Tag

This is a fun mission type to play. Players play as individuals. When the mission begins, a number of players are selected at random and become “IT”. The more players in the mission, the more players will be selected to be “IT”. They will hear a normal hit sound and be deactivated for four seconds. When they are re-activated, their lights will flash quickly and brightly to distinguish them from the other players whose lights will be dim. Their goal is to “tag” some other player and thus make them “IT”. They do this by missiling them. Only players who are not already “IT” can be “tagged”. The goal of the other players is to score points by zapping the tagged player while avoiding being tagged themselves. Once a player is tagged, they are deactivated for four seconds, and then are reactivated. The player who tagged them returns to normal mode.

Notes: While tagged, a player cannot fire normal shots, just missiles. They cannot score in any way and must simply try to tag another player by missiling them.

 While tagged, a player is never deactivated. They remain up the entire time, and will likely have all other players zapping them repeatedly (from a safe distance). The tagged player loses points each time they are zapped, so they should try to tag someone else as soon as possible.

 If a player remains “tagged” for too long, the computer will take pity on the player and “tag” someone else at random for them. Becoming “untagged” in this manner incurs a substantial points penalty.

Players who are not tagged can destroy the in-field targets. They score no points, but after a number of targets are destroyed without the player being tagged, rapid fire is awarded. This can then be used to score a lot of points on the tagged player. Once a player is tagged, rapid fire is lost, but after they tag someone else, they can destroy in-field targets again to re-enable it, although it becomes more difficult to enable rapid fire each time.

Players who are not tagged cannot zap each other. They can only zap a player who is currently tagged.
 
Direct “tag-backs” are not permitted. For example: if player A tags player B, no “tagged” player can immediately tag player A. This protection lasts until player A zaps a “tagged” player, player A zaps any in-field target or player B tags some other player.

Game length: 10 minutes.

Skill levels: All players play at the same level.

Scoring:

Zap tagged player               Score 30 points
Get tagged                           Lose 100 points
Get zapped while tagged     Lose 10 points
Tagged timeout penalty        Lose 1500 points!