The Quasar Guide

Do you want to know everything there is to know about Quasar? Whether you are a player wanting to improve your game, a repair technician, or a centre owner there is something here for you. This guide covers everything from the very first game briefing right the way through to some of the most advanced tactics such as ultimate timing, blind firing and the true purposes and techniques of mirroring. In this 40,000 word guide; centre owner, repair technician, tournament organiser and ex-world 2s champion Matthew Garrett gives you every trick, tip and bit of inside knowledge he has to offer from over 100 different centres that he has visited. The guide contains all of the information you need to both play a good game of Quasar and to repair Quasar packs. Matthew writes, This guide was initially intended to describe a few lesser known playing tactics for our Quasar team and no more. I added some bits and bobs that I already had typed up, like the briefing guide that we had for staff notes. Then over one weekend when I was bored I typed up the bulk of the playing guide, just thinking of different tactics that I use and see other people using. Players that are starting out seem to make the same mistakes over and over again without knowing whats going on, and then never progress because they refuse to try anything new. Help is seldom offered, and most hide some of their tactics. So here is a guide with no hidden extras from me, what I know is here. With the technical repair notes, I typed up a basic guide that I was using to repair our own packs. I have never studied electronics and I began trying to repair packs not knowing what bits of a component were positive and negative, no idea what a diode was and as a result I caused untold damage to several old gun pcbs. I hope to save others time and money, and encourage all centres to maintain their guns so that the packs work. I have received technical notes and schematics. These I have added to the guide. Thanks go to James Yarwood, Michael Turner, Meno Electronics and Adds for the technical information they provided to this guide.

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CONTENTS: How to Play Quasar
Sample Briefing Structure Briefing for Supercharge Different Games 3 5 5 Game Settings Game Types Game Options 5 6 7 Scoring Score Sheets Using the Quasar PC 8 8 9

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Quasar Tactics for New Players

When to Energise Energiser Sounds When to Shoot Aiming Which bit Shoots? Lasers 11 11 11 11 11 12 How to Stand Using Walls Gun Sounds Pack Lights Charging Guns Shooting Bases 12 12 12 13 13 13 Base Sounds Strange Sirens Preventing Base Hits Spotting Bad Packs Quasar Etiquette Marshalling 13 13 14 14 14 14

11

Intermediate Quasar Tactics

Clay Pigeon Shooting Smoke and Music Gun Differences Wrapping the Gun Strap Deckchair Quasar Effective Energising 15 15 15 15 15 16 Plebbing Mirroring 2 for 1 Call your Shots Barrelling Firing 2nd 16 16 16 17 17 17 Shooting in Turns Late Reflex Bongs Cancelling Doubling Triples and Quadruples 17 17 18 18 19 19

15

Training Games & Tournament Rules Advanced Quasar Tactics - Before you Play
Which Team to Play For Which Players are Good? Home and Away Picking Boundaries Learning the Arena Who to Play With Spying 25 25 25 26 26 26 27 Arena Alterations Who Wears What? Colour Advantage Predicting Results Psychology Tubi Grips Fitting the Pack 27 27 28 28 28 29 29 Checking the Lens Blocking the Lens A Game of Two Legs Effects of a Low Battery Low Battery Knowledge Testing the Trigger Wrapping the Strap 29 30 30 30 31 31 31

20, 22 25

Advanced Quasar Tactics - Game Tactics

Watching the Clock Who to Play Energising Double Downloads Test shots & Weak Packs Sensitivity Variances Interference Will it Connect? Shooting through Cover Shooting Spinning Players It Hit Didnt It? Swipe Shots Blind Firing Fake Firing Dummying Shots Reflex Shots Timing Ultimate Timing When not to Dodge and Cover How to Dodge and Cover Occupying Space Predicting Shots Teasing Changing Covers Variety How to Mirror Effective Mirroring When not to Mirror Last in the Chain Sniping Turnover 32 32 32 32 33 33 33 33 34 34 34 34 34 35 35 35 35 35 36 36 37 37 37 37 37 38 38 38 38 38 39 Bases The Siren Call Supercharge Preventing Charge Removing Charge Gaining Supercharge Holding Charge Charge Away from Base Lines and Triangles 1 on 2 2 on 1 2 on 2 Playing 2s Solo Play Other Settings Exploiting Weakness Paying Attention Quasar Confusion Crossing Shots Experience Speaker Covering Sound Confusion Silent Bongs Dont Over bong Accepting Bongs Over Doubling Cupping Bouncing Shots Floor bounces Following Being Followed 39 39 39 39 40 40 40 41 41 41 42 42 43 43 43 43 44 44 44 44 44 45 45 45 45 45 45 46 46 46 46 Double Backing The Lone Player The Communicator Quasar Castling First Impressions Panic Restarting Changing Tactics Minimizing Defeat Last Minute Changes Calls Silent Calls The distance call False Calls Taunts Cheats and Flexes Tournament Marshalling How to use the marshal gun Instant Hit Me Total Varying Rules Team Building Working as a Team Statistics Scoring Errors Inaccuracies Rematches Pack Damage Funny Mistakes Teaching Future Competitions Final comments 47 47 47 47 47 48 48 48 49 49 49 50 50 50 50 51 51 51 51 52 52 52 53 53 53 53 54 55 55 55 56

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Repairs section
Background Information Network Box Controls The Printer The Scoreboards The Gun Charging System The Effects of Parts being Faulty A Basic Repair Guide to Quasar Basic Fault Finding Advanced Gun Sound Test Advanced Gun IR Test Advanced Gun Laser Test Advanced Team Lights Test 57 58 58 58 59 60 61 62 66 67 69 70 Data Stream Gun Components Making Your Laser & Battery How to Upgrade your Pack Making Your Marshal Gun A Quasar Gun Board Q-Zar Front Pack Artwork Quasar Front Pack Artwork Quasar Back Pack Artwork Quasar Moon Artwork Quasar Original Artwork Omnitronics Artwork 71 72 72 73 74 75 75 76 76 77 78 78 Schematics: Gun Display Schematics: Quasar Gun PCB Schematics: Front Pack PCB Schematics: Back Pack PCB Schematics: Game Timer Functions Schematics: Scoreboard LED digits Schematics: Network Box Schematics: Network Outputs Schematics: Network Units Con. Schematics: Network Parts A & B How to Build a Quasar Artwork 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 91 92

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How to play Quasar: Sample Briefing Structure: i) ii) iii) iv) Welcome: Welcome Game instructions Questions Safety 3 Sections: Fire, Health conditions, The Game Rules

Welcome to _______Quasar. My name is _______ and I will be your marshal for this next game. Please listen carefully to the rules. These rules are for your safety and enjoyment of the game. Game Instructions: TEAMS: i) You will shortly be divided up into 2 teams and will go through to the vesting room. WEARING A PACK: ii) The pack goes on with the large box on the front. The gun strap is then worn around the neck*. (* Regulars do not do this) ENERGISING: iii) Once everyone is wearing a pack you will be taken through to the arena, one team at a time, the green team first and the red team, to energise your gun. iv) Your gun will talk to you. When it finishes talking your gun will be ready to fire. But wait in your teams base until the game begins. You will know when this is because we will call game start, and you will hear music. (* Energise start: Some centres start the game as players enter the arena. This saves time). THE GAME SET UP: v) You will be playing a team game. Reds against greens. vi) The game is called Energise 15. vii) Whenever you are shot you have approximately 1 second to return fire. viii) Every time you are shot the lights on your gun and pack will flash, your gun will talk to you. It will say Defense shield active, active During this time you cannot shoot or be shot. Then your gun will say Warning, warning, warning. This is a warning to you. You can be shot but cannot shoot. You may wish to hide during this time. ix) You can be shot on the front of the pack, the back of the pack and down both sides of the gun, (anywhere where lights flash) and also down the barrel of the gun. x) After you lose all of your lives you will not be able to shoot or be shot and your gun will talk and say Return to Energiser you must reload your gun at the energiser to carry on playing. You only need to go to your energiser when the flashing lights go off on your pack and you hear your gun say Return to Energiser. xi) You can also try to shoot your opposing teams base. To do this one player must shoot the hole in the base at least twice and you will hear a loud siren and see a strobe light flashing. You cannot shoot the base again until the strobe stops flashing. xii) (On Classic Scoring Mode) A base will earn you 1,000 points, hitting an opponent 200 points, but you lose 100 every time you are shot and every time you shoot someone on your own team. 1% of your score goes to your own team. GAME OVER: xiii) At the end of the game the music will go off and gun will say Game Over, Return to Energiser. Do as instructed and your gun will say Thank You for Playing Quasar. xiv) Return to the vesting room by the exit door in the red base. SCORECARDS: Look at the back of your gun and you will see a number at the top and a letter U at the bottom. The number at the top is your gun number (U signifying UNLOADED). Remember this number as you will be given a scorecard at the end of the game. ______________________________________________________________________________________ QUESTIONS: If you have any problems in the arena please call out for a marshal and you will be helped. Are there any questions?

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Safety: Does anyone suffer from Asthma? If YES: Do you have your inhaler with you? If NO: If smoke is already in the arena then be careful. No extra smoke will be put into the arena. You can play but must stop playing and exit if you suffer discomfort. Please make sure you know where the exits are. If you have any problems in the arena please see the game marshal. You may calmly exit the arena using any of the fire exits: There are 3 exits: 1 exit in the red base, a fire exit in the centre of the arena into the foyer and a fire exit by the green base. Health: Does anyone suffer from a heart condition, have a pacemaker or epilepsy? If YES: PACEMAKER: you must not play! Quasar packs can potentially interfere with pacemakers. HEART CONDITION: Do not play if the nature of the game is too strenuous for you. EPILEPSY: There is strobe lighting and in the arena there is a smoky, dark atmosphere. We require a disclaiming signature from parents or guardians of under 18 yr olds prior to them playing. The strobes must be turned off. Each strobe has an on off switch. The Game Rules There are safety rules that you must abide at all times: i) Do not run. (Reason: The arena is dark and you may run into someone). ii) Always hold the gun with 2 hands and wear the gun strap around the neck. (Reason: So you do not swing the gun into someone or drop the gun). iii) No obstruction or physical contact. (Reason: Quasar is a non-contact game). iv) No climbing over any of the obstacles. (Reason: you may fall, injure someone else or damage the obstacle). v) Players are advised to always wear a gum shield whilst playing. (Reason: mouth protection) vi) Absolutely no swearing (Reason: Under 18yr olds are often playing) ______________________________________________________________________________________ Belongings may be left in the vesting room, but are left entirely at the players own risk. We do have 1 deposit lockers to store other possessions. Party groups may be able to store things in the party room - ask for details. Before the game: i) Players are assisted in the vesting room but only if necessary. Small children may need their pack to be tightened using a shoe lace. ii) The green team will energise first and will be shown to wait in the base and must not to fire until they hear music or are told game start The Game will be started and you will hear music and a Game Start message. During the game the marshal will: i) Walkabout in the arena supervising the game. ii) Prevent any dangerous play and may remove players from the arena if they break the game rules. iii) Help players who seem lost. Assist with any gun problems, iv) Prevent energisers from becoming blocked with players by telling players how to energise and when to energise. After the game the marshal will: i) Tell players the game has ended and please download your guns and proceed to the exit by the red base. ii) Wait at the exit door by the red base; checking players have downloaded their guns. iii) Remind players to remember their gun numbers iv) Ensure that all players leave the arena and that all packs are present v) Direct players to leave the vesting room via the corridor to the foyer vi) Line up the score sheets on the printer and print their score sheets and hand them out from the counter. NOTE: If a player plays a second game the marshal will ask if they have any further questions, or if there was anything they didnt understand. If a group play throughout a day the game marshal can teach them new things every game and use different game settings for each game.

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Briefing for Supercharge: Have you all played before? Would you like to learn some more tactics and play a different game? If so then all of the basic rules are now taken as having been understood. SETUP: i)

ii) iii) iv)

The game you will be playing is called Supercharge 6. In this game you will have 6 lives per energise, but you can only shoot the base once supercharged. To gain supercharge you must have 5 good shots without being shot. Your gun will then say A-A-Active and will fire 3 times every time you pull the trigger. You will lose supercharge as soon as you are shot. Once you have Supercharge To shoot the base fire once, the base will speak shoot it again from the same gun and a siren will go off. The base then takes 30 seconds to re-arm. You have a reflex shot. You have just over 1 second to return fire. The most important thing is to make sure you always use this and try to shoot someone straight back. Every time you are shot your gun will talk to you. It will say Defense shield active, active During this time you cannot shoot or be shot. Then your gun will say Warning, warning, warning. This is a warning to you. You can be shot but cannot shoot. You may wish to hide or prepare to return fire during this time.

Different games: Solo Energise or Solo Supercharge is a sensible game for 2-4 people. Energise 1 is a sensible game for 2 people. If you have only 2 or 3 people playing who are new to the game then lowering the playing time down to 15 minutes is advisable. Capture the flag is a game players may wish to play for variety. Rules: It is a team game. It can be played with either 1 or 2 flags. 1 Flag: The object is to retrieve the flag from the centre of the arena without being shot, take it to your opponents base and shoot it. For this your team scores 1 point. The flag will be returned to the arena centre by the marshal after each base hit. 2 Flags: The object is to get to your opponents base without being shot, pick up your teams flag, return it to your own base and shoot your base, earning your team 1 point. The flags will be returned to the corresponding bases by the marshal after each base hit. If you are shot whilst carrying the flag you must drop it immediately. It remains in that spot until a life member of your team retrieves it. Absolutely no running, players are tempted to run with the flag. No hiding the flag, and if you shoot a base without the flag then your team loses a point. You must not touch your opposing teams flag. Nor carry the flag once shot. Once you have destroyed your own teams base, the flag will be returned to the other base by a flag bearer. The winning team is the team who scores the most points. In the event of a tie then the winning team is the team with the highest point score. The setup for this game is energise 1, solo play optional, 1 shot per sec, defense shield on, reaction shot optional. With reaction shot on fewer bases will be shot. Game Settings (for normal public games):
Our standard game lasts for 30 minutes and is called Energise 15. It is normally played as a team: Red against green. It is played with reaction shot enabled, meaning that if you get shot you have a short time to return fire. You can fire only one shot every second. Typically HQ bonus is enabled. This means that if you shoot the HQ (or base) you will be rewarded with rapid fire for 30 seconds. We normally set the rapid fire (Bonus Shots) to 3 shots per second. So every time you press the trigger after shooting the base you will fire 3 shots instead of just 1. Typically we enable 5 kill bonus also. If you get 5 good shots without being shot in between then your gun will say Well played and likewise you will get 30 seconds worth of bonus shots. Good shots: When you shoot someone their gun sends out a (good shot) signal back. If your pack receives this signal your gun will say good shot. This will happen more often when you are close to someone, when your shot is straight, and on a good working pack. We may turn on Lethal Generator; when this feature is enabled, if you stand near to the red base when it is deactivated, it will emit red team shots continually for 30 seconds, until it becomes active once more. This will affect anyone who stands directly under, or near to the base for this time. The purpose of this option is to prevent players from constantly attacking and holding their oppositions base.

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Game Types:

Energise: In this game the bases may be shot at any time, and your number of lives will descend. Once you have run out of lives you can reload your gun in the energiser. ----Supercharge: Likewise in this game your number of lives will descend. Once you have run out of lives you can reload your gun in the energiser. However, the bases cannot be shot at any time. In order to shoot the base you must be on supercharge. To gain supercharge you must gain 5 good shots without being shot. Then (instead of saying well played as in energise games) your gun will say A-A-A-Active. Your lives will automatically move to 6, (regardless if you had more or less lives previously). Your yellow team lights will now stay lit and every time you press the trigger you will fire 3 shots instead of just one. Now you may shoot the base, but as soon as you are shot you will lose supercharge, your gun will fire as normal and you will not be able to shoot the base. Both shots needed to deactivate the base must be from a player on supercharge. ----Eliminator: As the name suggests you can be eliminated from this game before the game clock reaches zero. You will have a starting set of lives, lets say 10. Every time you are shot this number will fall by one, and every time you receive a good shot this number goes up by 1. Bases may be shot at any time and you can receive a good shot signal from a base. By the same token lethal generator can cost you a life. It is possible but difficult to shoot the base get the good shot signal and avoid being hit by the lethal generator. If you run out of lives completely your gun will say Thank you for playing Quasar, your gun number will be displayed on your gun display and the U will flash underneath your gun number. You are then meant to leave the arena. In actual fact the U will only flash for 30 seconds, after this time you can reload your gun once more and receive a fresh set of 10 lives. ----Stun: In this game the bases may be shot at any time but your lives will not descend. Instead your display shows you how many times you have been hit, combined with the number of times you have energised. Meaning that you only need to energise at the start of the game, at the end of the game, and if your gun clock runs out during the game. The game time information is stored on every gun and you can show it by holding the trigger down for more than a second. (Provided that smart bombs are not switched on). When you energise your gun the gun clock is updated. If for instance a gun is energised, then 3 minutes later the game is started, the gun will be 3 minutes out of synchronisation with the game clock. ----Battlefield: This is more of a game option than a separate game, although it is listed as a type of game on the Quasar computer. Before a game starts a marshal may take packs into the arena and energise them as battlefield mines. They will be either worn by a marshal or positioned in the arena. They will randomly speak and say Warning, Warning then they will make a longer shooting noise. In the game these mines can shoot you. When they say Warning you can shoot them to stop the mine from firing. When the mine makes the shot noise the entire pack will try to shoot you.

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Game Options:
Game duration: can be changed between 1 minute and 60 minutes. No. of Lives: Can be varied from 1-99. After all of these lives have expired you will need to energise your gun. Smart bombs: We can select between 0-10 smart bombs for use in a game. Once you have used your allotted number of smart bombs you cannot gain any more. To use them you simply hold your gun trigger down for over 1 second, and then not just you gun will fire, but your entire pack. Smart bombs sound more effective than they are; you are not invincible when you are holding your trigger down. Games to Play: We always select this value to 1. This means that once you finish your game the guns will not reload until either: every single score has been collected and the U has stopped flashing on the back of your gun, or until enter has been pressed on the PC and there is no U flashing on the back of your gun. Shots per. Sec.: This value can be changed from 1-6. It is the number of shots your gun can fire in every second. You have to press the trigger for each individual shot. Bonus Shots: Again this value can be changed from 1-6 (x). It is the number of bonus shots per second you will have. You can obtain your bonus shots by hitting the base if HQ bonus is enabled, and for 5 good shots without being shot if 5 Kill Bonus is enabled. Bonus shots last for 30 seconds once you have earned them and during this time when you press the trigger you will fire x number of shots instead of just 1. Printout Type: The score sheets can be set to print extended long sheets, or narrow normal sheets. Scoring Method: Every gun on our pegs has a number which range from 1-20. In Classic Scoring mode (with no spies), which we virtually always use, you gain 200 points for shooting a player on the opposite team, and you gain 1,000 points for deactivating the other teams base. You lose 100 points every time you get shot, and every time you shoot someone on your own team. 1% of this total goes to your teams score, i.e. you gain 2 points for your team when you shoot a player on the other team. In High Scoring Mode players begin with 10,000 points, you gain 100 for a hit not 200. The team scores still begin at 0 as in other games. In both modes it is possible for players to have a negative score, but this is more likely to occur in Classic Scoring mode. Separate Time: This is always set to off and is a feature most used by mobile centres where players may join and leave games at different times. Solo Play Mode: If this is set to Yes as this name suggests you are not on a team, its all against all. You can be shot by and can shoot reds or greens. You can energise at either teams energiser throughout the entire game, and can shoot either teams base. This mode is typically used for small groups of people. If it is set to No then you can activate your gun in either teams energiser, and after the game has finished you can go to either energiser to download your gun, however, during the game, if you walk past the other teams energiser your gun will not reload. Instead it will turn your lights off and make your gun say return to energiser. Also in this mode you only gain points for shooting the opposition. You lose points for shooting your own team and you will not cause your team mates to go onto defense shield (unless Spies are enabled). Defense Shield: This is vary rarely disabled, but when it is your gun will not say Defense Shield Active, Active nor Warning, Warning, Warning during the game. Lethal Generator: when this feature is enabled, if you stand near to the red the base when it is deactivated, it will emit red team shots continually for 30 seconds, until it becomes active once more. This will affect anyone who stands directly under, or near to the base for this time. Spies: Spies can be used in team games only, and as the name suggests you can turn on your own team. Randomly in the game your gun display will flash -- and UU -UU This lets you know that you are a spy. Your gun shot noise also changes and becomes shorter. When you are a spy your hit lights remain off, but you can tag players on your own team and gain extra points to normal (400) for doing this. With spies on you cannot lose points for shooting your team mates at any time. The bong noise will not be made. When the spy feature is on you cannot lose points at any time by shooting players on your own side.

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HQ bonus: When enabled when you shoot the HQ (or base) you will be rewarded with 30 seconds worth of bonus shots. 5 Kill Bonus: If you get 5 good shots without being shot in between then your gun will reward you with 30 seconds worth of bonus shots. Reflex Shot: When this feature is turned on, whenever you are shot you have a short time to return fire. The time from when you get shot until the time you can fire a reflex shot is 0.3 of a second. You have a period of 0.95 of a second to fire the reflex. Combine the reflex period with the delay after being shot and you have a reflex time of 1.25. There are a few exceptions to this rule that will be covered in later sections.

Games can be started from both the game over menu, and from setup options. ________________________________________________________________________ Scoring: The scoreboards in the arena and in the foyer have only 3 digits per side. So if a team scores over 999 points the score board ignores the first digit, so a score of 1,325 would be displayed as 325. Negative scores -1 to -99 are listed correctly on the score board. However, negative scores lower than -99 do not display as negatives, so -206 would be displayed on the scoreboard as 206. However, score sheets do display all of the information correctly. As a point of interest gun numbers 1-20 display on the computer screen. Top gun score is highlighted on the pc. If all scores are zero (i.e. before a game begins) then gun number 20 is highlighted. If there is a tie for a teams top score then whoever has the highest gun number will be highlighted. The gun numbers can be set to range from 0-31. Some of these numbers do not work or operate differently. E.g. Gun number 0 will not hit anyone since guns are told to ignore the signal from number 0. Score Sheets: Below is a sample extended score sheet (data sheet). After each game every player receives a score sheet which will tell you a lot about your game. The details most players look at first are their Point Score, and their Point Score Rank. The most important thing to look at is not how many bases you shot but the team scores. Beyond that you may wish to see if you out shot the other team or not. Score sheets can be very misleading, you cannot see from a score sheet how good or bad your opposition or team mates were and you can read score sheets in any way you want to make yourself look good or bad. As they say, There are lies, damn lies and statistics, Looking at score sheets is a good thing, so long as you dont misinterpret the information.

