Beginner's Guide 1.0
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 7:23 pmThis guide is not maintained anymore but the information in it remains valid. For the new version of this guide check out the Beginner's Guide 2.0.
Dear community,
for those who are preparing to play on Nostalrius, here is a guide where to download the game and how to setup. It consists of four basic steps:
1) Download the game (WoW Classic with Patch 1.12.1)
2) Unzip / extract game
3) Set Realmlist
4) Create an account and log in
Step 1: Download the game
There are different possibilities downloading the game:
Recommended: Download WoW from FTP(enUS) (courtesy of Vengence WoW) - Offline
Alternative: Download WoW from Torrent (courtesy of Vanilla WoW)
(untested) Alternative Download WoW from Google Drive (courtesy of Stormreaver - Nostalrius community) - Offline
(If you have another game client or a different operating system then windows please read the F.A.Q. at the bottom of this post.)
Step 2: Extract the game
If you don't have a program for decompression install WinRar (32 Bit / (64 Bit).
If you have a suitable program installed move to your download directory (e.g.: C:\Users\anon\Downloads), right-click on .rar-file and select "extract files ...".
Select path you want your fresh WoW installation to be placed (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86))
Step 3: Check Realmlist.wtf
To tell the WoW installation to connect to Nostalrius, you need to change the "realmlist.wtf". Go into the recently created WoW folder, open "realmlist.wtf" with a text editor and change content of file to: "set realmlist login.nostalrius.org". Please note: This might change until final server release.
Please note: If you can't change the content of the "realmlist.wtf", this is because of some privilege / admin rights hick-up. Just copy the file to your desktop, open and change it, then copy it back, overwriting the old file.
Step 4: Creat an account and log in
If you haven't yet created an account not for the forum, but the game: Create Account. You should now be good to go. Use your log in credentials to log in and play the game. Have fun!
Optional steps:
1) Delete "WDB" folder
It is recommended that the "WDB" folder is deleted before launch, because it might contain data that is inconsistent with the server. Just go into your WoW directory and delete the folder. In the recommended version, there is NO "WDB" folder at the beginning.
2) Install some add-ons
Add-ons are in-game application that might enhance gaming experience by simplifying certain tasks. Since add-ons are depended on the WoW installation, you need add-ons for classic WoW with patch 1.12.1. Some add-ons can be found in this thread or here (from Classic WoW) and here (from Vanilla WoW). I recommend searching the web for add-ons you like and then look if they are contained in those packages. Add-ons must be copied into the "AddOns" folder within the interface folder of you installation.
Please note: If there is no "AddOns" folder in the "Interface" folder, just right-click and create one!
Please do not discuss add-ons in this thread!
F.A.Q.:
1) Can I have multiple WoW installations?
Yes, you can have as many WoW installations as you want. Also, installation does NOT interfere with Blizzards official installation.
2) Have you tested all the add-ons?
No.
3) Will I get banned on official Blizzard servers if I play on Nostalrius?
No. You might violate some Blizzard agreements (I don't know), but they want the money way to bad to ban you.
4) I already have a game client for 1.12.1, can I use it?
If you already have an 1.12.1 client you downloaded to play on Feenix, Vengence, Rebirth or one of the other (not very well scripted) private Vanilla servers you can use it and do not need to download it again. You only need to change the realmlist (see step 3).
Feenix is a special case: Some downloads provided by Feenix/WoW-One have an corrupted "wow.exe". This means, that they changed the way the ".exe" works, so that it will always connect to Feenix. A solution is to replace the corrupted "wow.exe" with an uncorrupted one. Rebirth provides one you can download here. You need to replace the old "wow.exe" in your game folder (e.g. "C:\Program Files(x86)\(1.12.1) - Classic Client") with the freshly downloaded one.
5) I have a Unix System, can I still play?
Yes, both MacOS and many Linux distributions support WoW 1.12.1 in a very good fashion. A well written guide for Linux can be found in the Beginner's Guide [Linux] by ozzky. A Mac client can be downloaded here.
6) For some reason, I can't play. What can I do?
