Official forums for BZFlag.org

I just had a quick thought...

I've noticed increasingly that maps get full. I see it more lately. Maybe it's just me, or maybe increased BZflag downloads means more total players at any given time.

Ehhh, I'll get to the point.

One joins the server as a waiting observer, as opposed to just a regular observer, and when one person leaves or gets kicked the next person in line automatically joins either team. It holds your spot. Only registered users can apply?(admin option alert)

If I really want to play I'll put BZ into observer and grab a bite to eat or a drink while I wait a few minutes, but I think this would be a great addition especially as servers become increasingly crowded.

I searched, but I didn't see anything like this proposed. Good idea, eh?

Do you want to join strictly to observe, or do you want to join and take the next open slot when it's available?

There was a bit of discussion of that in another topic, I think the one about cross-server teles. They were talking about perhaps splitting big maps in smaller portions on different servers and/or ports. While a player is on the map, he/she will be held at each part of the map as an observer. When he/she comes back to that section of the map, he/she will be rejoined as a normal player.

I think your idea is pretty good, but I think it has already been discussed.

hlfmnhlfamazing wrote:I searched, but I didn't see anything like this proposed. Good idea, eh?

It is an excellent idea, and one that will probably be implemented sometime. Not to fault your searching skills, but it has been discussed before (to find it with search, you would have needed to know that we call this feature "queueing").

http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4541
http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1853

DTRemenak wrote:

hlfmnhlfamazing wrote:I searched, but I didn't see anything like this proposed. Good idea, eh?

It is an excellent idea, and one that will probably be implemented sometime. Not to fault your searching skills, but it has been discussed before (to find it with search, you would have needed to know that we call this feature "queueing").

http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4541
http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1853

Yes, with the ability to change teams in 2.2 it will probably show up as a plugin shortly after 2.2's release.

Sounds cool. In the first link mentioned, i think the 2 commands would be a good idea:

DTRemenak wrote:to find it with search, you would have needed to know that we call this feature "queueing".

http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4541
http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1853

Heh, yeah. I don't post here often though.

Sorry!

Looking through those other topics, I think this would be a great idea.

When a spot is open, ask the player who has been waiting longest if they want to join. Give them, say, 10 seconds to respond. If they decline or don't respond, then ask the next longest waiting player, and so on.

L4m3r wrote:Yes, with the ability to change teams in 2.2 it will probably show up as a plugin shortly after 2.2's release.

Do you mean that there will be a command which makes you change teams?

A command like:
/defect [to colour]

For CTF maps there should also be a waiting list for defectors:
/queue defector [to colour]
/queue [defector] exit
so that the server can correct unbalanced teams itself without haveing to switch off CTF (which is annoying).

But there is one problem: How do you prevent abuse (e.g. Going to you own base, defecting and kill everyone)?

asciimonster
To stop abuse just have the defector spawn in the new team's base.

I have to agree with TangenT's idea here. If you automatically sign in someone who is a waiting observer and is next on the list to join, and that person is away or does not have their attention devoted to BZFlag, that person could just be idle kicked. That would mean the other waiting observers would just be waiting for a player who isn't actually playing to sign off. By prompting a waiting observer to join, and giving them a specified time limit to respond and join, you can eliminate this problem. If the waiting observer does not respond, they can be cycled back through the rotation.

A Distraction: I agree completely.

Eagle: I realised there is anothe problem: You just fired a shot and you defect to another team. And you hit a formerly opposing tank, which is now your teammate. Is that a team killing?

yes, I think it would be team killing especially since you knew you were going to defect before you shot.

Switching teams on the fly should require at LEAST a 30 second wait time.

If you're switching teams, it should kill you and (in the case of CTF) set you to spawn on the base.

on the subject of switching teams ... make it something like the pause/self-destruct count-down. And during that countdown, maybe you can't shoot?

In unreal tournament, there's a change team option ... which instantly kills the player and sends them to an area controlled by their new team.