-21T19:50:18Z

Cobra Fast: -time added.

BZFS supports a number of command line options that let you set the various modes and parameters for the game.

==Use==
Any command line option can be passed to BZFS in the command line, or placed in a text file passed in with the -conf parameter.

==Config files==
A [[Sample conf|config file]] is simply a text file with a list of command line options, one per line. This file can be the parameter to the -conf command line option. BZFS will load all options in the config file as if they had been passed in as runtime options. Note that a config file may itself include the -conf option, allowing one config file to "include" another. This could be useful if a group of servers (hosted on the same machine) want to share common settings.

==The Options==

*'''-admsg''' ''message''
Define a message which will be broadcast to all players every 15 minutes. This option can be used multiple times to define a multi-line message.

*'''-advertise''' ''groupname,groupname,...''
Allows control of who can see this server on the server list. Use -advertise NONE to make a private server (no one will see the server, but global logins can be used). The default, if -advertise is not specified, is to allow everyone to see the server. Otherwise, your server will only be listed to members of the groups which you specify with -advertise.

*'''-autoTeam'''
Instructs the server to automatically assign joining players to the team that needs more players, overriding user preference. For specifics on operation, see [[Auto Team]].

*'''-b'''
When -c is supplied, this option randomly rotates the buildings.

*'''-ban''' ''ip{,ip}*''
Prohibits connections from the listed IP addresses. Trailing 255 bytes are treated as mask bytes.

*'''-banfile''' ''filename''
Specifies the name of a file where bzfs will store the banlist. It will load the banlist from this file when it starts (if the file exists), and write the banlist back to the file when someone gets banned or unbanned. If this option isn't given the banlist will not be saved.

*'''-banTime'''
Default number of minutes player should be banned (unspecified, the default is 300).

*'''-c'''
Enables the capture-the-flag style game. By default this allocates one team flag per team. This can be modified see '''+f''' ''team''. By default, the free-for-all style is used.

*'''-cache''' ''worldCacheURL''
Specifies the URL for the world cache file. This is a binary file that clients will attempt to download before getting the world from the bzfs server.

*'''-cacheout''' ''filename''
Save the currently specified world into a binary cache file and exit.

*'''-conf''' ''configfilename''
Specifies the name of a configuration file to be used to set all of the bzfs options, rather than setting them on the command line.

*'''-cr'''
Enables the capture-the-flag style game with random map. You can optionally specify a building density by providing a number (default is 5). One team flag per team is provided, but more can be added through '''+f''' ''team''. By default, the free-for-all style is used.

*'''-d'''
Increase debugging level. If more '''-d''' is given, more debugging info is obtained.

*'''-density''' ''num''
Specify density for buildings, i.e. the higher the integer number, the more buildings you will get. This applies to automatically generated maps only.

*'''-disableBots'''
Prevent clients from using the ROGER autopilot or from using robots.

*'''+f''' ''{good|bad|teamflag-id}[{count}]''
Forces the existence of the given flag. If specified multiple times for the same flag-id, then that many flags will appear. The good argument is equivalent to specifying '''+f''' once for each kind of good flag. Same goes for the bad argument. The teamflag-id must match one of the predefined [[FlagCode|Flag Codes]].

*'''-f''' ''{flag-id}''
Restricts a certain flag from existing.

*'''-fb'''
Allow flags on box buildings.

*'''-filterCallsigns'''
Turn on the filtering of callsigns and email addresses. Callsigns and addresses are compared against bad words provided via '''-badwords'''.

*'''-filterChat'''
Turn on the filtering of chat messages. Messages that contain words listed via a '''-badwords''' file are replaced with !@#$%^&* characters.

*'''-filterSimple'''
By default, all filtering is aggressive, matching much more than what is strictly listed in a '''-badwords''' file for convenience. Providing this option will make the '''-filterCallsigns''' and '''-filterChat''' comparisons exact match only.

*'''-g'''
Quit after serving one game.