Please check if the server is up. Check this out! Also, read this and post your questions in the support forum
Dear community,
for those who are preparing to play on Nostalrius, here is a guide where to download the game and how to setup. It consists of four basic steps:
1) Download the game (WoW Classic with Patch 1.12.1)
2) Unzip / extract game
3) Set Realmlist
4) Create an account and log in
Step 1: Download the game
There are different possibilities downloading the game:
Recommended: Download WoW from FTP(enUS) (courtesy of Vengence WoW) - Offline
Alternative: Download WoW from Torrent (courtesy of Vanilla WoW)
(untested) Alternative Download WoW from Google Drive (courtesy of Stormreaver - Nostalrius community) - Offline
(If you have another game client or a different operating system then windows please read the F.A.Q. at the bottom of this post.)
Step 2: Extract the game
If you don't have a program for decompression install WinRar (32 Bit / (64 Bit).
If you have a suitable program installed move to your download directory (e.g.: C:\Users\anon\Downloads), right-click on .rar-file and select "extract files ...".
Select path you want your fresh WoW installation to be placed (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86))
Step 3: Check Realmlist.wtf
To tell the WoW installation to connect to Nostalrius, you need to change the "realmlist.wtf". Go into the recently created WoW folder, open "realmlist.wtf" with a text editor and change content of file to: "set realmlist login.nostalrius.org". Please note: This might change until final server release.
Please note: If you can't change the content of the "realmlist.wtf", this is because of some privilege / admin rights hick-up. Just copy the file to your desktop, open and change it, then copy it back, overwriting the old file.
Step 4: Creat an account and log in
If you haven't yet created an account not for the forum, but the game: Create Account. You should now be good to go. Use your log in credentials to log in and play the game. Have fun!
Optional steps:
1) Delete "WDB" folder
It is recommended that the "WDB" folder is deleted before launch, because it might contain data that is inconsistent with the server. Just go into your WoW directory and delete the folder. In the recommended version, there is NO "WDB" folder at the beginning.
2) Install some add-ons
Add-ons are in-game application that might enhance gaming experience by simplifying certain tasks. Since add-ons are depended on the WoW installation, you need add-ons for classic WoW with patch 1.12.1. Some add-ons can be found in this thread or here (from Classic WoW) and here (from Vanilla WoW). I recommend searching the web for add-ons you like and then look if they are contained in those packages. Add-ons must be copied into the "AddOns" folder within the interface folder of you installation.
Please note: If there is no "AddOns" folder in the "Interface" folder, just right-click and create one!
Please do not discuss add-ons in this thread!
F.A.Q.:
1) Can I have multiple WoW installations?
Yes, you can have as many WoW installations as you want. Also, installation does NOT interfere with Blizzards official installation.
2) Have you tested all the add-ons?
No.
3) Will I get banned on official Blizzard servers if I play on Nostalrius?
No. You might violate some Blizzard agreements (I don't know), but they want the money way to bad to ban you.
4) I already have a game client for 1.12.1, can I use it?
If you already have an 1.12.1 client you downloaded to play on Feenix, Vengence, Rebirth or one of the other (not very well scripted) private Vanilla servers you can use it and do not need to download it again. You only need to change the realmlist (see step 3).
Feenix is a special case: Some downloads provided by Feenix/WoW-One have an corrupted "wow.exe". This means, that they changed the way the ".exe" works, so that it will always connect to Feenix. A solution is to replace the corrupted "wow.exe" with an uncorrupted one. Rebirth provides one you can download here. You need to replace the old "wow.exe" in your game folder (e.g. "C:\Program Files(x86)\(1.12.1) - Classic Client") with the freshly downloaded one.
5) I have a Unix System, can I still play?
Yes, both MacOS and many Linux distributions support WoW 1.12.1 in a very good fashion. A well written guide for Linux can be found in the Beginner's Guide [Linux] by ozzky. A Mac client can be downloaded here.
6) For some reason, I can't play. What can I do?
Please check if the server is up. Check this out! Also, read this and post your questions in the support forum
