__ __ __ | \ | | | | | \| | | | | |\ | __ | |__ __ |_| |___| |__| |_____| |__| ----------------------------- ZZT/MZX NewsLetter Issues 1-4 Compiled By Chris Kohler In case you never saw these first issues of the N.L., here is your chance! Each issue has been kept totally intact, with only the removal of mailing headers if the NL was originally E-mail. Included in this file are issues 1-4 of the NL, also including the only supplement to the NL (1-1) and the results of issue 3's poll! So without further ado... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ISSUE #1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The ZZT/MZX Newsletter 12/20/94 Edition 1 Well as christmas comes around we think of love and- YEAH RIGHT you thought I was gonna throw that crap at you. Well here you go. Well I think you will like this- Enjoy! A live discussion will be held 12/24/94 about Advanced ZZT programming, under private room: ZZTCHAT If you are intrested in hosting or attending R.S.V.P. NL Matt The REVIEWS by Chris Kohler, Ratings: Perfect\Kewl\Okay\Almost Fun\Poor\Garbage School Sucks 7 \------------- Hoo boy. Y'know, just when I thought it was impossible to make a crappy ZZT game, someone comes along and makes one. School Sucks 7 is a very odd game. You just walk around a school inhabited with demons (?), shoot them, and go on your happy little way. All the teachers are out to get you and if they catch you, you're gone. Finito. Of course, you can (and have to) get rid of the teachers by picking up deadly items. (a drill bit, a drug needle, a nailed piece of wood) But the designer conveniently forgot to make killing them any more than trial-and-error as you don't know which weapon works on which teacher! The main plot of this game is to make an atom bomb and blow up the school. Of course, because of the stupidest programming bug I have ever seen in my life, the final step to the detonation keeps circling so you are asked infinitely if you want to blow up the school. There is also another stupid programming glitch. When you play Doom on the Macintosh inside the school, it checks to see if you have the floppy disk found in another area of the game. If you play and then get the disk, it doesn't boot the disk! Everything else aside, the graphics suck. No shading here! Just blocks of that obscene color (yellow). Ugh! Y'know, this is one game I wish I hadn't played. Rating: Garbage One Day at School \---------------- One Day at School has a bad concept. This kid (the designer, Alex Arrowsmith) sort of threw together a yellow border game with a ton of name-calling, I guess based on the kids at his own school. You just walk around and do stuff to people until you run into one of the endings. There are 3 endings: 1: Get your report card 2: Blow up the school 3: Blow up the school AND get report card However, no matter how cool the concept of multiple endings is, this game just doesn't pull it all together. Why is this piece of trash called a game? Every board is thrown together sloppily. Just plain BAD! Rating:Garbage DilloLand \-------- Oh thank God! A good game! In DilloLand, you accidentaly stumble onto the Dillo planet and have some wacky misadventures. The first thing you do is enter a town where you visit imaginative places and also the king, who informs you that you must go off and find someone else, who gives you another direction to go, and so on. As you can see, this is a very linear game (literally - the whole game progresses in one straight line! But that just makes it more fun because you don't wander around as much!). All the situations you, as Dylan the Dillo, can get into are hilarious - killing Barney, finding 'Kinky 'r Us', and also playing pinball with some hamsters. The plot contrasts madly with the general silliness - you are an armadillo who becomes the savior of the world. Interesting. There are weapons to get and a bad guy to kill, so get to it. There are a few bugs, but none of them should get in the way of playing. All in all, a nice game! Rating:Kewl MegaWorld \-------- MegaWorld is one in a series of "Mega" games. Unfortunately, the series is poo. Now, this game has a nice title screen and okay graphics, but the whole thing leaves me feeling empty. You are out to save your daughter, but you end up entering this spaceship and touching a W to win. (I know - this sounds very stupid). You go in a few basic action level castles and go on some bland "quests" (finding keys). The whole game takes place in 4 different one-room castles. Wait - why am I telling you this? This game is just plain bad - it's an attempt that just doesn't work. Don't even think about it. Rating: Almost Fun Mission:Enigma \------------- You know, after this catastrophe of steenky games that I had to play (oy), I finally got to relax and re-play one of my favorite ZZT games, Mission:Enigma by Gregory Janson. This game has it all: comedy, intrigue, sorrow, drama, suspense, and everything else imaginable! You play a spy called on to investigate a strange explosion at a fortress in the year 2040. From the title screen on, you are caught up in this game's excitement. Ah yes: the title screen. Rarely is a title screen, for ANY game ever made for any system, this good. You (your character) walks out on the title screen and you are treated to a display of lightning, monsters, and neat-o keen-o visual effects while being introduced to the main characters in the game: You (of course), and your 2 friends who join the party soon after the first level of the game: Karen and Maleen, black and white wizards, respectively. Their personalities give this game a very good overall appeal. Well, let me start on the gameplay. The main part of this game is solving puzzles of all kinds. The first main level is 2 connected boards (the first floor of the castle and the basement) in which you have to run around picking up items and just generally solving the huge puzzle