Gameplay

Gameplay is simple in theory: The objective is to place a large ball into the opponent's goal area. In practice, the combination of skills, tactics and techniques used to accomplish this objective bring a great deal of depth to the game. To make accomplishing your objective more interesting, all CarBall vehicles are capable of various acrobatics and of using various power-ups that enhance your car's abilities, all described below.

Game Flow and Facts

At the beginning of a CarBall match two teams, the red team and the blue team, spawn, already in vehicles. A large ball also spawns, typically above the centre of the playing field. The two teams then attempt to knock the ball into the goal area owned by the opposing team.

Semi-organized chaos now ensues as the two teams run into each other and their teammates and the ball seemingly bounces in every direction except the one you were hoping it would.

As your first game progresses, you will see the other players jumping into the air and performing all kinds of amazing feats knocking the ball in every way, making the game very "three-dimensional".

All CarBall vehicles can perform various acrobatics. Your car can jump, do wheelies, and air control. Combining these abilities can achieve amazing, high-flying, results. Please see the Vehicle Acrobatics section for more information.

Your vehicle can add to its abilities by driving over special items lying around the playing field. These items are called "power-ups". Your car can hold up to a maximum of three Power-Ups at any one time. Please see the Power-Ups Section below for more information.

Learning to combine vehicle acrobatics and power-ups form a large part of the CarBall experience. Good driving skills and the ability to perform vehicle stunts will help you score goals and block your opponents from scoring. The various acrobatics and power-ups available in the game are described in great detail below. You may also wish to read the Tricks, Tips and Techniques Guide to learn more.

Slamming into walls, ramming into other cars, falling from great heights, etc will inflict damage upon your vehicle. This damage is normally slight, so it is a worthwhile tactic to ram the opposing team and more often than not one should not worry about running into the wall or falling onto the ground as long as it helps further your goals. However, the damage can add up so you should be mindful of your car's health.

Your vehicle starts with certain amount of "health" points and when it reaches 0 your car explodes. You will then respawn in a new vehicle with full health points and no power-ups in your inventory. The health of your car is displayed near the bottom left of your screen. (See the HUD section for more specific information.) You cannot exit the vehicle in CarBall.

Be mindful of the UT3 severs friendly fire setting.  If set to "off" or 0%, this means that the weapons of teammates will not do any damage to your vehicle, although you can still hurt yourself. For example, if you drop a goo pile then accidentally drive over it you may explode. No matter what the friendly fire setting is, if another car, regardless of team, hits your car, you will be affected and you may be knocked over a ledge, into a dangerous environment, into another vehicle, etc.

Most power-ups can damage vehicles and affect the ball. For example, a direct hit from a Rocket will destroy your car while an indirect hit may only take off some of your health. A direct hit by a Rocket on the ball will cause the ball to roll forward with great speed. An indirect hit on the ball by a Rocket will cause the ball to fly into the air.

The ball cannot be damaged or destroyed. If a power-up is said to affect the ball, it simply means that the power-up will apply force to the ball, sending it rolling off or flying into the air with extra speed.

For the most part, the physics of the game are fairly intuitive. For example, the faster your vehicle hits something, the more damage your car will take. Vehicle explosions will damage nearby cars and apply force to the ball. The faster you hit the ball, the faster the ball will roll, the further it may fly into the air, etc. Please note that the ball sometimes spins as it flies through the air. This spinning may cause the ball to bounce in unexpected directions when it hits the ground.

If you place the ball into the goal area of the other team, your team will score a point. The team with the most number of team points at the end of the match wins the match. Individuals will get points for scoring goals, killing other players, etc, however individual points do not affect which team wins the game. If you place the ball into your own goal area without an opposing team member touching it, you will score what is called an "owngoal" and the opposing team will receive one goal. Individuals can loose individual points for scoring own goals, dying from the environment (e.g., driving your car into lava), or killing themselves.

Once a goal has been scored, the game will advise everyone of the event and then the ball and players will respawn after a short delay.

Good map designers incorporate elements to show which goal belongs to which team. This may include making the blue goal glow blue and the red goal glow red or having appropriately colored lights or banners, etc draping the goal. There is no mechanism to guarantee that this will be done, but it is a standard practice for mappers to include some visual elements to show what team owns a goal area.

If a game has a time limit and that limit is reached with the team scores being equal, the game will enter over time. After a short count down, the players and ball will respawn. The first team to score a goal after this respawn will win the match. This is similar to what is called "sudden death overtime" in many real world sports.

Should a ball not experience any movement for a certain period of time, it will respawn. This prevents the game from stopping altogether because of the ball getting trapped in an inaccessible spot.

Please note that CarBall does not provide support for bots, so there is no single player mode for CarBall. (UT3 has an AI system that understands carrying objects, but not the complexities of pushing/passing a ball at the right time.)

It is important to note that map makers can create maps that incorporate elements that are different than the norm. For example, a map can have more than one goal per team and sometimes scoring on certain goals will give your team more points than scoring on other goals. The ball will have a different appearance in different maps. Sometimes the ball will drop down from the sky when it respawns, sometimes it will hover in the air until a player touches it. It is possible you will spawn facing your own goal if the map maker so chooses. The creativity of map makers is such that you should be prepared to sometimes see game elements and behaviors different than expected and not necessarily described here.

After reading the above you should be able to learn more about the specifics of the game through playing, however to make it easier and faster for you, all the specific vehicle acrobatics and power-ups are described in great detail below. Our Quickstart Guide describes these game elements with shorter, more basic descriptions.

You may also wish to read the Tricks, Tips and Techniques Guide as well as the Controls and Configuration Guide.

Vehicle Acrobatics Reference

All CarBall vehicles can perform various acrobatics. Your car can jump, do wheelies, and air control. Combining these abilities can achieve amazing, high-flying, results.