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Community Patch

To activate this patch you must run the Instant Action mission "! Community Patch Installer". This mission should run for about 1 second and will either end in success or failure with the installation.

Extended Information:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3407632918

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This is a community created patch and thus is not supported by Rebellion or Big Boat. If you need assistance please make a post on the forum attached to this workshop item or join the Discord at https://discord.battlezone.report/ to discuss issues and suggestions.

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• [0.1] Multiplayer map list no longer hops and map filter no longer resets when workshop updates and data checks finish.
  
• [0.1] Maps are now sorted based on case insensitive alpha-numerics. As the default font uses small-caps, this works best.
  
• [0.1] Additional map filters added to multiplayer map filter dropdown. Feel free to request more filters.
  
• [0.1] Multiplayer map names colorized to match their type icons.
  
• [0.1] Multiplayer vehicle descriptions no longer overridden by mod files unless those files come from the selected map.
  
• [0.2] Player Ban (Automatic Kick) function available to all game/lobby hosts.
  
• [0.2] Various new multiplayer map types supported with their own icons and filter categories.
  
• [0.2] Map type and filters are now data-driven meaning they can be updated without recompiling this patch module and mods can now control their own extended map data (documentation coming soon).
  
• [0.2] Maps that are known to crash when selected are now hidden via filter file. (SBP's anti-lag-kick dummy map)
  
• [0.2] Initial support for favorite maps filter.
  
• [0.2] Map type icons are slightly bigger (easier to see all the new icons).
  
• [0.2] Sessions using unknown maps now indicate the mod and map ID.
  
• [0.2] BZCP version visible to external tools.

Map sorting is now case-insensitive alpha-numeric. This means that non-alphanumeric characters are ignored thus a map called "[Magic][Words]" will sort under "m" not "[".
It is now possible to ban Steam and GOG players from your session as a session host (including both games and chat lobbies). This ban is implemented as an automatic kick on join and you must kick the user after banning them to remove them from the session. Applying a ban is the same as applying a kick, where you must select the target user and click the [B] button. To remove bans you must edit the "banlist.txt" in the game folder while the game is closed. This file will be created by the game after you first enter multiplayer.
There are a number of new map icons and types available with this patch. Without this patch these maps will still work but will appear as more mundane standard map types. It's up to modders to implement these new map types, though some like Wingman Strategy already exist. Further information will be linked on how to mark maps for handling with the new filter/type engine shortly.

The full list of map types currently supported is as follows:
[A] Action MPI (Stock)
[B] *unmapped*
[C] Custom
[D] Deathmatch (Stock)
[E] *unmapped*
[F] Capture the Flag
[G] Race
[H] *unmapped*
[I] *unmapped*
[J] *unmapped*
[K] King of the Hill (Stock)
[L] Loot
[M] Mission MPI (Stock)
[N] *unmapped*
[O] *unmapped*
[P] Pilot/Sniper DM
[Q] Squad Deathmatch
[R] Capture the Relic
[S] Strategy (Stock)
[T] *unmapped*
[U] *unmapped*
[V] *unmapped*
[W] Wingman Strategy
[X] Other/Tool/Test
[Y] *unmapped*
[Z] *unmapped*

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Thanks to Ken Miller and BlackDragon, pillars of the community without whom this patch would still be only on the drawing board. Ken is the one developer from the original Battlezone (1998) and Battlezone II (1999) who's involvement continued up and through the remasters here on Steam. BlackDragon is a community member who is now developing the official community patch for BZCC. Every 5 minutes of Ken's time saved me a week of reverse engineering labor. BlackDragon was invaluable for bouncing ideas and opinions on implementation.

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This patch started its life several years ago through the search for a fix for the "splinter replication" bug where the splinter weapon would have its damage multiplied by the number of players in the session. Despite these years of work without access to the game's code solving that bug has shown to be too difficult. During this time, however, several other bugs in the game were found and identified for fixing; the most annoying of these bugs being the "multi-player map list reset" or "hopping map list" bug where the Steam version of the game would manifest random resets to the map list's state and selected filter, often when selecting a map. After a feasibility test for adding automatic mod downloading to the GOG version of Battlezone 98 Redux (these tests were successful but the Mod Manager was not able to fully support the logic design needed so this is shelved until the new Mod Manager is ready) the bug manifested in the GOG version of the game as well. This critical clue finally gave a path to discover the bug's cause.

This patch contains numerous fixes and improvements for the game. Because large chunks of the multi-player map list code had to be replaced to correct the "multi-player map list reset" bug numerous quality of life improvements were included such as easier game-mode identification through coloring map names and vastly improved map filtering. Finally, even a bug that caused SBP's vehicle description overrides to pollute non-SBP maps was resolved.

At this time the intent of this patch is to apply fixes to the game in a way where it remains fully multi-player compatible with unmodified clients. There are plans to implement further features such as custom game types with custom shell buttons but such ideas are currently on hold because they would make this patch a requirement for properly using those mods which goes against my ethos of not shoving unneeded complexity on the player. In the past it was the vast array of modifications and maps that resulted in fragmentation of the original game's multi-player (though this was more prevalent an issue in Battlezone II) so keeping this fragmentation at a minimum is my current goal. Remaster features such the game's automatic downloading of mods and maps when joining modded sessions (Steam only at this time) should be maintained as the status quo and the need for this patch to play mods is currently outside of the intent of this patch. Should the community decide it is acceptable that this patch be required for some mods additional features like custom pre-launch options and cross-mod asset sharing can be implemented as they have both been prototyped and shown to be feasible.

While Battlezone Combat Commander has received additional patches in its late stage (thanks Ken, BlackDragon, Big Boat, and Rebellion) BZ98R has not, thus this community created patch deployed through the workshop has been released. Should a further BZ98R patch occur the source code and mechanism of operation of the changes in this community patch have been made available to the developers for inclusion where appropriate.

Additional features like the aforementioned automatic mod downloading support for GOG are planned but require the completion of additional support software like the new Battlezone Redux Mod Manager.