| ZZT | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Tim Sweeney |
| Publisher(s) | Epic Games |
| Designer(s) | Tim Sweeney |
| Engine | ZZT-OOP |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS |
| Release date | 1991 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Media | Free download |
| Input methods | Keyboard, Mouse |
ZZT is an ANSI-based computer game, created in 1991 by Tim Sweeney, of Epic Games (then Epic Megagames), who later designed Unreal. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Tim Sweeney is a Computer game programmer and the founder of Epic Games, and is best known for his work on ZZT and the Unreal engine Epic Games, also known as Epic and formerly as Epic MegaGames, is a Video game development company based in Cary North Carolina, United A "game designer" is a person who designs Video games or one who designs traditional games such as Board games Video Games Designer A video game designer Tim Sweeney is a Computer game programmer and the founder of Epic Games, and is best known for his work on ZZT and the Unreal engine A game engine is a software system designed for the creation and development of computer and video games ZZT-oop was an early in-game scripting Programming language, designed by Tim Sweeney, for his computer game ZZT. In Computing, a platform describes some sort of Hardware architecture or Software framework (including Application frameworks, that allows MS-DOS (short for M icro' s' oft D isk O perating S ystem is an Operating system commercialized by Microsoft. Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. See also [[Game classification]] Video games are categorized into Genres based on their Gameplay interaction A puzzle is a Problem or Enigma that challenges Ingenuity. In a basic puzzle one is intended to piece together objects in a logical way in order to Digital media (as opposed to analog media) usually refers to Electronic media that work on digital Codes. In Computing, a keyboard is an Input device partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys In Computing, a mouse (plural mice, mouse devices, or mouses) ANSI art is a computer artform that was widely used at one time on BBSes. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Events Notable releases Namco releases Star Blade, Super World Stadium, Solvalou Tim Sweeney is a Computer game programmer and the founder of Epic Games, and is best known for his work on ZZT and the Unreal engine Epic Games, also known as Epic and formerly as Epic MegaGames, is a Video game development company based in Cary North Carolina, United Unreal is a First-person shooter Computer game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes and published by GT Interactive It remains one of the most popular DOS game creation systems. ZZT itself is not an acronym for anything; its title was simply chosen so it would always appear at the very bottom of newsgroup listings. However, it was later jokingly mentioned by Sweeney as being short for Zoo of Zero Tolerance, which has mistakenly become a popular belief.
ZZT's graphics were obsolete before it was even created; it used the same style of text-mode graphics that Kingdom of Kroz used 4 years earlier. The Kroz series is a series of Video games created by Scott Miller. However, ZZT managed to become fairly popular because of its integration of a simple but effective object-oriented scripting language known as ZZT-OOP. Object-oriented programming (OOP is a Programming paradigm that uses " objects " and their interactions to design applications and computer programs "Scripting" redirects here For other uses see Script. ZZT-oop was an early in-game scripting Programming language, designed by Tim Sweeney, for his computer game ZZT. At the time this was groundbreaking, as most functionality in prior games had been hard-coded. The language allowed extensibility that no other game was able to provide, and allowed a large degree of community involvement that extended far beyond simply creating level terrain with the built-in editor, but rather involved writing programs to make the game run.
Originally ZZT was shareware, with only one of the four level-sets or "worlds" released without payment. The term shareware, popularized by Bob Wallace, refers to Copyrighted commercial Software that is Distributed without payment on a trial The level released with the shareware copy is called Town of ZZT. The shareware versions also included Demo of ZZT, which displayed the basic features of ZZT worlds, and Tour of ZZT, which allowed the player to view select rooms (some playable) of the four worlds. A player of a Game is a participant therein The term 'player' is used with this same meaning both in Game theory and in ordinary recreational Games Three different versions of shareware ZZT were released, with three corresponding registered ZZT versions. With about 30,000 registrations worldwide, ZZT was successful enough to finance the production of Jill of the Jungle, a game seen as Epic Megagames' answer to Apogee classics such as Duke Nukem. Jill of the Jungle is a trilogy of platform Computer games released in 1992 by Epic MegaGames. 3D Realms (legal name Apogee Software Ltd) is the name of a video and computer game producer (not publisher and developer based in Garland Texas, a suburb of Duke Nukem is a platform Video game developed and published by Apogee Software (now 3D Realms featuring the adventures However when the game became obsolete it became freeware, with all four worlds of the registered version released for free. Freeware is computer Software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee The worlds are: "Town of ZZT", "Caves of ZZT", "Dungeons of ZZT", and "City of ZZT"; they can best be described as adventure games.
