Win Naming Rights to a Nox Archaist NPC!

Captain's Quarters BBS holds the naming rights to a pub in a pirate town and four pub patron NPCs. It is auctioning off the right to name the NPCs in the Captain's Quarters pub!

Captain's Quarters is one of the few remaining Apple II BBS's and runs on a real Apple IIgs.  The top four finishers of the BBS's Masters of Trivia game will get to name an NPC!



LOGIN TODAY

There are several options to login Captains Quarters BBS and participate in the contest:

With your Apple II equipped with wifi modem, atdt to cqbbs.ddns.net:6502

Don't have a wifi modem?  Get one here:
https://www.cbmstuff.com/proddetail.php?prod=WiModem232OLED

Anti wifi modem?  Here are other ways to connect:

Web
https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/captains-quarters/

Telnet
telnet://cqbbs.ddns.net 6502

MicroM8 Applle II emulator
https://paleotronic.com/microm8/
-launch Proterm and ATDT69

Zoc7 Terminal Emulator Program
https://www.emtec.com/zoc/index.html

SyncTerm BBS Terminal Program
http://syncterm.bbsdev.net

C64-esque CRPG SKALD is live on Indiegogo!

Run, don’t walk, to reserve your copy of SKALD on Indiegogo, a fantastic CRPG for modern computers which delivers a C64 like gaming experience with modern quality of life sensibilities.

Click here to view SKALD's campaign.



Mark Lemmert & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist - Fall Update (Denis Loubet art tease and more!)

A fragment from the lost manual of the Order of Nox Archaist

Ages ago a group of philosopher adventurers discovered a powerful energy emanating from deep underground. They learned to harness this energy with their minds and project it to kinetic and psychological effect, which we now call magic. They called themselves the Order of Nox Archaist, and members were granted the use of the title “Nox”.

Initially, the power was very weak on the Overworld and could only be harnessed in the realm of the Underworld. The Overworld races of humans, elves, and dwarves had long suffered from the raids of orcs, kobolds, and gnomes from the Underworld. Seeing the magical energy as a way to tip the balance of power, the Overworld races invaded. The orcs, kobolds, and gnomes put aside their old feuds to resist the intruders. Eventually, the Overworld races, united under King Silus, conquered the Underworld army. When the King returned to the surface in triumph, he bore with him several magic crystals. By placing these crystals around the realm of Vali, the magical energy of the Underworld was amplified throughout the Realm...

To be continued...


What's Happening in the Realm Today

Progress continues at a steady pace. For those of you wanting to go for a nice swim in the Isles of Wynmar, we've now added ship combat, just watch out for pirates and sharks!

And, if you're tired of fending off hordes of goblins, you can now opt for "Quick Combat" mode to get those battles over with, or to die faster:

However, Denis Loubet doesn't recommend Quick Combat on high-level mobs like the one he has haunting the manual cover:

Nox Archaist in the News

Mark Lemmert sat down with Josh Bycer of the Game Wisdom podcast to chat about designing a retro game in the modern era, what makes Nox Archaist unique, and how to avoid feature creep on a 128k 8-bit game. Listen here: http://game-wisdom.com/podcast/nox-archaist.


Pre-Order Your Boxed-Set

It's not too late to reserve your boxed set or digital copy of Nox Archaist. Pre-order discounts are still available on several bundles. 

If there's anything specific you'd like to know about the game development, feelies, or anything else, be sure to leave a comment below!

Chris & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Game Wisdom Podcast Interviews Mark Lemmert (Nox Archaist Dev)

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Josh Bycer of the Game Wisdom Podcast about Nox Archaist.

Click here for a direct link to the interview.





Josh's podcast is known for taking a deep dive into game development processes and I had the opportunity to discuss several topics in more detail, including:

• Influence of modern games
• Nox Archaist classless system
• What it’s like creating a game engine from scratch in assembly language
• Discussion on Nox Archaist's development build process

Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist Game Boxes, Cloth Maps and Floppy Disks Oh My!

The materials for fulfilling the rewards for our Nox Archaist Kickstarter Campaign are starting to roll in!


Chris Torrence is not just the host of the Assembly Lines Podcast, he is heading up the 6502 Workshop assembly line!

When the cartons of game boxes and cloth maps arrived, he had fun making a pyramid and might build a castle later, just so somebody can storm it 🙂











And, we managed to rustle up thousands of 5.25" floppy disks!





We're totally retro here. Even our USB sticks look like floppy disks!









More materials are still in process as we work toward the culmination of this exciting 4+ year project.

