Home > 2009 > June

Reviews are in…

June 25,2009 4:25 pm 2 comments

Archon has received many great reviews in the few days it’s been out.  Here are some of them…

http://wireless.ign.com/articles/998/998190p1.html  –  7.5 out of 10

http://toucharcade.com/2009/06/23/archon-hits-app-store-first-impressions/  – Great review!

http://www.allaboutthegames.co.uk/feature_story.php?article_id=9302 — 4 out of 5 stars

http://kotaku.com/5301019/archon-arrives-on-iphone  –  Announcement

http://www.iphoneappreviews.net/2009/06/27/archon/  – 4 out of 5 stars

http://www.applicationiphone.com/2009/06/le-remake-darchon-disponible-sur-iphone/  – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Archon getting great reviews…

June 24,2009 2:58 pm 1 comment

The last day has been a whirlwind with many of the media blogs and websites posting about Archon Classic.  They are mostly great reviews with very few complaints.  We are very happy with the response from the long-time Archon fans who’ve been quite complimentary about the game.  There have been many emails about how this game has taken them back to the old C64 days.

We are happy about how the game has turned out but know there are some small improvements to be made.  Mainly in the area that made Archon great in the first place…playing with friends, so rest assured, MULTIPLAYER IS BEING WORKED ON AS I WRITE THIS.  Our designer, Brad, has been invaluable in helping make this version work.  We have many things planned and this option is only a few short updates away.  So, get your virtual Dpad skills up to par, pretty soon you will be competing against your friends, creating tournaments and battling for that elusive top spot of Archon!

p.s.  What are some of your top scores?  Post screen shots of your ending rank and final time on our forums to get free Tshirts and other prizes!

Archon Classic is now on the App Store!

June 23,2009 12:10 am 13 comments

Well,  whew.  We did it!

Archon on the App Store

The most fabulous game ever made is now officially on the App store, ready for sale at the low price of $3.99 USD until we get version 2.0 out the door, then it will be the regular price of $4.99.  Version 2 will include many little enhancements along with the 1 player campaign mode.

This first game for us was such an up and down roller coaster ride!  There were some really high points and some low points, but all-in-all, it’s a great game that I’m proud of…even though it took a lot longer than I wanted, but it’s paid off.  If you have an iPhone or iTouch, please buy it and leave your comments on the App Store comment area.  We’re counting on everyone who loves this game (the original and our version) to “make some noise” about Archon and how it needs to be on every platform.  The more noise the community makes, the easier it will be for us to go in and confidently show these different console people how there IS a desire to have this great game on their console.

I hope you like the game…it was very fun to make, test and now play.

Now, on to the next platform…PC anyone?

New Gameplay video…

June 19,2009 5:15 pm 3 comments

Here is what is on YouTube (but this version is more crisp, i think.)

iPhone gameplay

Sorry I couldn’t imbed it…trying to hurry and get it out and move on to other fun stuff.  Hope you like it!  Oh yeah, here is the YouTube Link, if you wanna see it there too…and comment.)

Archon submitted to Apple!!!

June 19,2009 12:03 pm 1 comment

I have to apologize for not being in touch lately…we’ve been working out a few internal issues and getting the game finished, which we have.  Version 1.0 has finally been submitted…we actually submitted it last friday and have been doing some quick catch-up work this week to make sure everything is right on.

This version (1.0) plays really well, which we’re really excited about!  The combat is fast and fun, the characters are more evenly matched and the Phoenix KICKS BUTT!  The Easy setting is VERY easy so everyone can get used to the controls on the iPhone (if you’re not yet) and win a few battles fairly easily.  The Hard setting is pretty challenging, even for the veteran player.  There is a ranking system that works nicely and in subsequent versions, we’ll be able to upload to a server for global scores and global rankings…it keeps track of your total game time, fastest combat time, how many pieces you’re won/loss, etc.  In combat, you can control the characters by using the Dpad (which works excellent) or the Accelerometer.

I’ll post some video of the game soon, so check back.

oh, p.s.  My fastest win time is 1 minute and 17 seconds, with the fastest combat time being just over 1 second.

June 1st and internal milestones…

June 2,2009 1:39 pm 1 comment

Well, June 1st came and went.  I guess I should confess that we had an internal milestone to hit June 1 as our submission date to Apple.  We hit a major issue over the weekend and it reared up yesterday again and sent us reeling.  I think we found a solution today so it should only delay us a few days.

Sound is the major bug fixing now, along with some minor AI tweaks.  Although it’s mostly okay, sometimes the AI characters seem to want to run into the corners and stay there.  We’ve got to come up with a few more rules to take care of that.

As much as I want this game finished, I want the game looking and playing great!  My philosophy is thus; to release great games…releasing a game will not do if it’s mediocre in it’s visuals or gameplay.  If I don’t want to play it, I don’t want to release it…even if it costs a little extra time and money (thanks Mr. Investor!)  We’ve got a great backer, because our philosophies are in line with each other and that’s hard to find in a businessman now days.  I’ve seen too many companies release games that were sub par just to get it out and make some quick money.  Well, not us.

I’m hoping our community grows enough to get the word out and make the whole world aware of the great game that is Archon.  As we play here in the studio, we hear yells and shouts from different rooms and Brad, our lead designer, says, “You can tell it’s a great game by all the yelling thats going on!”  Once we get some of these issues out of the way, I’ll post some video footage of the game so you can see what it’s like while we’re waiting for Apple to do their stuff.