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Using the PC Menus: The Setup Options Screen looks something like this:

Press F1 for Help Set Up Options Start Game begins the game View Set Up Options see the view set up options table below Setup Game Options see the setup game options table Setup Battlefield Mines next select Red Mine 1, 2, 3 or Green Mine 1, 2, 3. Then disabled, invulnerable or vulnerable. Then Ext. Trigger only, regular time, random time. Lastly Time Modulus 1-99 Assign Gun Names You can give the Red Team and Green team names, and you can name any gun. E.g. Red 3 could be named Bob. This would be printed on the score sheet for Red 3. Assign Gun Aliases Guns higher than number 20 can be given an alias. View High Scores You can view 10 high scores for each different game type, but view high scores only shows 5 digits E.g. Energise 1 Red 2 19176. View Setup Options Screen example like this:

View Setup Options Q-Zar - Serious Fun with a laser Gun Game type Game duration No. of lives Smart Bombs Games to play Shots per. Sec. Bonus Shots Supercharge 15 Mins 8 0 1 1 3 Printout Type Scoring Method Separate Time Solo Play Mode Defense Shield Lethal Generator Spies generated HQ Hit Bonus 5 Kill Bonus Reflex Shot Timer Random Time Random Time Random Time Random Time Random Time Random Time Modulus 98 8 8 12 8 12 Extended Classic No No Yes No No No No Yes

Mine Red Red Red Green Green Green

Identity Mode Mine 1 Mine 2 Mine 3 Mine 1 Mine 2 Mine 3

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The Setup Game Options Screen like this: Game Selection Energise Stun Supercharge Eliminator Battlefield The Game Over Menu like this: Printout game Scores green team first then red Start New Game Change Game Setup Warning! Score data is discarded if you proceed. Press ENTER to continue or any other key to return to the print menu. Align Printer prints a data sheet with the letter X in every box. Note: Pressing Control + Alt + F10 will enter the accounting review menu, which lists information such as the Time of each game, its duration, the date played, the total number of red and the total number of green guns used in each game. You will be then asked: Do you wish to proceed? (Y/N) Please enter your password. Then you can enter a normal, high level or master password. You can alter the Gun Comments (shown on the Data Sheets) by changing the file name.dat Quasar uses Dot Matrix printers to print out data sheets and accounting logs. ______________________________________________________________________________________ PC Operation (during games): QZAR Red Team Score Green Team Score Top Team Score Time: | | | | | | | | | Game Energise Game Time Time Mode Group

The gun scores are displayed 1-20 for each side and at the bottom of the screen the following is displayed: E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 H1 H2 H3 B1 B2 B3 E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 H1 H2 H3 B1 B2 B3 In that display E=Energisers, H= HQs and B= Battlefield Mines The system supports a maximum of 5 Energisers, 3 Bases and 3 Battlefield Mines per team. During the game you can press: F2 Names (You can change the names that will be printed on your extended score sheets. Pressing F2 during a game will list the centre name followed by the Green Team name, the Red Team name, and finally the Green and Red gun names from 1-20). F3 - Scores. This lists the top 10 high scores for that game type. ESC - Quit Game ______________________________________________________________________________________

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The Quasar Guide Quasar Tactics - For new players Basic Tactics:

When to Energise: You do not need to energise your gun every single time you get shot, only when you lose all of your lives. (When you have lost all of your lives your pack lights will go off, the gun lights will stop flashing and on your gun display you will see the remaining time left on your guns clock flashing).

Energiser Sounds: The energiser plays a repetitive sequence of notes before a game begins. When the game starts this noise ceases. The energiser will say: Data confirmed, when it has received your gun information. Return to briefing room for printout, when it has received your gun information at the end of a game.

When to Shoot: You cannot shoot whilst your gun is talking. When your gun says, Defense shield active, active you cannot shoot nor can you be shot. Then your gun will say Warning, warning, warning. When your gun says warning, you cannot shoot but can be shot. Whenever you get shot you get 1.25 seconds in which to fire a reflex shot. Always fire this shot and make sure you shoot someone with it. If you fire a shot and miss, and then get shot less than a second later, you will not be able to fire a reflex.

Aiming: Aim at the flashing lights on packs. In many situations you will need to angle your gun in order to do this. Make clean shots and ensure they connect; if they dont then try to see why, and perhaps aim in a different place.

Which Bit Shoots?: You do not shoot from the rubber bung; this is what your laser is attached to. In the photo below the shot is coming from the left hand lens above the rubber bung. The right hand lens receives shots against you and good shot signals.

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Lasers: The laser light is a guiding beam only not your actual shot. If the laser is pointing off to one side it does not mean that your actual shot beam is; so if a gun does not have a laser beam it does not mean that the pack cannot fire. Lasers are clearer when smoke is in the arena, you see other lasers better than your own because you see the side view of their laser and you generally only see the point of your own.

How to Stand: Stand sideways rather than front on. Less of your pack will be exposed. If you dodge stay coordinated, jump or move straight down, but avoid wiggling randomly.

Using Walls: Try to play around the walls in the arena; you are an easier target if you stand in the open. Stand flat to walls; dont try to press your pack flat into a corner, it will never sit tight. Try to attack and be as much a part of the game as you can. Players who defend and hide constantly never learn many tactics, and will learn much slower than players who try to play better players. When you play around 1/2 height walls, ensure your body is low, your pack hidden and keep your body still. Lock your legs in place so you do not move your body as you fire. Move your gun quickly up to fire, and then bring it straight down again.

Gun Sounds: Listen to the gun sounds: you cannot shoot someone on Defense shield active, active but straight after that you can. If you fire at the right time you will have an advantage over people who randomly fire. In Quasar guns may say: Welcome to Quasar - When your gun is reset. Return to Energiser - When you need more lives. Good Shot - When your gun receives a signal back from the gun you have just shot. Well Played - When your gun receives 5 good shot signals without you being shot. A-A-A-Active - As above in a Supercharge game Warning low on shots - When you have only 3 shots left to fire. (Note: you lose a life when your run out of shots, but you do not lose points). Defense shield Active, Active, Warning, Warning, Warning - When you are shot, but still have lives left. Game Over, Return to Energiser - When the game ends. Thank you for playing Quasar - When you finish a game. Low Battery - When your pack voltage is too low. Time Left - When you hold the trigger (not using smart bombs) (The speech chip is programmed with the word Energised and two other sound effects, but these sounds are never played; some chips are dual programmed and may play other languages or Q-Kidz sounds; access these by holding the trigger as the gun is unplugged.

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Pack Lights: Watch the pack lights: there are Red / Green lights called chasers. There are also yellow lights which are called hit lights. The hit lights flash when someone is shot and throughout defense shield active, active, then when the gun can be shot on warning, warning, warning the yellow hit lights remain lit. After the shield and warning time finishes completely the yellow hit lights go off. So as soon as the yellow lights stop flashing you can shoot them. Watch players gun lights to know when you can shoot someone and when they have been shot. The yellow hit lights also stay lit when a player is supercharged. When a pack is shot you may see the leds go off on the front and back pack for an instant if they fire their reaction shot.

Charging Guns: If a gun has a single red or green dot lit on the gun display this indicates that this pack is being charged. You should not take it unless told the battery has charged sufficiently.

Shooting Bases: To shoot the other teams base you need to fire at least two shots. You shoot the yellow lights once and the base will say Warning, repeat to deactivate. You shoot the base again, with the same gun and then you will have shot the base. You cannot constantly deactivate the base. Once it has been deactivated it takes 30 seconds to become active once more. During this time a strobe light flashes (the strobes can be turned off, particularly for epileptics)

Base Sounds: The base will make a swishing noise when a game is not in progress. The base may say: Data destruct code confirmedrepeat to deactivate (not on version 2.4) Warning, repeat to deactivate and once it has been deactivated it will say: Force field generator deactivated. Force field generator active in 10 seconds Force field generator active in 5 seconds Force field generator active, active, active

Strange Sirens: The base siren noise should be a consistent siren with 1 peak pitch and 1 low pitch; it should be without breaks, and pauses. If this does not fit then the network box is overloaded and the siren does not have sufficient power to operate correctly. This will not cause any problems playing, and is not a serious issue for players.

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Preventing Base Hits: You cannot push players or prevent them from walking into your base. What you can do is shoot them. If you keep shooting them they will not be able to deactivate the base.

Spotting Bad Packs: When a pack is on a peg (in rest state) it should have a gun number and a letter U lit on the back of the gun. The front pack should have 1 single led light and so should the backpack. If any of these lights are not on, this is an indication a pack has a fault. Some packs may have brighter leds than others, this can be solely the leds used being different, or it may be that less power is going through the dimmer leds. Generally I try not to pick packs with dim leds.

Quasar Etiquette: Any player can gain shots over smaller players by pushing into them, it is not part of the game, and it is cheating. Players who are alive have right of way over players who are out, and are on their defense shield. You should let players pass if they wish to do so. You may not obstruct players, the Energisers or the base. Allowed occupancy of space obviously varies depending on the size of the player; players may use their reach, and may stand in narrow walls, however, they must not deliberately obstruct any player whilst doing this. You should always keep at least 1 steps distance between yourself and the person you are playing. Do not intentionally select poor packs in (at the very least) friendly games. If someone complains about your pack in any friendly game, you should change it if they ask you to. You should of course expect the same in return but if you ask anyone else to change their pack you should first be sure that it is their pack that is at fault. Ensure it is not your aim, ability or your gun that is causing the problems. In tournaments do not shoot anyone who has stopped playing due to any injury nor if they are changing their pack.

Marshalling: In public games the marshals job is to make sure that everyone is safe: To prevent anything that is dangerous such as running, physical contact and holding the gun with only one hand, also help people with energising; direct them to the energiser if they need it, and tell them they still have lives left if they want to constantly energise. At the end of the game, the marshal reminds all players of their gun numbers, sees them out of the arena and ensures that no one is left behind. A good marshal covers the entire arena and checks every player in the game. ________________________________________________________________________

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The Quasar Guide Intermediate Quasar Tactics

Clay Pigeon Shooting: When you start learning to play you may enjoy playing new and weak players; you should comfortably beat everyone in these games and walk out with an impressive high score. But as your standard improves you should gradually play less and less of these games until you do not play them at all. An experienced player can ruin an entire game for new players and the experienced player will learn nothing from these games. In fact it can make your game sloppy; in these games you may get lazy and pick up bad habits, because no one will correct you. If you get used to the lack of effort needed to avoid shots and then you will not be ready when you play stronger opposition.

Smoke and Music: More experienced players prefer to play with no smoke so that they can see well in the arena and without music so that they can hear the guns speaking more clearly. They play Supercharge and not Energise.

Gun Differences: All guns are not identical in standard. Meaning its harder to be tagged in some packs than it is in others, some packs may be louder than others, have a brighter laser, so on and so forth. This occurs in normal operation, this is why teams often like to switch colours and packs. Going beyond normal operation pack faults do occur and should be reported and labeled when noticed so they can be repaired.

Wrapping the Gun Strap: The gun strap may be worn around the neck (and some centres insist on this), but it is an advantage to wrap the gun strap around your gun or around your wrist. This will give you a bigger reach when firing your gun. Also make sure that your gun strap is out of the way and does not go over the barrel of your gun, if it does it may block your own shots, meaning you will not be able to shoot a thing! (You can trick new players into thinking their gun cannot be shot, by covering your gun lens as you shoot them).

Deckchair Quasar: Sitting back in practice games, taking it easy, remaining in one area and having a very low turnover will not improve your game. Short term results matter very little. You might do a lot worse attacking and get beaten heavily, you may get shouted at for this, but you will improve more attacking than defending.

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Effective Energising: Everyone knows how to use the energiser but even top players do not energise efficiently. The best way to be sure your gun has energised is by looking at the lights on your gun / pack, as soon as the lights flash your gun has energised. The Data Confirmed speech and the energiser strobe (or other optional lighting effect) will turn on at the same time, which is when the energiser receives your gun data. This, however, happens before your gun has energised and is therefore not an infallible indication that you have energised. To energise as securely and efficiently as possible, you should hold your gun still, in front of the 3 lights in the energiser, about 5cms away and wait. If it does not load, then you should try the other side of the gun. If this fails then you should point the barrel of the gun at the energiser, and move lower so that both your front pack and the barrel of the gun are visible to the energiser. Energise quickly by looking at your pack lights.

Plebbing: A plebber is someone who steals every shot they can, even at the expense of teamwork; they shoot in on someone elses battle and generally value their own individual performance more than their teams. Do not randomly shoot your opposition at a distance. Try to think quickly first. Your teammate may nearly be supercharged, and right next to the guy youre about to shoot. It is a quick decision that you need to make, whether to shoot or not. If in doubt my advice is to shoot. Its better that your opposition gets shot than doesnt. Weaker players sometimes mistake quick play for plebbing. If a teammate misses a shot then it is your job to shoot the opponent quickly since your teammate cannot fire again for another second. Also when your opponent is about to shoot your teammate this is an ideal time for you to shoot the opponent - as he will be concentrating on shooting and will not expect to be shot at this moment. This is teamwork, not plebbing.

Mirroring: Since packs are very reflective you can use them to act as a mirror, the front plastic being the most bouncy surface. You can help your team mates to shoot around corners and to shoot players they would not otherwise get. (see advanced section)

2 for 1: There are various ways being hit by a reaction shot but still shooting 2 people. (Some refer to this as Iceland since that store often runs 2 for 1 deals). If 2 opponents stand too close together they will mirror your shot onto their team mate. Always look out for opportunities to do this. Pick which player to shoot and where to shoot them in order to gain as many bounce shots as you can. When playing you should make sure you do not stand too close to your teammates. (In 1 shot per second games) if you shoot an opponent and they wait 1 second before shooting you with their reaction shot, you will have a reflex shot. You can use this to shoot someone else. Thus being shot once and shooting 2 people.

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Call your Shots: If you are taking a distance shot you may wish to call it and let your teammate know. The downside is it also alerts your opposition to your presence. If you are playing alongside a teammate, work with them and let them know if you are going to shoot and when.

Barrelling: If you get shot in one of the 1/30th of a second periods after sending the shot signal you will not get a shot, let alone a reflex. (Michael Turner : Quasar Forums 2004) Simply put, if someone fires fractionally before you do, then your shot will not fire. This is called barreling in England, since you normally get shot down the barrel of the gun when this happens, in USA they say they got stuffed. and the reason a rifle player barrels more is because all three shot signals are pointed at the other player, while a G player most likely only gets one or two signals out towards the other player.

Firing 2nd: If you fire, miss and then get shot within a second you will not have a reflex shot. For this reason many players choose to wait and let their opponent fire first. Once your opponent has fired you are invulnerable from that player for just less than one second. You can use this time to step into the open in front of them and fire a direct clear shot. You must do this within one second. If you do not then you will not be invulnerable from them and they can shoot you with their reflex shot.

Shooting in Turns: Many players believe they have to wait their turn to fire. I.e. if their opponent shoots and misses it is their turn to fire, if they miss then it is their opponents turn to fire and so on. This is not necessarily the case; you should not wait for their turn if they wait longer than a second. Instead fire again. Players for some reason do not expect this.

Late Reflex: You have over a second in which to fire your reflex shot. Many players dodge for a second, immediately they fire their next cancel shot and then believe they have gained a shot. This is not the case; if they fire their next shot immediately you can hold your reflex shot and shoot them after this. You should not often do this in a 1 on 1 situation (because you have given your opponent a chance to use their reflex), but it can be useful when you are being outnumbered or if you cannot reach your opponent quickly.

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Bongs: When you are shot by someone on your own team, your gun makes a bong noise. This does cost the person who fires this shot 100 points, but it has some advantages: If you are bonged when you are on warning, your gun will make its bong noise and you will be back in the game, i.e. your gun will not continue talking. You cannot be shot by anyone on the other team whilst your gun makes this bong noise. The period of protection is exactly 1/5 of a second. This is useful because you can help a teammate by bonging him when he is being shot; thus canceling out the shot.

Cancelling: On one shot per second the following is true: When you pull the trigger there is a 1/200th of a second delay between registering the trigger pull and the signal being sent. The shot signal is sent for 1/60th of a second during which you cannot be shot. There is then a listening period lasting 2/60th of a second during which you can receive a good shot or be shot. This process happens 3 times when you fire. Receive is then turned off, and the laser turned on for 1/4 of a second during which you cannot be shot. Any received shot signal overlap with a period during which you cannot be shot will result in loss of the signal. Therefore there is a period of almost 1/60th of a second on each side of any period that receive is turned off during which you cannot be shot as well. The over-all cancel period is a 11/30 of a second, although its not a solid period, i.e. there is a brief cancel period, followed by a vulnerable period, repeated three times, then a period of 1/4 of a second during which the cancel is active. (Michael Turner, Quasar Forums 2005) In simple turns if two guns fire at the same time they cancel each other out, and neither player will be shot. This cancellation software feature can be used to your advantage: When moving from wall to wall in the arena you can fire a cancellation shot. In a scenario of one player against another (1v1), you can shoot someone, and then fire your next shot. This next shot can cancel out your opponents reflex shot, provided that your opponent holds their reflex shot for 1 second. When you are playing with a teammate (2v1) your teammate shoots your opponent, then when your opponent goes to shoot you, you fire a cancellation shot. Generally speaking there are 3 set times to fire a cancel: straight away, middle and late. Within this there are more gaps, but to get use to canceling try to cancel at one of these times. More details of canceling follow in the advanced section.

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Doubling: It is possible to be shot, and then to be shot again when you fire your reaction shot, causing you to lose 2 lives on many game setups. You will lose 2 lives on energise and supercharge games. Even if you only have 1 life remaining, you can be doubled and the points for 2 lives will count. In stun even if you are doubled it will count as 1 hit not 2. You can only be doubled if the reaction shot is enabled. When you are doubled sometimes your reaction shot will still fire and can tag a player, at other times you will be barreled on your reaction shot. When you are playing 1v1 you can avoid being doubled and cancelled simply by firing your reaction shot within 1 second. When you are playing 2 or more people the normal tactic is firstly not to stand in the middle of your opponents, but secondly to vary your timing. Faking shots, or holding your gun still also makes it harder for players to double you. If you do not fire your reaction shot you cannot be doubled.

Triples and Quadruples: These do not exist in the way that many people believed them to i.e. you cannot lose 3 or 4 lives in 1 second (in our normal game setup), but in a different sense it is possible to triple and quadruple. When you get shot your gun gives out a good shot signal. More than one gun can receive this signal. Both guns receiving this signal must have fired at exactly the same time. So you can be doubled by one player, and another may also receive a good shot, making these players believe you have lost 3 lives. Shots bounce, so you can shoot one player and hit 2 or more people with your single shot. So you can, for example, shoot 4 people with one shot. When you have kill bonus or supercharge, your gun fires more than once per press of the trigger, so with one shot it is possible to shoot more than one person in a second. (You can shoot one player, have your shot bounce and hit a second player. Double the first player, have your shot once again bounce and double the second player also. I only include this example as it is the only time I have seen someone lay claim to a Quadruple). ________________________________________________________________________ Knowing the previous tactics will give your game a good foundation. Playing week in week out will improve you to some degree, but training games and being told where your mistakes are will make you better too. These are best done on a 1 to 1 basis with an experienced player. Avoid making the same mistakes in your game by changing the way you play and experimenting with new covers and dodges. Try new tactics out. ________________________________________________________________________

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The Quasar Guide Training games we run include: The Timing Game: Best played 1 on 1. The settings are: Energise 1, no defence shield, no reaction shot, no covering, nor hiding. This game is simply about getting the first shot after Defence shield active, active. It may sound easy, merely chance who wins, but it isnt. 15mins is normally enough to improve timing for most people. Moving from Wall to Wall by Cancelling: The settings are: Energise 99, defence shield on. This time the apprentice (A) has to learn how to move from 1 wall to another without being shot by the teacher (T). The walls should be about 1m apart. T tries to shoot A but must stand a distance away, but with his gun pointed at the gap in between the 2 walls. The main point here is economy of motion, using 1 large step if possible. Players with a tight cover may be able to walk straight across, but the ability to cancel well is essential. How to progress in the arena by cancelling: A starts at a long distance (although preferably both players can see each other at the start) and has to move around the arena, (using cancelling, sensible routes, good movement, possibly covering) to a wall next to the T, and then has to shoot him. A must do all of this without being shot or he must start again, and in a set time limit, say 20 seconds. The settings we use are energise 99, defence shield off. How to snipe from 1/2 height obstacles: A starts behind a 1/2 height wall. T stands completely in the open and is not covered; both players are in plain sight of each other. A must shoot T without being shot. This teaches speed, and the importance of not showing body movement. Also it makes sure A fires a straight, direct shot. This game should be played until the apprentice can make every shot without being tagged. How to play around Walls: This is a larger section that has within it several different training games. Stance: We always begin by teaching new players how to stand in rifle position, believing that at this stage players should not be worried about their cover. Its more important to shoot people back than to dodge. We show new players how to stand, with their front to walls, and their backs to walls. Making sure they can shoot from both positions. Players should look coordinated and be clear on which way they will be facing against different walls. Firing First: If players wish to fire first against someone more experienced they can stand still around a wall, with their gun high, pointing downwards. As soon as T moves his gun around the wall A is ready to shoot him. For this quick training game we use energise 99, no defence shield. Also in this game T does not fire. His objective is to move his gun right around the wall in a position where he could have shot A and back again without being shot. A s objective is to shoot T in this time. Firing Second: Here player T stands around a wall still and aimlessly fires his gun. A has 1 second to shoot T. If he does it right T wont get a reaction shot.