Thanks for your interest in Nox Archaist!

If you haven't yet reserved your copy, we still have pre-order discounts available! Click here to check out our pre-order bundles.



Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist Presentation At KansasFest

If you like to talk tech, you might enjoy the YouTube replay of our presentation last month at KansasFest 2019.

I demonstrated techniques for solving intermittent bugs in 6502 assembly programs with the MicroM8 emulator's time travel feature. An intermitted bug in the Nox Archaist game engine (now solved) was used for the demonstration.

Additionally, I also talk about some of the highlights of 2019 for the Nox Archaist project and several announcements were shared. Click below if you'd like to skip directly to the highlights/announcements portion of the presentation .


Nox Archaist 2019: Highlights and Announcements


Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist Apple IIgs Enhanced Version

We are pleased to announce that 6502 Workshop now has plans to produce an Apple IIgs enhanced version of Nox Archaist!






While the 8-bit version of Nox Archaist currently in development will run on an Apple IIgs, the enhanced version we've added to our product road map will take advantage of the IIgs system's 16-bit graphics and sound capabilities.


And, the project will be led by none other than Apple IIgs expert Burger Becky!







(Nox Archaist Developer Mark Lemmert and Burger Becky at KansasFest 2019)



To be clear, work on the Apple IIgs version of Nox Archaist is a separate project from the 8-bit version and the associated Kickstarter 2019 campaign. Work will begin on the IIgs version after the 8-bit version is released.

Thank you for your ongoing interest and support!


Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com

Session at KansasFest LiveStream URL

                                        

   

The Nox Archaist session is scheduled for On Friday 9:15am - 10am U.S. Central time. To watch this and other sessions click here for the Livestream.



A recording will also be available a few weeks after the event. 






The largest Apple II convention in the world, KansasFest 2019 is now underway!

                                                  

The Nox Archaist session will include some technical discussion about debugging assembly language, demonstrated using the Nox Archaist game engine.

                                                  
  

And, the final art for the Nox Archaist cloth map.

      

  

And, a little bit more information on Lord British's role in Nox Archaist!

                               

Thanks for your continued interest in the Nox Archaist project!

-Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist at KansasFest 2019!

                                              

The largest Apple II convention in the world, KansasFest 2019, begins next week. Mark Lemmert, Peter Ferrie and Chris Torrence of the 6502 Workshop team will be attending. We hope to see you there!

                                                  

Additionally a Nox Archaist session is scheduled for On Friday 9:15am - 10am U.S. Central time.

Click here for the Livestream.

The session will include some technical discussion about debugging assembly language, demonstrated using the Nox Archaist game engine.

                                                  
  

And, the final art for the Nox Archaist cloth map.

      

  

And, a little bit more information on Lord British's role in Nox Archaist!

                                  

The session is expected to be available via a livestream operated by volunteers at KansasFest. 

Click here for the Livestream.

A recording will also be available a few weeks after the event. 

Thanks for your continued interest in the Nox Archaist project!

-Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com

Matt Chat Replay

If you missed the July 3rd Nox Archaist livestream on Matt Chat, you are in luck! A replay has been posted. 

Click here for Direct Link to Matt Chat replay. 

Highlights:

• While playing Nox Archaist, Matt Barton found the infamous "Rat Barrier", which in the past was presented as a cow barrier. 
• Mark Lemmert showed off some gameplay on a real Apple IIe.
• A first look inside a ruined castle was shown, along with new music and an animation upgrade.

Matt Chat - Nox Archaist Livestream Reminder: This Wednesday!

Just a reminder, the Nox Archaist livestream on Matt Chat is on July 3rd at 3pm US Central Time. We invite you to join us!

Whats New:

• Animation upgrade
• More music
• More content

Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com

Coming soon: Matt Chat Livestream of Nox Archaist!

We invite you to join us for a Nox Archaist livestream on Matt Chat! (July 3rd at 3pm US Central Time)

Click here for Direct Link to Matt Chat

With Matt Baron having produced episodes featuring legendary game developers such as Richard Garriott, Rebecca Heineman, John Romero, and Dr. Cat we are very honored by this opportunity!

Whats New:

• Animation upgrade
• More music
• More content

Yes, that means we've moved the infamous cow barrier marking the edge of the playable area in the alpha build!

Hope to see you see you on the livestream chat!

Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com

Let's party like it's 1989!

Hooray!

With your help, we made it! Over $42,000 raised on Kickstarter and 566 backers for an Apple II CRPG with a boxed set! Together, we were able to surpass all of our stretch goals, including the gold-foil disk labels, Denis Loubet artwork, and the quick combat option.


