BZFlag 2.4.4

Change Summary

This release encompasses several years of effort and a variety of fixes and improvements. Some of the more notable changes are as follows:

• Several new server plug-ins
• Numerous new API features
• Several new server permissions for more finely-tuned server administration
• Several improvements to the match countdown process
• A new Xcode project file for Mac OS X, replacing the previous system which had many problems
• Automatic reset of the game at the start of a match (score reset and players spawn on the base)
• Tracking of self-kills on the scoreboard
• SDL 2 support, which corrects an issue where the game would fail to launch on several newer versions of Mac OS X
• The radar and console can now be resized individually
• CIDR ban support on the server for more targeted ban ranges
• A new font import tool and higher-resolution fonts included for a smoother appearance
• Serif font replaced by sans-serif font for a more consistent appearance
• Automatic team assignment improvements so that the weaker teams get the new players more often
• Vertical sync option in display settings on Mac OS X and Linux
• List server transactions are now sent using SSL/TLS by default
• Simpler method for including third-party server plugins in build system
• Several security improvements to harden server against remote exploit attempts
• Server list sorting now ignores the observer count and includes a random factor for more fair server exposure
• Improved support for custom colors for color vision deficient players
• Improved server list filtering including custom filter editing and help information

Change Log

• Correctly exit the game when closing from the Windows 10 taskbar - Scott Wichser
• Update the player status when a gameover event occurs - Scott Wichser
• Fix fullscreen window toggling on Mac OS X - Joshua Bodine
• Fix crash on exit with Windows bzfs - Scott Wichser
• Fix crash on exit with Mac OS X bzfs - Joshua Bodine
• Fix buffer overrun that caused a crash on exit and other strange behavior on Windows and Linux - Scott Wichser
• On Windows, reload textures after initializing the context - Scott Wichser
• Add a menu to edit server list quick filters - Scott Wichser
• Tell Windows that we are DPI aware - Scott Wichser
• Time functions in the bzfs API use doubles instead of int - Vladimir Jimenez
• Fix issue on Windows that allowed mouse to get stuck off-screen when switching to windowed mode - Scott Wichser
• Replace NaN with zero in nboUnpackFloat() - Jeff Makey
• Add a bz_ChatEventData_V2 that contains message type - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Show recipient/sender for private action messages in BZAadmin- Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Server list filter: remove "cached" boolean filter, rename "flags" to "ffa", "teams" to "ctf", and add "offa" - Scott Wichser
• Add server list filter help pages - Scott Wichser
• Add config option to control shot brightness - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Don't show a running countdown to a player who joins a paused game - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Allow RGB values in ANSI color codes to allow custom colors - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Vastly improved support for changing tank and radar colors - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Fix rendering of TK warning symbol - Joshua Bodine
• Remove third-party libraries from our source tree - Scott Wichser
• Fix search field losing focus while loading server list - Joshua Bodine
• Do not count observers when sorting the server list - Scott Wichser
• Randomize the order of servers with identical player counts - Scott Wichser
• Mouse grab/confine fixes - Joshua Bodine, Scott Wichser
• Improvements to flagStay and rabidRabbit plugin - Vladimir Jimenez
• Joystick hat fixes - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Update shot stats live - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Track shot stats for all flag types, even custom flags - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Filter messages before MsgEnter - Jeff Myers
• Require a player have spawned to be added to rejoin wait list - Jeff Makey
• Validate the player ID in MsgPlayerUpdate and MsgPlayerUpdateShort - Scott Wichser
• Fix usage of privateMessage permission - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Properly prevent multiple MsgEnter messages - Jeff Myers
• Refactor and extend the shot API - Jeff Myers
• Autokick on unknown packet type - Vladimir Jimenez
• Block whitespace-only message and kick for garbage characters - Scott Wichser
• Validate teleporter index in client and server - Scott Wichser
• Limit half-joined player connection duration - Scott Wichser
• Add various checks for invalid player actions - Jeff Makey
• Show coordinates of target tank instead of observer camera location - Jeff Makey
• Allow shot API event to cancel broadcasting shot to other clients - Jeff Myers
