The Console Lizard's BZ2 Mapmaking Tutorials

[SUB-0]

The Console
Lizard's BZ2 Mapmaking Tutorials http://zeroangel.overminddl1.com/reference/


Tutorial 5 : A very powerful tool
The Battlezone II console is a very powerful and versatile tool that compliments the BZ2 editor , the BZ II editor is a fantastic piece of software in it's own right, but when used in conjunction with the Console you can create some absolutely incredible stuff.

Step 1: Introduction
# ls
[debug]
[iam]
[stars]
[multiworld]
[shadows]
[splat]
[sky]
[editor]
[sprites]
[network]
[sun]
[fog]
[bump]
[view]
[audio]
[control]
[script]
[game]
[mesh]
[vid]
[inputbind]
[mission]
[options]
[iface]
[rain]
[keybind]
[playback]
[scrap]
[ai]
[mirror]
[multilanguage]
[console]
[sys]
[chrome]
[profile]
[dome]
# _ The Bz2 console allows you to tweak just about every parameter of your map, you can change the fog /visibility of the map, the weather, the time of day, the sky and tons of other things aswell. There are so many commands that you can use that I don't think I've explored all of them properly myself, and I've been making maps for this game for nearly 3 years now.

The console is so complex that I'm not going to try and cover all of it's functions in this tutorial , instead I'm going to concentrate on explaining how to change the environmental settings for your map and a few other commonly used commands. The first thing that you need to know about using the console is how to activate it, first of all load up a map ( either single player or instant action ), now press the CTL + Tilde keys ( the Tilde key is the one just below the ESC key on your keyboard next to the number 1 key) , this should activate the console for you.

Once you are in the console if you type in the command LS and press enter, you will be presented with a list of all the main commands of the console as in the picture to the left.



By Typing in one of the main commands, for instance Stars, you will be presented with a menu of sub-commands, to access one of these sub-commands type in Stars again followed by for example .Count , this will give you the current value for the start count in your sky, to change this count type in Stars.Count followed by a space and then your new value (please note that the space is very important, if you miss it out the command won't work ).

# stars
[stars]
Cmd count
Cmd modulate
Cmd speed
Cmd size
Cmd texture
Cmd height
Cmd color
Cmd distance
# stars.count
star count = 128 along circumference
# stars.count 256
star count = 256 along circumference
# _

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Step 2: Stars and Splats
Now I'll introduce you to some of the environmental settings, these can make an enormous difference to your map allowing you to alter many aspects including the sky, the weather and the lighting.

The first environmental setting to appear in the console commands list is Stars , this allows you to control the settings for the stars in the sky of your map, you can enable or disable the stars in the Sky section of the console.

# stars
[stars]
Cmd count
Cmd modulate
Cmd speed
Cmd size
Cmd texture
Cmd height
Cmd color
Cmd distance
# stars.count
star count = 128 along circumference
# stars.count 256
star count = 256 along circumference
# _ Some important commands that you should know are :

Stars.count
This controls the number of stars in the sky.

Stars.size
This controls the size of the individual stars.

Stars.texture
This allows you to set the texture used to draw each star.

Stars.height
This sets the height of the stars in the sky .

Stars.color
This sets the colour of the stars, colours are entered as an RGB value .




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# splat
[splat]
Cmd blocksize
Cmd toggle
[ground]
[water]
[windshield]
# splat.toggle
ENABLED
block size=25
Ground count = 128 life time=0.500s
RGBA=255 255 255 255
size start w=0.010 h=0.010
end w=0.500 h=1.000
gsplat.tga ALPHA-BLEND
Water Count = 64 life time = 0.500s
RGBA=0 63 0 128
size start w=0.100 h=0.100
end w=3.000 h=3.000
wasplat.tga MODULATE
Windshield Count = 4 life time = 1.000s
RGBA=63 63 63 255
size start w=0.010 h=0.010
end w=0.100 h=0.100
raindrop.tga MODULATE
# splat.ground
[ground]
Cmd lifetime
Cmd count
Cmd modulate
Cmd size
Cmd texture
Cmd color
# _ The next command in the list is Splat, this controls the splashes from raindrops. Splat.toggle allows you to toggle splashes on or off and also gives you a list of all your current splat settings .

There are three types of splashes, windshield, ground and water, and you can change the settings for each one independently . The command Splat.ground, for instance, will bring up another menu of subcommands that allow you to alter the ground splashes. So you would then type in Splat.ground.lifetime, to alter the lifetime of your splash, ie. the length of time it's visible for before fading away. The other settings are the same as with the stars, .count sets the number of splashes, etc.




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Step 3: Sky Commands
The next command we come across is the Sky command, this is one of the most useful console commands there is , especially from an eyecandy point of view.

# sky
[sky]
Cmd fogBreak
Cmd modulate
Cmd type
Cmd textureName
Cmd toggle
Cmd ambientColor
Cmd uvspeed
Cmd height
Cmd visibilityRange
Cmd tileSize
Cmd color
Cmd load
Cmd fogRange
Cmd fogColor
Cmd save
[bolt]
# sky.bolt
[bolt]
Cmd duration
Cmd enable
Cmd minDelay
Cmd bolts
Cmd texture
Cmd sound1
Cmd sound2
Cmd startWidth
Cmd maxDelay
Cmd distance
# sky.toggle
DOME=1
STARS=1
FLAT=1
CLOUDS=0
SPRITES=1
SUN=1 Some of the more important commands that you need to know are, Sky.toggle, this allows you to toggle certain aspects of the sky on or off , 0 = off , 1= on . So to toggle the stars on you'd type Sky.toggle stars, and to toggle them off again simply type Sky.toggle stars again.