In the newsletters for the registered version of ZZT, it is apparent that Sweeney initially had not expected the editor to become the most popular feature of his game. A newsletter is a regularly distributed Publication generally about one main topic that is of Interest to its Subscribers Newspapers and Fans' letters to him quickly established this, and Sweeney responded by encouraging registered users to make their own worlds and submit them to him. The best material from these was released in The Best of ZZT.
Basic gameplay of ZZT is very simple. The player is controlled by the 4 cursor keys, and the shift key and a cursor key pressed will shoot a bullet (if the player has ammo). Items that can be picked up include: ammo (each magazine holds 5 bullets), gems (used for currency in most games), torches (used by pressing the T key in darkened rooms, lighting a small area around the player, that moves as the player does), and energizers that give the player temporary invincibility. Enemies include Lions (randomly moving monsters, that may follow the player), Tigers (randomly moving monsters that fire bullets), Ruffians (monsters that chase the player, then rest, then repeat), slimes, and spinning guns.
Third-party worlds for ZZT are diverse, ranging from shoot 'em ups to complex role playing games to a Lemmings clone. A shoot-'em-up (also known as shmup) is a Video game genre of Shooter game in which the player controls a vehicle or character and fights large A computer role-playing game ( CRPG) is a broad Video game genre originally developed for personal computers and other home computers Lemmings is a puzzle computer game, developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in, originally for the Commodore Amiga They range from the simple to the complex, from inane to brilliant. One of the more fascinating aspects of the game is the culture that has built up within and around it: catch phrases, programming tricks, and even some rather remarkable internet personalities. A catch phrase (or catchphrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance Information about the community itself can be found at ZUltimate, the ZZT wiki. Many other games have been inspired by ZZT, such as MegaZeux and ZZT's sequel, Super ZZT, the latter being widely criticized for lacking an easily accessible editor function. MegaZeux, or MZX, is a Game creation system (GCS inspired by Tim Sweeney / Epic Megagames ' classic shareware game ZZT. Super ZZT is the successor to ZZT, created by Allen Pilgrim and Tim Sweeney of Epic Games (then Epic MegaGames
Although it has been many years since Tim Sweeney first wrote ZZT, it still has a cult following. A cult following is a group of fans devoted to a specific area of Pop culture.
Other programs
There are many utilities, resources, and advanced editors available for ZZT.
- A versatile world editor that features a complete palette, a larger backbuffer, a default color mode, and a much better character selector. It is no longer developed (as of July 2, 2005) and is still in an alpha form, but is still usable. Latest release number is v0. 5. 1 .
- Is another, older external editor for ZZT. It has a color chooser, easier to read language editor, support for object libraries and fonts, improved buffer, object, and map sizes, a test function, and a music player. Worlds created using ZZTAE are watermarked. A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in Paper that shows in various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected Worlds found with that became a bannable offense in some ZZT contests. A tool was later released that could eliminate the traces. The newest release is v1. 0. 1 (October 1, 2001).
- SuperWAD
- An unfinished world maker. Only half of its intended features were ever implemented.
- Unlockers
- There are multiple utilities that offer password cracking, for locked ZZT worlds can be edited.
- Engines
- Many ZZT programmers create a working system for a function, for example mouse input, different weapons, advanced menus, etc. , and upload them for other programmers to use.
- Toolkits
- There are a large amount of toolkits for ZZT. They are typically composed of palette and ASCII character boards for quick resource grabbing.
- Frontends
- A few programs that improve how opening and storing ZZT files of the user do exist. Not all of them are complete.
- Cheat programs
- Also called trainers. They set different stats and settings before starting a world, usually with the intention of cheating.
- Patchers
- Simple programs that change parts of ZZTs UI. The user interface (or Human Computer Interface) is the aggregate of means by which people&mdash the users '&mdash interact with the System
- Music makers
- There are many programs and worlds for ZZT that make creating music for its #play command easy.
External links
The Open Directory Project ( ODP) also known as dmoz (from directory MobyGames is a Website devoted to cataloging computer and video games, both past and presentDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic