The aim of this article is to introduce the reader to Bzflags. Bzflags is a free software multiplayer 3D tank game that is frantic, full of immediate action, with a kill or be killed emphasis. The game is best served in multiplayer mode where you can hunt in packs, fight to the last ounce while chatting. Instant violent fun, gratification for those of you that need to let off steam and clear your minds living for the moment. However, because of my cowardly disposition and weak trigger finger, not to mention my poor reaction times, I have once again hired in my ten-year-old son Nelson to test out the various parts of the game and pretend to the world that he is me. I will interview him later in this article and take online credit for his kill ratios.

The name Bzflags is an abbreviation of Battle Zone Capture Flags. Named after, one assumes, Battlezone, a classic, vector-based arcade game that came out just after space invaders. Showing my age, I was addicted to Battlezone and never had quite enough pocket money to kill all the enemies my psyche required of me. I even ended up doing a paper round to pay for my addiction. Capturing the flag involves exactly that, one of your team members needs to ride over the enemy flag and then take the flag back to your rest zone. This is of course made more complex by the horde of charging tanks that wish to communicate with the flag capturer their physical respect. Yes, frantic, fast, and furious. If you don’t die ten times in any given game then you haven’t lived. Four teams play at any one time.

If you don’t die ten times in any given game then you haven’t lived

Installation

Installation is straight forward for MS Windows users: you download the executable from Sourceforge and run it. For GNU/Linux users there are rpm packages available, and for Mac the equivalents. Pretending to be a stereotypical user, I downloaded Bzflag 2.04 onto my overloaded laptop running Windows XP home edition.

Before entering the shark infested shoals of public servers, it is probably best to run a server locally on your own machine and play against computer controlled tanks. To achieve this under windows, add a shortcut with the following option:

"C:\Program Files\BZFlag2.04\bzflag.exe" -solo 10

Where, of course, BZFlag2.04 is replaced with which ever version number of the game you have installed. The solo option states that you are playing against yourself and 10 is the number of tanks that the computer controls.

Note: The Bzflag server requires very little in terms of network bandwidth and other system resources such as CPU. However, the man page does warn about running the server under Windows 95 due to constraints within the operating system itself.

Installation is straight forward

Game basics

To play the game, double click on the short cut you have just created and the game console will present itself. You are given four options:

1. Join Game
2. Options
3. Help
4. Quit

Before going further I would recommend reading the help page. The page contains a list of keystrokes and their related functions. After reading the help, it is time to join a local game against your computer. Yes, the evil computer that you need to fight with every fibre of your patriotic being, the self same evil computer that has stolen those hidden pixels and corrupted many undisclosed binary files. I will have my revenge! Hum, back to reality.

Back at the main options, select “Join Game”, making sure the server mentioned is localhost (see figure 1). Select start server: you will find yourself under the server configuration screen, figure 2.

Figure 1: Screen grab of game joining options

Figure 2: Screen grab of start server options

Feel free to modify the configuration options; the main ones of interest is the “Style”, which defines the type of game you will play. The three main styles are: “Killer Hunt”; “Free For All”; and, “Capture The Flag”.

“Killer Hunt” is a simple game type, where one of the tanks is nominated as a rabbit. Every other tank has to try to kill the rabbit. Sounds a little like my average work day. In “Free For All” everyone is expected to shoot everyone. “Capture The Flag” involves team work. Four differently coloured teams try and capture the flag of one of the other three enemy teams and then tries desperately to bring the flag back to their base area. So much confusion occurs in this situation that it’s a wonder to behold and very enjoyable to be involved in.

Once you have connected to the server of choice, you will find yourself in the middle of the action. If you’re a newbie, this can be a bit intimidating. You will see a console similar to that shown in figure 3. Notice the shell speeding towards you. If you dodge, you survive. If you blink, you are gone. If you are playing with a team it is good to know your team’s colour, which is indicated by the text (ready) at the top of the screen. To move you need to place your mouse in the outer box. If you place your mouse at the top of the outer box, you will move forwards. If you place your mouse in the centre you will stop, and if you place your mouse at the bottom of the box then you will move backwards. The further you put the cursor from the centre, the faster your tank will move. On some servers you may jump; this is achieved through pressing the tab key. It is considerably easier to dodge and move than it is to hit a target. Therefore, practicing your dodging ability should be your number one priority.

Practicing your dodging ability should be your number one priority

Within each world there are numerous flags. By moving over a flag you may change the properties of your tank or the weapons the tanks uses. You may also drop a given flag and choose another.

Figure 3: Screen grab of game playing console