Engine update, public to-do list, preparing for release, my epic new VR PC build, and more Twitch fun. Lots of news to bring you arcade maniacs today, so let's get started!
Last week AArcade was updated to Valve's 2015 build of the Source engine, giving us lots of fixes and improvements. This update was a major step towards AArcade coming out of early access, which is planned to happen within the next couple months.
The 2015 engine build allows AArcade to load maps from the TF2 workshop that used special compression methods, giving us even more compatible addon maps to play around in. Shadows have been improved and can now stretch to match the light source position. Valve also included many VR and security updates in the latest engine build, along with other improvements and fixes that I haven't even discovered yet.
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With the help of the AArcade community, I have compiled a public to-do list of nearly 200 fixes & features that we want added to AArcade. While only a handful of these are expected to be added before the full Steam release, the list will be used to guide continued development after release as well.
The sortable list can be found by going to Anarchyarcade.com and clicking on "To-Do List" in the navigation bar. If you feel that the list is missing a bug fix or a feature that needs to be added, feel free to voice your opinion in a reply to this news article or on the forums. And keep an eye on the list as it may change over time as people submit new ideas or as items on the list get completed.
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AArcade has way more features than it lacks, so a big part of coming out of Early Access is documentation, tutorials, and videos that show people what AArcade is capable of, and how to use it. This includes a rennovation to AnarchyArcade.com, the Steam store page, and in-game help menus.
AArcade can be used for LOTS of different things, so quickly showing a new user exactly what they want to know about it can be a challenege. I've decided that the best way to address this is to have a set of short, very specific videos on the website that allow users to jump directly to the topics that interest them. The first two videos that I created for the series are below:
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To help with development and testing, last week I built a BEAST of a VR gaming PC. It far surpasses the recommended VR specs released by Oculus & Valve. With it I will be able to properly test VR support & multiplayer servers in AArcade, as well as take the Wednesday Twitch streams to a whole new level! Did I mention that Source engine games & AArcade have their own dedicated 500GB SSD? I have included links to the parts I used in case anybody is thinking about building their own rig.
Specifications:
- Intel i7 6700k
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980TI AMP!
- 16MB DDR4 RAM
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If you like games, or if you like AArcade, or if you just have a 2nd monitor with nothing playing on it, be sure to tune into the LIVE weekly video stream from my garage where I use my totally tricked-out one-and-only IRL Anarchy Arcade cabinet to build arcades and play games in literally all day long.
Thanks to the new PC, AnarchyTV now has some excellent stream quality broadcasted at low bitrate so even people with slow internet can drop in and hang out with me.
Last Wednesday I logged some SERIOUS playtime in the following games during the stream:
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege (Max Settings)
- Star Wars Battlefront (Max Settings + Logitech Flight Stick)
- Grand Theft Auto V (Max Settings + G27 Racing Wheel + 360 Controller)
I'll be playing games from AArcade all day on Wednesday, but as always I will be able to answer any questions or demonstrate anything you need in AArcade.
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In other community news, there have been some awesome workshop shares the past few weeks as well as some excellent nodes shared using the new & improved metaverse node system. In next week's article, I will be focusing on these and other AArcade community events as usual.
