BZFlagWiki - User contributions [en]

Permissions

2010-06-08T20:20:05Z

Ratfink: Redirect to Server Permissions

#REDIRECT [[Server Permissions]]

Map making by hand

2010-06-03T20:40:54Z

Ratfink: /* What that means */

{{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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, or ed.
*GEdit
*Kate

==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>.

Next is:
<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 is the <options>.
The commands listed here are:
Ricochet, Jumping, Tank speed, Max Shots, and Max Players.
These are rather self explanatory, except for Max Players. It works like this. Rouge, 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.)

==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. 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. 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.

===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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This '''won't''' work

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

===Groups===
A group is a defined group of objects that can be called to gether as one.

For example if a map editor is makeing 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 types tree.

Example-----------

first define a group of obects as a tree

define tree

box
position 0 0 0
size 2 2 4
end

pyramid
position 0 0 3
size 5 5 10
end

enddef

then to add a tree simpily type

group tree
position 0 0 0
end

==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 different also helpful page here [[3d Transformations]]

The one is will tell you about is '''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.

Staying Alive

2010-06-03T02:59:25Z

Ratfink: /* Dodging */

= Staying Alive =
One of the most important objectives in BZFlag is to stay alive (if not '''the''' most important!) "Staying alive" means "not getting your tank blown up", because when it's blown up, you can't have fun driving around shooting the enemy tanks, which is why you play BZFlag in the first place, right? On the positive side, you're only "dead" for about 3 seconds, and after that you can get back into the mayhem.
There are several ways to die in BZFlag:

* You get shot
* Wholesale kill, i.e:
** Your team flag gets captured by an opposing team in a [[Capture the Flag]] ([[Capture the Flag|CTF]]) match
** One of your teammates is hit by [[Genocide]]
* You self-destruct
* Death [[Physics|physics drivers]]
* An admin executes a /kill command

So, your best chances of staying alive basically boils down to avoiding these 2 situations; getting shot, and getting your team flag captured by the enemy - avoiding to self-destruct is easy; just don't hit the DEL ("delete") button. Normally map makers will make it clear where death physics are, and there's not much you can do about the trigger happy admins.

== Avoid getting shot ==
An obvious way to avoid getting shot, is to stay away from tanks that might fire shots at you. However, this is not very desirable (if you are out of their firing range, they are out of yours, and thus you can't blow up other tanks which is the fun part!). And it's not possible to hide forever, so you will eventually have to deal with situations where bullets are coming in your direction...

=== Shooting yourself ===
It's possible for you to blow up your own tank by shooting yourself. This can be done on maps where bullets can ricochet, which means that a bullet hits something, like a wall or a building for instance, and then springs off in a new direction, which is in a parallel angle if ricocheting off a vertical surface. So if you fire directly at a wall in a game where the ricochet option is "on", the bullet will spring back and possibly hit your own tank, thus blowing it up!
If you shoot yourself (by accident or otherwise) you see a message saying "shot myself", your body-count will go up, and everyone else on the server gets to laugh at you.

You can avoid this by giving your shooting a little thought, i.e. don't stand close to solid objects (like buildings and walls) while firing directly at them, or fire at them in sharp angles, sending your bullets away from you even after the ricochet.

Also, be very, very careful when firing off a laser on the ground level.

=== Friendly fire ===
Not only can you shoot yourself, your teammates, your brothers in arms, can shoot you as well on most servers! Keep in mind that, if you are stealthed, you are much less visible to your teammates, and are likely to get shot if you stand in their way.

=== Dodging ===
Main article: [[Dodging]]
==== Bullets ====
Dodging shots in BZFlag requires a different technique than most other games. The key to dodging shots in BZFlag is to face at an angle from the person shooting at you. That way, you can avoid the shots completely, or slip in between them. If you are facing straight at your opponent then you must turn to avoid their shots, which wastes precious time.

Of course, if you are facing away from your opponent, it is difficult to shoot them. Thus, you want to time your approach so that you are facing towards them when they are out of shots, and you are facing away from them when they are shooting at you.

==== Guided Missiles ====
Somebody has fired a GM at you, and it is bearing down fast. What do you do? You drive full speed in a circle perpendicular to the player firing the GM. Watch their frustration as the GMs miss the rear of your tank by a fraction. Keep driving until you're out of range or out of space to drive. This is particularly effective against stationary GM users. With practice, you can develop this method by moving in a spiral, gradually reducing the distance as you drive around the GMer. This way, you can close in and hopefully take a shot at them. Also, keep in mind that the GMer can't lock on you if you are too close to him, making you nearly invulnerable.

=== Jumping ===
[[Jumping]] in order to avoid enemy fire is generally considered a bad idea, unless the jump is such that you land in a less accessible place (for example on top of a box). Jumping in the open makes you unbelievably vulnerable to being shot, as all the enemy tanks need to do is fire off a few shots in your direction just before you land. Don't do it unless it's your final option.

For further information on jumping tactics, see [[Jumping]]

=== Common Sense ===
By exercising a little caution, you can avoid many deaths. Keep an eye on the radar, especially when rounding corners. But also, keep an eye on the screen, in case somebody is stealthed. Identify people's flags. Never ever try to jump in a battle against a wings. If there is a laser running loose on the ground level, go someplace high and wait for him to kill himself. When going against a GM, hide behind buildings, if there are any. Keep your distance from shockwaves. Be careful around teleports; shockwaves and phantom zones like to camp there. And don't let yourself be hit by a [[Genocide|geno]]; because then everyone will hate you. Finally, be on the lookout for tanks acting strangely (driving straight at you, for example). They probably have some special flag: wings, shockwave, or masquerade.

== Prevent the enemy from capturing your teams flag ==
This one is relatively simple. If an enemy picks up your team's flag, shoot him!
Note: Dropping your or your opponent's team flag on a "bad surface" i.e. a pyramid or cone will return it to a certain point, often the middle or the owner's base.

== A note on self destruction ==
Some people self-destruct in order to avoid getting shot. This may sound a bit strange at first, but the idea is that if you self destruct and thus avoid getting shot, you prevent your enemy from getting a hit point as a result of shooting you - and keeping your enemies hit count down is desirable.

But...

'''Please don't do this!'''

It is generally frowned upon - if your enemy has you cornered, and your destruction is the only possible result in this situation, then of course he deserves the point. So please, either fight your way out, or die with honor!

[[Category:Tactics]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

Talk:Staying Alive

2010-06-03T02:57:41Z

Ratfink: New section: Rewriting in a more formal style

== Rewriting in a more formal style ==

The style of this article is very informal. As it is, it looks more like a forum port or something similar. Maybe it should be rewritten in a more formal style. [[User:Ratfink|Ratfink]] 22:57, 2 June 2010 (EDT)

Administrator

2010-06-03T02:52:58Z

Ratfink: /* Permissions */ Replaced a bulleted list with a short paragraph.

An [[administrator]] is usually an owner of the server, or are trusted friends of the owner who enforce server rules to make the most of the game. They are there to protect the good players, and get rid of rule breakers, depending on the server rules.
The [[administrator]] may be able to start/shutdown the server and edit the many options of it, depending on their [[Server Permissions|permissions]].

==Display==
On the [[scoreboard]], most admins have an '''@''' sign next to their name. There is a way, through permissions, for an admin to appear as only a regular registered user with a '''+''' and these are called ''Hidden Admins''.
For a person to become a ''Hidden Admin'' they must have the "hideAdmin" permission. This can be assigned by the owner in the server's group file. Note that for a person to have an "@" they must have either shortBan or Ban permissions, otherwise they will not have an "@" sign.

