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

[rusty_shackleford]

Is there any other games besides the Phantasie series where you can play as a Kobold?

DAoC has kobolds
ADOM has drakelings which are pretty much kobolds

 

[Comte_II]

I guess it didn't sell enough?

Nox Archaist sold around 4000 copies, a large amount for 8-bit retro games which can run on original hardware but not enough for me or my dev teammates to quit our day jobs (which was never the goal).

As Nox Archaist players have expressed interest and enthusiasm for more content, we started the Patreon as an additional way to support that effort. It's pretty simple for me - my day job is freelance consulting so Patreon support give me the ability to spend less time on consulting and more time on game development.



-Mark

Mark any chance you will patch the steam and gog versions?

 

[6502 Workshop]

That's a very nice amount - well done!

You mention the expansion requires the base game. But will it be a new campaign (e.g. Ultima VII/Serpent Isle), or something integrated into the main game (e.g. Ultima VII/Forge of Virtue)?

Thanks!

The expansion will be a new quest integrated into the main game. In that sense it is conceptually more like U7 Forge of Virtue than U7 Serpent Isle as the later is an entire game.

Will playable kobolds be in this expansion?

Sadly no :-(

 

[6502 Workshop]

I guess it didn't sell enough?

Nox Archaist sold around 4000 copies, a large amount for 8-bit retro games which can run on original hardware but not enough for me or my dev teammates to quit our day jobs (which was never the goal).

As Nox Archaist players have expressed interest and enthusiasm for more content, we started the Patreon as an additional way to support that effort. It's pretty simple for me - my day job is freelance consulting so Patreon support give me the ability to spend less time on consulting and more time on game development.



-Mark

Mark any chance you will patch the steam and gog versions?

The Steam and GOG versions are at 1.1.4 and the current 1.1.9 patch is available by request (email support@6502workshop.com) as it requires manual installation. There are some technical problems in bringing the new world (Steam & GOG) and the old world (Apple II) together which is the cause of the unusual version management. It is possible that as we work through the implementation of the expansion pack product on Steam and GOG we will figure out a better solution than we currently have for version management with the original game.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Go figure gog isn't up to date.

 

[Sacibengala]

Go figure gog isn't up to date.

GOG is pretty shitty to be up to date with any game, to be honest.

PS: KotC2 aside, of course.

 

[Tweed]

Sadly no :-(

This continued lack of representation is nothing short of deplorable. Even dark elves get to fight evil, dark elves for God's sake! It's time for kobolds to have their day in the sun, even if that means wearing shades.

 

[newtmonkey]

I finally had some time to sit down and put some serious time into this. I'm taking it pretty slow and taking extensive notes, and am now around 5 hours in. I've explored much of the first island, as well as the four towns I've discovered so far. I did a couple of side quests, found a magic weapon, and am having a blast playing the game.

I really like the UI in this game. It's got a much larger viewport than Ultima IV/V, and the "party" menu (TAB - TAB) presents a lot of useful information in just a few screens.

I guess if I had to nitpick, I wish that the main character icon didn't animate; it's sort of distracting imo. Otherwise, no complaints yet!

 

[6502 Workshop]

I finally had some time to sit down and put some serious time into this. I'm taking it pretty slow and taking extensive notes, and am now around 5 hours in. I've explored much of the first island, as well as the four towns I've discovered so far. I did a couple of side quests, found a magic weapon, and am having a blast playing the game.

I really like the UI in this game. It's got a much larger viewport than Ultima IV/V, and the "party" menu (TAB - TAB) presents a lot of useful information in just a few screens.

I guess if I had to nitpick, I wish that the main character icon didn't animate; it's sort of distracting imo. Otherwise, no complaints yet!

Thanks for sharing your experience, so glad to hear you are enjoying the game!

 

[Fatberg Slim]

I recently finished this game after having it in my queue for well over a year. Overall I enjoyed it a lot – it’s very successful at the Ultima V vibe it’s clearly trying for. For some reason I found it intimidating to get started, although it became much easier to play and was actually borderline addictive after the first 30 minutes or so. After an hour or two I switched to the excellent Nox Archaist Companion developed by rikkles, which made the character stats much easier to keep track of.

