PSP Officially Changes ROF

sm-psp-new-logo.gifI thought it was official before, but not according to Keely.

The PSP has officially changed the ROF from 15 (technically 15.4) balls per second down to 13.33 BPS.

It’s actually one ball every 75 milliseconds, which does translate into 13 1/3 BPS (75 * 40 / 3 = 25 * 40 = 1000 ~ 1), but it’s actually too fast for 13.33 BPS (75 * 13.33 = 999.75 < 1000 therefore, it's too fast). But that assumes that all the shots are consistent, which there are often possibilities where that isn't the case. The PSP rules also state that only a maximum of 3 shots per trigger pull can be fired. Here's the time over 1 pull if the firing is consistent: pull = fire + 75 ms + fire + 75 ms + fire + 75 ms = 225 ms (assuming the time firing takes is consistent and negligible) Another case, let's say a ball takes a bit to load, say an extra 20 ms (don't argue, my loader is super fast, so that's not going to happen, whatever, shit happens): pull = fire + 75 ms + 20 ms (slow ball loading) + fire + 75 ms + fire + 75 ms = 245 ms (assuming the same as above) You just got jipped out of 20 ms. For that time period,you just shot ~12.24 BPS. Let's say the same thing happens, but the board software is able to compensate for those few milliseconds (it's totally feasible for the software to be able to do this): pull = fire + 75 ms + 20 ms (slow ball loading) + fire + 55 ms + fire + 75 ms = 225 ms (same assumptions) Now, you just shot 13 1/3 (about 13.33) BPS, which is what the general rules state, but you would actually receive a gross penalty for more than one shot in a 65 ms time span. So, the rules are actually, you may shoot 1 ball every 75 ms, not 13.33 BPS.

Also, in order to truly determine if the rate of fire is 13.33 or under (actually, 13 1/3) is to measure the gun over a 3 second time span (1/3 shots take some work to measure) and see if it shoots 40 shots or less over that time period with at least 14 (or 13) trigger pulls (13 1/3 pulls technically. If it the measurement didn’t start exactly when the first trigger pull occurred but after it but the first shot was counted as time 0, it could be done in 13 since the shot(s) from the previous trigger pull would run into the time period i.e. the 1 shot from the previous trigger pull plus the 39 from the subsequent 13 pulls). Now, of course, they aren’t going to measure it that way, since it’s a waste of paint and time, and probably seems a tad complicated. They’re going to measure it using a simplistic representation of it, as in, you need 75 ms between shots, because it’s easier and can represent 13.33 BPS (really, 13 1/3), but it’s not always true, as shown in the case above.

Am I saying their 75 ms between shots is bad? No, I’m just saying that saying it’s not 13.33 BPS (again, 13 1/3). It can be, but it’s not always. The rules should only state the 75 ms rule, not 13.33 BPS.

As a side note, I’m wondering how boards calculate their shots.

Does it use multi-threading, like a thread for each function (trigger monitoring, eye monitoring, rate of fire, etc.) or is it more of a when an event occurs, check the sensors then fire. I think I’m going to write a python script to demonstrate this.

Update:
Wrote previous mentioned python scripts, get them here, http://nothingoutoftheordinary.com/2008/01/10/paintball-board-software-types/

PSP, Look At This Great Stadium

sm-psp-new-logo.gifWe’ll be playing in soccer fields next to it.

The PSP announced their next event, the Phoenix Open. Hooray. I guess. The closest they’re probably getting to Texas again.

Anyways, in their press release, they go into detail about how the University of Phoenix stadium is the best stadium evar!!11! Then goes into to say whats around there, like an AMC, because those are so rare. It’s not like I have 2 within 5 miles of me; I would just have to chose to turn left or right, though I actually I go to the Cinemark that’s even closer.

There’s also the Jobing.com (really, jobing.com) Arena just down the street. They’ll be hosting some Pepsi concert thing on Super Bowl weekend (that’s in January/Feburary). How cool. But during the tournament, you can see the Coyotes vs the Canucks or the Oilers. I’m sure those will be great games, since Arizona is such a birth place for great hockey players. They’re currently 6-10-1 at home.

If that doesn’t have you won over, too bad. There aren’t anymore reasons to go. Sorry. I think some paintball tournament might be happening there, but I didn’t really read anything about that though.

More Tournament Dates

Todays news is just about as exciting as yesterdays and just about as old.

First we have the PSP, which sadly, isn’t coming anywhere near Texas.

Event #1
Dates: March 6th-9th
Location: TBD – Phoenix, AZ or Southern California
Mid-Atlantic Open
Dates: May 8th-11th
Location: PBC Sports Park, Rock Hill, SC
Chicago Open
Dates: June 25th-29th
Location: Bolingbrook Recreation and Aquatic Center, Bolingbrook, IL
Northeast Open
Dates: August 14th-17th
Location: All American Paintball Park, Greensburg, PA
World Cup*
Dates: October 20th-26th
Location: Disney’s Wide World of Sports® Complex, Orlando, FL

The we have the Millennium Series, which has a huge lake between it and Texas.

4th – 6th of April: Iberia
23rd – 25th of May: London or Germany
4th – 6th of July: Toulouse
5th – 7th of September: Germany or London
10th – 12th of October: Paris

Then we have the NEPL, which manages to stay almost 2000 miles away the whole time, assuming they’re at Cape Cod Paintball for each event like last time.

Event 1: April 27, 2008
Event 2: June 8, 2008
Event 3: August 3, 2008
Event 4: September 14, 2008
Event 5: November 2, 2008

Sorry for the lackluster posts. This isn’t too much of a triumphant return. News should start picking up sometime soon hopefully.

NPPL 2008 Dates

I know these are kinda old, but they are interesting, mainly because they are coming to Houston, which is awesome.

The PSP came to Texas couple of years ago, and it was a pretty big failure, but hopefully this time it won’t be freezing and since more people live in Houston than in Round Rock, kids shouldn’t go as crazy as they did last time.

They’re also heading to New York, supposedly for people from Toronto. Heading to Toronto would be even cooler, but whatever.

Anyways, here are the dates:

March 28 – 30, 2008 (Confirmed)
On the Beach
Huntington Beach, California

May 16 – 18, 2008 (Confirmed)
Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
Home of the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville, Florida

July 18 – 20, 2008 (Confirmed)
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Home of the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo, New York

September 19 – 21, 2008 (Confirmed)
Reliant Stadium
Home of the Houston Texans
Houston, Texas

November 14 – 16, 2008*
Qualcomm Stadium
Home of the San Diego Chargers
San Diego, California