==Permissions==
Administrators can run many [[Slash Commands | commands]] on the server depending on the [[Server Permissions|permissions]] given to them by the server owner, they may include the following:
*/kick
*/ban
*/banlist
*/mute
*/say
*/set
*/flag (reset,give/take)
*The list continues... more in [[Slash Commands]]

Terms have appeared for administrators with various permissions. In general, ones with only a few permissions are called "cop". People referred to as cops often don't have permissions such as ban or flagMaster. Administrators with the hideAdmin permission are often referred as "hidden admin" or "hidden cop". Administrators with more permissions than cops and hidden admins are normally called simply "admin". Sometimes, a server owner will reserve certain permissions for himself only, such as shutdownServer, to protect his server.

==Becoming an Admin==
Perhaps the number one rule of becoming a server admin is to '''never ask to become one'''. Most owners frown upon this and will not consider you for future promotions. You do not need to bring anything to their attention, if they need an admin, they will ask someone if they would like to become one.

Server owners usually only let trusted people become server admins. People who help others, play a lot at the server(s), or can be trusted may be asked to be admin on a server. Just play nice, be friendly and see what happens!

==Being a Good Admin==
A good admin exhibits several traits. A good admin enforces and follows the rules set by the server owner, and does not interfere with honest game play. They also are always vigilant for [[Known Cheats|cheaters]]. The admin supports the server and promotes good and courteous gameplay. When you find a disruptive player, don't kick or ban right away. If they are using abusive language, then mute them, don't kick them. If they log out, and then back in to avoid the mute, then kick them. Be sure to only kick, mute, or ban someone if they are breaking the specific server rules.

{{stub}}

BZEditWin32

2010-06-03T02:29:38Z

Ratfink: /* Element Inspector */

BZEditWin32 is the name of the [http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ Microsoft Windows] version of [[BZEdit]], a graphical [[BZW]] map editor. It was first written by [[Jeff Myers]] and later extended by [[Greg Alkire]] and [[Daniel Remenak]].

== Overview ==
BZEditWin32 provides a graphical representation of the BZFlag world, and tools to place various objects in it. It has tools to create and edit the basic objects that were supported in BZFlag version 1.7. These include:
*[[Box]]
*[[Pyramid]]
*[[Base]]
*[[Teleporter]]
*[[Link]]
BZEditWin32 is still in use today by some map makers who prefer a more simple editing interface than the one provided by the [[BZWTools]] Blender plug-in.

== Development ==
BZEditWin32 is written in C++ using the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Foundation_Classes Microsoft Foundation Classes] or MFC. Development began in 2003 as a simple BZW map viewer but evolved into a full blown map editor shortly after. It was written by [[Jeff Myers]] as a way to get back into the BZFlag community after he found that it had gone open source. The current application shares it's world loading and editing system with the Linux based [[BZEdit]]. Active development on the project stopped in 2005 with a set of bug fixes made by [[Daniel Remenak]].

The BZEditWin32 codebase is included in the [[BZFlag SVN]] repository as the bzeditW32 directory.

A number of requests have been made to port BZEditWin32 to other platforms, namely [http://www.apple.com/macosx MacOSX]. The use of the MFC framework prevents easy porting of the code. The [[iBZEdit]] projects have attempted to create an OSX native editor. A cross platform rewrite of BZEdit was started, and is included in the tools module of [[BZFlag SVN]], but was never finished.

== Distributions ==
The last binary version is also available on the BZFlag SourceFORGE [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=3248&package_id=107349 downloads page].

== Compiling and building ==
BZEditWin32 can be built with the [http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/ Microsoft Visual C++] compiler, version 5 or later.

== Controversy and confusion ==
When first written, BZEditWin32 did not see wide use or acceptance by the [[BZFlag Community]]. It was not until nearly a year later did it begin to see real use. At that time the author had stopped active development of the project due to lack of interest. This lead to a large group of users who wanted a windows based [[BZW]] editing tool, but had to deal with the bugs and inconsistencies of the initial versions of the editor. The largest complaint was dealing with a bug that would cause the editor to "eat" a map when an object was deleted, causing it to save out an empty file, losing the work of the user. After hearing about the resurgence of use, the BZFlag developers worked to fix these major bugs, and make the application usable.

Additional confusion lies with the fact that BZEditWin32 only supports editing of the basic "1.10" type objects. It was not updated to support the extended map objects that were added with version 2.0 of BZFlag. This includes [[Mesh]] objects, Textured [[Material]]s, and [[Physics Drivers]]. A number of new users are unaware that BZEditWin32 was written before these features were added.

== Replacement by blender ==
The current accepted method of graphically editing [[BZW]] maps on Windows is using the [[BZWTools]] plug-in for [http://blender.org blender], as it provides a full 2.0 compliant editing system on a large number of platforms.

== Usage ==

===Overview===
BZEditWin32 has a relatively simple interface as shown here:
[[Image:BZEditWin32_TutorialA.png]]
#Object creation tools.
#Views
#Mouse Modes
#Main view area
#Element Filter and List
#Group List (not working)
#Current Element Name and Type
#Current Element Size and Position
#Current Element Rotation and additional data
#Element Apply Remove and Duplicate buttons

The basic idea behind maps is adding and arranging various objects to make a fun and exciting play field. BZEditWin32 only supports 4 types of visible objects:

* [[Box|Boxes]]
* [[Pyramid|Pyramids]]
* [[Teleporter|Teleporters]]
* [[Base|CTF Bases]]

There is an additional type of object that is not visible in the game called the LINK, these are used to tell the game what [[teleporter|teleporters]] link to what other [[teleporter|teleporters]].

BZEditWin32 can not change the color or texture of any object ( no [[Material|Materials]]. Nor can it define what flags are placed in the world or where those flags spawn (no [[options (object) |Map Options]] or [[Zone|Flag Zones]]).

===Looking around the map===
To navigate around the map, you drag with the right mouse button. A simple right drag will rotate the map. Holding down the Shift key while right dragging will move the view along the floor plane. Holding down the <code>Ctrl</code> key while dragging will move the view up and down in Z (height). The wheel on the mouse is used for zoom control.

===Preset Views===
As shown in item 2, the preset view buttons will take your view back to any of the preset views. the Z+ button will take you back to the top view. Y+ and Y- take you to the Front and Back views, while X+ and X- take you to the Right and Left. The button labeled ISO will take you back to the initial isometric view that the application starts up in. The "X0 Y0" button will take your current view and just center it around the middle of the map (the all mighty origin)

===Object creation===
Item 1 points to the Object Creation tools, these buttons are used to add new objects to a map. Click on one and a new object of that type will be added to the map. Each button is a different type of object, from left to right [[Box]], [[Pyramid]], [[Teleporter|Teleporters]], [[Link]], and [[Base]].

===Element List===
The element list shown in item 5 consists of 2 parts. The larger part will list the objects that are currently in the map. Each object has a type as show by an Icon to the left of the item, and each object has a name. The simple box image (figure b) shows a map with a [[box]] and a [[teleporter]]. Clicking on an item in the list will cause it to become selected. An item must be selected before it can be edited. Objects can also be selected by clicking on them when in selection mode. Above the list is the Element Filter. This pull down menu allows you to have the Element List show all the elements or just ones of a specific type. This can be helpful on large maps.

