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Retrocomputing and retro gaming continue to get noticed by major news outlets. First was the New York Times with the article The Impractical but Indisputable Rise of Retrocomputing published on January 8th, and now Wired Magazine, with the article People Still Really Love the Apple II.
Wired’s article is a bit more focused on a game that we are all aware of, recently released for the Apple II – Nox Archaist by 6502 Workshop.
Wired’s article actually covers the recent interview that Mark Lemmert, developer of Nox Archaist, gave to the podcast
Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (Episode 450), where he talks about the game, where he explains, among other things, that Nox is his attempt to get a game that could be placed in between Ultima 5 and 6.
People still really like the Apple II
News Highlights: People still really like the Apple II
Production of the Apple II computer stopped in 1993, but that didn’t stop fans like Mark Lemmert from creating new programs for it. Lemmert’s game Nox Archaist, released last month, is a role-playing game modeled on the classic Ultima series.
“I’ve always wondered if there could have been another iteration of a game like Ultima on the Apple II that pushed it further,” said Lemmert in episode 450 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. “Maybe not something on the level of Ultima 6 – because that was clearly their first title not on Apple – but something somewhere between Ultima 5 and Ultima 6. I wanted to know if that was possible.”
Ultima,
Prince of Persia, and
Wasteland. Games journalist David L. Craddock explores the history of Apple II games in his 2017 book
Break Out, which is packed with photos and screenshots.
“The cool thing about all the pictures concept art, illustrations, and so forth that I included is that all of those came from [developers like] Richard Garriott, Brian Fargo, and Jordan Mechner,” Craddock says. “Everyone I talked to thought it was a really cool idea and sent me a ton of stuff.”
Many of those developers also appear as characters in
Nox Archaist. Lemmert was particularly excited to be able to include a cameo from Steve Wozniak, inventor of the Apple II. “Steve Wozniak was gracious enough to take the time, not only to agree to do it, but then when
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