I just had an idea that would make an awesome mod (fact!). Anybody remember the '96 DOS game named 'Z' ? It's a not-so-serious games, featuring robots, tanks and British humour. That about sums it up, since you didn't need to build any bases, they're there already.
Disclaimer: This is an idea. I'm not planning to start anything (yet) nor do I have the experience/manpower to do it, even if I wanted. I'm just curious about feedback and whether people would be interested in something like this.
I recently discovered there's still a community over at the Z-Zone
Game looked like this:
Basically, you have 2 factions that share the same units. Red vs Blue. You both start with your fort and depending on the map with more or less robots, tanks, maybe an extra building and turrets. There is no fog of war, so you can see exactly what your opponents are doing.
The goal is to destroy your opponents fort by all means necessary. Shoot at it, kill every unit or send an unit to enter the front door.
This is achieved by capturing as many sectors as possible. Some of them contain factories that build either robots or vehicles. Capturing the sector allows you to use the buildings located on it and most importantly, decreases build time in every factory owned by you. Porcing is impossible, since you will quickly be overwhelmed if you decide not to expand. This game is fast. Losing one or two sectors can turn the tide in a matter of seconds. Wasting time at the beginning to send your units will cost you the game.
Robot factories build squads of robots, duh. They're using different weapons like Rocket launcher, rifle, MG, Laser, etc. and have different stats like health, speed, INTELLIGENCE. Depending on type, they're built in squads of 2, 3 or 4. Usually they're working together, but they occasionally will do retarded things like sending one robot off to capture a flag (represents a sector) regardless of enemy presence. They also play a vital role at using unclaimed equipment (vehicles, turrets)
Vehicle factories build jeeps, 3 kinds of tanks, a crane to repair stuff, mobile missile launchers and APCs for robots to hop into and fire out of.
Both factories can also build turrets. These can be placed at any point within the sector they were built in. Also depending on the map there are unmanned turrets on different map locations for a robot to hop in. Same goes for unmanned vehicles scattered around on the map.
Radars show enemy locations on your minimap. Since you can see them on your main screen anyway, this is not really important, but can really help at getting an overview.
Last but not least there's Repair shops. Send a damaged vehicle in, wait depending on damage and out comes a fully repaired one. Easy.
All buildings can be destroyed or damaged by their owner or any enemy. Damaging them increases build time, destroying them results in little factory pieces not being able to build much. Repairing them with cranes is possible (even when destroyed completely).
There also are bridges that can be destroyed and repaired. This is important for vehicles, Robots however can wade through water (and occasionally get eaten by crocodiles and other beasts)
There are no resources except sectors. Claimed sectors decrease build time in every factory. Since you don't need to worry about base building, this game focused on Micro management a lot. Unattended 1vs1s with tanks usually end in both tanks blowing each other up, while players can use erratic movement to evade the small projectile. Smart robots sitting in tanks will evade on their own.
Basically this game just throws you into the action.
There's only a few units for every team, so every single unit will count. Setting your fort to build the heavy tank at the beginning when neither team do have sectors may not be the best idea.
Sectors that get captured while the factory is building something will transfer the factory and the object being built to the capturer. Since everyone can see the ETA (but not the object being built), a common tactic is to capture the sector shortly before the factory is done so the tank rolling out will be yours, even if the sectors gets retaken shortly afterwards.
Robots have kind of a personality. The stupid ones with rifles will rush at everything they can get their camera on, get shot and die. Snipers will try to keep their distance and bring their range advantage to bear.
All Robots (at least those using Rifles, MGs or Lasers) and the jeep can shoot the driver out of any vehicle and use it for themselves. Sending a huge tank after a jeep may not be the best idea if you forget robot escorts that hop into it before the enemy does.
Unit summary:
Robots:
Grunts: 3 in squad. Rifles. Stupid, will charge at enemy and usually die
Psychos: 3. Rapid-Fire MG. Good for taking out drivers in vehicles
Toughs: 2. Rocket Launcher. Vulnerable to Rifles/MGs, will take out vehicles tho
Snipers: 3. Sniper Rifle. Excellent for taking out any kind of driver/Robot from a distance
Pyros: 4. Destroy buildings, vehicles, bridges and generally wreak havoc
Lasers: 4. All round anti-Robot anti-driver units
Vehicles:
Jeep: Fast and deadly against smaller groups of robots. Occasionally will manage to kill drivers in their seats.
Lt. Tank: All-rounder. Quite fast, small gun that will at most take out a jeep with one shot. Cheap
Med Tank: Heavier version of the Lt.
Hvy Tank: Superior range and firepower. Very slow but capable of attacking units that still are out of range themselves.
M. Missile Launcher: Extremely slow and expensive (buildtime is currency!) Good for killing slow objects / buildings
APC: Fast. Units enter and shoot out of it. Good armor. Put snipers in it and harass some Lts!
Crane: Repairs stuff.
Turrets:
Gatling: Attack smaller groups of robots. Cheap, generally useless
Gun: Will kill a Lt. in 1on1 at the cost of almost all of its health.
Howitzer: Extreme range. Kill stuff that can't shoot back yet. Slow projectile, low ROF
Dbl. Missile: Slightly superior range, damage dealer against armor.
Well, that's Z summed up. Go fire DOSBox up and play it. Seriously, it's fun.
Facts:
- Some aspects of the original game surely won't be possible in Spring or only by using workarounds. (Every sectors gets a fake stealthed cloaked small resource-producing unit and stuff like that). LUA will be necessary a lot.
- There's only a few models (5 buildings, 6 robots, 7 vehicles, 4 turrets), so this should be done easily (if someone decides to do it). Animations can be choppy, just adds to the old Z atmosphere.
- Stuff like sounds can be used from the old game. No, really, it's from 1996, this is Abandonware.
- Once again, this is an idea. I'm not searching for people to do any work for me. I just want opinions.
So. Whaddya say?
