KickStarter Nox Archaist - 8-bit RPG for Apple II, Mac, and PC - now with Lord of Storms expansion

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Will there eventually be a pdf-release?

yes, in the next few months.

Perfect!

 

[mindx2]

6502 Workshop I received the Book of Hints today and.... Really well done and doesn't feel cheap nor like you just threw some maps in there. It's quite a bit thicker than I was expecting so there was definitely effort put into this just like your game and the boxed edition. Also, love that you used a spiral binding!

Felt like being in the 80s all over again! It looks great next to my boxed edition of Nox Archaist!!

 

[6502 Workshop]

6502 Workshop I received the Book of Hints today and.... Really well done and doesn't feel cheap nor like you just threw some maps in there. It's quite a bit thicker than I was expecting so there was definitely effort put into this just like your game and the boxed edition. Also, love that you used a spiral binding!

Felt like being in the 80s all over again! It looks great next to my boxed edition of Nox Archaist!!

Thanks for your support and sharing your impressions! I am thrilled to hear your comments!

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.6502workshop.com/2021/07/making-of-nox-archaist-book-new.html

Making of Nox Archaist Book ---NEW--



We are excited to announce the Making of Nox Archaist book is now available for preorder, expected to ship early December 2021!

Click HERE to reserve your copy of the printed edition + ebook, both with color cover and interior!



In the Making of Nox Archaist, co-founder and lead developer Mark Lemmert talks about how making the game began as a childhood dream and ended with the first commercial role-playing game released on the Apple II in 30 years.

Mark describes the challenges, including a failed Kickstarter, the Apple’s quirky graphics system, and getting decent audio out of a one-bit speaker. Along the way, the team received help from many sources, including Richard Garriott (Lord British), Dr. Cat, Burger Becky, and Steve Wozniak (Woz). Finally, after a wildly-successful Kickstarter and a year of non-stop coding, Mark details how an obscure floppy-disk bug nearly derailed the entire project just weeks before release.

We hope that you enjoy reading our story! Preorder HERE!

Spoiler

BOOK OF HINTS

Also, the official Book of Hints is in stock, available as a coil bound print + e-book or e-book only.

Order your copy HERE.

Designed for new players, experienced players and replays.










3RD BOXED-SET PRODUCTION RUN

If you want an extra boxed-set to keep shrink wrapped for your collection, or you missed out on the prior runs we have good news!

We are accepting preorders for the 3rd production run, expected to ship in September 2021. Click HERE to reserve your regular boxed-set or HERE to reserve your Collector’s Edition.





And...

If you haven't already, we invite you to join our Nox Archaist Discord server. It's a great place to share tips and tricks with other players and ask questions to the dev team.

http://discord.noxarchaist.com

-Mark, Chris & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com

Discord - http://discord.noxarchaist.com

Twitter - @6502Workshop

Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com

Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com

Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Is this game played using an emulator on PC/Mac or is it native?

 

[Grauken]

Is this game played using an emulator on PC/Mac or is it native?

Emulator

 

[Jarpie]

Is this game played using an emulator on PC/Mac or is it native?

Emulator

A small addendum, it comes with the built-in emulator.

 

[rikkles]

And if you’re playing on Windows you can download my custom emulator that has extra stuff just for Nox.
https://github.com/hasseily/NoxArchaistCompanion

 

[6502 Workshop]

Is this game played using an emulator on PC/Mac or is it native?

Thanks for your interest!

To elaborate on other comments - it is played on PC/Mac using a click-and-go application which has an Apple II emulator "under the hood". Nox Archaist is also available on Steam and GOG.

In other words, it should be as easy to launch Nox Archaist from your PC/Mac as any other game, and since an emulator is "under the hood", it provides an authentic 1980s RPG experience.

 

[Comte]

Is this game played using an emulator on PC/Mac or is it native?

Thanks for your interest!

To elaborate on other comments - it is played on PC/Mac using a click-and-go application which has an Apple II emulator "under the hood". Nox Archaist is also available on Steam and GOG.

In other words, it should be as easy to launch Nox Archaist from your PC/Mac as any other game, and since an emulator is "under the hood", it provides an authentic 1980s RPG experience.

Hey I bought this game off your site is it possible to get a steam or gog code?

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

]

Hey I bought this game off your site is it possible to get a steam or gog code?

Yeah, that would be fantastic indeed.

 

[6502 Workshop]

Is this game played using an emulator on PC/Mac or is it native?

Hey I bought this game off your site is it possible to get a steam or gog code?

Sure! Just send an email to support@6502workshop.com and let us know your order # and we'll set you up. Thanks for your support!

