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Super ClassicZoo

Super ClassicZoo is a fork of ZZT by Adrian “asie” Siekierka based on ClassicZoo. Its goal is to improve the Super ZZT experience while sticking close to the original engine's feel and keeping full compatibility.

If you'd like to learn more about Super ZZT, the Museum of ZZT is a good place to start.

System requirements

Minimum

The minimum requirements are effectively the same as Super ZZT's own:

  • IBM PC compatible computer,
  • 512 KB of RAM,
  • Any graphics adapter with a color or monochrome screen.

Keyboard, Joystick and Mouse input is supported.

  • IBM PC compatible computer,
  • 286-class CPU (386/486-class for particularly scripting-heavy games to run at full speed),
  • 640 KB of RAM,
  • VGA graphics adapter (CGA will work, but with lower performance due to snow avoidance; EGA will work, but with a worse font).

Most Super ZZT games are designed with Keyboard input in mind.

Command line arguments

Super ClassicZoo supports a few command line arguments on launch:

  • /NOEMS - disable EMS extended memory support,
  • /NOXMS - disable XMS extended memory support,
  • /NOSNOW - force-disable CGA snow avoidance logic; by default, it is disabled if an EGA/VGA-compatible card is detected, however many CGA clone cards also do not suffer from CGA snow. This can improve performance.

Major features

  • EMS/XMS extended memory support - effectively lifts the world size limit, as well as improving stability of large worlds on machines with lower amounts of free conventional memory.
  • Dedicated custom font, ensuring a consistent look across all platforms - and fixing the sub-par visuals of an 8×14 font in 40×25 mode.
  • Increasing the board size limit from 20000 to 65500 bytes.
  • Increasing the board count limit from 33 to 256 boards.
  • CPU and memory usage optimizations.
  • Major editor enhancements: 80×50 text mode, syntax highlighting, OOP import/export, STK color and element support, multiple patterns, OOP copy/paste, block copying, bugfixes
  • Fixes for crash/hang engine bugs, while keeping compatibility.
  • Subdirectory support in the file browser.

The complete list of features is provided in the changelog, which is bundled with ClassicZoo.

Screenshots

Downloads

Current version

Super ClassicZoo 4.01

Released on the 12th of November, 2021.

Previous versions

Super ClassicZoo 4.00

Released on the 11th of November, 2021.

FAQ

  • Q: Should I use DOSBox or Zeta with Super ClassicZoo?
  • A: For the time being, please use only DOSBox and similar emulators. There's a bug in Zeta which causes Super ClassicZoo to crash (but only in the Windows build?).
release/superclassiczoo.1636730396.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/11/12 15:19 by asie