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Some players have told us they have difficulty reading the in-game text. This is cause by the color bleed effect which is part of the game's design. Nox Archaist was developed on a real Apple II computer and it runs on Steam within an Apple II emulator.

A 3rd party application was created by the developer Rikkles as an alternative way to play Nox Archaist. He modified the underlying emulator to remove the color bleed from text (see attached screenshot), significantly improving readability and he also added several quality-of-life features such as:

*Increase gameplay speed

*Extended screen dashboard displaying character stats, readied spells and more

*Auto mapping via Grid Cartographer interconnect (some setup required)

*Copy/paste of NPC text into a notes file or Google Translate

Download Page (Nox Companion)
https://github.com/hasseily/NoxArchaistCompanion

Setup Walkthrough Video
https://youtu.be/TTNC7iwuS_Q

Rikkles is available to answer questions in the #3rdparty-Tools channel on the Nox Archaist Discord, found here:

https://discord.gg/kwcFxVp

Note: The Nox Companion will work with with copies of the game purchased through any source, including GOG. The 3rd party developer unfortunately does not have a walkthrough video available for GOG, but the setup steps are essentially the same as shown in the video above showing a setup walkthrough using Steam.

To locate the Nox Archaist files on GOG, right click on the game in GOG Galaxy, select Manage Installation, then Show Folder.

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If you prefer not to install a 3rd party application here are a few other tips on how to reduce the reduce the color bleed effect.

Try the following key sequence:
Ctrl+Shift+I immediately followed by the number 0.
(note: the character to press after Shift is "eye", not 'one" or "el")

There is also an alternate font available, which some people have found easier to read. You can switch between them in the Game Settings menu (press TAB twice, and then 6, arrow down to Toggle Font and press enter).

The press ESC to exit the menu, press Q to save the game, then close the game's application window and launch it again from Steam.

Thanks for your interest in Nox Archaist!
Attachments:
Post edited April 09, 2023 by 6502_Workshop
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6502_Workshop: The press ESC to exit the menu, press Q to save the game, then close the game's application window and launch it again from Steam.
What if I don't have Steam installed? (In particular, what if I got the game from another legal source, such as gog.com?)
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6502_Workshop: What if I don't have Steam installed? (In particular, what if I got the game from another legal source, such as gog.com?)
I was able to have it work just fine using my GoG version. I unzipped the Companion directory into GoG's folder for Nox Archaist to keep things tidy, but it should work fine wherever you put it. Just point to the HDV file for Nox once you run the Companion.
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6502_Workshop: The press ESC to exit the menu, press Q to save the game, then close the game's application window and launch it again from Steam.
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dtgreene: What if I don't have Steam installed? (In particular, what if I got the game from another legal source, such as gog.com?)
Good questions!

The Nox Companion will work with with copies of the game purchased through any source, including GOG. The 3rd party developer unfortunately does not have a walkthrough video available for GOG, but the setup steps are essentially the same as shown in the video above showing a setup walkthrough using Steam.

To locate the Nox Archaist files on GOG, right click on the game in GOG Galaxy, select Manage Installation, then Show Folder.

I will add this information to the OP.
Post edited April 09, 2023 by 6502_Workshop
I see the new version is updated to include the expansion. Do you have to have the expansion to make it work?
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ncarty97: I see the new version is updated to include the expansion. Do you have to have the expansion to make it work?
No. The new version of Nox Companion still works with the original game.
Nox Companion works with the GOG version and with the DLC. I extracted the ZIP file, launched the exe and pointed it to the Lord of Storms hdv. That's all. I don't use Galaxy, but this shouldn't make a difference, I suppose.
And all I did with it so far is playing a little bit (savegames are compatible, as is to be expected), but I haven't used any additional functionality yet (in particular, I haven't figured out yet how to get fullscreen mode - I'll find out).
Thanks for providing this alternative access to the game!

