About ZZT

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Q: What is ZZT?

A: ZZT is an old DOS-based Game Creation System. It lets you make your own adventure games; however, with a little practice, you can use it to make just about any kind of 2-D game.

Q: Why should I be interested?

A: There are several reasons:

• There are thousands of free ZZT games online!
• Programming in ZZT can be a fun hobby.
• You can make friends in the ZZT online community.
• If you are creative/artistic, making your own games is a great way to express yourself.
• You can become well-known in the community, if you make good games.

Q: Any disadvantages?

A: Some people complain about the simple graphics, but remember: You shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Q: Sounds neat. How much does it cost?

A: It's free! Because it's outdated (It uses ASCII characters for graphics), Epic Megagames released it as freeware.

Q: Where can I download it?

A: Here, and many other places.

Q: How much skill does it take to write a ZZT game?

A: You can start with no programming skill at all by using pre-programmed objects. However, if you learn ZZT-OOP (The ZZT programming language), you can make your own objects.

Q: Where can I learn this ZZT-OOP language?

A: Z2 has some documentation, although it doesn't describe every feature of the language. If you can start up ZZT and get into the board editor, press "H" to get a help file. Also, the ZZT help files are available online on the Mystical Winds Homepage.

Q: How do I play ZZT games?

A: Once you have the .ZZT file, move it to the folder where ZZT is installed. Start up ZZT. After ZZT has been configured, press the Escape key to get rid of the message box, and press "W" to get a list of ZZT games. Use the arrow keys to scroll down to the game you want, and press Enter to select. Then, press "P" to play.
Note: All .ZZT files on this site are "zipped." To unzip them, you need Winzip, or another zipping utility.

Q: Hey! Where are the thousands of games you promised?

A: The majority of the games can be found on Z2, a large archive of ZZT games, utilities, and other stuff. A newer archive is ZZTPlanet - not very big, but growing. Some games can be found on personal sites like this one, as well as company pages. To get a list of links, click here.

Q: You said "company." Can you make money by programming ZZT?

A: Epic Megagames gives you permission to sell ZZT games, but you probably wouldn't find a customer. In the community, the word "company" means "Group of people who make free ZZT games."

Q: What do I do if I can't figure something out?

A: E-mail me at: cipher110@yahoo.com.