Dodgeball

Dodgeball is a TF2 gameplay mod which was originally developed by Voogru as a private Metamod extension and was then made into a public Sourcemod Plug-in by Asherkin. It is played on maps that have been purposely created or altered for the gamemode.

Gameplay

In Dodgeball, players play as the Pyro and use the Flamethrower's Compression Blast ability. Rockets and occasional nuclear bombs are fired from a determined spot in the map.

These projectiles are designed to follow one targeted player until it has been deflected by an airblast. When the projectile is airblasted, its affinity and color changes and it targets a random player on the opposite team, gaining speed with each deflection, until one or more players are killed.

Gameplay continues until one team is eliminated entirely. Players are usually continuously supplied with ammunition via the map or a custom Flamethrower, depending on the server, however this does not always occur.

The larger, but slower "nuke" rockets usually appear in the form of the bomb attached to most Payload carts. These bombs can have devastating effects if the player fails to successfully deflect them, often killing multiple players, leading them to be the primary focus of a team when reflecting.

The design of Dodgeball maps can differ greatly in theme and style, though is often centred around a large open area with a gap or obstacle separating the two teams. Some maps will allow the teams to interact more closely, though this can lead to players juggling opponents or blasting them into environmental damage, something which is generally frowned upon.

Servers running maps which allow opposite teams to reach each other will often change the Flamethrower's properties to negate any burn damage players may attempt to cause. They may often restrict players to their primary weapon for the same reason.

Some servers and maps allow players the use of all of their weapons, in which case the flaregun can be used to destroy rockets and nukes.

On some servers the number of rockets in play at a time is limited to a set number of rockets. E.g. 2 rockets active, etc.

Variants

Speed Dodgeball is a variant on the original multiple rocket dodgeball. In speed dodgeball there is only one rocket on the field at a time and reflecting it each time speeds it up. This makes it more fast paced than normal dodgeball requiring different strategy.

Rockets are most commonly dispensed but occasionally nukes come into play. Some maps provide nuke only gameplay also.

Strategy

• 'Orbiting' is a technique where the player moves in a tight circle as rockets approach, causing them to 'orbit' the player. This allows players to manage multiple rockets and reflect them back at a more strategic moment.
  • Depending on the server/map, the nukes deal self knockback but not damage. If this is the case, you can airblast an orbiting nuke into the ground for a massive jump across the map, known as a nuke jump
• Keep an eye out for rockets approaching from your blind spots, or from behind.
• Try to spread out. Nukes kill everyone in a large area, and you don't want to get caught in the radius of someone else's missed air blast.
  • Conversely - try to help your teammates out. Just because it is aiming for them, doesn't mean you can't blast it out of the way for them.