History Main / AceOfSpades

By default, the game takes place on a large, randomly generated map with hills on Blue Team's side (west), and rivers on Green Team's side (east). You play as a member of one of these teams, with the choice of weapons between a rifle, a sub-machine gun or (as of v0.58) a shotgun. You other equipment consists of a spade (for removing and acquiring blocks), 50 blocks (for building), and three grenades. The point of the game is to capture the enemy's intelligence a certain number of times. You may change the color of the blocks you place by using the arrow keys to look through the pallet, or by right-clicking something else to sample it's color. A popular strategy is to build a foxhole in the side of a hill, using the same color blocks as the hill, and sniping in there with a rifle.

* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: It's decent range and ability to blow through blocks like a hot knife through butter make this trope even doubly so.

* DroneJam: In small doorways, players may have to wait turns.

* GamingClan: Quite prominent. There are Major League Gamers, [[DwarfFortress Bay 12ers]], and *Color* Veterans.

* HoldTheLine: Missions on some of the smaller and narrower maps frequently end up like this.

* UnusualUserInterface: There's no ingame server browser, and in fact you don't load the game from the Start menu at all. Once the game is installed, players have to select a server from a list on the game's website, or type the aos:// address into their browser.

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Trying to get a pickup team of sixteen gamers to collaborate on building a large fortification with an enemy attack coming in every few minutes and often no voice-chat can result in some ''really'' weird-looking forts.

* EmergencyWeapon: The entrenching tool can now be used for a OneHitKill at melee ranges, an AscendedMod of sorts since it was added by the third-party server software. Occasionally a source of frustration if FriendlyFire is switched on, because digging and attacking are performed with the same command and it's embarrassingly easy to accidentally deck a teammate.

** Oh, and special mention must go to the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic bronies,]] one of the few clans to run their own server. Several clan members have named themselves after the "mane six" and naintain {{Kayfabe}}, and there's a word-substitution script that forces you to ''talk'' like a brony. It's still one of the better servers.

* {{Griefer}}: Rampant, usually centring around knocking down things other players have built. Occasionally, multiple griefers will ''join forces'' to demolish a particularly well-made structure, often displaying greater teamwork and coordination than anyone else on the server. Laying out blocks in the shape of giant male genitalia or obscene messages is another popular griefer pastime, and the game also attracts a genuinely alarming number of neo-Nazis.
** The problem is a lot less acute now that bans are IP-based rather than nickname-based.

* SchizoTech: The default graphics for the rifle are loosely based on a German semi-automatic rifle from the Second World War, the SMG is clearly a Heckler & Koch MP5 and the shotgun and grenades could be from any era.

* UnpleasableFanbase: And how!

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}

* GamingClan: Quite prominent. There are Major League Gamers, Bay 12ers, and *Color* Veterans.
** Oh, and [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic bronies.]] Can't forget them.

* GreenHillZone: One of the default maps in the orginal version.
* {{Griefer}}: Rampant, usually centering around knocking down things other players have built. Occasionally, multiple griefers will ''join forces'' to demolish a particularly well-made structure, often displaying greater teamwork and coordination than anyone else on the server. Laying out blocks in the shape of giant male genitalia or obscene messages is another popular griefer pastime, and the game also attracts a genuinely alarming number of white supremacists.

[[caption-width-right:169:War is hell.]]

To sum it up simply, it's what you might get if you were to cross [[TeamFortress2 Team Fortress 2's]] CaptureTheFlag mode (using a briefcase as the intel) and color coded teams with {{Minecraft}}'s building blocks and boxy character models. It has a small, but dedicated, userbase.

* FollowTheLeader: To {{Minecraft}} and (arguably) TeamFortress2

* XMeetsY: {{Minecraft}} meets TeamFortress2 meets WorldWarOne, WorldWarII, and depending on the map, the Falkland Islands war.

** Oh, and [[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic bronies.]] Can't forget them.

* EmergencyWeapon: Inverted. Your pick and spade are useless in combat, so you must use your ammo and two grenades wisely.
** Played straight on some servers thanks to a mod that makes the pickaxe a OneHitKill... if you get a chance to use it.

* UnusualUserInterface: There's no ingame server browser, and in fact you don't load the game from the Start menu at all. Once the game is installed, players have to select a server from a list on the game's website.

* ObviousBeta: Definately.

You play as either a member of the Blue or Green team, with the choice between a rifle, a sub-machine gun or (as of v0.58) a shotgun. You other equipment consists of a spade (for removing and acquiring blocks), 50 blocks (for building), and three grenades. The point of the game is to capture the enemy's intelligence a certain number of times. You may change the color of the blocks you place by using the arrow keys to look through the pallet, or by right-clicking something else to sample it's color. A popular strategy is to build a foxhole in the side of a hill, using the same color blocks as the hill, and sniping in there with a rifle.

You play as either a member of the Blue or Green team, with the choice between a rifle, a sub-machine gun or (as of v0.58) a shotgun. You other equipment consists of a pick and spade (for removing and acquiring blocks), 50 blocks (for building), and two grenades. The point of the game is to capture the enemy's intelligence a certain number of times. You may change the color of the blocks you place by using the arrow keys to look through the pallet, or by right-clicking something else to sample it's color. A popular strategy is to build a foxhole in the side of a hill, using the same color blocks as the hill, and sniping in there with a rifle.

The official website is located [[http://ace-spades.com/ here]].

* EverythingsBuiltWithLego

* BoringButPractical: Simple buildings like bunkers and walls are easy to build and can act as effective barricades and sniper spots. The team with more of them often wins. More often than not, though, hastily-dug foxholes under fire will be what the player spends most of his time in.

* XMeetsY: {{Minecraft}} meets TeamFortress2 meets WorldWarOne

* BoringButPractical: Simple buildings like bunkers and walls are easy to build and can act as effective barricades and sniper spots. The team with more of them often wins.

* StopHavingFunGuys: Hard to say if this is subverted, inverted or something else entirely, but there are a number of players who only seem interested in building ever-more-elaborate fortifications or purely decorative items like flags, and virtually ignoring the FPS aspect. One such individual is no problem, and can even be a great boon if they're competent, but four or five of them on one team can leave everyone else at a severe disadvantage in combat.
** Many members of the community virulently hate these players, often acting [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie even worse.]]

* RealityEnsues: For an FPS that looks like MineCraft, it actually turns out to be a relatively realistic war simulator.

* XMeetsY: MineCraft meets TeamFortress2 meets WorldWarOne

To sum it up simply, it's what you might get if you were to cross [[TeamFortress2 Team Fortress 2's]] CaptureTheFlag mode (using a briefcase as the intel) and color coded teams with MineCraft's building blocks and boxy character models. It has a small, but dedicated, userbase.

* UnpleasableFanbase: Everytime [[WordOfGod Ben]] releases a new weapon, expect to see tons of posts in the forum complaining it needs buffs or nerfs and how it made something useless.
** Even [[GameMod mods]] like Psyspades, which add picks as melee weapons, squads, classes, and airstrikes, gets complaints.