♦ Livestream of 2 ZZT worlds. ♦
♦ Stream Contents ♦
• (2:21) "BladeWare Magazine #1" by JAM1013 [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/blademag1/]
• (16:04) "DarkMage Software Magazine 1" by DarkMage [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/dmage/]
• (30:21) "DarkMage Software Magazine 2"
• (45:47) "DarkMage Software Magazine 3"
• (1:18:56) "DarkMage Software Magazine 4"
Perusing a number of ZZT magazine worlds in search of powerful opinions, previews of games that weren't meant to be, and weird minigames thanks to the unique to ZZT idea of the magazine itself being in-engine.
Beginning with BladeWare, which showcases a number of great faces with ads for BladWare's lone "Demon Attack" release ...and lone "Demon Attack" review. Plus promotional material for "Demon Attack".
It tries to include some more novel features at least! There's a puzzle that turns out to be the world's simplest transporter maze and a platformer engine that really struggles with gravity.
But it's the compilation of DarkMage magazines that really take the focus here. The upload contains 14 issues, making it one of ZZT's longest running releases.
The first issue offers reviews for Nightmare and The Star Wars Combat Simulator, has a preview of an unreleased Quake ZZT game, some secret (and well drawn) Marilyn Manson art, and a comedy movie to watch assuming you can find the one identical seat in the empty theater that starts the animation. Game of the Month: Mission Enigma. What a shocker.
Issue two brings in more material from other members of the company, namely a preview of "Phsyco-Ville" with a fully playable first stage which makes for a solid demo of a game that actually did get a release. More reviews of some contemporary games which is always appreciated. Especially since they're a few paragraphs rather than a sentence or two. Game of the Month: Code Red. What a shocker.
The third issue lets players meet the full team in an office setting. An arcade is added with "Chaos Maze" a series of 5 mazes that are all unplayable out of the box due to passage errors. Working around this you get ...a maze. Sometimes a maze with slime to out run. It ends with a number of doors to identical bosses where only one lets you reach the exit, and the others trap you forever. Rough stuff.
There are more reviews than ever, sadly of games that aren't exactly of high quality. Game of the Month: Best of ZZT Part 1. An actual surprise pick.
The previews include concept art for Adam Land, a game with a rough premise of dunking on some annoying kid the author dislikes at school, but the giant art of him being served up smileys to consume whole before demanding more is a real piece of art.
Finally for the stream, issue four provides us with AOL screennames for the company members with Internet access, reviews of several worlds, and some almost interesting arcade games (plus an apology for the broken arcade last issue). You get a game where you rob a convenience store of its beer and cash, evading police and an angry clerk with a shotgun. As well as a subpar duplicator-laden survival game where you steer a ship from side to side and blast incoming alien ships. It does have some novelty in power up objects that run across the top of the play field which could be a fun way to enhance one of these shooters, but the format here doesn't really benefit from it. Lastly, "Assassin at Skullwatch Keep" which sounds like a cool stealth game, that ends up being about finding a dagger in an otherwise empty building and stabbing a sleeping commander. Game of the Month: Escape From Planet Red.
♦ Play these worlds directly in your browser ♦
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/blademag1/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/dmage/
♦ Originally streamed on August 30th, 2024 ♦
