We've got a theme this time! Revisions. Enjoy a massive number of alternate takes on existing archived worlds. But don't think that there's nothing noteworthy here, the last two titles in particular are pretty huge finds!
“Wizard's Tale (Beta)” by Jeff Conroy (1997)
A good insight into how fast content can be cranked out for ZZT. This "Beta" is six boards longs in comparison to the final version which is just shy of 80. Those other 70+ boards were all made in a month and a half and with the boards in this preview getting touched up as well.
“Mission: Enigma (September 1993)” by Alexis Janson (1993)
An earlier version of Alexis Janson's second-most well known game (I'm giving Code Red that distinction). The ZZT file here is identical to the previous upload save for the lack of an unused board added to that release. I suspect that extra board was added in preparation of a Super Locked release which would corrupt the last board in the world.
However that doesn't mean there's nothing to this version! Also included is a really impressive Software Visions catalog program with a surprising amount of effort put into it! It claims to have music, though I couldn't get any sound in DOSBox.
“Island of Jerks 4: I Love the Cow (September 1994)” by Aric McKeown (1994)
A much earlier release of the 4th Island of the Jerks game. This one appears as an incomplete version, lacking the last quarter of content.
“Weird STK (earlier)” by Chronos30
The current lack of a clean way to differentiate versions on the Museum usually means using the date. This time we have what's actually an earlier version of Weird STK but dated 2013. The sole difference is a lack of extra information on statless spinning guns.
“MST3K (Original Upload)” by Adam LaChapelle (1993)
In an unprecedented level of confusion, this is (lord willing) the original version of MST3K. Not to be confused with the unofficial edited version that adds debug objects to give health and ammo. Also not to be confused with an official updated version from January 1994! Again, these worlds were discovered in the order of "unofficial edit of original world", "update to the original world", "original world".
“ZPower 4 (alt)” by Carlos Barreto
A version of ZPower 4 with some stray walls and objects removed.
“Terminator Versus Barney” by Brian McFee, Keebler (1993)
A new line of text on the title screen, and some spinning guns in the "Room of Doom" make this different from T2 vs. Barney. It also includes some very threatening documentation.
“Going Down” by Jeff Parkes
Okay, so there's one new game here. I love the pusher-based title screen here. This recently was shown off on one of asie's streams and was apparently well received.
“Going Down (Early)” by Jeff Parkes (1996)
...and here's the alternate version. Far fewer boards here, as the other build includes additional introductory and ending screens that are missing in this version.
“Nightmare (May 1996)” by Barjesse (1996)
A slightly earlier version of Barjesse's puzzle classic, Nightmare. There are changes to the "Out of body experience", "Clock", and "Changing Maze" puzzles which look to be small bug fixes and minor textual changes.
“The Thief II (Uncut/Original)” by Leamas (1997)
There are a lot of deleted boards in the already archived version of The Thief II, and this one has them all intact! Finally you can experience the... 12 nearly identical maze boards.
“Chrono Wars 13 (Beta)” by Chronos30 (2000)
Just in time for beginning to stream through the Chrono Wars series, it's a beta version of final release in the series. Every board I compare has a different size from the final version so it looks like quite a bit of small changes were made in the last week before the game's release.
“Secret Agent Joe Moe (Christmas Build)” by JMStuckman (1996)
The massive and bizarre Secret Agent Joe Moe manages to get even weirder in this holiday themed release which features additions like the ability to rescue Santa's reindeer.
“Yapok Sundria (Unofficial STK Edition)” by Unknown, Yapok Jr.
Yooooooo this one is a find. A graphical overhaul of Yapok Sundria that looks like it does some cuts to adjust the flow of the game as well. Some of the revised boards look quite nice, and we get a multi-character sprite of the infamous BEE FLY PTARMIGAN. It doesn't look like it clears the many flags it uses, so it's likely still possible to soft-lock the game if you run out of flag space.
“Software Visions ZZT Pack (Registered)” by Alexis Janson, Matt Williams (1996)
And finally, we have a real historical artifact. The registered edition of the Software Visions ZZT Pack. There are no differences to any of the games other than them no longer mentioning not being unregistered, but in addition there are also numerous bits of documentation including maps, hints, and walkthroughs for various games included in the collection!
