ARC8 Raiders

ARC8 RAIDERS 🐓

Welcome to Speranza, Raider!

Head out, roll your dice and loot to your heart's content! Welcome to Speranza, Raiders! This is our PICO-8 version of ARC Raiders. It has been reimagined as an auto-battler, featuring dice rolling for combat and looting, as well as a strong focus on inventory management. Collect loot to craft or purchase superior weapons, and eventually stand your ground against a Queen or Matriarch. Collect special loot along the way to earn permanent perks and make your runs easier and more successful. You can choose between short, medium and long runs: quick and safe rounds or a longer and riskier stay for better loot.

Idea, concept and music by Herr Kaschke
Code and pixel art by donswelt

FEATURES

• Auto battles and auto-looting
• Invetory management
• Dozens of items to loot
• Dozens of enemies
• Four iconic wepaons
• Completely optional crafting
• 16 special items for your home collection

SOUNDTRACK

Get the soundtrack for ARC8 Raiders over at Herr Kaschke's bandcamp page! The soundtrack includes two PICO-8 versions of songs: one of the "Rust Theme" and one of the track "Team Up". It also features short background loops for looting on the surface and during boss battles, as well as sounds that play when you return to Speranza. The background loop in the camp is also included in the downloadable "Free to Play but you could pay" soundtrack.

The "Rust Theme" and "Team Up" is inspired by the work of Patrik Andrén, Johan Söderqvist for the Videogame ARC Raiders by Embark Studios.

HOW TO PLAY

The ARC8 Raiders game loop consists of the following actions:

Auto battles

• Battles are fought using a D20. To win a battle, you need to roll a value above your attack stat.
• If you lose a battle, you will be shot and lose some health points. If your health reaches zero, you will be knocked out.
• If you are knocked out, all the items in your backpack will be lost.
• Winning battles gives you loot. The longer you survive, the better the loot.
• A Nat 20 will grant you special loot. There is a 33% chance of getting a special item on short runs, a 66% chance on medium runs, and a 100% chance on long runs. Otherwise, you get a rubber duck. It fetches a high price on the market.
• Special loot sometimes has perks that permanently boost your stats. Special loot is automatically sold after a successful run and then stored forever in your home collection.

Auto looting

• As with battles, the outcome of looting is determined by rolling a D20. To successfully find some loot, you need to roll a value higher than your luck stat. The longer you stay, the better the loot gets.
• When looting a hospital, you can find healing items. These items will take effect immediately. They won't be visible in your backpack.
• Rolling a Nat 20 will grant you special loot. There is a 33% chance of getting a special item on short runs, a 66% chance on medium runs, and a 100% chance on long runs. Otherwise, you will receive a rubber duck. It fetches a high price on the market.
• Special loot will sometimes have perks that permanently boost your stats. Special loot is automatically sold after a successful run and stored in your home collection forever.
• If your backpack is full, lesser loot is swapped for better loot.

Crafting

• You can use blue items to craft weapons, shields, and special ammunition.
• The type of weapon you use determines your attack stat. The better the weapon, the lower your attack stat, resulting in lower dice values when it comes to winning battles.
• Shields must be kept in your backpack and will increase your health. They cannot be destroyed and can be equipped as long as you do not die, in which case your backpack will be reset.
• SP ammo will lower your attack stat by one point, giving you a better chance of rolling a successful attack. Keep an eye on your SP ammo stat and craft or buy more ammo to keep it above zero.
• Every item in the shop can be crafted or bought with coins.

Inventory Managment

• After a successful run, you should move your new loot from your backpack to your stash.
• You should keep valuable items in your stash, as these are used for crafting.
• Pink items are special loot. These are automatically stored in your home collection.
• Green items are support items. Store these in your backpack to boost your luck or health before heading out on a new run.
• Everything else can be sold for coins. Coins can be used to purchase special ammo, weapons, and shields.

Please note that only the items in your stash will be saved. Your backpack resets with every new game session!

Runs

• Short runs are less risky, but loot is rather sparse.
• Medium runs have a few stronger enemies, but are still low risk.
• Long runs are the riskiest. You may face many strong enemies.

How to finish the game

• In order to finish the game, you need to either craft or buy the sniper rifle.
• If you complete a long run while equipped with the sniper rifle, you may trigger a boss battle against a Queen or a Matriarch.
• Survive the battle to win the game!

PLAY IT EVERYWHERE

Play ARC8 Raiders right here in your browser, or download the PICO-8 cartridge and copy it into your PICO-8 cart folder.

You can play ARC8 Raiders on the go using PICO-8 on most retro handhelds or PicPic, the PICO-8 emulator that even runs on your Apple Watch.

DISCLAIMER

- No generative AI or LLM was used to make ARC8 Raiders.
- The original ARC Raiders is a game by Embark Studios.