Westwood Studios Official Nox Frequently Asked Questions Version 1.1 PREFACE: This document is the official posting of frequently asked questions regarding our new Action/RPG, Nox. Before reading this document! Be sure that you have read the README file located on the Nox CD. This file contains some technical solutions as well as last minute news/updates prior to the game shipping. Not all of the solutions contained in the readme will be posted within this document! All information contained herein is copyright 2000 by Westwood Studios. You are allowed to distribute it freely, but not to make changes. --- PART 1: GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------------------------- 1.1 Patch 1.1 Updates for Nox 1.2 What is Nox? 1.3 System Requirements 1.4 Serial Number 1.5 Technical Issues 1.6 Faster Play 1.7 Miscellaneous --- PART 2: QUESTIONS ABOUT GAME PLAY --------------------------- 2.1 Gameplay Issues --- PART 3: HINTS --------------------------------------------- 3.1 Where can I get hints? --- PART 4: GETTING HELP ---------------------------------------------------- 4.1 Technical Support ************************************************************ GENERAL INFORMATION ************************************ ************************************************************ --------------------------------------------------- 1.1 PATCH 1.1 UPDATES FOR NOX --------------------------------------------------- The following list contains the changes made in the latest 1.1 patch of Nox: 1. Warrior Specific: 1.1 Berserker Charge: Berserker charge can no longer be stopped by a weapon dequip (V-key). 1.2 Berserker Charge: If a warrior kills someone with Berserker Charge, the game now immediately recharges this skill so the warrior can immediately do another Berserker Charge. 1.3 Berserker Charge: The warrior can no longer Berserker Charge through any walls and go out of bounds using observer mode. 1.4 Harpoon: The warrior's harpoon has been improved so it works more reliably everywhere. 1.5 Harpoon: The warrior's harpoon has been improved so it tracks enemies in front of the warrior. 1.6 Harpoon: The warrior's harpoon now has a time limit. Once it has latched onto someone, it only lasts a short duration. 1.7 Harpoon: The harpooned player can no longer use jump to escape/break out of being harpooned. 1.8 Harpoon: The warrior harpoon will no longer collide with the harpoon source. 2. Conjurer Specific: 2.1 Bombers: The conjurer may only summon 2 bombers now. If you have an old save game with more than 2 bombers you will still have the additional bombers, but you won't be able to summon any more until you have less than 2. 3. Wizard Specific: 3.1 Energy Bolt &: The game now disallows the use of energy bolt and lightning at the same time. Lightning 3.2 Reflective Shield: The reflective shield now animates. 3.3 Swap Location: When inverted, the Swap Location spells are now automatically destroyed. 3.4 Teleport to Marker: Casting Teleport to Marker on other players is no longer allowed. However, it can still be used on yourself, or in a trap. 3.5 Teleport to Target: It is now safe to use the Teleport to Target spell in a trap. The game will no longer crash. 3.6 Illegal Enchantments: In the solo game, it was possible to become infinitely enchanted with some hostile spells such as anchor and stun. This has been fixed. 3.7 Obliteration: Before, if you save a game while the Obliteration spell is going off, and load this game back up, you won't be able to move or continue with the game. This has been fixed. 4. General Issues: 4.1 Console: Player chat is now shown in yellow in the console to be more readable. 4.2 Cursors: Targeting circles are always blue for friends and friend's monsters, and red for all others. And, friendly monsters have a dot in their team color over their head. 4.3 Custom Hotkeys: The hotkeys for quick-potions now update themselves if the player changes them while in game. 4.4 In Game Map: The overhead map now moves around with the camera location. This allows the map to be correct/current while observing other players. 4.5 Restart after Death: Before, if you had your inventory window open and were holding an item on your cursor when you got killed, the game would prevent all future input from the mouse. This is now fixed. 4.6 Run Enchantment: Players can now attack while enchanted with the Run spell. However, spell casters can no longer continue to cast the following spells when they are enchanted with run: Force of Nature, Drain Mana, Greater Heal, Channel Life, Reflective Shield, Energy Bolt, and Chain Lightning. 4.7 Spell Casting: Before, if you had the GUI off (F11), you couldn't cast some spells "on others" by holding the SHIFT-key. This problem is now fixed. This is only for spells that are allowed to be cast on others; for example, Vampirism. 4.8 Staff of Oblivion: Before, if the user fired the Staff of Oblivion and clicked on a target repeatedly, the Staff of Oblivion would stop using its charges (essentially infinite charges). Now, the staff will continue to drain/use up its mana charges. 4.9 Win 2K Mouse: The mouse now works properly with Windows 2000 / DirectX7. The player will no longer have the "continuous run" problem. 