~B~1GravBall Documentation~2~B

GravBall is a soccer-like game of the future.  Contestants ride hover-bikes that are capable of firing a wide variety of weapons.  The object of the game is to score the ball in the enemy's goal.  When you first enter the arena, you will be in spectator mode watching the current game in action.  Your point of view will automatically follow the ball (pressing the Tab key will switch between balls if there are multiple balls in play).  You can join the game at any time by pressing F12.

Upon entering the game, you will automatically be assigned to the weaker (player-count-wise) of the two teams.  You will not be able to manually switch teams if it would make the teams lopsided.  You can view the overall map of the arena by pressing F3.  The goals are located on the far left and far right sides of the arena and can be identified by their distinct and bright floor coloring.  You defend the goal that is the same color as your hover-bike and try to score in the other goal.  So, if you are on a blue hover-bike, you will try to place the ball in the green goal.  Typically when you first enter the game, you will want to look at your hover-bike color and determine which direction you should be trying to go (hitting F3 to view the map makes determining which direction you should go easier).  In the Pirates versus Kings zone, the Pirates are riding blue bikes and try to move the ball to the right; the Kings are riding green bikes and try to move the ball to the left.

Games are played on a win-by-3 basis and will continue until one of the teams outscores the other by 3 goals.  At the end of the game, a breakdown of your performance will be displayed.  Additionally, the leading player in each tracked statistic will be displayed.  Additionally, an MVP (most valuable player) will be selected for the game.  The MVP is determined by a weighted formula encompassing a players performance in all the different statistical areas.  For example, scoring goals, stealing balls from enemies, and killing enemies will all result in a better MVP score.  During the course of the game, the player with the most MVP points will be displayed at the top of the screen.  Additionally, your performance relative to that top player will be displayed.

To make tracking the ball(s) easier, they will appear as white-dots on the radar and map screens.  If they are being carried by a teammate, they will flash yellow on radar, if an enemy is carrying them they will flash red.  If the ball is off your radar screen, an arrow will appear along the edge of the radar indicating which direction the ball is.  (The arrow will be placed on the radar edge collinear with the line that connects your personal radar dot to the actual ball location.)

To pick up a ball that is not currently being carried, you need only run over it with your hover-bike.  You will then be allowed to carry it for up to 12 seconds.  After 12 seconds, the ball will automatically be lobbed forward.  You typically should not wait for the ball to auto-throw, most of the time you will want to manually throw it before the timer expires.  There are two types of manual throws, the lob-throw (primary-weapon (ctrl key)) and the short-pass (secondary weapon (tab key)).  The lob-throw is a longer throw that will fly over things; the short-pass is a ground-based throw that is typically used when doing short passes to teammates (similar to soccer).

Every hover-bike has 600 units of energy.  Energy is used for firing weapons and shielding.  Energy is constantly recharging, so when you fire a weapon, your energy will go down, but will quickly replenish itself.  If an enemy bomb hits you, the damage will be in the form of an energy drain.  If the bomb drains your energy below 0, you will be killed.  You will auto-respawn in the middle of the arena with a new bike 8 seconds later.

There are a variety of weapons available to aid you in moving the ball and stopping the enemy.  Every hover-bike is always equipped with a Pulse Gun, Fusion Bomb, AP Mine, and Battle Warp.  Additionally in some GravBall zones, hover-bikes also start out equipped with a Hopper (in other zones, the Hopper is a prize that you must pickup).  Weapons that shoot out projectiles will not hit teammates, though they may damage teammates if they explode nearby.  The following are the standard-equipment items for the hover-bike:

~B~4Pulse Gun~2~B - This is the primary weapon (ctrl-key) and light-damage weapon.  It is typically used when in close proximity to the enemy such that you don't damage yourself or teammates who are nearby.  This weapon cannot be used while carrying the ball and the keystroke that fires this weapon will lob-throw the ball when you are carrying it.

~B~4Fusion Bomb~2~B - This is the secondary weapon (tab-key) and causes heavy area damage when it explodes.  Everybody in the explosion radius will be damaged, so be careful to not fire it at enemies who are close to you or your teammates.  This weapon cannot be used while carrying the ball and the keystroke that fires this weapon will short-pass the ball when you are carrying it.

~B~4AP Mine~2~B - This is similar to the Fusion Bomb in that it causes area damage, so you will want to make sure you have time to get away from the landmine before the enemy rides over it and sets it off.  You are only allowed to have two active mines at a time.  There is also a team-limit to the number of mines that can be active at one time.  By default this weapon is assigned the shift-tab key.

~B~4Battle Warp~2~B - This is used to warp you back to the center the arena at any time.  It takes a lot of energy (400 units) in order to warp.  You cannot use the warp while carrying the ball.  By default, the Battle Warp is assigned to the F7 key.  (note: In GravBall, all warps will take you roughly back to the center of the map, but they will also slightly favor the defensive position -- ie. You will tend to warp closer to the goal you are defending.)

