Editing Material

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

==Code==
To put a material in your map, first it must be defined:
{|
|
 material
  name <u>example_material</u>
  texture filename
  addtexture filename
  notextures
  notexcolor
  notexalpha
  texmat -1
  dyncol -1
  ambient 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
  diffuse 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
  color 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
  specular 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
  emission 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
  shininess 0.0
  resetmat
  spheremap 
  noradar 
  noshadow
  noculling 
  nosorting 
  nolighting 
  alphathresh 0.0 
  groupalpha
  occluder 
 end
|}
Valid parameters for a Material are:
{|{{Prettytable}}
|-
| {{Hl3}} |'''Parameter''' 
| {{Hl3}} |'''Description'''
|-
| '''name''' || name for reference.
|-
| '''texture''' || set the texture (must be .png but don't include the extension unless on the Internet).
|-
| '''addtexture''' || add a texture (again, no extension is needed).
|-
| '''notextures''' || don't use textures.
|-
| '''notexcolor''' || don't apply the [[Color(BZW)|color]] to the texture.
|-
| '''notexalpha''' || don't use the texture's alpha channel.
|-
| '''texmat''' || specify a [[TextureMatrix|texture matrix]]. -1 for no texture matrix. (addtexture must be used before texmat).
|-
| '''dyncol''' || specify a [[DynamicColor|dynamic color]]. -1 for no dynamic color.
|-
| '''ambient''' || ambient color.
|-
| '''diffuse''' || diffuse (main)[[Color(BZW)|color]].
|-
| '''[[Color(BZW)|color]]''' || synonym for diffuse.
|-
| '''specular''' || specular [[Color(BZW)|color]].
|-
| '''emission''' || emission [[Color(BZW)|color]].
|-
| '''shininess''' || shiny!.
|-
| '''resetmat''' || restore default values.
|-
| '''spheremap''' || use spherical texture coordinate mapping.
|-
| '''noradar''' || do not display on radar (except normal mode).
|-
| '''noshadow''' || do not render shadows.
|-
| '''noculling''' || do not cull by face winding (double-sided).
|-
| '''nosorting''' || do not do front-to-back alpha sorting.
|-
| '''nolighting''' || disable lighting.
|-
| '''alphathresh''' || alpha thresholding value.
|-
| '''groupalpha''' || sort translucent faces as a group.
|-
| '''occluder''' || faces with this material will occlude.
|}

To actually apply a material, you must use some sort of reference in an object, like so:
{|
|
 meshbox
  position 0 0 10
  rotation 0
  size 10 10 5
  
  # refer to the previously defined material with its particular name we gave it before
  # compare underlined text in the code at the [[#Code|page top]]
  '''matref <u>example_material</u>'''
 end
|}
Please note the ''matref'' is the '''name''' of the defined material, not the name of the .png/url file!

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



==Magic Material Names==
===General===
* [[GroundMaterial]]
* WaterMaterial
* [[LinkMaterial]]  For Teleporter Links

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

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

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

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

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