which is, how do I get out of here? The answer is, "By moving boulders, collecting water, blowing up air vents and just generally thinking!" It's a lot of fun. The rest of the game is more linear, as certain smaller puzzles are presented to you right in a row, with your friends helping you as they can. But don't think that this game is all puzzles: it is probably the single most varied in genre that I have ever seen! To point out one particular spot, you just avoided drownig and now you have to face 4 different enemies all fighting you. This is done in RPG style, where you pick which character to attack with, to attack or use magic, which magic to use, and who to attack! There are life bars on the side, and the battle never loses the whole dramatic aspect of the game by selling out to "shoot everything" status. In fact, the story advances as the battle goes on! But the most awesome thing in this game would have to be its kill-all be-all game-within-a-game, GEMini! It's an Othello type game that you play against a supercomputer. The rules are simple: move your gems around the board and get them in a row before the computer does. But this requires a deal of strategy, and like most things in this game, you must not tale this game for granted, as if you think about how this game was actually programmed, you will certainly start to gape at the screen uttering a droning chant of "howdidhedothathowdidhedothathowdidhedothathow...". I mean it! The graphics are superb! The use of color is magnificent. The sounds are great, and the song at the end of the game is magnificent. Well, it looks like I'm almost done with this review, so to sum up, let me say that ME has an overall professional feel to it, and that you can't be disappointed by trying it. Overall: Perfect Dungeons of MegaZeux - Preview \_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ I really can't rate this game because it is not complete. But I will try to tell you about some of its features. In Dungeons of MZX, a strictly side-scrolling game, you are an explorer probing the dungeons. The view size is done well, so you never know what you're going to see but you never feel helpless. There is no robot editing, but who needs it with a side scroller anyway? And the character editor is in full use, so expect a really cool look to this game. There are enemies, traps, pits, and lava all waiting for you, so why panic, right? But you do have extra lives on your side as well as numerous secret passages - if you can find 'em! Just dig! All in all, DoMZX looks very promising and should be one of the best first-run MZX titles. Thanks Chris! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Games in the works: All submissions are cut and paste and are the EXACT words of the letter submissions. This games is in the works by NL Spam, It's about the bounty hunter Boba Fett in star wars! It's gonna be a real jim dandy! Expected due date: Febuary 95' ALL The MEGAZEUX special article by MW Herbie: ____ MegaZeux Beginner's Help (by Herbie Piland) Hello! If something in MegaZeux seems wrong, this article might help you...read on! 1) Why is MegaZeux so darn slow? A: MegaZeux's speed depends ALOT on the view size...But don't make every view size to different from each other when programming, because that will mean your poor player will to press F2 ALOT to change the speed has the view size changes. 2) Why do I get an 'Out of Robot Memory' error when I haven't use even half my robot space. A: Your boards are too big. Try using smaller board sizes. 100x100 is way too big. 55x25 works fine, but you can probably make it bigger, it all depends on how much RAM your computer has. 3) I tried to test my program while in the editor, but it said 'Game Over' right at the start of the test. A: This seems to be a bug. It only happens the first time you test. Well those 3 things are the only things that are really strange about MegaZeux. If I find anymore, I'll tell you. Next time: Basic Programming!! Game Trader: 1. ZZT games that are not on AOL contact NL Matt 2. Solution to Solar Winds Pt: 1 3. Barney Bake 2- The Next Inceration Wanted: 1. Solar Winds 2- Non-shareware 2. Jazz Jackrabbit episodes 2-6 not 1 3. SkyRoads *full version* Non-shareware IF YOU CAN PROVIDE ANY OF THESE GAMES OR WANT ONE CONTACT NL MATT Classifeds: *********EMPTY********* THIS NL COMES OUT EVERY 2 WEEKS! SO SEND IN YOUR MESSAGES SO THEY CAN BE DISPLAYED NEXT ISSUE! Personal: *********EMPTY********* THIS NL COMES OUT EVERY 2 WEEKS! SO SEND IN YOUR MESSAGES SO THEY CAN BE DISPLAYED NEXT ISSUE! I Hope you enjoyed this edition of the Newsletter! Remeber, this is the 1st edition, the next one should be much better if *YOU* send in tips, personal, classifeds and much more! If you want to know what you can send in contact ZZTman1 Please tell me what you think of this Newsletter! Please tell all your friends about this Newsletter! DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS? IF SO TELL ME! PLEASE FORWARD THIS LETTER TO YOUR GROUP! Hyperware etc, Thank you for being part of this newsletter, Sincerly, Matt, Head of staff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SUPPLEMENT 1-1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the supplement for the ZZT/MZX Newsletter! ----------------- Here is my review for ENigma! