Zero G Paintball...

[HowlingDogFish]

I don't know why I all of a sudden got this idea, probably because I just got done with Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (great book). Anyways, in this book, the students at this military training facility (a space station) play a zero gravity laser tag game. As I read this, the idea of zero gravity paintball came to mind. I think this could be possible (in a space station) but I don't really think it is going to be happening any time soon. But still, just think of a paintball game in a cube with no gravity. You would not only have to watch your back and your flanks, but also above and below you. Of course, this wouldn't be cheap, but neither would the thrills. I figure that if people are talking about space cruises and living on the moon, I can talk about paintball in space. Oh, and AGD gets in on this because everyone needs a warpfeed to feed with no gravity. What does everyone else think?

[DWill]

It would be cool, but I don't think it is gonna happen in my time :(

[SG Avenger]

I dont know how fun zero gravity would be, as you could float away from your bunker etc. Even if there were floating bunkers mid-air, keeping close to one would be a pain.

A while ago someone posted a thread on what you'd like to see on the future of paintball. I suggested a similar low gravity field, where you would be able to do wild moves, since you would be able to jump several feet into the air without trouble.

That'd be fun. Hmm, I geuss you wouldnt really have to worry about dropoff then either.. [grin] though it'd suck to run into balls just floating mid air.

[GT]

well,

You would have a whole bunch more distance on your balls, like they wouldnt stop until they hit something. Also consider that most of the time when you are tagged out you are not hit by a 300 fps ball. so every shot would feel like you just got bunkered. Although It would be an intreating experment to see the differnece 0 grav has on a ball, yet you would have some aerodynamic issues since you arnt in a vacume.

Also consider after each hit that there would be a considerable amount of floating debris, shells and loose paint.

Guns with large recoil or "kick" could possible push the player backwards under large strings.

What about reloading? Gone are the days of opening up your pod and pouring in the paint. Also think of your loader issues. Cant use a warp or a halo since most of the balls will "float" in the hopper.

Looks like we have a few issues to sort out before ) grav becomes popular.

[HowlingDogFish]

I think that maybe you guys have thought about it more than I have, I just kinda wrote this on a whim. Since there is no gravity, you could have some kind of 1000 round loader on your back that worked by some kind of vacuum constantly sucking balls in. I also think it would be cool to have some kind of rope and hook attached to your jersey or something so that you could "hook in" to a bunker to keep from floating away. I trust that people like Tom Kaye and his trusty staff of brilliant engineers could solve these issues long before the government allows us to send a paintball space station into orbit...just a hunch. Anyways, keep the opinions coming.

[Grasshopper]

Wouldn't the Q-Loader work in 0 gravity?

I think the game would be better if it was just low gravity (as in, really low) that had bunker "floating" in the air. Then you could jump around from bunker to bunker and be like a happy grasshopper.

[beefstew]

grasshopper stole mine!

[Fuji]

I agree with GTRSI's statements except for the 300fps part. There will still be air, unless of course you mean playing in a vacuum. In which case, paintballs just won't work. (But I digress) Paintballs will still have quite a bit of drag moving through the air even with zero gravity. So, given the fact that the paintball will travel in almost a perfect line (I am assuming that this is played near the Earth which has a gravity well), it will still slow down over a distance.

I won't even go into the difficulties that the human body will have to endure. Nausea, disorientation and several other interesting problems are caused by your inner ear/body in low G.

[Miscue]

How about paintball in a vacuum?

[downlad]

Originally posted by Miscue
How about paintball in a vacuum?

Hasn't the low pressure craze gone far enough? :)

[Hexis]

Originally posted by gtrsi
well,
...

Guns with large recoil or "kick" could possible push the player backwards under large strings.



Wrong, all guns would push the player backwards. Simple physics. you are propelling a .68" sphere with a set weight one direction, to do so, you have to push backwards with the same total force. If you don't have something to push against, roughly 1/2 of the energy will go twords moving you backwards, with the other 1/2 going twords moving the ball forwards. Since a players body is a lot more mass, the movement would be slight, but would add up with each shot.

[Pacifist_Farmer]

I'm gonna have my head frozen just like Ted Williams so I can play gravity free paintball in the far far future!!