Radar and Other Problems

[Flag Alert!!!]

I'm still pretty new to mapmaking here and have a few issues that I'm not sure how to resolve. I'm still testing out my server and making changes and experimenting, but my progress has been all but halted by these problems. I'll put the into a few main categories:

1. My map is a 2-Team CTF map with a river running through the middle from 1 corner to the other. The 2 sides are on top of 2 large meshes made in Wings3D. Using an Enhanced or Normal radar and while on the ground, nothing appears on the radar except the two sides and the river. So basically, the map looks blank. If you jump, though, or are above the ground level, you can see everything on the radar. Also, using a Fast or Fast Sorted radar, you can see everything, but I don't really feel like changing my radar type every time I test it. I'm not exactly sure how to attatch screenshots because I'm also pretty new to forums, so if someone needs me to attatch them to understand what I mean here, please explain how to attatch them. So I guess my question is if there is a server variable that can set it so you can see the other things or to somehow disregard the meshes everything is built on? (This seems pretty unlikely to me but I'm just grabbin' for ideas here)

2. I would like to somehow make myself an admin on the map so I can meddle around with the server variables without having to get out of bzflag, change the server configuration, reload the map, and get back on bzflag just to find the variable is still not what I'd like it to be. I tried the configuration "-password" but it says something is wrong with it and won't run the server. I have plenty of other configurations in that don't cause this problem. So is there a way to make myself an admin without changing the password in the server configuration? And if not, does anyone know why the server configuration is being rejected?

3. With all the server configurations I have in, my jitter explodes to well over 100. Without the configurations, my jitter is around 40 (Since the server is running on the same computer as bzflag). Do the configurations cause jitter somehow?

Also, the map is sort of a King of The Hill type CTF with a tower elevated in the center with GM in it. I'd like for there to be a button underneath the tower that somehow kills the person in the tower at the time. I believe I remember a King of the Hill map from a few months or a year ago that had a button like this. If anyone has the plugin (I assume that's what it is at least) that allows for this, could you give it to me? If anyone needs any clarification on any of these problems just say so. Thanks for your time and help!

[Flag Alert!!!]

Update: I fixed number 3 and I found the plugin. #1 and #2 are still a mystery though, if anyone knows.

[Bambino]

Try this
-password "lol"
Then in-game on the server type this "/password lol" without the quotes in the in-game.

[optic delusion]

For no. 1 you will need to add inside points to your objects. When you jump, you see the top of the object, but on the ground there is no solidity at that level. This can squash some other bugs you may not have noticed yet, but it can sometimes introduce spots where players may get "stuck" on the object.
You will need to do this manually. Just add a line like this to the vertex list of each object.
inside 0 0 0 #(some point near the center of the object)
One hint for the newbie mapper here. Find the config.cfg file and make 2 changes. showcoordinates 1 and savesettings 0 . You can find your inside points easily with showcoordinates.

For #2, you need groups http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=93&t=16016

For #3, you (probably) need a real server machine, not a home connection. Lag equals players times shots.

[blast]

For #3, if you're saying that you have 100ms of jitter on the server running from the same computer, then it's probably that your CPU is overloaded trying to run the game. Try turning on the Energy Saver in the game (Options > Graphics Settings), or vertical sync in your video driver.

[anomaly]

As for #1, the issue is that the devs decided to render the mesh as a single object in the radar. It used to be rendered per poly. The only way to make the terrain mesh have dimension in the radar is to use 'fast' or 'fast sorted' radar.

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=de ... tid=103248

[optic delusion]

So i was wrong about #1.

[Flag Alert!!!]

Bambino - I tried the -password setting but bznr rejects it so I can't even load the map. However, I will try the groups as per Optic's suggestion. And thank you blast and anomaly too

[blast]

No idea what 'bznr' is. You should be running maps with 'bzfs'.

[Flag Alert!!!]

Sorry that's what I meant My mistake.

[blast]

Well, the -password option is a perfectly acceptable option for bzfs, so if that didn't work, you're doing it wrong.

[Flag Alert!!!]

Of course now that you say that I go back and try -password 1 more time and it works fine. >.< I'm dumb.

Anyway, recap:

1. Just have to change the radar type
2. I'm dumb.
3. Jitter should be just because I'm hosting and running bzflag on the same computer.
(Tell me if I'm wrong on any )
Also, it now seems that if I try getting on the map from a different computer than the computer hosting the server, it gets in but stays "Dead" and won't let me spawn. I then have to force myself in from the command line. But then after adding waterLevel and turretWeapon, turretZone, and turretEjector (turret plugin ), it won't even let me force myself in from the command line! I'm not sure if this is a pyBzEdit problem (though I'm almost positive it isn't because I'm not running the server from pyBzEdit) or a Windows problem, or something else. Any ideas? It's basically my last problem...

[Flag Alert!!!]

Here are some screenshots if they help at all...

[Cobra_Fast]

Ah Ha! You are having an elevated ground!
Check with http://my.bzflag.org/w/Material and assign no-radar-materials to objects you dont want to be visible on the radar. Be careful with that, players easily get confused when there are objects missing on the radar. I would add something to make the river border visible on radar (boxes under ground at the edge to the river for example) when removing the elevated ground from the radar.

[Flag Alert!!!]

Ah!!! Thank you very much Cobra! Knew screenshots would help a little

[blast]

Also make sure you are putting both -fb and -sb in your configuration file so that flags and tanks can spawn on buildings. And do not use antidote flags (don't provide -sa) or else clients will lock up when they get a bad flag, since their client would try to find a safe spot at the real ground level, which is all unsafe areas on a map like that.

[Flag Alert!!!]

Yup I have 'em and no -sa. Thanks a ton everyone!