Year of the Voxel

 Posted by bcoolface at 2:13 am  Add comments
Jan 162012
 

2011 was THE year for block-building games: Minecon attracted thousands of fans, Terraria sucessfully built on what Notch laid out, and Voxatron made a big splash with the Humble Indie Bundle. It was a good year for Ace too – we grabbed the 8th spot at IndieDB’s Indie of the Year Awards and got an honorable mention at TIGSource. And we’re still growing with a new peak of 1374 concurrent players just today.

However, 2012 will be no less than amazing since I’m currently working on additional features including spectator mode, artillery spotting, click+drag building, killstreaks, and more. And Mat^2 has been quietly working on a client update that should melt some faces.

Also, expect more frequent updates as I open this blog up to posts from key members, developers, and administrators of the community for news on community events, 3rd-party utilities, and mods. This will include Mat^2, StackOverflow, TheGrandmaster, and danhezee.

More news soon.
B

  • GLEB1027

    first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Cyanyde

    Awesome!
    I can’t wait to check out the new features, also, there were a few pics of the new client leaked in irc.. it looks SMOOOOOOOOTH! :) Keep up the amazing work. :)

  • Bryce Cronin

    I’m Addicted O_O

  • Bryce Cronin

    I got third comment

  • Mariokillu

    I see faith in Ace of Spades.

    Make it good, Ben. :P

  • KomradeKorakoff

    inb4 lag

  • PureSkillz7

    hopes it improves connectivity, i only have 100 ping and lags sometimes, include more weapons snipers, if u can vehicles  that be epic!

  • http://twitter.com/ThisFrickinSite nolan oppegard

    NOOOOOOO! KILLSTEREAKS! as much as i love cod, i just dont want to see this game turn into a cross between cod and battle field. even though that completely counterdicts my mindset a few months ago. I think that would attract alot of the wrong crowd. The game has enough dumbasses in it as it is. i  dont want more.

  • http://twitter.com/AJtheEpic A.J. Hillerich

    Sounds awesome!  I was also hoping for Choppers and Biplanes to be added as well.  Since the maps are pretty big, it would add a nice way to get around.  Of course, if you add these, we would also need mortars or RPGs as well.  :D

  • Rydogger21

    I thought you were leaving?

  • Rydogger21

    Cant wait! Keep up the good work.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001859882991 Alexander Gu

    Spectator mode nice! Good for admins to keep an eye on griefers without actually playing.
    Artillery spotting? What’s that…?
    Click and drag? Hmm, makes it sound like it’s gonna be quicker to build things…is that good or bad…?

    Looking forward to the next update. When will that be?

  • Computerwhiz69

    This sounds awesome!! What the game really needs to get are classes. For example, a medic class, or a machine gunner class that carries around a ammo pack the he can place for other players to use. Stuff like that! Keep up the good work!

  • KomradeMostWanted

    Cool.

  • Theman

    Wow this is going to make ace of spades pop of the page. I think your doing amazingly on AoS, but I have one problem LIGHTING. We need a way to get like a lantern or light block to see in tunnels, underground bases, ect. But on the other hand keep up the good work. :D

  • Dirk Notelli

    Nice, but i think AoS also needs an auto updater because i kind-of getting frustrated by downloading AoS every time an update comes out.

  • lehma

    >Killstreaks
    No. If they are added, i’m fucking leaving

  • Guest

    So when are we going to have to pay for this beta like Minecraft? That is still beta but they charge for online access legitimately (of course you can hamichi and so on for free). I am guessing with the forming of soca studios you hope to one day market your game and make money for all the hard work. I do not so much mind that part, what I do is the part where you do not listen to what the community is after and develop the game as ever you please. Then to charge at some point for a game that is not near what the community wants or likes…

  • Vucgy92

    You rock Ben congrats to you and your game :)

  • Vucgy92

    Artillery awesome 10/10 will make aos not that much a rush and kill game and will bring beople to make shelter
    Spectator nice 10/10
    click+drag building 8/10 dont knew how it gona be
    killstreaks 10/10 yeah we like it :D

  • TheOperator

    …killstreaks? Will the game still be modable?

