Home > 2009 > October

Pre-BETA release tonight…

October 30,2009 5:29 pm 5 comments

We’ve still got a few bugs to work out tonight with the delivery mechanism for the download, but the installer is done, the game is ready…just a few more wrinkles.

I should have everything done tonight…For those who’ve bought the game already, a few more hours of patience and you’ll be playing the greatest game ever created! So buy some controllers, if you haven’t got any, and hold on to your seats!

Pre-Beta build…

October 23,2009 6:07 pm 1 comment

Here is a quick shot of the New Golem, which is just one of the graphical updates we’re doing for the game.  We’re really excited about getting this Pre-Beta build out and into the hands of fans around the world.  Currently we are only building for XP and Vista, but we’re planning on Mac versions in the future and hopefully Linux.

We’re still on target for getting a build out and into the hands of the faithful fans next week.  I can’t wait to get feedback on everything.  We had our little tournament the other week and learned a lot about how people are playing the game and navigating the menus.  We’ve used this data to sharpen the Strategy elements and include other things to make the game easier to get into (for the new player) yet satisfy the Archon buff.  We also have something really cool planned for next week (something besides the Beta.)

Indie Game Night…

October 15,2009 10:57 am 1 comment

We attended and partially sponsored the quarterly “Indie Game Night” which was hosted by the great folks at Ninja Bee/Wahoo studios.  Steve Taylor (Studio Owner) and Greg Squire (Indie Organizer) let us come and show off our pre-Beta build of Archon PC.  We took down several machines and had a mini “Archon Tournament!”  The first since, well…probably since the game released back in ‘83 (anyone correct me if I’m wrong.)

Congrats to Jake Dinkins and Justin Barlow for beating out all the other teams to become our first EVER Archon champions.  They got T-shirts for their win.  They played through several different boards in our TEAM mode 2 vs. 2.  They caught on early to the strategies of doubling up characters and attacking on opposite colored square.  It wasn’t an easy victory, but it sure was fun to watch.

We learned many things through this event, it was like a test market/focus group event for us.  We payed close attention to how they played, what was unclear, where they tripped up and what we could to better.  Thankfully, most of the issues were in the front end design…navigation is a bit unclear in some places and it was good to see that when people got into the game, it was virtually bug free (with very few exceptions.)

Thanks again to NinjaBee and Greg Squire to letting us hold our little tournament.  It allowed us to see our game in the real-world and see people’s reactions.  We had a good mix of new and old school gamers.  About half heard of Archon and remember playing it on the C64 or Atari at one point.  We’ll take our observations and start changing things around to make it better.

Archon:Conquest on App store RIGHT NOW!

October 15,2009 2:29 am 1 comment

Archon:Conquest is now on the App store for $0.99.  We’ve put a lot of hard work and testing to make this one of the best games around.  I still play it when I have a chance and haven’t gotten tired of it.  We designed this with the single player in mind, so there is no multiplayer…just you progressing through a series of quests that takes you through several immersive stories revolving around a few characters.  Play as Light and Dark as there are 2 Light campaigns and 2 Dark campaigns…each with 15 quests.  You encounter 60 different boards that will put your brains and skills to the test.  You will have power-ups at your disposal and let me warn you…they are needed.  Especially since several quests contain multiple enemies you have to fight at the same time!!!

We’ve updated our CONTROLS on the Combat board, so it plays very smoothly!  All the complaints concerning the controls have been addressed and now we have one of the best virtual dpads on the iPhone market.

Archon:Conquest has a leaderboard system powered by “Plus+.”  NGMOCO came out with their Plus+ technology to provide a platform that would be similar to an XBLA experience on the iPhone and they did a great job.  It adds a whole new depth to our games, as you can see where you actually rank worldwide.

Conquest fits perfectly on the iPhone and will keep you busy for hours.  Once you complete a quest, you unlock INSANE difficulty!  There are many Awards to get for you people who like that, and the leaderboard system is really nice.  Our beta testers (these are good players) have reported it takes them about 4 hours to complete each Campaign, when they really hunker down and try to get the best scores they can (you’re rewarded medals based on your performance — they’ve gotten all golds.)  So, you could spend over 12 hours getting through these quests…or you can go through them as fast as you can.

I can’t say enough of Conquest…except go buy it, you won’t be disappointed!

Phoenix rises from the ashes…

October 14,2009 8:20 am no comments

To anyone who has played Archon in the past, there was one piece you either loved or hated…and that’s the Phoenix.  Most people I’ve talked to say this was the one piece that was way underpowered, even though she held a high ranking in the lineup (opposite of the much feared Dragon.)  There are many who consider the Phoenix a ‘throw away’ piece, used only to whittle down an opposing piece…

Well, those days are over.  We’ve spend the last several months working and reworking the pieces per team and have reached a perfect balance.  The Phoenix will now strike fear in the hearts of opposing forces and takes it rightful place beside the Wizard, opposite the Dragon.  She (I think the Phoenix has to be a “her”) is an awesome creature to behold, especially when she reaches a “level 3″ on boards that allow leveling.

