Category:Basic Terms and Understandings

Welcome! This page contains the basics that one needs to know to embark their journey on playing Team Fortress Dodge Ball.

Chapter 1: Movement and Viewing
Moving: Basic movement in the game. You will have to use your basic arrow keys on your keypad. They are either Up, Down, Left or Right (W, S, A and D respectively). It is often important to get familiarised with the keys as, when the battle gets more complicated and suspenseful, you will have to glue your eyes to the screen as well as rely on your natural senses to consistently progress in the fight.

View: Your mouse (or mousepad if you really want to use it) helps to control your vision. You can move left or right, up or down, depending on the movement of your mouse. Like "moving", it is important to get familiarised with these as the skills you are going to learn requires mastery of these.

First-Person: The basic vision that one would be in when they first enter the server is known as First-Person vision, that is, your vision is limited to only your weapon (sometimes with your hands holding it) and an approximate 180 degree view in front of you.

Third-Person: Some servers allow players to enter Third-Person vision, that is, your vision is extended to your whole body and weapon, with a 360 degree sight around your body, of which your back view is partially limited to just the view of the peripheral of your back and not the extended view like that of your front view (self-explanatory when you experience it yourself).

To activate this vision, simply go to the chat box and type "/tp" or "/thirdperson". You may also use the developer's console and do the same. Do note that certain servers have different modes of activation and some servers simply do not allow you to use it at all. A comfirmation that you have shifted to thirdperson view is usually shown once you have inserted the command.

View Choice: Choosing the right view (first-person mode or third-person mode) is all up to personal preferences.

- By choosing First-Person, your accuracy is usually higher than the other as your view is direct and in-line with the rockets that are going to fly towards you. Hence, you are able to make better aiming than that of Third-Person. Given that the accuracy is potentially higher, certain skills in TFDB may affect this, such as "Worming" or "Heaven".

- By choosing Third-Person, your view is largely extended, and with that, it creates a better confidence in your gameplay as you know perfectly where the rockets are travelling around you. In skills such as "juggling", you are able to do so with ease, knowing that the rockets are orbitting you, rather than First-Person whereby you have a "blind" backview.

- In any case, both modes have an equal chance of succession. It all depends on the player's preferences. To me, Third-Person suits me best as it builds up better confidence, and an easier way to take out rockets from above.

Pyroland Vision:  Also known as your goggle vision, the pyroland vision is named after the Pyromania update in TF2 whereby equipping the Pyrovision Goggles (usually given out free in Vintage quality when logged on during the update) allows you to view everything in the world pictured in the Pyro's eyes. Its application in TFDB simply transforms the rockets' hind trajectory effect, changing it from the smoky view into that of random bubbles and sparkles. This usually aids in reducing lag for several players as well as ease of sight, especially when juggling/orbiting (since the rockets will be flying past you, it is preferred to see small bubbles and glimmer rather than the blanket of haze from the trailing smoke). Some servers would have implemented this effect regardless if the player has equipped the goggles or not.

Chapter 2: Basic Terms
Terms are especially important in terms of communication between players for ease. Different servers have different names towards these terms. Some servers may have implemented special types of rockets, such as the wiggle rocket, which follows a strange trajectory and is much difficult to deflect. These rockets are usually treated as a nuisance sometimes as juggling it becomes difficult and the speed of it is different than that of normal rockets, not to mention that trolls of the community would simply "hug" it to purposefully cause friendly fire.
 * 1) Spawn : The "Spawn" is the FIRST projectile that comes out from the spawn point. If the spawn has been air-blasted, it is no longer considered as a spawn. Spawns can come in the form of either a rocket or a nuke.
 * 2) Rocket: The basic, normal rocket projectile similar to that fired from a Soldier's Rocket Launcher. This projectile is sent out from the spawning area as a "spawn" rocket. It can be fired back with the Pyro's Primary Weapon, the Flame Thrower, by right-clicking (initiating the flamethrower's secondary function) to release an air-blast that sends the rocket away to another opposition player of your target. These projectiles are (usually) automatically crit-boosted. The color of the rocket changes from red to blue and vice versa depending on which player from which team air-blasts the rocket. (E.g. A red rocket will move towards the red-team player. When the red-team player air-blasts the rocket, it will turn into a blue-coloured projectile, aiming instead to a blue-team player.) These rockets are like homing rockets, and will always go towards the player it is directed to unless an obstacle is in the way.
 * 1) Nuke : A large spawn that comes out rarely, in-between times of gameplay. Nukes takes the shape of a Payload Cart Bomb and are either red or blue in colour, denoting the player in which it is targetting. Certain servers will replace the image with a piece of cake (commonly identified as "KEK") for the fun of it. Cakes have a rather unique mode of travel as they usually take a longer time than Payload Bombs by swaying around unnecessarily and accelerating unusually. These nukes, when deployed on the player when the player does not air-blast it in time, will explode with a large explosion, affecting nearby friendly players. It may also kill an opposition player who gets too close.