===Group list===
Item 6, the group list, was never implemented in the software, and is hence unused.

===Element Inspector===

Items 7 through 10 show the Element Inspector, this is where the most of the object editing is done. Here is where you enter the size and position of each object, in addition to other features that some objects may need. Every object EXCEPT for a LINK has a Position, Scale, and a rotation.

Position is where the center of the object is on the map, and is specified as a set of 3 coordinates X,Y,Z that represent the horizontal, vertical, and depth position of the object. For X and Y the position of the object is measured to the center of the object. For Z the position is measured to the bottom of the object.

Scale is how large or small the object is. Each axis can have a separate scale. so you can make long skinny objects and tall fat objects, or what ever you like. For X and Y the scale is measured from the center of the object out to the edge of the object. For Z the scale is measured as the total height of the object. This means that if a Box has an X scale of 1.0 then it would be a total of 2.0 units wide. For teleporters the width tis defined as the Y scale *2 plus the Border * 4. The X scale defines how far out the transparent "field" sticks out from the teleporter centerline. See below for more on the border.

Rotation is what angle the object is spun around at. In the second picture above, the selected box has a rotation of 45. All rotations are around the Z axis, and are in degrees.

[[Teleporter|Teleporters]] have an additional data item called the "Border". This is the size of the yellow and black striped part of a teleporter. It can be any value from 0 to the Y scale value. It is also recommended that your X scale be less then or equal to the border. For some reason the teleporter will always have 2 extra borders added to its Y scale, seems silly but that's just the way it's done. See the Anatomy of a Teleporter image for more info [[Image:AnatomyOfATeleporter.png|center|thumb|200px|Teleporter]]

CTF Bases have all the data for a box, and additional field called Team. This represents a team ID from 1 to 4 or Red, Blue, Green, and Purple.

Links do not have positions or scales, but do have a "to side and a "from side". These sides tell the game how a tank can enter one [[teleporter]] side, and come out another. The link always goes one way, From into To.

The apply button will make the selected changes to the map and show them on screen. To remove an object use the remove button. There is also a button that will allow the quick duplication of an existing object.

===Mouse Modes===
Item 3 shows the mouse mode buttons, they put the software in various input modes. The modes are ( from Left to Right) Select, Move XY, MoveXZ, Rotate, and Scale. In select mode, a left click will select the object that is under the cursor. Move XY mode will allow you to drag the currently selected object around in X and Y, while Move XZ allows the same just in X and Z.Note these features do not use the current views rotation properly so they are only useful in the top and ISO views. The Rotate mode allows you to use the mouse to change the rotation of the current object, and scale allows you to change the objects scale, in X and Y on a normal drag, and X and Z if the Shift key is held on the drag.

[[Category:Map Making]]
[[Category:Map Editors]]

BZFlag Forums

2010-06-03T02:26:36Z

Ratfink: /* Administration */

==Overview==
The BZFlag Forums are provided as a public service by the project administration for use by the BZFlag community.

==URL==
The BZFlag Forums are located at http://my.bzflag.org/bb

==Usage==
The forums are provided for the discussion of BZFlag related topics, including but not limited to;

* Help and Technical support
* New Releases and Version Updates
* Server Management
* Plug-in Release and Development
* Map Release and Development
* League and Tournament Play.

The forums no longer maintain an Off Topic or "ot" area.

===Private Messages===
The forums provide an e-mail-like private message feature. This can be used to send a message to any other user. If the user is using the [[Global Registration]] system when they play, recent game clients will notify them that they have waiting messages.

===Rules===
To ensure that users of all ages will be able to participate in the fourms, a set of rules has been put in place for all members to follow.
The current board rules can be found at http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=890

An additional Frequenly Asked Questions (FAQ) thread can be found at http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=891

==Global Registration==
The forums are used as the user management system for the [[Global Registration]] system. This system allows players to use their forum login as a callsign and gain a number of in game features. The "profile" page on the fourms allows users to manage any account information tied to a callsign.

==Administration==
The forums are owned and administrated by the Project Administrators. The project administrators have appointed a number of other administrators from both the playing and development communities.

[[Category:Public Services]]

Talk:BZFlag Forums

2010-06-03T02:24:50Z

Ratfink: New section: Global Permission Groups

what is the point of this? did you not notice the link to the forums in the menu on the left?
----

== Global Permission Groups ==

Perhaps this page should mention that groups on the forums can be used as global permission groups on BZFlag servers. It's a rather important feature, and is used by many server owners. [[User:Ratfink|Ratfink]] 22:24, 2 June 2010 (EDT)

Talk:BZWTools

2010-06-03T02:21:38Z

Ratfink:

It seems the BZWTools website is dead. Perhaps that should be noted in the page, instead of leaving it contradicting itself as it is now. The dead links should likely be removed or updated. [[User:Ratfink|Ratfink]] 21:55, 2 June 2010 (EDT)

Talk:BZWTools

2010-06-03T01:55:16Z

Ratfink: New page: It seems the BZWTools website is dead. Perhaps that should be noted in the page, and the dead links should likely be removed. ~~~~

It seems the BZWTools website is dead. Perhaps that should be noted in the page, and the dead links should likely be removed. [[User:Ratfink|Ratfink]] 21:55, 2 June 2010 (EDT)

BZWTools

2010-06-03T01:52:46Z

Ratfink: /* Development */

BZWTools is the name of a plug-in for the open source 3d modeler [http://blender.org Blender] that allows it to read, write, and edit [[BZW]] formated files

== Overview ==
BZWTools leverages the existing power of Blender and extends it to allow it to be the only full featured map editor for 2.0 map features.

== Development ==
BZWTools was written by [[Teppic]] in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_%28programming_language%29 Python programing language] to work with Blender. [[Teppic]] maintains a [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Main_Page website] dedicated to the project. While the project is not maintained by the BZFlag developer community, [[Teppic]] is active in the community, and BZWTools is considered to be the most full featured way to edit [[BZW]] maps.

== Installing and using ==
The BZTools website maintains complete instructions on installing the tools on:
*[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Installation-Linux Linux]
*[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Installation-Windows Microsoft Windows]
*[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Installation-Mac Apple Mac OS X]
as well as simple instalations for the novice, including [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Simple_Installations BZWTools Blender and Python] all in one package for Mac and Windows. 

Additional information on tool configuration can be found [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/First_Time_Setup here.]

Tutorials and guides on how to use the tools can be found on the [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Main_Page BZWTools wiki] as well.

== Use of blender in the future ==
It is expected that all new map features will be added to the blender plug-in as they are developed in the future.

==See also==
[[BZW|BZFlag World Format]]

==External links==
[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Main_Page BZWTools website (broken URL)]

[http://liquid.me.uk/bzwiki/index.php/Main_Page BZWTools website (working URL, download links broken)]

[http://static.bzexcess.com/downloads/BZWTools/ Mirror of BZWTools downloads]

[http://blender.org blender website]

[[Category:Map Making]]
[[Category:Map Editors]]

BZWTools

2010-06-03T01:52:14Z

Ratfink: /* Overview */

BZWTools is the name of a plug-in for the open source 3d modeler [http://blender.org Blender] that allows it to read, write, and edit [[BZW]] formated files

== Overview ==
BZWTools leverages the existing power of Blender and extends it to allow it to be the only full featured map editor for 2.0 map features.