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----TECH CORNER---- With Charlie Goetzman TodayÆs topic: Mission: Enigma Mission: Enigma shows a tremendous amout of programming ability on the part of the disigners. It shows good use of flags + excelent compression of code. The game has a LOT of programming in it, and all of it has been written to be very fast + efficient. I have allmost NEVER seen anyone do a better job of ZZT-OOP. I really like the ASCII animation. It shows a great deal of skill. Ratings: FLAGS (1-10): 10 ôShows great use of flags in Enigmaö COMMUNICATION (1-10): 9 ôExcellent communication between robotsö COMPRESSION (1-10): 6 ôThere were sveral spots where they could have reduced the size of the game by Cutting back the code, but they didnÆtö OVERALL: 8.3 ôGreat job,ö Any Questions or comments? E-Mail me at: Spider124@AOL.COM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ISSUE #2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The ZZT/MZX NewsLetter edition #2 ----------------------------------------------------------- Games in the works, (Compiled by MegaKev) MZX Kombat ------------------ A TWO player fighting game based on ZZT Kombat. Adds 3 new players, new music, Improved bosses, and TONS of secrets!!! From Hyperware Feb-Mar 95 Legend of Zelda: Star Quest ---------------------------------------- Continuing the tradition of Zelda Games, Star Quest adds the ability for multiple players, Interchangable characters, Spells, New Weapons, and MORE!!! From Hyperware/Nintendo Apr 95 Earthworm Jim-MZX ----------------------------- Based on the best rated game of 94, Earthworm Jim for MZX is a side scroller which includes: 8 Main levels, 2 Sub-Levels, character animation, and TONS of secrets!!! From Hyperware Apr-May 95 So You want to Be a Super Hero 4 -------------------------------------------------- The fourth installment in this great series of games from Hyperware continues in "The Death and Life of Xeux". The prelim copy of this looks great, with interchangable characters, each with their own abilities, Fighting Style Boss-Battles, and a password feature it's sure to be a winner. (Note to Author of Game- How do you pass the robot boss?) From Hyperware 2nd Quarter 95 Wiseman 3 ---------------- Another crossover from ZZT, This continues the classic Wiseman series. The game is looks good from the version I played, though it could use some major character editing. Other than that, the varied styles of game play (overview, sideview, 3-D) make this a fun game and will appeal to fans of the original Wiseman series. From Hyperware 2nd Quarter 95 Yoshi 1 MZX ------------------ A remake of the original ZZT game of Yoshi and the attack of the Mind Warping fingernails, this game adds new graphics and features to make it a winner for fans of the original Yoshi Game. Only gripe here is that the graphics are not much of an improvement over the ZZT version, which makes for a poor remake, Sorry Chris. By YoshiSoft May-Jun 95 NOTE TO ALL GAME WRITERS, SEND A PRELIM COPY OF ANY GAME YOU WISH TO BE IN THE PREVIEWS SECTION AND IT'S PLANNED RELEASE DATE TO MegaKev CC: NL Matt1 AND I WILL WRITE IT UP IN THE NEXT NL! -------------------------------------------------------------- Reviews by Chirs Kolher: (ChrisK2018) Ratings: Perfect\Kewl\Okie\Almost Fun\Poor\Garbage Mission:Frog by AricWare/Macrosoft \-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Well, Mission Frog is one of the last new ZZT games. While MF is no Island Of Jerks, it certainly is a lot of fun to play and really shows off Aric's creativity and skill with ZZT. You are a frog secret agent who must rescue the SuperFrog who was given super powers through makeup testing. On your way you travel through the Frog HQ which has some nice graphics and effects to the FBI HQ where you must run some mini-quests in the style of IOJ to find secret passcodes to enter the building. Aric's irreverently funny dialogue style is really showed off here. Once inside the FBI building you are treated to a basic boss battle and the final animated scene. If this sounds like a short game, it is! But it is still a lot of fun. You will definately be happy playing this one. Rating: Kewl The Bob Series \-_-_-_-_-_-_- It's hard to define the Bob series - it's less a game to play and more a comedy act. They are pretty funny, but don't excpect much action or adventure from them. Bobs 1 and 2 are called Business Bob 1 and 2 and their character is Business Bob from the Bob family. Along the way you meet up with a wide variety of characters, such as Hamster Bob, Pizza Bob, and Moron Bob, who all resemble their names. Business Bob is called such because he is out to get a job in Sick Co. in these games. At the end of Bob 2, he transforms into Hero Bob, a generic superhero and Hero Bob 3 takes it from there. These games, as I said, are more like jokes. They're worth the quick download if you want to see something wacky, but if you want a game, well... Rating: Okie SPECIAL ARTICLES FOR THE NEWSLETTER MZX: The first generation of 3rd party games in the works Well, MegaZeux has been out for a while now and what we've all been seeing is a rash of "30% complete!" games coming out. Just to compile all these together and give you a broad spectrum of the future of MZX, let's take a look at these titles: So You Want To Be A Super Hero 4 and Ghost are arriving from Hyperware's Phontam. SYWTBASH4 is just like the ZZT versions: a ZZT Kombat style fighter. With a nice intro, SYWTBASH4 is an interesting looking game. Ghost is a two-player battle style game. One player is the hero and one is the Ghost. They both shoot it out on a battlefield and try to off each other. A basic game, but pretty fun with 2 players. Donkey Kong Country MZX is coming from SmokeySoft/HyperWare and, while the graphics need a little work, it remains faithful to the series. Not a bad game idea. I haven't seen much of it, so I can't actually tell you much about the play. Also, SmokeySoft is developing a fighting game engine tentatively titled MZXKombat. We shall see what the future holds for this engine - the preliminary game in which the engine was built in is titled HyperWare vs. MacroSoft. YoshiSoft/HyperWare is developing Yoshi I MZX, a souped-up version of the original Yoshi ZZT. Following Yoshi I will be Yoshi 4 Part 2. And finally, /<icker is developing an awesome WiseMan 3 for MZX. /<icker has shown with the preliminary copy of this game INCREDIBLE mastery of MegaZeux, creating a game easily as good as if not