GhoZZTown

[EdwinFox]

(I had absolutely no idea on where I'd put this post, chose here because why not)

So. There I was, talking with some friends about the olden school times and the games and things we used to do and play.

Then I mentioned ZZT. Dear Lord, those were three letters I hadn't put together since wha, since the early 00s.

Well then, some diving in the internet and phew I found this nice underwater cave where you people have been all these years and I warn't aware of ever since. By crawling through some of you guys' posts of yore, it saddens me to think on all the fun I've missed here.

Some words. I first met ZZT back in the 90s, can't quite remember where, either one of those shareware-laden CDrom magazines or some shady floppy disc shared by some even more shady guy at school. Thing is, I felt in love with it and soon made it spread like measles to all the friends I had back then. We would then share our creations with one another, wondering whether there'd be others like us around the world who'd be also making ZZT games.

Little did we know eh. Words don't spread so quickly down here in the jungle.

Yepp... so, that's it. Despite a wee bit late, I created an account here just to say: I love/d ZZT, it was my second experience in 'programming' (first was BASIC). I'd really have loved to have joined here sooner (not 15-something years late). And another curious thing: By skimming and browsing hither and thither, by seeing those custom smilies, the kind of humour, I guess us ZZT dinosaurs do have something in common besides ZZT.

We're all weird, each on each's own way but in a way we kinda understand each other's lunacy.

And that made me smile this afternoon.



Thank you guys. I just hope this post doesn't go unread for the next ten years or so. A better end would be for this to end up in some weird post-apocalyptic Museum of Internet or something.

I'd love to hear some reply and stay in touch.

Edwin Fox

[Appetite4]

Oh, your post is definitely read by those dedicated enough to check. Like you, I started with BASIC first, ZZT second.

Mind you, not the best languages if you really want to do damage. But accessible, no doubt.

We all appreciate old-school enthusiasts who keep in touch. If there is any reason why people would check in and then check out of the ZZT world for long periods of time, it's because of life. Life gets in the way of a good ZZT-building exercise. And the longer you live, the more it interferes.

I'd like to think the spirit of world-building still lives on, though. Fortnite seems to be scratching a serious itch for many up-and-coming gamers. And of course there is the juggernaut that is Minecraft, which has become almost ubiquitous as the "you-can-build-anything" application.

[zamros]

Hey! Sorry we missed you the last 20 years or so. Honestly it's probably better that you stayed out of things, and particularly away from teenaged Me, because I was a pretty toxic piece of crap. But still, it warms my heart to hear stuff like this. I also used to wonder about all the ZZT communities that were just within groups of in-person friends, and it's nice to see that that suspicion is confirmed.

Anyway, I don't know if you've been privy to this, but our own Dr. Dos has been doing a lot of good stuff for preservation and awareness of major touchstones in the lifetime of the ZZT Community, headquartered at https://museumofzzt.com/ and with a twitter presence over at https://twitter.com/worldsofzzt

It's good to see you and keep on ZZTing, or don't, because no one is.

[EdwinFox]

Yep @Appetite4, I believe the old Gorilla game was one of the first games I ever played on our greenscale 80286 PC (along with Montezuma, Alley Cat, and Sierra's timeless adventures). I still cherish them. Soon we were crafting silly quizzes on BASIC and sharing them among us. Heck, we even tried meddling with the old AGI back at the time.

The masochist inside of me still lingers on well-crafted plots with shabby graphics icing - I've played my share of Dwarf Fortress and Ultima Online, at the latter for some time being an active 30-member Guildmaster for years. But oh vey, bitchy loife made me quit my post about four months ago... things got so insane that I found myself having a non-paid round-the-clock part-time job sprinkled all over my day settling quarrels between 50-something oldtimers factions and whatnots. I recently discovered that Starbound jewel, and am waiting for a RAM shipment to fall here in the jungle so I could play it decently. Nowadays, Darwinia's my game of choice. Gotta take care of those green fellas.

And @zamros, I bet you wouldn't fancy my shitty younger me either - or well, who knows, two cocks still can put a good fight eh. That's what teenagerdom is all about, after all: Time, testosterone, and five-against-one.

Aye I also checked out that marvel which is the ZZT Museum. Reminds me of Angelfire. Quite a lot to either catch up or let face their oblivion. I skimmed through some of the reviews and wish to try some of them games - and well who knows, maybe craft some shabby game myself. It's a pity all of our creations down here got ground down by the wheels of Time, they'd at least serve for some lulz among you pals. As for Tweeter, I don't touch that place, nosiree. That place is not for me. But I do appreciate Dr. Dos' efforts. Keep it a-rollin'.

Nowadays I've dedicated my little free time between crafting board games and teaching German / American Literature at a Languages college down here. I'm gonna show ZZT to my class, let's see what them Millenials have to say about it.

[Dark-Star2018]

Welcome back, friend. I'd love to hear how your class reacted.