Hello everyone, I have just built my version of the pulse rifle and have put this on e-bay and have had a good response ( please see pulse rifle fan made on the red and white check background) I have spent a lot of time on this and have now refined the build so that my next one will fire a 6mm pellet and will have a darker colour on the shroud ( trying to get kaki or similar as a stand alone colour has proved very difficult , I am aware of the smal bottles from Tamira but putting these into a spray gun and getting a consistent finish isn't easy and works out very expensive). Anyway please see photos attached. For those of you who took part in Alien wars at the Trocadara in London many moons ago I have purchased a blast from the past, I have called him Alan and he hangs from my men's room ceiling ,please tell me what you think. The 18 yr old lad thinks it's great as he scares all the girls with it , I suppose it is more original than do u want to come back to my place to see my etchings ( for those who can remember that geeky line). I was wondering what the interest would be in starting up my little version of Alien wars ? I know a few good artists that can paint some resin look a like backdrops and I can turn my hand to making a pulse rifle that will fire paint ball's. If I can get a couple of Alien monkey suits for a fellow anaraks like myself to run around in then we are almost there. Obviously there will be a charge as there will be a lot of set up costs but if fellow enthusiasts pool together their props the cost can be kept low. Hiring the warehouse will be the most expensive and we have to be careful about infringing copyright.

We might be a little ahead of you - we've ran a charity version of Alien War called The Alien Encounter for 3 years in the past 4 at the National Space Centre in Leicester.

Next date is 4-5th November.

As for a "for profit" (or even covering costs) enterprise, I don't think it could be made to work. Especially since Alien Wars is currently running in Blackpool ...

Hi Pug 50 many thanks for your reply, I will be going to both Leicester and Blackpool, I had no idea it was still being run, my only thougths on doing my own would be you that the marines would have a weapon to fire back , unless they do this at Blackpool ? I will be browsing the web to check this out

Due to liability/safety issues, both Alien Wars in Blackpool and The Alien Encounter in NSC use electronic pulse rifle sounds triggered by infra-red.

I know this, because I used my own blood, sweat and chewing gum to jury-rig the system used in Alien Encounter ...

Thanks for your msg Pug, I was planning to go to Blackpool this w/end to check out Alien Attack, the u tube clip looks good , but me and the wife have been hit by a different bug that has confined us to barracks ( lost my deposit on the hotel....some xenomorph's guno pay!). My thoughts on using paint ball in the guise of the pulse rifle would be that it avoids all the technical and very expensive use of infra red and would be a far cheaper way of providing some good adrenalin fun albeit a poorer man's version. I know a lot of people will say why not book yourself onto a paintball shoot out, yes but this is not in the same mindset , besides you get a lot of gung-ho Johny Rambo idiot types on these things who think they are immortal. During your work on Alien encounter didn't paint ball cross your mind? Do you think that it could work ?

In the framework of how either Alien Wars or Alien Encounter works, it would be rather dangerous. You don't wear a mask to play paintball just because the mask looks cool ... unless you're suggesting all the punters wear paintball masks...

Events like this are difficult to run due to public liability as it is without projectiles being involved ...

I hope you and yours feel better soon.

paintball in something like the alien encounter would never work. What would be the point? Its not like the bugs are going to be able to shoot back. Not to mention the health and safety implications
Also, the sound effects are all part of the magic. Firing at an alien without the awsome sound of a pulse rifle just wouldnt do it for me.
A separate paintball/airsoft aliens event would be good (i've been to a few, great fun). But trying to implement paintball into an Alien Wars style show really is a bad idea

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M/SGT Rich Hyatt-Dowling (Retd)

UKCM Black ops

I'd imagine paintballs wouldn't do abe's constitution any good either!

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Sgt. Jake Tucker - 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters.

Well, I've tested him with Airsoft BBs - they just bounce off!

in fact, scrub what i just said! I wanna bring a paintball gun to the AE
MUHAHAHAHA

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M/SGT Rich Hyatt-Dowling (Retd)

UKCM Black ops

Great Pics...thanks for sharing! As for attempting to start up your own AW type attraction....hmmmmm....far be it from me to p**s on anyone's chips....BUT I am sure it would be nigh on impossible...don't let that stop you trying though

Thanks everyone for your replies. I have taken on board the comments and would still like to pursue the idea. Here are my thoughts I am from a shooting background and have always enjoyed practicle shotgun, hopefully I am not alone here. The beauty of P S is that it is close qtr stuff and in a confined environment. Now taking this to my theme, the marines would have converted paint ball pulse rifles, with 10 rounds to start ( like most computer games ammo is picked en route). The scenario is to make it to the escape pod and pick up survivors on the way. Coridoors will be dimly lit by a series of flashing beacons, (yes I know H&S is screaming here). As the Marines navigate around ( they will be split off otherwise you will have a tactical fire squad which will obliterate everything and defeat the object of the role play) they will encounter 'surprises' such as the hand that reaches out from someone embedded in 'resin' much like the films, facehuggers will be there to meet and greet, the real surprise will be Burt in the monkey suit once he lays his hands on you then of you go to the cocoon area awaiting rescue. If you fire of a couple of rounds and hit Burt( who will be wearing protective padding, but the rounds from the Patriot Paintball Gun will be powerful enough gun to let him know he has been hit) then he will retreat and have to move on to the next Marine. Much will be on the honour system . Survivors can be picked up en route and once they have made it to the safety of the Drop Ship then they are home and dry unless they want to go back nd help their mates. This is only my initial thoughts, I know many will say why not just simply go to Leicester or Blackpool for the experience but as I said the difference will be the actual taking part that will get the adrenalin going rather that be herded like sheep. Comments please

I'm going to be completely honest here and say it sounds like a great plan....getting people actually involved as opposed to just following along in the role play would be great.

