Business Bob

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                             ZZT/MZX NewsLetter
                                 Issues 1-4
                          Compiled By Chris Kohler

In case you never saw these first issues of the N.L., here is your chance! Each
issue has been kept totally intact, with only the removal of mailing headers
if the NL was originally E-mail.  Included in this file are issues 1-4 of
the NL, also including the only supplement to the NL (1-1) and the results of
issue 3's poll!  So without further ado...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


ISSUE #1


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ZZT/MZX Newsletter 12/20/94
Edition 1

Well as christmas comes around we think of love and- YEAH RIGHT you thought I
was gonna throw that crap at you. 
Well here you go.

Well I think you will like this- Enjoy!

A live discussion will be held 12/24/94 about Advanced ZZT programming, under
private room: ZZTCHAT
If you are intrested in hosting or attending R.S.V.P. 
NL Matt 

The REVIEWS by Chris Kohler,

Ratings:  Perfect\Kewl\Okay\Almost Fun\Poor\Garbage


School Sucks 7
\-------------
Hoo boy.

Y'know, just when I thought it was impossible to make a
crappy ZZT game, someone comes along and makes one. School
Sucks 7 is a very odd game. You just walk around a school
inhabited with demons (?), shoot them, and go on your happy
little way. All the teachers are out to get you and if they
catch you, you're gone. Finito. Of course, you can (and have
to) get rid of the teachers by picking up deadly items. (a
drill bit, a drug needle, a nailed piece of wood) But the
designer conveniently forgot to make killing them any more
than trial-and-error as you don't know which weapon works on
which teacher!

The main plot of this game is to make an atom bomb and blow
up the school. Of course, because of the stupidest
programming bug I have ever seen in my life, the final step
to the detonation keeps circling so you are asked infinitely
if you want to blow up the school.

There is also another stupid programming glitch. When you
play Doom on the Macintosh inside the school, it checks to
see if you have the floppy disk found in another area of the
game. If you play and then get the disk, it doesn't boot the
disk!

Everything else aside, the graphics suck. No shading here!
Just blocks of that obscene color (yellow). Ugh!

Y'know, this is one game I wish I hadn't played.

Rating: Garbage

One Day at School
\----------------

One Day at School has a bad concept. This kid (the designer,
Alex Arrowsmith) sort of threw together a yellow border game
with a ton of name-calling, I guess based on the kids at his
own school. You just walk around and do stuff to people
until you run into one of the endings. There are 3 endings:

1: Get your report card

2: Blow up the school

3: Blow up the school AND get report card

However, no matter how cool the concept of multiple endings
is, this game just doesn't pull it all together. Why is this
piece of trash called a game? Every board is thrown together
sloppily. Just plain BAD!

Rating:Garbage


DilloLand
\--------

Oh thank God! A good game!  In DilloLand, you accidentaly
stumble onto the Dillo planet and have some wacky
misadventures. The first thing you do is enter a town where
you visit imaginative places and also the king, who informs
you that you must go off and find someone else, who gives
you another direction to go, and so on.

As you can see, this is a very linear game (literally - the
whole game progresses in one straight line! But that just
makes it more fun because you don't wander around as much!).
All the situations you, as Dylan the Dillo, can get into are
hilarious - killing Barney, finding 'Kinky 'r Us', and also
playing pinball with some hamsters.

The plot contrasts madly with the general silliness - you
are an armadillo who becomes the savior of the world.
Interesting. There are weapons to get and a bad guy to kill,
so get to it. There are a few bugs, but none of them should
get in the way of playing. All in all, a nice game!

Rating:Kewl


MegaWorld
\--------

MegaWorld is one in a series of "Mega" games. Unfortunately,
the series is poo. Now, this game has a nice title screen
and okay graphics, but the whole thing leaves me feeling
empty.

You are out to save your daughter, but you end up entering
this spaceship and touching a W to win. (I know - this
sounds very stupid). You go in a few basic action level
castles and go on some bland "quests" (finding keys). The
whole game takes place in 4 different one-room castles.

Wait - why am I telling you this? This game is just plain
bad - it's an attempt that just doesn't work. Don't even
think about it.

