Official forums for BZFlag.org

After an extensive period of time, it appears that BZFlag version 3.0 may be close to release. This will be the first major release we have had in several years. Because a large percentage of the changes are code-related, the overall look and feel of 3.0 is similar to the current 2.0 branch. I am attempting to coordinate a texture refresh for 3.0 that will be implemented before or soon after the initial release.

I am aware of several people who have worked on or completed alternative texture sets for bzflag in the last few years. However, I am interested in any textures that members of the community can contribute. The project developers will then select from the textures available after receiving community input, and include them in the main BZFlag project.

There are several requirements for texture submissions:
1. Textures must be original work, or copyright fully owned by the submitter. Ownership may be verified before acceptance.
2. Contributors must be willing to turn over copyright of images to Tim Riker in accordance with DEVINFO.
3. Textures must meet general texture requirements for usability, such as being sized at an exponent of 2 (e.g., 512x512, 1024x1024, etc), being tile-able, and should not have obvious repeat patterns.

Please post ideas or reactions here so we can gauge interest. I plan to assimilate all texture contributions and set up test servers, which will allow the community to review the submissions and give feedback.

Uh... don't know how to create this but a camoflage pattern:
like the tank color, then a flag pole, the a flag color on top.
so that on maps without radar... epic hiding.

umm...
I don't get your example darkid. Do you mean like a material that tanks blend into if they are the right color? Like a green wall that is the same type of pattern as on a green tank?

Well, I hope the release won't come out too soon, because I'm currently working on some changes and new implementations like smoke (with Particle System), improved graphics and dynamics (barrel moving at reload) and vibrating cam. after explosion, etc. And it would be nice to include this to in the 3.0 branch. I'm trying to work as quick as possible and if I'm done, i'll send some patches.

nEW playe

yes, since the tanks use a camo color, then a camo-colored wall.
But, with the space right above it colored black-like the flag pole, and the bit above that would be white (ish) like the flag.

nEW playe wrote:Well, I hope the release won't come out too soon, because I'm currently working on some changes and new implementations like smoke (with Particle System), improved graphics and dynamics (barrel moving at reload) and vibrating cam. after explosion, etc. And it would be nice to include this to in the 3.0 branch. I'm trying to work as quick as possible and if I'm done, i'll send some patches.

nEW playe

In all likelihood, that will be too late for a 3.0.0 release. May be possible to include it in the next release. Also, at least some of the things you listed above will be possible with Lua, which could be added to individual servers even after 3.0.0 is released. (Yes, client-side Lua is back in, meaning stuff like relief shading and fancy fog will be possible)

All that and a lot more can be done using the client-side Lua.

Actually, all of those features have already been added to the
SpringRTS game using the Lua API that I added to their engine
(particles, camera shake, shell explosion distortion shaders,
Xray effect, rain/snow, bloom, blur, toon, GPU-side physics
shaders (my volcano demo), cockpit texture overlay, halos,
etc...) BZFlag's Lua API is very similar to that of SpringRTS's,
except that it's a little better.

It's much easier to add features through Lua than it is to code
them into the engine. In most cases, the speed penalty is
negligible if the code is setup correctly. You can think up an
idea, code it, add it to your server, and clients will immediately
be able to use it. Waiting for code to be incorporated into the
engine (and released), can take years

I'll probably post an outline of the Lua scripts that I've currently
implemented, but here's a brief summary of where their code
is sourced from, and where their code is executed:
P.S. The SpringRTS Lua API wiki documentation: http://springrts.com/wiki/Lua_Scripting
(the OpenGL section is the most useful for BZFlag)

P.P.S. My original volcano demo: http://trepan.bzflag.bz/volcano.theora.ogg
(please excuse the poor video capturing, it looks much nicer in real time)

P.P.P.S. Some things that the Lua API might be used for:
- Custom GUIs (ex: clickable options)
- Custom tank models
- Animated world objects
- Reflective / refractive water rendering
- Shadow mapping
- Deferred shading (with HDR)
- In-game map editor
- Observer minigames (How about a nice game of chess?)