My party, which ended at level 10 (max) with their most-used skills around 90 - 110:

• Two 100% STR-based (1 2-handed, 1 sword & shield)
• Two 100% DEX-based (1 dual-wield melee, 1 dual-wield thrown)
• Two 100% INT-based (pretty much interchangeable - this type of build doesn’t allow for any real diversity)

Some comments, which are mostly positive:

• Was the color bleed and lag on the Apple ][ really this pronounced? I haven’t used one in 30+ years but it always seemed at least as quick as a C64 running the same program, and maybe a little blurrier but still legible
• It’s very important to pay attention when talking to people or reading in-game books if you want to find people and items or learn how to deal with certain monsters. Sometimes it’s easy to connect the dots but there are times when you need to actually think and make your own inferences
• Money remained relevant the entire game. In true old-school fashion, it’s important to find easily accessible chests that refill themselves with valuable items and repeatedly mine them for resale
• The world is mostly open and you can reach many areas way out of order if you are willing to wander a lot. Most if not all dungeons are intended for characters of a specific level, and if you reach one earlier than intended you run the very real risk of getting your ass handed to you along with not being able to use the equipment you find right away due to the attribute requirements mentioned earlier. You can always save your gear for later though, or (more typically) sell it for quick gold
• Finding secret doors is based on your (the player’s) observation skills, not your character’s. Always fun
• The quick combat feature worked reasonably well in that it could handle fights against very weak enemies without killing you or running (completely) through your spell points, which made mid/late-game backtracking and wandering around the map more pleasant
• There was something about the character development loop that wasn’t fully satisfying. Gaining a level gives you some more HP plus some stat points to distribute. This improves the characters a bit, but the real benefit comes from being able to equip a new tier of weapons, armor, and spells (which are all attribute-dependent) and get a new round of skill training from the various trainers. You do get a lot more powerful from level to level after you get these upgrades but they can be expensive and equipment isn’t always easy to find or buy, so it’s not immediately gratifying. After gaining a level my typical reaction was “Shit, now I need to farm more chests to pay for everything”
• Combat was generally good. Skills improve mainly by use which I’m not a big fan of since it promotes degenerate grinding/system abuse and disadvantages those characters who don’t attack or get attacked as often, although this is a matter of individual preference. Also, my guys would frequently get one-shotted by ranged or magic attacks no matter how well-equipped they were. This is not unheard of for this type of game and maybe it’s the natural price I pay for only having 2 characters in heavy armor, but it happened often enough and consistently throughout the game that it made me wonder if I was overlooking something fundamental related to combat tactics (other than grinding the dodge skill)
• There was a lot of reactivity and continuity. NPCs typically remark on your previous accomplishments and I didn’t notice a single missed quest/plot trigger, although there was one part towards the end of the game that threw me off:
  very late-game spoiler

  When you fight the Dark Shadow in the mountain area of the world map, he cannot be damaged and you instead need to talk to someone who directs you to another way of beating him. Is the trigger for this conversation just to leave Nox Styx's area and then come back and talk to him again? I spent more time than I care to admit on this part since you can’t escape once you start the battle and there is no obvious signal that you need to try something other than cause more damage, and I kept assuming that I couldn't talk to someone about him being invulnerable unless I actually fought him. I'm pretty sure I was overthinking it though.
• Late-game comment/suggestion:
  late-game spoiler

  The devil, demon, and lich mini-bosses were all in the same location. While actually getting to this place was an admittedly challenging task that came at the end of a long fulfilling series of quests, it might have been more meaningful to go on separate journeys to reach each of them. It made me think how less dramatic it would have been in Ultima V if you went to kill the Shadowlords and they were all in rooms next to each other
• Comment on the ending:
  ending spoiler

  The ending consisting of a single text box saying "Congratulations! Now go buy the sequel" immediately after the final battle was a perfect homage to classic RPGs! That said, given the detail that went into the game world regarding the history of magic, the loyalist vs reformist struggle, the role of margraves vs lords, etc, not to mention that fact that I left most of the game world in chaos and darkness through my actions, I thought there might be a bit more closure. Not a huge deal though, I can use my imagination to fill in the blanks and it was still satisfying to finish the game

