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ok...to cut to the chase, im fed up of those annoying random maps that can be generated. i really wanna know how to create and host a decent server...like the ones louman can make, and my good friends PETER, Tanner and Tedius (hope u guys are reading this lol )

Now by lookin at another thread, I have heard of some things called BZEdit and pyBzEdit. Now from wot i can gather both of these are editing programs in which it is possible to create servers to your own specification. Now ive been onto google, hoping to download either one of them and get going, but sadly i really have no clue where to start.

If somebody could please please give me the URL to a decent site for both of them. Also could someboyd please give me personal opinions of each of them.

Am very desperate to know, cos i got some very coolio ideas please leave a post

http://my.bzflag.org/w/Category:Map_Making

is the wiki page on map making, it has info on all the options for making maps, and info on where each editor can be found.

Well first of you need to download some form of map editing software , I recommend BZEdit if you are on windows (I am assuming you run on windows).

Downloading BZEdit
This is the link for downloading bzedit http://sourceforge.net/project/download ... e&40178996

Using BZEdit Note: This is a long piece of text but worth reading it if you are gona use BZEdit....

When downloaded and opened , you will think this is
more trouble than it's worth , but I can assure you , it is not.

To make a map on BZEdit you use a system of numbers , not clicking and dragging objects. To select the object you first want to add you simply click on your desired objects icon in the top left hand corner....
You will see (in-order) , a box , a prymid , a teleporter and a base.

Once you have clicked on your desired objects icon , it will appear in the grid , to shape and move your object you will have to type in six pairs of numbers , the first 3 are the co-ordinates....
....that determines the position of your object. The map is split up into 4 parts....

To from the middle of the map to the edge is 400 units , so if I wanted a square for example to go in the bottom left hand corner I would type this into the co-ordinate box....

X 400
Y -400
Z 0 (height of the object)

If I wanted the box to be in the middle I would type....

X 0
Y 0
Z 0

You can rotate your objects by either typing in a precise number into the rotation box or clicking on the rotate by hand icon in the top in the middle

This process is the same for all objects apart from the `link` which is used so tele-porters can work.

I hope you have gotten the idea of co-ordinates by now , if not then private message me.

Links
You can only use a link if you have placed two tele-porters.

1st step: click on the link icon 2nd step: choose which tele-porter you want it to come from and go to to NOTE: after changing and/or typing in an objects details , for them to take affect , you MUST click "apply".

{deep breath}...........

The 3-6th pair of numbers....
....determain the shape , If I wanted a tall thin object then I would type this in....
X 4
Y 4
Z 20

I hope you have found this explanation useful. If you have any other problems then don't hesitate to just private message me , thanks for reading , peace out!

lol Petey - I think LT K couldve figured all that out him/herself

If you want to create maps like Louman keep dreaming hehe.
Nah but if you do then BZEdit or iBZedit won't help you there. i/BZEdit is only very simple and kinda stopped being worked on a long time ago. What your looking for is Blender and Wings3D. They're much more difficult to learn but your finished product is much better than that created simply on i/BZEdit.

I only just learned how to import obj files into Blender

To start off, if you want to just get a feel of making maps and how big everything has to be then yea go ahead with i/BZEdit. Though I'm sure we'd all agree, there are much better programs out there

Well actualy , some very popular maps could have been made with BZEdit , pill box , hix and some others , so don't nock BZEdit just because it can't make sphere's and colors and other stuff like that.
Also I never said that it could make maps like louman dose , if you are inventive with BZEdit you can make quite a few more shapes than just a prymid or box , wings3d , blender , and the others are great , but different , I am not say they are "different" because the other can do more , I am saying they are different because they do different things in different styles.
Sure LouMans maps are very good and cool to look at , but You can create the same sorta popularity level with BZEdit , and after all , isn't that what matters? , if the players them-selves like it.

PS: I know I would have liked some help when figuring out how to use bzedit , we all have to start out sometime.

PETER wrote:Well actualy , some very popular maps could have been made with BZEdit , pill box , hix and some others

Actually, I think pillbox has some outsider objects. I tried opening it up in BZEdit and it wouldn't let me.

PETER wrote:so don't nock BZEdit just because it can't make sphere's and colors and other stuff like that.

I never said that, you did. Maps don't need spheres and weird objects, it needs careful planning and thought.

PETER wrote:Also I never said that it could make maps like louman dose

I never said that either. I was talking to LT K. I meant if he/she wanted to learn how to make maps like Louman, and I'm talking about using outsider objects aswell as meshes, textures and all that, i/BZEdit isn't the program to use.

ok?

PETER wrote:PS: I know I would have liked some help when figuring out how to use bzedit , we all have to start out sometime.

It's not that hard to figure out. The hardest thing BZEdit has to offer is teleport linking

No , the hardest ting in my opinion is getting your co-ordinates exacty the way you want them , I am talking pixle to pixle, If i dont get it that right then I just wont release it

By the way: the big post I made took me aboout 1h an 30m to make Do you like it?

wow dude 1h 30mins. Too long to spend on a post

...not just a post , I am gona use it on my new weby , also for every image I had to...

>take a screenie
>paste it on paint
>save it on paint
>open it in the gimp
>crop it in the gimp
>save it in the gimp
>put it in my photobucket account
>copy the image code
>and paste it in the post

..I had to do tha nine times , plus I am still getting used to the gimp

You do know that you can crop stuff in paint, right? Grab the slector tool, take what you want, copy that, select all, delete, paste. Resize if you wish.

PETER wrote:To make a map on BZEdit you use a system of numbers , not clicking and dragging objects.

Wrong. BZEdit has a click-and-drag function for both resizing and positioning objects.

Yep it does. He's got ya there Petey

Though personally whenever I use BZEdit I use the numbers, it's not so much more accurate because it shows the numbers either way. Habit I guess, perhaps I should use the dragger tool from now on

I've found the dragging tools to be too inaccurate, they're really sensitive, move too fast. I use the numbers as well.

wooo! I put this on just before i went to bed...come back a few hours later and so many replies! thnku all so much. evry1 of them is so helpful owe u all massively. If i end up being proud of any of my servers, i will include my name into the name of the server, so keep an eye out for it dudes thnx again evry1

Lt-Kirby2007 wrote: owe u all massively.

Yes you do!

Lt-Kirby2007 wrote: If i end up being proud of any of my servers, i will include my name into the name of the server, so keep an eye out for it dudes thnx again evry1

Looking foward to them. If your in the process of a map and want some advice or suggestions post it in the Work In Progress section of this forum.

You don't owe us massivley , just sharing knowlage , and thats what is's all about

Wrong. BZEdit has a click-and-drag function for both resizing and positioning objects.

what?! where is it? what dose it look like?

PS: Yes , I do know you can crop on paint , just that if I need to do other stuff then I use the gimp.

PETER wrote:PS: Yes , I do know you can crop on paint , just that if I need to do other stuff then I use the gimp.

Well, you could paste the image into GIMP and skip the whole using Paint step. Poof.

-Tanner

PETER wrote: what?! where is it? what dose it look like?.

?!?!?!?!!??! "Click and Drag" an object... What is so confusing about that?

Nothing is confusing about that , just that I have just tried what you said , and the object isnt moving.

Okay , I just this moment found the tool to move objects by hand , Thanks for telling me about it , but , I am gona stick with using numbers

What is the tool? and how do u put bases and arrange flags?

A tool in the sense that it is somthing that dose a specific task , and you lay bases down the same way you would a box , also you can arrange flags by hand coding , I'll save you the trouble....

what's hand-coding

...good question , hand-coding is the process of editing a map configoration file by typing in by hand details of where sertain flags go , that probably isn't the best explination (to say the least) , maby someone in the next post could explain (hint hint).