Anarchy Arcade. Frequently Asked Questions

Transcription

1 Anarchy Arcade Frequently Asked Questions by Elijah Newman-Gomez Table of Contents 1. What is Anarchy Arcade? What is SMAR CADE: Anarchy Edition? Why distribute a free version now? What can be spawned in Anarchy Arcade? What can Anarchy Arcade launch? How is this legal? Doesn't sound like Anarchy. What's with the name? Is it a game or a program? Hasn't this been tried before? How is Anarchy Arcade unique? How is this possible in multiplayer? What games/programs is Anarchy Arcade most like? Will Anarchy Arcade be free? When will the final version be published? What will be different in the final version? Who is developing Anarchy Arcade? How long has it been under development? How is Anarchy Arcade funded? Where can I get the free version right now? How can I show my support?...7

2 1. What is Anarchy Arcade? Anarchy Arcade is a game about enjoying your favorite media and sharing it with your friends. You do this by building custom hangouts full of interactive arcade cabinets and video screens. To top it all off; everything that you place in your own little virtual world is actually a working shortcut. You can launch your favorite stuff straight from the game. 2. What is SMAR CADE: Anarchy Edition? SMAR CADE: Anarchy Edition is the free playable prototype of Anarchy Arcade that has been made available to everyone to try out for themselves. It has rough versions of many of the features that will be in the final version. Even though it is only a prototype, it was designed with longevity in mind and is polished enough to cause quite a stir itself. 3. Why distribute a free version now? For the simple fact that the concept of Anarchy Arcade is a strange thing to grasp. Most people have never seen anything like it, describing it as "Gameception", or games within a game. Other people see how certain aspects are relatable to games or programs they've used in the past, and make incorrect assumptions. A free playable version is distributed now so that players and reviewers alike can try out the concept first hand and see if it is what they expect. And for the players who already know they want Anarchy Arcade, it lets them start enjoying it sooner rather than later. 4. What can be spawned in Anarchy Arcade? In Anarchy Arcade you spawn virtual representations of real-life games, movies, TV shows, etc. It is extremely open-ended. Basically you can spawn anything you can imagine. Seriously. You can spawn a home video that you made yourself, or you can spawn the latest Star Wars movie. You can spawn a picture right off of your PC, or a picture of Miley Cyrus from the internet. You can spawn a game from your PC game library, or spawn a game from a long-extinct console system from the past. You are not limited in any way what so ever. You can even spawn things that haven't been released yet, or fictional things that never existed in the first place. 5. What can Anarchy Arcade launch? The objects you place in your arcade are actually special shortcuts. So right off the bat, Anarchy Arcade can launch anything that a normal shortcut can. That's a lot of stuff, but it's not everything. That's why Anarchy Arcade has been designed to support abnormal shortcuts as well. Some games require a 3rd party program to play such as: Steam, Origin, or an emulator. No problem; Anarchy Arcade handles these with ease. You can even configure Anarchy Arcade to play movies from your Netflix, control your DVR in your living room, or playback videos on completely different screens. 6. How is this legal? It is legal because Anarchy Arcade sells itself on its own functionality alone. It does not contain or link to ANY copyrighted intellectual properties. It is an extremely open-ended game that allows the user to easily generate their own content using the help of internet databases. Placing a shortcut into your virtual arcade is just as legal as placing a shortcut onto your desktop.

