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Make suggestions for improving one of the best games on the net!
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DTRemenak
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FAQ

Post by DTRemenak »

Feature Request FAQ
Or, What Not To Ask For If You'd Prefer Not To Be Verbally Assaulted.

Things never to ask for:
  • Tilting Tanks - Tanks will not tilt. Ever. It's technically easy to implement, but a design decision has been made that tanks will remain flat with respect to the ground plane.
    Rotating Turrets - Another design decision. Rotating turrets will not be implemented simply because they make the game controls far too complex.
    Strafing - Same reasoning as rotating turrets.
    Anything that causes unavoidable death - land mines that look like flags have been rejected for this reason multiple times. If a tank dies, it should be because it has been shot. Genocide is the single exception to this rule.
    Moving Objects - There are a number of network related problems that prevent this. It also adds unnecessary complication to the game.
    Multiple Flags - There are severe balance issues with carrying multiple flags. Therefore, it will not be done.
    Full Screen Radar - The current radar limits are in for a reason, BZFlag is a 3d game and the 3d view is intended to be the main display
Things to think very carefully about asking for:
  • More flags - What flag would you take out, to make room for your flag? There are LOTS of flags already implemented. Think about what would balance your flag. Why it offers an advantage over similar flags.
    Server-side robots - We plan to do this. Someday. If you aren't prepared to write code please don't suggest it. Actually there's a whole category of things we plan to do someday.
How to not bite the hand that feeds you
The developers are usually not stupid or lazy. Sometimes they are lazy, but it's generally unproductive to say so. Instead, try to convince them that they should be spending their free time implementing the feature you want, instead of playing the game, or doing work, or going on a date, or something.
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JeffM
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Post by JeffM »

Re: Console ports.

It won't happen.

Consoles do not allow for open development. Even though the hardware may support it, we can not just port the game to the console. They are closed systems. They cost money to develop for ( SDK costs) and even after the game is written it must be distributed by the console company, and they do not allow or support open source software.

Some consoles support linux (the PS3). Users that wish to run our software on it are welcome to try and do so, they have the sources.

We do not, and will not discuss any concepts of "home brew" or "hacking" of consoles. All the software we will ever distribute will be in compliance with the law.

If you don't believe us, do the research and see, but don't create thread after thread begging for a port to something that we just can not do.
ImageJeffM
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