== Development ==
BZWTools was written by [[Teppic]] in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_%28programming_language%29 python programing language] to work with blender. [[Teppic]] maintains a [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Main_Page website] dedicated to the project. While the project is not maintained by the BZFlag developer community, [[Teppic]] is active in the community, and BZWTools is considered to be the most full featured way to edit [[BZW]] maps.

== Installing and using ==
The BZTools website maintains complete instructions on installing the tools on:
*[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Installation-Linux Linux]
*[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Installation-Windows Microsoft Windows]
*[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Installation-Mac Apple Mac OS X]
as well as simple instalations for the novice, including [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Simple_Installations BZWTools Blender and Python] all in one package for Mac and Windows. 

Additional information on tool configuration can be found [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/First_Time_Setup here.]

Tutorials and guides on how to use the tools can be found on the [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Main_Page BZWTools wiki] as well.

== Use of blender in the future ==
It is expected that all new map features will be added to the blender plug-in as they are developed in the future.

==See also==
[[BZW|BZFlag World Format]]

==External links==
[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Main_Page BZWTools website (broken URL)]

[http://liquid.me.uk/bzwiki/index.php/Main_Page BZWTools website (working URL, download links broken)]

[http://static.bzexcess.com/downloads/BZWTools/ Mirror of BZWTools downloads]

[http://blender.org blender website]

[[Category:Map Making]]
[[Category:Map Editors]]

BZWTools

2010-06-03T01:51:56Z

Ratfink:

BZWTools is the name of a plug-in for the open source 3d modeler [http://blender.org Blender] that allows it to read, write, and edit [[BZW]] formated files

== Overview ==
BZWTools leverages the existing power of blender and extends it to allow it to be the only full featured map editor for 2.0 map features.

== Development ==
BZWTools was written by [[Teppic]] in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_%28programming_language%29 python programing language] to work with blender. [[Teppic]] maintains a [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Main_Page website] dedicated to the project. While the project is not maintained by the BZFlag developer community, [[Teppic]] is active in the community, and BZWTools is considered to be the most full featured way to edit [[BZW]] maps.

== Installing and using ==
The BZTools website maintains complete instructions on installing the tools on:
*[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Installation-Linux Linux]
*[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Installation-Windows Microsoft Windows]
*[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Installation-Mac Apple Mac OS X]
as well as simple instalations for the novice, including [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Simple_Installations BZWTools Blender and Python] all in one package for Mac and Windows. 

Additional information on tool configuration can be found [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/First_Time_Setup here.]

Tutorials and guides on how to use the tools can be found on the [http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Main_Page BZWTools wiki] as well.

== Use of blender in the future ==
It is expected that all new map features will be added to the blender plug-in as they are developed in the future.

==See also==
[[BZW|BZFlag World Format]]

==External links==
[http://wiki.teppic.homelinux.net/index.php/Main_Page BZWTools website (broken URL)]

[http://liquid.me.uk/bzwiki/index.php/Main_Page BZWTools website (working URL, download links broken)]

[http://static.bzexcess.com/downloads/BZWTools/ Mirror of BZWTools downloads]

[http://blender.org blender website]

[[Category:Map Making]]
[[Category:Map Editors]]

BZEditWin32

2010-06-03T01:50:46Z

Ratfink: /* Replacement by blender */

BZEditWin32 is the name of the [http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ Microsoft Windows] version of [[BZEdit]], a graphical [[BZW]] map editor. It was first written by [[Jeff Myers]] and later extended by [[Greg Alkire]] and [[Daniel Remenak]].

== Overview ==
BZEditWin32 provides a graphical representation of the BZFlag world, and tools to place various objects in it. It has tools to create and edit the basic objects that were supported in BZFlag version 1.7. These include:
*[[Box]]
*[[Pyramid]]
*[[Base]]
*[[Teleporter]]
*[[Link]]
BZEditWin32 is still in use today by some map makers who prefer a more simple editing interface than the one provided by the [[BZWTools]] Blender plug-in.

== Development ==
BZEditWin32 is written in C++ using the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Foundation_Classes Microsoft Foundation Classes] or MFC. Development began in 2003 as a simple BZW map viewer but evolved into a full blown map editor shortly after. It was written by [[Jeff Myers]] as a way to get back into the BZFlag community after he found that it had gone open source. The current application shares it's world loading and editing system with the Linux based [[BZEdit]]. Active development on the project stopped in 2005 with a set of bug fixes made by [[Daniel Remenak]].

The BZEditWin32 codebase is included in the [[BZFlag SVN]] repository as the bzeditW32 directory.

A number of requests have been made to port BZEditWin32 to other platforms, namely [http://www.apple.com/macosx MacOSX]. The use of the MFC framework prevents easy porting of the code. The [[iBZEdit]] projects have attempted to create an OSX native editor. A cross platform rewrite of BZEdit was started, and is included in the tools module of [[BZFlag SVN]], but was never finished.

== Distributions ==
The last binary version is also available on the BZFlag SourceFORGE [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=3248&package_id=107349 downloads page].

== Compiling and building ==
BZEditWin32 can be built with the [http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/ Microsoft Visual C++] compiler, version 5 or later.

== Controversy and confusion ==
When first written, BZEditWin32 did not see wide use or acceptance by the [[BZFlag Community]]. It was not until nearly a year later did it begin to see real use. At that time the author had stopped active development of the project due to lack of interest. This lead to a large group of users who wanted a windows based [[BZW]] editing tool, but had to deal with the bugs and inconsistencies of the initial versions of the editor. The largest complaint was dealing with a bug that would cause the editor to "eat" a map when an object was deleted, causing it to save out an empty file, losing the work of the user. After hearing about the resurgence of use, the BZFlag developers worked to fix these major bugs, and make the application usable.

Additional confusion lies with the fact that BZEditWin32 only supports editing of the basic "1.10" type objects. It was not updated to support the extended map objects that were added with version 2.0 of BZFlag. This includes [[Mesh]] objects, Textured [[Material]]s, and [[Physics Drivers]]. A number of new users are unaware that BZEditWin32 was written before these features were added.

== Replacement by blender ==
The current accepted method of graphically editing [[BZW]] maps on Windows is using the [[BZWTools]] plug-in for [http://blender.org blender], as it provides a full 2.0 compliant editing system on a large number of platforms.

== Usage ==

===Overview===
BZEditWin32 has a relatively simple interface as shown here:
[[Image:BZEditWin32_TutorialA.png]]
#Object creation tools.
#Views
#Mouse Modes
#Main view area
#Element Filter and List
#Group List (not working)
#Current Element Name and Type
#Current Element Size and Position
#Current Element Rotation and additional data
#Element Apply Remove and Duplicate buttons

The basic idea behind maps is adding and arranging various objects to make a fun and exciting play field. BZEditWin32 only supports 4 types of visible objects:

* [[Box|Boxes]]
* [[Pyramid|Pyramids]]
* [[Teleporter|Teleporters]]
* [[Base|CTF Bases]]

There is an additional type of object that is not visible in the game called the LINK, these are used to tell the game what [[teleporter|teleporters]] link to what other [[teleporter|teleporters]].

BZEditWin32 can not change the color or texture of any object ( no [[Material|Materials]]. Nor can it define what flags are placed in the world or where those flags spawn (no [[options (object) |Map Options]] or [[Zone|Flag Zones]]).

