Laser tag

Laser tag is a sport loosely related to the original game of tag. While seen by some as having more relation to the sport of paintball, laser tag differs mainly in the technology used, rather than just the environment it is played in. Indoor, or Arena style laser tag usually features less realistic environments such as mazes, different modes of gameplay, and is often accompanied by music and theatrical fog. Outdoor laser tag is also a popular way to play, with players using parks or wooded areas, or even going to commercially run outdoor laser tag fields. Similar to paintball, there are styles of play that lean heavily toward full military simulations, and other types that are quick firefights to determine the best player on a small field. This variation means that there's a style of laser tag that can appeal to almost anyone, from MILSIM enthusiasts, to sci-fi LARP players, to kids just having fun.

Laser tag History

In 1977, George Carter III conceived the idea for laser tag while watching Star Wars. After spending years working on the technology, the first Photon center opened in Dallas, Texas in 1984. Players could come to the center and compete against each other, but the equipment was not sold in stores. In 1986, the first Photon toys hit the market, soon followed by Lazer Tag toys from Worlds of Wonder. The Christmas season of 1986 was the real beginning of home laser tag, and soon millions of kids would be playing laser tag with each other anyplace they could. Worlds of Wonder went out of business around 1988, and Photon soon followed in 1989, as the fad of the games wore off. Today almost all laser tag play takes place in facilities specifically designed for the game.

In 1980, the United States Army developed and deployed a system using infrared beams for combat training. The MILES system functions like laser tag in that beams are "fired" into receivers that score hits. Similar systems are now manufactured by several companies and used by various armed forces around the world.

The game of laser tag

Commercial Laser tag systems vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and centre to centre, but usually consist of a tagging device (which may or may not resemble some sort of handheld gun). The tagging device emits a laser beam, and usually an infrared (IR) beam as well, which carries information about the device doing the emitting. Typically, the laser is merely a special effect, although it is not unheard of that the laser itself is the carrier of the information. This is less common, as the tight beam of the laser requires the user to have extremely accurate aim to hit the sensor which is typically a TV remote control receiver which is only about 3 to 5mm square with a beam only about 2mm across.

The player wears a pack, usually in the form of an open vest, with sensors placed in various locations such as chest, back, shoulders, and in the gun. The signal, when striking a sensor, transmits the pertinent data to the pack. All packs may be connected to a central server which records points, the location and number of tags on other players, the location and number of tags on oneself, and a beam/tag ratio, or this data may be transferred at the end of each game. At the end of the game a player will typically receive a scorecard with this information.

Players

Members are usually identified by their unique playing styles, precise timing, knowledge of the mazes, and ability to earn large numbers of points. Furthermore, club members are players that may have formed a tight knit group, play regularly (usually weekly or bimonthly), and generally have opportunities to develop a squad strategy.

Freestyle players typically own their own consumer laser tag equipment, often modified with better sights or other improvements and may carry FRS radios to co-ordinate their team play. They play in parks, woodlands, playgrounds, anywhere the landscape is suitable and the neighbors don't mind. Most clubs are quite strict when it comes to player behavior, etiquette, sportsmanship, and how to handle things if there is a complaint or the authorities arrive.

Game formats

Standard formats

Team and Solo Games The two most common laser tag games are Team Games and Solo Missions. Both usually feature an unlimited number of beams, and an unlimited number of lives. In a team game, teams are distinguished by different coloured LEDs. In solo missions, everyone is fair game for everyone else, though informal teams and packs are sometimes formed.

Elimination Games

Elimination formats allow each player a limited number of lives, which are lost by being tagged, and may be played in team or solo variations. When a player has no more lives remaining, their game is over and they must leave the arena. The objective in a team elimination format is to be the last team with players still surviving. The game ends when only one team remains, or when time runs out. The objective in a solo elimination game is to be the only player left alive, and the game ends when only one player remains, or when time runs out.

Specialty formats

Specialty formats vary from site to site and from system to system. The technical capabilities of the system being used often dictate the formats that can be created.

Specialty games are games with complex rules, such as objective-based games. These games are usually played by more experienced players, as well as for team-building events. The rules for such games are widely varied. Different systems, as well as individual centers have their own specialty formats.

Objective-based games feature a special win condition or scoring conditions. Players may be required to eliminate certain players, or they may be required to hit specific targets.

Ring events are laser tag matches held in a small area where players compete against one another without walls or obstacles to hide behind. Lord of the Ring is a ring event that gained popularity in the mid to late 1990s among players of the Ultrazone laser tag system in the United States, Canada, England, Sweden and Finland.

