~(> BZ1 FAQ - BATTLEZONE PROBLEMS? <)~ Updated 04.15.02
Zzz
If your questions aren't answered here, try...
http://www.nucleardays.com/bzhelp/
[SECTIONS]
1.0 SERVER PROBLEMS
2.0 ONLINE DEATHMATCH ETIQUETTE
3.0 UNHANDLED EXCEPTIONS (UE)
4.0 WIN2K/XP PROBLEMS
5.0 DON'T HAVE THE GAME?
6.0 USEFUL EDIT'S
7.0 USEFUL LINKS
8.0 ADD-ON MAPS
[ SECTION 1.0 SERVER PROBLEMS ]
While the Australian server is down, manually updating this file is the only
way for users who have not previously updated their servers.dat file, to see
the current Battlezone servers. Typically, a minimum of 50 players may be
seen on the most active BZ server during peak hours (~04.01.02)
Use the link provided in Section 7.0 to download the file. Copy the file to
your main Battlezone directory and overwrite the existing file. (Default
path - c:\Program Files\Activision\BattleZone\)
1.1 FIRST TIME USERS - If you wish to play Battlezone online, follow these
9 steps.
NOTE: BZ1 must be installed.
1) Download and install the 1.4 patch (Link provided in Section 7.0).
2) Update the servers.dat file as directed above.
3) Connect to the Internet.
4) Start BZ and select "Play".
5) Select "Multiplayer".
6) Select "New" and create your player name & select a flag.
7) Select "Internet"
--At this point, if you have a firewall, it may need to be configured.
8) Select a server with the lowest ping and other players on it, then select
"Next"
9) Join or create a game.
[ SECTION 2.0 ONLINE DEATHMATCH ETIQUETTE ]
-- No mine stacking (placing multiple mines in close proximity to each
other).
-- No mining Power-ups (weapons, ammo, hull).
-- No Spawning (Spawning: Killing a player at the point he enters the map;
Killing a player before he enters his tank; Killing a player as soon as he's
entered his tank, before he can get his bearings). It is acceptable to kill
pilot attempting to snipe.
-- No Red Fielding (Stealth tank).
-- No ejecting or suiciding. (Suiciding - Dishonorably denying someone
their rightful kill by: Intentionally shooting the ground to blow yourself
up; Dropping a mine behind you just as you are about to die).
-- NO HACKS
The "gamename" may reflect exceptions to these guidelines as well as any
requirements. For instance: A game may be titled "No Rules" or "Bombers
Only" or "Stock Only".
The first example speaks for itself, anything goes. The second means, you
may use any bomber to join the game (the word "bomber" must appear in the
tank description). In the third example, "Stock" means, only weapons which
originally come in the selected tank, may be used. No upgrading weapons.
Typically, for breaking the game etiquette you will be given a warning, and
asked to comply or leave. However, in some cases, you will be kicked from
the game. In extreme cases, your IP range may be banned from particular
game servers. Hackers and continual offenders will quickly find their IP
range banned via many individual user's firewall software.
[SECTION 3.0 UNHANDLED EXCEPTIONS (UE) ]
For most users there is a simple fix. First, you will need to edit the file
called "render.cfg" which can be located in the main BattleZone folder.
Open this file with WordPad (preferred) or NotePad. To enable any of the
options in this file, remove the semi-colon (";") from in front of the
command line. In the file, you will see the lines below.
Before edit...
[NormalView]
;VisibilityScale=150 // Extend visibility to 150% of normal
;HiRes=1 // Enable 800x600 and higher
After edit...
[NormalView]
VisibilityScale=150 // Extend visibility to 150% of normal
HiRes=1 // Enable 800x600 and higher
Now save and close the file.
Start BZ, select Play, then Options, then Graphic Options, then Resize
screen resolution to 800x600 or higher. The following step can not be
overlooked... Immediately exit completely out of BZ. Now you may re-start
BZ and play UE free.
This resolves the UE error for many users. Perhaps it will work for you.
If you ever have a game crash for whatever reason, and when restarting BZ
you are asked, "Hardware or Software?", select hardware and repeat these
steps... Within BZ, set res to 600x800 or greater and exit BZ, then restart.
3.1 ADDITIONAL RENDER.CFG EDITS
Editing other command lines not mentioned here may improve performance on
many 3D cards. If you choose to edit additional lines, removing the first 4
semi-colons should be compatible with most current video cards. If you
enable other command lines, they should be tested one at a time.
3.2 DISABLING VSINC
Another important performance enhancement which is easily implemented is to
disable "vsinc" for D3D games. If vsinc is enabled, your Frames-Per-Second
(FPS) may be limited to your Windows® refresh rate at whatever resolution
you use when playing BZ. With the current 3D cards, this is quite a
hinderance. If your video card does not support the option to disable
vsinc, a third party application like PowerStrip, may be necessary. For
Nvidia based cards, the easiest option is a small .reg file called
"Coolbits"which, when applied, gives you access to additional graphics card
menu's in your Display Properties\Advanced Settings. Links to both are
provided in Section 7.0.
