VECTOR Federation · Doctrine 0002

The Rulebook

Revision

1.0

Ratified

26.05.13

Status

IN FORCE

Authority

The Federation

The VECTOR Federation publishes the canonical text of the sport. The Manifest declares why the game exists. This document defines how it is played. Where the two disagree, this Rulebook governs the field of play; the Manifest governs everything else.

Contents

§1Object of the Game
§2The Arena
§3The Kinetic Core
§4The Staff
§5Teams and Players
§6Match Structure
§7Start of Play and Restarts
§8Scoring
§9Contact with the Core
§10Contact Between Players
§11Propulsion and Push-Off
§12Fouls and Penalties
§13Officiating and Communication
§14End of Match
§15Player Conduct
§16Variants
⌬Forthcoming Annexes
⌬Notation

§1

Object of the Game

1.1

VECTOR is a microgravity team sport played between two teams of three players inside an open, unpressurized cylindrical arena — transparent polymer over a rigid truss frame — held in orbital free-fall. Players operate in rated pressure suits.

1.2

A team scores by driving the Kinetic Core across the opposing team's Terminal Plane.

1.3

The team with the greater number of scores at the conclusion of the match is the winner.

1.4

There is no possession, no carry, and no goalkeeper. There is only the impulse the Core is given, and the line it crosses.

§2

The Arena

2.1

Geometry.The arena is an open cylindrical structure — transparent polymer panels supported by a rigid truss frame — held in continuous orbital free-fall. Structural length: 62 m. Interior diameter: 10 m. The field of play occupies the central 60 m of axial length, bounded at each end by a Terminal Plane (§2.6). A 1 m structural buffer past each Terminal Plane houses the capture net (§2.7) and the structural end frame.

2.2

Environment.Vacuum. The arena carries no internal atmosphere. Players operate in rated pressure suits (§5.4). The truss frame's passive radiative profile holds interior thermal range within suit-tolerant bounds.

2.3

Gravity.The arena is held in continuous free-fall relative to a station structure. Residual acceleration shall not exceed 1 µg over the duration of a match.

2.4

Sectors.The cylindrical axis is divided into 12 equal axial bands (5 m each) for officiating reference and broadcast overlay. Sector boundaries have no in-play effect.

2.5

Walls.The cylindrical surface is a transparent polymer skin supported by longitudinal and circumferential truss members. Both the polymer panels and the truss members are legal push-off surfaces. There is no floor, ceiling, sideline, or out-of-bounds within the field of play. Any point on the wall, on any other player, on the opposing team's Terminal Plane, or on a player's own Terminal Plane is a legal point of contact for push-off (§11).

2.6

Terminal Plane.Each Terminal Plane is a flat circular boundary spanning the full 10 m interior diameter, marked by illumination integrated into the truss ring at that axial position. The two Terminal Planes are lit in distinct colors — red for one team's defended Plane, blue for the other — to give players and spectators an unambiguous orientation cue inside the arena.

2.7

Capture net.Just outside each Terminal Plane, within the 1 m structural buffer, a mesh/cable capture net arrests the Core after it crosses the Plane. The capture net is not in play. Contact with the net does not constitute a foul. The Core is returned to play by officials during the post-score reset.

§3

The Kinetic Core

3.1

The Core is a dense, metallic sphere. It is the single object of play.

3.2

Specification.

·Mass: 50 kg nominal.
·Diameter: 230 mm.
·Material: solid steel sphere, chrome-finished, bearing the Federation crest (§3.5).
·Tracking: embedded passive transponder, 480 Hz pose telemetry.

3.3

Inertial dominance.The Core's mass is engineered to exceed the impulse capacity of a single human limb. A score is therefore the product of cumulative, coordinated impulse delivered through the Staff, not the strength of any one player.

3.4

Genesis.At the start of a match, the Core is placed at the geometric center of the arena and held momentarily stationary in the arena frame. Release is the signal to begin play.

3.5

Surface finish.The Core's outer surface is polished chrome over the steel mass, bearing the Federation crest engraved on opposite poles. The finish is decorative and identifying only; it does not materially alter the Core's mass, inertia, or rebound character.

§4

The Staff

4.1

The Staff is the player's sole sanctioned tool for delivering impulse to the Core.

4.2

Specification.

·Length: 1.42 m.
·Profile: gentle S-bend, 14° apex.
·Mass: 0.86 kg.
·Material: carbon braid over titanium core.
·Surface at strike face: hardened, low-grip — the Staff is incapable of holding the Core.

