iSoaker.net :: Soaking the world!

I'm kind of bored right now, so I figure I'll start a discussion. I don't know if this has been discussed before, but I sure haven't found anything.

Basically, the title tells all. This thread is for discussing/dreaming/predicting about what we will see in the future of water warfare, and water blasters.

I'm thinking maybe around 2050 or so, manufacturers could be using special waterproof microchips that can program the blaster to have virtually any power level, nozzle type/size, and even expand or shrink the entire blaster along with it's reservoir to have any capacity.

In the more not-so-distant future, I'm hoping manufacturers will come out with awesome new technology that will make CPS tech obsolete. Maybe they'll stumble across the SCII somehow, and start using piston powered blasters (Although SCII type blasters have rather limited battle practicality.). I see all this happening with BBT. Hasbro however....Ehhh, a few things could happen. They could simply just discontinue the brand, but I doubt it will happen unless BBT somehow manages to trump SS in sales, which probably won't happen unless Super Soakers "evolve" into overpriced dollar store guns. (Although some may say they're already at that stage.) Because the Super Soaker name brand is the only thing that sells them. (I'm sure most of you already know this.)

Anyway, those are some of my opinions. Feel free to join in.

~SEAL

I don't think the 2050 thing would ever happen even in a couple hundred years. It will probably never happen at all, and it's kind of weird. I wouldn't be surprised if BBT started making some small Supercannon-style guns, though.

Well, maybe more like 2200. It just occurred to me that if cars are all using microchips nowadays, then in the future, why not soakers? But I guess 2050 is a little too close.

I was mostly talking about the blaster changing power levels and sizes.

It would be cool if a water gun could determine the distance/size of a target and automaticly choose the right nozzle size and amount of power to hit it. But water guns just aren't serious enough for stuff like this.

You never know... If it ever does become a very serious sport, then they could even have custom-made blasters that are designed to fit your grip perfectly. That would be cool.

I guess, but that would sooner happen for real warfare than water warfare. And I doubt WW is ever going to become a huge sport.

We'll just keep on dreamin'...

Another thought. WW actually might become like a virtual reality game. Think about it. You could log on every day, and battle other community members even though they are on the other side of the world! That could very well be the future of WW...

SEAL wrote:We'll just keep on dreamin'...

Another thought. WW actually might become like a virtual reality game. Think about it. You could log on every day, and battle other community members even though they are on the other side of the world! That could very well be the future of WW...

This one is something that may happen, but it wouldn't nor shouldn't replace actual face-to-face water warfare. A good FPS with realistic water warfare physics and such has its merits, but virtual soakin' ain't as good as the real thing, IMO. Of course, if we get to the point of StarTrek Holodecks where reality and computer generated worlds really blend, that's another thing, altogether.

I think it would suck if your water gun automatically calculated the power and nozzle size for you, it would take all the skill out of the game. What fun would it be to have a water war with guns that virtually aim them selves. I think that in the future (maybe the next 5-10 years) People will realize that SuperSoakers are junk and they will start buying WaterWarriors instead. Hasbro will either have to start making good stuff again or be left in the dust. I hope that will happen, as for whether WW will ever become a sport, I doubt it, but would be cool.

If it was up to me, I wouldn't do that either. They would never automatically calculate the power and nozzle size. I was talking about manually changing the blaster's size and power based on the situation. (For example, if you're on base defense, you'd program it to have higher power.) Also, you couldn't make it very powerful without making it big. Trust me, I don't think that would be any fun either.

And most people who buy Super Soakers don't care about performance, they're mostly just little kids. My 5-year old cousin owns a Bottle Blitz. There are only a handful of hobbyists such as ourselves who actually care about how good his/her blaster is. But you never know. I personally don't have a Super Soaker versus Water Warriors sales chart, but I'm pretty sure SS is still on top.

I don't think virtual soaking is as fun as the real thing of course. But it does have it's advantages, especially for those of us (Like me.) who don't know enough people to get really serious.

Anyway, this is for discussing what you think will happen. Not just my thoughts.

