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Remember Z, the original from 1996, not Steel Soldiers? The RTS where time was the only resource: no mining, no base building, just flags, territory and factories that build faster the more ground you hold. It turned 30 this year, so I rebuilt it in 3D in Unity with several of the classic levels. Version 1.1 just came out with a jungle level, a flying shuttle and Alan and Brad as a hero squad.

It's free and open source (code GPL-3.0, assets CC BY-NC-SA), nothing is sold, and it's not affiliated with Rebellion or The Bitmap Brothers.

https://github.com/playopenz/OpenZ

Would love to hear from anyone who played the original. What did you love or hate about it?

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[-] playopenz@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Steel Soldiers was a very different game. The original is faster and a lot more chaotic, so it might surprise you. Worth a try on a free evening.

[-] Agent_Karyo@piefed.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Steel Soldiers felt like a more typical RTS game from that era.

Looking at OpenZ, the gameplay feels more distinct.

I will give it a go one of these days. Seems like it won't be too difficult to get into.

[-] playopenz@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

It is pretty easy to get into: grab flags, the more you hold the faster you build. Hope you have fun with it, and the new 1.2 even lets you play the blue side.

this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2026
104 points (94.1% liked)

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