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Always interesting to find out this information. My day job requires me to convert old Pascal code on occasion.

It does seem weird how C managed to completely supplant Pascal during the 1990s. I guess it was just better.

Putting finishing touches on the game. The boss room is finished. For the most part, only the music is left.

Starting to wonder if the narrative might get me into some legal trouble. Probably not, but hey, I'd never forgive myself if I didn't try.

Still designing the final boss room. Achievements now work; high scores now work. I wanted to compose some more music for the game, too. You might have listened the main theme on the Hall of Music page already; that's only one of four that I'd like to have. Unfortunately, covers take time to compose.

Most of the map is now finished. That's nearly 40 rooms, all with their own spawn sequences and unique subtleties. Several times during development, I've had to nerf the difficulty settings. Some rooms that are a cinch under normal circumstances become nearly unbeatable when a hunter challenges you....

About 2/3 through the level design now. Two hunters now finished, including one that chases you around with a flamethrower. Needless to say, in a one-hit kill game with a closed arena and limited lives, this boss battle is designed to be terrifying. The Running Man is turning out to be quite influen...

I recently added a new dynamic to the Smash ZZT room progression: minibosses that may or may not challenge you during the playthrough. If you find their "home" rooms, you'll fight right away. If not, they'll randomly challenge you in a room later in the play order. The first hunter design ...

Since most rooms are near-carbon copies of other rooms, I've been steadily building and testing them at a decent rate. Still have over 30 to build, though--that takes time, no matter which way you look at it. The game will have four skill levels: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Ultra. The YouTube video I po...

Just to let everyone know, I'm not avoiding posting the next version for lack of work. At the same time I'll post Smash ZZT , I'll release the next version of ZZT Ultra. Since Smash ZZT will be the first "real" game released for this platform, I think it will be safe to start the version n...

I worked out the site 503 error. And I'm done using WordPress for the foreseeable future.

Took a break from gameplay design and focused on the GUIs and cut scenes; nearly all of them are done now.

This is going to be the title screen. As you can see, it's shamelessly self-aware of its cheap nature. As any decent ZZT game should be.

I just learned of an account suspension...no idea why at this point. I'm trying to communicate with the hosting agency now. This happened one day after upgrading the MySQL and WordPress functionality...I am inclined to believe this isn't a coincidence. UPDATE: Malware, apparently, from the supposed ...

Smash ZZT will run only in ZZT Ultra (as a .WAD file). It will not require DosBox. This screenshot is an example of the full-page GUIs that are shown when telling the story. You don't need to construct them out of actual ZZT boards anymore. I do think the GUI editor could stand to have a better inte...

Commodore, it's fitting you talk about "narrative." Smash ZZT will indeed be action-oriented, but it will have a few cut scenes at the beginning and end of the adventure. While it might seem that mindless action is devoid of narrative, that has never been entirely true of Williams shooters...

Since descriptions can't do this game justice anymore, I'll just let you see a minute of footage.

https://youtu.be/I0E3Bj89dec

If you are wondering, most rooms will not be this balls-to-the-wall hectic, at least on the normal difficulty.

I just completed all the basic types for Smash ZZT! You'll see plenty of lions, ruffians, bombs, centipedes, bears, tigers, spinning guns, and much more. Some new enemies didn't really fit into the ZZT world but will still be present because they're Smash T.V. staples: stepmines, orbs. Orbs attack i...