Thanks once again for helping to make this game a reality!

6502 Workshop

Mark Lemmert, Mike Reimer, Bill Giggie, Peter Ferrie, Elizabeth Daggert, Jarrod Kailef, Robert Padovan, Gordon Mackay, Electric Moo, Michael Pohoreski, Chris Torrence, and Not Me.

Only One Day Left on Kickstarter!

Only 1 day left to reserve your boxed set on Kickstarter of Apple II RGP Nox Archaist! 

Many thanks to everyone who has already pledged! 

Click HERE to pledge now!

Only 3 Days Left!

Only 3 days left to reserve your boxed set of Apple II RGP Nox Archaist! 

Many thanks to everyone who has already pledged! 

Click HERE to pledge now!

Only 7 Days Left!

Only 7 days left to reserve your boxed set of Apple II RGP Nox Archaist! 

Many thanks to everyone who has already pledged! 

Click HERE to pledge now!

Nox Archaist Live Stream Replay

A replay of the Lost Sectors live stream of Nox Archaist gameplay is now available! 

See first hand what a gaming session of Nox Archaist looks like as the hosts explore towns and castles, delve deep into dungeons, and fight hordes of monsters!

Many thanks to everyone who has supported our Kickstarter campaign, which is still live until May 31st!

         

Spam Spam Spam Humbug: Interview with Mark Lemmert

Just released today, I talk with Kenneth Kully of the Spam Spam Spam Humbug podcast about Nox Archaist. We discuss world size, spell casting, project inspiration and more!

Click here for a link to the podcast:


Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist Gameplay Live Stream this Friday!

Lost Sectors youtube podcast will be doing a Live Stream of Nox Archaist gameplay on Friday, May 10, at 9pm central time!

We will be online with them in chat to answer questions. Our Kickstarter page will have an embedded link.

Hope to see you there!


Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist Kickstarter: New Stretch Goal, New Reward Tier!

Thank you for spreading the word! The Nox Archaist Kickstarter more than doubled it's goal in the first day!

To enhance the game further, we've added a new stretch goal and a new reward tier.

Reward Tier

The new Castle Boxed Set offers the opportunity to contribute to the game’s humor by naming an object in Castle Foolery! It is a silly place, but can be very perilous.

Stretch Goal

If we reach $30,000 in funding, we will be commissioning a custom full-color painting from renowned fantasy game artist Denis Loubet, to be used as a piece of artwork within the boxed set, along with a digital download to all backers.

Images from http://www.denisloubet.com/

Denis is famous for his cover paintings for Ultima IV, V, and VI, and he's also done artwork for other games such as Wing Commander and Car Wars. We're honored and thrilled to have the chance to work with Denis. Now, we just need your help to get us to the goal!

Click here to pledge now!

-Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Nox Archaist Kickstarter is LIVE!

The 6502 Workshop team is pleased to announce that the Kickstarter campaign for the boxed edition of Nox Archaist is now live!

Click here to pledge!

What's better than a brand new, hand-coded 8-bit classic 80s era tile based RPG?  Answer: One that comes in an awesome collector's edition box with lots of cool physical goodies!

What's even better than that?  When the game will also feature an NPC appearance by Lord British, the alter ego of Richard Garriott, the creator of the Ultima series of games!


Pledges include the following awesome stuff:

*Full color collector’s game box
*Cloth map
*Printed manual
*Game artifacts such as coins of the realm and various other cool trinkets





All Nox Archaist boxed editions will include 5.25" floppy disks for real Apple II hardware and a flash drive for Mac and Windows PC emulators. The game will also run on real and emulated hard drives with ProDOS installed.

We can't wait to get Nox Archaist into a collector's edition box and put it in your hands.

Click here to pledge now!


Mark Lemmert
6502 Workshop
Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/noxarchaist
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist Demo!

Development of Nox Archaist is moving along at a steady clip and there are now many areas of the game that are fully playable.

The Lost Sectors video podcast released an episode today that shows gameplay footage while they talk about their experience playing Nox Archaist!

We've released demos on specific features before, but if you've been anxious to see how core activities flow in an actual game session, now's your chance! You'll see up close things like combat, towns, talking to NPCs, casting spells, managing inventory flow, and more!

Fear not! There are no major spoilers. The footage they share is all fairly close to the start of the game.


