Just yesterday, I headed over to Danga City Mall at Johor Bahru to try out paintball for the first time.
INTRODUCTION
Paintball is a live combat "shooting" scenario played using specialized "rlfles" called markers. It's not considered actually "shooting" people, you mark them with paint. That's why the weapons are called markers.
KNOW THE RISKS
Before you start, they usually ask you to sign a form to acknowledge you know the risks of paintball - including permanent disability and death. Thats sounds scary but if you sit up and listen during the briefing and learn what to do what not to do, theres actually minimal risk involved. Far from permanent disability and death at least.
Paintball is a pretty painful game. The rounds are spheres with paint inside them that explode on impact. From what I remember during the briefing, those are shot at 260m/s - enough to make your eyeball burst in a direct hit. Which is why rental of their specialized equipment is necessary.
All these would usually be repeated again when you're being briefed. They always nag to never ever remove the masks. Be careful where you point the gun once the safety catch is off. And many others...
To give you an idea what you'll be bringing home from paintball, I got a a few cuts on my left hand but when the shell of the rounds exploded and cut in. One of us got cut pretty badly from a shot in terms of surface area, not depth. It'll heal but still, we were a little shocked to see a bloody patch on the back of her hand. She still continued playing after that though. The rest went home with multiple bruises that swelled pretty nicely but went down in size in 6 hours so it's actually nothing serious.
ATTIRE
We checked out stuff like how to get there, how paintball was actually like and other things. But it wasn't till the very last minute (a day before actually) that I realised, I didn't know what we should wear. There are specialised equipment that normal casual gamers wouldn't have - paintball shoes, neck guards, etc... But all those weren't necessary. In actual fact, we didn't have to prepare much at all.
My primary concern was how to avoid spending my weekend scrubbing off paint. It turns out that the paint are very water soluble and are easy to wash out. Despite that, some use cheap paint that might stain slightly if your clothes are too lightly coloured. Therefore, always wear dark colours. They could never stain your stuff if they are dark enough.
When going to a casual paintball field, the following would be provided/rented to you - a jumper suit, a vest, a face mask and of course all equipment associated with actually marking people.
Since the jumper is provided, the only thing you should be wary of getting stained is actually your shoes. I wore black Converse sneakers that day and nothing happened to it. The canvas part weren't stained, the white rubber parts could be wiped clean in a jiffy.
Regarding the face mask: IT IS OKAY TO WEAR SPECTACLES!
They have a different face mask to cater for these people. My friend's glasses were pretty huge but they still fit. The masks are adjustable so if you do it right, they should be comfortable throughout the game.
HOW TO PLAY
Lol, honestly I don't think I can write much about it because I myself was just trying my best to aim and shoot. Sure we did discuss strategies at the start but they are always constantly changing throughout the game.
As a general rule, I found that moving in pairs is always better. We've been hit in a back a couple of times in our anxiousness to proceed forward. They move one whole round to get to the back so someone should stay behind another partner to cover him.
Also don't be afraid to get hit because although it is painful to get it. It is bearable and you'd feel your money is more worthwhile than playing defensively. You came to have fun right?
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