Another command that it's important to know about is Sky.visibilityrange , this sets the draw distance of your map, the higher you set this distance the further you will be able to see . Being able to see for miles might seem like a good thing at first , but in reality if you set the distance too high the game will slow down to such an extent that it will be unplayable . I would advise that you set the visibility for you map to a value that's less than 500 , and if you are making a multiplayer map ( especially MPI or strat ) it is advised that you set the visibility to somewhere between 250 and 350. Hand in hand with the Sky.visibilityrange command goes Sky.fogrange , this allows you to set the position of the distance fogging and it's width . I usually set the fog to 50 either side of my visibility range , so if my visibility was 300 I'd type Sky.fogrange 250 350.

Z: sky.fogbreak can be used to control how sharply fog cuts off. 0.5 creates a nice even fog, where as 0.1 creates a very dense fog and 0.9 leaves a very sharp fog cutoff near the end of the fogrange.

Sky.texturename allows you to specify which texture your sky (clouds) uses, and Sky.tilesize allows you to set the size of the texture tiles used. Sky.bolt brings up a set of subcommands that allow you to alter the settings for lightning.

The sky.bolt commands allow you to control lightning related parameters. Sky.bolt.mindelay and Sky.bolt.maxdelay set the minimum and maximum delay times between the randomly generated bolts. Sky.bolt.distance sets the distance from the player that the bolts will appear. Sky.bolt.bolts sets the number of bolts generated for each strike . Most of the other commands are fairly self explanatory.




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Step 4: Sprites, Sun and Local Fog
Next up we have sprites , these are 2d images that appear in the sky, these can be anything from comets to nebulae to moons, etc. Careful use of sprites can turn your sky into a work of art.

Most of the sprite settings control the size, placing and orientation of your sprites in the sky . Sprites are individually numbered , to select a sprite type in Sprites.select x, X represents the number of the sprite you wish to select . In the Sprites.color section you will need to enter an RGBA value , this is the same as a normal RGB value ,except that it has an extra parameter that allows you to set the alpha or transparency level of the sprite , 0 = invisible and 255 = opaque.

The sun settings alter the lighting of your map, Sun.period allows you to set the day length , so if you type in Sun.period 24 this will give you a standard 24 hr day . Sun.angle allows you to set the time of day , so if the day length is set for 24 hrs and you enter Sun.angle 12 , this will set the time to mid-day.

The fog settings allow you to place spherical patches of fog in your map , the fog patches are numbered in much the same way that sprites are , use the Fog.select command to select the fog patch you want . You can use the Fog.userposition to get a set of map co-ordinates for your position on the map, you can then add these co-ordinates after the Fog.position command to place a fog patch at your exact position. The Fog.water command brings up a list of subcommands that allow you to tweak underwater fog settings.


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Step 5: Rain and Reflections
The rain settings are another very nice feature , giving you a good amount of control over your weather.

# rain
[rain]
Cmd tranPeriod
Cmd direction
Cmd count
Cmd modulate
Cmd speed
Cmd size
Cmd enable
Cmd blockSize
Cmd minDist
Cmd toggle
Cmd texture
Cmd scaleFactor
Cmd onPeriod
Cmd offPeriod
Cmd domeColor
Cmd color
Cmd cutDist
# rain.toggle
rain is DISABLED
OFF
blockSize= 32
texture=lightflare.tga
texture mode = MODULATE
8x8 grid with 6 in each
size= 1.00w x 0.50h
color=250 200 120 63 RGBA
speed=-5.00m/s dire=80.000deg
min cut maxDist= 0 2 32
dome rain color 225 225 225 225 (ENABLED) Rain.tranperiod
Allows you to change the period of time when the rain is in a transitionary state (between wet and dry).

Rain.direction
Controls the angle at which the rain falls.

Rain.texture
Lets you change the texture of your rain drops , you can use this setting to turn your raindrops into snowflakes for instance.

Rain.offperiod and Rain.onperiod
Set the period of time for which your rain will fall and for how long it stays off before starting again.

Rain.domecolor
Sets the colour the sky will go while the rain is falling.



# mirror
[mirror]
Cmd enable
Cmd toggle
Cmd texture
Cmd offset The mirror settings allow you to tweak and even disable the water reflection.



# chrome
[chrome]
Cmd toggle
Cmd texture
# chrome.texture
dark_environ.tga
# chrome.toggle
chrome ALLWAYS ON
# _ The chrome settings allow you to tweak the look of the reflective surfaces like the ones on scion ships as they morph and on the biometal pools.

Main
Terrain Building Color and Texture Water Placing Objects The Console Special Techniques The .TRN File
Resources Hints and Tips
Website

[Red Spot]

ehm .. no offence but why dont you simply make 1 topic saying:
BZ Command?

[SUB-0]

LOL nice pic
yes your rite i have so many tutorials ...thought i'd put a few here in case they get lost like bzu ...looking for turorials that were lost that is my objective...thanx for pointing that out ...
tutorials are priceless
I'm on my days off and decided to fish out some stuff bzscarp lost. Also registered with bzscrap to upload the last maps and stuff they were looking for. Still waitting for them to send activation of my acount.
i probably have bzu tutorials also ...in this pile of bz junk i have

regards SUB-0

[Zero Angel]

Why post this tutorial directly in the forum -- when you can just link to my much easier-to-read version here?

http://zeroangel.overminddl1.com/featur ... onsole.php

[SUB-0]

hehehe even better Zero Angel i must agree
it raises just the kind of awearness i was shooting for and btw your page link should be posted more often .
so many poeple like making maps and dont know about this link ...now they will