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Archon (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Archon: The Light and the Dark is a computer game developed by Free Fall Associates
and distributed by Electronic Arts
. It was originally developed for Atari 8-bit computers
in 1983, but was later ported to several other systems of the day, including the Apple II
, Commodore 64
, Amstrad CPC
, ZX Spectrum
, Amiga
, IBM PC
, Apple Macintosh, PC-88
, and NES
. It was designed by Paul Reiche III
and Jon Freeman
and programmed
by Anne Westfall
. Reiche also produced the artwork for the game.
On the surface, Archon appears similar to chess
, but there are a number of significant changes. While the board is similar to a chessboard, and the various pieces are similarly designed to have various offsetting abilities, when one piece attempts to take another, the removal of the targeted piece is not automatic. Instead, the two pieces are placed into a full-screen 'combat arena' and must battle (action-style, with the players running the pieces) to determine who takes the square.
Generally (but not always) in combat, a stronger piece will defeat a weaker piece in either defending or capturing a square. It is also possible for the fight to result in a double-kill, in which both pieces are eliminated. This uncertainty adds a level of complexity into the game, since it is not always possible to predict if taking a square will be successful. Different pieces have different abilities in the combat phase. These include movement, lifespan, and weapon damage and attributes. The weapons vary by range, speed, rate-of-fire, and power. For example, the pawn
(represented by knight
s on the 'light' side and goblin
s on the 'dark' side) attacks quickly, but has very little strength; its weapon, a sword or club, has limited reach and power. A dragon
is considerably stronger and can attack from a distance, while a golem
moves slowly and fires a slow but powerful boulder.
Some pieces have special abilities. The Phoenix
can turn into a ball of fire, both damaging the enemy and shielding itself from enemy attacks. The shapeshifter assumes the shape and abilities of whatever piece it is up against. MikroBitti
magazine once noted that the Phoenix and the shapeshifter facing each other usually end up as the most boring battle in the entire game - as both combatants' capabilities are simultaneously offensive and defensive, they tend to use it whenever they meet each other, and thus both rarely get damaged. Each side also has a spellcaster piece (the Sorceress for the dark side, the Wizard for the light side) that can cast seven different spells; each spell may be used only once per game by each spellcaster.
The game is usually won when either one side destroys all the opposing pieces or one of the sides is able to occupy all of the five power points. More rarely, a side may also win by imprisoning its opponent's last remaining piece. If each side has but a single piece, and the two pieces destroy each other in a double-kill, then the game ends in a tie.
reviewed Archon for COMPUTE! Magazine
in November 1983. Card gave Archon (as well as two other EA games, M.U.L.E.
and Worms?
) a complimentary review, writing: "They are original; they do what they set out to do very, very well; they allow the player to take part in the creativity; they do things that only computers can do." Archon Ultra was reviewed in 1994 in Dragon
, receiving only 1 out of 5 stars.
in 1984 (it appeared on different systems on different dates). Not very similar to the original, it had improved graphics, different creatures, and required different strategy to win. The players in this version represented either Order or Chaos and possessed 4 adepts that could cast powerful spells. The game also featured an end-game option called the "Apocalypse
spell," where one player or the other could call for a final battle to determine the outcome of the game. The Amiga
version featured full stereo
sound, unusual for games of the day.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. developed a DOS game in 1994 called Archon Ultra. Being an expanded remake of the original game, it not only had updated graphics and sound, but it also had additional features: most notably the units had secondary weapons and the battle sequences were shown from an “isometric” point of view, enabling the game to simulate a third dimension in the battles, which made it more difficult to aim. It also featured a multiplayer mode via modem
. However, it performed very poorly in the marketplace. The Unholy War
is a PlayStation
game developed by Crystal Dynamics
and published by Eidos Interactive
in 1998. It was designed by Paul Reiche III and featured a similar style of strategy and combat as Archon.
An unofficial sequel, Archon III: Exciter
, was produced by unknown Archon fans for the Commodore 64
in .
The game was rewritten for Palm OS
in 2000 and was close to the original. The creator, Carsten Magerkurth, of EmperoR Studios, contacted the members of former Free Fall Associates and, with their input, developed a new version in 2003 (v1.21) with colors and sounds even closer to the original.
Another rewrite of the game, Archon: Evolution, was developed by Curve Software. The game reached public beta status before disappearing from the Internet
, but resurfaced in January 2008. The game used code
from the original 8-bit version with the blessing of Jon Freeman.
