Editing Greg Fulton/Fanstratics Newsletters/9 (section)

== Fanstratics Troop: Archangel ==
When word first broke concerning the development of Fanstratics, I quickly needed a ‘signature image’ for the game.

For me, it came down to the Archangel or the Human Cavalier.  After giving it some thought, I settled on the Human Cavalier, as I thought it embodied the entirety of the game, where the Archangel was more representative of one faction (Allegiant).

For HoMM3, the [[Archangel]] has arguably become its signature Troop.  I remember [[George Almond]]’s color picture of the Archangel, when [[David Mullich]] and [[Phelan Sykes]] first showed it to me.  I don’t recall why Phelan had George create the picture.  It may have been for the box art, but [[Scott McDaniel]] (Marketing) shot it down as he wanted ‘3D’ rendered armies on the box front.  I suggested, “Let’s use it for the Main Menu.”  Both David and Phelan liked the idea, with Phelan recommending we animate the flames on the sword.

In hindsight, I wish I’d advocated for the option to customize the Main Menu background.  When Armageddon’s Blade was released, the Archangel disappeared.  With subsequent releases, accompanied by [[Paul Romero]]’s wonderful Main Menu score, some people never saw the Archangel in all its Main Menu glory.

In the years since, I have seen two different sculptures of the Archangel.  One on Kickstarter (canceled) and a second on YouTube (you can also see a bust of [[Solmyr]] in the background).  One last story about the Archangel as it relates to the Main Menu...

At one point in development, David Mullich asked I talk to [[Mark Caldwell]] (Executive Producer).

 David, “He doesn’t like the Main Menu.”
 
 Me, “What’s wrong with it?”
 
 “He wouldn’t say.”
 
 “He wouldn’t say?”
 
 “More like he couldn’t say.  I couldn’t get anything out him.  You try talking to him.”

[[Scott White]] (Artist, GUI, Castle town, Tower town, etc.) and I had been working on the game’s interface for weeks, and Scott’s office just happened to be adjacent to Mark’s.  Before I stopped in to see Mark, I took a detour to give Scott fair warning.  I mentioned I was going to see Mark, because he had an issue with the Main Menu GUI.  I remember Scott’s puzzled expression and shoulder shrug.  In response, I shrugged my shoulders as well.

 After giving Scott a head’s up, I walked into Mark’s office, and got right to it, “You don’t like the interface?”
 
 Mark replied, “It’s ugly.”
 
 Me, “It’s not ugly.”
 
 “Yes it is.”
 
 “You think the Archangel is ugly?”
 
 “No, the Archangel is great.”
 
 “Then how can you say it’s ugly?”
 
 “Everything but the Archangel is ugly.”
 
 “Everything?  Can you show me specifically what you think is ugly?”

Mark exhaled, rolled his eyes, and started the game.

 We were looking at the Main Menu splash screen, I said, “Okay.  You think the Archangel is fine... but you think the icons are ugly?”
 
 Mark, “No, the icons are fine.  It’s the other stuff.”
 
 Mark navigates to Scenario Selection, “This stuff.”
 
 Me, “You don’t like the layout?”
 
 “No.”
 
 “Font?”
 
 “No.”
 
 “Then what?”
 
 “It’s... it’s... BROWN.”
 
 “You don’t like that its brown.”
 
 “Right.  It’s ugly.”
 
 “What colors would you like?”
 
 “Not brown.”
 
 I looked at Mark and exhaled, “Alright.  Let me talk to Scott.”

I literally went next door, walked into Scott’s office, who was bracing for me to deliver bad news.  Something like, “Throw out all the hard work you’ve already done.”  Instead, I looked at him and said, “Well, I tried to pin him down on what he didn’t like.  It’s the color.  He doesn’t like the interface being brown.”  The look on Scott’s face said it all, “Really?”

At the time, we had followed the precedent set by HoMM2, which had a ‘tan’ interface.  In fact, if you want an idea of the Main Menu’s original color scheme, just look at the Adventure Map interface, which is, for the most part, ‘brown’.

 So, I said to Scott, “What if we used the Archangel’s color scheme for the other parts of Main Menu?  Blue, gold, and white.”
 
 Scott seemed to like the idea and nodded, “Okay.”
 
 “How long will it take to re-color all the GUI pieces?”
 
 “Day or two.”
 
 “Okay.”

The following day, I dropped in on Scott for a quick update.  He already had a mock-up ready in Photoshop.  I asked him what he thought.  He liked it better.  So did I.  I told him, to clear it with Phelan and David, and put it in the game.

 Scott asked, “What about Mark?”
 
 I replied, “If Mark doesn’t like this, I don’t know what we’ll do.”

A couple of days later, after not hearing any feedback, I did manage to catch Mark, with the game running, with the updated Main Menu GUI.  I asked, “Do you like the colors?”  With a slight smirk, Mark nodded.

Most people don’t understand, an important part of being a game designer, is figuring out what people want, or what a person wants, when they can’t properly communicate it... specify it... or put it into words.  If you can do it well, it’s a big benefit, as you become something akin to a mind reader... at least where video games are concerned.  If you can do it well, it can also be a big headache, as you may find yourself spending most of your time solving other people’s problems... in addition to your own.

Returning to the present, this month's Troop concept sketch, is the Archangel.  I’ve been champing at the bit for Justin to render this Troop, and its finally here.

For those of you who want to see Justin actually render the drawing, you can watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.