~B~4Hopper~2~B - This fires a downward thrust causing your hover-bike to jump up in the air.  Jumping in the air is useful for doing things such as hopping over short walls, hopping over incoming bombs, or elevating yourself such that you can more easily throw over the enemy.  There are 3 wall-heights in GravBall: short, medium, and tall.  The short-walls can be easily hopped with one hopper-thrust.  The medium walls are a bit more complicated.  When you come down from a hop, you will bounce slightly off the ground.  If you hit the hopper-thrust a second time just as you are bouncing, you will tend to go a little bit higher than the time before.  This extra height is just enough to allow you to hop over medium walls if you time it correctly.  It turns out that the timing delay between being able to successively fire the hopper is such that you can simple keep the hopper-key held down and it will automatically time the second firing of the hopper correctly.  Tall walls are infinitely tall for all practical purposes and can never be hopped or have the ball thrown over them.  By default, the Hopper is assigned to the HOME key.

In addition to the standard-equipment listed above, there is also several limited-use weapons and upgrades that can be acquired.  Different prizes will be randomly scattered around the level.  You need only run over these prizes with your hover-bike to pick them up.  The following prizes can be found:

~B~4Octane~2~B - This prize will increase the top-end speed of your hover-bike.  The first time you pick up one of these prizes, you will be upgraded to a Super Hover-bike.  The second time you will be upgraded to a Hyper Hover-bike.  The third time you will be upgraded to a Bezerk Hover-bike.  After you have picked up three octanes, picking up more will have no effect on your hover-bike's speed.  You will also notice your hover-bike gets slightly brighter in color as it is upgraded, making you more of a target.

~B~4Repel~2~B - This is one of the most useful and abundant prizes in the game.  When the repel is fired, all weapons and enemies nearby are thrown away from you; the repel causes no damage and does not effect teammates.  It is used to protect you from incoming bombs or an attacking enemy.  It is also heavily used in jockeying for position - often times you will repel an enemy away from the ball or just as they are preparing to pass.  By default the Repel is assigned to the shift-ctrl key.  When you die and respawn you start out with 2 repels in inventory.  You are allowed to carry a maximum of 3 repels at a time.

~B~4Panic Disruptor~2~B - This weapon is very similar to the repel only instead of exploding immediately on top of yourself as the repel does, it fires forward at a very fast rate and explodes when it hits into something.  Like the repel, the explosion does no damage, but instead repels the enemy away from the explosion.  Unlike the repel, weapons in the area are unaffected by the repulsive explosion.  This weapon is typically used to slow down an enemy who has managed to get ahead of you.  By default, the Panic Disruptor is assigned to the F5 key.  When you die and respawn you start out with 1 Panic Disruptor in inventory.  You are allowed to carry a maximum of two at a time.

~B~4Rocket Rain~2~B - This weapon is a powerful set of 3 rockets that move very fast and cause heavy damage.  They are very rare compared to other prizes and you are only allowed to carry one of them at a time.  By default the Rocket Rain is assigned to the F6 key.

~B~4Immobilizer~2~B - This weapon fires forward at high speed and immobilizes the enemy when it hits them, that is, it shuts down their engines and prevents them from thrusting.  Unlike any other weapon, this weapon is capable of flying through walls.  You are only allowed to carry one of them at a time.  By default the Immobilizer is assigned to the F8 key.

~B~4Stunner~2~B - This weapon fires forward at high speed and stuns the enemy, preventing them from being able to pickup the ball momentarily.  Additionally, if they are already carrying the ball, it reduces their throw timer, often resulting in them immediately auto-throwing the ball.  You are only allowed to carry one of them at a time.  By default the Stunner is assigned to the Alt-1 key.

~B~4Chucker/Hucker~2~B - This item is used to lob the ball extra far.  The first time you pickup the prize, it will give you a Chucker, the second time it will upgrade your Chucker to a Hucker.  The Hucker is the same as the Chucker only it throws even further.  You are only allowed to carry one of them at a time.  By default they are assigned to the Alt-2 key and only work while you are carrying the ball.

~B~4Jammer~2~B - This weapon shoots a rear-firing projectile that jams the enemy and prevents them from using any of their weapon or inventory-items for several seconds (including the Hopper).  You are allowed to carry up to two jammers at a time.  By default the Jammer is assigned to the End key.

~B~4Rapid Fire~2~B - This prize will upgrade your Fusion Bomb into an RF Bomb.  The RF Bomb is identical to the Fusion Bomb only it has a faster firing rate.  The faster firing rate is a double-edged sword however as the faster firing rates tends to drain your energy very quickly, leaving you vulnerable to attack.