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The Quasar Guide Firing around a Wall: You can also stand in various covers and get A to shoot you from around the wall. We place the emphasis on teaching new players how to shoot, and not on how to dodge at this stage. Personally I avoid teaching cupping believing it to be a bad, potentially dangerous habit. Following: Potentially a bad habit is following players, but I believe its useful to teach newer players how they can shoot back even the best players. Staying close and playing people in the open makes it easier to shoot people back. For this training game T does not fire at all. He just covers, dodges, uses the walls and the arena and makes it increasingly more difficult for A to shoot him. If the trainee cant shoot you, the teacher, make it easier for them; slow your dodge down, make small holes in your cover bigger etc. (Staying too close and ignorantly following someone are bad habits, but I think its important for new players to be shown what they will discover themselves anyway in a way in which it can be explained simply to them). Finding the gaps: Similar to the last game T stands in cover and A has to look for the gaps and shoot them. A has only 1 shot each time and must connect when hes found the gap. It may be a gap or a bounce off of a wall etc. A must fire a clean forward moving shot, not sweep his shot nor fire without looking or aiming. Of course you will use your own training games. Most points in the game can be demonstrated by the use of training games. Simply pick a tactic and devise a game to teach it. New players should play experienced players who are trying their best; they get to see what to aspire to, and will get much better at firing their reflex shot. The problem is motivation. To overcome this, the more experienced player can start with fewer lives. For example the experienced player may begin with 5 lives, the new player with 60. When one player loses his lives then the game finishes. You can then vary the number of lives used to make for a realistic game. The experienced player, I believe, should set too hard challenge for them self and should generally lose in order to motivate. You can use the same process to play a weaker team against a stronger team. You are basically playing a different version of eliminator, but one in which you dont have to reload every time you are shot. Set the game to Energise. Every one loads up on their correct settings, but once loaded up no one must energise during the game. You may wish to turn the Energisers off during the game, or make it obvious if someone reloads by setting the energiser to solo eliminator 1 for example. Good awareness in the arena is important. A way to gain better awareness is to be outnumbered by weaker players than you. Once you have shot one opponent you need to move onto the next, and keep track of where they are. Once a novice has played through various training games, has an understanding of the game and has played with and against varying levels of regular players they may wish to enter a team into a) tournament. For that you need to know the detailed rules: ________________________________________________________________________

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Quasar Tournament Rules 5 players make up each team. Each team is allowed only 1 substitute. Hardware and software: In England we use Quasar Software Version 2.4, Gun Mark 4. In USA version 2.57 is used. Version 2.57 has slower speech, and the time for a reaction shot is shorter. 2.57 cannot double download. Some centres remove the vibrators from their packs to increase battery performance and to cut down on pack resets. Some centres bring the shot emitting diodes forward and glued them in place down the barrel of the gun to ensure they fire a straight shot. Game Setup: Super Charge, 1 shot per second, 6 lives, 12 minutes per leg. After the first leg all players immediately change colour, using the same packs from the previous game to play a second leg. Solo play off, reaction shot on, 5 kill bonus off, HQ bonus off, spies off, lethal generator off, no smart bombs, extended score sheets, high score mode off. No smoke, no music. Safety in the arena: No physical contact. Anyone fitted with a pacemaker should not play. Anyone with epilepsy, a heart condition or any kind of health issue that may affect them must inform the centre before they play. Please note where the fire exits are. The Quasar Gun must always be held by both hands. Do not climb over any of the obstacles. No lying or sitting down. No physical contact. You should leave at least a 1 step distance between yourself and any other player at all times. Fast play is permitted, running is not. The gun strap may be wrapped around the gun, wrist or worn around the neck. If any player drops a gun during the competition then they may be told to wear the gun strap around their wrist or if necessary around their neck. If you are unsure if you can control the gun safely then wear the gun strap around your neck. No one will be allowed to play Quasar whilst intoxicated. You play entirely at your own risk, the Quasar centre accepts no liability for any injuries caused playing. Clothing: T-Shirts must be worn to play. No long sleeve tops, baggy tops will be allowed. The sleeve of the T-Shirt must not extend beyond the elbow. A single Tubi Grip (Support grip) may be worn on each arm. This should be a single layer not double wrapped and not padded, and should run from the wrist to the elbow. It must not be worn over the top of the T-shirt. Knee supports and gloves may be worn. Elbow supports may not be worn. We advise players to play in trainers, dark T-shirt, lightweight trousers / shorts. The Quasar centre accepts no liability for damage or loss of any clothing.

Statistics: Some tournaments have statistics taken, others dont. Players names will be recorded before competitions to compile statistics. Before each game begins players must show their gun numbers to the person compiling the statistics for that game. Players names will be recorded to compile. Anyone not wishing to appear on game statistics should not play in the competition.

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Marshalling in competitions: All games will be marshalled by players. There will be an energiser marshal for both teams, these marshals will carry a gun plug and may only use it: i) Once per leg per player. ii) If a gun fails to energise, but the energiser says Data Confirmed. If this happens to a player more than once in a game they will be instructed to change their gun. iii) If a gun freezes, or locks out. If a player has a problem more than once in a game then on the second occasion the player should report to the energise marshal and change their gun. On the second occasion the gun must be downloaded a second time, i.e. double downloaded then be plugged and changed. (Players should therefore take care when energising their guns). (Gun resets should in my opinion be counted and penalised. It should not be an advantage to knock your gun hard or drop it, thus causing a reset. This rule does not currently exist in tournaments, since players like to see the final score on the scoreboard as being the end result). Any gun changes must be reported to a competition organiser after the game. Energise marshals may issue warnings to players and should report any serious rule breaches to a competition organiser. Energise marshals should instruct players with faulty guns to change their gun. Minor sensitivity problems with guns should not result in the gun being changed since it will be used by their opponents in the following leg. Energise marshals are responsible for ensuring safe, fair play in the arena at all times. A game marshal(s) may also be used in addition to roam the arena and ensure safe, fair play. The game marshal may issue warnings, and may remove players from the game. The game marshal will only be a neutral experienced player who knows exactly how to deal with and enforce rule breaches. Substitutes: Every team is allowed to have 1 substitute. The substitute should be announced before the start of the tournament and agreed by the organisers. The substitute is allowed to play in any friendly games over the course of the tournament weekend, and in any mini competitions such as 2s. The substitute if successful will also receive tournament medals and or prizes. Named substitutes cannot play for any other team In the event that a play is injured and there is no named substitute to take his / her place, then a player must be chosen using the following criteria: Substitutes must be of equal of LESSER standard and wherever possible substitutes must be drawn from a different group, and in the finals from teams that have already been eliminated. ii) If a substitute is needed at short notice it is usually best to choose more than one player, as then the organisers will approach all of the captains of the other teams in that group to see if there are any objections (including teams that you have already played). If these objections are upheld then another selection will need to be made. iii) No team is obliged to agree with your selection, although if the objection appears unwarranted then as organisers we reserve the right to agree with the substitution. iv) The organisers decision is final, we reserve the right to block any substitution, e.g. if a team is seeking to gain an unfair advantage. Conduct in the centre: Players are responsible for their own personal possessions. The centre does not accept responsibility for them. Serious misconduct can result in disqualification from games and removal from the centre. If you have any questions about our rules please speak to us before you play. By playing you accept and agree to abide by all of our rules and agree to play entirely at your own risk. i)

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Before the game: Players must play for one team only and must be fit to play and understand and agree to all of the rules. Captains must make all players aware of this. All players should be ready for each game. A schedule of games will be displayed in the centre. If players are not ready, then a team may forfeit a leg or game. If any gun faults are noticed prior to the game beginning they should be reported. Players should only take the packs that are left out for their game, or are directed to take. All players should wear their packs straight, not angled. The shoulder pads should be on the shoulders. The side straps fastened equally. You are permitted to double wrap the straps, this must be done on both sides, not just one, and the straps must not obscure any sensors. The pack must be worn the correct way around. The gun strap may be wrapped around the gun but must not obscure any sensors; you may also wear the gun strap around the wrist or around the neck. Each player should show their gun number to the person compiling the statistics for that game. Failure to do so may result in action being taken. All players must energise their guns prior to game start, if their gun is supercharged (yellow hit lights being on) then they must report this to have their gun plugged. All players must wait in their teams base until the game has begun. During the game: As soon as the arena clock begins and the base and energiser sound dies down the game has begun and players should begin to play. Players must not leave the base before the game has begun. Players must play safely in the arena. Warnings will be given for anything that constitutes dangerous play and players may be removed from a game or disqualified for repeat offences or for serious incidents. Players may energise at any time they wish during the game. Once you have lost all of your lives you must follow a direct constant path back to the energiser and reenergise your gun. As soon as you have lost all of your lives you are out of the game until you have reenergised your gun. Therefore you are not permitted to dead bounce at all. This means you must not angle your pack towards anyone for a bounce shot, and should try not to bounce shots onto anyone nor inconvenience any player in the arena. Players who are not on defence shield have right of way over players on defence shield. You must let live players pass you and not obstruct them. Players may cover their sensors using their arms. Leg raising is currently accepted. Players must not cover both sides of the gun with their arms, (meaning that 2G cover is not allowed). The barrel of the gun may be covered by your hand if you wish and the speaker may be covered using your body or hand during the game. Players are permitted to jump and do so at their own risk. They can jump vertically upright, but must not jump forwards into a player. They may jump backwards but must be sure that they will not come into contact with any player if they do so. After the game: Players should energise at their own teams energiser at the end of the game so that all players are accounted for. The energiser marshal should check every single gun to make sure that it is correctly energised. If for any reason a gun cannot be energised this should be reported, the player must under no circumstances fuse or pin their own gun. After the 1st leg teams must swap packs. The exact same packs must be used for both legs unless there is a pack fault significant enough that the organisers have said warrants being removed from the 2nd leg. Under normal circumstances sensitivity problem packs, or guns that cannot shoot at a distance will be used in both legs, not just one. Results: 1 point will be awarded for winning 1 leg, 1/2 point for a draw in a leg, 0 for a loss. 1 additional point will be awarded for winning over both legs. A draw is any game where the team scores are identical. ________________________________________________________________________

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QUASAR TACTICS - ADVANCED Some of these pointers are more practical than others. Its long but worth the effort. Most players will know over half of these tips but virtually no one will know them all. I hope they're of interest.

BEFORE YOU PLAY: Which Team to Play for: Players virtually always wish to play for the strongest team that they can. Teams also often look for improvement and wish to get rid of the weaker, less reliable players in favour of stronger, more reliable players. Letting a team know you wish to play for them is of course a good start. It is useful to play for a team who you regularly see and can practice with, and on a team with the same skill level as yourself. Ideally you should not be the best or weakest player on your side, (or else you may consider your team too good or too bad for you) all of your team should be at about the same skill level. Playing with friends, players you respect and players with similar aims is important.

Which Players are Good?: This is subjective in that some teams may respect defensive players, some teams may purely look for one-on-one ability in the arena. More experienced players are generally set in their ways, and will understand the game and varied tactics a bit more. Newer players often dodge when they dont have to and may miss cross shots and their likes, but generally have more energy and pace. Retired players who return to the game after a long break tend to quickly get to their old standard again, this does depend on their fitness, desire to win and on whether they used to rely on old teammates.

Home and Away: Home sides always have an advantage over away teams, how much of an advantage depends on the arena and how the home side plays. Also of course it depends on how many practice games your team has had in that particular arena.

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Picking Boundaries: If you are not playing in the entire arena then boundaries are important. You need to know which walls you can stand behind and play up against. If you get the chance then select an area that suits both your team mates and your own style of play. This situation may arise for viewing areas, stairs may be disallowed for safety reasons, or it may simply be that you are playing 2s and do not wish to use the whole arena. If you are playing outside everyone must play in the shade if you are to have a fair game. Sunlight will affect a game greatly; if one player is in the sunlight and the other in the shade, then the player in the sunlight will be at a huge advantage. As with indoor play, set clear boundaries. Otherwise players move further and further away and you are left with two separate 1 on 1s at best.

Learning the Arena: Before you play it is a good idea to plan your tactics by looking around an arena with your team, and it is a good idea to get a copy of the arena layout. Find the area in an arena that suits your style of play the best. You may do well in narrow areas, bouncy spots, you may like open play or walls to play around. Some like 1/2 height obstacles and so the list goes on. When your team picks its positions, try to think not only who plays well with whom, and where people should stand tactically but also which parts of the arena suit your style of play.

Who to Play With: Teamwork can help turn a bad 1 on 1 into a good 2 on 1 or 2 on 2. So when deciding who to play against, also think who you want to play with. Certain players work well together and some very good players cannot work well with each other at all. Play with someone who understands you calls and communication. Someone you can rely on to be in the correct position and someone who understands your game and your tactics. It often helps to have one player who moves fast, takes the shots and is very active and another who sits back more and times the bongs and cancels well. Your teammate may work well at a distance to you, you may link up in 3s rather than in 2s. Try different combinations of players, different positions and different tactics together. Some pairs may work well defending but be poor attacking, see what you are good at, identify your strengths and weaknesses. Experiment by playing alongside everyone on your team and see which combinations work best. Also your teammate may vary depending on which obstacles you both play well around, if you are left or right handed, so you may wish to take these things into account.

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Spying: If you know you have a strong team to face in a competition you may wish to marshal some of their games to see what tactics and positions they generally play. Note as much as you can. Teams tend to stick to their strongest tactics in their important games regardless of whether future opponents are watching their game or not. This may give you the edge, youll be able to see who plays in the position you like best, and you can decide if you want to play there or not. Based on your knowledge you may predict their players positions and decide to snipe them by picking stronger tactics. If you know your game has been viewed and you do not wish to revise your tactics, plan against yourself, and think about your general weaknesses. A contingency plan is useful. By leaving your tactics alone you are giving your opponents a potentially crucial advantage. Other methods of spying are normally pointless, team tactic talks are normally private, and players from other teams normally give little if any useful information. Watching is a much better way to see how a team plays.

Arena Alterations: Many arenas have moveable features such as spotlights, network boxes etc. Although not permitted, it is possible to adjust these lights to glare one team more than the other, or simply to shine a bright light on an area you do not wish to play in. Spotlights can be altered to make bounce shots invisible. Bounce points can be added to an arena by sticking a reflective object in place, they can be removed, if small, by use of a black marker pen. Network boxes, such as your own base, can be pushed off line so your opponents cannot shoot it. Within the rule set you may request for a glare to be removed from a playing area to prevent unfair advantage, or for a network box to be moved to make it easier to energise or to shoot the base. In other arenas you should make sure youre aware, before the first game begins exactly how to shoot the base. (Whether you need to shoot pods first [unlikely but possible]), if there is a base delay, and at what angle the base can be deactivated. Is it possible to shoot the base from further away using a teammates pack as a mirror?

Who Wears What?: Give poorer packs to the person on your team they suit best. Someone with a low turnover, who plays non cover and doesnt move fast, is less likely to make as good use of a hard to hit pack than a fast moving covering player with a high turnover. A left hander may find a pack more useful than a right hander. E.g. if the shot emitter is off line pointing away for lefties then it will point into packs for right-handers. If one side of a gun is not sensitive then this may benefit the left hander more than the right hander, so on and so forth. The more a team accurately describes pack faults to each other and unselfishly distribute them, the better for their side.

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Colour Advantage: Green packs are not harder to hit than reds since the PCBs (printed circuit boards) are identical for both colours. The only electronic differences are the colour of the leds (and laser) and a different value resistor is used for reds than for greens. You need different resistors to get a similar intensity light because the human eye is more sensitive to the colour green. Colour blind players can generally tell which team to shoot because the brightness of the leds appears to be different. The red leds seem brighter. Most arenas are not symmetrical so there is often an arena colour advantage, and one colour of pack may be stronger than the other (not due to manufacturing differences). Look at other teams results over the two legs and you will quickly establish if there is a colour advantage in a competition. (With Quasar Elite systems there is often a genuine colour advantage).

Predicting Results: Before many games are played both teams have a fair idea of which team will win. Adjust your tactics accordingly. If you know your team is not strong at 1 on 1 play you may wish to play deeper and play people at a distance. If you know your team is stronger you may wish for a higher turnover so as to establish a high point difference.

Psychology: This topic has deliberately been kept very brief; I shall only describe a few of the more important psychological moments to be aware of. If we find a player hard to hit in a game we decide if it is the pack or the player causing us the problem, but either way we take longer to fire looking for a big gap to shoot; inevitably this causes us to play worse against this player. The problem is, psychologically we know that we have lost to this player and in forthcoming games we may also hold our shot longer believing an instant shot will fail. Consequentially we may falsely believe we cannot shoot this individual. Psychologically if you have never beaten a player or team they seem unbeatable, beat them once and you can beat them again. Combating this bogy player problem is difficult. Watching other players beat your bogy player helps because it shows you they are not invincible, especially if you can see a player you consider worse than yourself beating them. If you encounter this player in the arena, avoid standard 1 on 1 play if this is how they were beating you previously and try to use team work instead, letting a team mate take the shots instead of you. After a shock defeat, (either in a 1 on 1 for a player, or in a team game) players often feel dejected and unsettled. They will consequently be likely to play much worse for the next game. If you are playing a team that has just lost then seize the psychological advantage, go in the arena with a positive attitude and you may just get a surprise result. If you are the team or player who has just lost then, if possible, try to postpone your important next game, try to play an easy game next; a friendly game perhaps, or an easy 2s game just to regain some confidence.

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Tubi Grips: Support grips (Tubi grips) are over rated by many. Depending on the gap in the players cover tubi grips can make a cover worse not better. They must not run past the elbow, and may not be doubled over. They are allowed to stop the screws from the front pack from scratching players arms. They offer a fractional advantage to a cover, not a substantial one. Likewise T-shirt colour does not make the difference many players assume. Advice is to wear a dark t-shirt and a black tubi but dont expect them to make any real difference to your game. Tubi grips can be purchased from any chemists, they come in various sizes. You need to choose the size that fits you best and cut the length to suit your arm. They are white when new, you may wish to use clothing die to turn them black.

Fitting the Pack: Ensure your pack fits well and that you feel comfortable wearing it. If someone has altered the shoulder straps move them to suit your game, if you are permitted to do so. Some centres dont allow this due to the extra time it takes. It is possible for players to alter the pack to fit badly after they have used it. Many players adjust the side straps but ignore the shoulders. They can be adjusted to suit your style of cover also. Generally speaking, a right handed player should have the right hand straps tight, both the shoulder strap and the side strap, but should have both of the left hand straps loose. The loose left shoulder should keep the back pack angled away (vice versa for left-handed players). Lean back players may wish for the pack to sit differently than players who use G. Experiment with covers in the arena; this practice time will improve your game a lot. Once you have adjusted a packs shoulder straps to suit you, generally it will remain set for you for the entire night as most players cant be bothered to readjust them. Forcing clips, twisting and knotting straps all cause pack damage - Avoid this. Many players G their pack, i.e. angle the body armour to suit their game. When exaggerated this is cheating, however, most players angle their pack to some degree. Players who use lean back may wish for the straps to be looser so opponents end up shooting the inside of the body armour when aiming for the back pack. It is possible to be shot through the body armour if you loosen the pack too much, experiment. For cover or rifle it suits most players to have the body armour not loose, but not so tight to the body that you cannot breathe and feel uncomfortable.

Checking the Lens: If you are given a gun that is supposedly hard to shoot things with then look at the gun lens that has the shot emitter in it. (with the gun pointed towards you, this is the lens on the left). If the lens is misty then clean it, it will help you to shoot. You should see a blue emitter pointing straight, if it is at an angle then make sure you fire clearly and in a forwards direction and dont sweep the shot. Also note which way the emitter is pointing. This will help you to improve aim if its just not straight.

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The Quasar Guide Blocking the Lens: With the gun pointing towards you, the lens on the right, is used for receiving shots. Some players block this whilst playing with their hand, this is allowed. You are not permitted to block this lens with anything else, e.g. paper. If blocked, misty, or if the receiver is not aimed at this lens then you will find it much harder to get good shots, and to get supercharge. You can trick new players by blocking your shot lens. You tell them their pack doesnt work and with your own lens covered try to shoot them. Of course they will not be shot.

A Game of Two Legs: Since tournament games are split into two legs (once you play red, once green, using identical packs) your game tactics are going to vary depending on whether you have won or lost the first leg. Accurate and honest pack assessments may influence your teams tactics. If you believe you have the stronger packs, or arena advantage for the first leg you may choose to attack with a high turnover. If, however, you have won the first leg comfortably, or you believe you have weaker packs, or you believe you opposition are poor at attacking, you may wish to defend. Your opposition may have other ideas, so predict how they will play and dont be complacent if your team won the first leg even by a fair margin.

Effects of a Low Battery: Low battery can affect packs in different ways. It can make them harder to hit and harder to shoot people with. Tell tale signs (other than low battery) are dimming lights, white noise from the speaker and reduced general performance from a normally good pack. Its hard to tell if you want to use a pack that is dropping to low battery or not. A fully charged pack will have 10.8V approx (8 cells at 1.35V, [although the cells are rated at 1.2Veach]). 9V is required for the receive circuit to operate well. Slightly below this it will still operate well, but will then deteriorate, when the voltage across the receivers drops below 7V the pack will be hard to hit (If the battery voltage drops below 7V then the pack will not operate at all since the voltage regulator [7805] cannot operate). Packs are fitted with a low battery circuit (Q10 & Q11) if this is not working then it is possible for the pack not to ever say low battery. This occasionally happens and is identified when a pack has those tell tale signs but never says low battery. Packs with a new battery or well conditioned battery pack hold their charge well. They may for example start a game at 9.1V and finish 30 minutes later at 8.8V. Older batteries will not hold their charge as well, especially if not well conditioned (you can charge a new battery from dead to 9V in 2mins, it just wont hold the charge) so your old battery may start at 9.1V and finish at 8V. The process of failing begins with the lights dimming and the sensitivity dropping. Lastly it will (noticeably) affect your ability to shoot. The shot emitter (transmitter) receives 9V direct and is a relatively simple circuit. This means in simple terms a low battery pack may help you, it may work against you. It may help in one leg and hinder in the next. Some packs on low battery will have been working well, some wont. So packs losing power can make games unfair to an extent because instantly changing packs after one leg does not mean a fair swap. Id advise people to assess how far along the cycle the pack is.

