Swap Mode

Swap Mode is a gamemode all about speed vs. power. It shares some similarities with Normal Mode, but it also has a lot of differences. As us developers like to describe it, everything in Swap Mode is so overpowered that everything cancels out.

Teams

The teams in Swap Mode are Yellow and Blue, but they also vary between Light and Dark every minute (see below for details)

Objective

The objective of Swap Mode is the same as Normal Mode’s: break the enemy portals to win.

However, there is a new dynamic of Light side versus Dark side, and the teams swap ‘sides’ (only visually, not spacially) between Light and Dark every minute (although, during Sudden Death periods, 20-second “Quick Swaps” occur instead).

During these swaps, base materials and armor colors change accordingly (i.e., there are different base and armor colors for Dark Yellow, Light Blue, Light Yellow, and Dark Blue). The back layer of the base will always be concrete, colored black or white depending on whether the base is on the Light or Dark side.

Items

Unlike any other gamemode in Rocket Riders, in Swap Mode, players on opposing teams do not receive the same items at the same time (except for arrows, which both teams may receive). Rather, they get the same kinds of items: both teams will receive a missile or a utility at the same time, although those missiles and utilities may vary by the side the teams are on.

Players on the Light side will receive fast missiles and punchable utilities. Specifically:

Players on the Dark side will recieve powerful missiles and throwable utilities. Specifically:

Swap Mode adds Cluster Fireballs and ICBMs as gamemode-exclusive utilities, which replace the functionality of normal Fireballs and the Vortex. These are described in more detail below.

Cluster Fireball

When punched, the Cluster Fireball create 4 duplicate Fireballs that travel in the same direction as the original Fireball. This multiplies the damage and range of a single Fireball.

ICBM

When thrown, the ICBM (short for “Intercontinental Ballistic Missile”) explodes after 1.5 seconds of flight or upon collision anytime before that.

The explosion consists of 8 TNT at slight offsets, dealing significant damage and knockback to any blocks/players in its midst. Any players killed by the ICBM reward kill credit to the thrower, visible in the match statistics at the end of the game.

Unlike other utilities, the ICBM may always be thrown at the enemy portals directly to end the game. However, they may NOT be used to destroy the team’s own portals.

ICBM projectiles may also be thrown in such a way to propel each other and gain greater range. Therefore, it is theoretically possible to end the game from the player’s own base without spawning any missiles by simply chaining several ICBMs and launching them across the map.

Note that the items each team receives in Swap Mode are not configurable in the Modification Room.