Digital Paint: Paintball 2
Digital Paint: Paintball 2, also known as Paintball 2, is a free multiplayer paintball video game that originated as a modification of Quake II. Its first public version was released on 31 July 1998. The project subsequently developed into a standalone game combining paintball-themed equipment and objectives with fast, arcade-style movement.[1][2]
It is separate from Digital Paintball, the paintball modification developed for Half-Life.[3]
History
[edit]The original Digital Paint project developed Paintball 2 as a Quake II modification, releasing its first publicly playable version in July 1998.[1]
In January 2002, the developers announced plans to use the released Quake II source code to create a standalone version. This would allow people to play without owning or installing Quake II. The announcement also outlined planned improvements to graphics and gameplay.[2]
Development continued over subsequent decades. In June 2026, the project website announced Build 48 and described recent work on projectile latency compensation, paint grenades and player movement.[4]
Gameplay
[edit]Paintball 2 uses a first-person perspective and single-hit eliminations. Paintballs have limited range, while movement retains the fast running, jumping and dodging associated with Quake II. The resulting gameplay combines paintball objectives with movement that goes beyond the physical constraints of the real sport.[4]
Supported game modes include elimination, capture the flag, single-flag play, siege and king of the hill. Available modes depend on the map and server configuration.[5][6]
Maps can support between two and four teams. The project's mapping documentation identifies red, blue, yellow and purple as available team colours.[5]
Maps and community
[edit]The game provides documentation for creating maps and configuring their equipment, objectives and team arrangements. A map can support multiple game modes, allowing the same playing environment to be used for different forms of competition.[5]
Its map-rotation system also supports player voting on maps and their available game modes.[6]
The official website distributes the game free of charge and hosts development news. It also organises community playing sessions under the name Social Saturday.[4]
Distinction from Digital Paintball
[edit]Paintball 2 belongs to the Digital Paint project and uses Quake II-derived technology. Digital Paintball originated separately as a Half-Life modification and later received a revival called Digital Paintball Redux. The similar names do not identify versions of the same game.[3][4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Digital Paint news archive: first-release anniversary. Digital Paint. Records the first public release as 31 July 1998.
- Paintball II v2.0?. Digital Paint, 30 January 2002.
- Digital Paintball. Original Half-Life modification project profile, ModDB.
- Digital Paint: Paintball 2. Official website, gameplay overview and development news.
- Paintball2 Entities. Digital Paint mapping documentation.
- Digital Paint news archive: map rotation and game-mode voting. Digital Paint.