*'''-groupdb''' ''file''
Load groups from file

*'''-h'''
Buildings are given varying heights if the map is random. Has no effect on map files.

*'''-handicap'''
Players are given a handicap advantage based on their ability in relation to the other players. Handicapped players will have faster tanks and shots. The handicap is determined by the player's score in relation to other players.

*'''-help'''
Shows a help page and lists all the valid flag id's.

*'''-helpmsg''' ''file name''
Create a help message accessible by /help name, which prints the contents of file. Restricted to 10 lines per help message.

*'''-i''' ''interface''
Server will listen for and respond to ''pings'' (sent via broadcast) on the given interface. Clients use this to find active servers on the network. This is the TCP/UDP/IP address the server will listen on.

*'''-j'''
Allows jumping.

*'''-lagdrop''' ''warn-count''
Kicks players after warn-count lag warnings.

*'''-lagwarn''' ''time/ms''
Send warnings to players that lag more than time.

*'''-loadplugin''' ''/filename''
[[http://my.bzflag.org/w/Plugins]]

*'''-mp''' ''total | rogue,red,green,blue,purple,observer''
Sets the maximum number of players, total or per team.A single value sets the total number of players allowed. Five comma separated values set the maximum for each team. If a count is left blank then no limit is set for that team, except for the limit on the total number of players. Both forms may be provided.

*'''-mps''' ''max-score''
Sets a maximum score for individual players. The first player to reach this score is declared the winner and the game is over.

*'''-ms ''shots''
Allows up to shots simultaneous shots for each player. This is 1 by default.

*'''-mts''' ''max-score''
Sets a maximum score for teams. The first team to reach this score is declared the winner and the game is over.

*'''-noMasterBanlist'''
Server will not attempt to load the [[Master Ban]] list from the internet.

*'''-p''' ''port''
Listen for game connections on port instead of the default port.Use '''-help''' to print the default port, or use '''-d''' debug printing.

*'''-passdb''' ''file''
Load passwords from file

*'''-passwd''' ''password''
Specify a server administrator password for use in remote administration such as /kick, /ban, /mute, etc messages.

*'''-pidfile''' ''filename''
Specify a file where the server will write its process ID so it may be used for remote administration.

*'''-poll''' ''variable=value''
Configure several aspects of the in-game polling system.

*'''-public'''
Causes the server to register itself with a list server, which clients can query to get a list of bzfs servers. By default, a server will respond to broadcast queries, allowing clients to find servers running on the standard port on the local subnet.

*'''-publicaddr''' ''address[:port]''
Advertise this server with the given address and port. Only has an effect when used with '''-public'''. Normally a server advertises itself at the local address and port. Some servers are not accessible from the internet at this address (for example servers behind a firewall using Network Address Translation). Use this option to specify the address and/or port that internet users should use to access this server.

*'''-publiclist''' ''url''
Advertise this server on the list servers listed at url. Only has an effect when used with '''-public'''. A built-in url is used by default. The BZFlag clients use the same built-in url so, by default, clients will see public servers automatically. This argument may be provided multiple times to publicize a server to multiple list servers.

*'''-q'''
If specified, the server will not listen for nor respond to ``pings''. BZFlag sends out these pings to give the user a list of available servers.This effectively makes the server private, especially if the '''-p''' option is also used.

*'''+r'''
Makes most shots ricochet. Super bullets, shock waves, and guided missiles do not.

*'''-rabbit''' ''[score|killer|random]''
Enables the rabbit-hunt style game. By default, the free-for-all style is used. You must specify the algorithm used to pick a new rabbit when the old one dies. The score algorithm uses a modified wins/(wins+losses) score and picks the top scoring player to be the new rabbit. The killer algorithm specifies a reverse tag game where whomever kills the rabbit becomes the new rabbit. The random algorithm randomly picks a new rabbit without regard to score. (The score algorithm is the original behavior.)

*'''-recbuf''' ''size''
Start with the recording buffer active, with the specified size (in megabytes).