Overall I definitely recommend this for fans of 80s-style RPGs. Compared with Realms of Antiquity which I finished around a year ago, I’d say NA is less focused on exploration/combat and more on gathering info/figuring things out. I’m hopeful that Skald: Against the Black Priory can maintain this positive trend while upholding the legacy of the C64 master race

 

[6502 Workshop]

Thanks for taking the time to share your observations!

mostly positive:

• Was the color bleed and lag on the Apple ][ really this pronounced? I haven’t used one in 30+ years but it always seemed at least as quick as a C64 running the same program, and maybe a little blurrier but still legible

Yes. Emulation of course is never perfect, but Apple ][ emulators, including the one we packaged up to run the game, very closely reproduce the graphics and speed of the Apple II, including the color bleed.

For graphics, strictly speaking about text - the default font is a bit "fancier" than Ultima V, but probably is a little harder to read. There is an alternate font which is easier to read that can be enabled via the Game Settings Menu (press tab + tab + 6 and select "Toggle Font")

For speed, I used a stop watch to bench mark various parts of Nox Archaist against the Apple II version of Ultima V, to make sure Nox was in the zone of what was considered acceptably fast in the late 1980s. Clearly speed expectations are much different now

• 
  
• There was a lot of reactivity and continuity. NPCs typically remark on your previous accomplishments and I didn’t notice a single missed quest/plot trigger, although there was one part towards the end of the game that threw me off:
  very late-game spoiler

  When you fight the Dark Shadow in the mountain area of the world map, he cannot be damaged and you instead need to talk to someone who directs you to another way of beating him. Is the trigger for this conversation just to leave Nox Styx's area and then come back and talk to him again? I spent more time than I care to admit on this part since you can’t escape once you start the battle and there is no obvious signal that you need to try something other than cause more damage, and I kept assuming that I couldn't talk to someone about him being invulnerable unless I actually fought him. I'm pretty sure I was overthinking it though.

answer to question in late-game spoiler

The trigger is entering the map zone that the Dark Shadow is located in. The Overworld map is 256x256 tiles and map zones are 16x16 tile chunks.

When the player enters the Dark Shadow's map zone, a state flag is set and a save game operation is forced by the engine. This way the player can fight the invulnerable incarnation of the Dark Shadow and the game sort of knows that it happened.

"sort of" in that technically if the player just crossed the zone transition line, the game would think they fought the Dark Shadow.

My hope was that after loosing the battle a few times the player would go back to Nox Styx or ask Lord British for ADVICE. I didn't consider how metagaming might affect that though.

Overall I definitely recommend this for fans of 80s-style RPGs. Compared with Realms of Antiquity which I finished around a year ago, I’d say NA is less focused on exploration/combat and more on gathering info/figuring things out. I’m hopeful that Skald: Against the Black Priory can maintain this positive trend while upholding the legacy of the C64 master race

Thanks for your compliments! And, I too am hopeful that Skald will be the great game that it has looked like it will be.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

How's the magic in this game? Do you get cool utility spells?

 

[6502 Workshop]

How's the magic in this game? Do you get cool utility spells?

I'm personally very proud of the magic implementation in the game. My goal was to create much better graphical spell effects than were seen in previous RPGs on the Apple II platform, including Ultima V. Fireballs explode and lightning bolts streak across the screen, "jail broken" from the tile grid, while making a "zap" sound.

Though, for folks who didn't play RPGs on the Apple II, the significance may not be apparent.

Spells are learned from spellbooks that you buy or find. Spells cost magic points to cast, no reagents.

Most spells are combat oriented. There are a few non-combat spells for healing, light, Wizard Portal, resurrect etc. That said, some of the combat spells are more strategic, like "Engage Enemy" which teleports the party into melee range with the mobs, making melee weapons less of a hassle to use.