If you see an 'ERROR" sign, it could mean that your computer did not properly install the model of the nuke properly. Firstly, the rocket seeks the nearest player towards your aim. If another enemy player gets too close to your aim, you may redirect to that person unintentionally. A slight shift in your aim when you are air-blasting can also unintentionally cause a redirection.
 * 1) Air-Blast (AB) : Also called a "deflection", an air-blast is the Pyro's Primary Weapon's secondary function. By right-clicking with the primary weapon in hand, it creates a large, compressed burst of air that reflects projectiles that come near the player. In certain servers, air-blasting can be used to push other players into the air to either distract them or to kill them via environmental death (e.g. air-blast into a pit) or by interrupting their juggling motion.
 * 2) Intercept (Inter): An intercept is performed when a player air-blasts a rocket that is not aimed at them, but at another target. To intercept, players are commonly gathered in the middle of the map that separates the "Blu's" from the "Red's". When any opposing rockets fly past them (aiming towards a player behind them), they will attempt to air-blast the rockets away. This is considered as "assisting" the player, but at certain times it proves to be annoying as no points are rewarded to the players who got intercepted (in other words, Kill Steal or KS). This is not to be confused with "middling".
 * 3) Middling (Middle): Middling is performed when two players (or more), one from each team, gathers at the spawn point in a showdown to fight with each other. When the spawn is released, the two will attempt to air-blast the rocket in quick successions, trying to put the other player in a tragic death by the fast speeds of the rocket. Unlike intercepts, middling strictly involves only those who are in the middle and the initiation of the battle must ONLY come from the spawn. Otherwise, it is an intercept.
 * 4) Side-Stab (SS): A side-stab is performed when a player aims the rocket towards a player towards the side, usually at about 90 degrees from the front view, either left or right. As players, especially in a first-person view, have very limited side view, a side-stab is proven effective in taking down players since most of the time, the players' concentration are fixed on just the front view (since you are unable to view your sides). Side-stab can prove to be annoying as several players believe that side-stabbing is a "cheap" method in killing opposition players since the battle usually involves frontal combat, and not the unsuspected side battles due to the handicapped limitation of being unable to view your sides.
 * 5) Under: An under is performed by aiming the rocket downwards into a hole/abyss of some sort, below the average platform that the players stand on. The rocket will then fly under the platform the enemy members are standing on, and begin worming against the underside of the platform. If the unsuspecting enemy tries to cross to another platform, or stands too close to the edge, he/she might get a nasty surprise from beneath. Certain unders can be annoying as, like side-stab, is considered as a "cheap" method of killing, and may also waste opportunities of having a rocket to battle with.
 * 6) Redirecting (RDR): A redirection is performed when your aim is shifted towards another player and the rocket is aimed at him/her rather than the one that gave you the rocket. Usually in peaceful matches, battles are only made between 2 players. If you aim your rocket towards a third party, you are essentially redirecting. Some consider this as a nuisance since battling is best done between two players and should not be interrupted by giving the rocket to someone else who may be waiting for a proper battle or is battling. Having said that, however, redirecting may sometimes be inevitable as a variety of factors trigger a redirection.

Redirecting is usually allowed when you are the last person alive in your team, but it is usually suicide to do so as you might be giving yourself more targets to look out for, ultimately ending in your demise.
 * 1) Leak: A leak is performed when 2 or more rockets aim a single target. The single target can only die from one rocket and hence, the other rockets are redirected to other players by random if the player dies. This is known as a leak.
 * 2) Split: A split is performed when 2 or more rockets are involved. When one player air-blasts the pair, chances are it may only affect 1 rockets as the other is not in the radius. Hence, it will split as one rocket is given back but one remains, targeting the player. In rare occasions, by performing a "heaven", you may unintentionally split two or more rockets.
 * 3) Crossing: A cross is performed when a player of a team moves to another team's territory. This, towards many players, are a nuisance as the chances of backstabbing is highly possible, which is considered a cheap method by many.
 * 4) Blocking: A block is performed when a player walks into the trajectory of the rocket from the same team. The rocket explodes when it hits the player of the same team. This is considered, at certain times, a nuisance as sometimes, when sparring with incredibly fast rockets, it would be a shame to find out that the rocket explodes suddenly, making it a waste.
 * NOTE: Blocking may also refer to someone blocking someone else of a different team in their line of motion. That means that when someone from the BLU team is juggling, a RED team player blocks his juggle by standing close to him. This forces the BLU player to not move in his/her desired motion and hence, easily killed by the rocket he/she juggles.