• Store a list of how many times each player was killed by other players and expose it to the API - Jeff Myers
• Allow plugins delay adding players to allow for remote data lookups - Jeff Myers
• Add API event triggered when authentication is complete - Jeff Myers
• Added bz_GetPlayerMottoData_V2 - Jeff Myers
• Relicense the SAMPLE_PLUGIN to BSD 2 clause license - Jeff Myers, Tim Riker
• Update joystick axis list when changing joystick device - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• List server communication now uses HTTPS - Scott Wichser
• Added bz_setPlayerSpawnAtBase and bz_getPlayerSpawnAtBase API functions - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added configure --enable-custom-plugins and --enable-custom-plugins-file options - Jeff Makey
• Introduce bz_AllowSpawnData_V2 - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_setPlayerSpawnable and bz_isPlayerSpawnable API functions - Vladimir Jimenez
• Removed GLEW as a dependency - Joshua Bodine, Scott Wichser
• Made text at top of HUD use sans-serif font and removed serif font - Joshua Bodine
• Player scores are now factors in auto team assignment - Joshua Bodine
• New font rendering tool and new font textures up to 64pt - Joshua Bodine
• Added bz_getPlayerBySlotOrCallsign API function - Vladimir Jimenez
• Have custom permissions show in /showperms and /groupperms - Vladimir Jimenez
• Start adding unit tests with CppUTest - Scott Wichser
• CIDR ban support - Scott Wichser
• Radar size and panel size are now set individually - Joshua Bodine
• Added bz_incrementTeamLosses and bz_incrementTeamWins API functions - Vladimir Jimenez
• Vertical sync support under SDL - Joshua Bodine, Jeff Makey
• SDL 2 support - Alfredo Tupone, Joshua Bodine
• Do not flash GAME OVER for observers - Jeff Makey
• Validate the teleporter indexes in MsgTeleport - Scott Wichser
• Correctly validate an offered admin password - Jeff Makey
• Added "showAdmin" permission - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added countdown pause/resume API events - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_getCountdownRemaining API function - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_getPausedTime API function - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_isCountDownPaused API function - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_getIdleTime API function - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_getPlayerFlagID API function - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_isAutoTeamEnabled API function - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_cancelCountdown API function - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_pollActive API function - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_CustomZoneObject API class - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added CustomZoneSample plugin - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added permission for /listplugins - Vladimir Jimenez
• Allow API to overload built-in slash commands - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added "report" permission - Vladimir Jimenez
• Added bz_eGameResumeEvent and bz_eGamePauseEvent to the API - Vladimir Jimenez
• Don't allow muted players with ADMINMESSAGESEND to send PMs to hidden admins - Konstantinos Kanavouras, Vladimir Jimenez
• Add [Reverse Score] scoreboard sort option - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Track number of self-kills on the scoreboard - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Added menu option to pause chat window scrolling - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Added "noteam" option for "/flag reset" command - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Added option to bz_resetFlags to skip team flags - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Implemented "/poll kill" command - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Added "/countdown cancel" command - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Added serverSidePlayerSample plugin - Jeff Myers
• Fix fancy radar tank when zoomed - Kyle Mills
• Added /handicap command - Frank Thilo
• Reverted to traditional handicap calculation - Frank Thilo
• Add bzfscron plugin to execute commands on time intervals - Daniel Remenak, Scott Wichser
• Server-side players can send slash commands - Scott Wichser
• Added server side shot tracking - Jeff Myers
• Added clientQuery permission - Konstantinos Kanavouras
• Added superUser plugin - Jeff Myers
• Added bz_getPlayerCount API function - Jeff Myers
• Added bz_incrementPlayerWins API function - Jeff Myers
• Added bz_incrementPlayerLosses API function - Jeff Myers
• Added bz_incrementPlayerTKs API function - Jeff Myers
• Make players respawn on bases after countdown ends - Lee Marshall
• Countdown now resets player scores as well as team scores - Lee Marshall
• Fully integrated Xcode project file - Joshua Bodine