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Archon to be Revived

Posted by Zonk on from the p4wn3d! dept.

Phoenix-IT writes "How many of you remember the classic strategy game Archon? Curve Software is remaking the original game for DirectX with support for network play. Distribution details are undetermined. There are long term plans to port to Macintosh and UNIX environments, but no details at the moment. The game is not open source because it contains some of the original 8-bit code, which was donated to the project, but a public beta might be on the way!"

6 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Wrath Unleashed by philiptan · · Score: 2, Informative
    There was a PS2/Xbox game released by Lucasarts in early 2004 called Wrath Unleashed. I wouldn't call it an Archon sequel or remake, but it certainly draws lots of inspiration from Archon. Pity about the long load times (at least on my Xbox). If you've got $10 and a preowned bin nearby, and desperately need some console hex-map turn-based strategy, it isn't that bad a game.

    http://www.lucasarts.com/products/wrath/

    1. Re:Wrath Unleashed by vjmurphy · · Score: 2, Informative

      Also, The Unholy War on the PSOne is another Archon-like game.

      --
      Vincent J. Murphy
      Spandex Justice
  2. Re:DirectX vs. OpenGL by r_benchley · · Score: 2, Informative
    From the FAQ:
    We now have long term plans to port Archon: Evolution to both MAC and UNIX platforms. We plan to move away from the DirectX for the core game engineat some point, whichwill make such a migration easier.
    They probably started the project as Windows only, and decided after the fact to port it to OS X and other UNIX systems. After they get the 1.0 release out the door, they'll probably move over to a more platform agnostic library like OpenGL.
  3. Dark Legions by Marc_Hawke · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=275

    I found the link to Dark Legions

    --
    --Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--
  4. Re:8 bit propritary code ... hm ... by tgibbs · · Score: 2, Informative

    Right on the front page, they brag: "Improved computer AI". That's a change. And once you make one change to the gameplay experience (aside from just prettier graphics and sound), there is no reason to keep on with the old code.

    One change does not cancel out copyright, it just creates a derivative work. The same goes for a reimplementation based in part on the original code. And in any case, if the original source was donated on the basis that it not be divulged, it would seem that the project is ethically obliged to honor that. And even if they implement new logic, they may well decide to provide an option to play with the original game logic, in the interests of authenticity.

  5. Re:Archon II by Sigma+7 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I can describe it right here. The game area is a basic ring, with units being inserted on the left and right sides. You control one unit at a time in attempt to go to a one-on-one showdown where all the units basically have a same aura attack. (A bug in the game tends to favour player one, but that's another story.) The final confrontation with the two exeters is basically the same. There is no AI support.

    That's basically it. Anything from the first two archons have been removed entirely, thus making Archon III entirely bad. And as we know, bad sequels are true sequels. :)

    You can download it from arnold.c64.org, and it works fine. But Archon I and Archon II are better download choices instead - they're much more entertaining.