We make OpenZ, a free and open-source fan remake of Z, the 1996 RTS with no mining and no base building: you take flags, hold territory and your factories speed up.

It is made in Unity. Code is GPL-3.0 and assets are CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, all on GitHub.

Version 1.2 added the blue side (General EvilZod), a Unit editor where you set up both teams and watch them fight, a new medium tank and a smarter computer opponent. Windows, with experimental Mac and Linux builds.

GitHub: https://github.com/playopenz/OpenZ itch.io: https://playopenz.itch.io/openz

Happy to answer questions, and bug reports are very welcome.

Z was such an odd one compared to everything else at the time. No harvesting, no base building, just territory flags and factories that build faster the more sectors you hold. Every match turned into a mad scramble where losing one flag could flip the whole map.

And the robots had real personality, with the cigar chomping commander and Allan and Brad slacking off in the cutscenes.

Steel Soldiers went much more traditional later, and I always felt the original's idea never really got a proper successor. Did anyone here play it back then? What did you think of the time-as-resource design?

For anyone curious, there's a free open-source 3D fan remake of it now, OpenZ: https://github.com/playopenz/OpenZ

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?