King's Quest ZZT (aka King's Quest ZZT 1) is a King's Quest fan made game created by Hydra78 and MeBo using the ZZT adventure game system, and it was released by Interactive Fantasies on October 12, 1997. It was the first King's Quest fan game to feature action and RPG elements (predating MoE). It apparently takes place directly after King's Quest VII.
King's Quest fan game created by Hydra and MeBo of Interactive Fantasies on October 12, 1997. It is based on the original King's Quest I.
Background[]
Ravenlos, the evil cousin of the sorcerer Manannan, is planning to conquer Daventry. You (Prince Alexander) are not willing to go fight against him and his army, until your father gets an accident, which changes your mind. You visit the old wise gnome for a medicine for your father, and after he is healed, you set off for the long and dangerous mission. Along the way you will meet strange creatures like Centaurs, Elves and Ogres and you will visit many places, like the mountains of Llewdor, the Island of Tamir, the Aberian Desert, etc...
Following Rosella and Valanice's return to Castle Daventry (see KQ7), a big festival is held. A messenger comes to the castle, explaining to them that Ravenlos, the evil cousin of the sorcerer Manannan has conquered the island of Llewdor, and is planning to conquer Daventry. Graham was furious of the news, and asked his son Prince Alexander to defend the kingdom. Alexander was not willing to go fight against him and his army, until his father collapses sick, which changes Alexander's mind. Alexander visits the old wise gnome for a medicine for his father, and after he is healed, he sets off for the long and dangerous mission. Along the way he meets strange creatures like Centaurs, Elves and Ogres and visits many places, like the mountains of Llewdor, the island of Tamir, and the Aberian Desert.
Adventure with a lot of RPG elements in it. All of the creatures, for example, are taken from official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games. Included are also some great RPG-Battles, in which you can use up to 6 animated weapons/spells!
ZZT universe[]
ZZT King's Quest
King's Quest ZZT in action.
The geography of the world in King's Quest ZZT is fairly inconsistent with other King's Quest games and official literature. For example, Llewdor and Tamir are separated into two different islands. In the official lore they are both part of the same continent. Another example is that they placed a desert directly east of Castle Daventry when in fact that area is hill lands and is covered with the Old Woods further east leading up into the Glass Mountains. Though the team did do an excellent job in recreating several locations specifically seen in the original King's Quest games in over head view, with the limitations of the ZZT engine.
However one odd aspect of the King's Quest ZZT is that Alexander refers to his world as the world of "King's Quest", and refers to the previous adventures he or other characters were on by the title of the games. For example when he finds Manannan, a major plot point during the game's story, he says, "Hey, its the evil sorcerer Manannan who I turned into a cat in King's Quest 3!" However, this is likely for the benefit of the player, as the game was released to an audience of all ZZT fans, whether they were King's Quest fans or not.
Behind the scenes[]
- The prologue begins with Rosella and Valanice having returned to Daventry. This would hint that the story takes place after King's Quest 7. The game was originally released several years after King's Quest 7 and just before the release of MOE (1997) which may explain the reference to Valanice and Rosella returning to Daventry. However, Alexander still apparently lives at the castle, and is still considered the heir to Daventry, and is still called the prince of the kingdom. This would imply the story takes place betweenthe end of KQ4 and the start of KQ6, or that KQ7 takes place before KQ6. On the other hand it's possible that Alexander is visiting the kingdom, but is still considered the prince of the realm, and the future heir, even if he currently rules another land (there just isn't any reference to Cassima, or him being married).
- The prologue also implies that Graham has already fought Mordack, making the story take place some point after KQ5. Manannan has apparently escaped the bag of peas, since that time.
- Valanice is referred to as Valenice.
- Alexander begins the game with the Fireball spell and and later learns the Cone of Cold spell during the course of the adventure.
- 3713 is one possible high score received by finding all the secret items and killing each enemy with only one arrow each. The game tallies up points based on how much health, arrows, torches, and gold are left in the inventory by the end of the game. So the score may vary.
- A sequel was released, King's Quest ZZT 2 (2000).
- The character Ansil appears in Quest for Glory ZZT (1998), and later in King's Quest ZZT 2, he also appears in Quest For Glory ZZT, and possibly other games by the developers.
- The events surrounding the Centaurs and the Ogres in King's Quest ZZT (and a nod towards ZZT2) are mentioned in The Four Winds.[1]
External Links[]
- Digital MZX (Interactive Fantasies), King's Quest ZZT info
- Digital MZX (Interactive Fantasies), King's Quest ZZT download
- Museum of ZZT, King's Quest ZZT
- Museum of ZZT, King's Quest ZZT walkthrough