  • http://twitter.com/JosteinHolmgren Jostein Holmgren

    Killstreaks? No, please don’t :(

  • YOBA

    Minecraft is not the only business model for freeware independently-developed computer games you blithering idiot…

  • Vucgy92

    Then leave and? they will be hundreads of new players cause of that and other changes

  • Rjkpogi

    nice, but please add pistols because when you are out of ammo on semi/smg/shotgun, you would need a secondary to finish up the job

  • Aqwertybqwerty

    Sounds like it’s gonna be an awesome year for AoS! The only thing I’d like to see besides the changes you’ve listed are vehicles (nothing overboard, just a simple boat and jeep perhaps, like the ones that we’re suggested awhile back) as well as some new weapons and secondaries ( such as the oft suggested mounted MG and a sidearm). Besides that, I’m ready to accept almost anything that comes our way! Keep up the good work!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001717297089 Andre Rodrigues

    spectator  mode,artillery spotting,click+drag building.that will be awsome

  • Anonymous

    Killstreaks are for pros like me :), hope they include the program itself not linking it to the internet like an internet shortcut, more vehicles and weps will attract a crowd

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Grant-Entwistle/1279582144 Grant Entwistle

    Holy poop, click+drag building sounds amazing

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Grant-Entwistle/1279582144 Grant Entwistle

    Holy poop, click+drag building sounds amazing

  • himself

    Killstreaks is meaningless unless you can stop the hackers.

  • W84death

    Please make OSX client port!

  • http://twitter.com/DarkDX DarkDX

    >Killstreaks
    Thankfully my PC is shit-ass enough not to run CoD/BF (although, the very first parts of these games DO run), so I dont know…
    But could you give us VERY rough ETA?
    Ie. the month we can expect the update? 

  • Anonymous

    #wow#whoa

  • Tigershield

    Please no killstreaks. if there going to be kilstreaks do it in a squad manner.I mean a full squad can get points to get some killstreaks but no solo killstreaks. for god sake no.

  • lehma

    First of all, learn to speak English or get someone else who CAN speak English to write it for you.
    Second, i don’t give a shit if anyone gives a shit about me leaving. The reason mainstream gaming industry sucks ass is becourse the games are made with dollar-signs in your eyes, and the only thing they focus on are the graphics, when the actual gameplay is dogshit.
    Something quite interesting to me is that a while back when Ben was interwieved, he said that he made ace of spades becourse he got bored of stupid mainstream FPS-shooters with killstreaks, 9001 and one guns, and other crappy “features”. Seems to me, that the veteran players have served their purpose of advertising the game for free, and Ben can move to phase two; Getting some money out, no matter what the cost. And the cost seems to be adding every feature included in popular FPS’s. It started as adding custom-made maps and SMG & shotgun being added, and now this. The game’s ruined

  • hhhik

    Personally I think Brick-force will be your biggest competitor and given what’s in store for the future, it’s a good thing too.

  • Freedom

    I read a bit of the start, skipped to the last paragraph… A BLOG YOU SAY :D

  • http://stiivais.net78.net/ Stiivais

    A client update you say? Now i want to shoot myself into the foot… Or maybe even take an arrow in the knee… Isn’t client update great, you might ask? Well it is, but not in this case, because i spent all day making the first alpha for external launcher. 
    http://stiivais.net78.net/game-related/aos-spade-courier God, i feel like an idiot now >_<

    Either way, it's nice to see this game develop with suggestions actually taken from community, the artillery spotting, for example, was in the suggestions tab of forum…
    And the features seem awesome, if we could drag a certain form of cubes, and the form would be automatically built while we have cubes equiped AND are in certain distance of the form, it would be great. ^^
    This game really deserves those awards.

