Ace of spades, Minecraft like FPS (opens in new tab)

(rockpapershotgun.com)

118 pointsnetcrash14y ago37 comments

37 comments

ugh14y ago

Nice to see that Minecraft has seemingly created a new genre of first person world building games.

It's not correct to attribute the voxel game genre to Minecraft. It's just the first game of the genre to reach a considerable level of success.

Minecraft is just one of many games that were directly inspired by the underground hit Infiniminer.

microtonal14y ago

I fondly remember NovaLogic's Comanche series. While it isn't of the 'world building' genre, its voxel engine was very impressive for its time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comanche_series

Also interesting (historically) is 'Rescue on Fractalus'. Not just for its cheesy name, but also due to its reliance on fractals to draw 3D mountain sceneries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_on_Fractalus!

Edit: videos of both games:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usj17cxSCKs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbZ-chrOgGg&feature=playe...

2 more replies

blhack14y ago

Infiniminer may have been Notch's inspiration, but Minecraft is what created the genre. People making minecraft-like games right now aren't copying Infiniminer, they're copying minecraft.

The iPhone wasn't the first smart-phone, it wasn't even the first touch-screen smart phone, but most people (correctly) give it credit for popularizing the style, and creating a new "genre" for smartphones.

1 more reply

ugh14y ago

Why not? If it’s the one that made it popular then it’s the one that created the genre.

Edit: Well, ok, I don't want to put it in such absolute terms. But I do think that Minecraft deserves quite a large chunk of attribution for the genre.

swombat14y ago

Is Minecraft Voxel? I thought it was real (if blocky) 3D?

2 more replies

petewailes14y ago

Indeed. I can't wait to see someone building an RTS using this. Imagine how awesome TA would be if you could alter terrain on the fly!

JanezStupar14y ago

Then you should go and check TA Spring. It has all the good stuff from TA + modern graphics engine + terrain changing mechanics.

I remember this epic duel I played vs 2 other guys (yes my teammate quit) in a castle type map. Since I turtled too heavily for them to break through, eventually they just drowned me by blasting me with arty long enough for map's floor to erode beyond water level.

1 more reply

thenduks14y ago

FYI: Windows only.

CWIZO14y ago

Is this a completely new thing or is it based on Minecraft's engine?

Deestan14y ago

Not based on the Minecraft engine. The Minecraft engine is proprietary and closed-source. Also, it is (according to the developers) a bit of a runny mess, so licensing doesn't make sense either.

CWIZO14y ago

That's a shame. I guess this game would progress more quickly if it could leverage Minecraft's engine, since it looks the concept is nearly the same.

1 more reply

kpeel14y ago

According to the readme, it's based on an open source engine called Voxlap, created by Ken Silverman (the guy that wrote the Duke3d engine). Here's a link:

http://www.advsys.net/ken/voxlap.htm

jonursenbach14y ago

Given that Minecraft isn't open source, this is a new thing.

fredoliveira14y ago

You're right in that this is a new engine, but the fact that minecraft's engine isn't open source doesn't necessarily come into play here. There's closed-source engine licensing happening everywhere.

1 more reply

rsbrown14y ago

Jut DL'ed and played for a few minutes. I really like it, but there were issues with lag and general UI responsiveness.

Though very rough, I'm excited about the potential for this one.

beza1e114y ago

So, where is the code?

nopassrecover14y ago

Actually if you read http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/01/20/proto-minecraft-a... apparently releasing code (unintentionally) is what destroyed Minecraft's inspiration Infiniminer.

euccastro14y ago

Why has this been downvoted? The game is free software, yet the (temporary) homepage has no link to the sources.

This is a most relevant question in a "Hacker News" site.

etcet14y ago

I haven't heard any mention of this game being free or open source. The software it uses (Voxlap & GenLand) both have permissive non-commercial licenses w/ attribution but are not viral like the GPL.

1 more reply

dylanrw14y ago

It's a shame it has no Mac client. :/

olsonjeffery14y ago

I actually play AoS on Snow Leopard using a Wineskin wrapper + ie7 (gross, I know.. but all AoS games are launched from the browser and FF didn't work right for me..)