[SECTION 4.0 WIN2K/XP PROBLEMS ]
4.1 Apparently, the animated .AVI's in some screens cause UE's on Win2K/XP.
Resolution: In the main BZ folder, delete or rename the "anims" folder to
anything. For instance - "animsBAK".
4.2 Still have a BZ cursor after closing game?
Resolution: In the main BZ folder, delete or rename these three cursor
files - cursor_i.cur, cursor_w.cur, cursor1.cur. For instance -
cursor_i.bak, cursor_w.bak...
4.3 WINXP - Having problems joining games or staying connected?
Resolution: Download and install the Anti-lag patch. It helps some users.
(Link provided in Section 7.0)
[SECTION 5.0 DON'T HAVE THE GAME? ]
If you've looked everywhere else...
5.1 Try http://www.dnxworld.homestead.com/bzprostratpage.html (click on the
"Buying BattleZone" banner.)
5.2 Try EBay.
5.3 Ask a friend to install it for you, then use the No-CD patch. The
patch does not work with Win2k or XP. (Link in Section 7.0)
5.4 It is posted regularly to alt.binaries.old.games. You can download it
there. If you don't see it, try a post with a subject line similar to
"ATTN: PockMark - Next BattleZone Repost??"
[SECTION 6.0 USEFUL EDIT'S ]
6.1 REMAPPING KEYS
Ever wonder how some Bombers split their Rockets? Ever wonder how Stealth
tank users charge their MAG while firing other weapons? Ever wonder why
some users are very good at dropping Navs to fend off Hornets?
NOTE: BEFORE EDITING ANY FILE, ALWAYS CREATE A COPY IN CASE YOU NEED TO
REVERT!
Using Wordpad (preferred) or Notepad, open the file called input.map.
Within this file you can remap keys. Frequently, users remap the "Drop a
Nav Beacon" key, the "Targeting" key, and the "Link Similar Weapons" Key.
To do this, locate those commands and simply replace the current key with a
key of your choice. Check to make sure the key you use is not also used
somewhere else. Duplicate key usages can cause erratic game behavior.
NOTE: The key you use may be used elsewhere if it appears in combination
with other keystrokes, such as + LeftControl or + LeftShift. Example...
# EJECT FROM VEHICLE
eject {
+ keyboard B
+ keyboard LeftControl
Where the "+" indicates the LeftControl must be pressed with B to execute
the command, the B key alone (without the added, "+ keyboard LeftControl",
may be used for another command. Likewise a "-" would indicate to disregard
a command used elsewhere.
Also, you can disregard "edit_" commands which use the same key.
6.2 ENABLING MULTISELECT
Okay, now that you have remapped some useful keys, I'm going to describe how
to enable the split weapons and multiple weapons. There is a section titled
"# MULTISELECT". In this section you will need to add a key for every
weapon hard point you intend on using in combination with other keys. In
other words, if you want to use weapon 1, while using weapon 3, you need to
assign it an easily accessed key. The keys entered here are those we plan
to remap to individual hard points (i.e. weapon0, weapon1 weapon2, etc.).
Below is an example of the Alt key added.
cmd_multi {
+ keyboard Alt
- program EditMode
}
Do not forget the } when copying the above command.
You can copy and paste this line directly into that section. Replace the Alt
key with a key of your choice.
Repeat this process for additional multi-use hard points. Now that you've
added a few keys, you will need to remap the hard points to the keys you've
just selected for "cmd_multi" use. Go to the section titled "# SELECT A
PARTICULAR HARDPOINT"
Here; you replace the existing keys with the keys you selected in the
previous section. weapon_select_0 refers to the 1st hard point (1st
weapon), and weapon_select_1, refers to the second, and so on. In the
example below, replace the Alt key with a key of your choice. Again, make
sure the keys you select are not in use elsewhere except where you entered
them in the cmd_multi section, and with the exceptions discussed before.
Example...
weapon_select_2 {
+ keyboard Alt
- keyboard LeftShift
}
When you combine the two above examples, the result is, the Alt key becomes
a quick select of the 3rd hard point AND can be used in combination with any
other weapon in use. For Maggers it would mean pressing the Alt key to use
Red Field while using the MAG or AT Stabber. For Bombers it would mean you
are now able to turn on/off the 3rd hard point which would allow for split
rocket shots. For BDog Grizzley's and other tanks it would mean the ability
to fire Mortars while using any other weapon.
