Anarchy Arcade: a 3d sandbox game/video launcher

[cave hermit]

I actually came across this game/program/whatever by complete accident when this showed up in my recommended videos slot:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ2-wfX4 ... rB3cfAmHSQ

Since I was little the concept of a virtual arcade has always appealed to me, so naturally I downloaded it immediately: for the most part I got what I expected!
Basically you have a small empty map designed like a house, apartment, etc. and you can spawn arcade cabinets (in a number of different types), computers, posters, etc. that launch games in your steam library or any program you can shortcut to, play youtube videos while you roam around the map (something I'd like to do, but can't since I have to install Flash for alternative browsers to do that), or display static images. Steam games come with their own marquee art (for links spawned as game cabinets) and screenshot art (for every spawnable model that has a screen), but for programs you copy and paste in manually, you can specify marquee art, screenshots, and even small preview videos by copying and pasting web links.
You can also apparently play multiplayer and use the oculus rift with it, although since I have no way of testing those things I can't comment on those features besides saying they sound amazing.

The program pretty much did what it promised, but it's a bit buggy at the moment (it apparently has only been up for download since September 3rd): the shortcut browser is a bit obtuse, you (may) need to install Flash for alternative browsers to spawn working youtube players, and the emulator scripts that come with the game that are supposed to let you directly launch ROMs don't seem to work for me (I just made batch files for some mame games instead). Outside of bugs, there are very few maps (although you can make your own and download others with a built in editor), limited numbers of cabinet designs (no candy cab ), and limited props. There's also the fact that you have to unlock cabinets, maps, and props by doing incredibly arbitrary things like spawning certain cabinet types, a certain number of cabinets, etc.

But for the most part the program delivers it's still in development, and the devs seem willing to listen to feedback on the forums. Sure the whole thing is beyond frivolous, but it's really god damn cool, and I'd recommend checking it out given that it's free: http://store.steampowered.com/app/266430/

My next post will be showing off my current map setup

[cave hermit]

http://imgur.com/a/1PF6a


The shmups wall, featuring (from left to right) Kaikan, a MAME cabinet, Twin tiger shark, Ketsui (MAME), Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Battle Garegga (MAME) Crimzon clover world ignition, and Gundemonium Recollection. I also had Cho Ren Sha, but it crashed the program whenever I tried to exit the game


The lonely lil' fighting game corner, featuring KOF Xiii and Skullgirls. I actually tried downloading the ROM for super street fighter 2 turbo just to make the corner a little bigger, but I couldn't get MAME to run it even with vanilla super street fighter 2 in my rom folder


The hall of arcade style indie games, featuring (from left to right) Volgarr the viking, Max Gentlemen, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Hotline Miami, Super crate box, Super hexagon, The binding of isaac, and FTL.


The cozy (read: tiny) room of console emulation featuring Higan (which emulates every 2d nintendo console) and ePSXe.


#MOUNTAINDEWDORITOS
The pro-gaming room, featuring TF2, Counter strike:GO, DOTA 2, and Awesomenauts.

[Ed Oscuro]

yo dawg

This looks even less interesting than those 3D desktop navigation suites that were semi-popular back in the days (some even before good 3D graphics were available on the desktop - those were just prerendered, or even just hand-drawn - like MS Bob). For those, exploration (even if for only a few seconds) is the whole point of booting them up, at least for me - if it doesn't have any details worth the visit, I can do without, and this looks too sparse. This just looks like a college town apartment with cabs thrown against the walls. I've got nothing against the general concept, but this looks way too generic and the contemporary setting is more suited to PC games than anything else.

FWIW, I think the concept has probably been done (sort of) best with Re-Volt, which moves you through some pretty detailed rooms with the main menus.

[cave hermit]

Legitimate complaints, but the "game" is in its infancy so there will probably be more "arcadey" maps to come (there probably already are modded maps out there). For the time being, all of the available maps are actually just variations on houses (although there is an e3 map, a garage map, and an abandoned stadium map... none of which make sense in the context of an arcade though.)

[Squire Grooktook]

I dunno, I have to admit that just seeing doujin games with their own arcade cabinets amuses me.

[Lord Satori]

It's like playstation home, but you don't have to blindly shell out ten dollars only to get a disappointing three minute game disguised as an arcade classic.

[Jeneki]

Now I want a Volgarr cabinet.

Although the Astro themed woody cab made me giggle a bit.

[cave hermit]

It's like playstation home, but you don't have to blindly shell out ten dollars only to get a disappointing three minute game disguised as an arcade classic.

This idea is basically the concept behind the name; most games like this restrict you by limiting you to games from one company or making you shell out money for games. In this game you can spawn whatever the fuck you want: total anarchy.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

If this thing is running in the background after you launch a game, isn't it just taking up memory unnecessarily? It looks interesting I guess, but I generally prefer to always minimize any memory usage whenever possible, especially for more intensive games or when recording...

[cave hermit]

If this thing is running in the background after you launch a game, isn't it just taking up memory unnecessarily? It looks interesting I guess, but I generally prefer to always minimize any memory usage whenever possible, especially for more intensive games or when recording...

One of the "game"'s selling points is "no lag", and whenever you launch into an actual game the program suspends itself until you reactivate it manually by clicking.

[shmuppyLove]

Oh god ... are we trying virtual reality interfaces again?



Pretty sure when I bought my Diamond Monster 3D (do your homework, kids), it came with some stupid software that let you do exactly this. That was, oh ... 1997? This looks identical to that. 17 years later.

Couldn't they at least have some dynamic lighting or something? It looks terrible.

Here is something I can get behind though. Using the Doom engine to interact with processes on *nix. Fuck yeah.

[cave hermit]

Somebody just released a custom model for Nintendo Red tent cabinets (the ones used for the Vs. series): here they are set up in one of my rooms:

[cave hermit]

I decided to go all out and dedicate an entire room to all the STG games I have on my hard drive (with the exceptions of Cho Ren Sha since that crashes Anarchy arcade, and some NMK games/Raiden 2 since those are in a separate MAME folder); I think this room looks a lot more appropriate for an arcade!

http://imgur.com/a/ovPLd

[Obiwanshinobi]

Begs for "demake" style attract modes. You know, 8-bit H-L2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for Speccy or Commie...
As for older virtual arcades, I like this one.

[Blinge]

All this anarchy is too much for me. I'll buy Totalitarian Arcade interface for sure..

[Obiwanshinobi]

Totalitarian Arcade

See above.
A curio - I watched Empire Strikes Back in a Nazi architecture-style movie theater.