If you're familiar with wineskin, the process was something like:

1. create new wrapper 2. in advanced settings, launch winetricks and install ie7 (ie8 is always weird/crippled for me) 3. set homepage to http://ace-spades.com 4. in OSX, download the AoS installer MSI 5. Install the MSI from your Wineskin wrapper 6. Set the ie7 bin to be the "start program" for your wrapper 7. Launch the wrapper 8. Click game 9. Profit!

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

37 comments

ugh14y ago

Nice to see that Minecraft has seemingly created a new genre of first person world building games.

Deestan14y ago

It's not correct to attribute the voxel game genre to Minecraft. It's just the first game of the genre to reach a considerable level of success.

Minecraft is just one of many games that were directly inspired by the underground hit Infiniminer.

microtonal14y ago

I fondly remember NovaLogic's Comanche series. While it isn't of the 'world building' genre, its voxel engine was very impressive for its time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comanche_series

Also interesting (historically) is 'Rescue on Fractalus'. Not just for its cheesy name, but also due to its reliance on fractals to draw 3D mountain sceneries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_on_Fractalus!

Edit: videos of both games:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usj17cxSCKs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbZ-chrOgGg&feature=playe...

2 more replies

blhack14y ago

Infiniminer may have been Notch's inspiration, but Minecraft is what created the genre. People making minecraft-like games right now aren't copying Infiniminer, they're copying minecraft.

1 more reply

ugh14y ago

Why not? If it’s the one that made it popular then it’s the one that created the genre.

Edit: Well, ok, I don't want to put it in such absolute terms. But I do think that Minecraft deserves quite a large chunk of attribution for the genre.

swombat14y ago

Is Minecraft Voxel? I thought it was real (if blocky) 3D?

2 more replies

petewailes14y ago

Indeed. I can't wait to see someone building an RTS using this. Imagine how awesome TA would be if you could alter terrain on the fly!

JanezStupar14y ago

Then you should go and check TA Spring. It has all the good stuff from TA + modern graphics engine + terrain changing mechanics.

1 more reply

thenduks14y ago

FYI: Windows only.

CWIZO14y ago

Is this a completely new thing or is it based on Minecraft's engine?

Deestan14y ago

Not based on the Minecraft engine. The Minecraft engine is proprietary and closed-source. Also, it is (according to the developers) a bit of a runny mess, so licensing doesn't make sense either.

CWIZO14y ago

That's a shame. I guess this game would progress more quickly if it could leverage Minecraft's engine, since it looks the concept is nearly the same.

1 more reply

kpeel14y ago

According to the readme, it's based on an open source engine called Voxlap, created by Ken Silverman (the guy that wrote the Duke3d engine). Here's a link:

http://www.advsys.net/ken/voxlap.htm

jonursenbach14y ago

Given that Minecraft isn't open source, this is a new thing.

fredoliveira14y ago

You're right in that this is a new engine, but the fact that minecraft's engine isn't open source doesn't necessarily come into play here. There's closed-source engine licensing happening everywhere.

1 more reply

rsbrown14y ago

Jut DL'ed and played for a few minutes. I really like it, but there were issues with lag and general UI responsiveness.

Though very rough, I'm excited about the potential for this one.

beza1e114y ago

So, where is the code?

nopassrecover14y ago

Actually if you read http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/01/20/proto-minecraft-a... apparently releasing code (unintentionally) is what destroyed Minecraft's inspiration Infiniminer.

euccastro14y ago

Why has this been downvoted? The game is free software, yet the (temporary) homepage has no link to the sources.

This is a most relevant question in a "Hacker News" site.

etcet14y ago

I haven't heard any mention of this game being free or open source. The software it uses (Voxlap & GenLand) both have permissive non-commercial licenses w/ attribution but are not viral like the GPL.

1 more reply

dylanrw14y ago

It's a shame it has no Mac client. :/

olsonjeffery14y ago

I actually play AoS on Snow Leopard using a Wineskin wrapper + ie7 (gross, I know.. but all AoS games are launched from the browser and FF didn't work right for me..)

If you're familiar with wineskin, the process was something like:

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse