First of all,


But I'm really here to tell you all about the Source engine mod that I've been working insanely hard on for the last 3 months called Source Media Arcade.

Here is a screenshot:


Here is the ModDB Profile that has many videos and some more pictures:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/source-media-arcade

And here is way more information than you probably wanted to know about it:

This initial release, labeled BETA 1, will be but a taste of the real scope of this project, but will be a full-featured functional program in and of itself.

The goal of Source Media Arcade is to allow you to get the most out of your media, games, and files while utilizing the massive amount of maps and art assets that currently exist for the Source engine.

Source Media Arcade enhances your operating system by adding a full 3D virtual interface to your computer. Pictures, games, documents, and programs are all represented by physical objects with their textures dynamically generated using your own media. This allows every file to have its own unique look; literally opening the door to a whole new way of organizing and browsing your media.

3D objects can be interacted with to open files, launch applications, or even switch between running tasks. The interface is highly customizable and the back-end is designed to be easily expanded beyond the mod's initial capabilities.

Source Media Arcade takes advantage of the Steam content distribution system and allows you to purchase, install, and play NEW games simply by interacting with 3D world objects.

SM Arcade is able to load the world maps of many popular Source engine games such as Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, and Day of Defeat: Source**. It also comes with all the tools you'll need to place your files quickly and easily no matter what map you choose to play.

Here is a list of some of the key features that the public beta will be released with:

• Launch applications or open files by activating in-game objects.
• Utilizes the Source engine's "window\" mode to open files and applications directly in front of the game screen.
• Lets your operating system decide how to open files.
• Has the option to use detailed application profiles instead, to give YOU complete control over how files are opened.
• Displays your picture files in-game on virtual screens from their current location on your hard drive.
• Utilizes the DevIL image loader to support over 40 image file types that can be displayed in-game.
• Intelligently finds pictures associated with your non-image documents to be used as screens and marquee images on their 3D avatars.
• Organizes your files into playlists that can reference files from any folder on your computer or over a local network.
• Playlists can be auto-synchronized with specific folders so that they never become out-of-date. Files placed in these folders will be on the playlist the next time it is loaded.
• Allows file type filtering and other detailed options when syncing with folders.
• Uses an editable script file to translate Steam AppID numbers to their real names when syncing a playlist.
• Can be expanded with scripts to do this for non-Steam applications as well.
• File avatars in-game are completely customizable allowing you choose their 3D model and associated images.
• All changes take immediate effect and are automatically saved to keep the experience as persistent as possible.
• Uses script-based model presets to organize available models into easy-to-use, expandable categories.
• Easily add your files where you want by pointing and clicking to arrange your 3D world just as you like.
• Quickly switch between predefined arrangement sets to spawn your files at different themed locations around the map.
• On average is able to display up to 70 file avatars simultaneously in "hi-res" mode. (Over 400 avatars in "low-res" mode!)*
• Is able to load official as well as community made add-on maps from many popular Source engine games such as Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, and Counter-Strike: Source.**
• Can generate avatar arrangement sets by parsing a .vmf file. (For map designers)
• Easily create new file avatar models by referencing one of the supplied "hot" materials. (For model designers)
• Literally experience what your computer has to offer in the full-featured Orange Box graphics engine.

* The actual maximum number of file avatars that can be displayed simultaneously depends on available texture memory.
** You must own the game to load maps from it.

===================================

In the future I hope to make SM Arcade multiplayer, which would allow it to be used as a sort of match-making program, if JK were able to connect to a given IP via a console command (something that ZeqMacaw assures me could be implemented).

that's a p bad taping job on the far wall

3D paradigms have been done to death and every usability study ever done on them reveals the same thing: they are less efficient and ultimately more difficult to use.

That being said, they're definitely cool, and your project looks awesome.

Very cool

Looks awesome, the only question that came to my mind was: "What happens when you start to run other programs out of the 3D Source interface and it starts bogging down your machine because the Source engine itself is taking up system resources?"