We’ve been play testing both the iPhone and PC for a while now and have taken all the comments from the forums, emails and App store into consideration and have made a perfect mix.  This, I believe, is the ultimate Archon experience…which has been long awaited by fans the world over.  I’m not just saying this because I’m the owner of the studio making the game…but because I am one of the biggest fans of this game, and have been since the day I loaded it up on my Atari 800 (it was from a 5 1/4 floppy.)

The work is hard, but fun and well worth it.  Our 4 player games last about an hour because we have to really think about strategy now (I’m playing against one of the best Archon players in the world.)  We all get beat by Brad (our lead designer), but most of the time, we are ganging up on him during combat.  Tomorrow Pre-sales will go live and we have a special treat for those who buy early.  I’ll have that announcement later today.

PC layout for Combat…

October 8,2009 11:31 am 3 comments

Since we’re doing everything with HD in mind, we have a lot of lateral room to play around with.  So we’ve added a few new things to the PC version (design-wise.)  See the screenshot below:

We have the players name along with a nifty (huge) recharge indicator.  We’ve need to really make this big, because you need a quick read when you’re battling 3 other people.  It gets really hectic during combat…especially when you accidently kill your teammate and have to go it alone!  We’ve also put in a faint “recharge” timer so you know how long before you’ll be able to fire (it fills up with a subtle grey, then pops to Green.)

I’ll have more to show as I get it finished.

Archon for the PC…

October 7,2009 10:09 am 6 comments

We’ve been so busy…I can’t believe it’s been over a month since my last entry.  Well, it’s official…we’ll be releasing the PC version soon.  We’ve been playing it for the last couple of day and it’s been GREAT, AWESOME, FUN, and all those other wonderfully descriptive words.  4 player definitely adds an intensity to an already intense game during combat.

Image being the Djinni, and you’re entering battle with a level 3 Dragon (he has triple shot), a Troll and a Wizard.  I found myself trying to hide in a corner and letting them duke it out, until I hear “HE’S HIDING!  GET HIM!”  Then all three of them turn on me.  For those who’ve played the board game “RISK”, there can be a lot of similarities as far as truces and alliances being formed during gameplay.

I also found myself in a battle with 2 knights…I was a Dragon and thought, “Hah, 2 Knights on a grey square…easy!”  That was before they expertly herded me into a corner and hacked me to death….Oohhh the fun of 4 player games.  We have “Teams” or “Free for All”, along with AI…so if there are only 3 people playing, 2 can be on a team and the leftover player simply grabs an AI for his teammate (and selecting INSANE for his setting.)

There are many other surprises in store for the PC, such as various new boards, new abilities, etc.  I don’t have any screenshots yet, mainly because the TEMP art is so ugly…but that will change soon.

We’ve decided to start pre-sales from our site OCT 15th, so tell everyone you know to buy the game so you can play against each other.

REACT GAMES ANNOUNCES ARCHON PRE-SALES FOR THE PC ON OCT 15th AND RELEASES ARCHON:CONQUEST FOR THE IPHONE

October 7,2009 8:41 am 6 comments

Salt Lake City, Utah: October 5, 2009

Archon, which was first released in 1983 by Free Fall Associates, now makes its way to the PC, after more than 25 years.  The remake from React Games first made its appearance on the iPhone in June of this year to critical acclaim.

“It reached the top 20 best selling games worldwide within 2 weeks of its release on the App store and still maintains a 4.5 out of 5 star rating” says Chad Lee, owner of React Games.

For the PC version, React unveils new multiplayer game modes featuring up to 4 players in “teams” and “versus” battles.  Also choose between classic 8-bit or new artwork, online leader boards, achievements, HD resolution and, of course Multiplayer on a local machine or across the internet.  Additional enhancements include a variety of board layouts, character leveling up, power-ups and enhanced AI.  Archon for the PC will be released during the holiday season 2009 and pre-sales will start on October 15, 2009 through their website at www.archonclassic.com

“In bringing Archon to the PC we’ve really focused on maintaining the classic feel of the original game.  That said, there were aspects of the title that needed updating for the modern audience.  For example, the addition of 4 players was never in the original, but it adds so much fun it feels like it always belonged there.” says Brad Moss, Design Lead at React Games.

Also announced is Archon:Conquest, a single player game based on the Archon franchise created for the iPhone.

“We knew the iPhone version of Archon needed a single player experience, so we included a ‘Conquest Mode’ at no extra cost in the 1.9 Archon update (coming soon.)  In order to freely expand the single player idea without affecting the Classic version of Archon, we decided to create a separate App called Archon:Conquest.  This new App will include several additional campaigns and quests.” says Lee of the new App.

Archon:Conquest was submitted to the App store earlier this month and will be available soon.  Conquest features a total of 4 campaigns, 60 quests, various board layouts, unique character abilities and enemies to conquer.  Awards and the new Leader Board system is powered by Plus+.

“We are excited to be part of the Plus+ family.  They have many quality games in their library and their technology is sound…a perfect fit for what we are doing.” says Lee of ngmoco’s new Plus+ technology for the iPhone.

React! Games is a privately owned company.

For more information, visit React Games at www.reactgames.com and the Official Archon website at www.archonclassic.com