    Btw, killstreaks can't be THAT bad…

  • http://stiivais.net78.net/ Stiivais

    A client update you say? Now i want to shoot myself into the foot… Or maybe even take an arrow in the knee… Isn’t client update great, you might ask? Well it is, but not in this case, because i spent all day making the first alpha for external launcher. 
    http://stiivais.net78.net/game-related/aos-spade-courier God, i feel like an idiot now >_<

    Either way, it's nice to see this game develop with suggestions actually taken from community, the artillery spotting, for example, was in the suggestions tab of forum…
    And the features seem awesome, if we could drag a certain form of cubes, and the form would be automatically built while we have cubes equiped AND are in certain distance of the form, it would be great. ^^
    This game really deserves those awards.

    Btw, killstreaks can't be THAT bad…

  • Tom

    But the game’s free for now… so why use the money-making ploys (killstreaks and ‘features??’) before actually charging? And without an automatic update feature, you can easily play an outdated version for free still… sooo shut your dick up.

  • DiezALOT

    Vehicles would be nice… Or even a new class? 

  • Lol Owned!

    To be honest I just checked out Brick Force and it looks like it is going to blow the shit out of AOS for joke! If it gets itself on Steam Brick Force will decimate AOS down to a handful of noobs who cling to it cos they cannnot afford or run cod on their pc lool.
    Either way AOS is dead in the water when Brick Force comes out!

  • (BiA]Yessum[RCT)

    He never stated what the killstreaks would do. They could just allow the player to see what his/her highest killstreak is. 

  • AoS is sick

    no i would love ace of spades if you added new guns that you didnt have to go onto mods and do all that stuff.Guns i would wont you too add RPG and AK47 a SNIPER RIFLE or a GRENADE LAUNCHER. PS if you did this for me ill love it

  • lehma

    Are you retardet?
    Who wants to pay for a buggy barebone-version of the game? The game needs to have features before you can start cashing people. And actually you can’t play outdated versions, since the servers always update.

  • lehma

    Brick force is a cheap ripoff of AoS, only with fancyer graphics. So just the game for you graphic-whores.

  • Mal Szkarlat

    Please added tanks and airplanes

  • Kroltan Bahuman

     Yeah other day i was on a Pyspades server and i got a killstreak. The enemies were based in a specific coordinate sho i just bombarded the place, and got enough kills for another killstreak, and they respawned im the same place. I ended the round with 87 kills / 3 deaths only because time ran out. I could do that for hours…

  • Anonymous

    That theoretically has been patched, but is being investigated further. Kills caused by airstrikes should not contribute to kills for the next airstrike.

  • http://meninorudy.blogspot.com DaViLeXBR

    Great! Keep up with the good work!

  • Just a guest!

    Hey just wanted to let you people know how much fun it is to play this game! Im waiting for the new features in anticipation!

  • Czubaka919117

    I have a request if you could add another weapon to the game such as SMG andpistol.
    You can even add a sprint instead of stealth.
    Thank you and please add it to the game

  • Lklleb

    the voxel engine ace of spades looks like this, but only expandedtake a look, download it and look very close to the voxelshttp://advsys.net/ken/voxlap/voxlap_src.ziphttp://advsys.net/ken/voxlap/voxlap05.htm

  • Lklleb
  • Drury

    I left it when he added shotgun and SMG. Custom maps didn’t help.

    I immediately knew that he’ll continue cloning CoD, and now I see he really does.

  • Dmand12354

    when will the forums be back on ?

  • LikeANock

    i got so much problem with this… server connection failed: it’s either full or misconfigured.. I hope you can fix it… i’ve began playing on 0.70 befor christmas…. and i could never join anyone’s servers… just my own… i could play there with other guys, but i cant join at all

  • LikeANock

    i got so much problem with this… server connection failed: it’s either full or misconfigured.. I hope you can fix it… i’ve began playing on 0.70 befor christmas…. and i could never join anyone’s servers… just my own… i could play there with other guys, but i cant join at all

  • Anomalous

    >killstreaks
    Oh God no… everything was looking great… and then this bomb dropped. 
    God damn it Ben, you had better have found a way to make this work, because killstreaks was one of my greatest fears for this game.

