All Rights Reserved. Rotoball is a copyrighted
work of Ralph Martin Palmer and any copying, distribution or use
without the author's express written permission is
prohibited.
ROTOBALL is the first hybrid sport played on a curvilinear court.
This entirely new sports game is the first Fantasy Sports game
which combines the agility of soccer, the leaping abilities of
basketball, and the body control of gymnastics. It is an "actual"
sport specifically designed to be played on either an indoor or
outdoor court. The game is played with a round ball the size and
resilience of a Size 4 regulation soccer ball. The playing field is
a large court with a flat floor with rounded, oval walls which
curve to an opening at the top.
COURT SHAPE AND DIMENSIONS
The court is 150 feet long from end to end and 90 feet wide at the
middle, its widest point. Large video screens are positioned
strategically around the court for spectators to view important
plays. The players' stats are screened for the immediate game with
calculations for projected game performance in the next quarter.
Historical stats are warehoused in the cloud computer system
residing on the various planets. A referee is stationed outside the
court in a closed circuit monitoring room so he can see the play
and to call the fouls and penalties. The side walls slope up
gradually from the floor so the players can run up the side of the
stadium. At a point about 40 feet above the floor, the walls curve
back in, meeting at the ceiling opening. The court tapers to a
point at either end.
THE OFFICIAL RULES
The game has four quarters of fifteen minutes each. Play begins
with the ball in a specially designed chamber underneath the floor
at midcourt. At the referee's whistle a "face off" between two
opposing characters occurs when the ball is shot straight up into
the air. If the ball is passed or caught by hand, it may not be
carried for more than four steps before being passed, kicked, or
headed (soccer). "Dribbling" is not allowed, although a character
may take 4 steps up a wall without a penalty, as long as his
forward distance does not exceed 12 feet. The ball can be hit with
a fist as in volleyball, thrown like a football or baseball, struck
as a handball, or thrown with both hands.
The goalie can catch the ball, but can not be touched by an
opposing player while holding the ball within the marked nine-foot
semicircle. The goalie can kick, head or throw the ball. When
defending against an attempted goal, only two other players are
allowed inside the nine-foot semicircle with the goalie. This
primary rule for the goalie points out the overall limitation in
hockey because, in hockey, the goalie adds no dimension to the game
other then defense. When defending against an attempted goal, two
other defending players are allowed inside the nine-foot
semicircle. This makes for exciting multi-player game play since a
sub-game is created within each team.
Substitution can be made for any character, but only once a
quarter, starting with the second quarter. The goalie can be
substituted only once in a game. Two thirty-second time outs per
quarter may be taken by each team. There is a two minute break
between quarters, and twenty minutes at half time, where all the
teams retire to their Locker Rooms. The referee may call unlimited
official time outs to permit medical assistance for injured
characters, to repair equipment problems, and to resolve
mechanical, score keeping and time keeping problems.
TEAM GENERATION SCREEN
Next, the player is prompted to pick four characters, two
alternative characters and one goalie from each world on the team
generation screen. A selection of team players will appear along
with a thumbnail sketch of each of their faces. When the player
selects each particular character, his or her statistics pop up on
the screen in the representation as follows:
STRENGTH: How far each character can kick or throw, as well as how
much damage is done when checking an opponent. Also, indicates the
equipment.
SPEED: How fast your character is in relation to other
characters.
ENDURANCE: How much punishment your character can withstand and how
long the character can go without rest.
AGILITY: How accurate your character can shoot, throw and block
shots.
Each of these statistics will dramatically affect the playing and
handling of each character. You may have an extremely fast player,
but with low endurance which will cause him to tire easily. You may
have a very slow but accurate shooting player. Each player has a
recruiting cost. The more gifted the players you recruit, the more
they cost. A possible game cheat code, entered upon booting the
game can allow players to change the statistics. After the players
are chosen, you are given the chance to alter the stats to your
choosing without the other player's knowledge, increasing an
element of random chance to game play. For example, if you decide
you would rather have a player a bit faster, then you may decrease
their strength to raise their speed. All player statistics can be
modified in this way, but if you increase one statistic, you must
lower another one according to the computer's control. Lastly, you
are given a field to enter a name for your newly created team.
After this is done, it's off to the locker rooms and then on to the
curvilinear playing field.
LOCKER ROOM
When you enter the Locker Room a video plays showcasing the first
team which you are competing against and the venue or stadium.
