MadTom's ZZT Work
I've been a ZZTer since I discovered the game in 2000, when I was beginning high school. I've released quite a few games and projects in that time. My crowning achievement is Burglar!. This page contains an exhaustive list of my work in or related to ZZT. The official releases link to their Z2 database entries, which include reviews of the games. Most of what remains can be downloaded here: madtom_unreleased.zip.
There's an article about me on ZUltimate. The famous ZZTer cly5m once interviewed me.
In progress
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Spire On hiatus, if it will ever be finished at all. Previously part of the ironically defunct #zzt:endgame project. |
Archive of my officially released work
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My last official release. Respite is a typical Dungeon RPG, except enhanced with an engine or two, making gameplay more challenging and interesting. You are Medana, a priestess of Cognus, about to undertake a dangerous rescue mission deep into Grendelian caves. This one had extensive backstory and two large sequels were planned, but I now intend to adapt the project into a more accessible medium. |
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A very short trippy puzzle game, based on Viovis' old Taketorch idea. There isn't much to it; it's short, looks pretty, and has some easy puzzles to solve. Amazingly enough, I have a sequel for it I started in early 2004. |
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Burglar! is a lighthearted adventure/puzzle game that I made in 2002, and introduces what seems to be everyone's favourite character in my work, Luke Steel. I'm still very pleased with it - I designed it during a relatively carefree period of my life. This game won Game of the Month for April 2002, my first major award. |
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This game was for a short amount of time held as a viable contender for Game of the Month for September 2001. It is a collaborative project which I made with BoonoB. I have received very positive comments for the music, the majority of which I wrote, particularly for the title track Now I'm Alone. The game is a Psyche take-off with a major twist; we each made six or seven boards, with each ZZTer having no clue what the other was making, and pieced them together in alternating order. The results are very interesting and in the case of BoonoB's boards, substantially amusing. |
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Works on much the same idea as Parallel. This game was made when BoonoB came for a visit to me from Australia, where he now lives. It had long been an intention of mine to make a sequel for Parallel, but as time was short, we added a gimmick; each board was made in a maximum of 30 minutes, as in the famous BKZZT competitions. |
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I played The Purple Files on the archive, and was most disappointed to find the promised sequel had never been made. So, attempting to adopt and improve yenrab's style, I produced it. People tell me it's funny, which for me is quite an achievement. |
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My debut to the archive was an Adventure/RPG game called GREED. Comments on it were fairly varied. Many people said that it was a very good debut, while others called it a 'pretty dire attempt' at a ZZT game. I believe that it should still be put up, as it was my first game and was part of my development as a ZZTer. |
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This is the sequel to GREED - Part One. My skills here improved substantially and I began to follow what I perceived as a trend on the ZZT archive for RPGs, in the style of SquareSoft's Final Fantasy. There is background music which is better timed than that of its prequel; at this stage my music skills were enjoying a rapid climb. |
Contest entries, unofficial releases, miscellany, ZZTV
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Ara Ara takes place on the world of Ch'i, which is the predecessor to the world of Dessica in Respite. As such there are many familiar elements in it. This was made for the Weekend of ZZT in 2004, and won first place. |
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The Place BKZZT entry. First place. |
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Purgatory BKZZT entry. First place. The title screen is good, considering I did it in less than 10 minutes. |
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The Spider on VgameT's Mouse Cord BKZZT entry. First place. I like the opening scene. |
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I took over the administration of the ZZTV project after BoonoB lost interest in ZZT, and found one of these 'lives' I've heard so much about. This is spread over four files. I'm proud of the title screen - guaranteed the best ZZT ravebaron in existence. ZZTV8 includes my first ZZTV channel, #custardpie. The title theme music is a hackneyed attempt at conveying t.A.T.u.'s 'All The Things She Said'. |
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Continuing the administration of the ZZTV project, I compiled and released ZZTV 9, which took up five files. There are actually five title screens; you can view a picture containing them all here. The last three title screens are taken from my unreleased work Stairway to Heaven. The title theme music is a PC-speaker rendering of Jethro Tull's 'Locomotive Breath'. After this release, I handed the project on to Commodore. ZZTV9 includes my second ZZTV channel, #mobydick. This channel contains some artwork of which I am very proud. |
Incomplete projects
- # (ZZTV10 submission - unfinished)
- Ammo (unfinished)
- All the Wallflower Men (unreleased)
- Beer (with TGoddard - unfinished)
- Burglar! 2 (unfinished)
- Calamine (unfinished)
- Ch'i (unfinished)
- Control Yourself, Cracker (unfinished)
- Drawn in Black (unfinished - almost not worth mentioning)
- Fers vor Draconi (unfinished - almost not worth mentioning)
- Gets Me Through (unreleased)
- GREED - Demo (unreleased - missing)
- GREED Part Three - The Revival (unfinished - part of GREED - Special Edition)
- The Jazzman (unfinished)
- Jormangund (unfinished)
- MadTom's Guide to Music Theory (unreleased - gross inaccuracies)
- Mizyr (unfinished)
- Overkill (private art collection - unfinished)
- Pacman ZZT (private joke - unreleased)
- Parabola (with BoonoB - sequel to Parallel BK - unfinished)
- Respite II (incomplete)
- Respite III (incomplete)
- Señor Olvides (unreleased)
- Squishy! - A Treatise on Madness (unfinished)
- Stairway to Heaven (unfinished)
- Things That MadTom Hates (unfinished)
- Via (unfinished)
Other
- Over 2002-2005 I did a great deal of administration, maintenance, and technical work for Z2.
- I wrote a guide to memory efficiency in ZZT board programming, found here, and a workaround for a small but undocumented bug here.
- I ran MadTom's Pick, a monthly award, from June 2002 to August 2004.
- I wrote all of the music for Zenith Nadir's Frost 1; Power. There is a great deal of additional music he never used, some of which was intended for his unfinished sequel, Frost 2; Ice.
- I contributed title screen art for Dr. Dos' Aura, and the unreleased Aura 2.
- I contributed music to Piromaze, by piroteckkie.
- I contributed music to an unnamed and unreleased project of sumisusan's.
- I contributed music to an unnamed and unreleased project of Snorb's.
- I contributed music to The Movie Channel, an unreleased work of zane's (aka beep).
- I contributed music to Escape from Castle Wolfenstein, an unreleased work of Commodore's.
- I contributed music to Eviscerated Carcass, an unreleased work of HenchSOD Kracken's.
- I contributed music to Prozac, a very early unreleased work of BoonoB's.
- I contributed music to This is Blue!, an unreleased work of Jezza's.