Star

Star
ZZT-OOP name	star
Internal ID	15 (0x0F)
Character	#char 83 S (0x53) #char 179 │ (0xB3) #char 47 / (0x2F) #char 196 ─ (0xC4) #char 92 \ (0x5C)
Default color	white on black (0x0F)
Stats
Default cycle	1
P2	ticks remaining
Other traits
Effect on movement	damaging
Destructible?	no
Uses ZZT-OOP color names?	N/A

The star is an enemy projectile that seeks after the player, is indestructible, and disappears after 100 ticks. Stars can be generated by tigers and spinning guns, and also by objects using the #throwstar command or the #put command (which generates stars that last for 255 ticks).

Stars move once every two ticks. They push any pushable elements in their path and fly over water. They can destroy breakables just like bullets and bears do. They deal 10 damage to the player.

Stars cycle between the characters |, /, -, and \, and cycle through the seven default ZZT colors.

Statless stars do not actively cycle their character or color, but only do so when the board tile is forced to refresh. This can include when a message is displayed at the bottom of the screen, when a text window disappears, or when a torch reveals new squares in a dark room. Moreover, because stars only update their color in their drawing procedure (and not their tick procedure), they can be used to detect whether or not a board is dark.

Internally the character for a star is the letter "S". However, since stars are not placeable in the built-in editor and their draw procedure only uses other characters, this has no bearing on the game.