Laser tag is also used in live action role playing. In these games players take on the role of imaginary characters in an adventure that may last any amount of time from a few hours to several days. Laser tag weapons may be used to represent any sort of real or fictional guns. Sensors occasionally represent 'shields' or 'forcefields', although sometimes players pretend the sensors do not exist. Every LARP game has its own unique storyline. Combat is a feature, rather than the central role of these games - players take part to develop their characters and may even complete an adventure without firing a single shot. Players that do get into combat and lose may find that their character is killed off during the adventure. Homebrew equipment based on the original Worlds of Wonder Lazer Tag system is the most popular system used by science fiction LARP groups in the UK.

Systems

A wide variety of equipment exists for playing laser tag. The sensor locations, electronics, housings, and programming capabilities all vary by system, and each system has its strengths, weaknesses, and particular quirks.

Types of Systems

• Arena-based systems are designed to be played in an arena under computer control.
• Portable systems are designed to be set up and taken down quickly for special events. They may or may not use a scoring computer, and are often set up in a portable arena or played outdoors.
• Outdoor systems are designed to cope with the brighter lighting conditions and longer ranges inherent to outdoor play.
• Home systems are mass-manufactured systems sold to consumers. They are significantly lower in cost than commercial systems, but may not be as durable and rarely offer central scoring. The exception is Lazer Tag Team Ops, with team play, individual hit tracking, and central scoring using one of the units as the host.
• Homebrew systems run the gamut from simple that only register anonymous hits, to full blown systems that rival or surpass commercial systems in performance, features, and scoring. Milestag is an open protocol that supports central scoring, damage points, medics, etc. and there are several similar systems based off of it. Some commercial systems started out as someone's homebrew Laser tag system.
• Military combat training systems are designed to attach to or simulate standard military hardware for realistic combat training.

For more on Commercial Systems see Commercial Laser Tag Systems.

Homebrew Systems

There are also a number of Homebrew systems, some of which rival and even surpass many commercial systems. Modifications to store-bought Laser tag devices are quite common, from simply adding a telescopic sight to modifications of the electronics and moving the guts to a different body.

Technology

Lasertag systems often utilize complex electronics to be able to provide advanced gameplay features such as custom formats, detailed scoring, interactive arena devices, and special effects.

Communication

Almost all systems utilize some form of IR communication at least in the form of the firing beam. IR communication may also be used to interact with arena devices, to configure game parameters, and to download scores at the end of each game.

Radio-frequency communication systems are also employed by some systems for configuration and/or scoring. The use of radio-frequency communication is a requirement for real-time scoring.

Sensors and Optics

Sensor Locations

Sensors or arrays of sensors are located at key locations on the equipment. Typically, these include:

• Gun
• Chest
• Back
• Shoulders
• Helmet (if a helmet is used, this is rare in indoor laser tag)

These sensors are usually designed to receive infrared and/or laser signals from other guns, although if radio communication is employed it is also possible to exchange the sensors and emitters so that the gun works in reverse, much like an arcade light gun does.

Game Control

Systems such as that employed by most commercial operators utilize a centralized control system that is responsible for starting games and for recording scores. Such control systems may also allow selection of game formats, control of arena devices such as bases, and real-time game control if radio-frequency communication is made available.

Laser tag rules and etiquette

Safety

Running, climbing, and crawling are usually strictly prohibited in indoor lasertag for safety reasons due to the poor visibility created by blacklights and use of theatrical fog.

Free-movement is also both a common courtesy and a frequently enforced rule - in other words it is considered bad form to physically impede the movement of players through the arena.

Physical contact with other players is generally considered unacceptable, and some facilities may also enforce a minimum distance between players to avoid accidental contact.

Player Conduct

Stalking, the act of following a player around the arena in order to continually deactivate them, is also often frowned upon if not outright prohibited at some sites, particularly between experienced players and newcomers. This serves several purposes, the most important being safety - a player being stalked is likely to try to run to get away. Stalking rules also try to promote fairness in games with a mix of experienced and inexperienced players.

As most commercial operators try to maintain a family atmosphere, offensive language is strongly frowned upon.

Depending on the site and on the type of equipment being used, covering sensors may be frowned upon as a form of cheating, or it may be an accepted practice.

Tampering with equipment is also considered unacceptable.

Site members and regulars are often held to higher standards of conduct than less experienced players, particularly with respect to sportsmanship and fairness.

Special Rules

Many game formats use specialized rules. These rules may be enforced by the equipment, by the software, by the referees, or players may simply be expected to follow them. When playing a speciality format, the rules for that format are clearly explained beforehand.

Some common special rules include:

Base start: In a base start, players go to their respective bases to start rather than starting as they enter. They may also be required to remain at their bases briefly before the offical begin of gameplay.

Trench warfare: In a trench-warfare or simply "trench" game, the ramps and catwalks of a multiple-level maze are off-limits. This reduces the play area and may put snipers at a severe disadvantage.