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Low Battery Knowledge: Low battery: Packs below 9V DC when reset will say Low Battery and will display two lines at the top of the display and a flashing U underneath. If a pack on the peg is in rest state when the voltage drops below 8.4V then it will say low battery but the U will not flash. Guns will not (when operating correctly) say low battery during a game. At the end of a game the display will show the gun number at the top and a flashing U underneath. Using this knowledge you will know if a pack could have been in the previous game or if it was just found hanging on the peg.

Testing the Trigger: Triggers should fire when pressed at the top, middle and bottom and should spring back into place quickly afterwards. Test the trigger before you begin. The triggers work by the use of a micro switch (post Mark 3 gun design). Upon being pressed you should hear the micro switch click and the trigger should spring back into place. Test the trigger at the top, middle and bottom making sure you hear the click noise each time. If the spring is weak or missing the trigger will feel loose. (The gun moulds are cut inside to allow for more motion on the trigger. Without this update you will notice triggers do not move as much and may not fire when pressed at the top). Most springs are fitted to the centre of the trigger, some Quasar / Qzars have them fitted to the top or bottom of the triggers. The motion on these triggers will feel different. Make sure you can fire the gun easily and if the micro switch is not clicking then your gun will not fire.

Wrapping the Strap: If your opponents wrap the gun strap around the gun you may wish to check it is not covering any gun sensors. Whether you wrap the gun strap around the gun or around your wrist ensure the strap is tight and cannot possibly bounce any shots onto your own gun. Badly wrapped straps, particularly around the wrist, allow many bounce shots to be made. You do not want the strap to come loose during play, since you will have to stop and readjust it. To wrap the strap around the gun wrap it around a mixture of the gun handle and the barrel length of the gun, when it is reasonably tight push the remainder of the strap over the top of the gun. Experiment. ________________________________________________________________________

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The Quasar Guide GAME TACTICS:

Watching the Clock: When any game starts the game clock beings ticking down, then the network box sounds gradually cut off a second or two later. So watching the clock will give you a quicker start to a game than listening to the sounds.

Who to Play: You should play someone you'll do comparatively well against. For example if a good player is trading shot for shot with a weak player their ability is wasted. Sure they can prove their ability, try extra hard and make sure they win by a couple of shots over 15mins, but had they switched positions, let a weak player trade with this guy shot for shot, then they could have made more difference elsewhere. Generally speaking if youre playing someone you think you can beat, try to get them to play you and follow them, but play them around walls; not completely in the open. If youre near someone you do worse against try to avoid 1 on 1 play with them, but if you have to play them then do so in the open, youll be more likely to trade shots.

Energising: If you can shoot with a pack, and your pack can be shot then it is 99% likely that you can energise. The barrel of the gun is the best place to try since that emitter is on a separate circuit to the emitters on the side of the gun. Most players do not know how to energise a gun correctly! Hold the gun about an inch from the energizer and hold it still. You can energise on the side of the gun. If it fails then dont use that side again for the rest of the game. Try the other side. (The emitters on that side of the gun may work even if the other sides do not). If not then try the barrel and the front pack together. Stand with your front pack and barrel of the gun pointing at the energiser. It is possible but unlikely for the backpack to energise when the front pack and sides of the gun do not. (The fault when a pack can only energise down the barrel is caused by a 3055E transistor that powers the emitting circuit to the rest of the pack. Packs with this fault can shoot and energise, opponents only be able to get good shots from the barrel of your gun).

Double Downloads: The energise signal is 2 way. Your gun receives a signal from the energiser, then sends a signal back, then receives one last signal. When it sends the game info back to the energiser and the energiser recognises it, it says Data Confirmed. It is possible for this info to be lost. It is 95% likely (using 2.4 software) that the score is taken upon the Data Confirmed message, hence when it says Data Confirmed and doesnt energise you plug the gun, (but the 2nd time your change the pack). It is difficult but also possible to energise 2 guns at once with only 1 set of information being taken. This is one reason why players must energise one at a time. It is possible but hard to intentionally double download a gun. Some packs will be easier to do this with depending on their receive circuit. Packs with lower battery power may be more likely to double download also.

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Test shots: If someone is standing near to a wall you may like to fire some test shots; test shots are shots that will connect if a pack is sensitive and wont if its not so sensitive. You should be safe from being shot when you try this. Dont moan if the shots dont connect, just learn what your opponents pack is like. Then when you have to make an awkward shot youll know what will work and what wont. If their pack is really sensitive then bounce shots of walls will work well and you can stand further away at a distance. If you are playing with a sensitive pack then be extra careful of bounce shots.

Weak Packs: If you notice a pack that is hard to hit, you should assess where you can shoot it best. With very insensitive packs, shooting them down the barrel of the gun with good quick timing is most effective. Trick opponents into showing you working sensors more often by faking you shot. Correctly and accurately describe faults to your team, and in particular to whomever on your team is going to wear it next leg. If you are wearing a pack that cannot shoot well, you may wish to play in a more defensive position that will give you a lower turnover, or in a position where you can play closer to your opponents. If you think the pack is low on battery then you are best off requesting it to be removed from play. If it says low battery after the 1st leg, you wont be able to wear it in the 2nd.

Sensitivity Variances: Every single pack is more sensitive when it is not speaking. So when a pack is saying Warning it may not be shot, but in an identical position after warning it may be hit. (If the capacitors on the sound circuit have been upgraded and replaced this is less noticeable). So when you take a shot you think should connect and it doesnt go off on warning, you can wait until after the last warning, so they dont move. Then fire one more shot at the same place, just before they would get their first shot after the defense shield.

Interference: Packs near direct lights, neon lights and other sources of interference will not be hit as easily. This is known to many but ignored in some contexts. For example playing near a CCTV camera may cause packs in an arena to be less sensitive; due to interference you may find packs less sensitive in some parts of the arena compared to others.

Will it Connect?: Always keep assessing if your opponents attempted shots could connect and react accordingly. Take the above variables into consideration, along with how good your cover is, and where you are standing.

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The Quasar Guide Shooting through Cover: Each style of block or cover has both strengths and weaknesses. Look for gaps in your opponents cover throughout their defense shield. Normally if they leave gaps at the start of the defense shield they still exist at the end. The Q sticker on the front armour often is a good place to shoot to bounce shots onto the pack. Players who cover well often stand too close to walls; look out for easy bounce shots. If a player wears his pack too loose try shooting through the inside of the body armour.

Shooting Spinning Players: If a player does spin around, do not swipe your gun, particularly against the direction of their movement. Many players panic and swipe this shot, or they wait 1 second to fire. You must fire a clear shot and make sure they do not have time to cancel your shot.

It Hit Didnt It?: Using fully working packs in normal conditions it is possible to shoot the flashing lights and have them never be shot. Non-electronic things that affect sensitivity include cracked and badly scratched plastics. The front pack has 3 black receivers. They are positioned at the top centre, the left side centre and the right side centre. There are no receivers on the base of the front pack but shots will bounce. It is possible, especially in lean back, to hit a working front pack, but to miss the receivers. Meaning from the player perspective the pack is not operating. Make sure you hit a receiver in this case. Other causes of direct hits not counting are detailed elsewhere in this guide (such as badly lined up shot emitters, a misty lens, low battery power, receiver faults, interference, and silent bongs).

Swipe Shots: The shot emitter is glued in place in some centres. This helps players to fire a straight shot and makes sure that motion does not affect the shot beam. Swipe shots (i.e. quickly moving your gun sideways when firing) work better with glued emitters than without. If you are playing in a centre (virtually any) where the shot emitters are not glued forwards then make sure you fire in a forwards direction, not sideways. Sideways flick shots do not work well in most arenas.

Blind firing: Part of having good awareness is timing when different players around you are going to be off defense shield. So although you may not be playing someone or even know exactly where they are, just fire as soon as their defense shield finishes. This is the earliest moment they can shoot you and is the most likely time for them to fire, especially if they know they have an easy shot on you. This often gives you what players interpret as a lucky cancel, and once theyve fired that one shot youll know where they are.

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Fake firing: Pretending to shoot is another useful deception. Just because you are on defence shield does not mean you cant hold someone at their position. Pretending to fire will fool many players into remaining still and not firing. Pretending to shoot one player and then suddenly shooting another is a tactic I personally advise against. It often causes players to fire too late or shoot without looking, making them miss the shot.

Dummying shots: Dummying your shot will also make it harder for your opponent to block. You need to act quickly though or else your shot will be cancelled or you will get shot. When playing someone around a wall it is no good pretending to shoot their back pack first if their back pack is tight, because they will not move. Your dummy shot must present some sort of threat in order to make your opponent move.

Reflex Shots: Must be taken quickly, fired with your gun at the correct angle, and not swiped. Make sure you shoot the right person. Theres no point in shooting a player who will get shot anyway, you might as well shoot a more hidden player and let your team mates shoot the open obvious target. Awareness is the key; if the player nearest you gets shot, you should be able to fire your reflex into someone else. Always try to hit someone with a reflex, even if it has to be a blind shot.

Timing: If you are playing an opponent who is covering, you may wish to stand with your gun pointing directly at him. Your pack is of course exposed when you do this, but you are relying on the fact that you can shoot your opponent before he can move out of cover and shoot you. In doing this you will also find you will barrel your opponent frequently. After you have shot your opponent, dodge or cover. This technique is harder to use on players who play rifle since they need to move their gun less to shoot. If your opponent is quicker than you then in practice games try to beat him on your speed, in tournament play if he is faster than you then try another tactic.

Ultimate Timing: You can hold the trigger when you energise to fire a shot at the end of active, active provided that you have not fired your previous reaction shot. It is possible to time it better than holding it. So you use your own timing in addition with holding the trigger. You press the trigger earlier than you might think and then hold it. You may wish to energise even when you have lives left in order to use this tactic. If you think someone is going to try to use this tactic against you, then fire fractionally before they can, even though they cannot be shot. They then fire as soon as they can, which is cancelled by your earlier shot. Now you shoot them and they get no reaction shot. This tactic sounds risky, it does take a while to get used to but when learned correctly it works surprisingly well.

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The Quasar Guide When not to Dodge and Cover: Be realistic, if five players are shooting at you, and you have Warning, warning, warning to go and you are surrounded you are extremely likely to be shot. Rather than dodge and covering in these types of situations, try to shoot someone back; preferably more than one person, (shooting the person further back is often an effective way of doing this). Make life difficult for them but dont waste your energy mindlessly trying to dodge in impossible situations. If you opponent has just fired a shot there is no need to dodge his shots for one second (even if you shoot him in the meantime) since he cannot fire. If you and an opponent fire at exactly the same time, cancelling both shots out, then you have to decide if you wish to dodge their next shot first or if you wish to shoot them first. Most players try to do the latter and shoot first. If you wish to do this then there is no need to cover in between the two shots, your timing is more important and dodging and covering detrimentally affects many players timing.

How to Dodge and Cover: This is probably the section many regard as the most important; I dont. Firstly dodges and covers are better shown than described, secondly they are individual; you need to experiment and thirdly shooting people is more important than dodging and covering. If you cant shoot then why does it matter if you can cover or not? That having been said here are some general points: Good dodges often have 3 parts to them. The shot, the first dodge, then a second movement. Worse players shoot and move once. You may for example wish to shoot; move left and then twist down. Experiment, and avoid random wiggling motions. Random motions may have some success, especially with weak packs but they will never be reliable. Dodge in the direction your opposition least expects. Often moving to fast is a bad thing as you will move back into your opponents shot. Moving too close to the ground is often bad because the floor often bounces. Use your size to your advantage. This goes for both dodging and shooting. Big players (generally speaking have a slight advantage at Quasar) with thick arms may be well suited to a G cover, a quicker more agile player may be more suited to rifle; experiment. Right handed players who cover in G, use their left hand to cover one side of the gun, this arm is held vertical. The gun handles point towards your opponent. The right hand grabs the bottom front pack corner next to their left arm. This hand can move the front pack position a lot and in play moves it away from opponents shot. It is important to keep the right forearm level and not angled, to do this relax your right shoulder so your elbow drops low. The reason for this is shots will bounce off of your forearm onto your pack. Plentiful types of cover exist such as Crab, Cobb and Pork Chop. The most common cover is G. The most common non-cover techniques are Rifle (High Block) and Lean Back (Low Block). They are best learnt through practice, experience and hands on tuition and for this reason detailed descriptions of these are not included in this guide. Ask a player, who uses the cover you wish to learn well, to teach you how to dodge or to cover and then work it and alter it to suit your own style. Another good practice technique is to disconnect the back pack (this is easily done by opening up the back pack and disconnecting the 6 way connector, or if soldered then desolder the red [power] wire; now you can see if you are being shot / bounced on your back whilst you are in cover. Players are shot on their backs more often than they realise.

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Occupying Space: All players should be able to move freely, i.e. have a long reach and move well to avoid being shot but bigger players often use their size to unfair advantage; blocking walls and pushing into other players. These tactics are not permitted but are rarely stopped and they do gain points. With decent rule sets and correct marshalling pushing others and obstruction should be picked up on and penalised. If someone is too close to you, you can dodge by spinning on the spot. This will knock the gun out of their hands if they are playing too close to you. Spinning on the spot is allowed since you arent moving forwards. Be careful with this one.

Predicting Shots: In many cases you can predict which way players will lunge to shoot by looking at their body posture, eyes or feet. Many players move their eyes to the direction they will move, players move their right foot when they fire to the right and vice versa. When playing give as little as possible away about where you will fire and trick players by giving false signs. Players stick to their norms, that is some people always fire reaction shots instantly, some often hold their shot late. By knowing a players norm you can predict their movements.

Teasing: Rifle players occasionally hold their guns up very high, at an angle pointing downwards; thus leaving their guns very exposed, open and visible to their opponent. This teases their opponent into trying to shoot their gun, but as the opponent goes to fire the gun is swiftly moved back down out of the way. You can tease with any sensor, just be ready to move it, you may wish to expose another as you fire your cancel shot.

Changing Covers: If a player, is covering in G, and knows he is slow firing from this position, he may wish to move into another cover in order to shoot faster. A player, Bob, may be around a wall on defence shield playing in rifle; his opponent has just seen his cover and its gaps. Bob can now covertly alter his cover and change it for a G. Now his opponent tries to shoot the gap underneath that he just saw (in Bobs rifle position) and does not connect. Try to link one cover or dodge into another.

Variety: Learning to play in a variety of styles does seem to benefit players. If you are not progressing in one style of play it is certainly worth learning another. However, many players learn to play both left and right handed, because of course playing with your back to the wall is stronger than your front, but generally this is ineffective and rarely does anyone do it well enough to be worth the effort. Variety can give you an advantage in play; if youre not winning using one style then try another. Only stay with a set formula if it is working.

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How to Mirror: To mirror you dont just stand behind someone, you have to actually angle your pack towards theirs. The shot bounces off your pack at an angle, as would a snooker ball bounce at an angle off a cushion. It will bounce left & right as well as up & down - so make sure you angle your pack in the right direction. You dont have to touch another players pack to mirror; it works at a fair distance. Players defend if they know they are being mirrored, so you can subtly mirror with your back pack. This gives your opponent the impression that you are not looking at them and arent trying to mirror. Mirroring has three purposes: bouncing shots, distracting your opponent and making them move. Many players move when mirrored so you can decide if you want them to move or stay, and often influence which direction they move in by how you mirror them.

Effective Mirroring: If you have some team mates backing you up from a distance, don't shoot an opponent you'll be able to mirror anyway. Try to shoot a more inaccessible opponent if you can. Then try to mirror the other opponent.

When not to Mirror: Don't mirror your team mates by mistake. Mirror your opponents if you can gain points / position, or if you simply wish to make them move. Don't mirror unnecessarily, theres no need to mirror someone if you want them to hold their position. A bad mirror is worse than no mirror at all; your team mate may waste their shot attempting the mirror shot that you have badly lined up. So if you know a mirror wont work dont let your team mate waste their time.

Last in the Chain: Never be last in the chain. If you're green and you get shot you shoot a red, he shoots the green guy next to him, and he shoots the red guy and so on, until someone eventually ends up with no one to shoot. That person is last in the chain. Always make sure you have someone to shoot or else your team will lose points. If a chain worked in your teams favour try to repeat the sequence. If it failed try to change the sequence so you dont lose out.

Sniping: Essentially snipe whenever you think it will benefit your team. For example if you see an opponent supercharged at a distance you may wish to shoot him. Your team may be defending and your entire team may be sniping, but do not snipe if you are directly behind a teammate because you may accidentally bong them. Snipe quickly if one person is shooting at you; if more than one person is sniping at you then time your shots well and be careful. When sniping someone from a distance and neither you nor he is moving its not just about gaining the next shot. If your opponent is a better player than you or if hes not able to help his team by holding this position then you may wish to sit tight. If he is able to shoot players from his vantage point and is generally doing more for his team than you are then it is probably better to attack him or use the arena to make him move.

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Turnover: Some players believe that if you outshoot your opposition then you have benefited your team. This is only true if you have not lost points bonging your teammates or caused your teammates to bong you and if you have not caused any of your teammates to drop shots. If you are defending with a low turnover this may be the correct move if the rest of your team are doing the same, (in fact attacking alone can cost your team the game). However, if your teammates all have extremely high turnovers, then you may cost your team an entire game by sniping with a low turnover. High turnover causes the feeling that you have more players on your team than they do; you lose this edge if some players are inactive.

Bases: You should ideally shoot bases from the safest point possible. Some arenas have bases that must be shot from directly beneath only; others can be shot at angles. You can shoot some bases by angling your shot off the floor or a teammates pack. You should, when near, as a basic rule just go it. If you want to get a base cancel a lot, find a time to go into the base when it is clear, but dont wait too long or else you will get shot anyway, fire a lot to cancel and in a covered position shoot the base.

The Siren Call: The most audible call in the arena to begin new tactics is the base siren. For example, a current tactic is: if your base is hit then this may be 1 players signal to go to the base, and take the player off of supercharge; ensuring he is off and not just hiding. You may wish for new positions when you shoot their base.

Supercharge: On your 5th good shot your yellow hit lights will light and stay lit, your lives will be reset to 6 and every time you press the trigger you will fire 3 shots instead of one. Your lives reset to 6 after approx. 1 second. This means if you get your 5th good shot but are then hit by your opponents reaction shot you may or may not be on 5 lives, depending on whether they fired their reaction shot quickly or not.

Preventing Charge: Be aware of players who are approaching supercharge and make sure they are shot. When a player has 3 good shots your aim should not necessarily be to gain the next shot; (by playing at a little distance around walls), but instead more importantly to trade. So play them in the open. Players nearly supercharged often try a unique dodge to get their 5th good shot, beware because this fifth shot is often too energetic and unfair.

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The Quasar Guide Removing Charge: The way to shoot someone off charge is to be precise with your timing, try to shoot for example after the 1st (of the 3 shots) but before the 2nd shot. Many players panic when they see someone on charge. Dont! Pay attention and dont let anyone else pick up charge by sniping in. If your opponent has charge and is near the base, you can predict where he will go next. Work as a team, it may be possible not to rush up to him, but to bide your time by moving deeper, and closer to the base. Dont let a supercharged player ruin all of your teamwork and structure. 5 good shots and a base is 25 team points difference in total (excluding bongs), but you can lose much more if your teamwork changes.

Gaining Supercharge: When most players are on 3 good shots they have the thought of supercharge in their minds. This is a bad thing if you sacrifice team play completely in order to gain your last two shots. Your teammates may help you if they realise you are close to supercharge, likewise you may wish to do the same for them. Make sure you get Good shots, in other words clean connects on working packs. If you know youre nearly supercharged you may tell your team mate to take the next shot, but you instead get in early and take it, preferably from further away - your opponent often has no choice but to shoot your team mate leaving you supercharged. Remember only complicate if your team will gain from it. You may know what you want to happen, but your team mates may have other ideas. Supercharge makes as much psychological impact on players as it does scoring impact.

Holding Charge: When charged you, of course, get 3 shots every time you press the trigger. Its advised to try to connect with the 3rd of the 3 shots if possible. Then the key is to vary your next shot. You can press it straight away to get an instant cancel, or hold it to make it harder for them to shoot through. An individual supercharge shot is not as likely to connect as a normal shot. (The reason for this is that the normal shot fired from the gun has 3 firing pulses, supercharge shots each have 2 firing pulses). So do not swipe your gun when firing, hold the gun more still than you normally would and take clean shots. When youre supercharged do not try to play a timing game with someone whos just energised. They will generally take you straight off of charge. Its easier to fire a cancellation shot (3 shots in effect) just as they are finishing their defense shield and then shoot them with your next shot(s). If you have charge and are not playing someone, you can often get a sneaky base either because no one realised you had supercharge, or because players thought you had lost supercharge. In these cases you do not fire your gun and you hide. You can use this tactic often to get multiple bases, particularly when most players are not playing in your oppositions base. False calling, Im off charge when you didnt have charge in the first place can often earn a team mate a sneaky extra base.

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The Quasar Guide Charge Away from Base: If youre supercharged and are not close to the base one tactic to get your base is this: You and a teammate energise, let him go first and head straight for the base. The other team will often suspect one of you is supercharged and although your teammate does not have charge, because he went first he is the obvious target; you then go straight into the base and shoot it. Your teammate meanwhile moves outside the base and takes well timed snipe shots in. This tactic is more effective if you are one shot away from charge: Your opponents once again suspect a player is supercharged and as soon as they realise its not you, their attention goes to your teammate. You then gain your last shot for supercharge and shoot the base. When youre one shot away from charge energising and heading straight to base alone is also a sensible option. This tactic does depend on the arena youre playing in. Some arenas have the energisers and bases further away than others.

Lines and Triangles: When you are playing 2 people try to put them into a line x x This way you only have 1 person who can shoot you easily. When you are outnumbering someone 2 to 1, try to form a triangle - x This way you have the other player more surrounded.