Sorry I misinterpreted you, your right it would be handy if soakers could change size depending on what you need. Though it would take something like nanobots to do that, so not till 2200 or somewhere in the future. Your right though, SuperSoaker is ahead of WaterWarriors, at least if what I see in stores is any indication. I'm just hoping that WW will pull ahead, I've only recently (last 2-3 years) gotten WaterWarriors guns, I never looked back. If virtual water wars was like the holodeck on startrek than virtual wars would be cool, I've got the same problem, not enough of my friends are serious about water wars.

Hey man, no harm done. Misinterpretation is common on the internet.

If there was blasters like that, I'm sure that the first ones would be homemades. (Assuming nanobots and microchips are available to the public by then.)

Here's another possibility, Robots. If robots become cheap enough, then some enthusiasts may program them to hold and fire water blasters. But that would be pretty unfair for the other team. Unless they had an EMP burst or something. Actually, they would probably start out as robotically controlled turret guns or something, and maybe get to the point of huge robotic scorpion things with a WBL on their tail. I doubt they would ever be manufactured though. I sure wouldn't want to face one.

As far as SS vs WW goes, the best possible things that could happen are: One, Super Soaker could turn over a new leaf and start actually trying to make good blasters, (Not likely, but who knows.) or Two, Water Warriors could somehow gain the popularity of the public, and get enough money to start making really serious blasters. The best way for number 2 to happen, would maybe be if WW released a really BIG blaster that's bigger and cheaper then the MXL. Then every kid in the nation would want one(If they're anything like me when I was young.), WW would receive the good recognition it deserves, and everyone's happy!(Except SS.) But that actually might make SS try harder to gain recognition, so they may start trying to improve their brand. We can only hope...

I'm not sure Hasbro really cares about their water guns that much. They mostly just make good Nerf guns instead. So I'm not really sure they'll care that much if WW becomes big.

It would be really cool if WW made a huge and awesome gun that everyone wants. I want to get a job at BBT now...

The water blaster in fact, has almost NO future unless water warfare develops its reputation as more than a backyard soakfest game. The only future the water blaster has right now is in homemade innovations, but hobbyists have their limitations. Companies have access to high tech plastic moulds and can afford to mass produce numerous water guns, each being cheaper than the homemade can be done. They just choose to minimize quality to put costs even lower because water guns don't bring in a whole lot of money these days. If Hasbro is content with the money they're making with their current crappy SS line up, then nothing about them will change. The WW brand is still developing but I have doubts as to whether or not it'll become big enough for BBT to make enough money to improve the WW line further.

SEAL wrote:We'll just keep on dreamin'...

Another thought. WW actually might become like a virtual reality game. Think about it. You could log on every day, and battle other community members even though they are on the other side of the world! That could very well be the future of WW...

Been done. It's called Super Soaker Championship. Google it and have a German to English translator ready.

"Virtual reality" is really just a hardware extension of current console/computer games. It will take a long time before technology is good enough to actually create immersive gaming hardware instead of produce gimmicks like Wii remotes and 3D glasses.

I am a bit optimistic, eh? Anyway, we'll see what the 2011 line-ups have in store for us.

They have virtual reality water wars? Hold on..........*Googling it now*........Okay! I just checked. It looks just like some kind of 3D MMO. When I meant virtual reality, I meant like actually having the sensation that you're in the game. Ever see Spy Kids 3? That's what I mean.

"Virtual reality" is really just a hardware extension of current console/computer games. It will take a long time before technology is good enough to actually create immersive gaming hardware instead of produce gimmicks like Wii remotes and 3D glasses.

I have no idea what you're talking about. (Maybe I should take some kind of learning course for computers. ) My translation is that you're saying that people don't have the technology to create the kind of virtual reality that I was talking about, and are using things like 3D glasses and Wii remotes to try and create the sensation of true virtual reality.

Okay, I understood most of it, just not the hardware extension part.

Anyway, I seem to remember reading a Popular Science magazine with an article on virtual reality. I can't remember, but I think it said it would be available in like 50 years or something. That's how far into the future I was thinking about when I first made this thread.

Ehh... It's been a month but I'll continue with this nonetheless. (I haven't kept up with the forums too well.)

