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Scenario paintball is a colloquialism used to represent a diverse array of paintball events that encompass many themes that may include historical re-enactments, movies, current pop culture, futuristic or video game simulations, and more. Others have no theme at all. They frequently feature game mechanics such as "medics" and "snipers" and "helicopters" carried out through various simulations. The common denominator for this type of play is anywhere from 75 to 5000 players, with at least 6 hours of continuous play. These events average 12 hours of game play across a weekend in 2 major play periods. The longest and most challenging events run 24 hours straight with no breaks, with elite players covering ultra marathon distances. Instead of playing on a single field at a venue, all fields are combined into one continuous playable area. To further enhance the theme of a game, field locations may be named for important story locations, and props of various sorts are added to the game. These may be objects that players collect for points, or even vehicles that take part in the fighting, like paintball tanks. Players may don costumes specific to the theme, such as historic military uniforms or other costumes.
These events are best broken into sub-categories.
A Big Game is a type of scenario game that revolves around territory control with very few specific tasks given to players. They may or may not have a theme. These are designed for paintball first and foremost, but sometimes feature simulations. As player density at events increases, the tactics become increasingly Napoleonic, moving principal masses of players into perceived weak points to gain territory.
A Paintball Scenario is a type of scenario game that revolves around 2 large sides of players performing specific tasks. These tasks at their core are designed to entertain players and encourage paint consumption by placing 2 relatively balanced teams in the same place at the same time. The tasks can be very simple such as a "take and hold" of territory on field, or very complex involving many locations, role-playing, mini games, and more. Game tasks are distributed by giving the task to an assigned commander for the team, who chooses players to carry out the task. Sometimes these tasks are simply put on a poster for all to see.
A Scenario Paintball event is an immersive gaming experience that puts the theme, story line, role-playing, and simulation experiences above the paintball play. These events feature the most players in costumes, often with a bevy of melee weapons and unique experiences. These games may include escape rooms, large numbers of props, extensive simulations, and even open-world game play features.
A Real Time Tactical event is a mixture of Big Game play and video game Real Time Strategy game mechanics. Players use the event mobile app's Augmented Reality features to capture territory, build virtual structures, upgrade their forces, unlock special powers, and score points. Advanced game mechanics including capturing territory based on player GPS proximity, RGB light indicators on control points, image recognition, Heads Up Display compatibility, and AI content distribution.
A Battle Royale event plays the same as video game Battle Royales. Using the event's mobile app, players play over an increasingly shrinking playing field until only 1 person or team is left standing.
Scenario events are usually planned far in advance, both by the event "producers" or fields, and by the players themselves. Players may form large, lasting networks of players and teams that play together year after year in a specific scenario. These organizations help plan game strategy and direct their groups on the field and offer a level of organization beyond the basic two-sided team play.
Modern events may feature many different playing styles in a single weekend, featuring Battle Royale games, A Big Game, and a Paintball Scenario across 3 days.
Like all forms of paintball, scenario paintball has a very good per-capita safety record. Due to longer play times, heat-related injuries are one of the more common injuries in scenario paintball. Many players often carry 1- to 3-liter water bladders, allowing players to drink water without removing their safety masks, to combat heat and dehydration.