Welcome To Jetball!
Getting Started
Now on Steam!

Setting Up Jetball

You have any problems playing Jetball

  1. Join the verified Jetball Discord or send an email to support@playjetball.com.
  2. If you have a jetball steam key already use the "add a product to Steam" feature to install Jetball on your computer.
  3. Running the game without steam is possible but not recommended and your game will not update.
    If you are not using Steam you will need to register an in-game account using your email address. This secondary registration is only available for special consideration.

Playing The Game

The first time playing the game you may want to check your keyboards binds...

  1. Throw key - this is important. Be sure to use a key or mouse button that you are very comfortable with. Also holding down the throw key will execute a slap or kick instead of picking the ball up. You will be holding down this key often.
  2. Suicide/Respawn key - This is also important for getting back to defend your goal or setting up a play. Many players like "CTRL+K", or just "K" for (K)ill self. You may want to choose a key that you won't press by accident but can find easily.
  3. Jetpack - This is a team jetpack game after all! Default is "Right Mouse Button". Hold down to jet up. Player will automatically jump and jet if touching the ground. Jetpacks are the Z in FPSZ.
  4. Ski/Jump - Keep up your speed down hills. Default is "Space bar". Hold down to ski or bunnyhop down hills with very little friction. Ski down the hills and jet up the other side for max efficiency.

Finding A Game

  1. Click the "Join" tab and allow the list to build with available servers.
  2. You can double click the server in the list to join it.

Hosting a game (great for practicing solo or playing with friends)...

  1. Click the "Host" tab.
  2. Choose the map.
  3. Ignore all the other fields for now as they aren't necessary or implemented just yet.
  4. Click "Start New Game" button to begin your own session.
  5. If you want others to be able to see and join your game, you will have to open port 7777 on your firewall. Port forwarding explained.

Gameplay Tips

Throwing the ball....

  1. Pick up the ball by touching or walking over it.
  2. Hold down your throw key to start the throw meter. Let go to throw the ball.
  3. Notice the ball will inherit all of your momentum, so if you are moving in the same direction, you will throw much farther.

Slapping the ball...

  1. This time hold down throw "Q" BEFORE you touch the ball.
  2. Doing this will SLAP or kick the ball at full force.
  3. Slapping the ball or shooting from long distance will generate more points for your goal.
  4. Again, the ball will inherit all of your momentum.

Scoring a goal...

  1. ALWAYS shoot at the RED goal.
  2. The BLUE goal is your goal to defend so you want to prevent the ball from ever going into it.
  3. Slapping the ball or shooting from long distance will generate more points for your goal.
  4. Aim a little high to account for the ball's arc.
  5. Both teams will reset back to their spawn huts after a goal is scored (currently you are crudely killed and respawned - a gentler transport/teleport will occur in the future).

Kill the ball carrier...

  1. You can only damage the enemy if the player is holding the ball.
  2. Or if you are holding the ball you can damage everyone.
  3. You will always damage yourself so be careful.
  4. Most weapons will knock players around, which can be useful for giving boosts to yourself or teamates.

Holding the ball (HOT POTATO!)...

  1. You can only hold the ball on the ground for 8 seconds.
  2. Catching the ball in the air allows you to hold it for 20 seconds.
  3. As soon as you touch the ground you are back to 8 seconds (or less if you have held onto it for more than 12 seconds in the air).
  4. Holding the ball for too long will kill you, so pass it to a teammate or go for a gaol.

Dying and Respawning...

  1. If you die in the field, you will simply stand back up after a few seconds.
  2. Respawn back to your spawn hut (behind your goal) by pressing SHIFT+SPACE. This is useful for quickly getting back to your own goal to defend it.
  3. Spawn passing is also a play used by veteran players since they may know exactly where you are when you respawn (and even throw the ball up to be caught using a specific route).

Midairs (hit a player with a disc in the air)...

  1. Aim the Disc Launcher carefully and shoot a well-timed disc to hit players while they are in the air to score an MA.
  2. If the player is holding the ball, he or she will automatically drop it.
  3. Any player hit by an MA will be knocked back at super high speed (essentially removing them from play).
  4. MA your teammate to instantly grab the ball or if you have the ball, hit a teammate with an MA to immediately transfer the ball to that player.

Robs and Trounces (body blocking to stealing the ball)

  1. Simply touch any player holding the ball to take the ball.
  2. If you have the ball, touching any other player will give that player the ball.
  3. An advanced tactic to avoid having the ball stolen is to actually throw it to your would-be body blocker and then rob it right back from them.
  4. Hold down your throw button to Rob/Slap the ball.

Beacon Stopping/Jumping (likely going to be renamed to Brake Stop / Springboard action)...

  1. The default key mapping is "B".
  2. Aim down at the ground and press "B" and you should hear a "Screech" sound.
  3. You can do this while moving on or near the ground to come to an immediate stop.
  4. Springboard Action: Now while moving or falling with speed, face the ground, hold "B" AND your jets simultaneously and you should activate the Springboard action where all of your movement is directed upward. You have to be close enough to the ground to place the Springboard or it will not activate.
  5. A little background: Beacon Stopping and Beacon Jumping were advanced moves that Tribes 1 players found they could do by placing a beacon on the ground in front their moving body. The result is that you would collide with the placed beacon causing you to change direction, stop completely or if executed right you could launch yourself vertically into the air.

