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║ ── │ June 1996 │ v │ ^ ║
╟────┴─────────────────────────────────┴───┴───╢
║ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ║
║ │ \ │ │ │ │ The Year of ║
║ │ \│ │ │ │ MEGAZEUX! ║
║ │ │\ │ │ │ ║
║ │ │ \ │ ┌─┐ │ └────┐ ┌─┐ ║
║ └──┘ └──┘ └─┘ └───────┘ └─┘ ║
║ ──────────────────────────────── ║
║ ║
║ Volume 3 "Stylin' Profilin" ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝
ZZT-MZX Newsletter Issue 5 (The Issue to Summer Vacation)
Head Of Staff: E. CyberBRO
THE STAFF: DeadPhrog, Owcp, and STRIKESOFT
+-------------------+
▌ PACK-IN'S include ▌
+---------------------------------------------------------+
*None*
+---------------------------------------------------------+
The Tiger's Den
White Tiger Productions
THKirk (A.K.A. Tim Hamilton)-Pres.
Hello from wet Oregon. Thanks to many rainy days I have had many
oportunities to do some MZXing lately. Most things are doing well. Other
things are at a dead standstill (such as Empire). The good news is that
Goobers, the creation of one James Heuberger, is almost done. This game
features a weapons inventory controled by a global robot. In the game you
are able to collect, select, and use various items and weapons. This robot
has taken many hours of hard work, and reprograming, and has shown some great
results. This game will also feature different char sets, original music,
and a TOTALY original plot. Watch for Goobers sometime this summer. It is
possible, however, that Goobers will be delayed in comeing out. Jim is
moving to Kansas City this summer, so he will most likely be a little busy.
Also underway is Omega-D. I have found a very nice way to make various
corridors and rooms connect without showing the other side of the door. It's
quite simple. First, make four chars of a door, one for each direction.
Then edit chars in the global menu, and change the transport chars to your
door char. Then all you have to do is make your rooms and connect them all
with transports. Sure it's a litle low tech, but hey, it works!
Unfortunatly, to my dismay, Empire has hit a total standstill, I have a
wonderful plot for it, music all ready, but I just cant seem to get it all
into robotic. If anyone would like to take over the empire project, they are
welcome to do so, just send me some mail asking. Takeover is also on hold.
However, unlike Empire, Takeover will be continued once Omega-D is finished.
By the way, would anyone be interested in seing my first ever MZX game. It
is actualy finished, with no bugs that I can find. I would like to have at
least four people test it for me, and send back comments. If all goes well
I'll release it to the public. And as always, I love comments. If you want
to see a game made, or just want to comment about an existing game, then
drop me a line at THKirk@aol.com
ICE!
ICE! by Comthought@aol.com (also known as dbwilli@scsn.net) has
a great plot, great graphics, great programming, and great chars! Anyway,
just look at the parts of this "article" and find out more about ICE!
Part I: The story!
Part II: Special features and other stuff about ICE!
Part III: Help needed!
Part IV: About moi!
Part I: The Story
You are a secret agent for S.N.O.B., a secret government society.
You (being their best spy) were picked to go infiltrate the evil
B.A.D.G.U.Y.S.'s base on the north pole. Their base is holding several
nuclear warheads. They have told the president of the U.S. that if they
do not receive $999,000 then they will set off the warheads on the U.S.
only. Being as the government doesn't have that much money, they had to send
a spy to disarm the warheads. So, the prez picked up his cellular phone, and
dialled 555-SNOB. The S.N.O.B. "boss" picked it up, heard about the problem,
and sent you! You ran out of the facility, and onto one of those hi-tech
airplane thingies. A driver was already waiting. The hi-tech airplane thingy
took off. It took a long time to get to the North Pole, but once you were
above the base, you jumped out of the hi-tech airplane thingy. Then you
noticed something- you forgot your parachete! Luckly you landed in a soft
pile of snow.....
Part II: Special features and other stuff about ICE!
In ICE!, you will see beautiful graphics, looked over by Spectrum12
himself! Not to mention good chars done by me, DeadPhrog, and Spectrum12!
ICE! is expected to have a 3-D maze, going through the heating vents. ICE!
will have many things you need to get, including a LapTop computer! In the
game, there will be a town, which includes a police station, a transit
system, and a general store. Your weapons in ICE! will be snowballs. There is
even a help part, which tells you what everything is, and has a special
little donkey kong like game. I might even put in an inventory screen.....
If you want any info about ICE!, then E-Mail me at Comthought@aol.com or
dbwilli@scsn.net (for fastest reply, send to dbwilli@scsn.net). Oh, yes, ICE!
will be for MZX. And no, it's not a parody of anything. I just made S.N.O.B.
for a laugh or two. ICE!'s release date has been set for August 1, 1996. No
garuntees that it'll actually come out then, though. It might even come out
before then.... afterall, I have all summer to work on it! ICE! origionated
in my mind. I did not copy anything to get the plot. I thought of everything
myself.