 

[mindx2]

It's out now! https://nox-archaist.myshopify.com/collections/games/products/nox-archaist-lord-of-storms

You have learned of Lord Estintar’s suspicions that the cult has something to do with the increase in storm activity. He charges you with investigating. The task will not be easy, but you accept this duty. Your quest will take you to uncharted reaches of the Isles of Wynmar. Traps, puzzles, and powerful magic items await, which may or may not be able to help you. Those brave and foolish enough to face these perilous perils will come face to face with the Lord of Storms!


The Nox Archaist: Lord of Storms digital download includes:

• New HDV hard-drive image for Apple II, Mac, or PC
• 15+ hours of new content, including a new quest line
• New mobs and new unique items
• New features, including character renaming
• PDF of the manual

Note: This is an expansion pack for Nox Archaist, and requires the full game to run. See Nox Archaist Digital Edition for system requirements.


To play the Lord of Storms expansion, you must start a new game of Nox Archaist. You cannot import a saved game from the pre-expansion version. The Lord of Storms expansion includes the complete original storyline along with the expansion content, so once you start a new game you will be able to play the full Nox Archaist scenario. To activate the new content, talk to Lord Estintar in Nourtheld Castle. Ask him about STORMS. After doing this, you can continue with your current quests, or you can work on the quest given by Lord Estintar.

Like all of the Nox Archaist quests, you can start the Lord of Storms with characters at any level. Nevertheless, the Lord of Storms content is designed for a level 4 or 5 party that has been trained and is using level 4 or 5 gear. For players who want to focus more on puzzles and have less challenging combat, a level 5 party would be better. Parties below level 4 may find the adventure too challenging, while those significantly above level 5 may be overpowered. For players who want to dive into the new content, the expansion includes two pregenerated parties of levels 4 and 5.

 

[Infinitron]

https://af.gog.com/en/game/nox_archaist_lord_of_storms?as=1649904300

https://www.6502workshop.com/2023/05/nox-archaist-lord-of-storms-released.html

Nox Archaist : Lord of Storms - RELEASED!​

Lord of Storms Released!



Many thanks to our Patreon Members for their help making this possible.



Prepare for inclement weather. This will not be a sunny stroll down by the Everton beach!



You have learned of Lord Estintar’s suspicions that the cult has something to do with the increase in storm activity. He charges you with investigating.
The task will not be easy, but you accept this duty. Your quest will take you to uncharted reaches of the Isles of Wynmar. Traps, puzzles, and powerful magic items await, which may or may not be able to help you.
Those brave and foolish enough to face these perilous perils will come face to face with the Lord of Storms!

This Nox Archaist expansion pack includes:

• 15+ hours of new content, including a new quest line
• New mobs and new unique items
• New features, including character renaming
• PDF of the manual with full color art

CLICK HERE TO ORDER LORD OF STORMS

Buy Lord of Storms as a Bundle **SALE**
You can also pick up our new DLC Bundle, on sale now, which includes Lord of Storms, the Book of Hints (original game), and the Making of Nox Archaist ebook.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER LORD OF STORMS DLC BUNDLE


COLLECTOR'S EDITION

We have less than 10 copies left of the Collector's Edition for the original Nox Archaist game. After those are gone, we plan to accept preorders for another production run later this year.


CLICK HERE TO ORDER COLLECTOR'S EDITION







6502 Workshop On Mastodon

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW US

 

[Ladonna]

Just downloaded mine from the provided link. I will give it a go once I finish up my current game.

Wow, just noticed they dug up Andrew Schultz for the hint book. I wondered where he vanished to.

 

[Jinn]

Went ahead and bought this incline. Very happy to have a reason to revisit the wonderful Nox Archaist!

 

[6502 Workshop]

Hey folks, thanks for checking out Lord of Storms!

 

[vitellus]

if i'm dissatisfied with my build, do i need to restart or can i retrain?

 

[6502 Workshop]

if i'm dissatisfied with my build, do i need to restart or can i retrain?

You can train your characters in any skills you want, even if they have learned other skills, but it still may be best to restart if you want "specialist" characters.

