CityVille Executive Driving Range Attraction: Everything you need to know

It seems that just as quickly as we can finish the construction on an Attraction in CityVille, another one is released. Such is the case this week, as the Ferris Wheel has been followed up by the Executive Driving Range, or a golf range, if you prefer.

The base of the Executive Driving Range costs 10,000 coins, and it must be whacked eight times before the base is complete. From there, you'll need to collect various building materials, as you might have expected:

    * 5 City Seals
    * 5 Golf Balls
    * 5 Buckets
    * 5 Netting
    * 5 Targets


If you're lucky, you'll already have the City Seals in your account waiting for you, and can then concentrate on gathering the other four items instead. Golf Balls and Buckets can be earned by posting a general news item to your wall, while Netting and Targets are earned via individual gift requests sent to friends.

Once the Executive Driving Range is complete, you can put it into operation for five minutes at a time. Once the five minutes has passed, you'll collect your profits just as you would any other business (your income ranges from 1,400 to 6,000 coins each cycle), but you can't restock it with Goods. Instead, you'll need to wait for a countdown timer to hit zero before you can restart it. You can collect Wrenches from your friends to speed up this timer, but remember - you can only post a single request for Wrenches, which are shared among all of the four available Attractions, so you won't be able to stock up as greatly as you might like.

Of course, building the Executive Driving Range is entirely voluntary, but if you like features such as this, why not give it a swing? Note: you must be at least level 25 to access the Executive Driving Range.

Will you build the Executive Driving Range in your town, or are three attractions enough? Sound off in the comments.

We can almost hear the 3 Blokes team in Australia screaming "Fire everything!" as they hit the proverbial "Launch" button on its first Facebook game under publisher RockYou, Galactic Allies. (It would be most appropriate, no?) Real-time strategy fans can jump in on the thrill of space-faring, asynchronous player vs player combat, complete with 3D visuals.

Essentially, Galactic Allies is RockYou and 3 Blokes's answer to the growing trend of hardcore strategy games on Facebook. However, the duo make a point of mentioning that this is a more casual approach to the burgeoning sub genre, and that the game features a heavy focus on an episodic storyline. And in keeping with current trends sparked by developers like Kixeye in War Commander, players can control units individually.
Gallery: Galactic Allies on Facebook
This means you'll likely be able to maneuver your starships around enemy fire, adding another layer of strategy to combat in the game. "Galactic Allies alters expectations for what a Facebook game can be," said 3 Blokes VP and GM George Fidler in a release. "It's a deep and compelling strategy game, but with the accessibility of a browser game." (It also looks like it takes the general idea behind Galactic Trader, one of 3 Blokes's first games, and blows it wide open using some familiar art assets.)

Hopefully this accessible approach will apply to the litany of upgrades players will accumulate across various missions and episodes. Judging from these early screen shots, it looks like Galactic Allies will focus heavily on dialog, but more importantly: Battles will take place both on the surface of alien planets and far above them in the infinite void. In other words, there will be plenty of things high and low to make go boom in Galactic Allies.

Click here to learn more about Galactic Allies on Facebook >

Are you a fan of strategy games on Facebook? How do you think Galactic Allies might size up against its competition? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

To go along with the Animal Mastery feature released in Pioneer Trail this weekend, you can now also complete one of three new collections in the game. Two of these collections go with the new animals that have also been released: the Badger and Moose, while the third goes with the 4F Mastery Club itself.

4F Collection

    * Rewards Spring Water and 80 XP


Badger Collection

    * Rewards Free Critter Milk and 120 XP


Moose Collection

    * Free Carrot Juice and 100 XP


As you might expect, you can earn each of these collections' items by tending to the appropriate animals (that is, you'll earn Badger Collection items for tending Badgers, and Moose Collection items for tending Moose), or by collecting the 4F Mastery Club's daily bonus. You'll also have a chance to earn these specific collectibles during the construction of the Mastery Club itself, although I wouldn't expect to receive the full set unless you're really lucky. By the way, if you're that lucky, would you mind letting some of that luck rub off on me?

Are you a fan of the collections in Pioneer Trail and actively try to complete them, or do you just let yourself complete these Collections casually? Let us know in the comments.