===Looking around the map===
To navigate around the map, you drag with the right mouse button. A simple right drag will rotate the map. Holding down the Shift key while right dragging will move the view along the floor plane. Holding down the <code>Ctrl</code> key while dragging will move the view up and down in Z (height). The wheel on the mouse is used for zoom control.

===Preset Views===
As shown in item 2, the preset view buttons will take your view back to any of the preset views. the Z+ button will take you back to the top view. Y+ and Y- take you to the Front and Back views, while X+ and X- take you to the Right and Left. The button labeled ISO will take you back to the initial isometric view that the application starts up in. The "X0 Y0" button will take your current view and just center it around the middle of the map (the all mighty origin)

===Object creation===
Item 1 points to the Object Creation tools, these buttons are used to add new objects to a map. Click on one and a new object of that type will be added to the map. Each button is a different type of object, from left to right [[Box]], [[Pyramid]], [[Teleporter|Teleporters]], [[Link]], and [[Base]].

===Element List===
The element list shown in item 5 consists of 2 parts. The larger part will list the objects that are currently in the map. Each object has a type as show by an Icon to the left of the item, and each object has a name. The simple box image (figure b) shows a map with a [[box]] and a [[teleporter]]. Clicking on an item in the list will cause it to become selected. An item must be selected before it can be edited. Objects can also be selected by clicking on them when in selection mode. Above the list is the Element Filter. This pull down menu allows you to have the Element List show all the elements or just ones of a specific type. This can be helpful on large maps.

===Group list===
Item 6, the group list, was never implemented in the software, and is hence unused.

===Element Inspector===

Items 7 through 10 show the Element Inspector, this is where the most of the object editing is done. Here is where you enter the size and position of each object, in addition to other features that some objects may need. Every object EXCEPT for a LINK has a Position, Scale, and a rotation.

Position is where the center of the object is on the map, and is specified as a set of 3 coordinates X,Y,Z that represent the horizontal, vertical, and depth position of the object. For X and Y the position of the object is measured to the center of the object. For Z the position is measured to the bottom of the object.

Scale is how large or small the object is. Each axis can have a separate scale. so you can make long skinny objects and tall fat objects, or what ever you like. For X and Y the scale is measured from the center of the object out to the edge of the object. For Z the scale is measured as the total height of the object. This means that if a Box has an X scale of 1.0 then it would be a total of 2.0 units wide. For teleporters the width tis defined as the Y scale *2 plus the Border * 4. The X scale defines how far out the transparent "field" sticks out from the teleporter centerline. See below for more on the border.

Rotation is what angle the object is spun around at. In the second picture above, the selected box has a rotation of 45. All rotations are around the Z axis, and are in degrees.

[[Teleporter|Teleporters]] have an additional data item called the "Border". This is the size of the yellow and black striped part of a teleporter. It can be any value from 0 to the Y scale value. It is also recommended that your X scale be less then or equal to the border. For some stupid reason the teleporter will always have 2 extra borders added to its Y scale, seems silly but that's just the way it's done. See the Anatomy of a Teleporter image for more info [[Image:AnatomyOfATeleporter.png|center|thumb|200px|Teleporter]]

CTF Bases have all the data for a box, and additional field called Team. This represents a team ID from 1 to 4 or Red, Blue, Green, and Purple.

Links do not have positions or scales, but do have a "to side and a "from side". These sides tell the game how a tank can enter one [[teleporter]] side, and come out another. The link always goes one way, From into To.

The apply button will make the selected changes to the map and show them on screen. To remove an object use the remove button. There is also a button that will allow the quick duplication of an existing object.

===Mouse Modes===
Item 3 shows the mouse mode buttons, they put the software in various input modes. The modes are ( from Left to Right) Select, Move XY, MoveXZ, Rotate, and Scale. In select mode, a left click will select the object that is under the cursor. Move XY mode will allow you to drag the currently selected object around in X and Y, while Move XZ allows the same just in X and Z.Note these features do not use the current views rotation properly so they are only useful in the top and ISO views. The Rotate mode allows you to use the mouse to change the rotation of the current object, and scale allows you to change the objects scale, in X and Y on a normal drag, and X and Z if the Shift key is held on the drag.

[[Category:Map Making]]
[[Category:Map Editors]]

BZEditWin32

2010-06-03T01:36:30Z

Ratfink: /* Overview */

BZEditWin32 is the name of the [http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ Microsoft Windows] version of [[BZEdit]], a graphical [[BZW]] map editor. It was first written by [[Jeff Myers]] and later extended by [[Greg Alkire]] and [[Daniel Remenak]].

== Overview ==
BZEditWin32 provides a graphical representation of the BZFlag world, and tools to place various objects in it. It has tools to create and edit the basic objects that were supported in BZFlag version 1.7. These include:
*[[Box]]
*[[Pyramid]]
*[[Base]]
*[[Teleporter]]
*[[Link]]
BZEditWin32 is still in use today by some map makers who prefer a more simple editing interface than the one provided by the [[BZWTools]] Blender plug-in.

== Development ==
BZEditWin32 is written in C++ using the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Foundation_Classes Microsoft Foundation Classes] or MFC. Development began in 2003 as a simple BZW map viewer but evolved into a full blown map editor shortly after. It was written by [[Jeff Myers]] as a way to get back into the BZFlag community after he found that it had gone open source. The current application shares it's world loading and editing system with the Linux based [[BZEdit]]. Active development on the project stopped in 2005 with a set of bug fixes made by [[Daniel Remenak]].

The BZEditWin32 codebase is included in the [[BZFlag SVN]] repository as the bzeditW32 directory.

A number of requests have been made to port BZEditWin32 to other platforms, namely [http://www.apple.com/macosx MacOSX]. The use of the MFC framework prevents easy porting of the code. The [[iBZEdit]] projects have attempted to create an OSX native editor. A cross platform rewrite of BZEdit was started, and is included in the tools module of [[BZFlag SVN]], but was never finished.

== Distributions ==
The last binary version is also available on the BZFlag SourceFORGE [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=3248&package_id=107349 downloads page].

== Compiling and building ==
BZEditWin32 can be built with the [http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/ Microsoft Visual C++] compiler, version 5 or later.

== Controversy and confusion ==
When first written, BZEditWin32 did not see wide use or acceptance by the [[BZFlag Community]]. It was not until nearly a year later did it begin to see real use. At that time the author had stopped active development of the project due to lack of interest. This lead to a large group of users who wanted a windows based [[BZW]] editing tool, but had to deal with the bugs and inconsistencies of the initial versions of the editor. The largest complaint was dealing with a bug that would cause the editor to "eat" a map when an object was deleted, causing it to save out an empty file, losing the work of the user. After hearing about the resurgence of use, the BZFlag developers worked to fix these major bugs, and make the application usable.

Additional confusion lies with the fact that BZEditWin32 only supports editing of the basic "1.10" type objects. It was not updated to support the extended map objects that were added with version 2.0 of BZFlag. This includes [[Mesh]] objects, Textured [[Material]]s, and [[Physics Drivers]]. A number of new users are unaware that BZEditWin32 was written before these features were added.

== Replacement by blender ==
The current accepted method of graphically editing [[BZW]] maps on Windows is using the [[BZWTools]] plug-ins for [http://blender.org blender], as they provide a full 2.0 compliant editing system on a large number of platforms.

