♦ Livestream of the following 2 ZZT worlds ♦
• "Castle Trilogy" by Guy Srinivasan [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/castlegs/]
• (47:33) "Castle Siege" by Doc [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/doc_castle/]
(Originally streamed November 20th, 2022)
Two zip files bring us four games that in theory feature castles prominently.
Castle Trilogy is buck wild. It does not feel like a "castle" in any real sense, and is mostly an arrangement of random creatures and obstacles with very messy code that makes it impossible to figure out where you're going or what you should be doing. Lots of editor dipping for this series.
Usually, with a trilogy you'd expect the author to hone their craft with each entry. I guess this is still technically true, as the games get a little more pleasant to look at and the use of objects does increase throughout the games. Practically speaking, all three are confounding with the fun primarily coming from the fact that these were being streamed to an equally lost audience.
At least Castle Siege delivered! While still feeling very much like an off the cuff adventure designed one board at a time with no real plan, it had some charm to it. Play as an archer with a wizard friend as you try to save various kingdoms from monster attacks. It even features King Link of Hyrule. Well, mentions at least. Hyrule is in pretty rough shape. Things get a little more exciting when you reach the Town of ZZT and get to enter its dungeons. It's cute and has some memorable moments: particularly the characters talking about how checkered floors are always a bad sign, plus the ability to betray your friend at the end and take all the credit!
Alas, the end board also suddenly drops the f-slur, ending what would be a simple yet enjoyable little adventure in a very negative way. This is not the world I've seen that ends up doing something like this. RIP.
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