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Compiling BZFlag on Windows Guide

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:26 am
by Zehra
Hello everyone. I have decided to release my guide for compiling BZFlag on Windows.

Step 1: Downloading the proper files.

First open and use your favorite web browser.
Head over to github.com/BZFlag-Dev/bzflag and download the current protocol version.
(At the time of this writing, it is 2.4.x)
Download the dependencies for Windows, otherwise compiling will fail and there will be a good amount of errors.
The dependencies are available at: https://github.com/BZFlag-Dev/bzflag-dependencies
But compiling them will to take some time, so instead use a compiled release provided by the BZFlag project.
Link to the releases section: github.com/BZFlag-Dev/bzflag-dependencies/releases

Step 2: Setting up environment variables.
Open the archive from the 'dependencies' downloaded.
This is very important and one may want to have it named as "bzflag-dependencies" or something.
Open the control panel in Windows and head to "system".
(Control Panel -> System and Security -> System)
Once in 'system', there should be a button titled "Advanced system settings".
Once pressed, there should appear a menu.
A button which mentions "Environment Variables" should be there.
(The 'Environment variable' will need to be named "BZ_DEPS" for BZFlag to compile properly [by default].)
Click it and another menu will appear which will provide the required options.
Specify the path of the build dependencies.
Save settings and prepare to compile.

Step 3: Compiling the client.
Open the BZFlag archive and save it somewhere.
Head over to the "MSVC" folder/directory.
If Visual Studio is installed there is a few files which will say "Microsoft Visual Studio Solution".
"bzadmin" is bzadmin "bzflag" is the client, "bzfs" is the server, and "fullbuild" is everything. (bzflag/bzadmin/bzfs/plugins.)
Choose the option which best suits the requirements.

-Zehra