There comes a time when a species has to evolve in order to survive. I'm not saying that we need to make ZZT overly complicated with feature creep, but something has to give. You may have failed to notice the lack of activity around here lately. I want to see the ZZT community alive and kicking again, with all the same bizarre dickgirl, down's syndrome celebrations that once filled us with joy.Saxxon wrote:ZZT is not coded well and doesn't have a lot of features. Its limitations are at times really unusual. But that's why we love it. These kinds of limitations are what brings creativity out of people.
I like to relate it to the demoscene. People are still creating demos for the Commodore 64 and the Spectrum. Instead of thinking outside the box, they are making the best of the box they've been given. It's easier to throw more hardware at a problem than it is to make due with what's already there.
When you have a small canvas, you don't need to fill as much space to complete a project. It doesn't require several people or several years. What defines a good project is what's done between the corners. When you have less to fill, you are less concerned about filling up all that negative space. It's about being clever with the space you already have.
We love it because it's simple. You don't even need to know all of it. I'm glad they don't just toss you a clean slate and expect you to create everything from the ground up. Built-ins give it flavor. They make it easy for new players to identify what's a passage and what's ammo. I like the fact that you are limited to 256 characters (on most setups, the code page 437 ones). You don't have to be an artist and you don't have to be a musician and you don't have to be a coder to make something good.
It's true that ZZT's limitations inspire ingenuity in some. I'm not asking to destroy that with excessive improvements, I just want to see a little change, rather than stagnation.
Note that I don't think Megazeux style improvements is the right way to go. I actually like Quantum's idea of further simplifying ZZT, whilst adding some hidden improvements for those elite users who want them.
I would be happy to start a new ZZT clone project. The thing I don't want to get bogged down in is trying to replicate functionality in ZZT right down to the obscure bugs, and eccentric program behaviour. We need a new program that superficially resembles ZZT, whilst being more modern and powerful.