1 on 2: If you are playing against two players of equal standard to you, it can be a question of minimizing defeat, and trading rather than gaining shots. Try to encourage your opponents to bong each other, by playing against the player on defense shield. Count their good shots and do not let a player get supercharge. Vary your reflex shot; your timing is very important. And try to place your opponents in the line formation. If you have both of your opponents on defense shield then seize the opportunity. Shoot one and then other, avoiding mirrors. If they see you dodge a couple of shots they may start to panic and play worse. Be realistic if you are getting beaten then do not stay in this position without support. If you are trading shot for shot this will be a good thing (because elsewhere in the arena your team should have a spare player) provided that the rest of your team is maintaining a high turnover.

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The Quasar Guide 2 on 1: When you are outnumbering someone 2 players to 1 you and your teammate may be situated in a line against an opponent like so: --x You may be in a line but surrounding your opponent: -xOr you may be in a triangle formation: -x You may be playing around walls or in the open. Generally the player further away can take the shot, and then the player nearer cancels. Finally the player further away bongs his team mate. Depending on the situation you may wish to reverse this, so the player who is closer takes the shot, then his teammate who is further away bongs him, then the closer player again fires again to cancel. Some players always stick to a set formula; personally I prefer to vary it, depending on the players and the situation. You may wish to shoot the opponent off of your teammates pack; a bounce shot that will bong your team mate and shoot the opponent. Then your team mate can fire a cancel. When playing a supercharge game there may be no need to bong for example if you are very confident your teammate will dodge the shot anyway, and you may wish to change the order if a player is approaching supercharge. Regardless of the situation the timing and routines listed above are important. In the line scenario ensure you do not mirror your teammate by accident, especially if he dodges towards you. Also in this line scenario, your teammate behind you may not be able to take the shot, so the nearer player may have to fire. In the triangle formation you are both playing more equal roles in that your opponents target is less predictable. Pay attention, dont get confused and keep a tight sequence. If you have surrounded your opponent then keep your teamwork tight, it is likely your opponent will try to move away from one of you. A useful call in 2 on 1 play is take now, meaning not just that your teammate must fire but also that he needs to do so quickly. Although this 2 on 1 description is relatively short, it is crucial tactic to the game.

2 on 2: 2 players, playing against 2 players commonly happens during a game, unique details are listed here; but other sections contain relevant 2 on 2 information. Try to convert 2 on 2 into 2 on 1 whenever possible. You do this primarily by shooting your opponent and avoiding his shot. Then you can bong your teammate (only if absolutely necessary) so he is alive also. Alternatively rather than bong your teammate, if there is time, you can wait for your teammates defense shield to almost timeout and then fire your shot at the opponent. As your opponent fires his reflex your teammates defense shield has finished and he can fire a cancellation shot. Your 2 on 2 may change to a 2 on 1 naturally, for example when one opponent has to energise or if a player moves position. When you are in a line behind your teammate (e.g. - - x) you can still support your teammate. The first thing you need to do is be able to see or know what is going on without being shot (but dont get shot because you are trying to see well). Use teamwork which may be either audible calls or set procedures. If your teammate misses a shot then shoot your opponent instantly if possible.

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Playing 2s: This is a different game set up to the normal supercharge game and 2s are an entirely separate competition that is played during many tournament weekends. When playing a game of 2s (typically set to 31 lives each) the last team left alive wins. As with the normal Quasar competition, players don each others packs and play a second leg directly after the first. As with the normal game, do not be complacent if you win the first leg comfortably, you may lose the second. Also if you lose the first dont lose heart, there is hope. 2s are often played in an open space or in a limited section of an arena, if you are able to choose the area where you play then pick an area that suits your styles of play. In 2s you should bong a lot since point scores do not count. You should take your teammate off of warning whenever time allows. Players are not permitted to stand between teammates to prevent them from bonging; since this is obstruction.

Solo Play: I do not wish to digress completely away from the normal team supercharge settings so this description is not extensive. On the solo play setting a multitude of separate tactics exist these include: setting up your strongest opponent which may include occasionally using teamwork and truces. You may wish to move to the middle of a chain to give a weaker player more points and take them from a stronger opponent. Sniping can become more important as is maintaining a high turnover.

Other Settings: Each game has its own tactics and although I have decided not to go into skills for other game settings you should be aware that Energise 4 has very different tactics to Supercharge, the bases becoming more important. Energise 1, Capture the Flag, Eliminator, Lights out games etc. all require varied skills and tactics. Do not assume that just because you are good at one setting you can play them all well. Experiment and devise your own tactics. If you are playing with new players who simply do not wish to play Quasar seriously then you may wish to play other settings just to have a fun game, something that they can enjoy and stand more of a chance at.

Exploiting Weakness: Players become accustomed to set patterns and know when players will shoot them; but if an opponent is not paying attention; perhaps not around a wall in time, not covering when they are vulnerable or simply not watching, you may wish to break your pattern, capitalising upon their weakness and shoot them early. They may shoot your team mate on his defence shield or simply be unable to find anyone to shoot.

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Paying Attention: Experienced players often seem lucky. They seem to fire at the right time, or luckily shoot you when they (apparently) didnt even see you. The thing is, they were paying attention; they just created the illusion that they were not, probably just by ignoring you and not looking at you. This can be effective because newer players think they see a weakness and are very predictable in that they try to shoot you as soon as they can, because this is easy to predict it is also easy to time cancel shots and easy to shoot them because they are not expecting you to do so quickly.

Quasar Confusion: Some Quasar signals appear to be closely related. For example using a marshal gun the "Deactivated" signal can be confused and energise guns. This shows that at times signals can be either received or transmitted badly and still be accepted.

Crossing Shots: Rather than shoot the opponent next to you, you may prefer to cross shots. Do this if it will confuse the other team more than your own, and will gain you points.

Experience: With experience comes arena awareness. You should expect more experienced players to have a few extra tricks up their sleeves; they should react better to changing tactics and should not be easily fooled. When playing someone more experienced than you, do not expect to fool them. In practice games watch them and learn from their game and in tournaments play a basic game against them and avoid supposedly new moves and tactics.

Speaker Covering: This is often misused, but when used correctly is effective. Firstly you can cover your speaker whilst you are in cover, or whilst you are in low block and be ready to fire quickly also. Players are often not comfortable covering their speaker and sometimes manage not only to leave their entire pack open but still cant fire fast, all because they are covering their speaker. The benefits of speaker covering are: i) Gaining a single snipe shot; useful if you are nearly supercharged. ii) Shooting and remaining unnoticed; for players who like to trick their opponents. Players seem to cover their speakers most when they are energising or sniping for charge.

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The Quasar Guide Sound Confusion: Sounds can be confusing. As most now know the good shot signal is universal and can be picked up from your teammate. So make sure you've shot the guy on the other team, not just got your teammates good shot signal.

Silent Bongs: Bongs dont always make a noise but still work as cancels. Avoid firing during cancels even if you dont hear the noise. These silent bongs do still cost 100 points each, 3 Bongs are in many ways equivalent to being shot. The easiest way to demonstrate silent bongs is for two teammates (A and B) to energise. A shoots B. Next B instantly fires. You will not hear the bong noise, but print your score sheets and the bong will show. Players are often confused by silent bongs, believing packs to be faulty. Look out for silent bongs, and account for them when timing your shot.

Dont Over Bong: Bongs can prevent your teammates from being shot and can also help to increase your teams turnover but don't bong unnecessarily in a supercharge game. Due to bongs costing points you need to decide if it is necessary or not. If you wont gain by being bonged then do not encourage a teammate to bring you live. Entire tournament games have been lost purely due to one team over bonging. If your teammate is alive and you bong him, he will not be able to fire for an instant. If you get shot and then bonged as you fire your reaction shot, you will hear the bong noise, you will also hear your reaction shot noise and the laser will fire; but your reaction shot will never ever hit a thing.

Accepting Bongs: After shooting someone try to cover your pack from your opponents view, but if possible open and stationary from your teammates view, so that he can bong you if required. Your dodge can move one side of your pack more than the other. It is easiest to receive bongs on your back pack. Moving the front pack vigorously does not mean the back pack has to move much.

Over Doubling: Doubles maybe more rewarding than cancels, but overall you will lose more lives trying to double someone than trying to cancel. Players often expose their packs to double, whereas when they cancel they keep more hidden.

Cupping: You are permitted to bounce your shot beam off of your own hand to bounce a shot at a strange angle, making the shot harder to avoid. Cup shots may help when you cant quite reach for a shot or get to someone in time but generally it is easier and more reliable to make a direct shot on to their pack. To stay within the rules players must keep both hands on the gun and avoid physical contact when cupping.

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The Quasar Guide Bouncing shots: at a distance off walls, the floor, your neck, or anywhere on your opponents body / pack that will gain you a shot may be effective. Every wall will bounce to some degree, so if you stand close enough to a wall and arent tight in you can get shot of it. When you shine light on to a wall, you can generally tell if it will bounce or not. If you want to find bounce spots take a torch into any areas you cant see, and then even the darkest bounces become obvious. You can add your own bounce points with anything shiny, or remove small bounces simply with a black permanent marker. You can try to lead your opponent into bouncy positions, and you can move to make bounces easier. Some players at a distance bounce shots off of their own neck making their shot less obvious. When playing be ready to cover not just against the direct shot but also against the bounce shot. Try to predict where they will fire.

Floor bounces: are possible on any arena floor that is reflective. Players are more susceptible to these shots if they are holding their gun or pack low to the floor, for example shorter players, or players who use lean back. With floor bounces, you often need to shoot past the player, angling your shot at approx 45% to hit their pack. Experiment with this in practice games, they are surprisingly effective when people know what to do.

Following: Following someone back to the energiser often tempts them into playing you. This is useful if you're playing a roaming role and wish to disrupt the other team's tactics. You should always encourage the weakest player on your oppositions team to be busy and to have a high turnover, so following them to the energiser is sometimes a good idea. Try to get people to follow you around obstacles. Weak players get worried and panic when they dont know where youve gone; be confident and take control, dont be led. Trick your opponents into going around in circles and predict and be ready for their movement.

Being Followed: It can be annoying if someone is trying to persistently follow you. The easiest thing to do is to ignore the player pursuing you, go to your position and play your tactics not theirs. Or you can simply lead your opponent into your teammates path. When youre being followed around a circular obstacle dont forever run around in circles, its predictable. Youre better off either disappearing from sight (as if you had gone around the obstacle), but staying still and waiting. Then if they follow you youll be ready, and if they go the other way around they have further to travel. Or alternatively you can move to a different obstacle. Often your opponent will continue around the original circular obstacle making them an easy target. Use all of your senses to outsmart your opponent, notice sounds, shadows and bounces; predict where he will go and if you sense you will be shot fire. Your shot may cancel or hit your opponent. Youll be surprised how often this gut instinct will save you.

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Double-backing: If youre being followed try to get your opponent to spend a long time moving around walls and wasting their time. E.g. when playing an L shaped obstacle: stay by the corner of the L dont run down the length of the sides if you can help it. This way you can shoot both sides easily and they have to run much further to follow you. Using your extra time you can pick shots up against others in the arena. Predict which obstacles will be strong to move to by looking at all the players you can see, take into account how both teams are positioned, not just the player who is following you.

The Lone Player: Occasionally an entire team is defending and just one player on your team attacks time and time again. This can turn around the result of the entire game. It can win the game if they are gaining shots, but cost it if they are not. It can of course happen in reverse, with an entire team attacking and one lone player left behind in defense. If intentional, the lone player must be confident of beating whoever he is likely to encounter.

The Communicator: If you find half of your team playing one tactic and half playing another you may have a communicator; a communicator being one player who rounds up all of his team telling the lone players to move to a set position. The communicator moves fast, but tries not to drop shots in the process and he persists with this until all of his team is back playing in their correct positions,

Quasar Castling: If you are not happy with your position and think you may lose your next shot you may wish to deliberately pick up your opponents energiser signal by showing your gun / pack to their energiser. This is not instant; the energiser typically takes a second or two to make your gun say return to energiser, so dont try this if someone will shoot you within a second. You may do the same at your own energiser, reload your gun and use your defense shield for protection to move positions.

First Impressions: Players often know who is going to win a 1 on 1 battle within the first 5 lives and players morale often drops when they start to lose. So make an instant impression on your opponent and if you arent winning dont just accept a poor result; change your tactics quickly.

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The Quasar Guide Panic: The single worst thing you can do in Quasar is panic. If you see opponents panic you probably already turn up the pressure, go for a higher turnover, start to pick up more shots and generally destroy them. The same is true in reverse. If you panic every detail of your entire game goes to pot. Timing will go out the window; panicked players shoot at the earliest possible moment, they swipe shots in frustration and expect them to connect. A single panicked player can wreck their entire sides teamwork, forcing many players to move positions, change major team structure. When an entire team is in panic mode the whole thing is so much worse. No one plays in any position at all, everyone just randomly roams. Many players play inside a base area trying desperately to shoot supercharged players. No helpful communication exists. Avoid panicking at all costs and if your team starts to panic install confidence, maintain your position and encourage them to do the same.

Restarting: If your game is not going well for example: your 1 on 1 is going badly or youre being sniped or you simply do not have a clear position or role to fill in the arena; then moving position completely and working from the corner out works well. That way you know no one is behind you. If you are working alone you may prefer to find a teammate to help you. Be careful restarting in serious team games, since you should have a clearly defined role or position already and moving completely may affect the rest of your team. If your team is losing and you think you can improve things then you should change something, maybe swap positions with another player, or adjust your position or role in the game slightly, but be careful not to disrupt your teamwork.

Changing Tactics: It is dangerous to suddenly change your team tactics mid game if it is not pre-planned. Tweaking your tactics goes on all the time since players do not stand still all game long and you may find yourself slightly out of position from time to time. When shooting a base many players will move out of position, this is not necessarily bad, but some teams have more detailed base tactics of what to do when a player on your team wants to shoot a base (base tactics are detailed elsewhere see: supercharge and bases, holding charge, supercharge away from the base) If both teams decide to defend and are sitting back then you have to decide if you think you can win the game or if you need to win the game to progress in the tournament. If you do need to win the game and decide to attack then dont rush into it and attack blindly. Your team can discuss where each of your opposition is standing; you can create tactics as a team at this point. You should play the person you think you will do comparatively best against, then you may wish to energise as you move forward. You may also wish to choose the order that your players move forward in.

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The Quasar Guide Minimizing Defeat: If your team is losing badly do not panic nor give up. Resist the temptation to moan and blame the rest of your team and try to do the best you all can. Teams that win every game are more prone to falling apart when they eventually meet superior sides. Teams that are used to losing are less likely to crumble when things start going wrong because learning how to cope with failing tactics is part of the game. Team work is crucial at times like this, adjust your tactics slightly if you wish, but do not abandon all tactics. Search for small changes that may make a difference. Keep trying and if relevant think of the second leg.

Last Minute Changes: Youre green 1 player is roaming, 2 in green Ls and 2 by green energiser. 2 minutes before a game ends and the scores are close or youre losing: 1 player continues roaming to give the impression of holding positions. 2 Continue as normal in green Ls. The other 2 players speak to each other, energise and also both move to the green L. They have 2 minutes to gain points vastly outnumbering the opposition in the green L. By the time the other team have realised whats going on and change positions the game ends.

Calls: Calls should be clear, some players say Im down to mean they need to energise and most use it to mean theyve just been shot. Commonly Down means youre on warning, Out / Down & Out means you need to energise. Take commonly means someone else shoots. Take now, is one of the most important calls and it underused, it means you need the shot to be taken quickly before defense shields end (often players slip and dont react quickly enough to calls that need an immediate response) and Shot means I will shoot. The Irish system of calling E.g. 6, 6 has advantages over other calls. It contains more information, in a clear order and is concise. 6, 6 means you and someone else are both at the start of defense shield (6 seconds till youre alive, 6 seconds till theyre alive). It is more important to list your opponents state before your own, since your team need to know if your opponent is alive as soon as possible. Your team should be clear on how they call to each other. Also clear on when to fire and when not to fire in each and every situation. Useless information should be avoided; loud irrelevant calls are irritating and will cause your own teammates to ignore you. Initially you learn to call everything, with improved team work less calls are required, and when you are setting up players calls should often be avoided.

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The Quasar Guide Silent Calls: The 1st stage of team work is to call everything, so that your team mates can understand when to shoot and when not to. Being loud and constantly talking just lets your opponents know where you are, your own team will stop listening to you. As teams improve their understanding players need to call less. You should know where players on your team are. Set opponents up; if your opponent decides to follow you lead him into the shot path of your team mate. You should have agreed before the game, who should take the shot, you will know what is happening without calling. If you can do this silently he may follow you again. Call and hell be alerted to your tactic. A nod is an easy way of letting your teammate know where an opponent is.

The Distance Call: When working with a partner the player who is nearer the opponent decides who is going to take the shot. This is never audibly called; their actions show their teammate what to do. For clarity the player nearer the opponent we will call A and their team mate who is further away, player B. If player A goes around a corner out (out of player Bs sight) then player B should shoot the opponent. He does this so A can fire a cancel shot. If player A took the shot his teammate would not know and would be of little use.

False Calls: If someone calls Im nearly on charge just pay attention and figure out which player really is nearly on charge and shoot them. Its a bad thing to say unless you are playing someone so inexperienced that they will actually listen to you. Saying you've been shot when you haven't at times confuses even the best players. It can of course confuse your own team. Saying youre down when you've just energised is confusing because the speech tends to suggest you are also. Also "I'm off charge" when you never had charge in the first place can keep a team mate active for longer.

Taunts: Like it or lump it, taunts to some degree remain part of the game. It may be a rude insult or a more subtle statement to your team, such as hold tight were winning. Whatever the taunt, it is intended to get a response. The comment sit back were far enough ahead may sound polite enough to be permitted but it is still nonetheless intended to taunt the other team into attacking. Different players react to taunts in different ways. One player would mindlessly follow someone all game because someone laughed at him. Have you seen the scores? Would cause another to drop their head and play worse, some players just look shocked when they get shot back as if to say, Youre not good enough to shoot me. My advice is to be more intelligent than they are. If theyre pushing or taunting you in the first place its because theyre not happy so youre already at an advantage. Beating these people is reward enough. Until Quasar rules only permit a set list of words to be used in the arena, verbal taunting will continue. Learn to react well to it. Using it does work, no doubt about it, it throws some people right off their game, but it is not sports manly and often results in arguments.

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Cheats and Flexes: Various methods of cheating have been tried out over the years. There are too many to list but here are a few: Plugging and fusing: they are not one and the same thing. Plugging as the name suggests means you use a plug and insert it into the charge socket on a gun. Fusing means you turn the fuse holder on the gun. The ultimate result is the same, they both reset all of the hits detected on your gun since your last energise. Premeditated methods include using remote controls to shoot / energise packs and wearing heavily padded tubi grips to play. Crazy methods have been tried such as using elastic bands to make T-shirt sleeves stretch further! Less subtle methods of cheating include deliberate obstruction, dead bouncing and pinning someone once youve shot them. Fortunately nowadays most players prefer to play a fairer game. Flexing is a name given to lesser forms of cheating such as G-ing packs.

Tournament Marshalling: There are normally 2 types of marshal: An energiser marshal and a float marshal. The energise marshal is there to report any reset guns, and to make sure all payers energise correctly; the float marshal to prevent and report any dangerous play. Marshals should not wear reflective clothing or attempt to bounce shots. Poor marshalling can result in cheating going unnoticed. For example, I know a gun will not energise on one side but all game it loads up fine on the other. At the end of the game I deliberately try the side that does not work, it will make the twinkle noise over and over (presuming the emitting circuit is down). Eventually a bad marshal will plug this gun and believe it cannot energise; the same cheat would be less detectable during the game when less people are watching).

How to Use The Marshal Gun: You can tell how the game is set by the back display of the marshal gun. The bottom number is the number of minutes the game is set for. You must hold the trigger whilst pressing the switches to move the time up and down. The top number (which is game settings) moves from 0 10. Both 0 and 10 are a deactivate signal. 3 is team stun, 4 solo stun. Another switch on the marshal gun switches team colour.

Instant Hit Me Total: Providing your gun has not been reset when you download at the end of the game you can see from your gun display how many times you energised during the game. Taking into account whether you energised only when you were out of lives throughout the game and if you got supercharge, you can get an indication of how many times you were shot in a game. You may wish to do this in a close game to check the validity of your score sheet and the result. This will not prove anything since no one will remember your energise total, its merely a personal indication you may wish to look at.

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The Quasar Guide Varying Rules: There are various styles of play. USA rules state that running is strictly not allowed. Also the gun strap must be worn around the neck. This naturally prevents lean back / low block from being used there. Double G, or 2G is also disallowed. Likewise in the UK 2G is not allowed, nor are other covers such as crab, which obstruct both sides of the gun. The original Irish style of game was complete non-cover, i.e. no sensor may be covered or blocked in any way. English non-cover rules allow rifle, and low block which do not cover both sides of the gun, nor the front pack. In the USA it is permitted to lift your leg to aid your cover, this is not allowed in the UK. Marshalling in the USA is enforced more strictly than in the UK. Timing also varies with software versions. Under 2.57 software the reflex period is 0.66 of a second. Combine this with the 0.3 delay and you have a time of 0.96 of a second, instead of 1.25 seconds for competitions running version 2.4 software.

Team Building: Assess your team mates strengths and weaknesses and in friendly games tell them their mistakes and help them to correct them. Try to work with all of your team, and see who you pair off with best. Some players complement each other well, its not just a case of a good player needs to support a weaker player. A player who has a weak dodge may have impeccable timing and may work very well at a distance from a fast dodging teammate. Your team can devise and practice new tactics and enhance their existing play. Once you have a solid team that will not change there is no mileage on competing with your team in order to show who is best within your unit. Team building is a long term process that can be ruined by lack of loyalty to team members in and out of the arena. Also faith in other team members is important. Players virtually always want to play on the best side they can, and are normally prepared to upset entire teams in order to do so. If a team has strong and weak players on it the stronger players will often set up a new side.

Working as a Team: Different teams have very different tactics. Some teams play up close and attack, some tend to play more defensively. Team tactics are normally unique to each team; so far from every team tactic is described in this guide, but the important thing is that you play to a plan, and stick to it as much as possible. If your plan is failing and you are losing you may wish to change your tactics. Alternatives should have been pre-arranged, every player should not just move as they please; this just leads to confusion. A prearranged tactic may simply be for players to work in pairs and to roam; so long as you know what your team is doing there is no problem. When a team expects to win a game the tendency is to attack, when a team expects to lose the tendency is to defend. This is far from infallible and varies from arena to arena.

