OpenZ 1.4

Unzip ALL parts into the same folder: the Windows game comes in two parts, the Mac version in two and the Linux version in two.

OpenZ 1.4

OpenZ is a free remake of the original Z (The Bitmap Brothers, 1996), the real-time strategy game where flags and territory decide the battle and time is the only resource. Version 1.4 is the toughest OpenZ yet: MAYHEM buries the battlefield under the fog of war, you can now choose who drives your tanks, and General EvilZod is meaner than ever.

Highlights

• MAYHEM, the hardest way to play Z: the original Z was brutally hard, and we have turned it up to the max. A fourth difficulty after HARD: the computer fights as on HARD, its factories build 10 % faster, and the whole battlefield is buried under the fog of war. You see only what your robots have scouted, enemy armies stay hidden until they are on top of you, and a captured radar is suddenly worth everything. MAYHEM keeps its own high scores.
• EXIT DRIVER: pick who drives your tanks. Who sits in the hatch matters: a laser robot or a sniper at the wheel fires his own weapon from the open hatch on top of the tank's gun, and any driver better than a grunt dodges incoming shells faster. Now you can pull a grunt out (button or E) and put an elite in. It works the other way too: snipe the enemy driver and his tank stops dead, ready for one of yours to climb in and drive it home.
• General EvilZod, meaner than ever: he turns and aims before he fires his giant shotgun, his power dash recharges twice as fast, and when he is shot at from too far away to answer, he dashes straight at the nearest enemy by himself.
• Robots that finish the job: robots waiting at the enemy fort's door storm in the moment nobody guards it, and a right-click anywhere on the enemy fort sends your army in. Enemy health bars now need a standing radar, so scouting pays.
• More firepower: the gatling reaches farther and hits harder, the laser robot's gun glows green before every shot, and the Unit editor's NUKE got a brand-new glowing mushroom cloud, with X10 and X20 drops for huge battles in seconds.
• Play it your way: rally points straight from the minimap, range rings that can stay on, a REPEAT switch for build lists (OFF, LAST, ALL), SCROLL SPEED, RIGHT-DRAG SCROLL and a MIDDLE MOUSE row for the camera.
• Faster and simpler: big battles run about 10 to 20 % lighter, and there is one Windows download for everyone.

Downloads

• Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit: OpenZ_1.4_win64_part1_of_2.zip and OpenZ_1.4_win64_part2_of_2.zip. Download both and unzip them into the same folder.
• Mac, EXPERIMENTAL (Apple chip and Intel): OpenZ_1.4_mac_EXPERIMENTAL_part1_of_2.tar.xz and OpenZ_1.4_mac_EXPERIMENTAL_part2_of_2.tar.xz. Download both and unpack them into the same folder.
• Linux, EXPERIMENTAL (also for the Steam Deck): OpenZ_1.4_linux_EXPERIMENTAL_part1_of_2.tar.xz and OpenZ_1.4_linux_EXPERIMENTAL_part2_of_2.tar.xz. Download both and unpack them into the same folder.
• Source code: OpenZ_1.4_source_part1.zip, OpenZ_1.4_source_part2.zip and any further part. Unzip all parts into the same folder.
• Checksums: RELEASE_SHA256.txt has a SHA-256 checksum for every download.

How to start

Windows: put both parts in one folder, then unzip every part into the SAME folder (right-click, Extract All, and pick the same folder each time; Windows suggests a new folder for each part: change it). READ_ME_FIRST_ALL_PARTS.txt in part 1 says the same. Then run OpenZ.exe in the folder OpenZ_1.4. No installer, no account, no launcher.

Mac (experimental): unpack both parts into the same folder with Terminal: cd ~/Downloads and then tar -xf OpenZ_1.4_mac_EXPERIMENTAL_part1_of_2.tar.xz && tar -xf OpenZ_1.4_mac_EXPERIMENTAL_part2_of_2.tar.xz (double-clicking the parts in Finder would give two folders). Then right-click the app and choose Open the first time, because it is not signed with an Apple certificate. On macOS 15 and newer: System Settings, Privacy & Security, Open Anyway. It runs natively on Macs with an Apple chip and on Intel Macs. HOW_TO_START_ON_A_MAC.txt in the download explains every step.

Linux (experimental): unpack both parts into the same folder: tar -xf OpenZ_1.4_linux_EXPERIMENTAL_part1_of_2.tar.xz && tar -xf OpenZ_1.4_linux_EXPERIMENTAL_part2_of_2.tar.xz (or Extract Here on both, in the same folder), then start OpenZ.x86_64. If it is not allowed to run, run chmod +x OpenZ.x86_64 once. On a Steam Deck, start it in Desktop Mode; it is a Linux game, so no Proton is needed. HOW_TO_START_ON_LINUX.txt in the download explains every step.

The Mac and Linux versions were made on a Windows PC and have not been tried on a real machine yet. The Windows version is the tested one. If you try one of them, please tell us how it went.

