Q-Zar (called Quasar in Ireland and the UK) is a type of lasertag that was developed in Ireland.
Basic Rules
Like other lasertag games, Q-Zar is played with a gun (or "phaser") that fires harmless beams of light that are detected by equipment worn by the players. The basic mechanism of the game revolves around shooting (called tagging) each other or stationary objects.
The standard game of Q-Zar involves two teams: the red team and the green team. Each team as a Headquarters (or HQ) to defend from the other team. The goal of the game is to score the most points for the team. The fastest way to do this is to deactivate the opponent's HQ. This is done by entering the opponent's HQ and tagging it twice. Players may also tag members of the other team for points. Whichever team has the most points at the end of the game wins.
If a player is tagged by an opponent, a few things happen. The pack vibrates, makes a special noise and the player who has been tagged has a window of one second to fire off a shot (called a Reflex Shot) before the penalty sequence kicks in. After the one second has passed, the six second penalty sequence starts. The phaser says "Defense Shield, Active Active" for the first 3 seconds. For this period, the player may not be tagged and may not tag other people. For the final three seconds, the phaser says "Warning, Warning, Warning." For this period, a player may be tagged, but may not tag other people. If a player is tagged during Warning, the entire process starts over (including getting a 1 second reflex tag).
The back of the phaser has a simple LCD display. When a pack is off, there is a number over a "U" showing. The number is the pack's ID number. The U means that the pack is "Un-energized." When a pack is on during normal play, the top number is the number of lives remaining, the bottom is the number of shots (when a player is out of shots, they lose a life, also, getting a "Good Shot" resets the shot counter). When a player re-energizes, the display shows how many times the player has energized. When a player is out of lives, the display flashes the amount of time left in the game. If a player holds the trigger down for three seconds, the display will show the time remaining.
Parts of the Q-Zar System
- Packs are the main component of the Q-Zar system. They are the vest and the phaser unit and they are worn by all players in the game. Packs store information about players and allow players to play the game.
- Network boxes may be configured in one of three ways. As an Energizer, Network Boxes transmit game data between packs and the main computer. They also allow players to gain more lives depending on the game setup. They may also be set as Headquarters for teams to attack and defend. Network Boxes may also be set as Bombs used to attack the other team.
- Scoreboards display scores and the time left in the game.
- PCQ Software is used to set up games, track scores, and print out scorecards.
Types of Q-Zar Games
- Energize is the standard game of Q-Zar. Each player is given a certain number of lives depending on the game (for example, in Energize 6, each player has 6 lives). If a player runs out of lives, they may go to an Energizer of their color and gain another set of lives.
- Supercharge is played in the exact same way as Energizer, except that HQs may not be tagged until players are Supercharged. To become Supercharged, a player must tag 5 opponents (and the phaser must say "Good Shot" each time). When a player is supercharged, the following things happen:
- The phaser says "A-A-Active."
- All lives are gained back.
- All lights start to flash on the player's pack.
- Each pull of the trigger will cause three shots instead of one.
- If a player is tagged by an opponent, he or she will lose Supercharge status.
- Eliminator is exactly what it sounds like. A player gets a certain amount of lives to play with. Once that player is out of lives, that player is out of the game. Lives are given one at a time, so players must return to the Energizer once they are tagged by an opponent. Players also gain a life by getting a "Good Shot."
- Stun is exactly like Energize except players get infinite lives.
- Battlefield is a game where unused packs are energized as mines and placed around the arena. They fire shots at nearby players every couple of seconds.
Q-Zar Game Options
The Q-Zar software has many built in options that can be used in combination with the main game types above to create many different types of games.
- Solo/Spies set the way teams are sorted. In a game of Solo, there are no teams. Players may tag players of any color, they may re-energize at any colored energizer and they may deactivate either color HQ. In spies, the computer chooses a random 2-minute interval for each player for them to be "spy." When a player is a Spy, they may tag any player (their team or not) for points. Spys may also be tagged by their own team. Players will know when they are spy because the pack will make a higher pitched sound when firing and the display will have four "U"s on it. Spies and Solo are mutually exclusive. (Defaults to OFF)
- No Reflex Shot does exactly what it sounds like. This option turns off the reflex shot. (Defaults to OFF)
- No Defense Shield turns off the 6 second penalty. (Defaults to OFF)
- Bombs allow players to hold down the trigger for three seconds to fire a bomb. Bombs will hit any players nearby. (Defaults to OFF)
- HQ Reset Time is minimum amount of time between HQ deactivations. (Defaults to 30 seconds)
- HQ Delay Time is maximum amount of time between the two shots required to deactivate the HQ. (Defaults to 2 seconds)
- Shots per Second sets how many shots can be fired in one second. (Defaults to 1).
Q-Zar Tips and Tricks
Q-Zar has many little tricks well-known to advanced players.
- Doubling takes two lifes off of an opponent. Doubling requires precise timing by one or two people.
- Clearing/Donging is one of the most used team techniques. If a teammate is in his or her "Warning" phase, tagging the teammate will immediately clear that player's pack to normal. This, however, costs points. It is sometimes called donging because of the sound the packs make when they are tagged by teammates.
- Canceling exploits the fact that Q-Zar packs use the same wire to transmit and recieve information. This means that they can not fire and be hit at the same time. If a player pulls the trigger at the same time they are tagged (even if the player does not tag anyone), the pack does not detect the incoming signal.
- Setting exploits the fact that shots are a simple Infrared signal. This means that they will reflect off of shiny surfaces, including (but not limited to) skin, bright walls and the packs themselves. Players can use this trick to fire shots around walls.
- Fun Mode/Kiddie Mode is a set of alternative sounds for Q-Zar. It is seen as annoying by most players.
