The very first step is deciding what type of field you want to set up. You can be a bigger outdoor field with several natural terrains, thick bush, varying topography and places to set up man-made bunkers or you can set up something smaller with more man-made bunkers and brush that has been trimmed for ease of movement.
You can also be a speedball field or hyperball. Those variations can also be taken indoors. You can also have an outdoor and indoor combination.
Of course, the biggest determining factor will likely be money. You need to consider land purchase, equipment, qualified staff and the biggest factor - customer base. They are the ones who will be bringing the money back in after you have spent it all building the best paintball field you can afford.
Here are factors you need to consider for setting up each type of field.
Wooded outdoor fields
Many players enjoy the thought of playing out their war fantasies in the thick woods and natural surroundings, complete with bunkers, both man-made and natural.
Most of the field built until recently have been the outdoor variety. They offered the outdoor setting and real-life war. But, they can be costly and difficult to administer simply because of the size.
Games take a lot longer to play because of the distance people need to travel and the different tactics available. Many players tend to hide and wait for their opponents drawing games out while they try to find and eliminate each other.
Finding qualified refs to keep a close eye on the proceedings costs money. They are out there for a lot longer and they need to cover a wider, more dangerous area. Plus enforcing rules is more difficult when the refs have to cover this area.
Danger lurks in the woods. Holes, snakes, poison ivy and other such 'enjoyable' natural obstacles can hinder the enjoyment of some players.
If you have house equipment, there is a higher likelihood in the bigger area with the dense cover that your valuable equipment will be lost or possibly stolen.
With large, unmarked areas, it is possible to lose players on the battlefield because they have strayed out on their own. Visibly marking the large areas is difficult and time consuming.
One thing a new field owner can do, if he or she wants to ensure a higher turnover of players is to offer several fields with different types of games and different terrain, that several groups can play on at the same time.
While this will give you the opportunity to bring in more people and therefore more money, you will also need to offer pellet sales, fill-tanks. With more people coming in you can also build a kiosk that sells everything from food to supplies to memorabilia.
Speedball and hyperball
Many experts agree that in order to attract more players to the game, the wooded fields are the best. When newbies see the speed and frequency of getting splatted with paint, they may shy away. But because of the ease of setting up a smaller field with shorter games and more paint, the economics of the speedball field make more sense.
Some new field owners are putting together combination woods and speedball courses to attract players of varying skill and experience.
There are a few tips to building a quality speedball field:
Make the field longer than 100 yards but not too long that players will have a difficult time reaching strategic bunkers after the whistle is blown to start the match. It should also be a minimum of 40 yards wide.
Install bunkers equally on both sides. Make the bunkers equal in every aspect - size, length, height and placement. Take advantage of barrels, large farm tires and plywood bunkers.
Install netting around the area to trap stray pellets - especially if you have an audience. This will also prevent an air tank from being propelled into an unsuspecting viewer.
Color code bunkers to reflect size, type and placement so teams can plan their strategies easily and effectively.
Speedball fields seem to be the wave of the future for paintballers. They are less expensive to operate because they don't require such vast expanses of land and many amenities to run successfully.
Indoor playing fields
While indoor fields continually pop up all over the world, the same number of fields are going under. They are convenient and accessible to the general public, but the owner of the paintball field has to find a way to make sure he or she is filled to capacity as often as possible.
Indoor field do pose many obstacles to set up and operate:
Overhead, including utilities and building lease can cost you an arm and a leg.
Unless you have a super-warehouse, the fields are going to be small and compact. A 60 yard by 60 yard field is not uncommon.
With a smaller space, lower ceilings and several players, the sound can get overbearing.
Most of the combat is in close so the paint hurts when it hits. Also, because of the speed of an indoor game and the limited space refs find it difficult to watch over a game.
Space only allows for one field and to get larger groups in to play they need more variation. You can only vary between games like capture the flag and a game like 'rise from the dead' rather than moving between fields.
Lighting, safety and building design always seem to hinder a good playing experience for paintballers.
There are markets that will allow for a good indoor experience. But, unless there is a large, open indoor area, where your can either set up different scenarios or have different fields, it might prove to be a difficult task.
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