Rating: Almost Fun


Mission:Enigma
\-------------

You know, after this catastrophe of steenky games that I had
to play (oy), I finally got to relax and re-play one of my
favorite ZZT games, Mission:Enigma by Gregory Janson. This
game has it all: comedy, intrigue, sorrow, drama, suspense,
and everything else imaginable! You play a spy called on to
investigate a strange explosion at a fortress in the year
2040.  From the title screen on, you are caught up in this
game's excitement.

Ah yes: the title screen. Rarely is a title screen, for ANY
game ever made for any system, this good. You (your
character) walks out on the title screen and you are treated
to a display of lightning, monsters, and neat-o keen-o
visual effects while being introduced to the main characters
in the game: You (of course), and your 2 friends who join
the party soon after the first level of the game: Karen and
Maleen, black and white wizards, respectively. Their
personalities give this game a very good overall appeal.

Well, let me start on the gameplay. The main part of this
game is solving puzzles of all kinds. The first main level
is 2 connected boards (the first floor of the castle and the
basement) in which you have to run around picking up items
and just generally solving the huge puzzle which is, how do
I get out of here? The answer is, "By moving boulders,
collecting water, blowing up air vents and just generally
thinking!" It's a lot of fun.

The rest of the game is more linear, as certain smaller
puzzles are presented to you right in a row, with your
friends helping you as they can. But don't think that this
game is all puzzles: it is probably the single most varied
in genre that I have ever seen!

To point out one particular spot, you just avoided drownig
and now you have to face 4 different enemies all fighting
you. This is done in RPG style, where you pick which
character to attack with, to attack or use magic, which
magic to use, and who to attack! There are life bars on the
side, and the battle never loses the whole dramatic aspect
of the game by selling out to "shoot everything" status. In
fact, the story advances as the battle goes on!

But the most awesome thing in this game would have to be its
kill-all be-all game-within-a-game, GEMini! It's an Othello
type game that you play against a supercomputer. The rules
are simple: move your gems around the board and get them in
a row before the computer does. But this requires a deal of
strategy, and like most things in this game, you must not
tale this game for granted, as if you think about how this
game was actually programmed, you will certainly start to
gape at the screen uttering a droning chant of
"howdidhedothathowdidhedothathowdidhedothathow...". I mean
it!

The graphics are superb! The use of color is magnificent.
The sounds are great, and the song at the end of the game is
magnificent.

Well, it looks like I'm almost done with this review, so to
sum up, let me say that ME has an overall professional feel
to it, and that you can't be disappointed by trying it.

Overall: Perfect



Dungeons of MegaZeux - Preview
\_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

I really can't rate this game because it is not complete.
But I will try to tell you about some of its features.

In Dungeons of MZX, a strictly side-scrolling game, you are
an explorer probing the dungeons. The view size is done
well, so you never know what you're going to see but you
never feel helpless. There is no robot editing, but who
needs it with a side scroller anyway? And the character
editor is in full use, so expect a really cool look to this
game.

There are enemies, traps, pits, and lava all waiting for
you, so why panic, right? But you do have extra lives on
your side as well as numerous secret passages - if you can
find 'em! Just dig!

All in all, DoMZX looks very promising and should be one of
the best first-run MZX titles.

Thanks Chris!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Games in the works:
All submissions are cut and paste and are the EXACT words of the letter
submissions.

This games is in the works by NL Spam,
It's about the bounty hunter Boba Fett in star wars!
It's gonna be a real jim dandy!
Expected due date: Febuary 95'

ALL

The MEGAZEUX special article by MW Herbie:
____
MegaZeux Beginner's Help (by Herbie Piland)

 Hello! If something in MegaZeux seems wrong, this article might help
you...read on!

1) Why is MegaZeux so darn slow?

A: MegaZeux's speed depends ALOT on the view size...But don't make every view
size to different from each other when programming, because that will mean
your poor player will to press F2 ALOT to change the speed has the view size
changes.

2) Why do I get an 'Out of Robot Memory' error when I haven't use even half
my robot space.