== Usage ==

===Overview===
BZEditWin32 has a relatively simple interface as shown here:
[[Image:BZEditWin32_TutorialA.png]]
#Object creation tools.
#Views
#Mouse Modes
#Main view area
#Element Filter and List
#Group List (not working)
#Current Element Name and Type
#Current Element Size and Position
#Current Element Rotation and additional data
#Element Apply Remove and Duplicate buttons

The basic idea behind maps is adding and arranging various objects to make a fun and exciting play field. BZEditWin32 only supports 4 types of visible objects:

* [[Box|Boxes]]
* [[Pyramid|Pyramids]]
* [[Teleporter|Teleporters]]
* [[Base|CTF Bases]]

There is an additional type of object that is not visible in the game called the LINK, these are used to tell the game what [[teleporter|teleporters]] link to what other [[teleporter|teleporters]].

BZEditWin32 can not change the color or texture of any object ( no [[Material|Materials]]. Nor can it define what flags are placed in the world or where those flags spawn (no [[options (object) |Map Options]] or [[Zone|Flag Zones]]).

===Looking around the map===
To navigate around the map, you drag with the right mouse button. A simple right drag will rotate the map. Holding down the Shift key while right dragging will move the view along the floor plane. Holding down the <code>Ctrl</code> key while dragging will move the view up and down in Z (height). The wheel on the mouse is used for zoom control.

===Preset Views===
As shown in item 2, the preset view buttons will take your view back to any of the preset views. the Z+ button will take you back to the top view. Y+ and Y- take you to the Front and Back views, while X+ and X- take you to the Right and Left. The button labeled ISO will take you back to the initial isometric view that the application starts up in. The "X0 Y0" button will take your current view and just center it around the middle of the map (the all mighty origin)

===Object creation===
Item 1 points to the Object Creation tools, these buttons are used to add new objects to a map. Click on one and a new object of that type will be added to the map. Each button is a different type of object, from left to right [[Box]], [[Pyramid]], [[Teleporter|Teleporters]], [[Link]], and [[Base]].

===Element List===
The element list shown in item 5 consists of 2 parts. The larger part will list the objects that are currently in the map. Each object has a type as show by an Icon to the left of the item, and each object has a name. The simple box image (figure b) shows a map with a [[box]] and a [[teleporter]]. Clicking on an item in the list will cause it to become selected. An item must be selected before it can be edited. Objects can also be selected by clicking on them when in selection mode. Above the list is the Element Filter. This pull down menu allows you to have the Element List show all the elements or just ones of a specific type. This can be helpful on large maps.

===Group list===
Item 6, the group list, was never implemented in the software, and is hence unused.

===Element Inspector===

Items 7 through 10 show the Element Inspector, this is where the most of the object editing is done. Here is where you enter the size and position of each object, in addition to other features that some objects may need. Every object EXCEPT for a LINK has a Position, Scale, and a rotation.

Position is where the center of the object is on the map, and is specified as a set of 3 coordinates X,Y,Z that represent the horizontal, vertical, and depth position of the object. For X and Y the position of the object is measured to the center of the object. For Z the position is measured to the bottom of the object.

Scale is how large or small the object is. Each axis can have a separate scale. so you can make long skinny objects and tall fat objects, or what ever you like. For X and Y the scale is measured from the center of the object out to the edge of the object. For Z the scale is measured as the total height of the object. This means that if a Box has an X scale of 1.0 then it would be a total of 2.0 units wide. For teleporters the width tis defined as the Y scale *2 plus the Border * 4. The X scale defines how far out the transparent "field" sticks out from the teleporter centerline. See below for more on the border.

Rotation is what angle the object is spun around at. In the second picture above, the selected box has a rotation of 45. All rotations are around the Z axis, and are in degrees.

[[Teleporter|Teleporters]] have an additional data item called the "Border". This is the size of the yellow and black striped part of a teleporter. It can be any value from 0 to the Y scale value. It is also recommended that your X scale be less then or equal to the border. For some stupid reason the teleporter will always have 2 extra borders added to its Y scale, seems silly but that's just the way it's done. See the Anatomy of a Teleporter image for more info [[Image:AnatomyOfATeleporter.png|center|thumb|200px|Teleporter]]

CTF Bases have all the data for a box, and additional field called Team. This represents a team ID from 1 to 4 or Red, Blue, Green, and Purple.

Links do not have positions or scales, but do have a "to side and a "from side". These sides tell the game how a tank can enter one [[teleporter]] side, and come out another. The link always goes one way, From into To.

The apply button will make the selected changes to the map and show them on screen. To remove an object use the remove button. There is also a button that will allow the quick duplication of an existing object.

===Mouse Modes===
Item 3 shows the mouse mode buttons, they put the software in various input modes. The modes are ( from Left to Right) Select, Move XY, MoveXZ, Rotate, and Scale. In select mode, a left click will select the object that is under the cursor. Move XY mode will allow you to drag the currently selected object around in X and Y, while Move XZ allows the same just in X and Z.Note these features do not use the current views rotation properly so they are only useful in the top and ISO views. The Rotate mode allows you to use the mouse to change the rotation of the current object, and scale allows you to change the objects scale, in X and Y on a normal drag, and X and Z if the Shift key is held on the drag.

[[Category:Map Making]]
[[Category:Map Editors]]

BZEdit

2010-06-03T01:35:10Z

Ratfink: Removed an incorrect apostraphe.

BZEdit is the name of the original [http://www.gtk.org/ GTK] based [[BZW]] map editor. Originally designed for [http://www.linux.org/ Linux] operating systems, portions of its code base was shared with the [http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ Microsoft Windows] version of BZEdit, [[BZEditWin32]].

== Overview ==
BZEdit provides a graphical representation of the BZFlag world, and tools to place various objects in it. It has tools to create and edit the basic objects that were supported in BZFlag version 1.7. These include:
*[[Box]]
*[[Pyramid]]
*[[Base]]
*[[Teleporter]]
*[[Link]]

== Development ==
BZEdit was developed by [[David Trowbridge]] aka CaptainProton, in May of 2000. Active development on the project stopped a year or so after. The project is currently abandoned with no active developers. No pre-made binary versions were ever made, but the code is in the [[BZFlag SVN]] repository.

== Compiling and building ==
Building BZEdit has always been notoriously difficult due to it's use of the GTK GLArea for 3d drawing. The GLArea features were deprecated and removed from current GTK versions. This prevents many people from building BZEdit on modern GTK systems. The [[BZFed]] project built upon BZEdit and removed the GTK GLArea requirement, allowing it to be built on modern systems, but it too seems to have been abandoned.

== Replacement by blender ==
The current accepted method of graphicaly editing [[BZW]] maps on Linux is using the [[BZWTools]] plug-ins for [http://blender.org blender], as they provide a full 2.0 compliant editing system on a large number of platforms.

[[Category:Map Making]]
[[Category:Map Editors]]

User talk:Me1/Style Merges

2009-04-29T22:16:27Z

Ratfink:

*Talking about [[Free For All]], [[Capture the Flag]] and [[Rabbit Hunt]]

These pages/stubs don't really need to be separate. It'd be better if they were in one article, instead of three.
Anyone disagree? --[[User:Me1|Me1]] 18:19, 9 April 2009 (EDT)

I would tend to agree with you on this, Me1. I suggest they be merged into one 'Game Modes' article.

I (Ratfink) definitely agree that they should be merged, me1.

