MegaZeux

Overview

MegaZeux is an ASCII-based game creation system inspired by ZZT and widely considered to be its spiritual successor, improving upon its features in almost every aspect. It was originally programmed and released for MS-DOS by Alexis Janson, who continued to maintain it until releasing the source code to the public in 1998. It has since been ported to Windows, Linux, OS X, and several other platforms, and a myriad of new features continue to be added with each version.

Upon its initial release in 1994, MegaZeux was shareware, and all versions from 1.00g up to 2.51 were bundled with the adventure game Zeux II: Caverns of Zeux, which is the sequel to Labrynth of Zeux, a DOS game released by Alexis in 1993. Three more sequels - Chronos Stasis, Forest of Ruin, and Catacombs of Zeux - were included with the registered version. All four games were made freeware in 1998, shortly before the source code was made public.

MegaZeux still has an active and dedicated community releasing new games of high quality, and certain releases in recent years, such as Forrester, Ruin Diver 3, and Bloodlands, have earned praise among indie gaming circles.