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The Quasar Guide Statistics: To get the best out of your team resist the temptation to rank your players or to place too much emphasis on statistics. If a player fears they will be removed from a team they may try to improve their own score sheet to the detriment of their team. If you play with a substitute then do not substitute the weakest player from your most important games. That would be shortsighted as it aims solely for short term success.

Scoring Errors: Quasar software is good but not perfect. These errors exist on Version 2.4 of the software, some errors have been corrected in later versions, and some have not. The computer does make mistakes. For example at the end of the game you can download your score without it counting on the computer. The computer shows a dash (-) at the end of the game to show every gun that energised during the course of the game, when the final download has been taken the computer changes the - into a smiley (). You will often notice that guns that have been downloaded but their score not taken. I would roughly estimate that 1 in 5 final downloads do not count on the computer. Another error is that you may deactivate a base in the last seconds of a game, but it may not show on your score card. Also at the end of some games instead of guns being downloaded and saying Thank you for playing Quasar / Qzar, they occasionally energise (even though the marshal has not touched the computer). This network confusion happens more often in busy public games rather than in 5-a-side regular games. These errors all happen with fully working systems. Network boxes must be polled ever 6 seconds by the computer and if they are not then the problems occur.

Inaccuracies: Quasar is not perfect. Packs do reset, vary in sensitivity, and low batteries can affect games. Bases dont always count due to network confusion, hit differences may too be incorrect as packs dont always download; marshals are not perfect either and human error can cause problems (such as score sheets being printed with a gun left saying return to energiser. When we pick up a gun and begin a game we accept the marshals, we accept these imperfections and agree to play by a clear rule set.

Rematches: Most players agree that rematches should seldom occur, yet in reality they are called for nearly every competition and occasionally are played. Teams often call for a rematch when they lose a game, but it was close. When a result is clear, players rarely complain. Quasar is not 100% precise and guns resetting mid-game are probably the main cause of incorrect scoring. Im in a minority but personally I prefer playing with a penalty for gun resets and a 20 - 30 point draw rule, to allow for inaccuracies. This would stop many players calls for a rematch. Rematch scenarios are rarely rational; they are all too often heated. In these arguments logic seems to fly out of the window. So from a practical level, my advice is dont ask for a rematch, and dont offer one either. (Not the marshals, but instead) the competition organisers decision is final. From the time you play your first game you agree to this condition. It is possible to fake errors in any game to argue a case for a rematch.

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The Quasar Guide Pack Damage: Quasar packs are resilient but do from time to time break. Game for game, regulars break packs much more than first time players. Some players cause very little damage but others due to the nature of their game break packs regularly and are not viable, in that they cost more in repairs than they spend playing. I am aware of some players who cause damage in every single game that they play. Side straps come in 3 designs: elastic clips, elastic buckles and seatbelt clip straps. The elastic straps are preferred by regulars but when knotted they need to be replaced. It takes a long time to remove knots, and even if you do persist they will be badly frayed afterwards. For your centres benefit, do not knot straps. Seatbelt clip straps can be adjusted as tight as you want and are more resilient. Curly cord (the cord from the gun to the front pack) damage is normally caused by taller, bigger players who have a long arm span. When these players take long shots, particularly an upward sweeping shot that arcs downwards, this cord is placed under stress. The more this shot is taken the quicker the cord breaks. When players wrap their gun straps around their arms they often do not unwind them when they finish playing, consequently when a child or new player comes to use this pack next the strap unwinds around the curly cord and tangles it. This in turn results in stress and cord damage. Gun resets, silent packs, and dead packs are normally caused by extreme force. Either by a gun being dropped, hit forcefully into a wall, or hit hard against the players own body suit. The more the packs you wear reset (compared to other players) the more you are causing them to reset. Hit any pack hard enough and it will reset, die or go silent. Packs often die or go silent because the force exerted is sufficient to displace the main CPU or the speech chip. Speaker covers are often damaged by players who cover. They force their gun up at an angle so the speaker cover connects with the corner of the front pack plastic casing. Every time they cover the speaker cover is hit hard and naturally the speaker cover breaks. This same jolting action can cause the main CPU and speech chip to loosen. The wires inside the speakers are often snapped by the speaker cover being twisted around, since this in turn rotates the speaker the wires attached to the speaker rotate too and the speaker wires eventually snap off. The rubber bung being twisted by players who hold onto it to shoot causes the laser wires to snap off. The laser is attached to the rubber bung, so as the nozzle rotates so too does the laser and the wires get very twisted and eventually snap off. The actual body armour can be split by a covering player. When the gun is raised up and held tight in place, stress is put onto the bending plastic of the armour. The armour then needs replacement. Fuse holders get worn down and lost by players using their thumbnails to reset packs. If a pack needs to be reset use a gun plug.

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Funny mistakes: These are examples of mistakes made during competition play. 1) A player Fred was shot by a player Ross beneath him 5 times in a row, who then went and shot the base. Fred was most annoyed and said who gave him charge? He was quite unaware it was him. This happened because Fred had shot a different player with his reflex 5 times in a row and was blissfully unaware he was causing a problem. Incidentally Ross shot someone with his reflex shot every time also, in turn losing more points for poor Fred. The morals of this are: Stay alert and keep track of who might be nearly supercharged. Also dont stay in a shot chain if your team is losing by it. 2) Another player Charlie was being outnumbered in his position. He kept shouting and moaning at his team for backup. He was being shot to pieces and knew it was all his team mates fault for not helping him. They were doing nothing in their positions and should have all moved to assist. But all Charlie had to do was to move his own position very slightly around a wall to avoid being sniped and he would have had adequate backup for closer play, (this wouldnt have detrimentally affected the positions of his team mates either). Instead of moving himself he wanted his entire team to move for him. Morale: Look at all the options open to you and dont mindlessly moan at your team mates during games.

Teaching: The last stage of learning is teaching. So try to show others how to play and in the process of doing this you will yourself become clearer on certain aspects of the game and you may reevaluate your own advice. Everyone who plays Quasar is still learning to play. Dont dismiss anyones views, you may learn from them, and even if you dont politeness doesnt cost anything.

Future Competitions: For Quasar (as we know it) to continue, new players must be encouraged to play and taught. If newer players are disregarded, (their names too unimportant to learn), and if they do not get to play against the best players then they will never form strong teams and the game will inevitably die. If new players to continue to develop their skills, and are taught by more experienced players then Quasar competitions will continue and the standard will continue to rise.

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Final Comments: In order to keep these tactics to a reasonable length I have not attempted to describe tactics for playing every type of obstacle, (snipe holes, angled walls, staircases etc.) nor how to stand in every type of cover (variations on rifle, lean back, G etc), nor how to play different game settings nor how to play in individual arenas, nor every cheat nor how any team in particular plays, nor how to play every game setting. Other games such as: 2 shot per second games, capture the flag, energise 4, eliminator and energise 1 all have very different tactics. I have not tried to compare Quasar to any other laser game, or to go into detail on the differing timings for other versions of the Quasar or Qzar software. Describing every tactic, cover, obstacle, team and arena in turn would also at least triple this documents length. However, all essential information needed to play a good game of Quasar using the Standard English rule set has been included; this guide is extensive but not complete. Many players know most tactics, but virtually no one (including myself) pays attention to them all when playing. Knowing these tactics will not necessarily make you the best Quasar player; some of these tips may be useful to you and some may not. Use the helpful tips, discard the irrelevant and devise your own tactics. This will give you a definite advantage over others.

Matt. December 2004 Updated September 8th, 2005 Final Revision 22nd September 2008 Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed or implied in this document are solely those of the author, and are in no way associated with any centre.

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The Quasar Guide Wikipedia Background Information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qzar

Q-Zar (called Quasar in theUK and Republic of Ireland) is a type of laser tag that was developed by Geoff Haselhurst and Omnitronics in Perth, Western Australia. The rights were later sold to a company based in Ireland which in turn sold them to Q-Zar International based in Mesquite, Texas. Q-Zar History The game of Quasar was created by philosopher / inventor Geoff Haselhurst around 1987 in Perth, Australia. The original system was sold to Irish investors in 1991. The name Quasar is still in use today in the UK and Ireland, but due to trouble securing the name Quasar in other countries the company was renamed Q-Zar for world-wide operations. As part of the international expansion of Q-Zar the company relocated to the USA, however manufacturing operations remain in Ireland. In 1996 the company joined NASDAQ and rolled out a short lived child based expansion Q-Kidz. During the 90's they were also in companionship with CEC Entertainment (Chuck E. Cheese). But Q-Zar filed for bankruptcy in 1997 with large quantities of equipment in stock. The large quantities of equipment in stock resulted in many people and companies purchasing the equipment in bulk, unused packs still appear for sale. In 2000 Will Low purchased some of the assets of QZar calling it Q-Zar World Wide. Will Low claimed ownership of the Q-Zar trademark, but failed to in a class-action lawsuit to force existing centres to pay a licence fee to him. In 2003, JR Robles purchased the Q-Zar assets held by Jarvis Entertainment calling it Q-Zar USA. Quasar in the UK and Ireland remains supported by Quasar UK and Meno Electonics (Q2000). In 2005 Quasar UK (A separate company to the original Quasar company) released a new version named Quasar Elite with revised software and hardware. The centers remaining in the US and around the world are almost exclusively franchised. Hardware Quasar vests have gone through a number of revisions. The original system used a strap based vest, metal housed front and back sensor areas and a hand-held pistol. The back sensor contained the battery; the front sensor contained the CPU and speaker. The pistol was small and contained few parts. A major revision was the Mark IIIB system which moved most of the electronics in to a larger (quite heavy) two handled gun. The speaker, battery, display and CPU were all moved to the gun, leaving the front and back as sensor only areas. The strap based vest was retained. Prior to the international launch of Quasar as Q-Zar the vests were redesigned again. The gun shape was retained; however it was remolded in a lighter plastic greatly reducing the weight of the gun. In addition the strap based vest was dropped in favour of brightly coloured plastic body armour style vests. Two different systems were developed for Q-Zar as its next generation system. Neither of these systems made it to production, the first is believed to be due to Q-Zar defaulting on a payment. The second system, IQ, was in development when the company collapsed; by all accounts it was horrendously bug-ridden. With the release of Quasar Elite the gun size was reduced due to advances in laser technology reducing the space requirements of the laser. Other changes to the gun were made to improve reliability and ease of servicing. The coloured body armour was retained but the team colours changed to Blue and Red, however the size was slightly reduced and straps changed from elastic to seat-belt style.

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Network Box Controls: There are different styles of Network box, the oldest having a daughterboard with a board on it which is similar to the vest chest PCB. This style also has a speaker built into it. The more recent ones are a single board and have a socket to plug in an external speaker. They also have a switch reading 110V / 240V; make sure you set it correctly to your countrys voltage supply. The potentiometer (variable resistor labelled VR) that is closest to the Transformer (Labelled L) controls the Infra Red power. Fully anticlockwise means full power. The one on the Far left (near the CPU) controls the Audio level. The one at the back sets the 18V level, this adjusts the scoreboard brightness. Network units use a standard RS-232 serial interface connection between the end PC and the unit(s) themselves. Connections are as follows: Green TXD (Transmit Data), Blue CTS (Clear to send), Red RXD (Receive Data), Com Common Ground (Cable Screen). The data connector that plugs into the computer is wired like so: Link PIN 1, 4 and 6 together, Link PIN 7 and 8 Pin 2 take to the TX line on the network box Pin 3 goes to the RX LINE on the network box Pin 5 goes to the GROUND connection (COM) Pin 7 & 8 go to the CTS connection Connect a 4K7 (0.124W) resistor between TX and RX, network end.

This is an external view of a 9 way d-type male connector

If using a 25 way connector: Link PIN 4 and 5, Link PIN 6 and 20 Pin 2 goes to the RX LINE on the network box, Pin 3 take to the TX line on the network box Pin 4 & 5 go to the CTS connection; Pin 7 goes to the GROUND connection (COM) You will need to connect a 4K7 (0.124W) resistor between TX and RX on the network end. There is a dip switch with 6 switches. These control the team colour and if the network is an energiser, a headquarters or a network mine. Network boxes dont need to be reset to make dip switch changes, unless you change switch 5, so you can even run wires off the dip switch bank and change a network box from an energiser to a base by using a separate switch. The dip switch settings should be listed like this on a sticker in the lid of the unit: Network Unit Energiser 1 Energiser 2 Energiser 3 Energiser 4 Energiser 5 HQ 1 HQ 2 HQ 3 Network Mine 1 Network Mine 2 Network Mine 3 Switch 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 Switch 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 Switch 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 Switch 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 Switch 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Switch 6 1 = Red Team 0 = Green Team Use 6 wire braided network cable between the Game Computer and the network boxes. The network boxes are connected parallel to each other. Your computer connects to the network boxes through the serial port. This is a 9 min male connector on the back of the computer. The typical baud rate speed for this communication is 9600 Bps A simple test using a Null Modem serial cable can be carried out, using MS Windows Hyper Terminal or other Telnet application. Test: Connect one end of the N/M cable to the Quasar NU and the other to COM1 on a PC / Laptop. Start Hyper Terminal and set the communications output to Direct to COM1, also set the baud rate to 9600 You will see the binary stream from the NU appear with the Hyper Terminal Screen. Energise a gun and the screen will show the binary data appear within the data stream. Failure: If no Data Stream is shown within the window, restart the NU. Check the NU DIL switches are set to the correct mode of operation (Being Energiser / Headquarter)Should the Data Stream still not appear, this confirms the NU Has a Comms Fault. The Printer: Any 80 column dot matrix printer will work fine as the software only outputs basic text and is not printer specific. UK software runs on a variety of printers and there is no configuration in the software. (Information from Adds.) The Scoreboards: Make sure you have your scoreboard panels in the correct order.
If you have a 200 MHz processor or higher and run a DOS version of software you will get a runtime error. Download delay_fix.exe to solve this.

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The Gun Charging System: consists of a main charger box and sub-charger boxes:
Main Charging Box: First check the voltage required for your main box. It may be set to 110V or 240V. If you have it set to 110V and plug in into UK voltage of 240V this will destroy your transformer. You have been warned! Inside the power supply unit there is a wire link (jumper) this is labelled as follows: Input 110V & 230V. You must ensure this link is connected across 230V terminals for UK mains. (This is equivalent to the voltage switch found inside the network boxes). The button on the large box is a power trip reset button. Push it in. The timer dial is solely for use with fast charging sub boxes, and is used so you dont overcharge packs. This unit consists of nothing more than a heavy duty 14.5V 8Amp transformer and a bridge rectifier to convert the 14.5V AC to DC voltage. Sub Charging Box: Each sub charger box can be linked to 13 charge points. It has thirteen WH5 27R 5% current limiting ceramic resistors inside it. The power runs through the resistor, so (in the inside sub-charging box photo) the metal rail running vertically that you see in the middle of the box is positive. On the other side you individually solder wires to the resistors connecting to the +ve side of each jack socket. The ve side of the jack socket runs back to ground. The ground wire is taken from the main charge box, and for neatness and space reasons it is split within the sub charger. You will need a nylon jack socket for each individual charge point; this is normally fixed inside thick white cable trunking. You just drill holes along the trunking where you want to attach each charge point. Normal charge takes 6-10 hours; whenever you use a new battery charge it for 24 hours.

Main Charging Box

Sub-Charging Box
(Distribution Box)

Nylon jack socket, mono, un-switched 6.3mm

Thick white trunking with jack sockets mounted at regular intervals

Inside Sub-Charging Box

Although not ideal you can use a standard DC 12V adapter to individually charge packs. Make your own charging system: Your power supply should deliver 14.5V DC. Each pack requires a 33Ohm 4W resistor (these get HOT during charging so will require housing in a metal case). Each pack will draw around 180mA whilst charging so your power supply will need to be capable of delivering at least this times your number of packs, so if you have 20 packs you'll need a minimum of a 3600mA (3.6Amp) charger, although its a good idea to have more power than you require (for reliability and future expansion), so look for something over 4000mA (4Amp). (Information from Adds.)

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The Effect of Parts Being Faulty: Part IC1 (7805) Effect Will cause the entire pack to be dead, you will just hear a very quiet clicking sound. The gun will reset if this part is loose. It is often glue gunned in place. IC2 Gun processor the Team lights, (green or red chasers) wont work. Everything else still will. IC3 (3411) No sound, just a click This IC has a >9+V supply. Everything else will still work. IC4 No sound just a click. Everything else will work. IC5 No sound This is the main speech EPROM. Everything else works IC6 No sound, just a click. Everything else works. IC7(386N) No sound, this is the audio amplifier. Everything else works. IC8 (4040) Infra-red transmission circuit just a click, no sound IC9 Main CPU - Just 4 0s displayed, gun wont boot if removed. This part being loose, or not having all legs correctly inserted can cause many faults IC10(3373) Gun wont energise. (Has nothing to do with transmit circuit but re-modulates the inbound infra red signals from the receiver circuit back to binary). Everything else works. IC11 Barrel transmitter. Everything else works. IC12 Gun cant handle being plugged quickly, reset circuit. Everything else works. IC101(14499) Display board chip. Display board may have a shadow or show 4 zeros. Q1 Body suit team lights (green or red chasers) Q2, Q3 Team lights (green or red chasers) Q4(BC549) Sensitivity (amplifier buffer) Q5 (3055) Vibrator circuit Q6 No yellow hit lights Q7 Sensitivity (receiver) circuit This amplifies the signal. If broken the pack cannot energise at all, the energiser has no effect. Q8 (3055) No good shots (apart from gun barrel) Emitting circuit Q9 (VN0106) Gun wont shoot Q10 Affects low battery circuit Q11 Gun wont ever say low battery Q12 (3055) No laser Q13 Sound mute Q14 No laser (not as common fault) D1 Fuses will blow D12-D18 D12 Barrel receivers, D13-16 side receivers, D17-18 front side receivers If any are not working they can cause the pack to be insensitive. D24(IN4148) Will not energise on gun or front pack C13 Makes gun very quiet XL1 Crystal (running at 1.8432Mhz). If this is not working the gun will not boot up and will display 4 0s, since the crystal is essential for the gun clock. If it is loose then the gun will freeze and unfreeze. Fuse If blown the pack will, of course, be dead. Mark 3 guns have the fuse on the gun PCB, Mark 4 have the fuse connected to the battery. Mark 3 guns can still charge with no fuse. With Mark 4 guns, displays charge light will still come on but the battery wont charge. If you use too high a specification fuse or bypass the fuse, then IC1 (7805) will blow initially in case of problems.

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A Basic Repair Guide to Quasar Important: All revision 5d gun boards were manufactured with a defect which causes the pack to be insensitive. See advanced testing the gun IR system in this guide for instructions on how to cure this problem. All repairs are carried out at your own risk no liability is taken for any of these notes. So be careful! Parts on the board have a letter followed by a number. The number simply lets you know which one it is. C is a capacitor, R is a resistor, Q is a transistor, IC is a chip, F a fuse, D a diode, X or XL1 is the crystal, TP is the test point, CN is a connector (as used for speakers, trigger, curly cord etc.), SW is the dip switch bank. Some components on the guns printed circuit board (PCB) can be plugged in either way around, like the little yellow (sometimes white) smoothing or bipolar capacitors and resistors. Most components will be damaged if they are plugged in the wrong way around. For example plug the 6 way connector that connects the gun board to the display board in the wrong way and the fuse will blow and if you plug your curly cord (which connects the gun to the front pack) in the wrong way around the chip on the front pack will blow and will have to be replaced! On the gun pcb printed on the top is white text. Wherever it says +ve you put the red wires (for laser and battery etc.) Where it says ve is where you put the black wires. Never ever solder to a board that is powered up! Always remove the 6 way connector before soldering. Any diodes including LEDs, emitters and receivers must be soldered in the correct way to work. For components that youre fitting the longer legs are +ve, the shorter legs are negative. Plug a receiver in the wrong way around and your gun will be very insensitive. Plug a capacitor in the wrong way and it can explode! Chips have a little groove in one side of them, they must match the white groove drawn on the pcb; put them in the wrong way and they may break. You can sometimes tell if a chip has gone because it can heat up so hot you cannot touch it. The round capacitors have written on them ve and must go in the correct way. Now they make life trickier because some types of receivers have legs of equal lengths. If there is white text on the receiver then the other side is the receiving side. If the receiver is curved then the curved side is the receiving side. Be precise when soldering on the receivers in the middle of the board, if you dont pay attention you will connect the +ve and ve points together as they are right next to each other. The gun pcb has a point labelled TP1, this is a test point for ground. The fuse on the board F1 (or the space where a fuse can be fitted) is an easy source for +9V. For board repairs you do not necessarily need an oscilloscope or a test probe. Very few faults (mainly complicated sound faults) require this. However, you really do need to use a soldering iron, solder and a multi-meter to repair and test many faults. In addition you may occasionally use a de-soldering iron or a de-soldering gun (solder sucker), you must use one of these if replacing chips. You will need tools including an allen key for M4 size bolts, a socket for M4 bolts, pliers, spare parts (not essential is resistors since they rarely fail, essential is receivers, emitters, molex clips, 7805 voltage regulators, 3055s, bc549s, a crystal, a fuse holder, 2amp fuses, p-clips, speaker covers, plastic side strips, springs, allen bolts, 2.1mm charge sockets. When starting out ignore all resistors, their replacement is rarely essential. Any cheap multi-meter will do. They are fairly cheap and any electronics store should sell them. Two settings are needed for testing Quasar: One is DC Voltage up to 20V, the other tests diodes. Lets start with the DC Voltage test first. Most meters have a DC section and select 20V. Set your multi-meter to this setting. Then take the black wire from your multi-meter and put it to the ve end of the battery and the red wire to the +ve end of the battery. (Do not touch the ends together or you will short circuit the battery). In a working, charged battery the multi-meter should give you a reading of between 9 and 12V. This is your battery power. You can test other parts on the board carefully. With the board powered up, touch either side of a receiver and you should get a reading of 7-10V. If your reading is very low then you need to replace all of your receivers on the gun board (since they are in parallel). To test diodes select the symbol. Now your meter should read 1. Touch the red and black wires on your multimeter and you should get a reading of 000 or very close to zero. When used on the gun pcb you can easily find out if different points are connected to each other or not. This lets you test LEDs, and lets you see if tracks are broken.

