Ace of Spades

Ace of Spades is a new free to play multiplier only FPS. Right now it is only in beta but the lack of features is actually quite refreshing.

The basic premise is a FPS in a complete sandbox environment made of Minecraft style blocks. These blocks can be added and removed with  relative ease allowing you to create buildings and fortifications while at the same time you and your team must protect your intel (flag) from the enemy team and try to steal their intel as well.

At this point, beta .51, you are equipped with a simple offensive load-out; You have your trusty bolt action rifle and some grenades. The biggest issue I have with the game is that while the combat with these weapons is fun, it is mostly useless as only capturing the lintel matters and enemies re-spawn almost instantly. In fact I have never seen an example of intel ever being captured under regular circumstances, and it basically is impossible, as far as I can tell, if both teams have a moderate amount of members and no one is cheating.

Still the game can be an interesting diversion and only promises to get better, so if you want to check it out go to ace-spades.com (note: it is a download game but you start a game by clicking on one of the active servers in the list on the webpage, I recommend aloha uswest pinpoint).

It is not a particularly photogenic game, but pictures can be seen at the official Ace of Spades Gallery.

Under the Garden

Under the Garden is a great stylish pixelated 2D game with very unique gameplay. To me it is very reminiscent of Minecraft and I would classify it primarily as a wildness survival game with elements of creative sandbox building, a genre that needs to be made into more games. But like Minecraft, Under the Garden suffers from a lack of direction and purpose that will turn off many people (including myself).

In game you cut down trees for wood, mine rocks for items, pick crops and hunt for food, and explore to find items and house pieces. The house pieces are used to build and grow your house and any other structures you want, and can be placed anywhere. Your house, and any other places with fireplaces, serve as waypoints and refuelling stations as you return to them when you die, or simply choose to, and being in them is the only way to refill your health without consuming items.

My mini-review of Under the Garden.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a virtualization software package, meaning that it allows you to run other operating systems inside of your current OS. This works by showing the OS is a window on your screen.

When I first heard about this I though, why would use this, it is bound be slow and error prone like other emulators. And besides I can just dual boot, all but the most ancient operating systems.

Having now tried VirtualBox I see the appeal. It was free, fast, and easy to install. It was fast and easy to setup the other operating systems, with the easy to follow setup wizard. and most of all it did not slow down my system at all when running them, even when more then one OS was open at the same time. And best of all, it just works.

The possibilities for testing code or running any app you want are endless. Have an application that you want to try that does not run on any of your currently installed operating systems, virtualization might be the answer for you. Want to test your code on machines that your users are likely to use, you can now do it without leaving your chair of even changing keyboards. Want to use a program without risk of compromising your computer, virtualization is the ultimate sandbox.