Official forums for BZFlag.org

What is the purpose of the "hunt" button?

I press the button "L", and the names of the players don't appear on the screen. Is it something to do with the computer or what?

L only works when you an "Observer".

Hunt allows you to 'mark' a player (or players). He will then flash on your radar, so you can find him easily. I use hunt in several manners, one is to mark a player I don't do well against, so I can be more cautious when he is in range. Can also be used for someone you can kill with little effort, so you know you can be more aggressive when he is near. On no radar maps, hunt will give you a kind of sonar so you can find players easier.

I rarely use hunt, and I should use it more often. It can give you an advantage against great players, unless they're sneaking up behind you...

use 'u' for hunt and '7' for multiple hunts (also up and down arrow keys and enter). usually i hunt my archrivals or the guy at the top of the scoreboard. especially on no radar maps, as donny baker mentioned, hunting others can give you a significant edge.

Why does the Bzflag server always have a certain number of servers up on the first page ( of 22)? I mean, I know they are the most populated, like boxy war, but then what's the purpose of having 21 other lists of unused servers? In addition, some BZFlag sites have links and port names of servers they host or have. How do I connect to them, and how would I know if there are any people playing on them? Does this imply that the within-game BZflag server listing is not the only one which is frequented?

The list is sorted by number of players on and then by the server name and port (not the description). This allows you to quickly find a server where there are active players (let's face it most of us don't like to play BZFlag by ourselves). But if you want to play on another empty server (others will most likely join you) then you can find any ACTIVE public server on the list.

Since I'd rather not start another tread, is there any way to set the hunt function so that it automatically selects any tank that has a certain flag, like stealth? If not, are there any mods for such a thing?

yosefk wrote:Since I'd rather not start another tread, is there any way to set the hunt function so that it automatically selects any tank that has a certain flag, like stealth? If not, are there any mods for such a thing?

setting a stealthed tank for the hunt would do you no good, since a tank with st doesn't show up on your radar.

But I'll second the question yosefk asked for something like a tank picking up a geno flag, or like when anybody joins one of those no radar maps - I always set everybody for the hunt in those maps.

That functionality is not available in the standard BZFlag package. That would require you to modify the client. Some people have done that in the past, but requires you to insert the modified code and then compile the source code yourself.

if you do have the ability to modify your client, be careful to not go so crazy.. most if not all servers in the gu league basically only allow modifications that are quite neccesary and are needed to be fair in other words, try not to give your self a noticebly unfair advantage.. players have gotten in trouble in the gu league for that.
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for the hunt question: like donny said, it makes that "dot" or "tank" blink on the radar so you can identify your worst enemy easily

btw, i mostly use "u" or "7" for players with high pings so i can map out where to shoot ^_^

I wish '7' was in the help keys page in the client. I keep forgetting it. There are a few other keys in that help page that are missing too, which is a shame.

As for hunt, don't forget that hunt is automatic (and useful) for rabbit hunt.

On other maps, I tend to hunt the player with the highest score on an opposing team. It's just a warning to myself to be careful with this player as he/she isn't a newbie. Usually .

Or I hunt to quickly track the opponent with my team flag, or who has geno.

Hunt is most useful for tracking either grandmasters or total newbies. In one case, you know who to avoid unless you have a *big* advantage, and in the other case, you know who you can be aggressive against/who has slow reflexes.

speaking of hunting, when I press enter in trying to select a player to hunt, it doesnt select, any ideas?

after pressing 7, I usually right click my mouse to select which player to hunt, then I left click to select that player.

Not sure about keyboard use when selecting someone for the hunt.

One of my favorite uses is to hunt the 3 or 4 players who have noticeably higher lag. That way, I can easily remember to compensate for it when I come across them.

I have three uses for hunt in a free for all or CTF :

1) the one with the highest score (to overtake them by dropping their score at the same time as raising my own).

2) someone who has managed to kill me more times than I have killed them (it can happen to the best of us).

3) someone who is making a nuicence of themselves such as those who make silly statements in punlic or private chat (e.g. anyone who calls the "luck" card is likely to feel my hunting wrath).

Sometimes number 3 is more of a friendly rivalry/banter game between myself and the target than an actual nuicence case, although that is often involving situation number 2 at some point.