Laser tag slang

Although a subculture of sorts can form around member's clubs, only a very limited vocabulary of specifically laser tag-oriented slang has been recorded. However, it does exist:

A godpack is a pack whose tagging device is functioning extremely well, or whose sensors (or one particular group of sensors) are functioning particularly poorly. A godpack can also mean a pack that is used by employees to control other packs (to penalize cheaters, for example).

A gundom[1] or laser condom is a rubber cylinder used to protect the gun and other players from accidental impacts.

A lock-in is an all-night laser tag party, usually lasting at least five hours, sometimes up to eight or nine hours, and may be themed. Some tournaments are also run in a lock-in format.

A bunny is a new player with little skill that usually gets slaughtered by the experienced players. Sometimes called a CP or "Clay Pigeon" by players of the Q-zar/Quasar laser tag games, due to the ease at which they can be shot.

A bunny hunter[2] or birthday basher is an experienced player that routinely plays with the sole purpose of slaughtering new players.

The vertical worm[1] or dance or sausage-walk is a system of erratic movements that are intended to make the player more difficult to hit, particularly on systems that either require multiple hits to register a deactivation or limit the fire rate so as to make dodging incoming fire practical.

Shot cancellation [2] is a design flaw present in some systems where two players shooting each other at nearly the same time cancel each other's shots out, preventing either player from scoring.

Retaliation refers to the ability on some systems to fire a shot immediately after being deactivated, when the pack should be down. Usually this is due to a design flaw, but some systems have the option to grant retaliation shots to inexperienced players.

Rainbowing, Blue teaming[3], and Smurfing refer to forming alliances during a game that go against team assignments, disregarding the team assignments to team up with friends or family members, or teaming up during a solo game. The terms Smurfing and Blue teaming originated with early Zone sites, referring to a then nonexistent blue team color at a time when Zone sites had red, yellow, and green as team colors. As modern Zone sites have replaced the green team with blue, the term rainbowing is most common now.

Button or Tag can refer to the metal identification buttons issued to Zone, Actual Reality, VEQTOR Max, and Laser Quest players, or to the use of the penalty buttons on a Zone terminator.

A Shoulder Pack refers to a pack with sensitive shoulder targets, usually in Laser Quest where there can be a lot of variation between the sensitivity of shoulder targets at different centres.

Dueling refers to a close range engagement between players.

Covering or shielding refers to the practice of covering a sensor with a part of the body or clothing to keep from being hit. This practice is considered very unsportsmanlike in some systems, but accepted or encouraged in others.

Forking or Spocking is the act of firing at a target while the hit sensor on the laser is concealed behind a wall or body part. The term Spocking is a reference to Star Trek where a varient of Spocks hand symbol done properly in front of the laser conceals multiple hit sensors while still allowing the outgoing laser beam to hit its target.

Mirror Forking occurs when the laser is fired intentionally at close proximity or angle to a mirror such that the reflected laser fire from the mirror saturates the players sensors blocking shots from other players from registering as a hit.

Overloading refers to an effect caused when one player is fired upon by multiple players simutaneously or when a player intentionally and continually fires at their own hit sensor. When done properly some systems are not able to discern hits on the player due to a systems inability to discriminate overlapping signals.

The original Worlds of Wonder Lazer Tag had its own game book that featured a page of slang terms invented for the game.

Tactics and Strategy

The differences between systems and various game formats lead to a variety of tactics being employed.

A dueler will try to engage players in close combat, relying on timing, reflexes and dodging skill to be able to score more hits than opponents, even when outnumbered. Systems with limited fire rates tend to encourage this type of play.

A sniper tends to engage players at range, and use ramps and catwalks heavily. Snipers often "camp" in one location for a length of time.

A re-killer will closely follow any deactivated person, target their pack, and shoot when the pack is reactivated. This only follows conduct if the shooter does NOT continually follow the target and moves on.

Sweeping refers to moving the laser quickly as it is fired so as to project the pulse onto a wider area, possibly hitting multiple targets.

Dancing or continuous dodging is common with systems that limit fire rates.

Most experenced players employ a variety of tactics, but will often favor one particular style of play.

See also

• Airsoft
• Paintball

References

http://www.darkzone.com.au/webpageboxhill/zonespeak.htm

External links (in alphabetical order)

• International Laser Tag Association - the non-profit trade group of laser tag operators and developers with members worldwide.
• TRUTNEE LaserTag Portal - Russian site (English translated site, too) with detailed information about all types of laser tag.
• Where to Find Outdoor Laser Tag Clubs/Players - A "frappr" (free mapper) map which shows players and clubs throughout the world, and also includes what type of gear they use
• Laser Arena Database (based in UK)
• dmoz directory entry for Laser Games - directory of websites related to laser tag and other associated games