nnl guy writes some stuff that mentions zzt in it

[LANCER ECKS]

one of the fellows for the translation group NNL (they translated Wind and other things you folks probably wouldn't care about) posted an update that mentioned zzt

2007.07.08. NNL is five years old today. The info page for release #1 (Ai Yori Aoshi 11) states that work started on July 9th, 2002, but the actual founding of the group was the day before. Happy birthday to us, I guess, but this is likely the final birthday for NNL.

Well, since the work compy is still out of service, I thought I'd write up an anecdote.

Before No Name Losers, I was heavily involved in something called ZZT. It was what started my IRC habit in 1996. I left the ZZT fan community for a while, but came back in Fall 1999 by entering that season's 24 hours of ZZT contest. The premise was simple: one had to create a game in 24 hours using the assigned topic. It was the premier event of ZZT, one that every ZZTer dreamed of winning. I placed third in that contest, then proceeded to win the contest next season. I was on top of my niche hobby. I thought I could keep it up for the next year and beyond.

As Christmas 1999 neared, I was craving the the goodness that was Laura Secord ice cream, so I went to the local mall. Winter is definitely the best time to enjoy frozen goodies, in my opinion.

I sat on a bench enjoying my treat, brainstorming the topic of the next 24HoZ (winners hosted the next contest). Then I noticed the person beside me. He was talking on a cell phone about Unreal. Once he hung up, I said to him, "Epic Megagames rules."

He looked at me with surprise, and introduced himself as the one and only Mark Rein, vice-president of Epic Megagames (now Epic Games). He seemed genuinely impressed that I knew his company's entire lineup. As I went through each game, there was a look of nostalgia in his face as he remembered Epic's days as a company making a living through shareware.

Then I got to ZZT.

He smiled at first, but his expression changed as I told him that I was an active member of the fan community. He gave me a line of advice that I still remember to this day:

"ZZT is outdated. Don't waste your time on it."

After fulfilling my obligation of hosting the next season's 24HoZ, I started spending less time on the hobby. Perhaps it was the impending start of high school, or perhaps it was a subconscious feeling that anything I did would be forgotten. Mark's words kept repeating themselves as I talked in the various ZZT IRC channels. My Fall 2000 and Winter 2000 24HoZ games were unfinished, not because I ran out of time, but because I had lost interest midway.

I did not touch ZZT ever again. It took a year for Mark's prophecy to finally become a reality. As for my legacy, my work was never released on the ZZT archive site. I entertained the idea of releasing an updated compilation of my work, but it was too much work for absolutely no gain.

The final 24HoZ that collected at least twenty submissions was in Fall 2001. After that, the contest suddenly lost its lustre due to lack of leadership and general apathy. In addition, most of the regulars who were involved in ZZT in the late 1990s were now over twenty years old. ZZT's issue of sustainability had finally done itself in. As of today, the contest no longer exists.

Winter 2001 was a time of new beginnings. It was my second year of high school. I had made new friends, moved to a new place, and even got a new computer.

One day in my instrumental music class, the teacher paired me with two fellow clarinettists for an ensemble. I didn't think too much of them. Two of us went over to the other person's house for practice. This person's room was filled with a strange collection of colorful material.

It was the room of Reikoku, who would eventually turn out to be my best friend and lead me into the world of anime fansubbing with Angelic Layer.

When he and I formed the No Name Losers five years ago along with two other people, I knew that it would eventually end at some point. What I did want to do before then was to make a difference, unlike my ZZT "career."

[Zenith Nadir]

i'm wondering who this guy is now

if he's an anime type, chances are he was a member of koiten

wait he hosted a 24hozzt? hmm... hang on

ok i think i've pinpointed him as gipface, who indeed has no archived games on z2 (in fact, his only completed project was the 24hozzt game "must not kill" which was actually not very good, but won a 24hozzt contest), and was also a really big egotist, like this guy

"making a difference" by translating bishoujo games, ha ha

[Pancake]

Well, of course someone who works at Epic Games would consider ZZT outdated. They make newer games and game engines that they feel is better in all aspects, though he kind of overreacted when the guy told him that, as if he was an idiot for wasting his time with it in the first place.

[Zenith Nadir]

yeah dude, talk about self-fulfilling prophecies!

[zamros]

moral of the story: leave zzt and you become a huge anime faggot

also: hahahaha gipface sucks

[gingermuffins]

Did he not realize it was outdated the very day it was released? oh well

Then I got to ZZT.

He smiled at first, but his expression changed as I told him that I was an active member of the fan community. He gave me a line of advice that I still remember to this day:

"ZZT is outdated. Don't waste your time on it."

I wonder what would happen if you said this to the vice-president of epic games nowadays. he'd probably just get up and leave.

[Zenith Nadir]

yeah, but fuck epic games, frankly

they are deadbeat dads...

[Pancake]

Epic Games didn't really make anything good after Unreal.

[Ando]

This was very interesting to read, but yeah I agree with everyone that the guy is a pretentious douche.

[Zenith Nadir]

the thing is that if you are actually concerned about being up to date and you're involved with zzt, maybe you are looking in the wrong place. as gingermuffins put it, zzt was obsolete before it was even released, and although some people got jobs with epic through it and mr. sweeney made cash from it, commercially it's not useful at all. even in 1999 that should have been plain, and this shock revelation from epic guy should not have been very shocking at all, really. i mean, DUH. (besides, epic likes to pretend zzt never existed and jill of the jungle was their first game now anyway, it's practically been company policy for the past ten years)

if you make zzt games, you do it to amuse a few friends and have some fun, and maybe to challenge yourself a bit. expecting anything more just sort of makes you a jackass.

it's punk rock, in a dorky, retro sort of way

ZZT

[Dr. Dos]

(besides, epic likes to pretend zzt never existed and jill of the jungle was their first game now anyway, it's practically been company policy for the past ten years)

I blame us for that.

"Hey guys Epic said their first game was something called ZZT let's see if we can find a copy on google."

:drussrox: Zaphod :burstroc: :zzcrook: :autism: :ler:

And then they flee in terror.

[Zenith Nadir]

you know, i only just now noticed the secret message in the burstroc emoticon.

:burstroc:

surprise sex...

[Ando]

Also (regarding the 24HoZ):

As of today, the contest no longer exists.

It would help if you actually knew what you were talking about, you know.

[Dr. Dos]

According to z2's contest page the lage 24hozzt was Spring 2003.

According to ZU Winter 2004.

Also I remember a comment in the comments box before had somebody say Z2's frontpage should link to ZU.

It does, but it's under affliates. I couldn't find the file to move it to Community where it should be.

[Quantum P.]

index.php. Fixed.