 

[6502 Workshop]

]

Hey I bought this game off your site is it possible to get a steam or gog code?

Yeah, that would be fantastic indeed.

Sure! Just send an email to support@6502workshop.com and let us know your order # and we'll set you up. Thanks for your support!

 

[Narushima]

I'm very interested in this game, but I can read reviews where people say there's almost a second of input lag. That sounds like it would ruin the enjoyment. Is it true?

 

[rikkles]

There is technically 10x less input lag on an Apple 2 than any modern USB device. I assume you’re not talking about the lag itself, but instead about the overall slowness of the Apple 2 computer that the game is running under (after all, its processor clocks in at a whopping 1 MHz!). As Apple 2 games go, Nox Archaist is at least as “snappy” as Ultima V was, back in the days. However, today you can just run your emulator at much faster speeds, and the game will fly.
It’s all up to you, and different people enjoy it at different speeds. Some prefer it the original way, I prefer running it at insane speeds.

 

[rikkles]

I'm very interested in this game, but I can read reviews where people say there's almost a second of input lag. That sounds like it would ruin the enjoyment. Is it true?

Here's for example me playing at really fast emulator speed (the bundled app also allows you to play at 2x, 4x... speeds):
https://youtu.be/khVl5r3bzug?t=3014

 

[Narushima]

I assume you’re not talking about the lag itself, but instead about the overall slowness of the Apple 2 computer

I'm talking about this, where the character moves half a second after the guy hits a key: https://youtu.be/VIX53QzKRYw?t=920

I get that he's not playing on an emulator, but can you get rid of that lag when you do? And if you can do that by cranking up the speed, does that not make the animations spaz out?

 

[Jarpie]

Came across this:

 

[rikkles]

I'm talking about this, where the character moves half a second after the guy hits a key: https://youtu.be/VIX53QzKRYw?t=920
I get that he's not playing on an emulator, but can you get rid of that lag when you do? And if you can do that by cranking up the speed, does that not make the animations spaz out?

He's indeed playing on an original machine, which is slow because the machine is slow. That's just the way it used to be.
When you play at faster emulator speeds, both the music and the animations will go faster, but if you're like me then at some point when you've seen the animations and heard the music, it just flows well and you don't care. You focus on the exploration, the tactical battles, etc... And depending on which emulator you use, you can toggle different speeds with keystrokes whenever you want.
The funny thing is once you start playing at superspeed, any other modern game feels like molasses!

 

[6502 Workshop]

I assume you’re not talking about the lag itself, but instead about the overall slowness of the Apple 2 computer

I'm talking about this, where the character moves half a second after the guy hits a key: https://youtu.be/VIX53QzKRYw?t=920

I get that he's not playing on an emulator, but can you get rid of that lag when you do? And if you can do that by cranking up the speed, does that not make the animations spaz out?

In addition to Rikkles observations, which I'd say are spot on, one thing I notice in the video you linked is that he is pressing the movement key, releasing it, then pressing it again. If he was holding down on the movement key, a lot of the delay you see would disappear, though it still isn't going to be as snappy as a modern game.


I took a quick video of me holding down the movement key in case that's helpful context. This is running the game in an emulator using authentic Apple II speed, not cranked up.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qd43040grx48ti1/Recording-4.mov?dl=0

-Mark

 

[Narushima]

Thanks for the replies, rikkles and 6502 Workshop.
The thing is, I finished Lurking 1 recently, and in that one you can move as fast as you press the keys. I know, it's not the same thing, but still, that slow movement seems like a pain to me, the sort of thing you don't want to copy from old games.
Again, I get it, you couldn't really do it any other way.

I guess I'll see for myself if it's really too annoying to enjoy the game.

 

[6502 Workshop]

Thanks for the replies, rikkles and 6502 Workshop.
The thing is, I finished Lurking 1 recently, and in that one you can move as fast as you press the keys. I know, it's not the same thing, but still, that slow movement seems like a pain to me, the sort of thing you don't want to copy from old games.
Again, I get it, you couldn't really do it any other way.

I guess I'll see for myself if it's really too annoying to enjoy the game.

Thanks for checking it out! I suspect if you turn up the emulator speed it will feel fine. It will make the animation go really fast but that's the only side-effect I can think out.

Also, as you may know, if you purchase on Steam they have a "return" option if it doesn't work out.

 

[Lagole Gon]

Uh... is this game somehow related to Nox (2000)?

 

[Contagium]

It's most closely related to the super early Ultima games with NPC's that repeat the same lines in every town.

Uh... is this game somehow related to Nox (2000)?

 

[KeighnMcDeath]