better than Caverns II! You must see this one to believe it! This will probably be the best of the first generation MZX games and /<icker should definately send this off to Janson at Prodigy when it is finished for it will surely win the contest. And that is all! See you next month! ----- Mission:Enigma - The Unofficial Walkthrough By Chris Kolher THIS IS TOTALY STRAIGHTFORWARD! IF YOU ONLY NEED A HINT, WATCH OUT WHAT YOU READ!!!!! The Castle Exterior: As you begin, stand in the space north of the rose bush until the man runs up and enters the castle. Follow him in. The Castle Interior: First Floor: Find the bookshelf that reads "Dos 9.1h Manual" and Read it. The bookshelf will move. Enter the lower left room. A knife will whiz by, grab it from the north or from the south. Touch the wine bottle and break it, take a shard. Enter the lower right room and touch the guard. Take the key and vest and touch the door and insert the key. Go into the basement. Ignore the bucket and oil drum and go west then north. A guard will jump out. Touch him and take the ruby ring and lantern. Pull the bar on the wall to your right. Now push the bucket under the oil drum and shoot the drum. Pick up the bucket full of oil. Exit the room the way you came out. Go back outside. Castle Ext. Grab the clay from the moat and enter the other door. Grab the gloves and leave the way you got in. Enter the castle. Castle Int. Go back in the basement. Go to where the bar is and go west. Push the 2nd bucket under the section of water pipe that is jutting out (in the middle horizontal section). Go to the water switch ( ┬ ) and turn it off. Now go to the pipe jutting out and shoot it to puncture it. Turn the water on and immediately off or you get flooded out. Plug the hole in the pipe with the clay and turn the water back on. Turn the air conditioning (green box) to maximum. Go back to the first floor. Go into the upper left room from the middle left room. Uncork the bottle of wine. Go back to the basement and shut the air- conditioning off. Go to the vent that is right above the wedge (brown , ) and cork it. Turn the aircon back on until that vent explodes. Go up to the white diamond and touch it and replace it with the ruby ring. Push the mirror up to the upper right corner of the room. Touch the laser firing mechanism in the UL corner of the room and fire the laser. The wedge will set on fire, douse it with water. Enter the room with the yellow boulder through the laser room. Push the boulder into the vent so it explodes. Push the boulder out of the room and touch the spring wall to move the boulder. Through creative pushing you will be able to get the boulder into the middle left room to the upper left room to the room with the throne and 2 blue fakes. Place the boulder on the right blue fake to open the throne and go in. Second Floor: After meeting Karen and Maleen, solve the basic electrical field puzzle and go on your way. The next installment of this walkthrough will be in the next issue of the newsletter! Editor's Word: Chris is a very good staff member and I would pay him if I got payed myself. I would like to thank all of the NL staff for doing their best even without pay. If Mr. Case accepts our request we might get free time on out NL Screennames. I have a request to ask of you, in this newsletter we have about 40 people signed up to it and I think we should ask AOL for a ZZT/MZX forum spot! I NEED EVERY MEMBER TO SEND THIS! Please mail the petion to: SteveCase President of AOL inc. I will inform you on his decision. This is what it should say, please paste this on a E-Mail letter: Hello, we are a part of a growing newsletter that covers ZZT and MegaZeux, A game system that is very popular and easy to use, plus it has it's own programming language called ZZT-OOP. MegaZeux is a new but growing system that will in time replace ZZT. Both are good and we have realised that it needs more attention from AOL inc . We are requesting a forum called "ZZT-OOP and MegaZeux Forum" We do not want to be paid. There are several other online systems (Prodigy, compuserve, etc) with ZZT/MZX centers or forum places for that system. AOL should too. NL Matt1, MW Herbie and the rest of the NL staff (unoffical) plus our many members would be thankful if you would give us the privilege. Please send your response to: NL Matt1 ------------------------------------------------------------------ MZX Character Editing By Herbie Piland BTW, before I begin, I would like to say that I will edit character sets for you, if you wish. Simply e-mail me and tell me what you'd like in your set. :) Having trouble finding the right picture for your monster? Just can't seem to do anything right in the Character Editor? Well fear no more! Here is Herbie to help you out! :) 1) Basics For things like characters that will be used for walls, they should connect evenly...like the bricks in the dwarf town of Caverns. Things that will be moving N S W and E and will have characters for each are easy. Simply draw the N and W characters. Load the N character into the buffer, then take it out on a new spot and Flip it. And you have the S character! Then load the W, drop it somewhere else, and Mirror it! It's that easy. :) 2) Some warnings You may notice when editing the solid block (character 219) that weird things happen. This also occurs when you edit lines, dots, and letters. I suggest you leave these alone. 3) A few tricks Before I go, here are some tricks... a) Copy your favorite characters from one program, then drop them in yours! :) b) Be creative. Alot more can fit in a character than most think! :) c) And if you get super stuck, just let me help you out. :) Well that's all for this issue! See ya later! :) Bout what I said in my last article about what my next would be, it was a mistake...sorry. :( __________________________________________________________________ Here's some good shorthand symbols: (credits to Spencer Soloway and Matt) P.S. you gotta look at these sideways. 