Part III: Help needed!
Here's what I need (for ICE!): two beta testers, two *.mod and *.sam
makers, and I also need everyone to give me suggestions on what I should put
in the game. If you get to be a beta tester, a music maker, or give me
suggestions, then I'll put you in the credits. If you're a beta tester or a
music maker, then you get the final version of ICE! before anyone else. If
you want to apply, then E-Mail me at Comthought@aol.com or dbwilli@scsn.net
(like I said before, for fastest reply, send E-Mail to dbwilli@scsn.net)
Part IV: About moi!
My name is Stephen Williams. I started my programming with ZZT in
1994. It was either mid or late 94 when I started, I'm not really sure,
though. There are four people in my family. I live in Leesville, SC. Every
year my town has a poultry festival. It's pretty big. I have one brother,
his name is Matt Williams, otherwise known as Spectrum12. His game, COOLNESS,
made him famous on AOL and a little famous on the web. I started MZX in the
summer of 1995. Even though I was a "newbie" to MZX, I made a fairly good
game. I soon got even more fascinated in MZX, but there was something in that
old ZZT game that for some reason, made me switch back. I made two short ZZT
games, one called PipeLine, and the other called ZZT PD. Once I was done with
those, I got back into MZX. I now program both ZZT and MZX. At the moment,
I'm doing ICE! in MZX. I do have one game planned to make. It will be like
the Ultima series, or, if you don't know of those games, then it will be
kinda like the Savage Empire (I doubt any of you have played either of them).
It will be an RPG. Several weapons, people you can talk to, people that'll
join you're party. It is expected to be done late 1997 (if I even decide to
make it, that is). If I make it, then it will be for MZX. If I learn C++
fast enough, then I'll make it using C++.
-----------------------------------------------------
E. CyberBRO: You know, you Comthough, and I traveled a similar path. Check
it out:
COMTHOUGH E.CYBERBRO
--------- ----------
Started in Mid or late '94 Started in January '94
Switched to MZX in summer '95 Started MZX in January '95
--==|Both Decided to finish ZZT games before switching over completely|==--
And Both with Future MZX plans.
*Sorry, I just had to point that out*
------------------------------------------------------
The Critic Corner
=================
by E. CyberBRO
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
NAME: Mecha Man Trilogy
GRADE: C-
SIZE: 153K, 171K
QUOTES: Mecha Man "The game took 6 months to be released. I PUT A LOT OF
WORK INTO THIS." | Mecha Man 2: "This will be the biggest game for
Megazeux."
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The Plus side:
1. Someone makes a Megaman Clone (Even though I think I critique this
already a while back)
2. Well, ummm......
The Minus side:
1. Definately sloppy.
2. The first quote makes you wonder what he was doing during those
six months.
3. Trilogy, eh? It is setup in a terrible way. I think two Mechaman
games are in one but you can't really tell.
4. Guess what? One of the stages still won't work in V2.0. This is
the dumbest message in Megazeux EVER. Unless there is a 3.0 out.
5. The Graphics look like garbage.
6. The levels are basicly crap.
7. Worst of all, It's Version 2.0 of Mechaman.
6. The Second quote is silly for him to believe that his 171K game
he considers the biggest game for Megazeux when my spell book in
my game takes up more space. (Unfortunately, I have to fix that)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
NAME: Morphic Fighting 1.0
PACKED: 800+K
SIZE: 74K
GRAGE: D-
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The Plus side:
1. The character graphics and animation, but nothing more.
The Minus side:
1. It looks pretty promising until you use the left & right arrow
keys and space bar. Your character breaks up into itty bitty
pieces. (I laughed at that though when I typed this)
2. Since you basicly have no moves you die no matter what.
3. The funny thing is, at the end it says "fatality". Well, It
doesn't matter since your character falls apart anyway.
4. The disappointing part is the size of the game in comparison with
the size of the package it comes with. In other words "Don't
download it."
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
NAME: Star Wars X-Wing
PACKED: 46K
SIZE: 50K
GRAGE: C
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The Plus side:
1. Nice concept.
2. Pretty good characters.
The Minus side:
1. The engine needs a little tune up.
2. Graphics need improving.
3. When you crash, you really do crash!
4. Action gets repetative.
These games need a serious make over with Greg Janson MZX Encyclopedia. You
can downloaded at certain Megazeux sites.
That's it for the NL. The Megazeux game are starting to pick up and there
should be more games online soon. Until then, stay tuned for next months NL.
E. CyberBRO
The NL - Volume 3 Issue 6 (The Issue to Summer Vacation)
Inside: The Tiger's Den, ICE! Preview, The Critic Corner,
Published: Jun 30, 1996
Part of Series: NL