Here some the things to consider -

*Skills are increased from use and from training. You can train up to 12 point per character level. Thus, if you trained a character in melee for a couple levels and then you decide you want them to be a range weapon specialist, you'll never be able to "get back" to training points spent on melee because the max level is 10.

*When characters levelup, they get 12 points to assign to STR / DEX / INT. There is no way to change these assignments and since the max level is 10, you can't build a specialist without assigning all points to a single attribute from the beginning.

*There are a lot of NPC who will join you. If you only want to change tracks with a couple characters you may be able to park them at an Inn, go get replacements to join you, and then powerlevel them up (XP is pooled).

Most NPCs already start out on a particular specialization track, but if you want to go this route and let me know what kind of specialist you want to build, if you want, I can point you in the right direction for finding an joinable NPC with that specialty.

 

[vitellus]

if i'm dissatisfied with my build, do i need to restart or can i retrain?

You can train your characters in any skills you want, even if they have learned other skills, but it still may be best to restart if you want "specialist" characters.

Here some the things to consider -

*Skills are increased from use and from training. 1: You can train up to 12 point per character level. Thus, if you trained a character in melee for a couple levels and then you decide you want them to be a range weapon specialist, you'll never be able to "get back" to training points spent on melee because the max level is 10.

*When characters levelup, they get 12 points to assign to STR / DEX / INT. There is no way to change these assignments and since the max level is 10, 2: you can't build a specialist without assigning all points to a single attribute from the beginning.

*There are a lot of NPC who will join you. If you only want to change tracks with a couple characters you may be able to park them at an Inn, go get replacements to join you, and then powerlevel them up (XP is pooled).

Most NPCs already start out on a particular specialization track, but if you want to go this route and let me know what kind of specialist you want to build, if you want, 3: I can point you in the right direction for finding an joinable NPC with that specialty.

1: if it's a matter of training outside the process of leveling to boost skills by grinding (broutrak in ghrodwir and elmon in knaerwood) i can work with that
2: i am starting to realize this and was hoping to not start over, but i'm just going to roll with the decisions made and prevail. or not lol.
3: no thanks, i am having a lot of fun keeping notes and searching all the nooks for stuff and people, that's half the fun for me and am trying not to look anything up to spoil it for me

 

[6502 Workshop]

if i'm dissatisfied with my build, do i need to restart or can i retrain?

You can train your characters in any skills you want, even if they have learned other skills, but it still may be best to restart if you want "specialist" characters.

Here some the things to consider -

*Skills are increased from use and from training. 1: You can train up to 12 point per character level. Thus, if you trained a character in melee for a couple levels and then you decide you want them to be a range weapon specialist, you'll never be able to "get back" to training points spent on melee because the max level is 10.

*When characters levelup, they get 12 points to assign to STR / DEX / INT. There is no way to change these assignments and since the max level is 10, 2: you can't build a specialist without assigning all points to a single attribute from the beginning.

*There are a lot of NPC who will join you. If you only want to change tracks with a couple characters you may be able to park them at an Inn, go get replacements to join you, and then powerlevel them up (XP is pooled).

Most NPCs already start out on a particular specialization track, but if you want to go this route and let me know what kind of specialist you want to build, if you want, 3: I can point you in the right direction for finding an joinable NPC with that specialty.

1: if it's a matter of training outside the process of leveling to boost skills by grinding (broutrak in ghrodwir and elmon in knaerwood) i can work with that
2: i am starting to realize this and was hoping to not start over, but i'm just going to roll with the decisions made and prevail. or not lol.
3: no thanks, i am having a lot of fun keeping notes and searching all the nooks for stuff and people, that's half the fun for me and am trying not to look anything up to spoil it for me

1. yes, you can "make-up for" trainer sessions by grinding and using the skill more.

So glad to hear you are having a lot of fun! Good luck on your adventure and if you have other question just let me know!

 

[Tweed]

Getting serious Adventure Construction Set vibes:

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Yeah, most definitely.

 

[6502 Workshop]

Getting serious Adventure Construction Set vibes:

Wow, I totally see it too. Total coincidence!

Just curious, do you see this kind of similarity as good, bad, or neutral?