1. }:) "lil' devil" 2. B) "Wearing shades" 3. :c) "Pig headed" 4. [:-I] "Robot" 5. :) "Smile" 6. :( "Frown" 7. :o "Ouch" 8. <:) "Dunce" __________________________________________________________________ Game Trading is not just in the NL. If you send in a name of a game you want it will be place in the weekly suppliment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ISSUE #3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #3 From the HOS: I know the NL has been behind desperatly lately, but it is hard to keep up. I bet one of you has once said to yourselves, "Gosh, I could keep this up easy!" NOT SO. The time the NL is sent does not depent on me, but the people who supply the NL with the articles. For instance, if (THESE ARE ALL JUST EXAMPLES) Chris forgets to send in the reviews I will wait untill he does to send out the NL. And, do any of you know Janson's E-Mail address? P.S. if you are using an internet browser to view this document you might want to use the command 'VIEW SOURCE' to see it better. ;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;- MegaZeux ----------------------------------------------------------- An Article By NL Clint MeGa ZeUx! It's now the official battle cry among us die hard ZZTers. Sure, we all have out nice 486 with a Sound Blaster 16, and Super VGA capable display and out 9600 baud modems. We had all out advanced texture mapping games like DOOM, or our full speech games like King's Quest VI. Yea, we might not have all the top quality stuff, but we were up there high enough to enjoy the possibilites, and we had to face it - ZZT just didn't cut it. Sure, we were Die Hards producing great games like Fred, Castle of ZaZoomda, Code Red, The Arena, Sivion, and many other popular titles. But deep in our hearts we knew that there had to be something more. And then it happened. We were just browsing along the AOL ZZT court when suddenly the words Mission: Enigma crossed our eyes. Of course with an intruiging name like that, who would look at the description. And then the name crossed my view - for some it was more radical and pronounced - for others it meant nothing. Gregory Janson. I myself stared at the name and said, "Hey, ain't that the guy who made Super Tool Kit?" I wasn't sure at the time if the games in the music box that comes with the Super Tool Kit were ZZT or not, but the sudden recolition sent me reeling. This is the guy who made Code Red and all those other favorites. So I downloaded. One of the best weeks of my life was sure to follow. Now what am I rambling about? Well if you noticed, Mission: Enigma came with a catalog. The very catalog that showed me Zeux, And MegaZeux. The description filled my eyes with tears: Best of ZZT and Zeux, SB support. I soon got Zeux and Code Red (have you found all eight endings?) And that was that. So the next month was spent ranting about with friends on the boards, giving suggestions and trying to get our DARN names in the credits of MZX (MegaZeux.) And then it was out and I personally spent another week just trying to get it. And of course people are still trying to get it still (If I hadn't changed my screen name, I'd still have it my mailbox ready to be forwarded to someone. Sorry!) I clearly say that I've spent the next two months enjoying the treasure of MZX. Writing music, making my special effects and big monsters. The crys of "I'm half done" or "30%" fill the air. Everyone boasting to make the best game out. The ones without MZX watch and wonder, plead and beg. So, since your begging folks, I'll just tell you the wonders of MZX. If I could best describe it - its like a souped up ZZT. You have to make your formats for this though, as there's been a myth going around that it has built in side view boards and 3-D Boards. Not so. These are developed by talented programmers and if you want to sample them you have to write them and asked. The side view system is tentavly titled MZX Kombat by Hyperware and the 3-D engine in circulation (if Spider or myself gave it to you) is called MZX 3-D by Majik (Myself.) MegaZeux has large scrolling boards like Super ZZT, but it has regualar sized font (80 X 25). The board is seen through a hole called a viewport that is like a frame. Like a frame you can change its size and color. There are Sixteen forground colors and background colors (ZZT only had eight background colors.) You can edit characters to have them look like anything you want them to. You can have animation. You can have Digital Sample sounde effects. There is around 15 different types of pre made monsters. There's moving water, fire, lava, ice, and more. There's lines walls, floors, carpets, fakes, breakaways, and still more. There's puzzle elements. You name it - it's there. And more. Tools you can use in making it easier to do like blocking (Copying a section of a board and moving it, copying it, erasing it, mirroring it, you name it.) You can even import you old ZZT boards (objects become question marks.) And then there is a very powerful language use to program robots. Robots are best described as super objects. You'll noticed the convienecy as the Robots have there own enviroment when programming, and a variety of options to make the programming easier and at the touch of your hand. Need help using MZX? No problem. MZX has a complete, comprehesive, loser-user help guide for everyone. Plus an included tutorial will help beginners get started. Refrence debug windows are also included to show your exact position and free robot memory for the board. Yea! That means no more ZZT erasing your robots because there wasn;t enough memory to use them. Don't you hate that? So now all you say is, "Bob, what if I still want to play my old ZZT games?" Well I would respond "My name's not Bob, and so many games have sequals and remakes for MZX. For example, I'm remaking my own game Sivion for MZX for those of you who liked it (those of you who spent twenty flipping minutes downloading it!) Plus, if Gregory Janson is reading this now, I'd like to remake Code Red (Write me: NL Clint@aol.com) So why you are sitting on your toush still reading me ramble. Do what ever it takes: grovel, beg, demand, buy a new computer (CompuKid) but GET MZX AND GET IT GOING! NL Clint ------------------------------------------------------------*- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= NOTE FROM CHRIS: I decided to get rid of some of the ZZT directory on my drive and save only the good stuff - unfortunately I deleted some very imprortant games - (I may need these for my all time best games review) - so pleeeeease please say that you have Island Of Jerks 2:I Must Be Crazy (filename: CRAZY.ZZT) or that you have CowQuest 4.I AM DESPERATE. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Games and Tools Nominations: Best Overall: ZaZoomda ZapZak in Epsilon 9 Code Red Best Action: Arena The Lost Monkeys Probation Center Of Hell Best Adventure: ZaZoomda Dungeons 2 Code Red Best Puzzles: Zap Zak Dungeons 2 Code Red ZaZoomda Best Series: Yoshi Island Of Jerks CowQuest Best Idea that never got off the ground: ZZT-3D ZZT Kombat system ZZT Jam PowerLock Best ZZT Programmer's Tool ZZT Tools ZZT Power ZZT Manual Most Controversial Game Deadland 2 with Kurt Cobain Orgy (FUNGAME.ZZT) Subject that got the most attention in ZZT Central School Sucks:Crossover Series The awaiting and arrival of MZX The "AOL posts no games" scandal HyperWare vs. Macrosoft Best Game Designer: Gregory Janson (Code Red) Christopher Jong (Lost Monkeys) Brian McFee (ZaZoomda) Funniest Game/Series Yoshi Series IOJ Series Beavis + ButtHead vs. Ren and Stimpy: The Moron Wars Snargles Best Shooter: G Fighter G Fighter 2 Yoshi's Road Apple --- By all means, write-in votes are acceptable!!!!! --- Please send all your votes to me. ;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-; \ PREVIEWS |_/ | By MegaKev MZX Kombat ------------------ A TWO player fighting game based on ZZT Kombat. Adds 3 new players, new music, Improved bosses, and TONS of secrets!!! From Hyperware Feb-Mar 95 Legend of Zelda: Star Quest ---------------------------------------- Continuing the tradition of Zelda Games, Star Quest adds the ability for multiple players, Interchangable characters, Spells, New Weapons, and MORE!!! From Hyperware/Nintendo Apr 95 Earthworm Jim-MZX ----------------------------- Based on the best rated game of 94, Earthworm Jim for MZX is a side scroller which includes: 8 Main levels, 2 Sub-Levels, character animation, and TONS of secrets!!! From Hyperware Apr-May 95 So You want to Be a Super Hero 4 -------------------------------------------------- The fourth installment in this great series of games from Hyperware continues in "The Death and Life of Xeux". The prelim copy of this looks great, with interchangable characters, each with their own abilities, Fighting Style Boss-Battles, and a password feature it's sure to be a winner. (Note to Author of Game- How do you pass the robot boss?) From Hyperware 2nd Quarter 95 Wiseman 3 ---------------- Another crossover from ZZT, This continues the classic Wiseman series. The game is looks good from the version I played, though it could use some major character editing. Other than that, the varied styles of game play(overview, sideview, 3-D) make this a fun game and will appeal to fans of the original Wiseman series. From Hyperware 2nd Quarter 95 Yoshi 1 MZX ------------------ A remake of the original ZZT game of Yoshi and the attack of the Mind Warping fingernails, this game adds new graphics and features to make it a winner for fans of the original Yoshi Game. Only gripe here is that the graphics are not much of an improvement over the ZZT version, which makes for a poor remake, Sorry Chris. By YoshiSoft May-Jun 95 NOTE TO ALL GAME WRITERS, SEND A PRELIM COPY OF ANY GAME YOU WISH TO BE IN THE PREVIEWS SECTION AND IT'S PLANNED RELEASE DATE TO MegaKev AND I WILL WRITE IT UP IN THE NEXT NL!----*- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE WINNERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Best Overall:CODE RED Best Action:ARENA Best Adventure:CODE RED Best Puzzles: TIE: ZAZOOMDA and CODE RED Best Series: Island Of Jerks Best Idea that Never Got Off The Ground: ZZT KOMBAT Most Talked About Subject In ZZT Central: Arrival of MZX Best Game Designer: (Unanimously) Gregory Janson Funniest Game Series: Island Of Jerks Best Programmer's Tool: ZZT TOOLS Most Controversial Game: TIE: DEADLAND 2 and ORGY Best Shooter: TIE: Yoshi's Road Apple and G Fighter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ISSUE #4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ __ __ __ | \ | | | | | \| | | | | |\ | __ | |__ __ |_| |___| |__| |_____| |__| ZZT-MZX Newsletter Issue 4 Head Of Staff: NL MattP Vice Heads Of Staff: MC DOS 15, ChrisK2018 Official Game Reviewer: ChrisK2018 Well, we had some trouble getting this issue out, with the loss of NL Matt and NL Clint. But we have done it, with a new staff and some great articles! I know you were expecting the MZX version but we decided not to undertake such a task in the state we were in. So look for it later! I hope you enjoy this issue! VHOS/OGR Chris Kohler --The Good, The Bad, and The Yellow - Bordered: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ZZT Game Reviews =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Since there are finally some new ZZT games on AOL, I really wanted to do some capsule revs on all of the games out at this point to tell you what you should DL and what not to. -O.G.R. and V.H.O.S. Chris Kohler. Space Fighter 2000 - This is a pitiful attempt at a space game. Your ship FREQUENTLY shoots itself causing hyper frustration. And the author expects you to register this? Recommended: No Yea Dog's X-Men - Yellow bordered, badly programmed garbage! 