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Basic Fault Finding Its dead Check the fuses first of all. The battery fuse, (the fuse on the gun pcb F1 if it has one and on very old boards the display board). If blown then replace. Put your ear next to the speaker and reset the gun using a gun plug. Does it make a clicking sound? If so then replace the voltage regulator IC1 (7805). Next check the battery power using the multi-meter. It should read at least 9V. Does the display board show anything? If so then make sure the CPU IC9 is properly inserted. Also check the wiring from the display board to the gun board. With the gun on gently move IC1 to see if it comes on. The voltage regulator is a common cause. If it is IC1 once you have replaced it you might want to glue this part in place. To test the power on the board take your multi-meter and measure from F1 the fuse to TP1, this should read >+9V. If it does measure one of the end pins of IC1 (7805). One side should read +9V the other side +5V if this part is working. Check the charge socket and the wiring to the charge socket. You can connect the charge socket wires together, if the board then comes on, replace the charge socket. If the fuse blows instantly each time then check the orientation of your display board wires. Never be tempted to bypass the fuse or to replace it with a fuse of higher rating. If you do this then IC1on the main board will break. If the fuse blows also check D1.

Gun is resetting If its constantly resetting, this can be a sign of low battery. Check your battery first, its voltage should be over +9V. Other causes of guns resetting are poor connections on the 6 way connector (gun to display board wiring), the battery connector or connections coming loose, the CPU being loose, IC1(7805) coming loose, a bad charge socket, bad fuse holder connections (or if screw type then the fuse just may not be tight enough in place). To test these things have the gun powered up and gently move these parts and see when the reset occurs to locate your fault. The display board shows the wrong thing: Check the 6 way connector wiring if random figures appear. If it reads 0000 then you may need to replace IC101 on the display board. If a digit is just missing then replace the appropriate BC549 on the display board. Parts labelled Q101 - Q104. Rare fault but check XL1 is in place. Its the crystal and the board wont work without it. Gun wont charge Check the gun fuse. The display board doesnt need to be attached to the main board to get the battery to charge. Check the power source is working. Make sure you are charging the battery with a supply of over +9V. Dont charge too many packs closely together using individual chargers. Its ineffective. Check the charge socket and its wiring. Less common: Check D102 on the display board. Check the battery connections. If the battery measures 0V then charge it using a different gun, if it still wont charge the replace the battery. No sound Check that IC5 (the main sound chip) is in place. Check the speaker wiring. Replace the speaker. Replace IC5 If its still dead then replace IC7, which is a 386N amplifier chip. The next most likely IC is IC3 which is socketed on more recent boards. Replace it.

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Still no sound or white noise If all fails then its time to use a logic probe. How to use a logic probe: Theyre not expensive. They have 3 connections on them. The red lead from the logic probe you connect to +9V (e.g. connect the lead to F1) The black lead from the logic probe connect to ground (e.g. TP1) The other point on the logic probe you use to test. Set your logic probe to pulse, not me., and to ttl not cmos. The order the sound goes is IC6, IC5, IC4 and IC3 then to the sound amp IC7, (after a couple of capacitors) lastly to the speaker. Now you need to fail to energise your gun board so it will be saying return to energiser (even if you cant hear it). The easiest way to do this is with the marshal gun. Fire the marshal gun at the board and plug the marshal gun before it has had time to properly energise the gun. You will know it is in this state because the display board digits will be flashing. Now we can test the sound chips as they will hopefully be pulsing. Test IC4 first. You count prins from the round circle on the chip (with the chips groove on the left, the circle will be in the bottom left corner). That pin is pin 1. You then count anticlockwise around the chip. Find pin 9 on IC4 and put the logic probe point on it. The probe should display low when the gun would be silent, and then change to low and pulse when the gun would be saying return to energiser Pin 10 on IC4 should read low, and then change to low & high and pulse. These are the input and output pins of IC4. So if both read correctly then IC6, IC5 and IC4 should be working too. So youd change IC3. If 1 only reads then IC4 is at fault. If neither read then IC6 or IC5 are probably at fault. IC6 pins should read: Pins 1-7, 9-10, 12-15 low, then low high and pulse (not all at the same speed) Pin 8 low, 11 low to high, 16 high If IC6 does not check out test IC8. The ICs are not necessarily at fault. It can be caused by tracks, but by using this test procedure you can see where you lose sound on your board. Laser doesnt work Check that the laser is attached the right way around. It shouldnt damage anything if you have accidentally plugged it in the wrong way. Reset the gun, lasers if plugged into a gun that is powered up need to be reset to work. (depending on the gun board revision). Check that the laser itself is working by plugging it into another gun. If the laser is broken check the wiring on it. There are two basic different types of lasers, the old gas lasers and the newer diode lasers. The gas lasers have a step up transformer on them. Beware they can give you a belt of electricity if their wiring is bad. Other than wiring the transformers are the most likely thing to break on these. They have a couple of components on the wires; make sure they are properly attached. If the laser is working and the fault lies with the gun board then check Q12 (3055), if it is not connected properly then replace it. If your connector for the laser is bad then you can attach the laser to a different part of the board. Just follow the tracks carefully to do this. The +ve side of the laser connection can be attached to +9V, e.g. from F1, )where the fuse either is, or where fuse pads are on the pcb).

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Not all of the yellow (hit) lights work on the gun If the yellow lights are working on one side of the gun: It may just be one led that has gone. Check that the legs on each LED are intact and that the LEDs themselves arent chipped or physically damaged. Energise the gun and hold an extra LED on top of one that isnt working, so that it connects to the solder. (Be careful that the LED is the correct way around and be precise with where you place it). If it lights up then remove the old led and fit the new one. You can also test LEDs using the diode test on the multi-meter. With the meter in this mode touch each leg of the diode with a lead from you meter. The LED should faintly light if it is working. If you cant trace the fault then looking at the board, parts side up, with the shot emitter to the left, connect the right pin of D19 to the left pin of D21. No yellow (hit) lights work: Look to see if the front pack has yellow lights on it (when first energised they flash, and on solo they will be lit, and when the gun says warning). If it does: check the guns yellow LEDs and replace or re-attach any LEDs that do not light If it doesnt then replace Q6(BC549) Check the connections around R22 and R23. You can wire +9V from the fuse F1 to D19 + side.

You cant often get good shots by shooting it. Gun is hard to energise on the sides, just makes a twinkle noise when you try to energise it. Make sure that the gun you are using to shoot with has the barrel receiver lined up. If you look straight down the gun barrel and look at the lenses, the one on the left is the shot emitter and is blue; this should point straight at you. Looking down the lense on the right you should see a black receiver. If not then bend it so that you can. If this receiver is off line you will be able to gain less good shots. If the fault persists then the emitting circuit is possibly down apart from the barrel emitter. Check for any obvious physical damage to any of the blue emitters on the board or to their connections, also check that Q8(3055) is connected properly. Remove or disconnect D31 (shot emitter). Then see if you can get any good shots by shooting the board with another gun. If not then replace Q8(3055) and check the wiring around it. If you can still get a good shot then most probably the emitters are only working on one side of the gun. The front pack will still give good shots if this is the case, you can test it to make sure. Next check the emitter connections to R54 and R56. Check the connections to the blue emitters on the sides of the board. Check they face the right way. The diodes have little grooves in them, one side of the board they all face one way, the other side of the board they all face the other way. Replace the emitters if you still cant get them working. Gun wont shoot far. What do I do? Line up D31, or better still attach wires to the board at D31, and attach an emitter to the other end of the wires. Glue the emitter into the barrel of the gun so its lined up dead straight. Gun wont shoot Make sure that you have not set the gun to be number zero. If you dont give the gun a valid number it wont shoot. Note: The gun must be reset in order for dip switch changes to take effect. Replace D31, and check its connections. The +side of D31 should receive +9V, check it with your multi-meter. Less common: check Q9 is in place.

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My gun doesnt say low battery at the right time Check the voltage across the battery. If it is lower than +9V then check the charging point you are using is working. If everything checks out but the battery is still too low then replace the battery. If a gun keeps saying low battery when it has over +9V supply then you should check the wiring of Q10 and Q11 and replace them. You can remove Q11 and then the gun simply wont ever say low battery, this is not recommended as you are removing a useful circuit. If your fault is that your gun wont ever say low battery then replace Q11. My gun is not sensitive enough If the pcb is revision 5d (this is printed on the parts side of the pcb on next to the 6 way connector) then a track needs to be cut;. See advanced testing the gun IR system in this guide for instructions on how to cure this problem. Check that the plastic cases to the front and back packs arent very badly scratched and that no paper is covering any part of the black receivers on the front or back pack. Also check the plastic side strips of the gun, anything very badly scratched should ideally be replaced. Check quickly for obvious faults, like cracking on the surface of the receivers or bad tracks. Because the receivers are on the edge of the gun they are prone to physical damage caused by players knocking the guns in the arena. Also if you do not put rubber padding inside the gun the vibrations on the gun casing can cause the tracks on the edge of the pcb to chip. So use rubber inside the gun casing to hold the board firmly and safely in place. Energise the gun and measure the voltage on each receiver in turn. To do this, attach the multi-meter to either side of the receiver. (Put the meter on 20V DC setting). If the reading is 6-10V then its reading correctly. Check each receiver in turn. If one reads 0 then check its connections and the board tracks. If it still reads 0 then replace it. If they all give a very low reading then one or more of the receivers is causing a short circuit. Replace the receivers. Q7 and Q4 (BC549) act as signal amplifiers replace them if your sensitivity is still low. Information supplied from Adds: You can also replace and upgrade various capacitors to improve sensitivity. Replace C14 with a 50V 10rF capacitor. Replace C40, C37, C38, C39 with 63V 1Uf capacitors. (They are from the chasing LEDs; they dont make too much difference, but are worth replacing at the same time). Replace C8, C11, C12 and C3 with 16V 100uF capacitors. (Although these capacitors are part of the audio circuit, if they are tired then interference is generated on the IR amplifier, which results in the receive circuit being less sensitive). The body suit has problems Front or Back pack If the number isnt flashing and the green / red lights arent flashing: The curly cord may have been plugged in the wrong way around. IC1 will damage as soon as the gun is powered up with the cord in the wrong way. If this has happened then replace IC1. If not then check the orange wire connections within the curly cord; both on the gun board and on the front pack. Green / Red lights dont flash correctly: Energise the pack and move C7 around on the front pack. You may need to replace this part. The Gun number display isnt showing the correct number: If you turn the front packs pcb over so it is solder side up, turn it upside down also. The number displayed on the screen should be the number you can see soldered into the big metal pads. You can change the number by adding or removing solder. A de-soldering gun or a de-soldering iron is useful for this. If not then remove dirt, and moisture. You can protect your pack from moisture by taping up gaps on the metal plate. There are gaps where the front to back lead goes in and where the curly cord goes in too. Sweat pours into these gaps. If the number is not displaying at all then IC1 maybe at fault. If it is just displaying the wrong thing then you can use the resistors around the display panel. Simply add power to the relevant resistor and that display segment will flash. For sensitivity problems: The curly cord maybe damaged, wiggle it. If this makes the front pack lights flash at a different pace then replace the curly cord. If not then check C1, C2, C3 and C5 they can all cause sensitivity issues with the front pack. Nect check the recviers and their tracks (as described for gun board). Replace C5 if the fault hasnt gone. Also you can connect the black wire direct to ground by connecting it to one of the front packs screws. Remember the gun board can cause faults in the front pack. Try the body suit connected to a known working gun board to establish that the body suit definitely has the problem. If the front pack is not accepting any shots when connected to the back pack: Check your front to back cable. The white wire is your receive circuit for both your curly cord and front to back cable. If these basics dont help then here are some more detailed notes on fault finding:

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Advanced Testing The Gun Sound System: (information from Meno electronics) Overview of the sound system: The gun sound system is the most complex part of the gun. It uses a C.V.S.D. chip (constantly Variable Slope Delta) to generate the sound from a Serial Data Stream. The sound is stored in multiple 1Kb blocks within IC5 (27C020). The processor generates the address offset of the sample required (Starting point of a block) using 8 bits on port B of the processor. Once this address is latched onto the port the processor next resets a ripple counter (IC6) which is used to count from 0 to 1024 (binary) thus supplying the 1Kb addressing for the required data block. As the ripple counter is reset, the chip enable is also switched, allowing the data being generated by the CPU and ripple counters to be latched into the Eprom. A signal is fed back from the ripple counter (bit 9) to the interrupt line of the CPU so giving the program information on when the counter has finished playing a single 1K block. As each 8 bit memory location is accessed, the data within the location is output into an 8-bit parallel to serial converter, IC4 (4021). The date, now in a serial form is fed into the CVSD, IC3 (MC3417 or equivalent) where conversion to an analogue audio signal takes place. The audio that is generated from the CVSD still needs a little post processing to improce on the wave form shape. It is also filtered using a PIE filter to remove some of the Hi-frequency noise that is generated as a result of the procession done by the CVSD. After filtering, the audio signal is then fed into IC7 (LM386) which amplifies the signal which is then placed onto the speaker. The clocks for the ripple counter, serialiser and CVSD are generated from IC8 (4040). The clock used on the serialised and CVSD is also used to generate the modulation frequency for the infra-red transmission circuit. The clock that is used to drive the ripple counter is 8 times slower than that used on the CVSD. This is done so that the parallel to serial converter can convert the whole 8 bit word before the next 8 bit word is input into the chip for conversion. The processor also has a signal generated from Pin24. This signal is connected to the base of Q13 (BC549). When this transistor base is pulled high by Pin24 it conducts which pulls the reset line of IC8 low causing the clock to stop This is used to mute the audio system. Common faults on the audio system are, speaker wires snapping off of either the speaker or molex connector. Components around the power amplifier breaking off, the power amp burning out (usually caused by a short circuit on the speaker / speaker lead) or physical damage to the speaker by sharp objects being inserted through the speaker grill. Fault finding: You will require a logic probe. If there is No audio, then you need to check that no components have broken off, the area to look mainly at is towards the back of the gun board, near to CN1 (The display connector). If all looks fine, place your finger on IC7 (LM386). If it is hot then you will need to replace it, but before you do this, check the condition of C8 (100uF/10v), speaker wire and speaker, look for fraid wires that could be causing a short. If all is fine change IC7. If audio is present, but has a lot of white noise (sounds like static on a radio that is not tuned correctly) we will need to check through the digital side of the audio system in some depth. Firstly you will need to have the gun energised. Next using your logic probe, check IC8 pins 2 and 13 to make sure clock signals are being generated here. Now check that as you press the trigger the following pins on IC6 are generating data. Some pins will be slower than others, this is not a problem. Data should be present on IC6 pins 2-7 and 12-15. If this is not the case then IC6 will need replacing. Next move onto the speech eprom (IC5). As sound is being generated you will see data on the following pins: IC5 pins 13, 14, 16-18, 20, 21 again this maybe different speeds on different pins. If there is no data output check for activity on IC5 pin 22. If this is okay then you need to replace IC5. It maybe worthwhile swapping this chip with a chip from a gun with no sound problems to very this is the problem. Now move onto the data serialiser IC4 (4021). Check pins 8,9 and 10 for date when sound is being generated. If these pins (especially pin 8) is not changing, then this chip will need replacing. At this point the serial data is fed into the CVSD, the only checks you can do with a logic probe on this chip is pins 13 and 14. Both should have data on when sound is playing. If there is a high degree of soft hiss on the sound, it is worth checking C19 (100nF). This is fairly uncommon, but has been known to cause a problem. If you have access to a scope then check for waveform output at pin 7 of IC3. Then follow that signl through R5 (3K9), C1 (100nF), R1 (100K) into pin 3 of IC7 (LM386). If any of these components seem to block the signal replace the fault component.

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Advanced Testing the Gun IR System (information from Meno electronics) All revision 5d gun boards were manufactured with a defect which caused them to be very insensitive (earlier and later revision gun boards do not have this problem). A track running from the left leg of the blue emitter (D28) in the photo connects to the resistor directly beneath it (R14). It should not! You can use your multi-meter to see if it is connecting. Unless someone has made the track cut before you then it will be. Very carefully take a Stanley knife and cut the track to disconnect it from the resistor. It must not be cut all the way through as this will damage your emitting circuit. Firstly we need to determine if the problem lies with the gun pack or body suit. To test this you will need to remove the curly cord connection on the gun board (CN4). Once removed re-energise your gun from a network box, by placing the side next to the energiser. The energise time should only be around one second. If an energise packet fails you will hear the gun make a twinkle sound, then instruct you to return to energiser. If this happens make a mental note which side you just tested. Move away from the energiser; wait for about 10 seconds, then using the other side of the gun attempt to re-energise again. If this side is faster, retry the first side again to confirm there is a problem with that side. If the gun is still showing problems then we now know that the fault is located within the electronics of the gun. If, however, the gun is now fully operational, then the fault is with the body suit. Reconnect the suit and test the gun again; if the fault is back this will confirm it. Gun Infra-red problems (Receiver / sensitivity) If the voltage on the infra red receivers does not measure between +6-10V then replace the receivers. Overview: The infra-red system uses 7 receiver diodes connected in a parallel arrangement, these in normal rest state have a negligible current flow but once IR is detected current flows through the diode to ground, causing a voltage drop to appear across R17 (1M0). This in turn turns on Q4 (BC549) which acts as an amplifier buffer. The output from Q4 is fed through a DC blocking capacitor C18 (1n0). The signal is then fed into IC10 (MC3373) which demodulates the infra-red signal. The output of this chip is now in a digital format. This signal is now fed via D24 (IN4148) to Q7 which amplifies the signal level to a TTL (+5V=Logic 1) level which is fed into the CPU via pin 29. With this system, the fault could be anywhere. Tracking down an electronic fault Make sure you are not using strong light when testing, florescent lights (for example) will cause false readings. First thing to check is that all 7 diodes (4 on the sides, 2 on the front corners and one stood up of the pcb) are all secure and soldered in. Check also for cracks or chips to the smooth receiver surface. Next with your multi meter connect the negative side to the GND test point (TP1) next to the red dip switches. Using the positive probe check the voltages on each side of the diodes. One side should be 0V, the other should have a voltage of between 1.8V and 8.2V more than this requires you to remove and check R58 (33K) and R14 (33K). Less than the values above suggests that a diode is conducting. There is no simple way to find out which diode has broken down. Change all 7. Next move your positive probe to the collector of Q4, with the junction of R15 (10K), you should see approx 2.7V if not then check the value of R15 (10K). Now move your positive probe to Pin 8 of IC10 )MC3373) and check there is around 8.8V present here. Now check the anode of D24 (IN4148) you should see around 0.83V Using your logic probe connect to IC10 pin 1.You should see a generally low signal here, maybe a little digital noise (this is generated by ambient light). Now using a known working gun (gun A), fire a single shot. You should now see a data transaction every time gun A fires. If not, try and check pin 7 you may see data here (it depends mainly on what type of logic probe you are using!) If you still cannot see data, then check R34 (390K). Once you are happy with R34 connect your logic probe to the cathode of D24 (IN4148). Here you should see a better defined data burst when gun A is fired. If not, remove and check D24. Next connect the logic probe to pin 29 of IC9 (Main gun CPU). You should see a very good data level here, you may also see some background noise again this is generated by background noise). If you are lacking in logic signals at this point, then you need to replace Q7 (BC549).

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Gun Infra-red Transmission Circuit (Emitting circuit / Good shots) Overview: The gun transmission circuit is fairly simple in construction. It is based on two sets of transmission diodes. One set is laced out around the edges of the gun board, the other is a single diode that is designed to fire down the gun barrel. The processor generates three signals when you fire. The first appears on pin 24 this selects or deselects the barrel transmitter (it is also used to ute gun speech as well). The second appears on pin 26. This selects or deselects the side transmitters. The final signal appears on pin 30. This is the serial data stream (data contains gun identity etc.) These 3 signals are fed into a Quad 3 input AND gate. Gates A & C control the barrel transmitter and is supplied with signals from pin 26 and pin 30. Gate B is fed with signal from pin 24 and date from pin 30. Gate D has all its inputs tied to ground as it is not used. Also connected to Gates A, B, and C is a clock signal derived from IC8 (4040). This signal acts as a modulation carrier. The logic gates mix the data stream from pin 30 of the CPU and this clock signal producing a modulated infra-red signal, which is gated tothe desired transmission diodes. The output from Gates A & C are fed into the FET Q8 (MTP3055). This acts as a power switch which connects the infra-red diodes to ground in simpatico with the modulated signal being fed from gates A & C. This causes the diodes to conduct, emitting an infra-red representation of the modulated data. The side LEDs are layed out in two groups of three diodes. The diodes are connected in series from a +9V supply via R54 (22R) on the lower side. (Gun board layed so that the display board is on the right hand side) and R56 (22R) on the upper. These three resistors are then connected together onto Q8. Gate B is fed into FET Q9 (VN0106) This works the same as the side transmitters except it only controls D31 via R55 (22R). Testing the barrel Transmitter: Energise the gun, using the logic probe check that data is being generated at pin 8 of IC11 (4073). If there is no output make sure that data is being sent from IC9 (Main CPU) Pin 30. And there are logical signals on IC11 pins 3, 4, and 5. If this is the case then IC11 needs to be changed. If data is appearing on IC11 pin 8 then check data is appearing on the side of R55 (22R) that connects to Q9. If data is present then check and replace D31 and check / replace R55. If no data is present (Logic level 0 maybe indicated) then change Q9 (VN0106) Testing the side transmitters: Check that data is being generated on IC11 pins 10 and 9. If no data is present then check that data is arriving at IC11 pins 1-3, and 11-13. If they are then you need to change IC11. If data is present on IC11 pins 9 and 10, then check that data is present on either R54 or R56 (both 22R) on the side that connects to Q8. If data is not present then you need to change Q8. However, if data is present, then check both pairs of LEDs ensuring that when you are not firing you see approximately +9V on the LED side of R54 and R55; if not then the side that the voltage is missing has a transmit led broken and will need replacement.

