Getting Started
Welcome to Ace of Spades! This guide is intended to give new players a general overview of Ace of Spades, and it's mechanics, controls and interfaces.
Contents
What is Ace of Spades
Ace of Spades is a multiplayer creative first-person shooter, initially created by Ben Aksoy and currently under development by Jagex Games Studios. Players can choose from a variety of game modes such as Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag which take place in a fully destructible voxel based battleground, where players can destroy and place blocks to create structures to help them achieve the game's objective.
More information: Ace of Spades
System Requirements
Ace of Spades can be played on Windows or Mac OSX. The full system requirements as of July 19th 2013 are as follows:
PC System Requirements
Minimum: OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7 Processor: 2.0 GHz + Memory: 2 GB RAM Hard Disk Space: 500 MB free Graphics: 800 x 600 Minimum Resolution, OpenGL 1.5 Support or better. Video Card: Recommend use of dedicated graphics card (Nvidia Series 8800+ or ATI Radeon HD 3000+). Laptop/Mobility cards will vary. DirectX: 9.0 Other Requirements: Broadband Internet connection
Mac System Requirements
Minimum: OS: OSX version 10.5.8 or above Processor: Intel processor of 2GHz or higher Memory: 2 GB RAM Open GL: Open GL 1.5 Support Graphics: 800 x 600 Minimum Resolution. DirectX®: 9.0 Hard Drive: 500 MB HD space Graphics Card: Radeon X1600 128MB or equivalent, Recommend use of dedicated graphics card Other Requirements: Laptop/Mobility cards will vary
For the latest system requirements, view Ace of Spades in the Steam Store.
Getting Ace of Spades
Ace of Spades can be bought through the Steam content delivery platform, and Steam must be installed on the players computer to download and install the game. For information on how to install Steam, players can refer to this article on the Steam support website. Ace of Spades can be bought from the Steam website, or through the Steam client.
Getting Started
Once Ace of Spades has loaded, players are presented with the main menu.
The following menu items are available:
- Join Match - Play a public match (Ranked Match) or Custom Match, or view a list of all available ranked match servers using the server browser. In a ranked match, stats are recorded and stored in the players profile. In a custom match, players can change settings such as the classes available, respawn time, the amount of blocks players start with and more. Stats from custom matches are not recorded on the player stats.
- Create Match - Allows players to start their own Custom Match.
- Player Profile - Allows players to view their in-game statistics.
- Map Creator - Allows players to create their Custom Maps using the Ace of Spades Map Editor, publish maps that they have created already, or download maps created by others for use in-game.
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- Play through the Ace of Spades tutorial. -
- View the achievements players have earned in Ace of Spades. -
- View the game leaderboards. -
- View and change the game settings.
Tutorial
It is highly recommended that players new to Ace of Spades play through the short tutorial by clicking on the 
icon. Simply follow the on-screen instructions to learn the basic mechanics of Ace of Spades.
If Ace of Spades is running slowly or suffering from graphics lag, then players can lower their graphics settings in the settings menu.
Starting a Game
Teams
Upon starting a game in Ace of Spades, a player will normally be prompted to choose a team, usually green or blue. In most game modes there are no differences between teams other than their spawn point. There are some exceptions however such as in the Occupation game mode, where the blue team takes on the role of the attackers and the green team takes on the role of the defenders. In the Zombie game mode, players will be automatically placed in the Survivor (green) team if the game has just begun, or the Zombie (blue) team if the game is in progress.
Classes
Once a player has chosen their team, they can choose their class. Different classes have different weapons, tools and construct (prefabricated structures) available to them, as well as different attributes; for example, the Commando class has more health than the Marksman class, but the Marksman can jump higher and move faster. The class system is an important feature of Ace of Spades, with different classes having their own advantages and disadvantages, and uses in different situations.
In most game modes, the following classes are available:
Although some game modes are different.
Not all game modes allow players to choose a class; for example, the Classic CTF game mode has only one class available - the Deuce.
Loadout
Players can then choose their loadout. This is their melee weapon, primary weapon, secondary weapon, equipment and three constructs. Different classes have different weapons, equipment and constructs available to them, although some constructs are available to multiple classes. Different weapons have different attributes such as verying damage, speed and ammunition capacity.
Controls and Mechanics
The default Ace of Spades controls are as follows. These can be changed at any time in the settings menu.
Movement and Aiming
Ace of Spades uses the WASD controls for movement that will be familiar to many gamers. Holding down Shift whilst moving will cause the player to sprint, whilst holding V will cause the player to 'sneak', meaning their footsteps will make no sound. Holding Control will cause the player to crouch, meaning they are two blocks high rather than three. This is useful for giving a smaller target for enemies to shoot at, hiding behind cover, or squeezing into small spaces, but also reduces movement speed. Space is used to jump. Different classes have different jump heights and movement speed.
The mouse is used to look around. Mouse sensitivity can be changed at any time in the settings menu.
| Aiming and Movement | |
|---|---|
| Key | Action |
| W | Forward |
| S | Back |
| A | Left |
| D | Right |
| V | Sneak (footsteps make no sound, cannot be done whilst sprinting) |
| CTRL | Crouch |
| Shift | Sprint |
| Space | Jump |
| Mouse | Look around |
Inventory
Items selected for the players loadout are stored in their inventory. Players can switch between items in their inventory by using the mouse scroll wheel, or by using the numbers 1 to 8, where each number represents an inventory slot. The selected inventory item appears larger, and has a red border.
A players inventory is arranged as follows in the main game modes:
| Inventory Arrangement | |
|---|---|
| Slot | Item |
| 1 | Block Tool |
| 2 | Melee Weapon |
| 3 | Primary Weapon |
| 4 | Secondary Weapon |
| 5 | Equipment |
| 6 | Construct 1 |
| 7 | Construct 2 |
| 8 | Constuct 3 |
This arrangement will vary slightly in some game modes. For example, there are no prefabs in Classic Mode, and the Zombie has no Block Tool, secondary weapon or equipment in the Zombie game mode.