*'''-recbufonly'''
Disable recording straight to files

*'''-recdir''' ''directory''
Specify the directory for record and replay files.

*'''-replay'''
Start the server in replay mode.

*'''-reportfile''' ''filename''
Enable the /report command and log all reports to ''filename''.

*'''-reportpipe''' ''command''
Enable the /report command and execute ''command'' when a report is filed. This can be used together with, or instead of the '''-reportfile''' option.

*'''-requireudp'''
Require clients to use parallel UDP. If players fire before opening a UDP channel, kick them off the server.

*'''+s''' ''num-flags''
The server will have an extra num-flags random super flags available at all times. The '''-f''' option can be used to restrict which types of flags will be added. Required flags given by the '''+f''' option are not included in the num-flags total.

*'''-s''' ''num-flags''
The server will have up to num-flags random super flags available at any time.The '''-f''' option can be used to restrict which types of flags will be added. Required flags given by the '''+f''' option are not included in the ''num-flags'' total.

*'''-sa'''
Antidote flags are provided for players with bad flags.

*'''-sb'''
Allow spawns on box buildings.

*'''-set''' ''name value''
Set BZDB variable name to value

*'''-sl''' ''id num''
Restrict flag id to num shots.

*'''-spamtime''' ''time''
Minimum ''time'' between player chat messages that are alike.

*'''-spamwarn''' ''warnLimit''
Number of warnings a player/spammer gets, who violates '''-spamtime'''.

*'''-speedtol''' ''factor''
Override the default speed auto kick factor. The factor should not be less then 1.0. The factor is a multiplier.

*'''-srvmsg''' ''message''
Define a server welcome message. This option can be used multiple times to define a multiline message.

*'''-st''' ''time''
Bad flags are automatically dropped after time seconds.

*'''-sw''' ''count''
Bad flags are automatically dropped after count wins. Capturing a team flag does not count as a win.

*'''-t'''
Adds teleporters to random maps. Has no effect on map files.

*'''-time'''
Starts a countdown immediately when the server starts.

*'''-timemanual'''
The countdown has to be started manually using the /countdown command. This is useful for matches.

*'''-tk'''
Changes the default behavior where a player dies when he kills a teammate. When using this option, he will just get a -1 score penalty for the kill but not be killed in game.

*'''-tkannounce'''
Announces team kills to the admin channel

*'''-tkkr''' ''percent''
Kicks players whose team killing to normal kill ratio is greater than percent [1-100]. A start up grace period is given to players.

*'''-ts''' ''[micros]''
Include timestamp information in DEBUG output useful for logging. If micros is specified, microseconds will be added to the timestamp.

*'''-userdb''' ''file''
Load group associations from file

*'''-vars''' ''file''
Loads values for game configurable variables from file. Entries are one per line in the form: set variable value. For a list of variables that are configurable, in the BZFlag client, send a message with /set as the text.

*'''-version'''
Prints the version number of the executable.

*'''-vetoTime'''
Max seconds authorized user has to abort poll(default is 20).

*'''-votePercentage'''
Percentage of players required to affirm a poll (unspecified, the default is 50.1%).

*'''-voteRepeatTime'''
Minimum seconds required before a player may repeat a vote.

*'''-world''' ''world-file''
Reads a specific BZFlag .bzw world file in [[BZW]] format as the game map.

*'''-worldsize''' ''world-size''
Changes the size for random maps

== V2.0.x options ==
These options are available in Version 2.0.13 and earlier. The have been removed for V3.0

*'''-a''' ''linear angular''
Sets the maximum linear and angular accelerations. The units are somewhat arbitrary so you'll have to experiment to find suitable values. Positive values will set limits to the acceleration and lower they are, greater is the inertia. Zero or negative values disable acceleration limits. '''-a 50 38''' is recommended for standard-speed servers.

*'''-synctime'''
Forces all clients to use the same time of day. The current time is determined by the server's clock. This disables the + and - keys on the clients.

*'''-synclocation'''
Forces all clients to use the same sun and stars location.

==See also==
[[BZW|BZW world format]]

[[Category:Server]]

King of the Hill

2010-02-20T15:10:27Z

Cobra Fast:

'''King of the Hill''' (short ''KOTH'') is an alternative game mode. It is not part of the game itself but gets shipped with BZFlag's [[Plug-ins]].

Goal of this style is to reach a certain point on the map (usually a box or kind of hill, some place that's quiete good to defend) and defend this place for a particular ammount of time (usually between 30 and 120 seconds) to become the ''king of the hill''.

==Prequisites==
Players will be abled to play this style withount any preparation of the game client or themselves.

Server owners will need to compile BZFS with the correct options, that for see ''[[Plug-ins]]''.

{{stub}}

[[Category:Plug-Ins]]

King of the Hill

2010-02-20T15:09:49Z

Cobra Fast: Added to Category:Plug-ins

King of the Hill

2010-02-20T15:07:17Z

Cobra Fast: Page created as stub with basic information.

Jargon

2010-02-20T14:55:56Z

Cobra Fast: PC (Pass Camp) added.

This page hopes to clarify some common jargon, acronyms and slang used by many players in game. They can be useful to know, especially in team situations, as other players will assume that you know what they are talking about.

Many players use map "landmarks," like "mid tower" or "@ R jump," to signify places on the map, so it's a good idea to learn your maps as well as the jargon.

= Acronyms =

<properties>
CTF=[[Capture the Flag]]
FFA=[[Free For All]]
RH=[[Rabbit Hunt]]
KOTH=King of the Hill
R=(Team's) Right
L=(Team's) Left
RF=Red flag
GF=Green flag
BF=Blue flag
PF=Purple flag
HF=Have fun
GC=Good Cap. - Used when your team caps an opposing teams flag
GJ=Good Job. Often said to the team when a teammate has just captured the opposing team's flag
GL=Good Luck
GS=Good shot. Generally used when a particularly difficult shot kills you
GG=Good game
G1=Good One (shot)
NP=No Problem - mostly used as a response if you're teamkilled
NR=Not Responding - as seen on the scoreboard, indicating a problem with a player's connection to the server
NS=Nice Shot
N1=Nice One (shot)
SRY=Sorry
THX=Thank You
TK=Team Kill, to kill one's own team.
TY=Thank You
WTF?=Something's not quite right..... (Vulgar)
WTH?=Similar to WTF - cleaner version
PC=Pass Camp: Stand on the enemies base waiting for a teammate to capture the flag. Then, after the cap immediately grab the enemies flag and pass it to the center of the map or to its map specific save-point. Saying this could either mean, that your own team is getting "passcamped" or that there is a chance to passcamp for the own team's score.
</properties>

= Jargon =

<properties>
Base=Usually referring to your own base. (eg: ST base! "There's someone with stealth in/at/near our base")
Bots=Non-human-player tanks.
Camping=Staying in one place with the same flag for a long time. If you do this you are ''a camper''.
Capping=Capturing the other teams flag, verb ''to cap''.
Flag Running=Working against your own team, taking your team's flag towards the other team's base. If you do this you are a ''flag runner''.
Flag Shopping=Rapidly picking up and dropping flags, in order to find a particularly powerful or useful one. Also known as ''flag farming''.
Geno, G, or GGG =Genocide Flag, usually when seen it chat by itself it warns that an opposing team player has the flag so be careful.
In=Inside the base (if applicable)
J/Jump/Jumper/Launcher=Either a world object that launches a tank in the air, or a tank that has used said world object. "st j r" means stealth jumper right.
Lang=Language, Watch your language. (Please don't respond with the language you speak.)
Laser Spamming=Uselessly, blindly, rapidly shooting with the laser flag, often resulting in team kills.
N, S, E, W=North, South, East, West. Compass points relative to the map. (eg: "Where the rabbit?" "N inside hut" or "SE corner")
Out=Directly outside the base (if applicable)
Mid, or Ctr=Middle of the map
Pass=Send the flag to the middle, or to a safe zone. See [[Jumping#Dropping_Flags|this article]].
Pyr/Pyra=Pyramid
Runner=Usually means "flag runner", above as in "we have a runner" but may also mean teammate carrying enemy flag as in "cover our runner."
Spamming=Filling the chat box with meaningless text.
Spawn camping=Sitting near a team's spawn site waiting to kill them when they respawn after their flag is captured.
Spawn killing=Killing someone as soon as they spawn.
Tele=Teleporter
Theirs=Attack the other team's flag, or used to signify the other team's base.
Twr=Tower, as in "ST on the right GM Twr"
Ours=Protect your team flag, or used to signify your team's base.
Watch!=Watch out! or Guard! (eg: Watch ours!)
Win=Kill everyone on the map. At the same time.
</properties>