As an information, not to complain: Norton flagged the Companion exe as a virus ("Reputation"). I restored it because I think it's a false positive (not used much, I suppose).

Edit:
The default keyboard is different for the standard emulator and the Companion. For the standard emulator it seems to be English or American, for the Companion (AppleWin) it's probably your PC's keyboard.
No problem, but might be irritating in the beginning.
I suppose there are emulator settings for keyboard changes.
Post edited August 05, 2023 by Greywolf1
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Greywolf1: Nox Companion works with the GOG version and with the DLC. I extracted the ZIP file, launched the exe and pointed it to the Lord of Storms hdv. That's all. I don't use Galaxy, but this shouldn't make a difference, I suppose.
And all I did with it so far is playing a little bit (savegames are compatible, as is to be expected), but I haven't used any additional functionality yet (in particular, I haven't figured out yet how to get fullscreen mode - I'll find out).
Thanks for providing this alternative access to the game!

As an information, not to complain: Norton flagged the Companion exe as a virus ("Reputation"). I restored it because I think it's a false positive (not used much, I suppose).

Edit:
The default keyboard is different for the standard emulator and the Companion. For the standard emulator it seems to be English or American, for the Companion (AppleWin) it's probably your PC's keyboard.
No problem, but might be irritating in the beginning.
I suppose there are emulator settings for keyboard changes.
Hey there! Thanks for your support of Nox Archaist. I am glad to hear you are enjoying the companion

You're welcome and the credit really goes to the 3rd party developer Rikkles who created the Companion. If you ever want to communicate with him directly he hangs out on the Nox Archaist discord server in the channel #3rd-party tools.

http://discord.noxarchaist.com

P.S.

If you like 1980s RPGs when they have a bit more QoL, you might also like Rikkles game "Deathlord Relorded", an unofficial remastered version of the 1980s classic Deathlord. It's on itch.io.
Post edited August 08, 2023 by 6502_Workshop
Just great! Thanks
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6502_Workshop: Some players have told us they have difficulty reading the in-game text. This is cause by the color bleed effect which is part of the game's design. Nox Archaist was developed on a real Apple II computer and it runs on Steam within an Apple II emulator.

A 3rd party application was created by the developer Rikkles as an alternative way to play Nox Archaist. He modified the underlying emulator to remove the color bleed from text (see attached screenshot), significantly improving readability and he also added several quality-of-life features such as:

*Increase gameplay speed

*Extended screen dashboard displaying character stats, readied spells and more

*Auto mapping via Grid Cartographer interconnect (some setup required)

*Copy/paste of NPC text into a notes file or Google Translate

Download Page (Nox Companion)
https://github.com/hasseily/NoxArchaistCompanion

Setup Walkthrough Video
https://youtu.be/TTNC7iwuS_Q

Rikkles is available to answer questions in the #3rdparty-Tools channel on the Nox Archaist Discord, found here:

https://discord.gg/kwcFxVp

Note: The Nox Companion will work with with copies of the game purchased through any source, including GOG. The 3rd party developer unfortunately does not have a walkthrough video available for GOG, but the setup steps are essentially the same as shown in the video above showing a setup walkthrough using Steam.

To locate the Nox Archaist files on GOG, right click on the game in GOG Galaxy, select Manage Installation, then Show Folder.

-------

If you prefer not to install a 3rd party application here are a few other tips on how to reduce the reduce the color bleed effect.

Try the following key sequence:
Ctrl+Shift+I immediately followed by the number 0.
(note: the character to press after Shift is "eye", not 'one" or "el")

There is also an alternate font available, which some people have found easier to read. You can switch between them in the Game Settings menu (press TAB twice, and then 6, arrow down to Toggle Font and press enter).

The press ESC to exit the menu, press Q to save the game, then close the game's application window and launch it again from Steam.

Thanks for your interest in Nox Archaist!
Thank you for sharing this. I love the game, but my eyes just can't handle the color bleed on the text. This will allow me to keep playing.