Source Media Arcade mod for Half-Life 2

1 comment by SM_Sith_Lord on Oct 29th, 2012

Feedback has been collected, changes have been planned, and new tech has been implemented. Version 3 will transform SMAR·CADE into a traditional gaming experience in addition to being a fully functional multimedia manager/launcher.

SMAR·CADE

Virtual Arcade Management Simulator

• GAMEPLAY - Think RollerCoaster Tycoon, but instead of theme parks with rides you're making media arcades with games and movies. In the single player campaign, each mission will consist of a unique venue that you must transform from a run-down, unpopular location into a hip, trendy, well stocked destination for multimedia junkies. Some examples of these venues include garage arcades, frat houses, night clubs, and electronics expos. When you first step on the job, the venue will be run-down with a very low NET WORTH. As the newly hired manager, it is your responsibility to customize the venue and raise its NET WORTH to an acceptable amount. If you do your job well, you will be offered management positions at bigger & better venues.
• VENUE CUSTOMIZATION - Just like in previous versions, you customize your venues by spawning dynamic cabinets such as arcade cabinets, TV screens, and digital picture frames. Each of these physical cabinets has an ITEM bound to it from your INVENTORY which controls how the cabinet looks and behaves.
• LIMITLESS INVENTORY - Any movie, game, song, TV episode, picture, or website in existence can be saved and used as an INVENTORY ITEM. In addition to your personal inventory, SMAR·CADE puts a conglomerate of online media databases at your disposal.
• ITEM VALUE - Each of your inventory items has a ITEM VALUE associated with it. The exact value is formulated based on various factors, but a good rule of thumb is the more customized an item is, the higher it will be valued at. Use high valued items in your venues to quickly increase the venue's NET WORTH!
• ACHIEVEMENTS - A full set of single and multi player achievements will be available for you to unlock. Many of them are unlocked simply by playing the game well, while others require you to go a little further out of the way to obtain.
• MULTIPLAYER - Host a LIVE SERVER that you can play around in with your friends, or submit an ARCADE SNAPSHOT of your venue so others can download and explore your work on their own time.
• DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT - As always, minor content updates and new additions will be available as easy-to-use downloadable content. This is where you'll find all the brand-new cabinet models, props, and special items as soon as they're released.
• COMMUNITY ADD-ONS - SMAR·CADE is built using the Source engine and is configured to utilize add-ons that were originally created for a variety of other games and mods. This means there are quite literally HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of community-made props & maps that you can use as add-ons with SMAR·CADE. You simply drop the ZIP file into the Addons folder, and it is analyzed and installed automatically.
• VIRTUAL ON-SCREEN INTERFACE - The screens of the cabinets are dynamic, high-definition, fully interactive DHTML/Flash powered menus.
• LIVE PREVIEWS - YouTube videos, websites, and Flash applications can be seen and interacted with using the virtual on-screen interface. The preview is basically a fully-interactive live view of a web browser, rendered onto the screen of the arcade cabinet.
• YOUTUBE - By request, YouTube videos are able to be streamed in-game and viewed on their associated cabinets.
• THE ONLY WEAPON YOU'LL EVER NEED (THE REMOTE) - Using this handy little device, your character will be able to perform all of the actions necessary to create highly customized venues. Think of it as a laser pointer with a smart phone attached to it. This is the tool you will use to spawn cabinets, edit items, launch games, etc. You can also use its handy view screen to watch YouTube videos while you walk around.
• PLAYABLE GAMES/MOVIES - Just like before, SMAR·CADE is a FUNCTIONAL media manager/launcher. This means you can actually launch & play the games, movies, or other files that you have placed in your venues!
• PERSONALIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE - Every aspect of SMAR·CADE is completely customizable. Don't like the screenshot or marquee image that was automatically used? Then use your own. Text descriptions, hyper links, trailer URLs, and much much more can all be modified from the virtual on-screen interface.

So there it is in a nut shell. Source Media Arcade as an open-ended arcade management simulator with a twist: you can actually launch and play the games and movies that you spawn. This adds infinite "replay" value to the venues you create within SMAR·CADE.

Another thing that makes SMAR·CADE unique amongst other management SIMs is the fact that you are spawning REAL existing games and movies. Images can be taken directly form Google (or any other source), videos directly from YouTube, commercial games and movies from the integrated online databases. It is truly an open-ended customization experience. Anything you can put in your desktop, you can put in SMAR·CADE.

HELP SUPPORT THIS PROJECT

If SMAR·CADE sounds like something that you would enjoy, there are many ways to show your support & help the project become everything that it should be.

Players:

• "Watch" this ModDb profile to increase its ranking (using the menu to the right)
• Follow @smsithlord on Twitter
• Like smarcade on Facebook
• Download and test the old version of SMAR·CADE (smaller set of features)
• Get your friends excited about SMAR·CADE
• Join the Official SMAR·CADE Steam Group
• Donate via PayPal to SMAR·CADE (Funds to be used to contract community artists)

Artists / Programmers: The entire development team consists of only myself. Taking on additional members will greatly increase the speed at which the project can be completed. Please contact me if you would like to volunteer your skills in any of the following fields:

• Concept Artist
• Level Designer
• Web/2D Graphics Designer
• Prop Designer
• Character Designer
• Video Editor
• Experienced Source Engine Programmer
• Experienced Networking Programmer