Big Balloon (BB) is a purely team-based game mode and was developed especially for World of Padman. Its main features are similar to those of Domination, known from Unreal Tournament.
Game principle
In Big Balloon, two teams try to take control of gift boxes. There are always 3 of them distributed in a map and each one contains a balloon that can be raised by nearby players of a team in the corresponding team colour, blue or red.
The ascent of the balloon takes a few seconds and points are awarded only when the balloon is at the top. The more players of the same team gather around the same gift box, the faster the balloon rises. The longer the balloon stays on top or the more balloons shine in your team colour, the more points you get. If a player lingers for 3 seconds near a gift box already conquered by his opponent, the balloon bursts and a new one in his own team colour rises.
Scoring
For every conquered gift box with a raised balloon in your team’s own colour, the team gets one point every 2 seconds. If all 3 gift boxes are in the hand of a team at the same time, the announcement “Big Balloon” is played and twice as many points are awarded per balloon in the same time. See the following examples for scoring:
- 1 balloon: 1 x 1 point every 2 seconds = 30 points per minute
- 2 balloons: 2 x 1 point every 2 seconds = 60 points per minute
- 3 balloons: 3 x 2 points every 2 seconds = 180 points per minute
No points can be scored by only shooting down the players of the opposing team.
HUD
In Big Balloon, the player’s HUD is slightly adjusted according to the requirements of the game type. The status of the 3 balloons in the map is shown in the lower right corner of the screen. White balloons are neutral and not yet conquered, red balloons are already conquered by the red team and blue balloons are already conquered by the blue team. If a balloon flashes between white and a team colour, it is conquered by one of the two teams in the corresponding colour. The small bar next to the balloons shows the progress of the ascent of a balloon.
To make it easier to locate the gift boxes with the balloons in the map, they are highlighted in the game by a balloon icon, even through walls, if this option has been activated by the player in the settings. Further information can be found in the Menu/HUD section.
Psychic Pad’s Monster Tips
As a team, capture and hold three balloons placed in strategic locations. Sounds easy yes? WRONG! But these tips may help you hold them for longer…
- Before you go capturing, why not pickup some nice weapons first?
- Camp at balloons if necessary to hold them.
- If it’s possible, hide high and above a balloon or in a location you are hard to spot with a view of the balloon so you can take out enemy capturers.
- The enemy has all balloons under their control? Then spend an extra few seconds picking up the often ignored powerups.
- A team member heading for a balloon you are heading to? Maybe turn around and head for another balloon, the more balloons you take back at once, then the more the enemy has to split up.
- If your team has all the balloons under their control then don’t let the enemy find undefended balloons, defend them all!
- The more your team coordinates, the higher the chance of winning. Maybe have some attackers, defenders, and free roamers?