[matojami]

So as I have said in some of my last posts, I am starting an indoor field. What do you guys feel is the number one type of field that most players prefer? For example, I love speedball, but my friends hate speedball and love urban. I want something for both beginners and experienced players to enjoy. Let me know what you think!

[robdavy]

This is my opinion, some people will disagree...

Depends entirely on who your target audience is. We feel that beginners and people who only play paintball at birthday parties, stags, corporate events, etc (ie, the profitable people), when they think of paintball, they think of scenario paintball. They think of pretending to be a soldier or a marine in a battle. Think Call of Duty, etc. We don't feel they think speedball and will be disappointed when that's what they arrive to see.

A lot of it comes down to sport vs recreation. If you play paintball as a sport, you'll probably prefer speedball. If you play paintball once or twice a year as a recreational activity, you'll probably prefer some kind of urban scenario (or woodsball).

But this makes it very hard to cater to both groups. We don't feel you should try to. Owners (of equipment) should be your 4th or 5th priority. If they want to come, great. But don't bend over for them or let them over run the place. Focus on who will make your business money. So first identify who that is. The figure out what THEY will want. Go out and ask them (and no, they won't be on this forum).

[GatSplat]

Indoor you have to use air bunkers if you want it to stay clean. And kids that are 8, 9, 10 don't really know what "speedball" is... they just know they are hiding behind something and shooting. Whether you are hiding behind an air bunker, or a space ship, or a jail, does not make that much difference.

That being said, if you do want to spend the money for "scenario" air bunkers, I have a mighty paintball setup with a few of their big castles and since we have 2 fields, that adds some variety to the second.

[7paintball]

Originally Posted by GatSplat

Indoor you have to use air bunkers if you want it to stay clean. And kids that are 8, 9, 10 don't really know what "speedball" is... they just know they are hiding behind something and shooting. Whether you are hiding behind an air bunker, or a space ship, or a jail, does not make that much difference.

That being said, if you do want to spend the money for "scenario" air bunkers, I have a mighty paintball setup with a few of their big castles and since we have 2 fields, that adds some variety to the second.

I would have to agree that is the way to go. It's kind of a mix between the two. Just remember to find your target market.

[FalconPunchKid]

Originally Posted by GatSplat

Indoor you have to use air bunkers if you want it to stay clean. And kids that are 8, 9, 10 don't really know what "speedball" is... they just know they are hiding behind something and shooting. Whether you are hiding behind an air bunker, or a space ship, or a jail, does not make that much difference.

That being said, if you do want to spend the money for "scenario" air bunkers, I have a mighty paintball setup with a few of their big castles and since we have 2 fields, that adds some variety to the second.

Wow. That is just incredibly interesting. I have never seen anything like those bunkers.

[ericl1982]

Originally Posted by GatSplat

Indoor you have to use air bunkers if you want it to stay clean. And kids that are 8, 9, 10 don't really know what "speedball" is... they just know they are hiding behind something and shooting. Whether you are hiding behind an air bunker, or a space ship, or a jail, does not make that much difference.

That being said, if you do want to spend the money for "scenario" air bunkers, I have a mighty paintball setup with a few of their big castles and since we have 2 fields, that adds some variety to the second.

How does the mighty Paintball setup work I heard some guys on here saying that they were not the best I don't plan on using bunkers to start as we are doing woodsball, but might see how things go.

[Misha"mole"yelich]

how do you intend to do indoor woods ball?

[ericl1982]

Originally Posted by Misha"mole"yelich

how do you intend to do indoor woods ball?

I never Said that I was going to do it indoor, but they can be used out doors too.

[robdavy]

Originally Posted by Misha"mole"yelich

how do you intend to do indoor woods ball?

Something like that?

[GatSplat]

Originally Posted by robdavy

Something like that?

That field will be a cleaning and liability disaster. Do not do it !

[7paintball]

Originally Posted by GatSplat

That field will be a cleaning and liability disaster. Do not do it !

Yeah doesn't look very good.

[ericl1982]

Originally Posted by GatSplat

That field will be a cleaning and liability disaster. Do not do it !