  • http://twitter.com/Darklight0303 Alex D

    Honestly that is hardly true. Multiple blocktypes and the fact that it is in browser make it far different.

  • http://twitter.com/anansbrus tb

    sounds like great news, but what do you mean with click+drag building? :s

  • http://twitter.com/erikyngvesson erik yngvesson

    awsome

  • Yooric

    just get the hitboxes done and it’s good

  • Dark

    1. Who says that better graphics is a bad thing? I don’t consider graphics to be how realistic they are, but how appealing. EX: I’d rather look at the blocky and nostalgic Ace of Spades screen for 5 hours rather than Cod’s boring shades of gray and brown.

    2. How is Ben adding in Killstreaks for money? I’m opposed to killstreaks also but how in any way is Ben charging us? The game is free, servers are free, there aren’t even any advertisements on the website ffs. Ben can add whatever he wants.

    3. Yes, games are made with dollar signs in mind. Wanna know why? Games cost MILLIONS of dollars to make. For example: Grand Theft Auto 4 cost a total of 100,000,000 dollars to develop. ONE HUNDRED MILLION. That, and only 4 – 20% of games make a profit. Wanna know what games those are? Generic shooting games. Why? Because that’s what people want and are willing to spend 60 bucks on! Maybe not hardcore gamers like you and I but that’s what the general population wants. If you don’t accommodate to your audience’s needs then they won’t buy your product, leaving you broke.

    4. What’s so bad about features from other popular FPS games? They’re popular for a reason you know. Sure, originality is always welcome but almost every product you can name (Especially video games) has been built upon by an earlier version. FPS games? Wolfinstien. Plaformer games? Mario.  Motion games? (Kinect, Eye Toy, Wii etc..)? Dance Aerobics (NES). 

    tl;dr: Shut up and play the game or leave. Simple.

  • Nathanbbell

    im sorry but i love this game but it probally wont eva reach the popularity of minecraft. i think you should add more guns like a pistol to use. that way we can have 2 guns in a class not 1. there should be more classes. and a day and night thing. cool music playing while the game is running would be awesome too

  • Sentient Pie

    So uh, what’s so bad about kill streaks?  As long as there aren’t nukes or missiles or anything, I’m fine with them.  This community really over-reacts to stuff like this.

  • Ktosiek

    Add tanks to game and enginner who can build that vehicles

  • Bot125

    i think you need to have a log in and friends list

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kevin-Racky-Tan/100000525185220 Kevin Racky Tan

    I think you should add ranks and stuff like that.

  • Macgyver Olsen

    lol, I just looked it up. It probably will ;)

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1243058952 Merlin Lefebvre

    This year is going to be awesome

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1243058952 Merlin Lefebvre

    oh god they added custom maps and a shotgun!
    ITS RUINED FOREVER!!!!!
    those were actually cool, i want at least SOME variety in my weapons, 3 weapons is perfect.

  • Mr

    Ben could we have like a week of just rifle, fallback to 0.51 for a bit, I hate the new features personally

  • Tomahawk233

    You do know every game out there is a clone of some other game, with some tweaks? Take zelda, hes copied almost every year, with dungeon based adventures games coming out yearly, All strategy games come from 1 failed version of halo that you haven’t heard of, it came before the first halo for PC, All games in history come from the first pong, and if you really get down with it, they copy everything from pong, the controller, the screen to see images, and a computer for the game. Stop complaining about every little detail and play or leave.

    Also, How is this anything like call of duty? You cant build in CoD, you get perks in CoD, but all u get a choice of here is 1 of 3 weapons, with nothing else.