A computer/game console already generates a virtual world of its own. This takes place in the polygons that build up these worlds; a 3D engine, and we already have the basis of what is needed. Current virtual reality technology is done by a headset you wear. Your left and right eye are connected to seperate screens, so two images are rendered at a time from the 3D world; one for your left eye and one for your right. This is the basis behind 3D movies, TV, etc. but a virtual reality headset does this best. For sound you have headphones and a good audio engine that can simulate sounds from a multitude of different positions accurately enough for you to tell where they are. The headset also has a gyroscope or some other device for determining its orientation and position in the real world. It translates these real world movements into the program (as input, no different than moving a mouse around) and the 3D inside the program is updated accordingly. You can walk in virtual houses with this stuff and I'd like to see a variation of laser tag developed out of it.

If that kind of tech is possible then why do you never see it, but instead are stuck behind big flat screens? Because the tech is pretty expensive mainly because it lacks widespread adoption. Current gen game consoles were never designed to handle 3D but computer graphics drivers is working towards it and the main issue now is that old games were not designed for 3D and thus the effect is somewhat broken. (i.e. An older FPS may have the gun rendered on a seperate plane from the game world so the gun appears to go through the ground when you go downwards, or particle effects like explosions were only made to face the camera and not work in 3D.)

Now what we need for the VR that you're dreaming of is complete immersion; you can feel the temperature of the virtual world, touch and pick up the objects, etc. To do this, technology that can completely envelop the senses is required. Think The Matrix. Personally, I'm uncomfortable with the idea of plugging my brain into a machine as seen in sci-fi's, and it'll probably be one of those things I get grumpy about when I get old and the technology is around.

On the other hand, you probably just want a good extension of the VR we have these days. What I mentioned with the VR headset only covers perception of a gameworld, not interaction. Well, someone developed a VR with some pretty good interaction, which I read in PopSci. The player carries a replica of a gun and goes inside a large ball, similar to a mouse ball but held in place by a base that has wheels on it. The player can now walk around in an infinitely large gamespace and go anywhere he wishes to and this input can be picked up by the ball's base itself, and/or by sensors attached to his feet. His gun prop has markers on it, and/or a gyroscope/accelerometers and such that allows the program to find where the gun is being pointed. Every movement has to be inputted and updated in real time or the illusion is broken, though this isn't that difficult if the hardware is decent. (After all you never notice a delay when moving your mouse and seeing it move on the screen so I don't think this will be a huge issue.) The only real issue with this is that you can't lean against virtual walls when behind cover in a firefight.

This machine is being sold to an arcade and also being used for training. I'd have to find it on google but I can't even remember what its called.

Now back to water warfare, what you're looking for may just be that. It's somewhat realistic (better than the mouse and keyboard) but still allows for virtual play, thus online play is possible. But to do this, you need to get a hold of that expensive hardware and develop a water warfare simulation for it.

I think the best we can do now is create that water warfare FPS I've mentioned about previously. There are already amazing possibilities that can be done in a water warfare FPS, and such a game could bring the unique mechanics of the water war to many people who would otherwise not think twice about it.

It seems that the future of the water blasters is very bright with so many people already working on this project with so much enthusiasm. Definitely these water blasters will be used in war fares with much more importance. By 2050 even we can imagine that these water blasters will be programmed and will be operated by the help of microchips. Doesn’t that sound interesting? We cannot predict anything now. Different kind of technology will be implemented in the design and new types of water blasters will be out by that time.

I would welcome a real water warfare sport game

BBT is likely to bring out weapons with incredible range, may they also get further than the CPS 2000 MK1---

Not that realistic, but they managed to build a weapon with a bigger PC than the monster XL...

I will follow the development of Super Soakers, but since I am in Austria I will get "NEW technology in water warfare" some years after it is introduced to the USA...Importing guns out of the USA is just incredible expensiv...The minimum I paid for a gun(just shiping) is about 35 dollars...It is not that long ago, I bought a SC Power Pak for incredible 190 dollars total^^(110 gun, 80 shiping)

Haha, I should better save money for other things...but I love water warfare and there is no other way to get good blasters^^

SEAL wrote:You never know... If it ever does become a very serious sport, then they could even have custom-made blasters that are designed to fit your grip perfectly. That would be cool.

sort of like those overpriced dell laptops?

how about a modular soaker. it could have a removable pc and tank, which could be swapped out for different needs. same goes for the nozzle and grip (the grip could be attatched/removed from right underneath the trigger area.)

That sounds cool. I might make a homemade like that sometime.