3 In addition, all internet databases are accessed using official & registered APIs and all websites used are displayed in their entirety using the in-game web browser. Anarchy Arcade was designed NOT to break any laws, that is why it is 100% legal. 7. Doesn't sound like Anarchy. What's with the name? Anarchy Arcade gets its name because of the lack of restrictions that are placed on the player. Similar products often restrict the player to games only from a certain manufacturer or only allow you to shop from their own store. That is NOT how it works in Anarchy Arcade. It has been designed to give you absolute freedom over what and how you use it. The game doesn't try to control you; you control the game. You decide what to spawn. You decide which websites and stores to link to. Anarchy Arcade is completely non-restrictive. You are in control. 8. Is it a game or a program? A little of both. First, it is a game because it exists to entertain you. It has gameplay comparable to many other games, but with an amazing twist; you are spawning real-life games & movies in your virtual arcade... that you can actually play! This is only possible because of how Anarchy Arcade was designed. It doesn't come with a huge library of games and movies. In fact, it doesn't come with any media at all. 100% of the media used in Anarchy Arcade is generated by the player; with a lot of help from Anarchy Arcade of course. As a program, Anarchy Arcade manages your personal media library and puts all of your games, movies, websites, and other media right at your fingertips. It makes them look pretty by finding HD images and videos to use on their 3D shortcuts. And finally it organizes your favorite stuff in a brand new way; by physical location rather than lists. 9. Hasn't this been tried before? Yes. Similar games/programs have been attempted in the past; however, they all sucked. Seriously. I tried them all, and wasn't happy with any of them. Each one did something terribly wrong which broke the whole concept. The most common mistake among them was being too restrictive for one reason or another. Other blunders include being too difficult to use, and not game-like enough. The ones put out by the big-name companies like Sony and Microsoft seemed only concerned with making them money. They force you to shop from their stores and you can only launch their own products from the game. The smaller, independently developed ones usually suffered from being too difficult to use or were built on ugly old graphics engines. They tried to deliver the right experience, but fell short due to technical limitations or bad interface design. 10. How is Anarchy Arcade unique? Anarchy Arcade is non-restrictive, easy to use, built on a state-of-the-art graphics engine, has progressive gameplay, and always puts the user first. These are all essential to make the concept work. No other program combines them all like Anarchy Arcade does.

4 11. How is this possible in multiplayer? Anarchy Arcade was designed to be a social experience. Allowing you to host a multiplayer arcade and walk around your media collection with your friends was essential. However, certain issues needed to be resolved to make it work as you might expect. The first thing to understand is that hosting a multiplayer game does NOT mean your friends can access your computer. The only files that are sent to your friends for each shortcut are 2 thumbnail images and a text file describing what the shortcut launches. You don't send them the actual programs that the shortcuts point to; they decided where to get those from. Secondly, if you own a game on Steam while your friend owns it on Origin, Anarchy Arcade is smart enough to let the same cabinet launch the game for either of you. This is important because people usually don't get all their games from the same places as their friends. Lastly, if there is a game or movie in your friend's arcade that you don't own yet, Anarchy Arcade generates a list of links to where you can buy or download the media. These links are generated from your personal preferences; allowing you to shop/download from your favorite websites just like you are used to doing. 12. What games/programs is Anarchy Arcade most like? Because Anarchy Arcade is a hybrid of many genres, it is comparable to a lot of different games/programs. Instead of listing everything from Xbox Game Room to Microsoft Bob, I will only talk about a few that really deliver strongly in one area or another. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Build an environment by spawning objects. Each object has a point value. Unlock new environments & objects as you progress. Objects are make-believe rides. Does not support games or other media. Build & manage a virtual arcade. Unlock new arcades & cabinets as you progress. The games are fictional, not real. You can't launch the games. Arcadecraft Xbox Game Room Customize an arcade with your games. Real-life intellectual properties. Games can be launched & played. No progressive gameplay. Greatly restricts which games you can use. Forces you to buy games from a specific store. Doesn't support movies or other non-game media.

5 Customize an arcade by spawning games & movies. Real-life intellectual properties. Games & movies can be played. No progressive gameplay. Greatly restricts which media you can use. Forces you to run your media using different programs other than you're used to. Built on an outdated graphics engine. RetroCopy Built on the Source engine. Customize your environment by spawning objects. Supports tons of add-on content. Gameplay is not structured. Does not support games or media. Garry's Mod 3D Arcade Customize an arcade by spawning games & movies. Real-life intellectual properties. Games & movies can be played. Media opens in the programs you're used to. No progressive gameplay. Extremely difficult to use. Built on an outdated graphics engine. XBMC Real-life intellectual properties. Games & movies can be played. Very easy to use. No progressive gameplay. No 3D interface. Not compatible with some types of games/programs. Forces you to run your media using a program other than what you might be used to. Anarchy Arcade does everything from THE RIGHT columns and nothing from THE WRONG. 13. Will Anarchy Arcade be free? No, it will be cheap. Unfortunately it costs me too much to create, distribute, and maintain Anarchy Arcade to provide it for free. The only other option would be to include ads in the program, but I personally hate ads and would rather pay a few bucks up-front than have to put up with them. So, no ads in Anarchy Arcade, just a very cheap up-front price and you own it forever. There is a free prototype called SMAR CADE: Anarchy Edition that you can download and play right now if you wish. It can be found at:

6 14. When will the final version be published? The final version should be ready to ship 12 months after the next development cycle begins. In order to start the next development cycle, Anarchy Arcade needs to: Be approved for distribution by Valve via Steam Greenlight. Secure a minimal budget to cover the rest of development and publication. As soon as these 2 tasks are accomplished, it will take approximately 1 year to finish work on Anarchy Arcade and get the complete version into your hands. 15. What will be different in the final version? Anarchy Arcade will look a whole lot better. All of the art will be enhanced and a new set of high quality maps will be created for the campaign. The user interface will be polished up and new ways to browse your virtual 3D arcades will be added. The entire game will be optimized to be more stable, more secure, load faster, and allow even more customization. Multiplayer mode will be improved and even more ways to share your media collection with your friends will be added. Finally, Steamworks features will be incorporated to help you keep connected with your friends. This includes achievements, trading cards, activity feeds, and a Steam Workshop where you can download and share your mods and addons. 16. Who is developing Anarchy Arcade? I, Elijah Newman-Gomez, am independently developing Anarchy Arcade. I am a programmer and an artist. I play a lot of video games, watch a lot of movies, and do tons of programming. I am creating Anarchy Arcade because I was not satisfied with any of the alternatives out there, and I want to share the entertaining experience that it provides with everyone else. I've been creating maps and mods for the gaming community for many years. You can check out some more of my work at: While I am developing Anarchy Arcade on my own, there are members of the community who donated their artwork to be used as placeholders in the free prototype SMAR CADE: Anarchy Edition. The full credits for the free prototype are listed on the prototype's Credits screen. Their contributions are greatly appreciated. 17. How long has it been under development? Anarchy Arcade has undergone 3 development cycles over the course of 3 years. Each cycle concluded in a public testing period that lasted 3 to 4 months each. Active development occurred during the Summers because I was busy with college the rest of the year. I have now graduated from college and am ready to start the final development cycle of Anarchy Arcade. 18. How is Anarchy Arcade funded? Anarchy Arcade is funded out of my own pocket. Since I do not have a budget to contract artists or

7 additional programmers, I end up doing 99% of the work myself, with the final 1% donated by friendly members of the gaming community. Upon being Greenlit, I will attempt to raise a minimal budget through private investors and possibly a Kick Starter campaign. The larger the budget; the better the final version of Anarchy Arcade could be. 19. Where can I get the free version right now? How can I show my support? Thank you for showing interest in the project. There are many ways you can support the development of Anarchy Arcade, here are just a few: Vote for Anarchy Arcade on Steam Greenlight. Donate at AnarchyArcade.com. Help spread the word by telling your friends about Anarchy Arcade. Share pictures and videos of Anarchy Arcade onto social media. Leave comments on Anarchy Arcade's profiles. Like Anarchy Arcade on Facebook. Follow Anarchy Arcade on Twitter.

8 This document was last updated on 12/2/2013.