LaserVision – and Action!
LaserVision? Yes, you see right. For our action-packed company outing to the winding halls of the Cosmo Lasertag in Eichenzell, we have invented our own word in hours of brainstorming. Some of you will ask yourself: “Why don’t you just call this article a SoftVision company trip to the Laser Day? This question has its justification, if one assumes that a company outing is something “boring” or a “compulsory event”. But in our case neither was true, so we had to search for a new heading. First, this event will be presented briefly in its chronological order and then a little more emotionally from the first-person perspective of the first game.
Friday, 12.12.2014 – in the baroque city of Fulda
It was a dark and rainy Friday evening when we set off towards Eichenzell, where the extensive area of the Cosmo Lasertag is located. Before that we had a last last meal together. Arriving at our destination, we were greeted at the entrance of the establishment by a counter with an employee, a seating area consisting of old airplane seats, a table soccer table and some monitors showing the picture from night vision cameras. Through the dark labyrinth shown on the monitor there were some figures scurrying from time to time, chasing each other with weapons – as we were later told, these are correctly called “markers”. And suddenly everything went very fast, three teams with three players each were thrown together and a game plan was created, in which each team had to play a total of four games – a game against the other two teams in the first and second round. One game lasted 15 minutes.
The next moment we found ourselves sitting in a futuristic cellar on old airplane chairs. An employee who had been trained to never use the words “shoot”, “hit” or the like, instead they used the term “mark” in LaserTAG, gave us final instructions. He showed us the play vests, which were equipped with sensors in some places, which could be “marked” with the “marker” tre… uh, in order to get points. Now we were ready to start the games. So we went into the west and up on the field.
The game begins
After the vest is seated and the “marker” is equipped, a loud signal suddenly sounds. The instructor tells us to get on the field quickly because the game starts in a few seconds. On the way into the labyrinth, the players of both teams are still in a row, but as soon as the first branches allow it, the teams spread out in the dark labyrinth, no trace of the opponent anymore.
The adrenaline rushes through the body, the pupils dilate in the dark and I feel tense and concentrated. I run in a slightly stooped posture with the “marker” at the stop. The start signal sounds, the “marker” is unlocked. The labyrinth is dark, angled and only taped at the edges with some luminous stripes. I start to move at walking speed through the narrow corridors and search for enemies. Behind every corner an opponent can lurk, but I am ready. And suddenly it is so far. In the next passage I see the light of a vest shimmering. In the sprint I come around the corner and start to “mark”, at the same moment I think to myself “Oh sh…, blue vest, this is my own player”. Fortunately, I’m not particularly accurate and miss. My teammate looks at me a little surprised and at the same time relieved, we laugh briefly and continue running together. Not far from us you can hear the sound of the laser weapons “Pew, pew, pew”, it’s getting serious right now. We hurry to help our third man and give each other hand signals about the paths we are taking. I walk through an outer corridor and at the same time look into the middle of the playing field, because that’s where the noises come from. BÄM … I am suddenly pushed back by something. At a short glance in the direction of the run I notice that the passage I walked along is over and I walked against the wall. Hopefully nobody saw that. While I’m trying to regain my orientation, my colleague Markus, who plays for the opposing team, comes around the corner and “marked” me within a few milliseconds. A second later he also “marked” my teammate.
After you have been “marked”, your vest will be deactivated for six seconds and you will have time to find a new position from which to enter the game again. My vest starts to glow again, I start running, because the game continues…
On this Friday evening we were just real LaserVision!