A player can navigate their inventory as follows:
| Inventory Navigation | |
|---|---|
| Key | Action |
| Mouse Scroll Wheel | Cycle between inventory slots |
| Number keys 1 - 8 | Select inventory slot |
Weapons and Equipment
Weapons are fired, or in the case of Grenades or Molotov Cocktails, thrown, using the Left Mouse Button. Some weapons have additional actions mapped to the Right Mouse Button, such as viewing down the scope, aiming down the sights, or spinning up. When using a thrown weapon, holding down the Left Mouse Button for longer before releasing will cause the weapon to be thrown further.
When holding a weapon with ammunition, the remaining ammunition along with the maximum ammunition for that weapon is shown at the bottom right of the screen. 
Different weapons start the round with different amounts of ammunition, and have varying maximum ammunitions.
Players can fill the ammunition to maximum capacity for all carried weapons by picking up Ammo Crate. More information on crates can be found in the crates section.
Health
Players have a certain amount of health, which is shown at the bottom centre of the screen. 
Players can fill their health to maximum by picking up Health Crates. More information on crates can be found in the crates section.
Building, Construction and Destruction
Construction and destruction is a vital part of Ace of Spades. Blocks and constructs can be placed by aiming where you want the item to appear using the mouse, and then pressing the Left Mouse Button. When a block or construct from the players inventory is selected, an outline of the item will be shown. If the outline is the colour of the blocks you are placing, then the item can be placed in that location. If the outline is red, then the block cannot be placed there. Blocks cannot be placed in air; they must be attached to either the ground, or to another block. Additionally, blocks cannot be placed outside the confines of the game map, or below ground level.
Multiple blocks can be placed quickly by clicking the Left Mouse Button to place the initial block, holding down the button and dragging and then releasing the Left Mouse Button to place multiple blocks at once.
By default, blocks are either blue or green depending on the team the player is on. You can choose the colour of the blocks and constructs you place by using the arrow keys with a block selected. Alternatively, you can pick a colour by pressing the E key with a block or construct selected from your inventory. The block will take on the colour of the block you are aiming at. This has massive tactical implications, allowing players to create bases that blend into the landscape, or hide a tunnel entrance by covering it with blocks the same colour as the surrounding scenery.
Of course, as well as construction there is destruction! Blocks can be damaged and destroyed by weapons and explosions. Some melee weapons, such as Spades and Pickaxes are especially suited to block destruction. Blocks will become darker the more damage they sustain.
Blocks that are disconnected from the ground will be completely destroyed as the structure falls to the ground. Blocks cannot 'float', as is the case with some Voxel style games.
Players start with a certain number of blocks in their 'block wallet', and have a maximum amount of blocks that they can hold at any one time. 
Different classes have different amounts of starting blocks and different sized block wallets.
The players block wallet it shown at the bottom right of the screen.
Players can fill their block wallet to maximum by picking up Block Crates. More information on crates can be found in the crates section.
Construction and destruction is vital in Ace of Spades, and normally necessary if players wish to successfully complete the match objectives. For example, players can create tunnels to move around the map unseen, create forts and bases to protect themselves from Zombies in the Zombie game mode, construct bridges to cross canyons are more! The only limit is the players creativity.
Crates
Three types of crates spawn in certain locations around Ace of Spades maps.
Health Crates regenerate players health to maximum.
Ammo Crates fill the ammunition count to maximum for all weapons carried by a player.
Block Crates fill the players block wallet to maximum.
Crates can be picked up by running over them. Crates will then respawn after a short time by falling from the sky.
Interface
The minimap also shows icons for the location of Landmines 
, Rocket Turrets 
, and Dynamite 
, along with some game mode specific icons.
The top left of the screen shows the players score. 
Players can point for killing enemies and completed game objectives, and lose points for suicide deaths.
Player score is different to team score 
, which along with the time remaining in the round is shown at the top centre of the screen.
Chat is shown at the bottom left of the screen. Text in white is global chat, which can be seen by all players. Text that is coloured (green or blue) is team chat, which can only be seen by players on the same team as the player who sent the message. Players can send global chat messages by pressing T, or team chat by pressing Y, typing their message and then pressing Enter. This also shows recent chat messages.
Players can view the Map by pressing M, and the current team and player scores by pressing Tab.
Pressing Esc opens up the settings menu.
Here players can find options for changing their class, team, or settings, and for quitting the match.
Players can also quickly change their team by pressing the period (.) key, and class by pressing the comma (,) key.
Pressing 'Resume' or Esc again returns the player to the game.
| Interface Navigation | |
|---|---|
| Key | Action |
| Esc | Open the menu screen |
| T | Speak in global chat |
| Y | Speak in team chat |
| M | View the map |
| Comma (,) | Change class |
| Period (.) | Change team |
Killfeed
The top left of the screen also shows the killfeed. These are short messages showing who killed who with what weapon. The left of the message says the killer's name, the middle shows an icon displaying what weapon was used, and the right shows the victim's name.
Special Icons
Sometimes, an icon other than the weapon used is displayed.
-
- Player changed class -
- Player changed team -
- Player died by headshot -
- Player died by fall damage -
- Player died by sudden death for not having a VIP
Gamestats and Awards
After a match has finished, the gamestats will be displayed showing the teamscores and the awards given. Awards are different to achievements, and are not recorded.
Next Steps
This guide is intended to give players a general overview of Ace of Spades. For more detailed information, players can view the various articles on this Wiki.
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Good luck and have fun, soldier!
