Customizing BZFlag

This document only applies to version 1.7. Earlier versions are customized differently. Run `man bzflagrc' on your system for more information.
Sound Files

You can customize the sounds that BZFlag plays by getting it to load your own sound files. You can do this by replacing the original sound files themselves; by putting sound files in another directory and using the -directory command line option; or by copying the original data files to a new location, replacing the sound files, and using the -directory option. On UNIX, you can of course use links to data files instead of making copies.

The sound files must have the original name. The files are 22.05kHz 16 bit WAV files, stereo or mono. The sound files are (not including the usual extension .wav):

boom	Played when a shell explodes.
explosion	Played when a tank explodes.
fire	Played when a shot is fired.
flag_alert	Played when your team flag is grabbed by an enemy.
flag_drop	Played when a flag is dropped.
flag_grab	Played when a flag is grabbed.
flag_lost	Played when your team flag is captured.
flag_won	Played when you capture an enemy flag.
jump	Played when a tank jumps.
land	Played when a tank lands.
laser	Played when the laser is fired.
pop	Played when a tank appears in the game.
ricochet	Played when a shot ricochets.
shock	Played when the shock wave is fired.
teleport	Played when a tank is teleported.

Configuration File

BZFlag saves state across invokations in a file. On UNIX systems, this file is ~/.bzflag or ~/.bzflag.$(HOST); the latter is used only if HOST is defined. On Windows systems, this file is bzflag.bzc and it's in your profile directory. The format of the file is the same regardless of platform.

This page describes the format of the configuration file and the options that BZFlag understands and uses.

Not all options are available through the GUI or the command line. Options only available through the configuration file are marked in bold. Options not available through the GUI are marked in italics. Some options available through the GUI are not available from the command line; these are not marked.

Format

Each line in the file begins with a name (containing no whitespace) followed by whitespace, followed by a value. The value begins at the first non-whitespace character and includes all characters to the end of the line.

Server Options

callsign	Last callsign (see -callsign).
email	Last email (see -email).
list	Set the server list server url (see -list).
port	Last server port number (see -port).
server	Last server.
team Last	team name (see -team).
interface	Last multicast interface (see -interface).
startcode	Used for start server menu. Use the GUI to modify this.

Rendering Options

blend	yes/on -- turns blending on or off.
dither	yes/no -- turns dithering on or off.
gamma	Sets the gamma correction value (brightness).
geometry	Set the window geometry; uses standard X geometry format.
lighting	yes/no -- turns lighting on or off.
quality	low/medium/high -- sets the rendering quality level.
resolution	Sets the default screen resolution.
shadows	yes/no -- turns shadows on or off.
smooth	yes/no -- turns point & line antialiasing on or off.
texture	Sets the texturing filter or turns texturing off. Values can be: no, nearest, linear, nearestmipmapnearest, linearmipmapnearest, nearestmipmaplinear, and linearmipmaplinear.
view	normal/stereo/three -- see the -view command line option.
zbuffer	yes/no/disable -- turns the zbuffer algorithm on or off. No zbuffer is allocated when disabled.
eyesep	Sets the distance between the eyes for stereo rendering.
focal	Sets the distance to the focal plane for stereo rendering.
maxlod	Sets the maximum level of detail to render. Walls are meshed when lighting is on and this limits the number of polygons that will be generated.
zbuffersplit	yes/no -- uses a hack to clear the zbuffer less often, at expense of depth resolution.
zoom	1-8 -- renders at a low resolution and zooms pixels by this factor.
redcolor	Three floating point numbers between 0 and 1 (inclusive) -- Gives the red, green, and blue proportions (respectively) of a red team tank's color. This is mainly intended for colorblind users to adjust team colors to something they can unambiguously perceive.
greencolor	Like redcolor but for green team tanks.
bluecolor	Like redcolor but for blue team tanks.
purplecolor	Like redcolor but for purple team tanks.
redradar	Three floating point numbers between 0 and 1 (inclusive) -- Gives the red, green, and blue proportions (respectively) of a red team tank's color on radar. This is mainly intended for colorblind users to adjust team colors to something they can unambiguously perceive.
greenradar	Like redradar but for green team tanks.
blueradar	Like redradar but for blue team tanks.
purpleradar	Like redradar but for purple team tanks.
enhancedradar	Enables blending of buildings on radar based on height.

Key Options

Key values are either a single key's name or two key names separated by a slash (e.g. =/+). The mouse buttons are treated as keys and named `Left Mouse', `Middle Mouse', and `Right Mouse'. Special keys are named by the label on the US keyboard. For example, F1, Tab, Home, etc. The spacebar uses the name `Space'. Other keys use their face character; for example, A, B, Z, 4, =, }.

Note that BZFlag uses some keys that don't have options, so they cannot be customized. The frames per second toggle is such a key. These functions are masked if a customizable key uses that key.

binocularsKey	Toggles binoculars.
dropFlagKey	The key to drop a flag.
fireKey	The key to shoot.
flagHelpKey	Toggles flag help.
identifyKey	The key to identify/lock-on a target.
jumpKey	Jumps.
pauseKey	Pauses the game.
scoreKey	Toggles the score sheet.
shortRangeKey	Sets the radar to short range.
mediumRangeKey	Sets the radar to medium rage.
longRangeKey	Sets the radar to long range.
sendAllKey	Sends a message to everybody
sendTeamKey	Sends a message to teammates.
sendNemesisKey	Sends a private message to last victim or killer.
sendRecipientKey	Sends a private message to a player.
timeBackwardKey	Changes the time of day backward.
timeForwardKey	Changes the time of day forward.

ALT-F1 to ALT-F10 and CTRL-F1 to CTRL-F10 lets you send predefined messages to all players resp. to your team. You can define these messages in your config file:

quickMessage1	arbitrary text -- define quick message for ALT-F1
quickMessage2	arbitrary text -- define quick message for ALT-F2
...	...
quickTeamMessage1	arbitrary text -- define quick team message for CTRL-F1
quickTeamMessage2	arbitrary text -- define quick team message for CTRL-F2
...	...

Other Options

directory	The directory where the data files are.
volume	0-10 -- sets the sound effect volume.
latitude	The latitude used for celestial calculations.
longitude	The longitude used for celestial calculations.
fakecursor	yes/no -- when on BZFlag draws a cross hair where the cursor is. This is primarily useful on 3D pass-through cards like the 3Dfx Voodoo.
mousegrab	yes/no -- when off BZFlag will not grab the mouse under any circumstances. BZFlag will otherwise grab the mouse when it thinks not grabbing it may interfere with the game.