<s>
BZFlag	B-Language
(	O
an	O
abbreviation	O
for	O
Battle	B-Application
Zone	I-Application
capture	B-Application
the	I-Application
Flag	I-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
,	O
multiplayer	B-Application
online	I-Application
,	O
tank	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Inspired	O
by	O
Battlezone	B-Application
,	O
BZFlag	B-Language
was	O
first	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
by	O
Chris	O
Schoeneman	O
in	O
1992	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
his	O
studies	O
at	O
Cornell	O
University	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BZFlag	B-Language
was	O
initially	O
called	O
"	O
bz	O
"	O
and	O
despite	O
its	O
similarity	O
to	O
the	O
SGI	O
game	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
title	O
by	O
Chris	O
Fouts	O
,	O
the	O
games	O
are	O
completely	O
independent	O
of	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1993	O
,	O
BZFlag	B-Language
was	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Now	O
the	O
server	O
list	O
is	O
hosted	O
on	O
the	O
official	O
BZFlag	B-Language
website	O
and	O
allows	O
anybody	O
to	O
play	O
games	O
on	O
servers	O
that	O
choose	O
to	O
be	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Schoeneman	O
eventually	O
re-wrote	O
BZFlag	B-Language
in	O
C++	B-Language
for	O
SGI	O
's	O
third	O
IndiZone	O
competition	O
,	O
which	O
won	O
in	O
the	O
"	O
Reality	O
Engine	O
"	O
category	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BZFlag	B-Language
is	O
written	O
in	O
C++	B-Language
and	O
uses	O
OpenGL	B-Application
for	O
rendering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
audio	O
and	O
several	O
other	O
sub-systems	O
have	O
been	O
written	O
using	O
OS	O
specific	O
methods	O
,	O
although	O
newer	O
releases	O
use	O
SDL	B-Operating_System
to	O
perform	O
low-level	O
operations	O
on	O
all	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zlib	B-Language
is	O
used	O
to	O
decompress	O
data	O
files	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
game	O
of	O
BZFlag	B-Language
,	O
players	O
drive	O
around	O
tanks	O
,	O
viewed	O
from	O
a	O
first-person	O
view	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
server-defined	O
world	O
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
map	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
modified	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
three	O
other	O
objectives	O
and	O
corresponding	O
styles	O
(	O
four	O
in	O
total	O
)	O
:	O
a	O
style	O
called	O
"	O
capture-the-flag	B-Application
"	O
(	O
or	O
"	O
CTF	O
"	O
for	O
short	O
)	O
in	O
which	O
tanks	O
try	O
to	O
pick	O
up	O
an	O
opponent	O
's	O
flag	O
and	O
bring	O
to	O
their	O
own	O
home	O
base	O
,	O
a	O
style	O
called	O
"	O
rabbit	B-Algorithm
chase	O
"	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
objective	O
is	O
to	O
have	O
every	O
hunter	O
(	O
orange	O
)	O
tank	O
try	O
to	O
destroy	O
a	O
particular	O
white	O
tank	O
,	O
called	O
the	O
"	O
rabbit	B-Algorithm
,	O
"	O
and	O
a	O
style	O
called	O
"	O
King	O
of	O
the	O
Hill	O
,	O
"	O
in	O
which	O
a	O
team	O
attempts	O
to	O
stay	O
in	O
a	O
certain	O
area	O
for	O
30	O
–	O
60	O
seconds	O
without	O
being	O
killed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
rabbit-hunt	B-Language
games	I-Language
there	O
is	O
a	O
white	O
tank	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
rabbit	B-Algorithm
"	O
,	O
against	O
the	O
orange-brown	O
"	O
hunters	O
"	O
,	O
or	O
every	O
other	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hunters	O
are	O
considered	O
a	O
team	O
,	O
so	O
rabbits	B-Algorithm
with	O
genocide	O
,	O
shockwave	O
,	O
Guided	O
Missile	O
,	O
or	O
Laser	O
flags	O
are	O
dangerous	O
,	O
and	O
often	O
team	O
kills	O
occur	O
due	O
to	O
a	O
group	O
assault	O
on	O
the	O
"	O
rabbit.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Teams	O
are	O
necessary	O
in	O
capture-the-flag	B-Application
games	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
they	O
have	O
to	O
protect	O
their	O
team	O
flag	O
from	O
capture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
BZFlag	B-Language
server	O
can	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
basic	O
,	O
random	O
map	O
for	O
play	O
,	O
or	O
users	O
can	O
load	O
custom	O
map	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BZFlag	B-Language
uses	O
a	O
customized	O
text	O
based	O
map	O
format	O
to	O
define	O
the	O
placement	O
of	O
objects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
writing	O
a	O
map	O
is	O
fairly	O
simple	O
in	O
this	O
format	O
,	O
most	O
map-makers	O
use	O
a	O
3d	O
modeling	O
program	O
such	O
as	O
Wings	B-Application
3D	I-Application
or	O
blender	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Note	O
that	O
BZEdit	O
is	O
not	O
distributed	O
with	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
no	O
longer	O
under	O
active	O
development	O
(	O
versions	O
of	O
it	O
are	O
available	O
at	O
the	O
BZFlag	B-Language
SourceForge.net	B-Application
site	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
using	O
blender	B-Application
in	O
combination	O
with	O
a	O
BZFlag	B-Language
map	O
plug-in	O
is	O
currently	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
mapping	O
method	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
to	O
the	O
simplicity	O
of	O
maps	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
basic	O
objects	O
in	O
a	O
map	O
:	O
boxes	O
,	O
pyramids	O
,	O
teleporters	O
,	O
cones	O
,	O
arcs	O
,	O
cylinders	O
,	O
spheres	O
,	O
team	O
bases	O
and	O
meshes	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Full	O
three	O
dimensional	O
meshes	B-Algorithm
have	O
been	O
available	O
in	O
maps	O
since	O
the	O
2.0	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BZFlag	B-Language
has	O
three	O
types	O
of	O
flags	O
:	O
team	O
flags	O
,	O
bad	O
flags	O
and	O
super	O
flags	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Team	O
flags	O
are	O
only	O
placed	O
in	O
a	O
world	O
during	O
a	O
capture-the-flag	B-Application
game	O
,	O
and	O
represent	O
the	O
team	O
it	O
is	O
colored	O
to	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Super	O
flags	O
are	O
flags	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
in	O
both	O
free-for-all	O
games	O
and	O
capture-the-flag	B-Application
games	O
,	O
but	O
are	O
strongly	O
controlled	O
by	O
a	O
server	O
operator	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
in	O
a	O
while	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
flag	O
is	O
introduced	O
,	O
which	O
anyone	O
can	O
contribute	O
to	O
via	O
developer	O
contact	O
or	O
the	O
wiki	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
BZFlag	B-Language
takes	O
the	O
local	O
time	O
from	O
the	O
geographical	O
location	O
of	O
the	O
server	O
and	O
creates	O
a	O
night	O
or	O
day-time	O
atmosphere	O
in	O
the	O
background	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BZFlag	B-Language
was	O
selected	O
in	O
Summer	O
2015	O
as	O
"	O
HotPick	O
"	O
by	O
Linux	O
Format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BZFlag	B-Language
was	O
selected	O
as	O
the	O
SourceForge.net	B-Application
Project	O
of	O
the	O
Month	O
for	O
April	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
Magazine	I-Application
and	O
Linux	O
Magazine	O
noted	O
that	O
BZFlag	B-Language
was	O
fun	O
to	O
play	O
and	O
suitable	O
for	O
younger	O
gamers	O
.	O
</s>