4.3

Function.The Staff serves two purposes:

(a)it extends a player's contact radius beyond the limit of arm reach, so that a player can engage the Core without colliding with it;
(b)it transfers impulse cleanly through leveraged coupling — striking, deflecting, or redirecting the Core.

4.4

No grasp.The Staff is mechanically incapable of grasping the Core. All contact with the Staff is non-covalent. Players may use the Staff to catch the Core's momentum or exert a more transient re-directing impulse. There is no temporal limit with which a Staff may engage the Core so long as other rules are upheld.

4.5

No propulsion.The Staff carries no on-board thruster, propellant, or active actuator. All player propulsion is reactive: push-off against walls, players, or the Core's own resistance via the Staff. Thruster-equipped Staffs are reserved as an exhibition feature (§16.4).

4.6

One per player.Each player carries exactly one Staff. A Staff may not be exchanged between players during play.

§5

Teams and Players

5.1

Composition.Two teams of three players each. Six players on the field of play.

5.2

Equal rights.Each of the three players on a team operates under identical rules, identical equipment, and identical privileges. There is no goalkeeper, no captain-on-the-field exemption, no designated defender, and no special-status role of any kind.

5.3

Substitutions.Substitution procedure is governed by the Player and Equipment Charter (Annex A).

5.4

Suiting.Each player wears a rated pressure suit with integrated radio and a hardened visor. The suit is the canonical play garment. Suit specification is governed by the Player and Equipment Charter (Annex A). Under the pressurized variant (§16.2), the suit is replaced by an inner garment with low-friction outer shell and a soft helmet with integrated radio.

§6

Match Structure

6.1

Duration.A match consists of five cycles of five minutes each, separated by 90-second resets. Total nominal match length: 25 minutes of playing time.

6.2

Clock.The match clock runs continuously during a cycle. The clock is stopped only for: (a) a score, (b) a penalty stoppage at the discretion of officials, or (c) a medical hold. Structural failure of the arena — including the loss of a Core through the truss or net — is handled under §14.4 (Disqualified match), not as a stoppage.

6.3

Tied match.If the score is level at the end of the fifth cycle, the match proceeds to Sudden Vector — a single overtime period of unlimited duration that ends on the next score.

§7

Start of Play and Restarts

7.1

Start of cycle.All six players begin the cycle in contact with their own Terminal Plane, arranged in a line of three along the perimeter of the plane. The Core is released at the geometric center of the arena.

7.2

After a score.Following a score, the Core is reset to the arena center; players return to their respective Terminal Planes; the next cycle (or continuation of the same cycle) begins on release.

7.3

Stoppages.On any in-cycle stoppage, the Core is held at its position of stoppage, and all players are moved by officials to a position at least 5 m from the Core before release.

§8

Scoring

8.1

The score.A score is recorded the instant the geometric center of the Core crosses the opposing team's Terminal Plane in the direction away from the arena center.

8.2

Equal value.Every score is worth one point. There are no distance multipliers, no bonus impulses, and no time-of-flight modifiers.

8.3

Own goal.If the Core crosses a team's own Terminal Plane, the score is awarded to the opposing team. The cause — whether deflection off teammate, off own Staff, or off the wall — is immaterial.

8.4

Adjudication.The Core's pose telemetry is the sole authoritative record of whether and when the Terminal Plane was crossed. Video is reference only.

§9

Contact with the Core

9.1

No intentional body contact.No player shall intentionally make contact with the Core using any part of the body or suit. The Staff is the sole permitted interface for play upon the Core.

9.2

Incidental contact.Incidental, unavoidable contact between the Core and a player's body or suit is not a foul in itself. The Core is a 50 kg inertial mass moving freely in the volume of play; collisions will occur. An incidental contact is not penalized unless it results in a Core trajectory that, in the judgment of officials, would not have been obtainable by lawful Staff contact — in which case the contact is treated as deliberate.

9.3

Body block prohibited.A player may not intentionally use their body, suit, or helmet to obstruct, redirect, or halt the Core. This is the most common reading of §9.1 and is enforced strictly.

9.4

Riding the Core.Sustained contact between a player's body and the Core — including but not limited to wrapping, leaning into, or pinning the Core against a surface — is prohibited regardless of intent. Officials shall call a violation if Core-body contact exceeds 0.2 seconds. Under the pressurized variant (§16.2), the threshold is relaxed to 0.5 seconds.