Chapter 3: What Happens in the Game
(This contains certain spoilers to the game)

Phase 1: Connection: Once you are connected, it will be like any other server's beginnings; you are shown to the class-selection and team-selection screens to choose your specific options. This time, however, you can only choose to play as the Pyro as the other classes are not allowed; they do not have the ability to reflect rockets.

Phase 2: Entering Timer: When the map officially starts (just finished switching maps), there will be a 15 second timer for any last minute players to enter the server before the game starts. This is a good time to adjust your views if you are a Third-Person user. Otherwise, you will start as First-Person.

Phase 3: Match Initiation Countdown: Once the timer ends, there will be another countdown to begin the match. The countdown varies depending on which server. Some servers will only have 5 seconds, while some other might have 10 seconds or so. You will be spawned onto your spawn point where you and your other teammates are, but "frozen" or cannot move.

Phase 4: Match Begins: Once that timer ends, the match begins. You will be able to move freely around like a normal Pyro in any game. You can use your primary weapons only as your secondary and tertiarry weapons will be disabled. However, do note that the effects that the equipment brings are not affected.

With your primary weapon, you can use your primary attack (releasing a large flame to burn enemies) but it will not affect anyone, and is not visible by any other player. This is because your primary attack has no objective in the game. You can use your secondary attack to reflect rockets that come pass you.

In certain servers, you can use your secondary attack as an offensive tool to send enemies away from you, to make them "fly" or to kill them via environmental death.

In a nutshell, your weapons are modified as so: In certain servers, a rocket or nuke would spawn immediately once the timer ends. Other servers will have a 3 second delay before the first rocket is spawned. Subsequently, there will be a rocket (or nuke) spawned every 2-4 seconds after the first spawn, depending on, once again, the server's mechanism. Some servers will only have all rockets, some servers would have all nukes.
 * + Unlimited Ammunition for Primary Weapon (some servers do not have unlimited ammunition, though)
 * - Other Weapons Disabled or are Nerfed of the Ability to Attack (some servers allow killing via other means, however)
 * - Primary Weapon's Primary Attack Stripped of Ability to Attack (thought some may allow).

Then, the game begins!

Phase 5: Match Completion: The match will end when everyone from either of the teams have been totally annhilated. The end of the match can either be a win, a lose or a stalemate (which occurs rarely). At the end of the match, a summary of the match is revealed at the bottom of the screen, displaying the Most Valuable Players (MVP) and their number of kills and points obtained.

There will be an approximate 4-5 second pause and the next match begins.

Phase 6: Votemap Options: At around 2:30 time left, for some servers, a table of options will be displayed on the middle left of the screen, displaying the different maps that the players can vote to shift the current map to the map of choice. This is also known as Votemapping. The map that receives the most votes will be played next.

To choose which map, the key is displayed beside the name of the map. Sometimes it is just the number keys (1,2,3,4). Otherwise, it is the Function keys (F1, F2, F3, F4).

Chapter 4: Aim of the Game
The aim of the game is simple: Annhilate all the opposition players in the team and survive. For every server, there is a certain time limit for the map alone. There is also a time limit for each match, but when it hits 0:00, nothing really happens.

Chapter 5: Other Notices
Although there are no basic rules in TFDB, there is however some "rules" made by the players in the community of certain servers that believes by doing so will make the game more appealing and convenient. Such rules include (as applied sometimes to Shana, Giga and e-Club servers (previously)): Otherwise, do have fun. The key to this game is having fun.
 * 1) No side-stabbing is allowed unless you are the last player of the team you are on, or in the map tfdb_gym.
 * 2) No excessive inter-ing allowed unless you are in the map tfdb_gym.
 * 3) No under-ing allowed.
 * 4) No Time-Wasting/Prolonged Juggling.
 * 5) Minimise as much redirecting as possible.
 * 6) The last man alive is allowed to perform any "cheap" methods of killing (except under-ing), of which the remaining opponents can also follow suite. Cheap methods include side-stabbing and redirecting.

Other Categories
In 2,3 and 4, there are a list of skills. Click on the skill to be redirected to the skill's page.
 * 1) Basic Terms and Understandings - This category shows you the basic terms this page will use, as well as what common players would be saying during the game. Basic controls, rules and information about how the game is played can also be viewed here. Some of the information may or may not apply in your server, so please double check and only apply the information here to your gaming experience if they comply with your servers' set rules.
 * 2) Beginner Skills - The basic arsenal of skills a young apprentice needs to know.
 * 3) Intermediate Skills - Skills that gives you a bit more colour to your air-blasts, as well as gives you room for more strategies.
 * 4) Advanced Skills - Skills for those who are familiar with controls and would wish to introduce more ways to confuse opponents.
 * 5) Miscellaneous Skills - Junk skills not commonly used throughout the game.
 * 6) TFDB Modes - Still in development.
 * 7) Strategies - Still in development, though most of the strategies have already been described for each skill.