Advanced Tips

Running on low system specs, i.e. Toaster Mode...

NOTE: Please only attempt the following if you know what you are doing.

  1. Find your "GameUserSettings.ini" generally found in C:\Users\YOURNAME\AppData\Local\Jetball\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor

Under [ScalabilityGroups] set the following...

  • sg.ResolutionQuality=25.000000
  • sg.ViewDistanceQuality=-1
  • sg.AntiAliasingQuality=-1
  • sg.ShadowQuality=-1
  • sg.PostProcessQuality=-1
  • sg.TextureQuality=-1
  • sg.EffectsQuality=-1
  • sg.FoliageQuality=-1

Under [/Script/Jetball.JetballUserSettings] set the following...

  • GraphicsQuality=-1
  • ResolutionSizeX=1280
  • ResolutionSizeY=1024

When you get into the game press F11 to get back to full screen.

Try playing around with sg.ResolutionQuality (this is the same as setting r.ScreenPercentage) where 100.0 is best quality.

Host Jetball Dedicated Server

Like having a jetpack soccer field in your own back yard...

NOTE: Please be aware that dedicated servers are still in Alpha and should be used with some caution. With that said, there have been no reported issues with the server.

How To Host Windows Dedicated Server using your Steam Game

  1. Locate file "JetballServer-Win64-Shipping.exe" generally found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Jetball\Jetball\Binaries\Win64\
  2. Right click on "JetballServer-Win64-Shipping.exe" and create a shortcut (or send to desktop)
  3. Right click on the shortcut and click "Properties"
  4. In the shortcut target add the following (there should be a space in between the original target and the line below)

    "Arcadium?ServerName=My Name?listen" -log
    E.g. This is how my server is setup (the map has to be first):
    "..\Jetball\Binaries\Win64\JetballServer-Win64-Shipping.exe" "EpicCity?ServerName=My Jetball Server?listen" -log

  5. Set ?MaxPlayers=8 for setting player limits
  6. Open port 7777 on your firewall and router
  7. Alternatively, you can use a custom port by adding ?port=1234

"...\JetballServer-Win64-Shipping.exe" "Arcadium?ServerName=My Jetball Server?MaxPlayers=8?port=7777?listen" -log

If you wish to connect over LAN you may have to shutdown steam on the computer running the dedicated server.

Also to connect over LAN you will likely have to connect via direct IP using the dedicated server internal IP (usually something like 192.168.1.2).

How To Host Windows Dedicated Server using Steam Anonymous

This requires downloading and installing SteamCMD (the whole process is free).
  1. Create a folder for SteamCMD
    For exmaple
    C:\steamcmd
  2. Download SteamCMD for Windows: https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd.zip
  3. Extract the contents of the zip to the folder.
  4. Open a Command Prompt and start SteamCMD.
    cd C:\steamcmd
    steamcmd
  5. Login as anonymous in SteamCMD.
    Steam>login anonymous
  6. Tell SteamCMD where to put the Jetball Server.
    Steam>force_install_dir C:\jetballserver\
  7. Download and install the statndalone Jetball Dedictaed Server files.
    Steam>app_update 764860 validate
  8. Quit SteamCMD.
    Steam>quit
  9. Next we want to auto update the server before running it. Create a text file in C:\steamcmd e.g. update_jetball_ds.txt (comments start with //).
    // update_jetball_ds.txt
    //
    @ShutdownOnFailedCommand 1
    @NoPromptForPassword 1
    login anonymous
    force_install_dir C:\jetballserver\
    app_update 764860 validate
    quit
  10. Create bat file inside C:\jetballserver. Call it update_and_run.bat. Add the following 2 lines...
    c:\steamcmd\steamcmd +runscript update_jetball_ds.txt
    C:\jetballserver\Jetball\Binaries\Win64\JetballServer-Win64-Shipping.exe "EpicCity?ServerName=Server Name Here?MaxPlayers=8?port=7777?listen" -log
  11. Save the bat file. Now you should be able to simply double click the C:\jetballserver\update_and_run.bat file to launch your server.

How To Host Linux Dedicated Server using Steam Anonymous

This requires downloading and installing SteamCMD (the whole process is free).
Create a user account named steam to run SteamCMD safely, isolating it from the rest of the operating system. Do not run steamcmd while operating as the root user - to do so is a security risk.
  1. useradd -m steam
  2. cd /home/steam
  3. sudo apt-get install steamcmd (Ubuntu/Debian)
  4. OR... yum install steamcmd (RedHat/CentOS)
  5. ln -s /usr/games/steamcmd steamcmd
  6. steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir "your_install_dir_here" +app_update 764860
  7. "your_install_dir\Jetball\Binaries\Linux\JetballServer-Linux-Shipping" "EpicCity?ServerName=My Server?MaxPlayers=8?port=7777?listen" -log
  8. You can safely run step 6 each time before running step 7 to keep the server up to date.

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