But I see a small group (be it teens showing off together, or a drunk idiot or two) ruining it for the rest by just acting stupid.
I know its really negative to think like that...but that would be my worry.

But you know what...thinking on that you get that with anything (paintball, airsoft etc).
You'll always get certain people acting stupid....you'd just have to have supervision to some extent so they don't get out of hand.

But again....I think its a fun idea.

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Thanks for your msg cpl Tony, I would limit the intake to pure Alien fans in that way u can weed out the chavs and dickheads. I would perhaps insist that only people from, lets say, this site, only take part. It would be run on a not for profit basis so the people taking part in the monkey suits and the support team would all be volunteers and fans of the film. People will still have to pay to cover costs

So what I envision, from your posts above, is essentially:
A private game of paintball in an indoor, industrial-ish setting.
2 Teams, one of Aliens, one of Marines.
All participants are known and trusted members of Aliens Legacy.
Rules and scenarios are tailored to make the atmosphere very 'Aliensy'.

That's the only thing I can envision. Anything where the public are involved, you either need a mountain of safety protocols and/or another mountain of liability waiver forms.

For starters, if there's ANY possibility of the public being given a weapon, forget it.
If there's ANY possibility of the public being hit (accidentally or otherwise) by a weapon, forget it.

Basically, imagine every possible way for someone to hurt themselves and you have a potential lawsuit. They could slip in some spilled paint, they could catch themselves on a sharp piece of scenery, they could get squished by the panicking group... Absolute nightmare, dude.


So - Private paintball game with lots of 'Aliensy' features.
Hiring a venue and decking it out will be fairly costly, but people might be up for one or two of those.
You could maybe have a 3rd team of civillians, that the Marine team must escort to safety. Play one game, then everyone swaps roles.

I like the sound of this, depending on my funds that are in my grasp, if I have a job, and if I have the gear ready. I'd sure as hell be up for some awesome paintball!

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Lt.Forrest- USCM
277th Non-terrestrial Intelligence Bttn.
"Xeno-Heads"

Long long ago in a galaxy far far away (well OK Manchester actually) before I'd even heard of Airsoft an acquaintance of mine ran an indoor Paintball site called Predator Paintball in an old Textile Mill. He sometimes used to take part in games wearing a full predator face mask he also had a laser sight on his paintball gun!

This raises another possible safety issue he told me players often got quite "into it" and were so freaked if they came face to face with him in the mask they would physically attack him!

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Cheers

Winch

"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow I shall fear no evil for thou art with me. And together we'll kick ANY bugs ASS!"
You know who you are!

It's a nice idea, but for it to be safe, it needs to be more "on rails" than you'd probably envision.

Think about it - If you're in a confined space with an Alien or Predator, it's going to be damn hard to hit your target. It's either going to be almost invisible, or clambering around the ceiling and walls faster than you canfollow.
If, on the other hand, you're in a confined space with a guy in an Alien or Predator suit - He can move no faster than you... Slower, in fact, due to the cumbersome costume and limited visibility.

So you need to have a nice big "confined space" with plenty of cover for the creature to hide behind for starters.

You need to be able to control where the group go - Unless you have a large number of creature performers to ensure gameplay in all routes through your game area.
Even then, you need to have the game laid out in such a way that the creatures never get stuck between two groups of humans.

Basically, even if you iron out all of the H&S problems, you also need to try to break your game.
You need to think through your scenario from every possible perspective, and close every loophole that could force a premature end to the game.
Then look for more loopholes.

I've been running an Airsoft site for about 8 years now, and I still often end up with some smartass player coming up with some way to circumvent everything we want them to achieve in a given scenario.

From the scenario you mentioned above - The alien appears, and is shot.
He retreats...
The Marines move forward - Now knowing where the Alien is likely to appear from.

He appears again, and is shot again.

It's not gonna work.

As an example of a similar scenario:
When we do Zombie Games at S8, we only do them after dark.
This is to give the Zombies some chance to beat the human players.
Otherwise armed vs unarmed = no contest.

The Zombies must take one step backwards and pause for a second when shot for the first time.
When they're hit a second time - Two steps, and two seconds.
And so on.
After ten seconds, they have the option of retreating to a Spawn Point and starting over - Or they can keep getting body parts blown off and taking longer to regenerate for an attack. Up to them

The point being, the Zombies CAN attack the humans effectively by using cover of darkness, but the humans have an equal chance of defending themselves if they stay calm and use their ears.

Any game with armed players vs unarmed players must either be balanced in such a manner, or be set up as a simple target shoot.

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MSgt, UKCM 42nd Reg., 1st Batt. : Hadrian's Wall. UKCM

Wasteland Workshop
Props, cosplay pieces, upcycled ornamentation, and miscellanea;
For the discerning survivor of the apocalypse.
Steve Fletcher : Maker, Scavenger, and Junksmith.
linktr.ee/wastelandworkshop

Thanks agaim everyone for your repliesin part Reverend Scapegoat, hear what you say, it's good to get feedback from someone who has undertaken a similar venture. I will give this some more thought and will come back to you again