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ADG Episode 31: Megazeux

*The idea of the "Game Creation System" or "GCS" has been around for quite some time, since not everyone has the programming know-how to produce computer software, but you can be good at making games without being good at programming.

Megazeux is quite a bit more in-depth than most GCS programs, which is crazy considering it runs in text mode.*

*It's amazing what you can do with just a bit of text mode...

Today on Ancient DOS Games, Gemini's taking a look at ZZT, the game creation system made by Tim Sweeney which launched his startup company Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, which became Epic MegaGames the very next year.

Although ZZT is severely outdated compared to some other similar game creation systems, notably Megazeux, it came out at a time when the notion of a GCS hadn't really been realized and was mostly reserved for inventory based adventure titles. That said, there were still tons of fun games made for this thing and it's still neat to go back to it for sake of nostalgia, though anyone wanting to make a text mode based game and not wanting to have to deal with severe limitations is probably better off sticking with modern versions of Megazeux. :B*

I managed to hang on to my original entry point into ZZT creation for all these years, it being so dear to me. My main early creative outlets in the video game space were ZZT and Wolfenstein 3D modding tools. I've never lost my fondness for it.

ZZT by Anna Anthropy and published by Boss Fight Books is still available and highly recommended!

#Pixelmusement's 171st Ancient DOS Game: #Ultima 1

Pixelmusement has a long-running feature called Ancient DOS Games, in which they, get this, play through and comment on old DOS games. For their 171st episode thereof, they turned their attention to Ultima 1: RPGs had to start somewhere… Today on Ancient DOS Games, Gemini’s taking a look at Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness, a 1987 DOS port of one of the first computer RPGs ever made back in…