AArcade: Redux

Half-Life 2 mod |

AArcade's niche is to provide uninhibited Windows functionality, but with a 3D world of shortcuts instead of a 2D wallpaper. This includes performance & compatibility equal to what users experience natively on Windows. Have you ever spent long hours in a video game, and didn't want to quit when it came time to do homework? AArcade turns your useless desktop wallpaper into a game world. You use your PC like normal, but AArcade is now your wallpaper. Launch your shortcuts from AArcade, or just launch them from Windows like normal. AArcade does not get in the way. There is a hidden world between worlds. A world that is normally only seen through lists, links, and menus. A world that we've known as other worlds have come and gone. A world that exists between everything we do on our computers. THAT is the world of Anarchy Arcade.

Report RSS Holiday Development News

New Christmas rewards start unlocking today! Plus a glitch you should know about, a development update, a new Frequently Asked Questions PDF, code statistics, and the ModDb Mod of the Year competition.

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Who needs an advent calendar when you've got SMAR•CADE?

The next time you fire it up you'll probably receive a special Christmas reward for being such a cool gamer. There's 4 Christmas-themed rewards to unlock in the month of December, so be sure to get them all before it's 2014!

Having trouble using CS:S or TF2 maps?

Some people (especially new users) might be having trouble mounting content from Team Fortress 2 or other Source engine games using the Valve Content menu. The menu will show that you are mounting the content, but you still won't be able to load the maps from the game.

This is a problem caused by the 2007 version of the Source engine being phased out by Valve. Unfortunately, this is the version of the Source engine that SMAR•CADE: Anarchy Edition currently uses.

The Fix

If you tried to mount content, but now SMAR•CADE fails to load, you can re-set your configuration by dropping this Gameinfo.txt file into the following folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\sourcemods\smarcade\

This will disable CS:S and TF2 content and allow SMAR•CADE to load like normal for now. Soon a new update will be released that will allow you to use CS:S and TF2 content again. Keep reading for more info on that.

Working On The Next Step

I've known that Anarchy Arcade would have to be moved onto the newest version of the Source engine for a while, but the recent breakage of CS:S and TF2 content in the 2007 version has given me extra incentive to make this transitions right now rather than later.

So the past few days I have been working to move SMAR•CADE: Anarchy Edition over to the 2013 version of the Source engine. I am still trying to work out some issues with joystick input and putting the engine to sleep while you play your other games (like the current version of SMAR•CADE does). Aside from these 2 problems, I'm happy to say everything is going very smoothly!

Here are some of the advantages that moving to the 2013 version gives:

  • Bring Anarchy Arcade one step closer to being Greenlit by Valve.
  • Bring SMAR•CADE closer to being cross-platform.
  • Allows SMAR•CADE to be compatible with CSS and TF2 content again.
  • Allows SMAR•CADE to mount content from newer games like L4D2 and CS:GO.
  • Allows SMAR•CADE to make use of all the small engine improvement added to the 2013 version.

This project has been in development for over 3 years.

I've been asked a lot of questions over that time, so I've compiled the best & most common questions/answers into a nice Frequently Asked Questions PDF. If you have any of the questions shown below, I recommend you give the PDF a look!

Contents of Frequently Asked Questions PDF

  1. What is Anarchy Arcade?
  2. What is SMAR•CADE: Anarchy Edition?
  3. Why distribute a free version now?
  4. What can be spawned in Anarchy Arcade?
  5. What can Anarchy Arcade launch?
  6. How is this legal?
  7. Doesn't sound like Anarchy. What's with the name?
  8. Is it a game or a program?
  9. Hasn't this been tried before?
  10. How is Anarchy Arcade unique?
  11. How is this possible in multiplayer?
  12. What games/programs is Anarchy Arcade most like?
  13. Will Anarchy Arcade be free?
  14. When will the final version be published?
  15. What will be different in the final version?
  16. Who is developing Anarchy Arcade?
  17. How long has it been under development?
  18. How is Anarchy Arcade funded?
  19. Where can I get the free version right now?
  20. How can I show my support?

Behind the Scenes & Between the Lines

So, what exactly does it take to program something like SMAR•CADE? Besides tons of time and lots of flow charts, it requires code. LOTS of code. I recently checked the stats of SMAR•CADE's code and the results are shown below. Keep in mind that this is C++ code that I wrote ONLY, it does not include the core Source engine files (which are truly massive).

  • C++ Files: 108

  • Total Lines: 44,240

  • Total Characters: 1,268,293

And after all that, my keyboard still works and is ready for more! :P

ModDb.com is currently taking votes for the Mod of the Year.

What's your favorite mod this year? If it's SMAR•CADE: Anarchy Edition, then just click the button below and cast your vote on its ModDb profile!

VOTE FOR SMAR•CADE TODAY!


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Rus[T]
Rus[T] - - 1,161 comments

Will vote for this, a really nice project.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
Seaalisgonefromhere
Seaalisgonefromhere - - 986 comments

Voted!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
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