We hope to earn your support for our Kickstarter launch on May 2nd, 10am US CDT, to fund the production of a boxed edition of Nox Archaist with feelies like a cloth map, printed manual, 5.25" floppy disks, and more!

Lord British in Nox Archaist!

It's official, Lord British will appear as an NPC in Nox Archaist!

It is a dark time for the metaverse.  Ripples of discord radiate out from Vali, the world of Nox Archaist.  Lord British learns of the dangerous omens and seeks to return order to the chaos that threatens to consume creation!  He has journeyed to the world of Vali to assist and guide adventurers as they unravel the mysteries and face the challenges of Nox Archaist.

This is a big deal for us, as many of the people on our development team grew up playing the Ultima series of games written by Lord British.  A lot of our desire to write a tile based Apple II RPG springs from how much enjoyment those games brought us.

We can't wait to show everyone the world that we've created, and having Lord British in it makes it just that much more amazing.

If you would like to be involved, we will be launching our Kickstarter on May 2nd of 2019 to fund the creation of the boxed game and the cool "feelies" that go along with it, such as a cloth map and coins of the realm.  Click Here to learn more!

Mockingboard Music Demo

As the Nox Archaist Kickstarter launch draws closer (less than 15 days!), we have received requests for more demos of the game.

Watch and listen as Chris Torrence shows off the games Mockingboard music on his Apple IIe. As a bonus, he includes a sneak preview of the Kickstarter video introduction!

More soon!


Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Mockingboard Support Update

As an excuse to remind you about our upcoming Kickstarter campaign on May 2nd, we have blatantly chosen this time to make this special announcement 🙂

Over the last few years, many people in the community have asked us to support the Mockingboard for in-game music in Nox Archaist.

You asked. We listened.

It's now official - Nox Archaist will have at least beta support for Mockingboard music when the game is released!

No, no, no. Not MockingBIRD. We're talking MockingBOARD here!

As things stand, the Mockingboard driver is functional and implemented with successful testing on a physical Enhanced Apple IIe and several emulators. What remains is creating additional music and debugging as we layer in the rest of the game content. We will attempt to test/debug across more Apple II models and emulators as well.

A special thanks to community contributors Tom Porter and Eric Rangell for their work on the Nox Archaist Mockingboard project, and also to Becky Burger, Tom Charlesworth for their advice. 


And, we hope to earn your support for our upcoming Kickstarter campaign!












Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist Kickstarter Preview!

The Nox Archaist Kickstarter launch on May 2nd is right around the corner so we thought you might enjoy seeing a preview of what we have in store!

We hope to earn your support!



Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Nox Archaist Kickstarter Launches May 2nd!

Nox Archaist Kickstarter Is LIVE

The 6502 Workshop team is launching a Kickstarter campaign on May 2, 2019 to produce a collector's edition of Nox Archaist!

Nox Archaist is a brand new tile based 8-bit RPG inspired by classics like Ultima and Bard's Tale.  It is written for the Apple II computer, but is easily playable on any modern Mac or PC via emulation.  It's been designed and hand-coded from scratch by a team of awesome programmers and artists, and even a few legends from the golden era of video games back in the 80s.

We really appreciate the interest and encouragement from the community and we are confident that with your help the upcoming campaign will be successful.

Pledge rewards will include lots of cool feelies with professional artwork, such as:

• Full color collector’s game box
• Cloth map
• Printed manual
• Unique game artifacts
• 5.25" Floppy disks and a USB stick for emulators

Our goal is to give you the experience of buying a game off the shelf of your local computer store in the late 80s, and also give you the chance to be involved in the game design and success of a modern Apple II game!

We hope to earn your support!

Mark Lemmert
6502 Workshop
Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/noxarchaist
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.noxarchaist.com

Kickstarter Update

The time has come!

...Oh, wait - It hasn't quite come.  So the time is... nigh!  Yes, that's it.  The time is nigh for the Nox Archaist Kickstarter!

This spring, we will be launching our crowdfunding campaign to produce the boxed collector's edition of Nox Archaist, a brand new 8-bit tile based RPG.  We'll be announcing details in March, so stay tuned!

Also, keep your eyes open for the March issue of the great Apple II magazine Juiced.GS.  It will contain an article about the Nox Archaist Kickstarter campaign, which will give you a sneak peek at what we've got planned.

If you loved the classics like Ultima and Bard's Tale, we're sure that we will earn your support!

Mark & the 6502 Workshop Team

Website - http://www.6502workshop.com
Forums - http://forums.noxarchaist.com
Twitter - @6502Workshop
Facebook - http://facebook.noxarchaist.com