In 2008, React Games acquired the license from Free Fall to develop the Archon title across multiple platforms. It released an iPhone
version in June 2009. React! Games was founded by Chad Lee, who had worked on the non-commercial version of the game, Archon Evolution. A follow-up title called Archon: Conquest from React Games was released in September 2009 for the iPhone. It is a single-player game set in the Archon universe that features four campaigns, each with 15 quests. Archon: Classic for Windows was released in May 2010 by React Games. It features new gameplay elements not in the original game, such as four player support, four AI settings, various new boards to choose from, pieces that level up, power-ups in combat and more.
Paul Reiche and Fred Ford went on to create the Star Control
series of computer games. The combat component of the first Star Control game is very similar in that each player has a group of spaceships with different abilities which they send into one-on-one combat. Paul and Fred went on to found Toys for Bob
, and create many other games together.
Free Fall Associates
Free Fall Associates was a computer game developer of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was founded in 1981 by Jon Freeman, his wife, game programmer Anne Westfall, and game designer Paul Reiche III...
and distributed by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. It was originally developed for Atari 8-bit computers
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
in 1983, but was later ported to several other systems of the day, including the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
, Apple Macintosh, PC-88
NEC PC-8801
The NEC PC-8801 was an early Zilog Z80-based computer exclusively released in Japan, where it became very popular, by NEC Corporation in 1981. It was informally called the "PC-88"....
, and NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. It was designed by Paul Reiche III
Paul Reiche III
Paul Reiche III is a game designer, particularly for computer games. Reiche is best known for being the co-creator, together with Fred Ford, of the Star Control universe.-Pen and paper RPGs:...
and Jon Freeman
Jon Freeman
Jon Freeman was an influential computer game industry figure of the 1980s and early 1990s. He was a co-founder of Epyx and Free Fall Associates and the spouse of game programmer, Anne Westfall...
and programmed
Game programming
Game programming, a subset of game development, is the programming of computer, console or arcade games. Though often engaged in by professional game programmers, many novices may program games as a hobby...
by Anne Westfall
Anne Westfall
Anne Westfall is an influential game programmer of the 1980s. She is the wife of fellow game programmer, game designer and entrepreneur Jon Freeman.-Career:...
. Reiche also produced the artwork for the game.
Gameplay
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, but there are a number of significant changes. While the board is similar to a chessboard, and the various pieces are similarly designed to have various offsetting abilities, when one piece attempts to take another, the removal of the targeted piece is not automatic. Instead, the two pieces are placed into a full-screen 'combat arena' and must battle (action-style, with the players running the pieces) to determine who takes the square.
Generally (but not always) in combat, a stronger piece will defeat a weaker piece in either defending or capturing a square. It is also possible for the fight to result in a double-kill, in which both pieces are eliminated. This uncertainty adds a level of complexity into the game, since it is not always possible to predict if taking a square will be successful. Different pieces have different abilities in the combat phase. These include movement, lifespan, and weapon damage and attributes. The weapons vary by range, speed, rate-of-fire, and power. For example, the pawn
Pawn (chess)
The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
(represented by knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s on the 'light' side and goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s on the 'dark' side) attacks quickly, but has very little strength; its weapon, a sword or club, has limited reach and power. A dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
is considerably stronger and can attack from a distance, while a golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
moves slowly and fires a slow but powerful boulder.
Some pieces have special abilities. The Phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
can turn into a ball of fire, both damaging the enemy and shielding itself from enemy attacks. The shapeshifter assumes the shape and abilities of whatever piece it is up against. MikroBitti
MikroBitti
MikroBitti is a Finnish computer magazine, founded in May 1984 and published by Sanoma Magazines, a division of the Sanoma Group. MikroBitti is aimed mainly for beginner to mid-level computer users...
magazine once noted that the Phoenix and the shapeshifter facing each other usually end up as the most boring battle in the entire game - as both combatants' capabilities are simultaneously offensive and defensive, they tend to use it whenever they meet each other, and thus both rarely get damaged. Each side also has a spellcaster piece (the Sorceress for the dark side, the Wizard for the light side) that can cast seven different spells; each spell may be used only once per game by each spellcaster.
The game is usually won when either one side destroys all the opposing pieces or one of the sides is able to occupy all of the five power points. More rarely, a side may also win by imprisoning its opponent's last remaining piece. If each side has but a single piece, and the two pieces destroy each other in a double-kill, then the game ends in a tie.
Reception
Science-fiction author Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
reviewed Archon for COMPUTE! Magazine
COMPUTE!
Compute! was an American computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994, though it can trace its origin to 1978 in Len Lindsay's PET Gazette, one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET computer. In its 1980s heyday Compute! covered all major platforms, and several single-platform...
in November 1983. Card gave Archon (as well as two other EA games, M.U.L.E.
M.U.L.E.
