History VideoGame / Z

* EnemyExchangeProgram: This is a major component seeing that you have to capture territory to gain additional factories to create your robots. Slightly annoying as the clock doesn't reset when the territory has been captured; meaning that heavy tank that took 5 mins to build and was just about to be completed before you lost the territory is now in the enemy's hands. You can use this against them too, setting the factory to build the weakest unit just before losing it. Probably justified because they are robots, all they need is slightly different programming to switch sides.

In 2001 a sequel was made; ''Z: Steel Soldiers'' which followed the story of Zod (now a lowly Captain) being in charge of one side of a neutral zone on a distant planet. Currently the two forces are under a ceasefire and the possibility for a more permanent peace is also certain. Zod however enters the neutral zone after his men having shot down an aircraft, on it he finds a new secret weapon and uncovers a massive plot of the blues to wipe out major strategic red bases all at once during the peace talks.

An open source FanRemake of the original game, called ''The Zod Engine'', is also available.

In no way related to the 1969 French political film ''Film/{{Z}}'', but it's a easy mistake to make.

* EasyLevelTrick
** A well known one in Level 15 - Swamp Fever. The player and CPU forts are very close together, only separated by a short, destroyed bridge. The strategy is to wait for all enemies to leave the perimeter of their fort, bring in a construction crane to fix the bridge, and rush all your units in.

* ArtificialStupidity: Partly an in-game mechanic in Z, as the five robot types are given varied levels of intelligence, which affects their tactical behaviour.
** Special mention goes to the [[DumbMuscle Tough]] robots, with the lowest intelligence rating of 3, that have little sense of self-preservance, and won't stop shooting even if their target changes position.
** Since robots are coded to automatically capture flags and hardware, they will ignore any surroundings and more often than not run straight into an enemy guard turret's line of fire.
** When about to get struck by a missile, the unit AI would attempt to avoid it by running at a random direction, which could result in the unit rushing into the path of the missile and getting obliterated. Units would sometimes react to incoming fire too late, such as after getting hit by artillery they would retreat a bit, giving the defending artillery even more time to destroy the attacker.

** There were now three Toughs per unit instead of two.

** The Howitzer got increased hit points.

** A well known one in Level 16 - Light Brigade. The player and CPU forts are very close together, only separated by a short, broken bridge. The strategy is to wait for all enemies to leave the perimeter of their fort, bring in a construction crane to fix the bridge, and rush all your units in.

* GeoEffects: Water allows infantry to pass (if lucky enough not to be eaten by a crocodile or a swamp monster), vehicles need a bridge, which can be damaged (and repaired with a crane). Rocks and ice walls can be blown up.

* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: Averted in Z, where factories do not need supplies, only time (which decreases when you conquer more territory). Steel Soldiers switched to using credits, which are similarly earned by simply holding more territory.

* ArtificialBrilliance
** The computer-controlled opponent in Z was considered challenging and impressive for its time. It actually reacts to the human player's actions.

* NotPlayingFairWithResources: Whenever a computer player captures a factory, the ''second'' unit produced there will be ready much quicker than normal.

''Z'' (pronounced Zed) is a 1996 RealTimeStrategy game by Creator/BitmapBrothers set in a [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway galaxy far far away]] where a perpetual war is taking place between two different Interplanetary Empires of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots sentient biped Robots]]; [[ColourCodedArmies the heroic red MegaCom Corporation and the dastardy blue TransGlobal Empires]]. We follow the story of Commander Zod and his two transport pilots Brad and Allan as they travel across five different worlds; blowing things up, knocking back rocket fuel and taking down names.

* AIBreaker: Since stationary gun turrets continuosly rotate clockwise, and the AI never manually orders them to lock on a target, a human player can simply station a tank just outside the enemy gun's range, wait for it to face the other direction, then attack and retreat before they turn around to return fire.

** The computer-controlled opponent in Z was considered challenging and impressive for its time.

* FlashOfPain

* ArtificialStupidity
** Since robots are coded to automatically capture flags and hardware they find, they will ignore any surroundings and more often than not run straight into an enemy guard turret's line of fire.
* BloodKnight: Zod, in both games. In the second game, he orders his men to patrol a neutral zone and tells them to shoot down an enemy transport ship, even though a ceasefire was in place.

* AIBreaker: A human player can engage enemy tanks and guns and retreat before they turn their turret around to return fire.

** Robots will forcibly try to take flags and hardware, meaning they could run into an enemy guard turret's fire.

* ColorCodedArmies: Reds Vs Blues, the multi-player of the second game includes additional colors too.

** Sometimes it is possible to win by moving all of your units through a single lane or backdoor into to the enemy fort, since the computer opponent typically spreads its forces wide around the battlefield.

* LuckBasedMission: The game has its moments. Sometimes a lucky shot from a sniper could disable an enemy tank, greatly increasing the chances of victory.

* StuffBlowingUp: This is how you win the game. Either you shoot the opponent's fort from outside with lasers, tanks and missiles, or you send a single unit inside it. Anyway, it blows up.

* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: Averted. Factories do not need supplies, only time (however, it decreased if you got more territories).

* AIBreaker: A safe way to deal with stationed enemy tanks and guns is to wait until their turret is facing the opposite direction, then attack and retreat before they can turn around to return fire. Although this renders stationary guns helpless, enemy vehicles may begin tracking the offending unit.