5. Solo Chapters Specific: 5.1 All Characters: The game's internal item ID system has been modified to prevent certain lockups caused by multiple items sharing the same ID. 5.2 All Characters: Fixed a problem caused by loading games containing monsters with Force Field on. Sometimes, these monsters would be loaded with infinite shield strength making them impossible to kill. This is no longer possible. 5.3 Warrior - Chap 7: Before, The house across from Maximillian's could be opened by any silver key. The user could've used the silver key from the 2nd level of the tower to open this door. Doing so would often prevent the player from advancing beyond the 2nd level of the tower. Now, the player must use the harpoon to drag the guy inside the house to the door to open the door. This door no longer requires a silver key. 5.4 Warrior - Chap 10: In this chapter, there is a monster that turns from a bat to a knight. Before, if the player hit this monster with the harpoon from afar (only when that creature was in its bat form), the game would sometimes crash to the desktop. This is now fixed. 5.5 Wizard - Chap 1: Fixed the initial Horvath and the Urchins event so it will no longer lockup the game in certain rare instances. 6. Multiplay Specific: 6.1 Advanced Menu: The disabled-spells-list in the advanced menu is now showing reliable information. 6.2 Assisted Kill Credit: The warrior will now be credited with a full kill if he reflects a Force of Nature with the Great Sword which then kills another player. 6.3 Auto Assign Team: With "auto assign" turned on, the game will shuffle the teams after a game has been completed. Teams will no longer be shuffled after exiting a social map. 6.4 Camper Alarm: The new camper alarm shows the camper on the map. This works in much the same way as the Tag spell. No alarm SFX will be played when the camper alarm kicks in. 6.5 Chat Room: Now, Japanese and Korean users can type messages in their own local language in Westwood Online. Players using other language versions of Nox can download the Asian text fonts to see these messages too. 6.6 Console Command: Typing "show motd" on a client no longer crashes the client. 6.7 Console Command: The "set spell ON" command now works from the console, and the change is reflected in the advanced menu. For example, to disallow the blink spell, pull down the console using the F1-key, the type "set spell "SPELL_BLINK" off. 6.8 CTF: These spells no longer affect the flag carrier: Blink, Invisibility, Invulnerability, Swap, Teleport to Marker 1/2/3/4, Teleport to Target, and Teleport to Random. However, the flag carrier can still teleport by following other player's teleport wakes. 6.9 CTF: Before, you would only hear the flag capture/drop/taken sounds if you were nearby. Now these events can be heard at full volume by everyone. 6.10 CTF: The game will no longer allow a player to blink to a destination which has line of sight to the enemy flag's home. 6.11 CTF: Flags are now displayed in the overhead map at all times. 6.12 CTF: Stun and Confuse are now disallowed in all CTF games. 6.13 CTF & KOTR: The game now picks a random starting location in KOTR games. The player will no longer respawn at the same location. 6.14 CTF & KOTR: Before, some spells could not be cast when you were carrying the flag, ball, or crown. Now, not only can you not cast those spells, but those spells have no effect on you when cast on you by another player. However, you may now cast one of these restricted spells by placing them in a bomber or trap. Spells affected by this are: Blink, Invisibility, Invulnerability, Swap, Teleport to Marker 1/2/3/4, Teleport to Target, and Teleport to Random. 6.15 Flag Ball: Before, if you had the ball last and you killed the player with the ball, you would not be able to pick up the ball. Now you can pickup the ball in this situation. 6.16 Flag Ball: If a player threw the ball at the enemy flag, and an enemy hit the ball with a fireball, the ball became "owned" by the enemy, and no point was gained if the ball then hit the flag. This has been fixed. 6.17 Game Select Screen: For all Internet games, the multiplay game select screen now defaults to "list" instead of "map". 6.18 Game Name: The default server name has been changed from "NoxWorld" to "User Game". 6.19 Kick/Ban System: Added a simple voting feature to kick unwanted players out of a game. Players can access this via the esc-key. Kicking a player requires 2 votes in a team of 3, 3 votes in a team of 4, or 4 votes for teams of 5 or more. 6.20 Kick/Ban System: Ban is now done using a player's WOL name in all Internet games. The banned player can no longer return to the game by using another in-game name. 6.21 Kick/Ban System: At each map change, the ban list is now saved. Now, if the game goes down for some reason, you can still revert to the last ban list. 6.22 Kick/Ban System: When you get kicked from a server, your character is now automatically saved. 