Hunt

♦ Livestream of the following 4 ZZT worlds ♦
• (0:00) "Hunter (v.1471)" by ZZTChamp (1995) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/hunter1471/]
• (20:41) "Hunt" by Appliance (2003) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/hunt/]
• (41:39) "Indy's Climbing Expedition" by ZZTechno (2004) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/climb/]
• (47:56) "Indy Jones in The Lost Forest of The Ancients" by Unknown [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/indylost/]
(Originally streamed December 4th, 2022)

A mixture of games about hunting not-treasures, and then games starring Indiana Jones hunting actual-treasures.

Hunter starts off as a shooting gallery type of game that wasn't all that engaging as the actual targets needed to advance to the next level rarely did anything. After a few levels the gameplay shifts to more of the expected style of ZZT action, with Aslan as the villain. Nothing other than the name connects this to Narnia in any way, so it's a tough say on whether or not it's supposed to be _that_ Aslan, or just the author thinking "cool name, what are the odds anybody has heard of this guy before".

One of the boss fights stood out with Aslan producing walls that faded away making it difficult to consistently aim shots and forcing players to fight at close range, shooting near Aslan instead of at him directly. Definitely the high point of the game which otherwise was perfectly fine, but not really gripping in any way.

Appliance's "Hunt" is an arcade style game where the village's hunters are out of town for a week. They foolishly placed you in charge of keeping all 100 villagers alive for an entire week. Each day the player goes to a new arena to try and bag as many tigers, bears, deer, and wild chickens as possible in order to get enough food to keep the villagers alive. Different animals behave in unique ways and provide differing amounts of food. If you don't get enough food, the difference results in villagers starving with multiple endings at the end based on the player's progress.

Despite the simple premise, I found myself really getting into the game. I did a very good job from the second day onward. Let's not talk about the 40 people that died on the first day.

Indy's Climbing Expedition is the third game, which is barely started and marked as incomplete. A breathless man arrives at Indy's house, and the two very slowly walk to the kitchen before the man spills coffee on himself, killing him instantly. Great. Villains are shown flying to Indy's house and then the game just stops on what appears to be either a numeric lock or perhaps an unfinished drawing of a pay phone.

Lastly, Indy Jones in the Lost Forest of the Ancients is a complete adventure, beginning with Indy wrapping up a lecture at the university before "Shorty" demands they go to Brazil where a lost temple was recently discovered. The game is full of oversized rooms that make the action avoidable and the walkin slow. Indy finds the treasure and goes home. Another basic game that doesn't do a terrible job, but isn't all that compelling.

All in all, an okay set.

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