ZZT Manual » Getting Started » Cheat codes

ZZT Manual

Getting Started

If you can't quite figure out what to do in this game, remember the following:

If you see something unusual, try touching it. The worst that can happen is... Death!
Don't forget that you can usually leave the room you are in by walking off the edge of the screen.
Save the game often. Then, if you get stuck or you die, you can just go back and restore it where you left off.
Keep an open mind. This is ZZT, The Object-Oriented Game, and just about anything can (and probably will) happen.

Health points

When you begin a new game, you start with 100 health points. Every time you get shot, bombed, hit by a blink wall, run out of time for a particular board, or get touched by a creature, you lose 10. When your health reaches zero, the game is over. You can regain health by picking up gems - each gem gives you 1 health point.

Using the Keyboard

To move around, use the four cursor keys or the numeric keypad. To shoot, hold down the [Shift] key and press the cursor key in the direction you wish to shoot.

Using a Joystick

ZZT fully supports joystick operation. To move, just point the joystick in the desired direction. To shoot, hold down the button then move the stick in the direction you wish to shoot.

To use a joystick, you must say so when you first run ZZT and you are prompted, "Keyboard, Joystick, Mouse?". If you have not done this, leave the program and start over.

At times, you may prefer to use the keyboard for more accurate maneuvers.

Using a Mouse

To move, just drag the mouse in the desired direction. You will have to keep dragging the mouse as long as you want to move.

To move continually in a certain direction, first hold down the right-hand button on the mouse. Next, push the mouse slightly in the direction you wish to move. You will continue moving in that direction, without any effort, until the button is released.

To fire, just hold down the left-hand mouse button and push the mouse gently in the direction you wish to shoot. At times, you may prefer to use the keyboard for more accurate maneuvers.

Cheating

If you are truly stuck in a game, or testing your own, there are some cheat codes. Just press ? and a prompt will appear. Then enter a cheat code from this list.