6.23 Lag Compensation: Before, if the server set the lag compensation to minimum and a new player joined the game and started to download the map (which would appear to have the lag of zero), the lag compensation would automatically go to zero, too. Now, the game ignores this while the new player is downloading maps. 6.24 Magic + Normal Shield: Before, if the warrior had a regular shield up and a Force Field on, when the Force Field was destroyed, the warrior's HP would go down to 1 hit point (same for wizard and conjurer). This was wrong, because the warrior was protected by the normal shield under the Force Field. Now, when the Force Field is damaged and goes off, the warrior's HP would stay at the same level if the shield can block the damage. 6.25 Observer Mode: The player can no longer be poisoned while in the observer mode. 6.26 Observer Mode: In an elimination game, the system is now set to auto observe the person who eliminated you, if possible. 6.27 Observer Mode: The conjurer will no longer disappear while observing one of his summoned creatures. 6.28 Observer Mode: Before, the player might not have been able to cycle through all the players while in the observer mode. Now the game allows the player to cycle through all the active players in the game. 6.29 Observer Mode: Before, if you hit spacebar while in observer mode, the camera would "detach" but remain static. Now, when the camera is so detached, it can be moved around with the cursor and right mouse button. 6.30 Observer Mode: Players are now automatically dropped into the observer mode if the system doesn't receive any input for 90 seconds. 6.31 Observer Mode: Now, SFX will play as soon as you join a multiplay game. While in observer mode, you no longer have to cycle to another player to activate the SFX. 6.32 Observer Mode: Now, the player can go into the observer mode after joining a ladder game. 6.33 Pet's Chat Bubbles: Now, charmed and summoned creatures' chat bubbles can only be seen by their owners. 6.34 Proxy Server: Multiple players can join the same game through a proxy server. 6.35 Ranking GUI: Added WOL login name to F9 list for both clients and server. The game now displays each player's name in the following form: (). For example: Scoob(TrueScoob), or Flinn(Flinn2501). 6.36 Server Selection: A button has been added on the WOL chat screen to allow the user to change game servers. 6.37 Splash Damage: You will now take damage when hit by your own splash damaging devices such as Fireball or Force of Nature. This is true even if team damage is turned off. 6.38 Team Assignment: After shuffling teams, the game now reselects the player starting locations. 6.39 Team Game: When a player changes teams during a team game, the game now immediately relocates that player. 6.40 Team Game: The game now auto selects a new player start location when the player comes out of observer mode. --------------------------------------------------- 1.2 WHAT IS NOX? --------------------------------------------------- Nox is an Action/Role-Playing-Game developed by Westwood Studios, the creators of the Command & Conquer universe of games. --------------------------------------------------- 1.3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS --------------------------------------------------- Nox requires the minimum system requirements in order to play: Pentium II or P-200 MMX or faster CPU (Cyrix and AMD processors may have higher requirements) 32 MB RAM or more 300 MB free hard drive space or more Windows 95/98 w/DirectX 7.0 or Windows NT 4 with Service Pack 4 or newer 2 MB video RAM or more 8X CD-ROM drive or faster DirectSound compliant sound card Two-button Mouse The recommended system requirements are: Pentium II 266 or faster CPU 64 MB RAM or more 300 MB free hard drive space or more Windows 95/98 w/DirectX 7.0 or Windows NT 4 with Service Pack 4 or newer 4 MB video RAM or more 8X CD-ROM drive or faster DirectSound compliant sound card Two-button Mouse --------------------------------------------------- 1.4 SERIAL NUMBER --------------------------------------------------- The serial number is required for installation of Nox. It can be found on the back of the jewel case. It looks like this: xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxx. These numbers are unique. We allow each user to register TWICE with this serial number, so that you can play on two PCs online with one set of discs. We do keep track of the numbers and when we determine that more than two numbers are being used simultaneously, that number is deactivated. If you try to play online and you are told that your serial number is banned, you will need to contact webhelp@westwood.com to make arrangements for a new serial number. If you have lost your serial number, you may call or write to request another. In order to issue you a new serial number for your game, we will need proof of purchase. You can do this by sending us a copy of your original game disc(s), either by fax or attaching a scanned copy and emailing noxhelp@westwood.com. In addition to the copy of your game disc, we will require your name and current mailing address. Information faxed should be sent to the attention of "Customer Support". The fax number is: (702)-228-3939. --------------------------------------------------- 1.5 TECHNICAL ISSUES --------------------------------------------------- We have discovered a few issues that will affect gameplay: a. System crashes during install, Internal