= See Also =
* [[Flag List|Flag Abbreviations]]
* [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Internet_slang Common Internet Slang]

[[Category:Gameplay]]

Voice Chat

2010-02-20T14:41:02Z

Cobra Fast:

{{stub}}
Voice chat allows players to communicate in real time using a microphone and headphones. By using this kind of technology, it can free up a user's hands to continue the battle. There are many software applications that support voice chat.

== XFire ==

[http://www.xfire.com/ XFire] is a Windows only chat client. The software is targeted at games. It provides in-game Instant Messaging to other XFire users. It also has voice chat capabilities. Recent versions of BZFlag 2.0.9 have some support for XFire, namely the in-game IM.

== TeamSpeak ==

[http://www.goteamspeak.com/ TeamSpeak]

== Ventrilo ==
[http://www.ventrilo.com/ Ventrilo]

==Skype==
[http://www.skype.com/ Skype] may only be used by users with a larger bandwith due to [http://www.skype.com/ Skype] calls having a rather high quality.

Voice Chat

2010-02-20T14:40:29Z

Cobra Fast:

{{stub}}
Voice chat allows players to communicate in real time using a microphone and headphones. By using this kind of technology, it can free up a user's hands to continue the battle. There are many software applications that support voice chat.

== XFire ==

[http://www.xfire.com/ XFire] is a Windows only chat client. The software is targeted at games. It provides in-game Instant Messaging to other XFire users. It also has voice chat capabilities. Recent versions of BZFlag 2.0.9 have some support for XFire, namely the in-game IM.

== TeamSpeak ==

[http://www.goteamspeak.com/ TeamSpeak]

== Ventrilo ==
[http://www.ventrilo.com/ Ventrilo]

==Skype==
Skype may only be used by users with a larger bandwith due to Skype calls having a rather high quality.
[http://www.skype.com/ Skype]

Server Options

2010-02-15T14:14:13Z

Cobra Fast: Redirecting to BZFS Command Line Options

#REDIRECT [[BZFS Command Line Options]]

User:Cobra Fast

2009-09-28T13:14:17Z

Cobra Fast: New page: =About me= I'm playing BZFlag since 2003. So far i'm playing in several leagues and own a server mainly for BZFlag related use. While playing I had a handful of callsigns but most commo...

=About me=

I'm playing BZFlag since 2003.

So far i'm playing in several leagues and own a server mainly for BZFlag related use.
While playing I had a handful of callsigns but most commonly played (and playing) as 'Cobra_Fast'.

=WTWRP=

In autumn 2007 i foundet [http://www.wtwrp.de/ WTWRP] (short for ''We Think We aRe Pros'') as a small group of players playing, discussing and building maps and games. After another year passed by WTWRP entered the GU league and became a bit more popular.

=Projects=

I developed the barely known [[Web BZFS Manager]] (which isn't finished yet, and development freezed so far) and i'm currently developing a more powerful version of BZAdmin.

And recently i'm enhancing the BZWiki in some small aspects because I sometimes have nothing better to do.

=Further evidence=

If you are still interested in me you are invited to read my blog at http://doenemeier.de/ or take a look at my other software projects at http://doenemeier.de/software/ .