In the case of 'LuaWorld' and 'LuaRules', I assume that there will be an on/off client option for 'LuaWorld', much like there is for Fog in the current client? But there won't be an on/off for 'LuaRules', as stated above.

Would I be right in assuming that the same code that could be loaded into LuaWorld *could* also be put in LuaRules? It'd be nice to be able to force the client to display fog, or world animation.

Either way, this is going to bring up a whole new era of BZFlag and maps.... although I must admit that i'm somewhat worried that it might stagnate development of the main source.

Heh, that's a remarkably ironic worry.
Look at SpringRTS' history before fretting too much.

Whoa, that's awesome, the LUA part! Especially Lua_GLSL_Api will give bzflags graphics a new life, I'm also quite amazed about the speed of the API.
I am thinking not releasing my patches because of the new LUA api, but I'm post anyways my work (I'm posting this quite late, but I'm still at school + exams ...):

Some initial testing:


random particles in the air ( textures made with the Gimp )
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/9030/bzfi0222.jpg

Exhaust testing:


Castle Warfare (day)
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/8572/bzfi0237.jpg
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/3061/bzfi0238.png

Castle Warfare (night)
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/2610/bzfi0242.png
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/4106/bzfi0246.png
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/7510/bzfi0247.png
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/8312/bzfi0248.png
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7019/bzfi0251.png
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/3498/bzfi0253.png
http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/2285/bzfi0319.jpg

TriCastles
http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/1629/bzfi0269.png

Quickshot purplepanzer
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/3598/bzfi0278.jpg
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4323/bzfi0283.jpg

parcours
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/382/bzfi0322.jpg

rear driving
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/2619/bzfi0350.png

rabbits emit rainbow clouds
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/5425/bzfi0351.png

Shot cloud testing:


A firing sequence
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/9651/bzfi0328.jpg
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/5780/bzfi0329.png
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/3832/bzfi0330.png

fully random
http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/7391/bzfi0346.jpg


Let me know whether you like it or not,

nEW playe

PS: The angle marks on the radar are part of a new devel option, it makes it easy to debug the smoke direction and other new stuff.

Wow.... Incredible....

Definitely show us how you did all of this

Also the image under parcours is from Amazing Maze 3

My favorite thing was the rabbits which emit rainbow clouds ;D

This is some amazing stuff. I'm so glad Lua got brought back in! Time to start learning . . .

Got bored in photoshop. Let me know what you think.

please update the logos in the 2.99 builds; yours are AWESOME.
However it is somewhat hard to see so maybe a darker color.

can't wait for the 3.0!
how will Lua affect framerate/jitter/lag?

Agent West wrote:how will Lua affect framerate/jitter/lag?

Depends what people do with Lua.

Creating in-game smoke trails or shot effects, for example

Well, wouldn't it make sense that it would lower the FPS? Not sure what kind of answer you're expecting to get...

i got that part, the question is "lower by how much?"
sould be awesome, as long as the framerate don't drop down too low

Ace: I'm going to go buy stuff, how much will it cost me?

Bob: What are you planning to buy?

Ace: I don't know ... how much will it cost me?


What should Bob's reply be?


I've written lua code that renders specific BZFlag worlds faster than the engine does.
I've also written lua code (with GLSL shaders), that decreases the FPS dramatically. It
depends on the rendering techniques that you are using, and the clients' capabilities.

oh, ok. it makes sence now. thanks

I always was wonder how to see FPS in bzflag. Now it's time to ask. So is there a way to display it on the screen why playing?

Press 'T' and your FPS will appear on the top left of your mouse box.

mrapple wrote:Definitely show us how you did all of this

What should I show? The C++ code ?
Well, I made ParticleSceneNode.cpp/h, ParticleSystem.cpp/h and modified LocalPlayer.cpp/h (+ a few other ones) a little bit.
Then I made a couple of Particles in the GIMP.

nEW playe wrote:What should I show? The C++ code ?

Definitely! I"d love to mod my client with these cool ad-ons

If you have BZ checked out from SVN, you can simply use the svn diff command to create a file that people can use to apply the mod to their clients.

Then it sounds like if you provide the .diff with some image files and such, people would be able to add this to their clients