Error Messages, General Page Faults. These symptoms are caused almost exclusively by attempting to install/run the game with the barest of minimum requirements while running other tasks in the background (i.e. Virus Checkers, Norton System Utilities, Internet Service Provider apps, etc.) For most people, you can solve this problem by ending the task running in the background. See 1.5-1 below for instructions on how to do this. Also downloading the latest service pack for Windows, available from the Microsoft web site, can solve some conflicts as well. If you have tried these suggestions and are still experiencing problems, please email webhelp@westwood.com . b. Game crashes during install when using a CDR, CDRW, or DVD. Some issues have been reported of the Nox install crashing back to Windows after partially complete. To work around this problem, use Windows Explorer (Or navigate through the 'My Computer' icon) to open your CDROM drive. Open the folder 'Setup', then double-click on 'setup.exe'. Installing manually will fix the problem. c. My CDROM can't read the Nox CD, or my CD is just spinning in the drive. We have determined that many older or outdated CD-ROM drives may have problems reading the state of the art CD media on which Nox has been printed. As a result of this, some users of such drives may experience difficulties reading the CDs before or after a successful installation. If this is the case, you may want to consider upgrading your CD-ROM drive. We also recommend that you contact your CDROM or Computer manufacturer and let them know you're having difficulty reading some CDs. They can usually provide a solution/replacement to help with the newer CD formats. If you are using a Plextor drive, a possible solution is to download and install the updated Plextor Manager version 1.04. When you have that installed, you can go into the Enhanced Properties for your drive by highlighting your CD-ROM drive icon and right clicking to select Properties. On the Settings tab you will see a box labeled Prevent Low Speed Reading. This has been known to help with some read issues. d. Can get into game, but the opening video sequence doesn't play. An option to run Nox in Compatibility Mode is available from the start menu after the game is installed. Compatibility mode disables the videos within the game as well as the intro video. e. Nox crashes at startup. Some older video card drivers may have difficulty running the video sequences in Nox. If there is a crash when Nox is run, it MAY be circumvented by running in Compatibility Mode (available from the start menu). Updated video card drivers will resolve this issue and allow the videos within the game to be viewed. f. After installing Nox, all I get is a black screen when loading the game. A black screen at startup is a typical DirectX video card conflict. Check to make sure your video card is 100% DirectX compatible, and that you have the LATEST drivers available from the manufacturer's website. After updating/installing drivers for your video card, download and install the latest version of DirectX, available from Microsoft's website. After installing the latest drivers and DirectX, if the black screen is still appearing, your hardware may not be 100% DirectX compatible. g. Errors running Nox in Windows 2000. During testing of Nox with Win2K, several errors were found during gameplay. These mainly included mouse errors (right mouse button not functioning properly, character running constantly) and sound card issues (sound would stutter and repeat itself, causing opening video to be choppy and internal game sounds to skip). These bugs have been traced to the version of DirectX shipping with Win2K. If you are experiencing these bugs, you will need to update your version of DirectX. The latest version of DirectX is posted on Microsoft's website. The latest update, 1.1, has attempted to fix this problem. Download and install the update using the autoupdate program or directly from our website. If the patch fails to fix your problem, you will need to wait until a patch is provided by Microsoft for DirectX. --------------------------------------------------- 1.6 FASTER PLAY --------------------------------------------------- If you notice the game is running slowly, and your machine meets the minimum requirements, try some of the tips below to get better performance. 1. Running programs at the same time as Nox can degrade game performance. To close the programs running in the background, press the Ctrl+Alt+Del keys in Windows. This will bring up the close program window. Select a program other than SYSTRAY or EXPLORER and click on End Task. Repeat this process until only Systray and Explorer are running. In addition, there are numerous options in the game that can increase performance. Turning these options off will increase game performance. 2. Select "Options" from the main menu. The ability to lower game resolution is available from this screen. Lowering screen resolution will increase performance more than any other option. 