M.U.L.E. is a seminal multiplayer video game by Ozark Softscape. It was published in 1983 by Electronic Arts. It was originally written for the Atari 400/800, and was later ported to the Commodore 64, the Nintendo Entertainment System and the IBM PC Jr. Japanese versions also exist for the...
and Worms?
Worms?
Worms? is a 1983 computer game written by David Maynard for Electronic Arts, released for the Atari 800 and Commodore 64. It was one of the original six games that launched the company....
) a complimentary review, writing: "They are original; they do what they set out to do very, very well; they allow the player to take part in the creativity; they do things that only computers can do." Archon Ultra was reviewed in 1994 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
, receiving only 1 out of 5 stars.
Legacy
Free Fall Associates developed a sequel to the game called Archon II: AdeptArchon II: Adept
Archon II: Adept is a 1984 computer game developed by Jon Freeman, Paul Reiche III and Anne Westfall, and distributed by Electronic Arts for various platforms....
in 1984 (it appeared on different systems on different dates). Not very similar to the original, it had improved graphics, different creatures, and required different strategy to win. The players in this version represented either Order or Chaos and possessed 4 adepts that could cast powerful spells. The game also featured an end-game option called the "Apocalypse
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
spell," where one player or the other could call for a final battle to determine the outcome of the game. The Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
version featured full stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
sound, unusual for games of the day.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. developed a DOS game in 1994 called Archon Ultra. Being an expanded remake of the original game, it not only had updated graphics and sound, but it also had additional features: most notably the units had secondary weapons and the battle sequences were shown from an “isometric” point of view, enabling the game to simulate a third dimension in the battles, which made it more difficult to aim. It also featured a multiplayer mode via modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
. However, it performed very poorly in the marketplace. The Unholy War
The Unholy War
The Unholy War is a PlayStation game developed by Toys For Bob and published by Crystal Dynamics in Europe and Eidos Interactive in North America. It is a fighting game in which characters fight in a 3D environment using mêlée and projectile attacks...
is a PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
game developed by Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
and published by Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
in 1998. It was designed by Paul Reiche III and featured a similar style of strategy and combat as Archon.
An unofficial sequel, Archon III: Exciter
Archon III
Archon III: Exciter was a fan-made, unofficial sequel of the highly acclaimed computer game Archon and Archon II, created in 1985 for the Commodore 64 computer. Archon III was never published by Electronic Arts or any other company, nor was it ever formally reviewed by a video game magazine...
, was produced by unknown Archon fans for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
in .
The game was rewritten for Palm OS
Palm OS
Palm OS is a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants in 1996. Palm OS is designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provided with a suite of basic applications for personal information management...
in 2000 and was close to the original. The creator, Carsten Magerkurth, of EmperoR Studios, contacted the members of former Free Fall Associates and, with their input, developed a new version in 2003 (v1.21) with colors and sounds even closer to the original.
Another rewrite of the game, Archon: Evolution, was developed by Curve Software. The game reached public beta status before disappearing from the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, but resurfaced in January 2008. The game used code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
from the original 8-bit version with the blessing of Jon Freeman.
In 2008, React Games acquired the license from Free Fall to develop the Archon title across multiple platforms. It released an iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
version in June 2009. React! Games was founded by Chad Lee, who had worked on the non-commercial version of the game, Archon Evolution. A follow-up title called Archon: Conquest from React Games was released in September 2009 for the iPhone. It is a single-player game set in the Archon universe that features four campaigns, each with 15 quests. Archon: Classic for Windows was released in May 2010 by React Games. It features new gameplay elements not in the original game, such as four player support, four AI settings, various new boards to choose from, pieces that level up, power-ups in combat and more.
Paul Reiche and Fred Ford went on to create the Star Control
Star Control
Star Control is a science fiction computer game that was developed by Toys for Bob and published by Accolade in the early 1990s. Star Control still enjoys a cult following...
series of computer games. The combat component of the first Star Control game is very similar in that each player has a group of spaceships with different abilities which they send into one-on-one combat. Paul and Fred went on to found Toys for Bob
Toys For Bob
Toys For Bob is a small video game developer founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. They are most known for creating Star Control and its sequel Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters, but they were not involved in the development of Star Control 3...
, and create many other games together.
External links
- Archon at c64sets.com - Images of the package and manual
- Archon : The Light and the Dark at AmigaMemo.com - Amiga.Game.Museum
- Screenshots from the Commodore 64 version of the game
- Archon at Everything2.comEverything2Everything2, Everything2, or E2 for short is a collaborative Web-based community consisting of a database of interlinked user-submitted written material. E2 is moderated for quality, but has no formal policy on subject matter...
- Secrets of Archon - details on Atari 800 Archon game mechanics
- Archon Classic - React Games