A: Your boards are too big. Try using smaller board sizes. 100x100 is way too
big. 55x25 works fine, but you can probably make it bigger, it all depends on
how much RAM your computer has.

3) I tried to test my program while in the editor, but it said 'Game Over'
right at the start of the test.

A: This seems to be a bug. It only happens the first time you test.

Well those 3 things are the only things that are really strange about
MegaZeux. If I find anymore, I'll tell you. Next time: Basic Programming!!

Game Trader:
1. ZZT games that are not on AOL contact NL Matt
2. Solution to Solar Winds Pt: 1
3. Barney Bake 2- The Next Inceration

Wanted:
1. Solar Winds 2- Non-shareware
2. Jazz Jackrabbit episodes 2-6 not 1
3. SkyRoads *full version* Non-shareware

IF YOU CAN PROVIDE ANY OF THESE GAMES OR WANT ONE CONTACT NL MATT




Classifeds:

*********EMPTY*********
THIS NL COMES OUT EVERY 2 WEEKS! SO SEND IN YOUR MESSAGES SO THEY CAN BE
DISPLAYED NEXT ISSUE! 

Personal:

*********EMPTY*********
THIS NL COMES OUT EVERY 2 WEEKS! SO SEND IN YOUR MESSAGES SO THEY CAN BE
DISPLAYED NEXT ISSUE! 

I Hope you enjoyed this edition of the Newsletter! Remeber, this is the 1st
edition, the next one should be much better if *YOU* send
in tips, personal, classifeds and much more!
If you want to know what you can send in contact ZZTman1

Please tell me what you think of this Newsletter!
Please tell all your friends about this Newsletter!
DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS? 
IF SO TELL ME!

PLEASE FORWARD THIS LETTER TO YOUR GROUP!
Hyperware etc,

Thank you for being part of this newsletter,
Sincerly,
Matt, Head of staff  

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SUPPLEMENT 1-1

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This is the supplement for the ZZT/MZX Newsletter!
-----------------


Here is my review for ENigma!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----TECH CORNER----

With Charlie Goetzman

TodayÆs topic: Mission: Enigma

Mission: Enigma  shows a tremendous amout of programming ability on the part
of the disigners. It shows good use of flags + excelent compression of code.
The game has a LOT of programming in it, and all of it has been written to be
very fast + efficient. I have allmost NEVER seen anyone do a better job of
ZZT-OOP. I really like the ASCII animation. It shows a great deal of skill.

Ratings:

FLAGS (1-10): 10 ôShows great use of flags in Enigmaö
COMMUNICATION (1-10): 9 ôExcellent communication between robotsö
COMPRESSION (1-10): 6 ôThere were sveral spots where they could have reduced
the size of the game                                    by Cutting back the code, but they didnÆtö

OVERALL: 8.3 ôGreat job,ö

Any Questions or comments? E-Mail me at: 
        Spider124@AOL.COM

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ISSUE #2

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The ZZT/MZX NewsLetter edition #2
-----------------------------------------------------------
Games in the works,
(Compiled by MegaKev)

MZX Kombat
------------------
A TWO player fighting game based on ZZT Kombat.  Adds 3 new players, new music, 
Improved bosses, and TONS of secrets!!!

From Hyperware Feb-Mar 95

Legend of Zelda: Star Quest
----------------------------------------
Continuing the tradition of Zelda Games, Star Quest adds the ability for 
multiple players, Interchangable characters, Spells, New Weapons, and MORE!!! 
From Hyperware/Nintendo Apr 95

Earthworm Jim-MZX
-----------------------------
Based on the best rated game of 94, Earthworm Jim for MZX is a side scroller 
which includes: 8 Main levels, 2 Sub-Levels, character animation, and TONS 
of secrets!!!

From Hyperware Apr-May 95

So You want to Be a Super Hero 4
--------------------------------------------------
The fourth installment in this great series of games from Hyperware continues 
in "The Death and Life of Xeux".  The prelim copy of this looks great, with 
interchangable characters, each with their own abilities, Fighting Style 
Boss-Battles, and a password feature it's sure to be a winner.  (Note to Author 
of Game- How do you pass the robot boss?)