There are a variety of venues to play in, and the better your team
becomes, the more counters to be earned. You are, also, shown how
much of a purse is awarded to the winning team. After the video is
finished, we go inside the Locker Room. You are given the chance to
substitute players or purchase special equipment. Then, you can
enter the Robot Factory Area to construct robots to replace injured
characters or to act as a goalie. You may practice your moves in
the Training Room, without any
limitations.
Providing a multiplayer online computer sports game featuring
alien and interplanetary design elements and incorporating a
"fantasy" or "draft" component with respect to player selection and
team creation. ROTOBALL is the only original sports game in the
history of the internet. It combines different alien worlds and
planets within the backdrop of league play.
Player info will be listed here.
---- The Future of Fantasy Sports ----
An example which combines multiple filter primitives to
produce a 3D lighting effect on a graphic consisting of the string
"SVG" sitting on top of oval filled in red and surrounded by an
oval outlined in red. The Origin World Screen consists of thirteen
icons in the top portion of your game screen. These icons represent
the different virtual worlds or colonies. As you move the cursor to
highlight each world, a 3-D graphic of each planet's indigenous
race is displayed, scrolling basic information about each race.
This screen is where you pick a virtual world to represent your
league team. What is really interesting about my completely
original game is having 6 virtual stadium designs which can be
built on different origin worlds for league play. The result is
competitive advantages for different races within a backdrop of
sport.
Start>
New Game>One Player or Two Player Game>
Team Generation>Locker Room>
Either Save Game and/or Quit or Robot Area and/or Equipment
Store>
1st thru 4th quarters with half time (Traditional football or
basketball timed allotment)
When you start the game, you are given the following options:
1. One Player New Game
2. Two Player New Game
3. Continue Saved Game
TRAINING ROOM
When a player clicks on the Training Room, the doors will open and
take you to a separate screen. This screen resembles a computer
console with a perspective that gives you the feel of looking down
into a locker room. Here players can pick individual characters and
train them. Training allows the players to become familiar with
their controls and each of the individual characters.
MODES
The Training Room offers two modes for players to test out their
characters, Practice Mode and One on One Mode. If a player feels
like practicing, then the PRACTICE MODE can be enabled. Practice
mode places your character in your specially designed stadium with
only a robotic goalie. Here you can practice running and jumping as
well as kicking. The goalie's skill level for the interception of
shots can be set to whatever the player indicates on the control
panel. ONE ON ONE is the quickest way to learn how to control your
character. Here you match your skill against a computer controlled
robot. You can have a very aggressive robot that is not very
skilled. He will be checking your player and causing fouls. You may
also opt to have an opponent that plays a very conservative and
highly skilled game or a defensive game. Any combination can be
entered and played.
ROBOT FACTORY SCREEN
When a player enters the robot factory, you are given the chance to
build a customized robot to add to your team. Robots are completely
computer controlled and are strictly used as goalies or replacement
characters. The robot will automatically respond based on the
server's analysis of the game play. Robots can vary since they can
be creatively designed but they are, also, the most expensive to
recruit The custom choices presented allow the player to build a
robot from the ground up. You can pick out body chassis designs,
physical attachments, locomotion parameters and a neural (TM);
controller. If a player's character unable to recover, the player
has the option to transfer/transform his character into a full
cyborg.
ROBOT CHASSIS DESIGNS
In the advent of a character's death, the player may choose to turn
the deceased character into a cyborg. The ports allow attachments
to be added. A robot with more attachments is a better or a
slightly more dangerous player. The drawback is a decrease in speed
and/or agility.
Argo Mordasn is the new superhero for the internet. Outwardly,
Argo Mordasn presents himself as an action-hero, intensely focused
with a steely gaze. His experiences have molded him into an
opponent of evil wherever he finds it! When Mordasn speaks, his
extreme intelligence and deductive powers force all to listen to
him. His brilliant mind, with scientific training from Lord
Dunsburrough, intuitively understands all around him very clearly
and precisely. This intellect makes him the natural leader. His
intellect, however, is offset by his humanitarian nature which is
the driving force in all his actions. As an action hero, Mordasn is
very decisive, often intuitive and making the exact move necessary
to win. He has extremely rapid reflexes, often allowing him to
escape most dangerous situations at the last second. He is a
skilled fighter who is supernaturally calm in battle. When not
fighting, Mordasn can be relaxed and affable with the rest of his
ROTOBALL team, each of whom has a deep loyalty and respect for him.
He has affectionate knicknames for each, and, occasionally,
reminisces with his personal stories, showing his true comic
nature.