§10

Contact Between Players

10.1

VECTOR is a full-contact sport.Player-on-player body contact is integral to play. A player may collide with another player at any speed and from any angle achievable under the propulsion rules of §11, subject to the closing-velocity ceiling of §10.6.

10.2

No grasping.A player may not grab, hold, clamp, hook, or otherwise sustain a fixed grip on another player's body, suit, or Staff. Player-on-player contact is non-covalent: collisions and brief push-offs are legal; any sustained hold is not.

10.3

No use of the Staff as a weapon against players.The Staff is for use upon the Core. The following are prohibited and are subject to immediate penalty (§13):

(a)striking, slashing, jabbing, or chopping motions directed at another player;
(b)using the Staff to hook, snare, or restrain another player;
(c)using the Staff to strike at an opponent's Staff for the purpose of disarming or disabling that opponent.

10.4

Incidental Staff contact.Between players, in the course of legitimate play upon the Core, is not a foul. The distinguishing test is whether the contact was directed at the Core or at the opponent.

10.5

Helmet and visor.Direct, deliberate contact to another player's helmet or visor is prohibited regardless of intent to injure. Incidental helmet contact during a body collision is permitted; deliberate contact to the visor is a Tier III foul (§12) regardless of velocity.

10.6

Closing-velocity ceiling.Player-to-player contact at a closing velocity in excess of 3 m/s is a Tier III foul, regardless of intent. The ceiling reflects the suit-puncture risk inherent to canonical (vacuum) play. Under the pressurized variant (§16.2), the ceiling does not apply.

§11

Propulsion and Push-Off

11.1

Push-off is the sole means of propulsion.A player generates velocity by pushing reactively against a mass. The following are legal push-off surfaces:

(a)any point on the polymer wall or its supporting truss members;
(b)any point on either Terminal Plane ring;
(c)any other player, friend or opponent (subject to §10);
(d)the Core itself, through the Staff (the Core's inertia is sufficient to push off of meaningfully).

11.2

The wall is always available.In the 10 m diameter cylinder, no point in the arena is more than 5 m from a wall surface. A player who has lost momentum may always recover position by traversing to a wall and pushing.

11.3

Staff push-off on walls.A player may plant the Staff against the wall to gain a longer lever arm for a push-off. The Staff is not designed for sustained loading and may flex; this is at the player's own risk.

11.4

No artificial propulsion.No on-board thrusters, jet packs, propellant cartridges, magnetic boots, or external force-generating equipment is permitted on the field of play. The Staff itself carries no thruster (§4.5).

§12

Fouls and Penalties

12.1

Categories.Fouls are classified into three tiers:

·Tier I — Technical. Procedural violation with no contact implication. Examples: equipment fault, restart violation, radio misuse.
·Tier II — Conduct. Violation of contact rules. Examples: grasping (§10.2), deliberate body block on Core (§9.3), intentional helmet contact (§10.5), use of Staff against a player (§10.3).
·Tier III — Endangerment. Violation creating a credible risk of injury or suit/arena breach. Examples: deliberate strike to helmet or visor, deliberate strike with Staff at high closing velocity, player-to-player contact in excess of the 3 m/s ceiling (§10.6), sabotage of equipment.

12.2

Sanctions.

·Tier I: warning; on repetition, a 30-second player removal.
·Tier II: 60-second player removal; the offending team plays short.
·Tier III: ejection from the match; the team plays short for the remainder of the cycle.

12.3

Penalty execution.A removed player retreats to their own Terminal Plane and remains in contact with it for the duration of the penalty. The team is not permitted to substitute during the removal.

12.4

Penalty score.If the offended team scores during a Tier II or Tier III penalty, the offending player is restored at the next stoppage.

12.5

Forfeiture.A team that has lost two or more players to ejection in the same match forfeits. The match is recorded with the score at the time of forfeiture, or 1–0 to the opposing team, whichever is greater.

§13

Officiating and Communication

13.1

Officials.A match is presided over by one Chief Official and two Sector Officials. All three monitor telemetry and broadcast feeds from a position outside the arena.

13.2

Calls.Officials communicate calls to the field via in-suit radio on a dedicated officiating channel. Calls may additionally be projected as light cues on the transparent polymer wall — visible to players inside the arena and to spectators outside, supplementing the radio channel for unambiguous group signaling.

13.3

Player communication.Players communicate with their teammates over a team radio channel. Players may not communicate over the officiating channel.

13.4

Stop-play signal.A stop-play call is transmitted simultaneously to all six players. On receipt, players must cease imparting force to the Core within 1 second.