From Hyperware 2nd Quarter 95

Wiseman 3
----------------
Another crossover from ZZT, This continues the classic Wiseman series. The game 
is looks good from the version I played, though it could use some major 
character editing.  Other than that, the varied styles of game play
(overview, sideview, 3-D) make this a fun game and will appeal to fans of the 
original Wiseman series.

From Hyperware 2nd Quarter 95

Yoshi 1 MZX
------------------
A remake of the original ZZT game of Yoshi and the attack of the Mind Warping 
fingernails, this game adds new graphics and features to make it a winner for 
fans of the original Yoshi Game. Only gripe here is that the graphics are 
not much of an improvement over the ZZT version, which makes for a poor 
remake, Sorry Chris.

By YoshiSoft May-Jun 95

NOTE TO ALL GAME WRITERS, SEND A PRELIM COPY OF ANY GAME YOU WISH TO BE IN
THE PREVIEWS SECTION AND IT'S PLANNED RELEASE DATE TO MegaKev CC: NL Matt1 AND I WILL
WRITE IT UP IN THE NEXT NL!
--------------------------------------------------------------

Reviews by Chirs Kolher: (ChrisK2018)

Ratings: Perfect\Kewl\Okie\Almost Fun\Poor\Garbage

Mission:Frog by AricWare/Macrosoft
\-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Well, Mission Frog is one of the last new ZZT games. While
MF is no Island Of Jerks, it certainly is a lot of fun to
play and really shows off Aric's creativity and skill with
ZZT.

You are a frog secret agent who must rescue the SuperFrog who
was given super powers through makeup testing. On your way
you travel through the Frog HQ which has some nice graphics
and effects to the FBI HQ where you must run some mini-quests
in the style of IOJ to find secret passcodes to enter the
building. Aric's irreverently funny dialogue style is really
showed off here.

Once inside the FBI building you are treated to a basic boss
battle and the final animated scene. If this sounds like a
short game, it is! But it is still a lot of fun. You will
definately be happy playing this one.

Rating: Kewl

The Bob Series
\-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It's hard to define the Bob series - it's less a game to play
and more a comedy act. They are pretty funny, but don't
excpect much action or adventure from them.

Bobs 1 and 2 are called Business Bob 1 and 2 and their
character is Business Bob from the Bob family.  Along the way
you meet up with a wide variety of characters, such as
Hamster Bob, Pizza Bob, and Moron Bob, who all resemble their
names.  Business Bob is called such because he is out to get
a job in Sick Co. in these games. At the end of Bob 2, he
transforms into Hero Bob, a generic superhero and Hero Bob 3
takes it from there. These games, as I said, are more like
jokes. They're worth the quick download if you want to see
something wacky, but if you want a game, well...

Rating: Okie



SPECIAL ARTICLES FOR THE NEWSLETTER

MZX: The first generation of 3rd party games in the works

     Well, MegaZeux has been out for a while now and what
we've all been seeing is a rash of "30% complete!" games
coming out. Just to compile all these together and give you a
broad spectrum of the future of MZX, let's take a look at
these titles:

So You Want To Be A Super Hero 4 and Ghost are arriving from
Hyperware's Phontam. SYWTBASH4 is just like the ZZT versions:
a ZZT Kombat style fighter. With a nice intro, SYWTBASH4 is
an interesting looking game. Ghost is a two-player battle
style game. One player is the hero and one is the Ghost. They
both shoot it out on a battlefield and try to off each other.
A basic game, but pretty fun with 2 players.

Donkey Kong Country MZX is coming from SmokeySoft/HyperWare
and, while the graphics need a little work, it remains
faithful to the series. Not a bad game idea. I haven't seen
much of it, so I can't actually tell you much about the play.
Also, SmokeySoft is developing a fighting game engine
tentatively titled MZXKombat. We shall see what the future
holds for this engine - the preliminary game in which the
engine was built in is titled HyperWare vs. MacroSoft.

YoshiSoft/HyperWare is developing Yoshi I MZX, a souped-up
version of the original Yoshi ZZT. Following Yoshi I will be
Yoshi 4 Part 2.

And finally, /