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Boarguts — Starcraft 2: Protoss Archon
Published: 2010-11-18 05:11:36 +0000 UTC; Views: 23175; Favourites: 141; Downloads: 1403
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Starcraft 2: Protoss ArchonModeled by Phill Gonzales, textures by Ted Park!
Animated by Allen Dilling
The Archon went though some growing pains. The initial designs worked on a basic level but needed extra flair to make it look more unique. Also, Samwise didn’t want a simple naked Protoss floating in a puff of blue popcorn like Starcraft 1. Although the first armor design was cool, we had to push and pull a bit to get it standing out well within all the energy effects. The skirt armor is still really hard to see sometimes, but the final rendition updates the classic unit artwork very well. Also, we cut his legs off. Somewhere I have an early shot of the model with legs that I’ll try to recover. BUT, he’s so strong he doesn’t need legs. So there.
© 2010 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Comments: 40
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hey, what does a depressed Archon sound like?
Power . . . underwhelming.
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Archons energy sphere should be blue, red, or purple, based on their original mix, it's stats would be the same regardless, and the DT's version wouldn't be a caster, just warrior archon with the deep crimson of the Dark Archon, anyways, blue = 2 High Templars, red = 2 dark templars, purple = High + Dark.
This was old Blizzards original idea, as seen in this screenshot from Broodwar beta, showcasing Regular blue Archon, Red Dark Archons, and mysterious purple archons at the top right:
home.planet.nl/~aggel005/alpha…
Plus, It would be great to know what kind of Archon is decimating my Zerg forces by the color of it's psi-sphere fluff thing.
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Now finally I know that the Archon, indeed, has no legs...... Always thought about it being covered by the energy, when playin sc2. Good to know now
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I'm sad those legs were clipped!
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I guess this is technically the Twilight Archons. The names change often and I didn't keep track.
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How come when I look at the alpha version of starcraft 2, the archon's(or twilight) energy effect looks much brighter and vivid? I wish you kept that effect!
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I don't know why the effect artists changed it, but I'm assuming it had to be for clarity reasons.
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Is it possible to find him in the files? I can't seem to find in the galaxy editor :<
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He is not in the galaxy editor, the legs never made it.
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W-what!? So the model just plunged into the depths of oblivion? I'm curious what other models that shared it's fate.
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There are many models that are boiled back down into raw material for other ideas. I don't get permission to post most of them.
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Nothing sucked more in SC1 than having a several of these guys spearhead an attack on a Terran base only to have an EMP wipe out all their shields and to hear a single artillery mode siege tank fire once.
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10 health for the loose!
Although it's funny to me that EMP doesn't completely wipe energy in SC2. Pffft.
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Yeah. Also by sheer luck I found out that I could troll people that love to spam Hallucination in SC1 with the Zerg Queen. Wasn't until I fired Ensnare at a crap ton of Archons only to have over half disappear in a puff of smoke that I figured out that cancels it out. So get rid of the distract and slow the other bastards. useful
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The ultimate Protoss character in my opinion - can you get any more kick-ass?!
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In SC1, the archon was originally a floating unit--who put the legs?
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thats is his armor not is legs
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Yes, I know. We're talking about alpha and early beta version archons--when they had legs and feet. Did you see the sc2 archons before?
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I don't know why they changed that to be honest!
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I don't really like the new archon..
it should've been like the original, only maybe with shoulders/chest/skirt of this one, only slimmer and without that big hump of metal on his back. also the bracers are lill odd...
well.. it is still a good-lookin' unit tho
I wonder.. no.. suggest.. no, demand (lol) that the dark archons are reconsidered in the legacy of the void, these guys were my favorites, so much, that i recently-ish sculpted my own Protoss char.. but enough of me
I'm also kinda disappointed that the archon attack isn't the raw plasma and lightning like it used to be...
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We'd pulled the Dark Archon early on in the development of SC2. The Brood War Dark Archon had alot of style to it since it was wearing a cloak, so we intentionally armored up the Archon to get away from the "Naked Protoss in the blue popcorn cloud" and make a more interesting visual. I do wish it still had legs.
Hopefully the Dark Archon will return as a legacy unit in the Protoss expansion, we'll see!
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i sure hope so
one more thing.. did you consider bringing in/back those orbiting "comet-like" things the sc1/bw archons had? they were a subtle, but good indication of unit's supposed power
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any way you can send me the png please? aim: bossjacoby skype: bossjacoby
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hey man, any way you can send me the png? aim: BossJacoby skype: bossjacoby
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Send me a note, I don't use Skype or Aim.
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I've always wondered what was wrong with the naked Archon. It gave the impression of a being that had transcended the physical world, and Archons have the lowest HP of any regular unit in the game. They rely entirely on their shields for protection, so a huge suit of armor makes no sense.
Pretty awesome work regardless though.
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Design changes to the Archon had changed the role of the unit significantly enough to prompt a revision of the artwork. Factors like High and Dark Templar combining to create an Archon, as well as experimentation with new abilities seemed like enough justification to present a new visual. It was new enough that updating the art might help people realize that it wasn't the same kind of Archon as the one seen in SC1.
I agree that there was a presence to the old Archon... I always liked how the visual conveyed a epitomized Protoss, so empowered that the presence alone was impressive.
So that's the scoop!
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ALMOST! I wish the distortion didn't warp his limbs so much, but I suppose some heat distortion is to be expected when you're a compressed energy-being.
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I'd love to see that legged Archon screenshot.
It looks great, just like all of your work does. His portrait head is absolutely gorgeous, too!
I wonder, did you also model the portraits, or were they made by a separate artist?
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I have some more final art to post and then I'm hoping to get some work in progress images approved so I can post those as well. The Archon + legs will be in there for sure.
Most of the portrait models were done by Robb Shoberg or Jesse Brophy. I was only responsible for the Ultralisk portrait.
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