3. Go to the "Video Option Controls". The following options can be toggled on/off and can increase performance in the game: (for a description of what each option does, check page 24 of the manual) Unlocked DX Surface Soft Shadow Edge Translucent Console Render Particle Glow Fade Objects Show Tooltips Draw Front Walls Translucent Front Walls High Res Front Walls Lock High Res Floors Textured Floors Render Bubbles Render Gui 4. If you are still experiencing slow/choppy gameplay, even after adjusting screen resolution and the video options above, it will help to reduce the actual screen size. During gameplay, press either the PgUp and PgDn keys repeatedly to adjust the screen size. Usually playing with 8-bit graphics, 640x480 resolution, and adjusting the screen size in gameplay will get the game to perform normally on slower machines. 5. If you are running a network game over a Local Area Network, you will notice gameplay is MUCH faster using a dedicated server. Simply start Nox on a free machine using the parameter shown below (serveronly): C:\Westwood\Nox\Nox.exe -serveronly --------------------------------------------------- 1.7 MISCELLANEOUS Q: How do I run a dedicated server for Nox? A: Page 36 of the Nox manual is incorrect. The actual command line to start Nox as a dedicated server is: C:\Westwood\Nox\Nox.exe -serveronly (The manual has it listed as -server only with a space... this is incorrect) Q: What is the "Buddy Disc" packaged with Nox? A: This disc is an extra copy of the game for Multiplayer use only. Using this disc, you and a buddy can play over a Local Area Network, Modem, or Westwood Online. Q: How do I play against other people on the Internet? A: Before anything else, make sure you are connected to your Internet Service Provider. Load Nox, and from the main game menu, select Multiplayer, then Westwood Online. You will be prompted to log in with your username and password. If you are a new user, you can create an account, free of charge, from the same screen. ************************************************************ QUESTIONS ABOUT GAMEPLAY ***************************** ************************************************************ --------------------------------------------------- 2.1 GAMEPLAY ISSUES --------------------------------------------------- Currently all of the known issues during gameplay are listed in the README file, located on the Nox CD. Please refer to this file as it also contains last minute news/updates prior to the shipping of Nox. ************************************************************* HINTS AND CHEATS ****************************************** ************************************************************* --------------------------------------------------- 3.1 WHERE CAN I GET HINTS? --------------------------------------------------- There are a number of places to get hints for Nox. Some of these include the following: * Visit our website at: http://www.westwood.com * Call the hintline at 1-900-288-4744 (U.S., $.95 a minute) or 1-900-451-4422 (Canada, $1.25 a minute). Callers under the age of 18 must have parent or guardian's consent. Touch Tone phone is required. Charges are subject to change. * There are several hint guides that can be purchased. You can find some of these guides at our online store, accessible either via http://www.westwood.com or http://www.ea.com * Also be sure to spend some time in the Nox Chat Channel, you never know when somebody may drop a hint. ************************************************************* GETTING HELP *********************************************** ************************************************************* For online support, email webhelp@westwood.com If you have read this document and it has not answered your questions, please email noxhelp@westwood.com For telephone technical support, you can call (650)-628-4319 Monday through Friday between 8:30am - 11:45am or 1:00pm - 4:00pm, Pacific Standard Time Below is a listing of all our contact information, world-wide: United States / Canada Westwood Customer Warranty (M-F 8:30 - 11:45 AM and 1:00 - 4:30 PM PST) 650-628-1900 US and Canada Order Line 800-245-4525 Australia EA Technical Support 0061 (0) 29955 6868 Email ozsupport@ea.com Austria EA Technical Support 0190-572333 Denmark EA Technical Support 80 88 07 89 Email svsupport@ea.com Finland EA Technical Support 0800-508 225 Email svsupport@ea.com France EA Technical Support Hint Line(2.23f ttc/minute) 04 72 53 25 00 08-36-68-55-15 Email fr-support@ea.com Germany EA Technical Support (von 9.30 Uhr bis 17.30 Uhr) Hint Line (new games) Hint Line (old games) (2,40 DM/min. Jugendliche unter 18 Jahre dürfen nur mit Erlaubnis ihrer Eltern anrufen) 0190-572333 0190-787906 0190-900030 Email de-support@ea.com Holland EA Technical Support 00800 940 55555 Email nl-support@ea.com Norway EA Technical Support 800 13 897 Email svsupport@ea.com South Africa EA Technical Support (011) 803-1212 Email support@ea.co.za Spain EA Technical Support 917 545540 Sweden EA Technical Support (08) 594 106 80 Email svsupport@ea.com Switzerland EA Technical Support 0900/55 40 20 United Kingdom EA Technical Support Hint/Cheat Line (75p per min, ask permission of the person who pays the bill before calling) (01753) 546465 09067 53 22 53 Email uk-support@ea.com IF THIS DOCUMENT HAS NOT ANSWERED YOUR QUESTIONS... Please email: noxhelp@westwood.com