About Q-ZAR Galaxy Laser Tag
How To Play Q-ZAR Galaxy Laser Tag In Oak Harbor, WA (Standard Play)
Q-Zar is played with a gun (or "phaser") that fires harmless beams of infra red light that are detected by equipment worn by the players. There is also a laser pulse on firing, though it is for visual effects only. The basic mechanism of the game revolves around shooting (called tagging) each other or stationary objects.
The standard game of Q-Zar involves two teams: the red team and the green team. Each team has a Headquarters (aka "HQ" or "base") to defend from the other team. The goal of the game is to score the most points for the team. You can achieve this by either de-activating the opponents HQ or by tagging the opposing teams players. You may deactivate the opponents HQ by tagging it twice leaving a few seconds between. Whichever team has the most points at the end of the game wins.
Upon being tagged, the following happens, the pack vibrates, makes an explosion noise and the player who has been tagged has a window of one second to fire off a "reflex" shot (providing no shot was fired in the previous second) before the penalty sequence kicks in. After the one second has passed, the six second penalty sequence starts. During the penalty sequence, the phaser says "Defense Shield, Active Active" for the first 3 seconds. For this period, the player may not be tagged and may not tag other people. For the final three seconds, the phaser says "Warning, Warning, Warning." For this period, a player may be tagged, but may not tag other people. If a player is tagged during Warning, the entire process starts over (including getting a 1 second reflex tag).
The back of the phaser has a simple LED display. When a pack is not energised, there is a number above a "U" showing. The number is the pack's ID number. The U means that the pack is "Un-energized." When a pack is on during normal play, the top number is the number of lives remaining, the bottom is the number of shots (when a player is out of shots, they lose a life, getting a "Good Shot" resets the shot counter). When a player re-energizes, the display shows how many times the player has energized. When a player is out of lives, the display flashes the amount of time left in the game. If a player holds the trigger down for three seconds, either display will show the time remaining or a "bomb" will be triggered that can deactivate all vests around the player, including those on the same team.
Five (5) Basic Q-ZAR Galaxy Laser Tag Rules
- No Climbing!
- Walk Only!
- No Physical Contact!
- Hold Handset W/Both Hands!
- Have Fun!
Q-ZAR Galaxy Laser Tag Tips and Tricks
Bouncing Shots is common, but still it's a little controversy for a few reasons. One is because it all depends on what arena you play in. Some arena's are brighter than others, meaning they have more flourescent things on walls, barrels, etc. Maybe some players say it's not fair to bounce because of the clothing that they are wearing. If you wear lighter clothing, you are going to be a big target because scientifically: Light is reflected off of bright surfaces while light is absorbed in dark colors such as black, dark blue, etc. That's why white cars attract more light and black cars don't. So hopefully that explains it a little. Maybe some players think bouncing shots is unfair, but sometimes it can come in handy like when someone is on the other side of a wall.
Cancelling shots is something that takes a lot of practice. It took me a day to understand what the heck cancelling even was. But I looked at some nice web sites that really cut it down to the basics of cancelling. I looked at it for awhile and learned how. So what you do is pretty simple, but like I said it takes some practice. While you are going up against someone and they are behind a wall or something, you have to watch that person. Once you think they are going to shoot, you shoot at the EXACT same time and their shot is cancelled. Therefore neither of you shot each other. You must be very precise about this. It takes lots of practice. Even I don't worry about cancelling.
Standard Front Cover (Side-Cradle): For right handers: With the pack on and the gun hanging from the strap over your neck, first concentrate on your left hand. It is not as important how your right hand holds the gun as it is for your left. While you get into the cover do not worry about the position of your right hand until the end. Take your left arm and hold it out. Turn your palm up. Now put the bottom of the barrel (just in front of the front handle) in your palm. Push the barrel to the left until the front handle touches the side of your hand. This is the best place to hold the front. With your left hand holding the barrel and the gun facing to the left with the handles facing the ground; relax your wrist, but keep your forearm pointing straight away from you. Using your right hand, pivot the gun, while holding the barrel, so that it points forward. This wil crank your wrist to the right. At first this will seem uncomfortable, but you will get used to it. You can relax your grip of the your grip of the barrel as needed. Make sure the handles still point to the ground. You will have to put the gun in front of you to do this. Now look at how the side of the gun sits against the side of your left forearm. This contact between the gun and the side of your forearm is very important. Holding the barrel of the gun with your left hand, and the side of the gun pressed firmly against the side of your forearm: point the gun at your right ear-lobe. You will notice that the handles are now pointing to 10 o'clock and somewhat up. Look at the contact of the gun to your left forearm again. If you are going to get tagged through your cover it wil be here. Now with the gun pointing to your ear-lobe bring the whole thing closer to you. There are two surfaces that you must keep tight when covering. The surface where the gun touches your forearm, and the surface where the other side of your left forearm touches the pack. If light shines through those surfaces, you will get tagged.
Q-ZAR Galaxy Laser Tag Vocabulary
cheater- 1. A good player; a player so good he must be cheating (not someone who actually cheats). 2. Exclamation of disgust. Used most often when someone takes all your lives. 3. Ironically for covering. For example, in response to "how'd you lose to him," you might say "He cheated. He kept covering his sensors and stuff."
dead- Describing player when he's out of lives and returning to the energizer. Note that a player on warning or defense shields is not dead. He is down.
dink- 1. The shot confirmation sound. When a player gets tagged, his sensors trasmit a shot confirmation signal which contains the I.D. of the player who tagged him. If the equipment of the player who shot him receives this signal it makes the dink sound. 2 (n.) An inexperienced player; a fish. Often plural: "bunch of dinks."
dong- 1. The sound made when a player gets shot by his own team. This sound lasts for about one second. He cannot be tagged by the other team, his own team, or the marshal laser. If a player is on warning and his own team shoots him, his laser will make the dong sound and his warnings end. To shoot one's own team.
double tag- A double tag is when you get shot, go for your reflex, and get shot again before your defense shields start. Double tags are much easier with the shots per second rate set above one.
down- When a player is tagged and has lives left, he must wait through a six second penalty sequence. During this six seconds the laser says "Defense shield, active, active, warning, warning, warning." It is during this period that player is said to be down. In small games of experienced players, where verbal communication is critical, team mates will often report their status to each other.
download- After the game is over, players return to the energizer one last time. This last trip makes the gun stop saying "game over, return to energizer" as well as transmitting any remaining hits on the gun to the game computer. Downloading puts a check by the players number of the game computer.
first call- 1. The announcement for people who haven't played before to go to the briefing room. 2. (n.) The briefing corresponding to this announcement. 3. (n.) Someone who hasn't played before; a person in a first call briefing. Sometimes pronounced "fish call." Arguably the worst, possibly the most important, and definitely the most repetitive part of a marshal's job.
headquarters- Each team has a headquarters. A player must get directly (barring technical glitches) underneath the headquarters and shoot up. A headquarters is deactivated by shooting it twice. The time between these shots must be equal to the HQ Delay.
marshal- Q-Zar employee that enforces rules, teaches people how to play, and answers phones.
newbie nuker- A player of experience who picks on inexperienced players; a fish-killer.
second call- The second portion of the game briefing; the part of the brief heard by people who have played before. See first call.
warning- 1. Last three seconds of the penalty sequence, see defense shield. 2. Of or describing a player whose laser is on the warning part of the penalty sequence.