What is new in 1.4

New

• MAYHEM, a fourth difficulty after HARD: the computer plays as on HARD, and the battlefield starts under the fog of war, a drifting cloud that opens wherever your units, buildings and flags have been. Explored ground stays open for the whole match, and enemies in unexplored ground stay hidden, on the minimap and under the pointer too. The cloud is drawn for each kind of planet, and a captured radar opens a wide circle in it. MAYHEM keeps its own high scores.
• On MAYHEM the enemy also builds 10 % faster: every unit and gun in its fort and factories is ready 10 % sooner than the same one in yours.
• EXIT DRIVER (the button above the unit panel, or E): the driver of a tank or the mech springs out of the hatch with one quick flip and lands on his feet beside it. For 30 seconds nobody climbs in by himself, so you can right-click the robot you want onto it as the new driver.
• A tank or the mech whose driver jumps out or is sniped stops dead at once and its guns fall silent: no driving, turning or firing until someone climbs back in.
• A tank or the mech with a driver who is not a grunt steps aside from incoming shells a little faster. Grunt drivers and other vehicles dodge as before.
• Rally points from the minimap: after SET RALLY, click the minimap to set the rally point there; Shift with clicks makes a route.
• OPTIONS, GAME tab: RANGE RINGS ON SELECTED UNITS. FADE (the default) shows the firing-range rings for about 2 seconds after you select, as before; ALWAYS keeps them on while your units stay selected.
• REPEAT in every build menu has three answers for when the list runs out: OFF (the factory goes idle), LAST (the last unit keeps being built, the default as before) or ALL (the whole list loops).
• OPTIONS, GAME tab: SCROLL SPEED (50 to 300 %), RIGHT-DRAG SCROLL (hold the right button and drag to move the map) and MIDDLE MOUSE (turn the view, drag the map, or drag the map and turn it with Alt) in place of FREE CAMERA. The defaults play as before.
• Robots standing near the enemy fort's door with no orders run inside by themselves and finish it, as soon as no enemy guards the door. Your own orders and HOLD POSITION come first.
• UNIT EDITOR: X10 and X20 drop counts for setting up big battles fast, and the NUKE grows a new glowing mushroom cloud, with dust that rolls out in soft puffs of many sizes. Its column of fire is gone before the cloud starts to fade.

Changed

• The game runs faster: the same battles take about 10 to 20 % less work from your computer, so busy views keep a higher frame rate.
• One Windows download for everyone: nothing to choose.
• The gatling reaches 10 % farther and each shot does 15 % more damage. It fires as fast as before.
• The laser robot's gun glows green for a moment before each shot, and its beam flies a little quicker and looks crisper. Damage, range and fire rate are as before.
• General EvilZod turns to face his target before he fires. His power dash recharges twice as fast, and when he is shot at from too far away to fire back, he dashes at the nearest enemy by himself.
• Enemy health bars show only while you own a standing radar, like the enemy dots on the minimap. Your own units keep theirs.
• The dramatic music comes in as soon as a fort is really under fire, even from a single tank, and it stands out clearly from the battle songs.
• A right-click on the enemy fort's door, the ground in front of its gate or its walls and roof sends your selected units in: a much bigger area to click.
• STOP sits at the end of the build progress bar, beside the unit it stops, and a small X beside SET RALLY clears the rally points (it was the CLEAR button).
• The map lags behind less when the game slows down for a moment.
• Level 7's card on the battlefield screen plays its familiar volcano flight, recorded again sharp and smooth, and the loading screen now gets level 7 ready before its first briefing.
• MAYHEM: HEAD START's extra vehicles are locked off, as MAYHEM was too easy with them.
• MAYHEM: enemies and empty vehicles come into view smoothly at the edge of the fog instead of popping up.
• General EvilZod's win lines after a kill come much less often.
• After jumping out of a vehicle, the driver always brings his gun up quickly once he lands, whatever kind of robot he is.
• No unit, not even a fort or the computer's units, keeps shooting at a vehicle once its crew is out.
• A robot killed by a rocket falls by his death only, without the hit wobble fighting it.

Fixed

• Radar voices: no "RADAR ACTIVATED" for a ruined radar, "Radar lost." only when your last radar is really gone, and voice lines no longer talk over each other.
• A turret blown off a tank or a gun still spins through the air, then lies still where it lands: no more hops or slides up a slope.
• Level 7: a lava pterodactyl that swoops down to attack where you can see it always screams, with one of three new screams, never the same one twice in a row.
• UNIT EDITOR: EvilZod is offered only for the blue side, Alan and Brad only for the red side.
• The main menu shows the right version number.
• The blurred background of the level selection is now smooth and soft: no more big flickering blocks.
• MAYHEM: after the briefing the fog of war eases in smoothly instead of snapping in.
• The rank star in the unit panel no longer stays huge after the HUD has been hidden.

Experimental

• Touch screen and gamepad input (the TOUCH and GAMEPAD row on the ADVANCED tab of OPTIONS).
• Mac and Linux versions, as separate downloads.

CHANGES & UPDATES in the main menu lists every change, those of 1.3, 1.2, 1.1 and 1.0 included, and opens with the main additions of 1.4.

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OpenZ is an unofficial, free, non-commercial fan remake, not for sale and not affiliated with or endorsed by Rebellion. Z and its names belong to Rebellion; the game was created by The Bitmap Brothers in 1996. The code is under the GNU GPL v3; the art, sound and all other assets are under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.