'Nuff said. Recommended: Hell No X Dead's Coliseum - Nice graphics and music, but the arena is way too boring and buggy, and the end boss is impossible. Recommended: Only if you like arena games METAL97's Dufus In Space: This game tries hard to be cool, but falls short in many areas. However, the author has definite potential. Recommended: No Dungeons of Doom: This is a really crappy game - the plot and general theme are okay, but the execution and graphics fall far short of expectations. Recommended: No Star Wars:Luke's Missions - Attempt at a gmae that doesn't quite pull together - everything is too sparse and the graphics and level of interaction are unappealing. Recommended: No Probation Center of Hell: First of all, nice graphix and music! The STOOLK colors really add to the atmosphere of the game. An intriguing story and challenging but not frustrating enemies add to the fun. Recommended: Yes Wizrobe: At first I figured this for a Zelda game, but unfortunately, it's only the name that was copied. This is a 5-board yellow bordered object-free pile of crap that I wouldn't endorse if I was paid! Recommended: Christ No NateSoft's Time Warpers II: This game isn't perfectly awesome, but you can see the author's efforts and you can tell that he has definite potential! While this game isn't the best ever, I can't wait for further games from NateSoft. Recommended: Only to check out a newbie getting better Duck Tales: We now present our first ever singing review: Sing to ancient Duck Tales song. Suck Tales! Woohoo! Stupid little crappy game called Suck Tales! Doodoodoodoo! Someone strangle me, I may throw up! This game is so crappy, I'm gonna blow up! Someone shoot me, Christ this game sucks, Suck Tales! Woohoo! Recommended: FUCK NO! ZZT Learn: This is another attempt at doing a Learn ZZT program that just doesn't work out. The instructions are vague and incomplete, and it keeps saying, "Look at the help file in ZZT". Ugh! Recommended: Only for a laugh. Damien Wellman's INsAniTy: THANK GOD! A GOOD GAME! This is based on the UK game much like ZZT called Insanity, and it is perfect! I love it! The whole game traps you inside of it and doesn't let go until you finally finish! Ingenious programming and haunting riddles make this game a MUST GET! Recommended: Ohhhhh yeah. To Cheat? Or Not To Cheat? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= BY MATT PERROTTI -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (The topic debated here is the opinion of Matt Perrotti and not the rest of the NL staff.) A topic of debate in ZZT is the cheat codes. But do cheat codes take the fun out of the game? That's an excellent question. I myself believe that cheat codes sort of spoil the whole gaming experience. A programmer takes hours, possible days of his life to perfect a game. I rarely use cheat codes. If I do, it's when I get stuck. Cheat codes ruin what good programmers have in mind - a good game. I do, in fact, have the MegaZeux cheat codes, straight from Greg Janson. I shall put them at the very bottom of the NL, to prevent anyone who doesn't want them to get a glimpse of them. Some games naturally could use a bit of cheating. Some programmers don't take into consideration how tough fighting a room full of dragons can be. In other cases, the programmer considers this, and maybe only uses ten dragons. If you programmed a great game, then had somebody come up, use cheat codes, and beat it in a few minutes after hours of testing and debugging, I think that most people wouldn't be happy. Think about that! How *KongoSoft* Began =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= BY MC DOS 15 =-=-=-=-=-=- ZZT games have come a long way and so have MZX. But, there is a little history about how I came about on AOL. It started when I first signed on to AOL about October 1993 (I think). I was just enjoying how graphical the service was and how useful it is. Let's skip to the good part. I happen to look under Adventure games and found ZZT Adventure games here. I wasn't that interested back then but I saw games like YOSHI ADD-ON, THE SIMPSONS ADD-ON, but wondering how I could play them since it said Add-on. It wasn't until a while after that that I saw ZZT 3.2 Ansi Adventure, the program that I could use to play all the add-ons online. (NOTE: Usually people will download games by name, meaning that If they have never heard of it and it might sound boring they won't download it.) So I decided to download the program and played The Town of ZZT that came with the program. It's pretty challenging but I finally managed to beat it. In the meanwhile I downloaded the Add-ons that interested me like Yoshi I created by Chris Kohler and the Simpsons and I played them, exciting for an Ansi game. After a while I saw many ZZT games at AOL Central, In January 1994, I decided to create my first ZZT game which I haven't even finished yet, called DUNOCOON, a character I made up. I've only managed to do a few boards. Then sometime in the beginning of summer I have created another game called Link's Adventure Part 1. If you have this game you will notice that my company's name was called --Mariocom-- beforehand. I've uploaded this game and was surprised to see that it had a very good download count (Now over 2200 downloads.). I've also uploaded a Music Test for ZZT, DEAD-END!! I've finally finished Link Part 2 in around August right before the uploading to ZZT AOL Central crisis began. Unfortunatly, I couldn't get this game no matter how hard I tried. Most people gave up but no not me! I was determined to get to the bottom of this. PC Sylva kept saying that the ZZT Library was backed up, but I say that was BullCrap!! Wasn't a game up there since October when It stopped. I've eventually found a way to communicate and bring more games to the Library. T Chong was the first as far as I knew to start this group mail thing (Well, his