Yeah looks like trouble need some kind of padding on those exposed I beams at the very least.

[MstrKey]

I agree a field with those buildings is a nightmare......although they're so awesome to play! LOL!

This is what I would do if I had the option and enough space. Get a scenario air field and a speedball air field and mix them up like in Gatsplat's photo. Then if you want to have a speedball day once in a while, you can simply drag the scenario stuff off to the side and set up the speedball for that one night a week. When done.....drag the scenario stuff back out and rework the main field.

The down side is more work, more up front cost(two fields), and you may need some free space around your field to drag stuff when not in use. Like a storage zone.

The up side is......you have the best of both worlds to make more people happy, you have plenty of spare bunkers should there be a need, your scenario field layout will change more often which renters will usually love, and even though it's more work airball fields are much faster to remove and set up if you don't have to deflate/inflate them.

[GatSplat]

Originally Posted by ericl1982

How does the mighty Paintball setup work I heard some guys on here saying that they were not the best I don't plan on using bunkers to start as we are doing woodsball, but might see how things go.

They are very sturdy and well built bunkers. We've had better luck with them than several other brands we have tried, and they are the only people to make the "scenario" bunkers that I know of.

[bigfootguy2002]

Sup-air makes that style scenario/tactical bunker.
-Will

[FalconPunchKid]

Originally Posted by robdavy

Something like that?

Okay two thumbs up!!! Hell id give ya 3 if i had em... This is awesome!!

[robdavy]

For some reason there's loads of places like that in Canada and few in the States. Weird.

Some use sand, some don't. Those that do get complaints about guns getting dirty for sure, but it's the price you pay. Our research has shown us that when people (the general public) think paintball, they think woodsball. So the challenge is to re-create woodsball indoors (because right this second, it's -22c/-8f here in Edmonton... )

[Sirriko]

Originally Posted by robdavy

For some reason there's loads of places like that in Canada and few in the States. Weird.

Some use sand, some don't. Those that do get complaints about guns getting dirty for sure, but it's the price you pay. Our research has shown us that when people (the general public) think paintball, they think woodsball. So the challenge is to re-create woodsball indoors (because right this second, it's -22c/-8f here in Edmonton... )

I'm here in Edmonton, are you the person that recently purchased PAG?

[Delmarva Paintball]

I sure can't tell you what will work for you but I can tell you about my experience.

I had an indoor field for many years that was very similar to that picture. I used wood shavings on the floor and hosed everything down every day. It worked great. I was busy 5 days a week and on weekends would have a line of people waiting for someone to leave so they could have their rental equipment. The only people who ever complained about it were those who were used to playing speedball.

Eventually I listened to the speedball players and changed the field to a 7 man airball field. That was the day that business began to drop. I did have some great indoor tournaments but regular players, parties, and rec players dropped off to almost nothing in less than a year of changing over to airball.

Rather than spend the money to return the indoor to a scenario field I rented a large wooded area adjacent to the building and set up a woods field. While that did bring many of the customers who were lost back, it never recovered to the level of having the indoor scenario field.

Moral to the story... know your customer and setup the field THEY want.

[Horizon]

Originally Posted by Delmarva Paintball

Moral to the story... know your customer and setup the field THEY want.

Originally Posted by matojami

So as I have said in some of my last posts, I am starting an indoor field. What do you guys feel is the number one type of field that most players prefer? For example, I love speedball, but my friends hate speedball and love urban. I want something for both beginners and experienced players to enjoy. Let me know what you think!

Good advice from Delmarva Paintball and I think the OP answered his own question in his original post.

[pbamike]

One of my local field had a inflatable setup (both the "urban" set and the "speedball" set).

The manager told me that after a year, when they ditched the inflatable setup (which at the same time helped them to get rid of the speedball crowd), their income AND player count went up.

They replaced all the inflatable bunkers with a yellow bus, military vehicules, wooden structures, barrels, etc...

I don't know for your area, but most of the time your main market will be the rentals & walk-ins. And most of my rental friends don't really like inflatable bunkers.