ZZT was created in 1991. It was the first attempt at a game from Epic Megagames, creators of the notable Unreal Tournament. It was shareware, and people could download a copy of it and then pay Epic for the 'full' game. ZZT's graphics and sound capabilities were limited (much more limited then ... remember, STK was NOT made with ZZT). The games were primarily simple, plotless puzzle games.
So, why are this many people still using it today? Well, ZZT isn't just a game. It's a GCS, or Game Creation System. It wasn't the first of its kind, but was certainly the best at the time. While it has spawned a multitude of clones since then, the most popular being MegaZeux, ZZT is still favoured by many people. The main reason for its popularity and 10 year lifespan is that it is SIMPLE, yet POWERFUL.
You can learn most of ZZT-OOP (the language of ZZT) in less than a day, and some of our best games have taken less than a month to make. ZZT also has the ability create almost any type of game. ZZT can create a game of any genre under the sun, from adventure to simulation to action to puzzle, and, with a little time, almost anyone can learn to create a great game.
ZZT has come a long way since Epic used it as a stepping stone to greater (or in some cases, worse) things. They released it as freeware in 1997, and, since then, we've had STK, ZZTAE/Kevedit, the ZZT Encyclopedia, and many other helpers and/or advances. So, if you're thinking of snuffing ZZT and going off to play Unreal, think about this--will Unreal last 10+ years.