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Advanced Testing the Gun Laser System (information from Meno electronics) Overview of the laser control circuit: The laser is controlled from the CPU via IC9 pin 36. This signal is fed to the positive side of C41 (1uF/35V Tantalum). The negative side is then connected to the gate of Q12 (MTP3055). Also connected to this line is one side of R57 (470K) and the cathode of diode D32 (IN4148). The other side of R57 and the anode of D32 are connected to ground. R57 provides a pull down for the FET ensuring that the FET is switched off when the signal from the CPU is low. The diode provides extra breakdown voltage protection for the FET (Required when using HeNe Lasers). Power is connected from the +9V line, via a pulse limiter PT1 (RFD8P05 required under US law). The power is then connected to CN2 which is the laser connector located under the PCB. The negative lead back from the laser is then connected via CN2 to Q12. The other side of Q12 is connected to ground. Across CN2 is C22 which is a 10uF/50V Tantalum capacitor which is used to suppress spikes caused by the laser. PT1s gate is connected to one side of R63 (220K). The other side of which is connected to a +9V supply. PT1 is also connected to one side of R62 (220R) which created a potential divider. The other side of R62 is connected to the collector of Q14 (BC549). The emitter of this transistor is connected to ground. The base is connected to R60 (220K) and R59 (220K). The other side of R60 is also connected to ground and acts as a pull down for the base so ensuring that the transistor is switched off fully. The other side of R59 is connected to one side of C42 (2u2F/16V) and R51 (680K). The other side of C42 is connected to +9V and the other side of R51 is connected to the negative connector of the laser on CN2. How the circuit works is that when the logic level from the CPU (pin36) is low the fet Q12 is not conducting. This allows the negative side of the laser connector (CN2) to float upwards to the same value of voltage on the positive side of CN2. This also allows the voltage on the junction of C42, R51 and R59 to float upward towards +9V. This has the effect of turning on Q14. Q14 switching on causes the potential divider junction of R63, R62 to fall towards ground. This causes the gate of PT1 to conduct. Hence supplying +9V to CN2. When a Logic one is supplied to Q12, it conducts which takes the negative side of CN2 towards ground. This turns on the laser, however, it also makes the junction of R51 and CN2 all to ground. This causes the junction of R51, R59 and C42 to fall towards ground also. But because of C42 and R51 there is a slow fall towards ground as C42 discharges (Simple CR timing network). During this time Q14 is still conducting thus allowing PT1 to conduct, when the voltage on the junction of C42, R59 and R51 reaches a point that Q14 switches off. This causes the voltage at the point of R63, R62 to rise, this increased the voltage on the gate of PT1 causing it to switch off. This turns the power off to CN2 resulting in the laser being switched off. Removing this voltage allows the pulse limit circuit to try and go back to its original state. However, as long as Q12 is still providing an ground path (Logic 1 applied to it) the limiter will keep turning the laser off. This gives the effect of the first laser shot being a long period, however, fast repetition cause the laser to be actie for less and less time. As soon as Logic 0 appears back on Q12, the limiter is allowed to return to its rest state, which turns PT1 back on. This then enables the laser ready for its next shot. Fault finding on the laser system: First check that when the gun is at rest you can see +9V on the laser + connector. If this is not present the PT1 or Q14 has failed. If the voltage is present, check with a logic probe the cathode of D22 to ensure that when a shot is fired in energised state you see this cathode go to logic 1. Check that the negative supply from the laser falls below +5V when you fire a shot. If the voltage does not fall, or the signal is constantly low even when you are not firing then Q12 needs to be replaced.

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Advanced Testing the Team Lights not functioning (information from Meno electronics) Overview: The team lights that are fitted to the gun board sides are driven from the main gun CPU (IC9). The data for this operation appears on pins 4, 5, and 27. These signals are fed onto the base of transistors Q1, Q2 and Q3 (all BC549) via resistors R10, R11 and R12 (All 10K). The emitter of these transistors are connected to ground. The collector is connected to +9V via R50 (10K), R51 (100K) and R53 (100K), the collector side of these resistors are connected to IC2 (4052) Pins 6, 10 and 8 respectively, Except for Q1 which also has a line from its collector which goes to the Body suit Team lights via CN4. The chip IC2 (4052) which is dual 4 channel multiplexed. Transistors Q2 and Q3 generate a 2 bit pattern, which gives 4 different outputs on the multiplexed. Q1 acts as the latch control, every time Q1 conducts the data pattern generated by Q2 and Q3 is latched into the multiplexer which then switches the relevant output line. IC2 pins 12, 14, 13, 11 in that order. Logical Bit Patterns PIN 12 1 0 0 0 PIN 14 0 1 0 0 PIN 13 0 0 1 0 PIN 11 0 0 0 1 Q2 0 0 1 1 Q3 0 1 0 1

The output current to these lines is controlled by E3 (2K2 on a red board & 6K8 on a green). The outputs (12, 14, 13 & 11) are fed to the anodes of D5, D7, D9, D11 respectively. The cathodes of these LED are then connected to the anodes of D4, D6, D8 and D10. Who in turn have their cathodes connected to ground. Hit lights (Yellow) not functioning These LEDs are controlled by the main processer IC9 pin 28. This signal is fed via R41 (2K2) into the base of Q6 (BC549). The emitter of this transistor is connected to ground. The collector is then connected to R22 (2K2), R23 (2K2) and to the hitlights on the body suit (via CN4). The other side of R22 and R23 is connected to the cathodes of D20 and D22 respectively. The anodes of these LEDs are connected to the cathodes of D19 and D21. A +9V supply is the connected to the anodes of these two diodes (as you look at the board parts side up, shot emitter on the left, the right pin of D19 connects to the left of D21, this repairs yellow lights not powered on one side of gun). Vibrator not functioning: Both the gun vibrator (if fitted) and the front pack vibrator are controlled by the main CPU (IC9 pin 28) This signal is connected to the gate of Q5 (MTP3055) and to one side of R27 (470K). The other side of R24 is connected to ground thus providing a pull down to ground of the FETS gate when the vibrator is not being used. The +9V supply is connected to one side of the vibrator on the body suit. The other side of the vibrator is brought back to the gun board via the vibrator connector on the body suit and CN4 on the gun board. This return is connected to Q5. The other side of the FET is connected to ground. Hence a logic one (1) appearing on the gate of the FET, causes the FET to conduct, which allows current flow from the +9V supply, through the vibrator, through the FET to ground, causing the motor within the vibrator to run. Gun processor reset circuit: The main CPU is reset when power is first applied to the gun, being unplugged after charging, new fuse fitted etc. The reset signal is applied to pin 1 of the CPU. This line goes low on reset and then returns back to a high state. The reset is generated by two different methods. The newer board (Issue 4 onwards) is described here as these is the main versions in use. Pin 1 is connected to the reset manager, IC12 pin 2. This chip looks like a normal T092 transistor. This connection is also fed to one side of R45 (100K) and C43 (220nF-located under the PCB) The other side of R45 is connected to +5V so providing the pull-up signal when reset is completed. The other side of C43 is connected to ground. This provides extra reset active time ensuring that the new versions of the CPU IC (Motorola changed the CPU design slightly) reset correctly. Pin 1 of IC12 is connected to the +5V supply, and Pin 1 is connected to ground Battery low indicator: If your gun is constantly informing you that it has a low battery, even after a 14 hour charge. Check the voltage across the battery there should be more than 8.8V present. (Test this only with the battery still connected to the gun and the gun powered up). If this is not the case, then check that the charging point that you used is working (the LED will be lit during charging). If everything checks out, but the battery level is below 8.8V then you have more than likely a damaged battery which will require replacement. If the battery level is fine then check that the junction of Q11 (BC558) and R48 (47K) has a voltage around +5V present if it does not then change Q11. Next check the junction of Q10 (BC549) if this is close to 0V then you need to change Q10.

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This is the data stream that is sent to the energiser by the computer in binary form (by Mike Turner):
Team Stun 12 minutes 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11111111 10100101 00000000 00100000 00000000 00000000 11000000 00100000 00000000 00110000 00000000 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Game length 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11111111 10100101 00000000 01100000 00000000 00000000 11000000 00100000 00000000 00110000 00000000 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Solo stun 12minutes

0 11100100 1 CRC? 0 01101010 1 CRC?

165 0 96 Game Options 0 Game Options 2 0 Game Options 4 192 Game Options 3 32 Lives 0 Smartbombs (maybe lower nibble only) max 10 48 Game length minutes 0 Game length seconds both zero end of game download 0 01100101 1 101 CRC? 0 11110001 1 241 CRC?

Game Options bit 0 1 = Separate timing 0 = team timing bit bit bit bit bit 1 2 3 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 = = = = = Solo 0 = Team Defense Shields 0 = No defense shields Spies 0 = No spies Lethal generator No reflex 0 = with reflex

Game Options 2 bit 0 | Shots per second 0 = 1 shot, 1 = 2 shots etc max 6 bit 1 | " bit 2 - " bit 3 | Bonus shots bit 4 | " bit 5 - " bit 6 1 = HQ hit bonus bit 7 1 = 5 Kill bonus 0 = no 5 kill bonus

Game Options 3 1 = Eng, 3 = Stun, 8 = Supercharge, 5 = Eliminator, 4 = battlefield. With stun lives set to 1. +16 if individual timing Red Eng 0 10101010 10 01101100 10 10010011 1 Green Eng 0 10101010 10 01101000 10 10010111 1 0101010101 Gun shot/eng click (85) &H55 0010110101 Gun to eng signal (90) &H5A 0101001011 Eng to gun game settings (165) &HA5 Gun numbers 0 = Ignored (Shots) , 21 = Energiser (Shots) , 22 = Energiser (Shots) , 23 = Base (Good Shot) , 30 = Smartbomb (Shots) , 31 = Ignored (Shots) Byte 1 = Command number Byte 2 = Gun ID Byte 3 = Energise count Byte 4 = Minutes left Byte 5 = Seconds left Byte 6 = Laser shots low byte Byte 7 = Laser shots high byte Byte 8 = Packets to follow extra packets here Byte 9 = CRC Byte 10 = CRC, Byte 11 = all zeros end Extra packet: Byte 1 = Gun number Byte 2 = Number of times shot by it

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Gun Components:
You can buy many Quasar parts from any electronics shop. Some parts you can make yourself, and when you do buy from a Quasar manufacturer make sure you get the best parts.
2.1mm charge socket Available in most Electronics shops MC14499 (P / DW) Display board IC Discontinued, available online if you search Battery pack Make your own instructions in guide

Barrel Divider Any plastic will do Or even card cut to size

7805 Voltage Regulator Converts 12V into +5V Available in Electronics shops

3055 Transistor Available in most Electronics shops

Speaker cover comes in different designs. The less holes the stronger

Gun speaker 8 ohms 25w Available in most Electronics shops

Gun strap Old style has metal clip. Plastic clip is better

Micro-switch Available in most Electronics shops

Laser diode Make your own instructions in guide

Gun Nozzle The solid square style are best

Front & Back plastics These are just project boxes. Available in most electronics shops

Charge point for jack plug. Available in most electronics shops

2 Amp Fuses Available in most electronics shops

Side straps Most hard wearing are the seatbelt design as Shown in the photo

Molex Connectors Available in most electronics shops

Charge lead Jack to 2.1mm You can have this lead made

How to make your own laser

On Ebay or in your local market you should be able to buy a laser pen like the one photographed. By taking this and a 7805 voltage regulator you can have your Quasar gun firing a laser in to time and for very little cost. Discard the various spare lens patterns you get with the laser pen, unscrew its base with the key ring and discard these bits too. Next throw the batteries away; you are left with the laser diode. Saw the metal tube carefully where the spring is to expose the spring, and discard the sawn off metal. Solder a wire to the middle (ground) pin of the 7805 and solder the other end to the spring. Solder a wire from the left leg (input) of the 7805 and attach this to the +ve laser connector on your gun pcb. The ve on the guns molex laser connector has a wire which is soldered to the middle pin of the 7805 (ground). The right leg (output) of the 7805 is connected to the casing of the laser pen. You must fix the laser pens button in so it is always on. This can be done with a cable tie. Finally put some foam pipe lagging around the laser pen to give it size, and if you have a laser tube then fit this snugly inside it so that the laser can sit straight in the gun. Eye Safety: You are responsible for ensuring the correct class laser is fitted.

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The Quasar Guide How to make your battery pack

Quasar guns use a Ni-cad 9.6V, 1400-1800 mAh battery pack. They are expensive to buy from all Quasar manufacturers; however, you do not need to buy these direct from Quasar, for less than half the price you can make your own. Simply run a Google search and plenty of sites will come up. The battery pack contains 8 battery cells which rate at 1.2V each. They are designed for racing cars and remote control boats etc. They do not come with the fuse holder attached, so cut of their connector. Solder the red cable to your fuse holder. Solder a different red wire to another point on your fuse holder and connect the other end to +ve on your molex battery connector. The black cable connects to the ve on your molex battery connector. You can convert 6 battery cell packs which have a 7.2V 1400 1800 mAh rating into 8 cell packs. Just split the pack with a neat break and solder the other cells on. Copper braiding adheres to the battery pack, and scratching the surface makes it easier to solder onto. This requires a hot soldering iron.

Other beneficial adjustments to packs include:

* * * * * Replacing the small circular stickers on the gun to ones which have your gun number on them. Replacing any long bolts on the front pack with shorter ones if they stick out too far, so players arms dont get scratched. Removing the vibrator (this will prolong battery life, and people are seldom aware of the vibrator). Bringing the shot emitter forward on wires and gluing it in place in the gun barrel (this ensure that your gun always shoots straight), See photo below. Making sure the trigger can move sufficiently by cutting the side edges of the red trigger itself, and cutting the gun case as shown below. Make sure you do this on both the top and bottom halves of the gun casing. Bend the metal out slightly on the top of the micro-switch trigger, so that the trigger is sensitive. Move the gun lens to central position both on top and bottom of gun (focusing the beams). Line up barrel receiver. They normally need to be moved horizontally and to have their height lowered. Use tape on the metal plates on the front and back pack to block all of the holes. They allow sweat in. Cable tie in the main CPU and the main Speech IC, by running a cable tie under the IC socket and over the chip. These two chips are the biggest chips and the most likely to get knocked out of their sockets. Some centres have p-clipped string or cord inside the curly cord so that the curly cord is protected from over-stretching. Although not advised you can remove the shoulder pads and gun straps, if they get in your way.

* * * * *

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The Quasar Guide How to Upgrade your Quasar Pack

Using better parts improves your guns performance. Use these parts: Transmitters: Vishay TSA6200. Farnells order code is 3152856. Emitters should be pointed either straight or slightly outwards (particularly on the front and back pack) Receivers: Vishay S186P, can be purchased through Newark (USA), part number 33c1045. Receivers should be bent inwards so that the maximum receiving surface is visible (particularly on front and back pack). Capacitors: You can also replace and upgrade various capacitors to improve sensitivity. Buy high performance capacitors not the cheapest ones. Replace C14 with a 50V 10uF capacitor. Replace C40, C37, C38, and C39 with 63V 1uF capacitors. (They are from the chasing LEDs; they dont make too much difference, but are worth replacing at the same time). Replace C8, C11, C12 and C3 with 16V 100uF capacitors. (Although these capacitors are part of the audio circuit, if they are tired then interference is generated on the IR amplifier, which results in the receive circuit being less sensitive).

How to make your own marshal gun:

A marshal gun is simply a gun not attached to a vest pack. The CPU and main speech chip are replaced with network chips, and inside the gun the red dip switch bank which determines gun number is removed so you are left with just the solder points. Along one side all of the solder points are connected; they are ground. You must run wires from the other side (1 to change team colour normally attached to a switch, one to change the game setting up and one to change the games setting downs these are normally attached to a buttons. A ground wire attaches to the other side of the switches and buttons. Dill small holes in the top of your plastic gun casing and fit the switches and buttons there. You can tell how the game is set by the back display of the marshal gun. The bottom number is the number of minutes the game is set for. You must hold the trigger whilst pressing the switches to move the time up and down. The top number (which is game settings) moves from 0 10. Both 0 and 10 are a deactivate signal. 3 is team stun, 4 solo stun. Another switch on the marshal gun switches team colour. Instead of using a marshal gun you can use any learning remote, (not a pre-programmed one). Some of the more expensive One-4-all's have this function but they are fairly expensive, it's a bit tricky to get the entire energise signal from the energiser. The signal is made up of two halves, and energise ping to which the gun responds, then the energiser sends the rest of the signal. You need both of these signals to get a gun to energise. Q2000 and Quasar Elite use unique energise signals when transmitting to the pack, as a result your signal will only work on that one pack number. This is fine for messing around though, just set all your packs to the same number. Michael Turner sells a minigizer. This looks like a car key fob. It will not work with Q2000, but for Quasar Elite it knows the protocol and removes the unique code within the energise packet so that it will work with any Quasar Elite pack.

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The Quasar Guide A Quasar Gun Board:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Shot emitter IC10 3373 Q12 3055 Laser IC11 (Barrel transmitter) IC8 XL1 Crystal IC9 Main CPU Side Emitter

9. IC3 (3411) 10. TP1 Test point for ground 11. Red LED Chaser 12. Dip Switch Bank 13. Receiver 14. IC5 Main Speech Chip 15. IC6 16. Yellow LED Hit Light

17. Q5 3055 Vibrator circuit 18. IC4 19. D1 Diode 20. IC7 386N Sound amplifier 21. Test point for +9V (maybe pads) 22. IC2 (Gun processor) 23. IC1 7805 Voltage Regulator 24. Q8 3055 Emitting circuit

Q-zar Front Pack Artwork (Just print out and use as inserts)

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Quasar Front Pack Artwork

Quasar Back Pack Artwork

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Quasar Front Pack Moon Artwork for Red and Green

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The Quasar Guide Original Front Pack & Omnitronics Red Front Pack Artwork

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The Quasar Guide Omnitronics Green Front Pack Artwork

Omnitronics Back Pack Artwork

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The Quasar Guide Schematics Gun Display

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The Quasar Guide Schematics Quasar Gun PCB

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The Quasar Guide Schematics Front Pack PCB

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The Quasar Guide Schematics Back pack PCB

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The Quasar Guide Schematics - Game Timer Connections

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The Quasar Guide Schematics Scoreboard LED digits

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The Quasar Guide Schematics Network Box

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Schematics Network Outputs

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The Quasar Guide Schematics Network Units Connections

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The Quasar Guide Schematics Network Part A

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The Quasar Guide Schematics Network Part B

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How to Build a Quasar
Finding a suitable site: Location starts with the country, next the town you are in, and least importantly (although still crucial) your location within that town. An area with a high population with less entertainment centres than there should be is what you are looking for. A bowling centre the other side of town should not affect your income much. Seaside areas have different successful seasons to other centres. Seaside centres tend to have a busy summer, whereas inland centres tend to be quieter over the summer holidays and busier when the schools return. Quasar centres are generally suited to buildings sized 4,000 7,000 sq ft. The arena size of 3,000 sq ft. ; the rest being taken up with briefing room, vesting room, toilets, party room, reception area, arcade machines, toilets, staff room. Ideally try to fit in space for at least 30 people. Which means every section of your centre needs to be big enough to fit 30 people. There is no point in having a party room big enough for 50 and an arena that fits 20. Ground floor rent is higher than 1st floor rent and it is not necessary to have ground floor premises. England has disabled access laws so any 1st floor units must have suitable disabled access. The arena may also be required to have enough room for a wheelchair to move safely around, and disabled toilets will probably be a requirement. Stairs are an arena danger. Ramps or a single floor are safer. D2 Leisure use is the planning required for a Quasar centre in England.

Building the arena: 12mm ply in 8ft by 4ft sheets is strong enough to withstand Quasar play. 4 by 2 sawn timbers make the frames. Through bolts hold the frame to the floor (with concrete flooring), bracing wood is used above. Check what your floor surface is before you start, so you know if you can drill anywhere you like or not. Check to see if you have any constraints, such as overhead structures that will prevent 8ft high walls in places, pipes to avoid drilling into etc. By law you will need a fire alarm system. Heat detectors are best in the arena. You will also need maintained lighting (back-up lights) so if power is cut you can see to get out in an emergency, also maintained fire exit signs. CCTV in the arena is useful, it is good not only from a security point of view, but if you can display even 4 cameras to the public then they feel they can supervise their children. Moreover if you are unlucky enough to have an insurance claim then the footage may help you. A PA system is useful to have in the arena, foyer, and staff room. Useful for calling in games and calling out scores in a busy reception area, useful to call out game start, or to call someone out of the arena, useful in the staff room if you want to speak to a staff member. Also if you had an emergency it is a quick way of contacting people. PA systems need not be expensive. A dehumidifier is recommended in the arena. Moisture not only causes trip hazards, but prevents your packs from getting so much moisture in them. You need plug sockets at a high level for the energisers, bases, UV lighting etc. Centres with a high ceiling require less lighting because they will carry around your maze; if the ceiling is low then you will need more lights dotted around. Avoid bulbs with a short lifespan such as spotlights. Led lighting is good, as are laser lights. Disco lights dont need to be expensive to be effective. Buy a decent smoke machine, its going to be used a lot and they burn out over time. X shaped and T shaped walls are strong. | shaped obstacles arent as strong. If you base your walls around 8ft high by 4ft wide they will be easier to make. If you use irregular measurements your arena will take longer to build. You can use either screws or nails to hold the frames and walls together. Nails are much cheaper. On the energisers you may wish to use screws so you can easily access them if required. Carpet in the arena is generally speaking an expense you can do without; concrete is fine and is less of an insurance risk. Carpet becomes slippery when wet and smoke machines do cause moisture over time. Carpets also wear and can stick up at the edges giving you a trip hazard. Paint the arena matt black. Gloss paint reflects an awful lot, and grey / white paint can make arenas far too bouncy.

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Quasar Artwork: Just by running a Google image search you will find a lot of Quasar images. Here are some of the best ones. These images are included in this private manual as a reference only. You are responsible for making sure you have the correct copyright permission for using any of the images.

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