♦ Livestream of 3 ZZT worlds. ♦
♦ Stream Contents ♦
• (1:15) "The World of Joe Shmoe" by Shadow9600 (2022) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/joeshmoe/]
• (58:31) "Cyberia 2: Return of Cyberia" by Unknown [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/cyberia2/]
• (12:27:17) "Grand Theft Auto ZZT" by ZZTechno (2003) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/gta/]
An assortment of worlds with little to link them together.
"Joe Shmoe" winds up being the big star of the set. Joe has a case of amnesia, and has to piece together his identity and what happened. This would be easier if anyone would actually listen to him. Instead, he has to fight off assassins in his home, acquire a fake ID, commit corporate espionage, learn how to use computers, and avoid getting run over on the deadliest road in the country.
It's a really fun adventure! You get to roam fairly freely, unlocking new locations as you accomplish things, and piecing together what items will be used where. The amnesia plot is handled well enough that you can't help but wonder who this guy is that's popular at the bar, but less so at the bank and police station.
The author does have answers for Joe, with the revelation of his past putting a new spin on the beginning of the game. It's good stuff.
What's less good is that the author hates clearing flags. There's no hope of getting through the game as intended partially due to the flag limit, but also because of a few conversation trees that check for flags, but only fire once. Talk to the bartender without enough gems to buy a key? You'll never have that conversation again. Navigate dark back alleys a little too slowly? Torches are next to impossible to find and you'll be left int he dark. Clear some flags by hand? You'll still run into some coding errors that prevent scenes from functioning properly. It's a darn shame, as this one was a blast to play when it managed to keep itself together.
...Then it's off to Cyberia 2. A sequel to an unknown game that is an absolute chaotic mess. Villains that don't look like villains are fought and then named after being defeated. Passage errors are everywhere. Boards are flooded with items or enemies, and the writing is a tad cursed. Nobody can stop you from saying "boob" in a ZZT game, and the author of this one really embraced that fact. Watch out for Cyberia's triangular breasts that would put PS1 Lara Croft to shame . Oh, and then one board has you race past rapid fire spinning guns while using slime as shield, showing an out of nowhere clever board concept as you fight CYBERMOLD (THE BOSS).
Lastly, it's a GTA ZZT demo. It's rather short, with nothing much to do other than explore your apartment with its open-air bathroom. It's got plenty of detail in letting the player brush their teeth, spit into the sink, eat their breakfast, etc etc. but lacks anything auto, grand, or theft. A single enemy attacks you when you head downstairs with no context as to who they are or why they're after you. (Apparently they're a cop.)
♦ Play these worlds directly in your browser ♦
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/joeshmoe/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/cyberia2/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/gta/
♦ Originally streamed on November 10th, 2024 ♦