6.3 JOYSTICK USERS
To enable multiple hard point ability, open input.map as described above,
locate the section titled "# SELECT A PARTICULAR HARDPOINT". Copy the lines
which begin + and - keyboard keys, which refer to the hard point you wish to
be able for use in conjunction with other hard points/weapons. Hard point 1
= weapon_select_0 {. Hard point 2 = weapon_select_1 {, etc. Now paste these
lines into the section titled "# MULTISELECT", adding the line -
cmd_multi {
Examples:
Plus (+) and/or minus (-) lines to copy:
+ keyboard F9
+ keyboard LeftShift
After pasting and adding the "cmd_multi {" line, it will look like this...
cmd_multi {
+ keyboard F9
+ keyboard LeftShift
Where the F9 + LeftShift keystrokes represent the keys you want to enable
for multiple use. Now that you have added these lines to the cmd_multi
section, you can record these keystrokes to your joystick as instructed in
your joystick manual. The above examples are for demonstration purposes
only. You will need to cut/paste from within the input.map file, as
previously instructed.
[SECTION 7.0 USEFUL LINKS ]
1.4 Patch - http://www.activision.com/downloads/29.asp
Servers.dat - http://blacksheep.nucleardays.com/downloads.shtml
Anti-lag Patch for XP users -
http://blacksheep.nucleardays.com/downloads.shtml
BZ 1 & 2 Forums - http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~bz2commproj/forum/forum.php
Nucleardays games forums - http://forums.nucleardays.com/vbulletin/
Pre-Edited Input.map file for Maggers (and Bombers?) -
http://blacksheep.nucleardays.com/downloads.shtml
BZ News & Resources -
http://bzf.nucleardays.com/
http://www.dnxworld.homestead.com/bzprobzpage.html
http://www.dnxworld.homestead.com/bzprostratpage.html
NO-CD Loader Patch for BZ1 v1.4/Win98/98SE/ME only -
http://www.planetbattlezone.com/modifier/download/download.shtml
Create a BZ Server - http://www.kegel.com/anet/ and
http://alink.nucleardays.com/
PowerStrip - http://www.entechtaiwan.com/
Coolbits for Nvidia/Win98/98SE/ME & Win 2K -
http://www.3dchipset.com/utilities/nvidia/overclocking/coolbits/
Coolbits for Nvidia/Win XP -
http://www.xp-erience.org/download.php?op=viewsdownload&sid=4
Other video card users, try here -
http://www.guru3d.com/files/pafiledb.php?action=category&id=13
[SECTION 8.0 ADD-ON MAPS ]
If you receive an error message while using mapadder.exe, look for the .mad
file within the map's .zip file. Open it with Notepad, copy the single line
of text contained therein, close the file. Now open the file named
netmis.txt in the main BZ folder and paste the line to the bottom of the
list. If you haven't already done so, extract the contents of the map's
.zip file to the addon folder. That's it, the new map will be available in
the game.
NOTE: If there are any .odf files within the zip file, the map is also a
mod, and you may want to backup the addon folder before trying it out. Mods
may make BZ incompatible with online games. It's a good idea to backup the
addon folder before you start adding new maps/mods.
http://maps.battlezone-world.com
http://home.mminternet.com/~jdavoust/wcpmaps.htm
http://www.pavilion.co.uk/users/keiron/smegland.htm
http://reeper42.tripod.com/ReepersNolimitPage/id5.html
http://www.bellnet.com/marc/bzcg/
http://www.kolumbus.fi/veikko.varanka/BZone/Maps.htm
http://www.geocities.com/battlerealm/brbzmaps.html
http://dwburman.com/oldsite/bz-maps/bz-maps.htm
http://www.dryden.net/~eolson/battlezone/bzmaps.html
http://bzha.0catch.com/downloads/maps.html
http://www.theoutcasts.net/loki2.htm
http://www.planetbattlezone.com/maproom/bz/
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/Adjutant/downloads.html
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Bunker/6397/CRF_download.html
http://horizoninnovations.com/odin/ce/downloads.htm
http://www.planetbattlezone.com/maproom/BZ/temppage.htm
http://www.bz-ubf.com/maps.html
____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
This FAQ is a work in progress and is ocasionally updated. Check back for
updated information and links.
Use all recommendations at your own risk. I take no responsibility for any
consequences resulting from the use of any recommendations provided herein.
Post any corrections or suggestions to alt.games.battlezone, ATTN: Zzzz.
If someone wants to write an ONLINE STRAT ETIQUETTE section, or a RED
ODYSSEY help section (not playing tips), please post it in
alt.games.battlezone, ATTN: Zzzz.
Author: Zzzz a.k.a. "Hugh Johnson", "Greed!!!", "Humpty Ðumpty", "Azazel",
"the Surgeon", "Cherry Lifesaver", "Drow", "FreeLancer",...
Say hi online... mention reading the FAQ. :-)