Team Ops update
By Brian aka TagFerret
Lazer Tag is ressurrected this summer as Lazer Tag Team Ops from Tiger/Hasbro. I am one of the co-inventors of the new system, and I wrote all the code for it. When the product hits the shelves (in early July 2004), the LazerTag.com Web site will go active with more info.
My goal with LTTO was to capture a feeling rather like a mixture of online video gaming and paintballing, make it playable anywhere at any time, and make it fun for a very wide range of ages (I'm 41, and I like playing it just as much if not more than my 10-year-old nephews and neices do).
Pretty much all the options available in online FPS's or in any of the arena laser games is represented in the new LTTO system. Some examples:
(1) All scoring is completely automatic, and changes depending on the type of game played (11 basic game types in the first offering)
(2) There is no way for "cheats" to annoy honest players (other than blatantly covering the receiver).
(3) Physical areas like rooms or car-ports can become actively scored to make a zone of contention.
(4) The Host can set a whole variety of options such as: time limits, number of reloads available, number of tags until tagged-out, number of seconds of shields time, whether or not friendly fire counts, and whether or not teammates can give "medic assistance" to each other in the event one player becomes badly tagged or needs to be "pumped-up" for a strike mission.
(5) Players receive proximity warnings, "lock-ons," and Identification-Friend-or-Foe information about the other players.
(6) Players receive audio and visual feedback as to whether or not a fired tag landed on the target player.
(7) The receiver is integrated with the transmitter in one unit -- there is no extra vest or cap to wear.
(9) The LCD display allows the user to select which game information he/she is most interested in viewing at any time, rather like a soft-screen display in a modern fighter jet.
(10) Sound effects can be "muted" for stealth mode, played audibly to all, or played only through a headset worn by the player.
(11) Headset also includes a transflective Heads-Up-Display which projects images of 3 "Alert Icons" in space in front of the user -- one for "Locked-On," one for "Scored Hit," and one for "Hit by Opponent."
Regarding the most anticipated question about LTTO: The first offering will NOT be compatible with WoW/Tiger LT systems of the past. I Hope to add that feature to the next offering (slated for release in Spring 2005), the code for which I am developing as I write this.
Lazer Tag is ressurrected this summer as Lazer Tag Team Ops from Tiger/Hasbro. I am one of the co-inventors of the new system, and I wrote all the code for it. When the product hits the shelves (in early July 2004), the LazerTag.com Web site will go active with more info.
My goal with LTTO was to capture a feeling rather like a mixture of online video gaming and paintballing, make it playable anywhere at any time, and make it fun for a very wide range of ages (I'm 41, and I like playing it just as much if not more than my 10-year-old nephews and neices do).
Pretty much all the options available in online FPS's or in any of the arena laser games is represented in the new LTTO system. Some examples:
(1) All scoring is completely automatic, and changes depending on the type of game played (11 basic game types in the first offering)
(2) There is no way for "cheats" to annoy honest players (other than blatantly covering the receiver).
(3) Physical areas like rooms or car-ports can become actively scored to make a zone of contention.
(4) The Host can set a whole variety of options such as: time limits, number of reloads available, number of tags until tagged-out, number of seconds of shields time, whether or not friendly fire counts, and whether or not teammates can give "medic assistance" to each other in the event one player becomes badly tagged or needs to be "pumped-up" for a strike mission.
(5) Players receive proximity warnings, "lock-ons," and Identification-Friend-or-Foe information about the other players.
(6) Players receive audio and visual feedback as to whether or not a fired tag landed on the target player.
(7) The receiver is integrated with the transmitter in one unit -- there is no extra vest or cap to wear.
(9) The LCD display allows the user to select which game information he/she is most interested in viewing at any time, rather like a soft-screen display in a modern fighter jet.
(10) Sound effects can be "muted" for stealth mode, played audibly to all, or played only through a headset worn by the player.
(11) Headset also includes a transflective Heads-Up-Display which projects images of 3 "Alert Icons" in space in front of the user -- one for "Locked-On," one for "Scored Hit," and one for "Hit by Opponent."
Regarding the most anticipated question about LTTO: The first offering will NOT be compatible with WoW/Tiger LT systems of the past. I Hope to add that feature to the next offering (slated for release in Spring 2005), the code for which I am developing as I write this.
