Volume 26, Issue 3 (September 2021) of Juiced.GS, the longest-running Apple II publication in print, has now shipped.

This issue features coverage of KansasFest 2021; a post mortem of Nox Archaist with Mark Lemmert, Chris Torrence, and Beth Daggert of 6502 Workshop; a profile of Robert Grumbles, who used his Apple II to hack into NASA as a teenager; a look behind the scenes of Jeremy Rand’s md2teach, Chris Vavruska’s markdownGS, and Peter Ferrie’s TextBoot; and much, much more!

This is Juiced.GS‘s third quarterly issue of 2021, its twenty-sixth year in print. Subscriptions for 2021 and 2022 are available for $20 each for United States customers, $25 for readers in Canada and Mexico, and $28 for international customers.

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

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

Their 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!

6502 Workshop announced today that their Kickstarter Campaign for Nox Archaist has been launched!

Nox Archaist’s Kickstarter Collector’s Edition recaptures the immersive 8-bit RPG experience of the 1980s with its full color game box stuffed with feelies including fabric map, printed manual, and game artifacts – all with custom, professional artwork.

Listen to this episode of the Open Apple podcast, or watch this Assembly Lines video interview on YouTube to learn more and click here to back Nox Archaist today and help make this project a reality!

This month on Open Apple, the part of Quinn Dunki is played by RCR Podcast co-host Carrington “Fake Quinn” Vanston. A post-KansasFest Mark Lemmert of 6502 Workshop returns to the show to promote the new Nox Archaist Kickstarter. You should contribute because it’s awesome to support those still developing for the Apple II and not just because you get cool stuff when you do (though that’s a thing that happens too!).

There’s lots of news to cover and Carrington has opinions on all of it. Only on Open Apple can you hear him trash clones, accelerators, ProDOS, retro BBSes, and a random assortment of other topics! Fun for the whole family! We also chat about Apple II music and there’s general confusion about Australian Apple II conferences (when is there not on Open Apple?)

eBay isn’t talked about (because we don’t talk about eBay) and we deconstruct Softalk #5.

6502 Workshop announces a major milestone in the development of Nox Archaist, their 8-bit, tile-based RPG: the dungeon module has been completed. The short narrative video Dungeons of Drathnor uses the Nox Archaist engine to demonstrate this module, along with new combat spells, new tile graphic animations, and dungeon puzzles.

In the previous episode, the band of heroes launched cows with prejudice to defeat the ogre guarding the ruins, rumored to contain great evil and treasure.

The heroes have been talking about these ruins for three episodes. They have completed their preparations to enter the ruins — but will they actually make their way in? Watch to find out! Onward to glory and gold!

6502 Workshop announces the release of Part 2 of the short short narrative video Cow-A-Pult using the game engine of their 8-bit tile-based RPG. This video shows more combat features. Mark Lemmert assures us that “Part 2 really does have cows in it. The people who omitted the cows from Part 1 have been sacked.”

In the previous episode, the band of heroes found a village that was attacked by marauding orcs. Now the adventure continues into the wilds to find the lair of the orcs and confront the guardian of the ruins.

This video introduces several gameplay elements:

• New spells
• New combat tactics
• New tile graphic animations

Look for more details about Nox Archaist’s combat in the June 2017 issue of Juiced.GS prior to the game’s release later this year.

6502 Workshop announces a major milestone in the development of Nox Archaist, their 8-bit, tile-based RPG: the combat module has been completed, as showcased via the short narrative video Cow-A-Pult (Part 1) using the Nox Archaist engine.

In the previous episode, the wizard Ojithar warned that the nearby ruins contain a great evil. Of course, that’s where the party is headed today, as there’s bound to be treasure!

This video demonstrates several new game features:

• Combat scenarios
• Spellcasting special effects
• New tile graphic animations
• NPCs outside of towns

Look for more details about Nox Archaist’s combat in the June 2017 issue of Juiced.GS prior to the game’s release later this year.

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Mark Lemmert, co-founder of 6502 Workshop. Him and his partners (Mike Reimer, Bill Giggie, Robert Padovan, Gordon Mackay, and Galactagog) have been building Nox Archaist, a brand new story-driven tile-based role-playing game in the classical Ultima style. They’re pushing the hardware as far as they can with this new engine, working to break new ground in scope, story, animation, sound, and music. Early builds look great, and we’re really excited to see more!

Mark’s journey with the Apple II parallels a lot of us. The machine sparked an interest in programming, and a fascination with RPGs and tile engines in particular. Nox Archaist is the fulfillment of that childhood dream to build such a game from scratch. Mark shares his war stories (that many of us can relate to) of strewing our childhood computers with half-baked game engines that were doomed from the start. As he and his team are proving, it’s never too late to revive and achieve that dream.

KansasFest 2017 registration is now open! Early bird rates in effect as of this posting, so don’t wait. Attendance is limited to 100 this year. Sign up now! Mark will be there and likely demonstrating Nox Archaist, so you won’t want to miss that.

Meanwhile, Mike and Quinn yammer on about new hardware, new old games, old new games, and of course Woz. Also back this month is the controversial Softalk segment. Read along with us in issue #4!

Mark Lemmert of 6502 Workshop recently blogged about the current development status of Nox Archaist, the upcoming 8-bit tile-based RPG, and what the game will be like when it launches later this year.

The post includes a discussion of the tone of the game, a preview of a few villains players can expect to encounter in the adventure and details on expected combat system mechanics. Some highlights:

• The game engine is approximately 75% complete
• Programming for the combat system is about 50% done
• Players will be able to:
  • Place spell casters and archers behind fighters
  • Select a specific mob target for each player attack
  • Aim area of effect spells at large groups of mobs
  • Collaborate between thief/assassin and fighter types for increased critical hit chances
• Nox Archaist will be a fairly dark game, featuring such foes as demon lords and death knights
• Characters will be able to choose separate armor to protect their head, torso, feet, and hands
• Dungeon graphics are being designed by Hollywood animation artists Bill Giggie and Robert Padovan
• Gameplay will be balanced between combat and non-combat activities

For a more in-depth preview of this game, read the entire blog post.

The hard-working developers over 6502 Workshop have announced a major gameplay milestone in the development of Nox Archaist, which is illustrated in a video through the short story: Shattered Sword.

In this episode, our hero travels to town and faces an epic struggle to get his sword repaired after breaking it over an ogre’s head.

Some of the game features shown include:

• Conversation with NPCs
• NPCs moving between locations on the map based on their daily schedule
• New interactive tiles

Follow all the latest Nox Archaist news here.