I'm assuming this is probably more for fun and games rather than practicality. Although it may not be the easiest way to run your applications, the execution is awesome, and the matchmaking idea you had seems like that could have some promise.

What happens if you run the source engine from inside the source engine?

Yo dawg, I heard you like...

Dark__Knight brings up a common concern.

Because of the way programs are launched, Source Media Arcade usually goes into a type of "sleep" mode until the game you launched is closed. As far as Windows is concerned, SM Arcade has crashed, but after you close the game that you opened, it will un-crash and resume normally.

It can't do this for ALL types of things that it launches, so in the other cases it may just gets paused normally or be pushed to the background.

In concept it seems very very bad to have 2 games open at once, but my testing as well as other testers have found that even though it FEELS dirty, the effect is not as noticeable as they thought. Personally I don't notice it at all, but it could be due to my machine.

I use this thing to launch GTA IV, Need for Speed: SHIFT, every game that I own, and as far as I can tell the games run flawlessly even with my mod just pushed to the background. When I close the game, my mod DOES have to re-load itself, but it is very quick doing that as well.

BobTheMasher realizes that you cannot have two instances of the Source engine running at once. So what happens when you try to open another Source engine game from within my mod? Well, my options were limited, but the fix that I implemented works like this: SM Arcade will first close itself, and THEN launch your other Source engine game.

This doesn't sound so bad, until you realize that SM Arcade does NOT re-open itself after you close the other game. It gets even worse because it depends on how fast your comp can CLOSE the mod in the first place. (It's a bolloxed up race condition to completely unload the Source engine before loading up the other Source engine game.) I'm just using .bat files to launch games in this version, so hopefully this glitch can be properly addressed in future versions.

You are correct, the mod is not very practical at first, but the more you learn how to use it, the more practical it becomes. One of the major focuses of future versions will be simplifying the GUI so its easier and more natural to use.

You know what's easy and natural to use? Windows. Mac OS X. Even Ubuntu most of the time.

No, sorry, there's nothing practical about this at all. To be honest it's completely retarded. No one who ever wants to get work done would use it.

This doesn't replace windows man, it encourages you to use ALT+Tab, Windows Key, and link to folders. It works in cooperation with your OS.

The real practicality comes in the way things are organized. I have a room in de_vegas that has nothing but racing games in it. It is actually easier for me to find the games I want to play by walkin around that room then to search for them on my Steam games list, where they are mixed in with all my other games.

Because it is a game at its core, it does tempt you to play rather than work. But just like when you're not using SM Arcade, that decision is up to you.

I'm saying the overhead of dealing with it takes way more time than just using a regular UI.

It's not about your mod vs Steam, it's about the paradigm of organizing everything into a "virtual world." It's a completely stupid and backwards idea.

That's what they said about anal.

Weed inspired usability itt

Lol. Yeah man, this isn't exactly supposed to be the answer to Linux user's prayers for a operating system they have to restart less. And it is definitely a backwards idea; walking over to a file cabinet to open a file... isn't that what computers were made for? It might seem strange at first, but to some that is more intuitive than clicking through folder hierarchies to find what they're looking for.

As long as you don't mind your computer performing like it's worth a few bucks less, I'm sure people who do mostly work on their computer could get some enjoyment from this mod too. And keeping work related applications in a separate room from entertainment items does help with the distractions. How productive you could be in it is a question of your work flow I guess. It would work best if you just have to use the same handful of programs over and over.

No, it's definitely cool and maybe enjoyable. Didn't mean to lash out, it's been a bad day.

SSSSSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

This is awesome, do you have any videos of it working?

Wasuuuuuuaaaaaaaahhhhh Andrew. Yeah man, there's tons of videos of it here...

Here is the ModDB Profile that has many videos and some more pictures:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/source-media-arcade

I will check it out when I get home, videos are blocked at work, and I'll hit you up on #JK