Game :: Dangerous demo (a tribute to ZZT)

Thanks for trying this early access demo release of Game :: Dangerous, which is based on an open source project that can be found here: https://github.com/Mushy-pea/Game-Dangerous.  Game :: Dangerous is a home brew game engine that is intended to form the basis for a 3D tribute to the classic ZZT from 1991.  This release comes packaged with a development snapshot of the map and assets of the Gem - Mining project, taken on 25/05/2026.  This project can be found here: https://github.com/Mushy-pea/Gem-Mining

I hope this release is of interest to a few people and that some are kind enough to provide constructive feedback on their game play experience.  The map development editor (also still in development) is included in this release.

How to run the game on Windows

Integration with the itch.io app works.  To play the game select "Game-Dangerous-exe" when prompted by the launcher.  Alternatively you can download and unpack the project folder into a location of your choice and start Game-Dangerous-exe.exe with no arguments (or double click it).

How to run the game on Linux

Download and unpack the project folder into (for example) /home/Game-Dangerous/.  Your system will need to support OpenGL 4.2 and have the libraries for GLUT and OpenAL installed.  On Debian based systems the required packages will be as follows.

freeglut3-dev

libopenal-dev

You should then be able to run the game with the following commands.

cd Game-Dangerous

./Game-Dangerous-exe

How to play the game

The controls are initially mapped as follows.

MENUS

Move up menu options: KeyUp

Move down menu options: KeyDown

Select menu option: P

IN GAME

Forward: W

Back: S

Strafe left: A

Strafe right: D

Turn left: K

Turn right: L

Jump: U

Toggle first / third person view: KeyHome

Rotate camera in third person view: KeyEnd

Fire: SPACE

Pause game: P

There is no action key; just run into an object if you want to try interacting with it.

If you open the "config.txt" file in the project folder you'll find a number of settings such as cb_STRAFE_LEFT and cb_FORWARD.  This shows how the controls are mapped and you can change these settings as desired.  You can try changing other settings if you like but it's probably worth making a copy of config.txt first as some changes could crash the engine or make the game unplayable.  For example, on_screen_metrics can be set to "none", "low", "medium" or "high".

What platforms does it work on?

Windows and Linux are currently supported.

Licensing information

The license for this software is as follows: Game :: Dangerous code by Steven Tinsley.  You are free to use this software and view its source code.  If you wish to redistribute it or use it as part of your own work, this is permitted as long as you acknowledge the work is by the abovementioned author.

Freeglut library

A Windows binary distribution (DLL file) of the freeglut library is bundled with this release.  The Github repository can be found here: https://github.com/freeglut/freeglut.  Please see the following copyright notice that is posted there.

Freeglut code without an explicit copyright is covered by the following
  copyright:

 
  Copyright (c) 1999-2000 Pawel W. Olszta. All Rights Reserved.

  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge,  to any person obtaining a copy
  of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal

  in the Software without restriction,  including without limitation the rights
  to use, copy,  modify, merge,  publish, distribute,  sublicense,  and/or sell
  copies or substantial portions of the Software.

 
  The above  copyright notice  and this permission notice  shall be included in
  all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

 
  THE SOFTWARE  IS PROVIDED "AS IS",  WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,  EXPRESS OR
  IMPLIED,  INCLUDING  BUT  NOT LIMITED  TO THE WARRANTIES  OF MERCHANTABILITY,
  FITNESS  FOR  A PARTICULAR PURPOSE  AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN  NO EVENT  SHALL
  PAWEL W. OLSZTA BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,  DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
  IN  AN ACTION  OF CONTRACT,  TORT OR OTHERWISE,  ARISING FROM,  OUT OF  OR IN
  CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

 
  Except as contained in this notice,  the name of Pawel W. Olszta shall not be
  used  in advertising  or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other dealings
  in this Software without prior written authorization from Pawel W. Olszta.

OpenAL library

A Windows binary distribution (DLL file) of the OpenAL library is bundled with this release.  This was obtained here (https://www.openal.org/) and it is understood redistribution is allowed by the license holder Creative Labs Inc.