The Ace of Spades revival client

Why a new client matters

A closed executable can remain playable for years, but every operating-system change, driver regression, unavailable service, and undocumented assumption increases the chance that one day it simply stops. A maintained client turns those risks into work the community can test and repair.

The goal is not to sand away the identity of Battle Builder. The chunky silhouettes, readable team colors, dramatic voxel destruction, class equipment, map tools, and slightly unruly sandbox are the reason the project exists. Modern maintenance should protect that character rather than replace it with a generic shooter.

One battlefield, shared rules

The revival client and BattleSpades server are separate projects with a shared contract. The server owns authoritative world state and game rules; the client handles input, prediction, rendering, sound, menus, and the player’s immediate view of the match.

Protocol 168 compatibility is the bridge between them. Keeping that boundary documented allows the client to be tested against the new dedicated server while the server remains usable by original clients. It also prevents either side from quietly inventing behavior the other cannot understand.

• Connect to BattleSpades through the established 1.x network contract
• Preserve client prediction while accepting authoritative reconciliation
• Receive VXL worlds, entities, objectives, players, and match state
• Keep packet changes documented so compatibility is deliberate

The Battle Builder experience

Ace of Spades works because different fantasies share the same map. A marksman reads distant silhouettes. An engineer sees a defensive line that does not exist yet. A miner sees the route underneath it. A rocketeer sees the structure everyone else assumed was permanent.

That interaction puts unusual demands on a client. Terrain is not background decoration; it is navigable state, cover, ammunition, objective strategy, and a source of debris. Menus, class selection, map previews, blueprint tools, hit feedback, world updates, and sound cues all help players understand a battlefield that changes every second.

What Beta 0.1 includes

Beta 0.1 is playable end to end: multiplayer on any BattleSpades server, an offline Tutorial, and your own matches through Create Match, which starts a bundled BattleSpades server for you. Everything is implemented, but not every retail behavior has passed acceptance testing yet; the implementation status page lists what is still open.

• Server browser with official and verified community servers, plus direct join
• Quick Play, friends, and match lobbies
• Create Match with the bundled BattleSpades server and bots
• Map Creator and Revival Workshop publishing
• AoSPlay account profiles, leaderboards, inventory, and cosmetics

Getting started

The client does not ship any original game content. On first start, its asset installer imports the models, sounds, and maps from your own Ace of Spades installation. Download links are on the download page; known issues are on the Beta 0.1 page.

1. 01
   Own the game

   Install Ace of Spades: Battle Builder; the client needs its files.

2. 02
   Download

   Get the Windows x64 package from the download page.

3. 03
   Extract

   Extract the whole zip into a writable folder and run bin\BattleSpadesClient.exe.

4. 04
   Import

   Point the asset installer at your Ace of Spades folder, then sign in or play as a guest.

How players and builders can help

Client preservation needs a wider range of contributors than network programmers. Build testing, GPU and operating-system coverage, input testing, UI comparison, sound verification, map loading, screenshots, documentation, and clear bug reports all reduce uncertainty.

The most useful report includes the build, operating system, hardware, steps to reproduce, expected behavior, observed behavior, and a short capture when visuals or timing are involved. Join the community before starting a large change so effort lands where it can unblock the project.