Z (video game)

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Z
Z cover art
Developer(s) The Bitmap Brothers
Publisher(s)
Platform(s) MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows
Release date(s) PC
EU July 1996
NA July 31, 1996
PlayStation
EU December 1997
Sega Saturn
EU 1998
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: T (Teen)
ELSPA: 10+
USK: 12+
Media CD-ROM
System requirements CPU 486 66 MHz, 8 MB RAM, VGA videocard (better, SVGA), 2x CD-ROM
Input methods Keyboard, Mouse, Gamepad

Z is a 1996 real-time strategy computer game by The Bitmap Brothers. It is about two armies of robots (red and blue) battling to conquer different planets.

A sequel, Z: Steel Soldiers, was published in 2001.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The game opens with General Zod shooting the Bitmap Brothers Logo off the screen. Meanwhile, a Supply Ship is adrift in space. Its occupants, two robots named Brad and Allan, wake up to the radio buzzer. The two find two new messages from General Zod. The first shows Zod telling about his delivery, one hour overdue; the second shows him threatening to "kick their red butts" if he finds out about them slacking off. Allan and Brad just resume their mission. The two constantly steer the ship in a bunch of twists and turns (one sends them knocking the game's title into the opening credits, which are just visible in space), and finally arriving at their first destination. Their mission sends them across twenty levels on five planets, fighting enemy soldiers. After the final level, Zod gets a promotion to Supreme Space Colonel. Zod and the other soldiers celebrate by drinking many cans of rocket fuel, and by the next morning, so many discarded cans litter the ground that Brad and Allan are sick. Zod gets into the Supply Ship with Brad and Allan and decides to show them how to fly the spacecraft. Zod pulls so many stunts in space, leaving Brad thrilled. When Allan pulls another can of rocket fuel from the box, he notices a "do not shake" warning on its side. He shakes it up and tosses it to Zod. When Zod opens the can, an explosion blows the ship apart. Brad and Allan are hurled off, and Zod's hat can be seen floating in deep space...

[edit] Gameplay

Unlike traditional real-time strategy (RTS) games, collecting resources or building specific structures is unnecessary for creating an army - the same principle that was introduced by Nether Earth, one of the RTS games ancestor. Regions and structures within their borders that actually manufacture the units are captured by moving troops to their respective flags. All you need to do is to hold acquired position for a certain amount of time while the unit is manufacturing. The more regions are under the player's control, the less the time required. More powerful units take more time to construct.

The objective of the game is to eliminate the opponent by taking out their command Fort: either by sending a unit to enter it, or by destroying it directly. Alternatively, destroying all of the opponent's units immediately wins the game.

At the start of every mission, each side is given control of their Fort (the CPU) and a small group of units. A host of unmanned turrets and vehicles are usually scattered about the map and sending a robot to these will allow the player to add them to their army. However, the assigned robot will remain in the captured vehicle or turret as a pilot or a gunner.

The game is significantly different from others of its type: For example, vehicle drivers can take damage from enemy fire, and if the driver is destroyed, the vehicle they were commandeering will be unmanned and can be captured by either side. At the time of its release, Z was also noted for being more complex, intense, and challenging compared to other games of its time, like the original Command and Conquer, where the gameplay usually boiled down to tankrushing AIs showing a lack of aggression.

The game starts off with simple, symmetric levels where the CPU starts with roughly the same hardware as the player. As the game progresses, the levels become more complex, demanding more skill to control all units effectively, and the computer gains an advantage in starting units. For example, the CPU's fort usually has substantially more powerful guard turrets. The computer also gains more logistic advantages.

[edit] Worlds

Combat takes place on several planets, with 4 missions on each. When one is successfully captured, a space ship transports the robot army to another. Worlds are divided into the following types:

  • Desert: A dry, open and scarcely vegetated environment, in which units have little trouble moving around freely. The player encounters rivers and islands as they progress through the battles on this planet. Some territories are controlled by flags on islands.
  • Volcanic: A much more hostile environment with intense heat and constant eruptions. Lava flows are an impassable barrier.
  • Arctic: A frozen world of snow and ice spanned by glacial rock formations. One level has a wall of ice blocking the way to the fortresses. Penguins densely populate the icy terrain.
  • City: A decaying industrial complex where danger lurks around every corner. Cranes will often be needed to repair the bridges. Sewer monsters ambush robots moving across polluted water.

[edit] Versions

There are 2 versions for PC use, one for MS-DOS named Z and another one for Windows 95 named Z 95 & Expansion (that give Zeditor and Extension pack with additional challenging levels from 20 to 31. Each of these level are parallel; so 21 is the same kind as level 1 but with a bigger map and all Units available). The former used to require DOSBox (an open source MS-DOS emulator for various operating systems) to run on a modern Windows XP system.

Z PlayStation version cover.

Ports for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn were released in 1997 and 1998 only in Europe. Both were handled by Krisalis Software and published by GT Interactive.

A workaround for Z 95's incompatibility with Windows XP which allows Z95 to run on a Windows XP system without any form of emulation was posted on the ZZone forums. The workaround, named "Z Expansion XP", involves disabling some protected instructions in the Z 95 executable and contains a custom installer since the original Z 95 installer refuses to run under Windows XP. In the concerning forum thread the Z Expansion XP workaround is also reported to work under Windows Vista. The concerning forum thread on the ZZone forums can be found here: Z95 for Windows XP without emulation

[edit] Difference between Z and Z 95

A screenshot of Z (DOS version) using DOSBox for running the game under Debian GNU/Linux.

There are few differences between the Z DOS version and the Z 95 version. Most of all Z 95 was made much more compatible with Windows 95 which was becoming more and more popular. Also some more levels were added to the so-called Expansion Kit. The Z DOS version has an interface for loading the game as its first step. In Z 95 the interface is still there but modified and is just a normal interface using APIs of Windows 95 without the eyecandy buttons. Z Dos version is much slower, which affects the game play, whereas the Z 95 version improves the speed and lets the game feel like a real time strategy field. Also, a few unit statistics were changed to improve the game's balance.

[edit] Review

Z was highly rated by various computers gaming magazines. For instance, it was awarded 92% by the PC Zone magazine, when it described Z as "a brilliant strategy game that is so hard Like all Bitmap Bros' games, there are loads of little touches that will amuse you, from the incompetent piss-head droids in the cut-scenes, flying you from level to level and crashing on the people flagging them in, to the voice which says, when you're struggling, 'You are so crap'. And you probably are. Z"

The old article is still available online: archived review by PC Zone

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_(video_game)"