Jargon

2009-04-10T23:46:11Z

Ratfink: /* Jargon */

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]]
R=(Team's) Right
L=(Team's) Left
RF=Red flag
GF=Green flag
BF=Blue flag
PF=Purple flag
HF=Have fun
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
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
</properties>

= Jargon =

<properties>
Bots=Non-human-player tanks.
Capping=Capturing the other teams flag, verb ''to cap''.
Ours=Protect your team flag, or used to signify your team's base.
Theirs=Attack the other team's flag, or used to signify the other team's base.
Geno=Genocide Flag, usually when seen it chat by itself it means an opposing team player has the flag so be careful
Pass=Send the flag to the middle, or to a safe zone. See [[Jumping#Dropping_Flags|this article]].
Pyr=Pyramid
Triangle=An incorrect term for a pyramid often used by new players.
Base=Usually referring to your own base. (ex: st base!)
In=Inside the base (if applicable)
Out=Directly outside the base (if applicable)
Mid=Middle of the map
Jump/Jumper/Launcher=Either a world object that launches a tank in the air, or a tank that has used said world object.
Spamming=Filling the chat box with meaningless text.
Laser Spamming=Uselessly, blindly, rapidly shooting with the laser flag, often resulting in team kills.
Camping=Staying in one place with the same flag for a long time. If you do this you are ''a camper''.
Flag Running=Working against your own team, and taking your 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''.
Lang=Language, Watch your language. (Please don't respond with the language you speak.)
Watch!=Watch out! or Guard! (ex: Watch ours!)
</properties>

[[Category:Gameplay]]

Map making by hand

2009-03-06T15:18:29Z

Ratfink: /* The Box */

{{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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, or ed.
*GEdit
*Kate

==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==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. 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. 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.

===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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This '''won't''' work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Pyramid

2008-07-15T15:04:27Z

Ratfink:

A Pyramid is a [[BZW]] map structure that defines a polyhedron having a polygonal base and triangular sides with a common vertex in the world.

==Code==
[[Image:PyraAppearance.png|frame|right|A pyramid with the default blue marble texture]]
The code for a pyramid object is as follows
{|
|
pyramid
position 10 20 30
rotation 45
size 1 2 3
end
|}

Valid parameters for a pyramid are
<properties>
position=defines the center of the box in X and Y and the bottom of the box in Z.
rotation=defines a rotation around the Z axis for the box, in degrees.
size=defines the distance from the center to the side of the box in X and Y, and the total height of the box in Z.
matref=reference to a predefined [[material]]. (requires [[BZFlag_2.0.9|v2.0.9]]+)
phydrv=reference to a predefined [[physics|physics driver]]. (requires [[BZFlag_2.0.9|v2.0.9]]+)
drivethrough=lets a player drive into the pyramid without the oscillation overthruster flag.
shootthrough=lets a player shoot into the object without the super bullet flag.
</properties>

Pyramids do not support the use of [[Material]] or [[Physics Drivers]] before [[BZFlag_2.0.9|v2.0.9]] . The [[meshpyr]] object replaces the pyramid object starting from [[BZFlag 2.0.0]] and supports these features. In [[BZFlag_2.0.9|v2.0.9]] the pyramid will be rendered as a [[meshpyr]], if required by one of the properties.

Pyramids (after [[BZFlag_2.0.9|v2.0.9]]) support the argument "bottom matref <yourmaterialgoeshere>". This command will texture only the bottom of the pyramid with the chosen material.

==Appearance==
The pyramid object has a marble blue texture on all sides by default. This texture is a darker version of the texture for [[WaterLevel|waterLevel]] objects.

==History==
The pyramid is one of the original objects supported by BZFlag and has been a mainstay of maps since the very beginning. Pyramids are heavily used by the software when generating random maps. As of [[BZFlag 2.0.0|v2.0.0]] the [[meshpyr]] object replaced the pyramid to add support for [[Material|Materials]] and [[Physics Drivers]]. The original pyramid definition left unchanged, in order to maintain functional compatibility for older maps.

==Editor Support==
The pyramid object is supported by all known editors.

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

WaterLevel

2008-07-15T14:54:55Z

Ratfink:

[[image:Box_water.jpg|frame|right|Example of a map with waterLevel set]]
A waterLevel object is a [[BZW]] map structure that defines a plane of water that spans the entire map. This water plane is deadly to all tanks that cross it.

==Code==
The code for a waterLevel object is as follows
{|
|
waterLevel
name example_waterlevel
height -1.0
end
|}
Valid parameters for a waterLevel object are:
<properties>
name=the name of the water level, generally unused.
height=the value in world units of the water. Values less then 0 turn the water off. No water is the default.
materials=the water object will take any valid [[Material]]s parameter and use them to override it's default look.
</properties>

The waterLevel object can only be specified once in a map.

==Appearance==
The default texture used for water is a lighter version of the [[Pyramid|pyramid]] texture. The water created with the water level will cover the entire world boundary.
==History==
The options object was added in [[BZFlag 2.0.0|v2.0.0]].

==Editor Support==
The waterLevel object is only fully supported by the [[BZWTools]] blender plug-in.

[[Category:Map Making]]
[[Category:Map Objects]]

Map making by hand

2008-05-29T14:05:15Z

Ratfink: /* Sample Objects */

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style}}
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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, or ed.
*GEdit
*Kate

==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==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. 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. 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.

===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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This '''won't''' work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Map making by hand

2008-05-29T13:25:12Z

Ratfink: /* Linux */

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style}}
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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, or ed.
*GEdit
*Kate

==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==Sample Objects==
Most objects have similar parameters as the basic box. For instance, the code for a cone may look something like this:
{|
|
cone
name cone1 # name is optional
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.

An 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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This '''won't''' work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Map making by hand

2008-05-28T21:17:29Z

Ratfink: /* Materials */

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style}}
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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, ed.
*GEdit
*Kate
==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==Sample Objects==
Most objects have similar parameters as the basic box. For instance, the code for a cone may look something like this:
{|
|
cone
name cone1 # name is optional
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.

An 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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This '''won't''' work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Map making by hand

2008-05-28T21:16:09Z

Ratfink: /* Materials */

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style}}
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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, ed.
*GEdit
*Kate
==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==Sample Objects==
Most objects have similar parameters as the basic box. For instance, the code for a cone may look something like this:
{|
|
cone
name cone1 # name is optional
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.

An 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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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 bzflag image submission system at [http://images.bzflag.org/submitimages/] 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This '''won't''' work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Map making by hand

2008-05-28T21:13:27Z

Ratfink: /* Materials */

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style}}
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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, ed.
*GEdit
*Kate
==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==Sample Objects==
Most objects have similar parameters as the basic box. For instance, the code for a cone may look something like this:
{|
|
cone
name cone1 # name is optional
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.

An 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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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 bzflag image submission system at [http://images.bzflag.org/submitimages/] 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This '''won't''' work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Map making by hand

2008-05-28T21:06:43Z

Ratfink: /* Materials */

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style}}
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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, ed.
*GEdit
*Kate
==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==Sample Objects==
Most objects have similar parameters as the basic box. For instance, the code for a cone may look something like this:
{|
|
cone
name cone1 # name is optional
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.

An 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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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 addtexture and you state a texture name. Now, how do you know what texture names there are to use?

'''On Linux''': Running <nowiki>ls /usr/share/bzflag/*.png</nowiki> 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 C:\Program Files\BZFlag\data\*.png

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 bzflag image submission system at [http://images.bzflag.org/submitimages/] 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This '''won't''' work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Map making by hand

2008-05-28T21:05:02Z

Ratfink: /* Physics */

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style}}
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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, ed.
*GEdit
*Kate
==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==Sample Objects==
Most objects have similar parameters as the basic box. For instance, the code for a cone may look something like this:
{|
|
cone
name cone1 # name is optional
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.

