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It is Throwback Thursday time, and today we have something special for the fans of isometric action-RPGs.

In Nox, developed by Westwood Studios, you are Jack Mower, an ordinary guy living his ordinary life. But one day, due to a cosmic accident and the actions by the evil Queen of Necromancers, you're being sucked out of this universe by your own TV and transferred to a fantasy parallel universe called Nox. We're not sure, but we think the moral of Nox is "Don't watch too much TV." Who says gaming doesn't spread positive messages?



Jack, though, seems in a bit of a spot. It won't be a surprise if we tell you that the world Jack got into is in danger and he's the one that can save it, right?

Here’s what one of GOG team members has to say about this classic.

Recommended by Kilg0re_Tr0ut from GOG Stream Team

Nox is a truly underrated game from Westwood Studios. Often written off as a "Diablo-clone", this is really a unique quest oriented action RPG. You play Jack, a young man who (along with his TV) is accidentally teleported to Nox by the evil Hecubah, and it is your job to right things in Nox and eventually defeat her. The story and gameplay adapts to accommodate one of three different character classes you have to choose from, the Warrior, who can't use magic, but has access to all armor and weapon types (except bows and staves), the Conjurer, who can use bows and crossbows, can use some spells, but specialize in summoning monsters that can fight alongside them, and the Wizard class, who specialize in the vast majority of spells in the game, and can even teleport and become invisible. This adds tremendous replayability as playing the game with each character makes for a completely different experience, basically giving you three games in one. Easy to get into, Nox is highly recommended for fans of the genre."

If you’d like to learn more why Kilg0re recommends to play Nox, jump on his stream tonight (Friday, November 5th at 3 AM UTC) on GOG’s Twitch channel.
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cr0t0: Kilg0re_Tr0ut is an amazing host
Agreed. One of the most original folks out there.
Now if we could get EA to release more games here :p
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Magnitus: "Multiplayer notice:The game's official multiplayer servers have been taken offline and the only multiplayer option available is LAN."

It seems devs back in those days had a foresight that many current day developers lack.

Big thanks to Westwood studio for designing their game in such a way that we can still enjoy multiplayer today. True visionaries right there.
Depends if you can find somone to play with
Lan option does not mean that somone automaticly is interested in playing the game together with you
even if they are your friends or you know them well
There are plenty of games that are litterly dead even with lan option
Post edited November 04, 2021 by Lodium
This Throwback Thursday has made me really want to try the game. I have bought it ages ago without the slightest idea of what it was, and there's a German patch. How have I not played yet a Westwood Studios game available here?
you speak of Nox, I reinstall Nox... as simple as that
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Lodium: Depends if you can find somone to play with
Lan option does not mean that somone automaticly is interested in playing the game together with you
even if they are your friends or you know them well
There are plenty of games that are litterly dead even with lan option
If a game has a minimum amount of popularity and is available to play on LAN, I guarantee some people will throw LAN parties with friends and/or family. They just won't shout from the top of their lungs about it, so it won't have the same kind of visibility as a game that connects to a centralized server where someone will be able to track usage stats with pinpoint accuracy.

I can tell you from experience that playing with a loved one in the same room is infinitely more enjoyable than playing across the internet.

I don't have the time for the later anymore, but I'll set some time aside for the former as it kills two birds with one stone: Play a game and spend some quality time with a loved one.

But that's me. To each his own I guess.
Post edited November 05, 2021 by Magnitus
Indeed. It's rare that I enjoy and am left with positive memories of an ARPG, but Nox is in that category. Which also means that I see comparisons with Diablo as doing it a disservice. Now it's not at the level of Divine Divinity, which is clearly what I think of when it comes to ARPG done right, but it's there, and what's even more unusual is that it's there because of the gameplay itself, even if it still is "light", lacking the complexity and choices I'd normally look for. Wasn't able to finish it back in the day, no idea whether I just couldn't figure something out or it was impossible because of the, ahem, version played, but I was close to the end (obviously with a wizard) and enjoyed the ride up to that point.
I'd replay Nox if there was a widescreen patch.
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Crosmando: I'd replay Nox if there was a widescreen patch.
No need for a patch; just edit the default.cfg / nox.cfg files to use a widescreen res; e.g. 960x540 or 1024x576. The resolution can't be higher than 1024x768, and changing the configuration in-game overwrites the .cfg file so you'd have to re-edit.
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Crosmando: I'd replay Nox if there was a widescreen patch.
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eric5h5: No need for a patch; just edit the default.cfg / nox.cfg files to use a widescreen res; e.g. 960x540 or 1024x576. The resolution can't be higher than 1024x768, and changing the configuration in-game overwrites the .cfg file so you'd have to re-edit.
just 1024 oh no thats not enough
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Orkhepaj: just 1024 oh no thats not enough
960x540 means integer scaling on FHD/2K/4K/8K... 2.5K doesn't work quite as well though, would preferably need 1280x720.
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Orkhepaj: just 1024 oh no thats not enough
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Cavalary: 960x540 means integer scaling on FHD/2K/4K/8K... 2.5K doesn't work quite as well though, would preferably need 1280x720.
dunno , cant modern ai upscalers fix this issue?
LAN isn't the only option. https://pvpgn.pro/.
The problem to play this game in resolutions higher than 640x480 is that all become too downscaled. It is one of those classic games designed with 640x480 res in mind but with 800x600 and 1024x768 as extras because the engine accepted it.
Other examples could be the Infinity games engine. Or the Diablo II expansion 800x600 upgrade, where the Character sheet UI was just reduced in size with pretty borders around to fill the full screen, or the view in the world expanded and all smaller.

Really. The graphics in Nox look amazing in 640x480. Good looking and well animated
Post edited November 05, 2021 by Gudadantza
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Gudadantza: The problem to play this game in resolutions higher than 640x480 is that all become too downscaled. It is one of those classic games designed with 640x480 res in mind but with 800x600 and 1024x768 as extras because the engine accepted it.
I find that 1024x576 is fine on a reasonably-sized screen; monitor sizes were generally smaller when Nox came out. 960x540 definitely works unless you have a tiny screen (and yes it has the advantage of integer scaling on 1080/4K monitors). I'd agree that 1024x768 is a little too zoomed-out to be comfortable.