was the first message I recieved in a group.), wanted people to try his game which was excellent. The the NL came rolling along. Everything was happening at rapid speed. The next thing I knew, I was back in business again. I sent everyone my Version 1.1 of Link Part 2. Version 1.0 had yet another company name on it called *Kong Software*. I finally decided on an official company name, *KongoSoft*. Then I shifted into overdrive with *KongoSoft* Updates and stuff. And that how I came about. Until Next time. MC DOS 15 (Not for long.) *KongoSoft* News Update (RE) #3 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= BY MC DOS 15 =-=-=-=-=-=- Hey, all! Here's another edition to KSNU. For those of you confused by the issue number I've started over from scratch and the first two Updates were to my subscribers. I will talk about how to subscribe later for those of you who are new or didn't recieve my message. *The New NL Crew* Lots of things have been happening during the creation of this NL. As you may or may not know NL Matt1 and NL Clint are not here now and they where the source of the NL, so naturally, plans that were made were corrupted. So NL MattP, MC DOS 15 and ChrisK2018 are taking over. **KongoSoft* Games in the making* The game that I'm currently making, Link's Chaotic Adventure, is way behind in production. Since this is my first attempt in making an MZX game I don't want it ending up something similar to Link's Adventure Part 1 ZZT, which by now I needs to be remade big time. So don't get upset everyone, I might have to push to the release date of May at the latest, but trust me, it'll be worth the wake. There are rumors going in my mind about creating the first MZX movie where you just watch as the action goes on (Unfortunately, another Link Adventure). If your getting sick of Link here are some other titles in the making. MZX Super Mario Brothers 3 MZX Donkey Kong Land *Subscribe to KSNU* If you subscribe to KSNU, you will receive every issue to date. If you don't you'll have to wait till' the next NL which will probably say KSNU #7 or something. To subscribe just E-Mail me so. *EXTRA!* I'm going to try to get a MEGAZEUX Forum on AOL central. This will take a while. *Key Symbols* (RE) = Regular Edition (SO) = Subscribers Only (SE) = Special Edition (Subscribers only) (EE) = Emergency Edition (Rare, please read carefully) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- CardShark Productions Update #3 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- BY MATT PERROTTI =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- YES! Finally, this new issue of the NL has been released. I have worked my butt off trying to organize everything. I hope you like it. If not, live with it :)! We are planning to eventually make a MZX version of this where you get to actually test drive the games in the works, read reviews, and have other kewl stuff available. I wrote this article after MC DOS 15, and I know how influential he can be. I really hope that MZX Central can pull through. We'll see! Getting back on topic, CS Productions is off to a fair start in 1995. Sadly, Guyver13, the CEO, is off AOL. We still stay in touch though, and he's planning to release Indiana Jones and The Dangerous Descent. I'll upload when he finishes it. I'm working on two games currently: Jon Won's MegaZeux Adventures and Beavis and Butt-head. I sent out B and B a little while ago, but it has slown down programming-wise, and for some weird reason, Jon Won is almost done. Even though I thought I'd get B and B out before Jon Won, apparantly not so. B and B should be out by Summer 1995, as I want to make it the best MZX game to date (but it'll be hard to contend with such great programmers as MC DOS 15, ChrisK2018, Phontam, T Chong, and others). Which leads me to Phontam's "So You Want To Be A Super-Hero 4." This game rules. Great music, a good plot, and fun overall. Keep up the good work, fellow programmers! GAMEPLAY1 (formerly GAMEPLAY12) is working on five different games, to be released very shortly. Mechjock1 (formerly Pog102) has completed the registered version of It and is working on the shareware version. Well, that's all this update. YoshiSoft Update =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- BY CHRIS KOHLER =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Yoshi I for MZX is still being worked on and contrary to MegaKev's article, it is NOT just a graphic improvement - to see what I mean, write to ChrisK2018 for a pre- production copy and check it all out! (Takes a while to UL, though, so only write if you are independently wealthy or have a 9600 bps or higher modem.) If you want Yoshi 4 or the title screen of Yoshi 4 Part 2 for ZZT email ChrisK2018. The title for Yoshi 4-2 is REALLY FRICKIN GOOD and is included with this issue of the NL! MZX Cheat Codes ----\ +_+_+_+_+_+_+_+ | V BLANK SPACE MEGAZEUX CHEAT CODES STRAIGHT FROM GREG JANSON!!!!! Thanks to your new HOS, I got the cheat codes from Greg. Here they are! On the command line in DOS in the MZX sub-directory, type in: MEGAZEUX -ii! -prism and MZX will load up. In MZX's play mode, various keys do various things, but the effects will not be immediate. If you hit F10, it looks like nothing happened. Right? Wrong. Check your stats. F10 maxes out your health, ammo, bombs, etc. Here's other keys to put it: F3 - ? F4 - ? F5 - Zap. F6 - Gives all the keys. F7 - Kills all enemies on screen. F8 - ? F9 - Energizer. F10 - Maxes out stats. I'm not quite sure what F3, F4, and F8 do, since I just got the codes and Greg just said to hit any key from F3 to F10. HAVE FUN :D! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The NL - Issues 1-4
Published: Unknown
Series: NL
Inside: ZZT reviews, MZX troubleshooting, MZX Previews, Mission: Enigma Walkthroguh, Petitoning AOL for a ZZT/MZX forum, ASCII Smiley faces, and more

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