♦ Livestream of the ZZT world "Compound" by Anthony Testa, BlueMagus (1998) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/compound/]. ♦
A really unique world about the demise of a utopia and rummaging around in the ruins.
This is one that quickly became a favorite after I played through it for a Closer Look back in 2020 (https://museumofzzt.com/article/view/446/closer-look-compound/). After World War 3 results in the death of most of humanity, the survivors band together to build a new world without the problems of the old, and succeed!
Man unites under science and spirituality, creates a utopian society in the South American rain forest, focused on living peacefully and gaining a greater understand of the world we live in. This is the Compound, and life is good.
At least until David gets it in his head that you cannot rebuild a better world and must start from scratch, attacking the Compound's core generator resulting in a cataclysmic event that takes out the remnants of society.
When you awaken, decades have passed and you must figure out what happened after the explosion and, well, you kind of just wander as there's not really any plan. Humanity is dead.
What you get is a game with some excellent atmosphere, exploring ruined apartments, labs, and fighting the requisite mutated animals that are no longer being kept outside. Despite the hopeless situation, Testa manages to give the game a happy, if deus ex machinae ending.
It suffers a bit from some lengthy backtracking, especially if you're missing an item (or are arbitrarily forced to only hold piece of wiring at a time), and the resources are quite tight. Ammo and torches are easy to run out of, while a lack of healing items makes the fast-moving creatures quite deadly.
If you dwell on the story too much it doesn't make all that much sense, but as a tale of teenage optimism to create a better future it's hard not to see the game as a surprisingly positive one.
The author also looooooves including lyrics to Billy Joel songs at various points in the game, which is a lot of fun and had me cheering every time they showed up.
♦ Play this world directly in your browser ♦
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/compound/
♦ Originally streamed on July 19th, 2024 ♦