An 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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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 addtexture and you state a texture name. Now, how do you know what texture names there are to use?

'''On Linux''': Running ls /usr/share/bzflag/*.png 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 C:\Program Files\BZFlag\data\*.png

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 bzflag image submission system at [http://images.bzflag.org/submitimages/] 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This '''won't''' work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Map making by hand

2008-05-28T21:04:16Z

Ratfink: /* Physics */

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style}}
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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, ed.
*GEdit
*Kate
==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==Sample Objects==
Most objects have similar parameters as the basic box. For instance, the code for a cone may look something like this:
{|
|
cone
name cone1 # name is optional
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.

An 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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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 addtexture and you state a texture name. Now, how do you know what texture names there are to use?

'''On Linux''': Running ls /usr/share/bzflag/*.png 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 C:\Program Files\BZFlag\data\*.png

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 bzflag image submission system at [http://images.bzflag.org/submitimages/] 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This WON'T work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Map making by hand

2008-05-28T21:03:39Z

Ratfink: /* Physics */

{{DoDoc|Major re-organization, transform away from "chat" style}}
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.
===Windows===
*Notepad
*PSPad
*NoteTab
===Mac===
*TextWrangler
*TextEdit
===Linux===
*Command-line editors such as nano, emacs, pico, vim, ed.
*GEdit
*Kate
==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
|}

===Explanation of the Sample Code===
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.

===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.)

==Sample Objects==
Most objects have similar parameters as the basic box. For instance, the code for a cone may look something like this:
{|
|
cone
name cone1 # name is optional
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.

An 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 whole in the cylinder. The bigger the number, the smaller the hole. Angle allows you to do a simi-circle. Rotation once again isn't really needed. all the options like spin and shear are the same for this object too! phydrv and matref I’ll show later. 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 addtexture and you state a texture name. Now, how do you know what texture names there are to use?

'''On Linux''': Running ls /usr/share/bzflag/*.png 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 C:\Program Files\BZFlag\data\*.png

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 bzflag image submission system at [http://images.bzflag.org/submitimages/] 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===

Physics make your tank behave in different ways. If you have ever played laser mania by Louman than you know on the outskirts of the map there is something you can jump on and you go really fast, that is a physics. Physics and materials work the same way. Physics is to material as phydrv is to matref. You must specify a physics then on a meshbox, meshpyr cone arc sphere or whatever, you can reference that physics 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. In the Louman map I mentioned above is a linear physics. Linear physics makes your tank move in a line. The numbers after a linear command are just like position x y z. 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 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:
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

This works just like the material

The thing about physics and materials is that they have to be written before they are referenced.

This WON'T work

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

===Groups===
==Transformations==
[[Category:Map Making]]

Category:Map Making

2008-05-28T20:58:00Z

Ratfink: /* Wings 3D */

[[BZFlag]] uses its own map file format called the [[BZW]] file. [[BZW]] files are text based and contain a list of objects and map options that are read by the [[BZFS]] server.

== Map Creation Methods ==
[[BZFlag]] has several well practiced methods for the design of maps, from simple text editing, custom editors, to exporters for 3D modeling software. While basic dedicated map editors, such as BZEdit, can often only create simple objects, 3D modeling software can create complex custom [[mesh]] objects, but have a much steeper learning curve.

=== Dedicated Map editors ===
Dedicated [[BZFlag]] map editors (i.e. written specifically for graphically editing [[BZW]] files) generally go by the name [[BZEdit]]. There are a number of versions of [[BZEdit]] that have been developed over the years, some of them sharing code, some of them not. Each editor has its own level of support for various map features. At this time there is no custom editor that supports every feature of the [[BZW]] format. In general, these will only support simple map objects such as a [[box]], a [[pyramid]] or a [[teleporter]].

Editors supporting [[BZW]] 1.10 features
*[[BZEdit]]
*[[BZEditWin32]]
*[[BZFed]]

Editors supporting some [[BZW]] 2.0 features.
*[[iBZEdit]]
*[[pyBZEdit]]

=== Blender ===
The [http://www.blender.org/ blender] 3d modeling application features a plug-in called [[BZWTools]], which enables blender to read and write the [[BZW]] file format and to create [[BZW]] specific objects. Tutorials on using blender (not specific to BZFlag) can be found on the [http://www.blender.org/tutorials-help/tutorials/ blender web tutorials] pages.

=== Wings 3D ===
[http://www.wings3d.com/ Wings 3D] is a good modeler to use if you're new modeling. It has a much smaller learning curve than Blender, although it doesn't have as many features. There is also a plugin (which you can download [http://trepan.bzflag.bz/wings3d_to_bzw_1.1.tar.gz here]) created by trepan which allows you to export objects to a [[BZW]] file. It is not widely known that you can export a bzflag map from the actual bzflag client in .obj format. To do so, you must connect to a server hosting the [[BZW]] map you would like to download and type ''/saveworld -o "mapname.obj"''. This will allow you to then import the .obj file into [http://www.wings3d.com/ Wings 3D] and edit the map. Then you can use the [http://trepan.bzflag.bz/wings3d_to_bzw_1.1.tar.gz exporter] created by trepan which allows you to export objects to a [[BZW]] file.

=== Creating BZW files via scripting or trivial programming ===
Several of the existing BZFLAG maps are created using a trivial application custom created for the purpose of generating each map. The application/program consists of print statements that output BZW file primitives (boxes, pyramids, meshes). This method, using Perl, visual basic or C, allows re-use of the print statements with variables, for relatively fast creation of nearly identical objects. Once a coder creates a box primitive, for instance, another box can be created with a simple call to the same set of print statements but with different size or location arguments. The sets of print statements are then collected by the coder to create a library of available primitives (box, cylinder, fancy-teleporter, cage) that can be used again and again. The library of primitives may then be used to create additional maps but without all of the original work required to make the first map.
The flaws in using this method compared to a graphical modeler or even bzedit are:
representation of the work are not available without first launching a bzflag client to look at the map;
Errors in the library or in calls might make the map unusable but with only visual basic, Perl or C compiler output as a clue;
The map is created in a text and syntax intensive process that may not be tolerated by many otherwise creative individuals.

The advantage of this method is that the library is relatively easy to improve compared to bzedit and new features of bzflag are easily applied. In addition, the ability to replicate structures in a for-next loop context allow for repetitive or stepped structures with more rapidity than other mapping methods.

=== Editing by Hand ===
The last method of creating maps is simply coding them by hand as text files using the raw [[BZW]] structures. This is still one of the most common ways that people create and edit maps, and can be very fun and challenging. This is easily done in any text editor, for example NotePad on Windows, and TextEdit on Mac OS X.

Most maps made by hand tend to be fairly simple, though experienced mappers have made some extraordinary maps in this way. The reason for the popularity of the 'hand made' approach is partly because of the simple structure of the [[BZW]] code, but also the fact that, until recently, there were no graphical editors available for operating systems like Mac OS X.

A detailed explanation about creating a map 'by hand' can be found on the [[Editing by Hand]] page.

Maps that contain 2.0 objects (such as [[mesh]]) tend to have been either completely made in a text editor, or partly modeled in 3D modeling software, and later manipulated in text format.

[[Category:Server]]