13.5

Replay and appeal.A team captain may appeal one call per cycle. The Chief Official reviews telemetry and may reverse or uphold. The appeal does not stop the clock unless the appealed call was itself a stoppage call.

§14

End of Match

14.1

Regulation finish.The team with the higher score at the end of the fifth cycle wins. The match is closed.

14.2

Sudden Vector overtime.A tied match proceeds to a single overtime period of unlimited duration. The first score wins. There is no second overtime.

14.3

Forfeiture.As specified in §12.5.

14.4

Disqualified match.A match in which the arena suffers structural compromise (truss fracture, polymer panel breach, capture net failure), the Core telemetry fails for more than 5 consecutive seconds, or the integrity of any officiating system becomes unreliable shall be suspended and rescheduled. No score is recorded. Under the pressurized variant (§16.2), loss of pressurization is an additional disqualifying condition.

§15

Player Conduct

15.1

Players shall conduct themselves with respect toward officials, opponents, teammates, and the Federation.

15.2

Conduct after a stoppage, between cycles, or after the match is bound by the same standard as conduct within play. Tier III sanctions apply to off-clock conduct as well.

15.3

Disputes between players, teams, or organizations are arbitrated by the Federation Arbitration Council. The decision of the Council is final.

§16

Variants

16.1

Canonical form.The form described in §§1–15 — open truss-and-polymer cylinder, vacuum, rated pressure suits, full contact at closing velocity ≤ 3 m/s, chrome-finished steel Core — is the canonical form of VECTOR and is the form played at all Federation-sanctioned matches.

16.2

Pressurized corridor variant (aspirational).When orbital pressurized corridors become routine infrastructure, VECTOR is expected to migrate to a 1 atm O₂/N₂ form played in soft-helmet inner garments. Adjustments under this variant:

(a)the closing-velocity ceiling of §10.6 is suspended at Federation discretion;
(b)the Core may use a brushed-steel surface in place of the chrome finish (§3.5);
(c)the Core-body contact threshold of §9.4 is relaxed to 0.5 s;
(d)all other rules of §§1–15 remain in force.

Until the infrastructure exists, this variant is sanctioned only for ground-side training facilities and for exhibition. Results under this variant do not count toward Federation standings.

16.3

Earth-bound training variant.Neutral-buoyancy tanks, parabolic-flight short-form play, and ground-based wirework are permitted as training and demonstration. Cycle length, arena dimensions, and contact rules may be adjusted at the discretion of facility operators. Results do not count toward Federation standings.

16.4

Other exhibition variants.Federation-sanctioned exhibition matches may explore alternative configurations — including but not limited to thruster-equipped Staffs, alternate arena dimensions, asymmetric team sizes, or alternate scoring objectives. Exhibition results do not count toward Federation standings.

Appendix · Forthcoming

Annexes

This Rulebook is the canonical text of the sport. The following formal annexes are commissioned to govern the engineering, broadcast, and player-conduct specifics that lie outside the core game rules. Each annex, when ratified, is incorporated by reference. Until then, the Federation governs by interim ruling.

ANNEX · A

Player and Equipment Charter

Substitution procedure (§5.3), suit specification (§5.4), doping regulation, training-program oversight, and player licensing.

ANNEX · B

Broadcast and Visibility Specification

Core surface visibility under arena lighting, light-cue projection protocols (§13.2), telemetry overlay standards, sector signage, and on-air officiating presentation.

ANNEX · C

Physical Specification Annex

Capture net materials and arrest behavior (§2.7), structural buffer dimensions (§2.1), Core coating composition (§3.5), Staff strike-face hardness, and arena truss-frame engineering.

Reference

Notation

Cycle: A single timed segment of play within a match.
Terminal Plane: The illuminated circular boundary at each end of the field of play, spanning the full 10 m interior diameter, defended by one team and attacked by the other (§2.6).
Capture net: The mesh/cable arrest structure just outside each Terminal Plane, not in play (§2.7).
Core: The Kinetic Core (§3).
Staff: The player's instrument (§4). Marketed as "G-Staff"; in this Rulebook "Staff" is the canonical term.
Push-off: Propulsion by reactive contact against a mass (§11).
Tier I/II/III: Foul severity (§12).
Sudden Vector: Overtime period of unlimited duration ending on the first score (§14.2).

This document is the property of the VECTOR Federation. All values are nominal and are subject to ratified amendment by the Federation Rules Committee.