    Last, Isn’t every CoD a copy of previous CoD’s that came out before with some new tweak?

  • lehma

    So you are saying that if i take diablo 2, add different kinds of monsters and make it browser-playable, it’s totally not a rip-off of diablo 2 and it’s a far different game? Excuse me, but your logics shit.

  • Chad Hicks

    Can’t wait!!!

  • http://twitter.com/phillyjan51 phill j

    for all those saying that ben is just waiting to charge he wont
    even if he wanted to he cant because Ken Silverman (the creator of the voxlap engine which the game is based off of) clearly states on his page that he will not allow people to charge for games based on his engine

  • http://twitter.com/Darklight0303 Alex D

    If those monsters were lets say Gundams then yes I would say it’s not a rip off. Why don’t you look at all the features brick force has before you so quickly pass judgment like a protective little fanboy who doesn’t like people taking apart his favorite toy.

  • No

    Please do not let Reddit ruin this game any further.

  • Bta47

    >KILLSTREAKS
    >CLICK+DRAG BUILDING

    fuq dis i’m out

    Just go back to 0.21 before you ruined it.

  • Vilg0

    Ben, make a look at Nuclear Dawn. Maybe you’ll find some good features for AoS

  •   

    whens the next updatr

  • DragonSkin342

    Yes.

  • http://twitter.com/LeoOtoni Leo

    AoS need an Auto Update

  • AoS Fan

    All of that stuff sounds cool except killstreaks. Please don’t add those.

  • Carlo

    i think we need more weapons

  • cpt.price

    MAN killstreaks are wesome…and it dosenthave to do something with cod ……..even minecraft have killstreaks (for only the ones that know what i am talking about) well killstreaks will prof how good u are its boring to just shot people and leave (thats what i think) and it woud be nice if u add some vicicles (my english is bad i am german lots of german play AoS :D) i meen tanks or…my fav helicopter :P . keep ur good working and dont list to the guys that are saying :i totaly levae if u add killstreaks ,

  • Marvinmeister

    u are right bro.

  • Marvinmeister

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOB

  • Blackpanther222

    If your doing killstreaks, don`t make it like something like COD, im afraid. Thats not a good idea, rewarding people that are getting kills with ways to get much more by killing, isnt a good idea at all. Bragging rights is much better, like Halos badges or Quake.

  • Princeoscar

    yeah dats being good

  • starkil3r

    i think it’s better than cod and so on just becaue of the gameplay and the possibilities to build your fortress
    it became my favorite game in just a few days and i think it’s really cool :)
    keep on with the work and i’ll keep on playing

  • Razourik

    I can’t wait until spectate on death, because the most frustrating part of this game is that when you are killed, often you can’t see who killed you and from where. I also can’t wait for kill streaks and artillery. Ben, you need to add medkits, and a system where we get our health and ammo back every 6 kills (and an airstrike) basically just add pyspades if thats what its called into the vanilla :)

  • Razourik

    Honestly, and I’m not just trying to be an AOS fanboy, brickforce looks terrible. It looks so smarmy and childish that it makes me sick, and it appears to not have the feature of building on the battlefield, but instead only the feature of building maps. Plus it looks like it will require high end computers. I run a laptop, so I wouldn’t be able to play, but even if I could, I wouldn’t. Roblox looks less of a kid game than brickforce does. :/

  • Razourik

    Honestly, and I’m not just trying to be an AOS fanboy, brickforce looks terrible. It looks so smarmy and childish that it makes me sick, and it appears to not have the feature of building on the battlefield, but instead only the feature of building maps. Plus it looks like it will require high end computers. I run a laptop, so I wouldn’t be able to play, but even if I could, I wouldn’t. Roblox looks less of a kid game than brickforce does. :/

  • qwaseman

    the game needs more weopons!!!

  • Demonarion

    Why would you add a killstreak when there is already one.I mean what do you need for a airstrike.

   
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