Attack Retrieve Capture
Attack Retrieve Capture (ARC) is a multiplayer, 2D computer game originally created by Hoopy Entertainment in the mid 1990s. The game is primarily capture the flag (CTF), but other game modes exist. In the 2-team CTF mode, each team is trying to capture the other's flag(s). Players pilot small ships equipped with 4 types of weapons: lasers, missiles, bouncy lasers, and grenades.
ARC
| Release | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Microsoft Windows |
| Developer | Hoopy Entertainment |
| Genre | Action |
| Gameplay | Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, Toggles |
| Official site | ARC-HQ |
Historical Overview
The game has developed into a cult hit since the first beta releases, and its small but devoted fanbase has followed it for several years. Initially ARC was hosted on a server rented out by Hoopy, and clients ran it via Hfront (Hoopy Front End). The original developers of ARC, John Vechey (jv) and Brian Fiete (bf), took ARC to Total Entertainment Network (TEN) (now pogo.com) in 1998 for its 1.0 release. In 1999, TEN went under and ARC appeared to go with it. But by December 1999, World Opponent Network (WON) had acquired ARC and began to run another beta test. During this time, WON attempted to make ARC a source of income, by adding advertisements into the game interface. However, the idea never got off the ground, and WON suffered the same fate as TEN in 2001. The future of ARC was again uncertain, but Sierra Entertainment kept ARC going under much the same operation as WON had. Finally, in 2004, Sierra made the decision to terminate ARC, but in a last effort by a community member, Aleck79, ARC was granted access to certain servers, and the care of the game was handed over to the lead administrator, Err0r. However, in a fairly expected turn of events, Err0r resigned on April 29, 2005. The future of ARC is uncertain.
ARC Eras
The timeframes are rough.
- 1995 - 1998: Hoopy/Hfront (subdivided into the versions of ARC, e.g. beta32, beta40, beta45, beta52, beta60)
- 1999: TEN
- 2000 - 2001: WON
- 2001 - 2004: Sierra
- 2004 - current: unnamed
ARC Community
ARC has a very strong community, perhaps the reason for its longevity. Some players have played for close to 10 years. The length of time a player has played is somewhat of a status symbol within the community, and players are frequently classified by when they started playing (see the ARC Eras). The community also revolves around clans and leagues.
League Play
Near the end of Hfront, a player named sedition organized a tournament he called Clanwars. This single elimination tournament had plenty of problems, but when TEN arrived, Clanwars came under new management and became ARC's first league: the Arc Premier League. The APL and other leagues ran seasons and tournaments between the clans, mostly for pride, but occasionally a prize was offered. Naming of the chat lobbies on TEN was a prize for the first APL, and a few seasons later, APL was sponsored by Diamond Multimedia, resulting in the winning clan receiving mp3 players..w00t
Important People
- jv - John Vechey, co-founder of Hoopy Ent.
- bf - Brian Fiete, co-founder of Hoopy Ent.
- c:\ - Josh Langley, graphics designer
- bob - Hoopy webmaster and server administrator
- Jason Kapalka - Hoopy, TEN liaison
- Err0r - previous caretaker of ARC, previous admin (resigned April 21, 2005)
- Osiris - Head Administrator of ARC throughout Sierra Era. R.I.P.
Lingo
- admin - administrator of the game. Certain accounts are given the ability to kick, ban, or mute others in the lobby and in games to enforce rules and keep order.
- cap - a successful capture of a flag (in CTF mode)
- clan - a group of players that have joined together to compete in leagues, or just for the camaraderie.
- dev - developer of the game. Primarily used in WON and Sierra eras.
- frag/kill - a successful kill of another player.
- Hfront - the first client software used for ARC.
- newbie - technically a new player, but usually used to insult one's playing skills.
- nip - a players ship, referring to the similarity between the original graphics (beta 32 and before) and a nipple.
- smoker/smoked - a player is smoked or a smoker when a smoke cloud animation appears on their ship. This occurs when the player is low on health.
- vet - short for veteran, a vet is someone who has been playing ARC or who has been in the community for a an extended period of time. Primarily used in the TEN and WON eras when lots of newer players arrived; the title was generally reserved for a player who began during the Hfront era.
- vulch/vulcher - a kill that another player thought they had a claim on. One who steals kills repeatedly is known as a vulcher. (derived from vulture)
- eek - derived from the arcer named Eekum. used to describe someone lacking in skill but not lacking in persistence (after failing many times) - someone obsessed with the game - a person who frequently talks smack to players of superiority.
Story
The following four stories were included in ARC's help file in 1996 or 1997.
STORY #1 Once upon a time, there were a bunch of guys. These guys were vicious and competitive, so they went around beating each other with very large sticks. One of these guys, Bob, was unhappy. He said to the others "Hey, wouldn't it be cooler if we beat each other with flying saucers that shot lasers and missiles and bombs and bouncy lasers and stuff?" All the other guys laughed and pointed at him, and tied his shoelaces together when he wasn't looking, and dipped his hand in warm water when he went to sleep. So one day Bob left for a week, and when he came back he was piloting a flying saucer, and he fried all their sorry butts. When they saw how cool his flying saucer was, they stole his idea and made their own. Soon giant arenas were constructed to battle in, and Bob christened his game "Super Happy Fun Game o' Death". The others thought this was strange, so they summoned an evil administrator and banished Bob from their land. They then renamed the game ARC, in honor of Noah, and everyone lived happily ever after.
STORY#2 In some generic future, in a far-flung, war-torn sector of badly cliched space, several large bland organizations with interchangeable names (let’s call them the Alliance, Federation, Empire and League) have been battling for hundreds of thousands of weird-sounding-units-of-time-measurement. For obscure or at least vague reasons these intergalactic foes chose saucers with few frames of animation as their weapons of choice in this unending war of extermination, and to this day these poorly-imagined groups continue to wage exciting but RSAC-acceptable battles in their unnamed corner of the universe.
STORY#3 Just when you thought the Earth Special Violent Forces were done with you, you got a call from General Toughass. Some guy called Quake was opening up portals to Earth and sending through crazed assassins. Or was Quake an organization? Maybe it was a monster. Or possibly it was the name of this goony dungeon-tech dimension? In any case, ESVF needs someone to single-handedly clear out an entire alternate universe full of bloodthirsty high-tech mutant demons, all the while armed with nothing but a shotgun and a sloppy grin… again! Of course they called you… hey, wait a minute, wrong game.
STORY#4 Since birth, it was foretold that you were the Chosen Saucer, prophesied to rise from your humble beginning to overthrow the evil Queen Saucer and bring peace to the land of Sauceria once more. When your village was pillaged by evil Saucer Soldiers you alone survived, being raised a Gladiator Saucer in the Saucer Arenas of ARC. On your 18th birthday you led a Saucer Revolt and escaped the Arenas, to rally an underground Saucer resistance to break the power of Queen Saucer and rescue the beautiful Princess Saucer from her nasty clutches. Now… the final battle for Sauceria begins.
External links
Official sites
General
- ARC Network
- ARCenter an old (1997) ARC fansite
Clan Websites
List containing numerous websites of past and current clans on ARC.
Other
- PopCap.com The creators of ARC founded a new company.