** Robots prioritize capturing flags and unmanned hardware, not taking into account the possibility of blindly running into an enemy gun's line of sight.
*** Also, robots will aim to capture the first thing they see, choosing to take over a petite jeep over a much more useful heavy tank.

* DodgeTheBullet: Cannon projectiles and thrown grenades are so slow that a properly maneuvered jeep can evade them for enough time to shoot the enemy infantry or driver from the tank with faster, low-caliber bullets. AI takes advantage of this.

** Sometimes it is possible to win by moving all of your units through a single lane or a backdoor into to the enemy fort, since the computer opponent typically spreads its forces wide around the battlefield.

* LuckBasedMission: Prominent in the earlier levels and early-game battles, where the outcome of a duel between two tanks can heavily affect the course of the battle.
* NonFatalExplosions: Averted in that exploding tanks sometimes shoot their turrets into the air. A falling turret can destroy another tank. This can lead to a chain reaction.

* CriticalExistenceFailure: Both averted and played straight. Heavily damaged vehicles move and fire slower, and factories will have an increased production time.

* DodgeTheBullet: Cannon projectiles and thrown grenades are so slow that properly maneuvered light tank or a jeep can evade them for enough time to shoot the enemy infantry or driver from the tank with faster, low-caliber bullets. AI takes advantage of this.

* NonFatalExplosions: Averted in that exploding tanks sometimes shoot their turrets into the air. Falling turret can destroy another tank. This can lead to a chain reaction.

* DodgeTheBullet: cannon projectiles and thrown grenades are so slow that properly maneuvered light tank or a jeep can evade them for enough time to shoot the enemy infantry or driver from the tank with faster, low-caliber bullets. AI takes advantage of this..

* GeoEffects: water allows infantry to pass (if lucky enough not to be eaten by a crocodile or a swamp monster), vehicles need a bridge, which can be damaged (and repaired with a crane). Rocks and ice walls can be blown up.
* NonFatalExplosions: averted in that exploding tanks sometimes shoot their turrets into the air. Falling turret can destroy another tank. This can lead to a chain reaction.

* StuffBlowingUp: this is how you win the game. Either you shoot the opponent's fort from outside with lasers, tanks and missiles, or you send a single unit inside it. Anyway, it blows up.
* TheCaptain: Zod, in the second game.

* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: Averted. Factories do not need supplies, only time (however it decreased if you got more territories).

''Z'' (pronounced Zed) is a 1996 [[RealTimeStrategy real time strategy]] game by Creator/BitmapBrothers set in a [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway galaxy far far away]] where a perpetual war is taking place between two different Interplanetary Empires of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots sentient biped Robots]]; [[ColourCodedArmies the heroic red MegaCom Corporation and the dastardy blue TransGlobal Empires]]. We follow the story of Commander Zod and his two transport pilots Brad and Allan as they travel across five different worlds; blowing things up, knocking back rocket fuel and taking down names.

* {{The Reason You Suck Speech}}/YouBastard: If you fail the mission by losing your territories and letting the enemy destroy your base, your entire army insults you and blames you for these reasons.

* UpdatedReRelease: The game eventually saw a port to the portable market 2011, with a new difficulty setting and hints and tips at loading screens, which itself got ported back to the PC.

* RedVsBlue: The two sides in the game. You play as red.

* AbandonedArea: Battlefields are littered with abandoned factories, vehicles and grenades. Also, the last world is a decaying industrial complex.

* DodgeTheBullet: cannon projectiles and thrown grenades are so slow that properly maneuvered light tank or a jeep can evade them for enough time to shoot the enemy infantry or driver from the tank with faster, low-caliber bullets. AI takes advantage of this.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Commander Zod, although he is not a sergeant. Doubles with SergeantRock.

* DrillSergeantNasty: Commander Zod

* AbandonedArea: battlefields are littered with abandoned factories, vehicles and grenades. Also, the last world is a decaying industrial complex.

* ColorCodedArmies: Reds Vs Blues, the multi-player of the second game includes additional colours too.

* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: They walk, they talk, they get drunk on rocket fuel. Oh and they also use computers with keyboards and drive around in tanks.

* ThisLoserIsYou: Losing in first game results in your troops, one by one, telling you how much you suck and how bad you must be to lose.

''Z'' (pronounced Zed) is a 1996 [[RealTimeStrategy real time strategy]] game set in a [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway galaxy far far away]] where a perpetual war is taking place between two different Interplanetary Empires of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots sentient biped Robots]]; [[ColourCodedArmies the heroic red MegaCom Corporation and the dastardy blue TransGlobal Empires]]. We follow the story of Commander Zod and his two transport pilots Brad and Allan as they travel across five different worlds; blowing things up, knocking back rocket fuel and taking down names.

''Z'' (pronounced Zed) is a 1996 [[RealTimeStrategy real time strategy]] game set in a [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway galaxy far far away]] where a perpetual war is taking place between two different Interplanetary Empires of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots sentient biped Robots]]; [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience the heroic red MegaCom Corporation and the dastardy blue TransGlobal Empires]]. We follow the story of Commander Zod and his two transport pilots Brad and Allan as they travel across five different worlds; blowing things up, knocking back rocket fuel and taking down names.

* VariableMix: Music is more intense during combat.
* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: averted. Factories do not need supplies, only time (however it decreased if you got more territories).

In no way related to the 1969 French political film ''{{Z}}'' but it's a easy mistake to make.