Tools

ZZT

Tim Sweeney's first game

The 1991 ASCII game creation system that launched Epic Games and spawned a creative community of young game makers.

ms-dos game-makerasciisharewareepictim-sweeney 1991

Overview

ZZT was an ASCII-based game creation system released in 1991 by Tim Sweeney, who would later found Epic Games (Unreal, Fortnite). Distributed as shareware, it let users create and share adventure games using text characters as graphics.

What made ZZT special was its built-in scripting language, ZZT-OOP, which let young game makers create sophisticated behaviours. A vibrant community formed around creating and sharing ZZT games, many by teenagers learning game development.

Fast Facts

  • Developer: Tim Sweeney (Epic MegaGames)
  • Year: 1991
  • Platform: MS-DOS
  • Graphics: ASCII/ANSI characters
  • Distribution: Shareware
  • Scripting: ZZT-OOP

Features

ZZT included:

  • World editor - Create interconnected boards
  • Object editor - Define interactive elements
  • ZZT-OOP - Simple scripting language
  • Built-in games - Town of ZZT, etc.
  • Shareware distribution - Free base game

ZZT-OOP

The scripting language enabled:

@objectname
#shoot n
#play c-d-e
/n/n/n

This taught programming concepts:

  • Commands and parameters
  • Conditional logic (#if)
  • Variables (flags)
  • Message passing
  • State machines

The Community

ZZT spawned a creative community:

  • Thousands of user-created games
  • Online archives and forums
  • Tutorials and documentation
  • Quality ranging from terrible to brilliant
  • Many future game developers started here

Tim Sweeney’s Path

ZZT was the foundation:

  • 1991: ZZT released
  • 1992: Epic MegaGames formed
  • 1998: Unreal Engine launched
  • 2017: Fortnite released
  • Present: Epic Games worth billions

Legacy

ZZT influenced:

  • MegaZeux (1994) - Enhanced successor
  • Game Maker - Similar creation focus
  • RPG Maker - Creation tool culture
  • Modern indie scene - DIY game development ethos

See Also