ZZT (computer game)
| ZZT | |
|---|---|
| Studio | Epic MegaGames |
| Senior Developer | Tim Sweeney |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1991 |
| platform | MS-DOS |
| genre | Action computer game |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | keyboard |
| language | English |
ZZT is an action computer game published in 1991 by Tim Sweeney . Special features are the level editor contained in the package and its own scripting language, with which you can create your own game worlds.
Game description
The graphic is made up of colored characters from the extended ASCII character set code page 437 and was no longer up-to-date when it was published. The only graphic "design" is to modify the pixel resolution of the text mode so that there are no gaps between the characters and the appearance on surfaces appears smoother.
The game was published as shareware by Epic MegaGames . One of the four prefabricated worlds was freely playable and the rest had to be activated by registering the game.
The game principle was very simple: the character was controlled with the arrow keys and shots were fired with the space bar if the player still had ammunition.
Scripting language
ZZT is based on the event-driven scripting language ZZT-oop developed by Sweeney for the game . The name stands for " object-oriented programming ".
Each script component is defined as an attribute of a certain type of game character, the so-called objects. The scripting language was a groundbreaking innovation at the time of publication, but it has some fundamental limitations. The commands in the script enable them to perform basic actions on the other characters. However, a number of functions are missing, such as B. the movement on the water, or scene change commands. Mathematical and Boolean operations are completely absent. The variables are limited to global Boolean variables, so-called flags , as well as the strange possibility of declaring jump labels to be invalid. As a result, you cannot pass variable arguments to any statement.
Clones and editors
Listed here are some external editors and clones from ZZT.
- DreamZZT is an open source ZZT engine for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux and SEGA Dreamcast.
- KevEdit is a versatile editor for ZZT. Since the release of version 0.5.1 on July 2, 2005, the editor has not been further developed.
- ZZTAE is an older editor for ZZT. It offers, among other things, a color changer, an improved text editor, support for object libraries and other fonts, and a music changer. The last version is 1.0.1 from October 1, 2001.
- DirectZZT is an open source game written in C # , the aim of which is to simulate and improve ZZT as closely as possible without being a direct copy. It relies on modern technology such as DirectX (where the “Direct” in DirectZZT comes from, although it is actually XNA ). It is in a very early phase, which is why not many features have been built in yet. Is planned u. a. 100% compatibility with ZZT-oop, the saved games and worlds of ZZT, multiplayer mode with up to 4 players, a new, improved worlds / saved game format (ZML) and a new, improved and expandable scripting language ( Powerscript ) which ZZT worlds more Opportunities.
Footnotes
- ↑ DreamZZT ( Memento from July 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ KevEdit at SourceForge
- ↑ ZZTAE ( Memento from October 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ OpenHub.net: DirectZZT. Retrieved June 27, 2017 .
Web links
- ZZT Heaven - Fan Website (English)
- ZZT at MobyGames (English)