Z: Steel Soldiers
Encyclopedia
Z: Steel Soldiers is a real-time strategy
game released by the Bitmap Brothers
on 15 June, 2001 for the Windows
platform. It is the sequel of their earlier game Z, and follows the same futuristic military science fiction
storyline and battlefield gameplay. The graphics are enhanced from 2D
to 3D
.
As a result of a breach in peace negotiations, players take control of one side as a leader of an army of robots. Playing the game primarily involves fending off robust opponents during battles to control a location, whilst expanding your forces. Objectives are met by occupying and holding territory rather than the more typical method of harvesting resources
.
Despite featuring solid fundamentals and gaining favourable reviews the game had minimal impact. While only receiving one gaming magazine award and garnering some criticism upon its release, the title was still an important technological advance for the development team.
; in preparation, forces on both sides have reduced their military presence to a skeleton regiment
. The culmination of the peace treaty is the removal of both forces from the contested territory on Planet Rigal. The plot was written by Martin Pond. As the game is played it progresses with elements of intrigue and conspiracy.
The peace initiative is brokered personally by Commander Keeler and TransGlobal’s premier, Commander Rieman. After a court martial judgement, the recently demoted Captain Zod, previously Commander Zod in the original Z, has been sending patrols into the demilitarized zone
to spy upon the TransGlobal Empires. The scouts Brad and Clarke (two robots from the cut-scenes in the original Z) find a secret landing strip and promptly shoot down a transport ship after this discovery. The game begins with Zod sending in forces on a mission to retrieve the two missing scouts and find out "what the hell is going on", during which they find a broken box with the word "Omega" on it. Brad and Clarke's radio remains silent and although Zod lacks the proper authority, he is confident the peace agreement will remain intact but his aide Lassar is more concerned.
. Consequently the game was designed so a player could get into the action as quickly as possible. Z:Steel Soldiers sports a humorous comic book
style with a realistic 3D environment. These graphics are best displayed on a moderately fast or recently purchased computer although game options allow playing the game on older Pentium II
systems. This title is not compatible with Windows Vista
.
The game features the ability to scroll, rotate, zoom and tilt the isometric viewing position to gain a better perspective
. There is a high level of graphical detail such as reflections, shadows, weather effects and other environmental factors that can slow the frame rate
on low end pcs.
The game has an advanced artificial intelligence
that makes holding defensive positions
central to completing each mission. There are 30 missions on six different worlds including desert, forest, volcanic, ice, archipelago and wasteland types. Each type of world has varying wildlife and lighting effects. This sequel adds aircraft and water vessels to the units available. With the completion of missions comes the introduction of new buildings and armored units including rocket launcher
s, bombers, helicopters and tanks.
When the game is paused players can scroll across the playing area, but places not under their control will not display enemy buildings and unit commands may not be issued. There are three difficulty level
s - easy, medium and hard. Steel Soldiers has no tutorial, however the CD-ROM contains a 59-page game manual. The background music
was designed to heighten the game's intensity. The game has a high score table and the ability to load and save games. There are options for changing the screen resolution
, a gamma correction
level setting and mouse sensitivity sliders. A free single-player
demo
is available for download. Skirmish mode is a customisable secondary play mode based on a series of separate maps to the missions. Multiplayer game
s occur on another twenty additional maps.
Players control a group of robotic soldiers and vehicles in a two-sided war. At the start of each mission the current scenario and objectives are outlined. Level objectives vary considerably compared to the original from "Capture Aircraft Hangars and Shipyards" to "reach the EVAC point within a time limit". Some operations are timed with a countdown. Other mission duties are securing a landing area, to capture research facilities and evacuate personnel. The Command Centre is your headquarters and functions as a communications hub. If this building is destroyed your mission ends in failure
.
The gameplay
is based around fast-paced battle action without resource gathering. Winning the game requires speed and sound blitzkrieg
tactics. The main aim is to gain territory by securing a sector after touching a flag. Each mission begins with an introduction that includes a discussion of the goals and a preview across a sweeping landscape, briefly revealing geographical features and approaches to some strategically important flag locations. The more territory a player gains, the greater the number of units that may be built and provides more land for the construction of buildings. Unoccupied buildings that are neutral are owned with control of the sector. Each flag has a number between 1 and 5 depicted upon it. The number represents a multiplier for the amount of credits a player will draw from that territory, each minute, when captured. Credits are used at factory buildings and research facilities to construct robots.
Other activities include canceling orders, building bunker
s and gun turret
s, issuing repair tasks and selling buildings for credits. Players have the ability to queue commands and set way points so that newly created units can automatically move to a location once built. Each unit and structure in Z:Steel Soldiers has a damage indicator
. Colored radius rings mark line of sight
limits and weapon range boundaries for the currently selected unit. Collapsed status panels include the Message and Information Panel from a leader cam (overhead view), a Unit Info View Panel and Minimap Panel displaying which territories are held by the TransGlobal Empires, MegaCom Corporation or are neutral. These panels are used to coordinate army unit movements, view mission goals and troop
statistics.
to publish a sequel to Z, then given a working title
of Z2. This was after the developers had secured all rights to Z2 from the publisher GT Interactive. The Bitmap Brothers wanted to cater to both fans of the original and to players familiar with the RTS genre. Cool Beans Productions
produced several animations, presented as cut scenes between a few of the missions.
This release was the first after a long break in titles for the pc, by the developers and as such was highly anticipated. Developers
linked the delay to the substantial improvements between versions. Originally the game was to be released in late February 2001. After its initial release in June, several patches were released to fix a number of bugs
and other minor tweaks were made.
The Gaming Director for the Bitmap Brothers, Jamie Barber has explained that the development of Z:Steel Soldiers was fundamental to the creation of the more well-known World War II: Frontline Command
.
with great graphics. A PC Zone
review awarded a Classic Award to Steel Soldiers and concluded that games strong points were the sharp artificial intelligence, good use of ambient sounds
and well-designed maps.
A smaller number of reviews were less flattering describing the experience as standard, as one that would bore a veteran RTS gamer. Z: Steel Soldiers is similar to other pc strategy games with a military science fiction theme including Ground Control (2000), StarCraft
(1998) and Warzone 2100
(1999). Several reviewers commented that Steel Soldiers offers nothing new to the genre.
Z:Steel Soldiers had a weak impact, compared to the more popular Warcraft II and Command & Conquer
. A few reviewers noted tiny annoyances and that the game was predictable while others described the games imperfections as significant. The game has been criticised over its lack of diversity, clumsy interface
and generic sounds. One review described the game as old-school, formulaic and lacking distinctive graphics. The humour has been characterized as caustic and witty. At least one reviewer suggested a game-speed toggle would have been a useful addition for players.
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
game released by the Bitmap Brothers
Bitmap Brothers
The Bitmap Brothers were a UK based video game developer founded in 1987. The company entered the industry in 1988 with the scrolling shooter Xenon. They quickly followed with the classic Speedball...
on 15 June, 2001 for the Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
platform. It is the sequel of their earlier game Z, and follows the same futuristic military science fiction
Military science fiction
Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...
storyline and battlefield gameplay. The graphics are enhanced from 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
to 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
.
As a result of a breach in peace negotiations, players take control of one side as a leader of an army of robots. Playing the game primarily involves fending off robust opponents during battles to control a location, whilst expanding your forces. Objectives are met by occupying and holding territory rather than the more typical method of harvesting resources
Resource management
In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective deployment of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology...
.
Despite featuring solid fundamentals and gaining favourable reviews the game had minimal impact. While only receiving one gaming magazine award and garnering some criticism upon its release, the title was still an important technological advance for the development team.
Plot
Steel Soldiers is plot driven, unlike the original game, which had little or no plot and consisted of two sides fighting each other for no given reason. After 509 years of conflict MegaCom Corporation (red) and TransGlobal Empires (blue) are set to make peace and sign a treatyPeace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...
; in preparation, forces on both sides have reduced their military presence to a skeleton regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
. The culmination of the peace treaty is the removal of both forces from the contested territory on Planet Rigal. The plot was written by Martin Pond. As the game is played it progresses with elements of intrigue and conspiracy.
The peace initiative is brokered personally by Commander Keeler and TransGlobal’s premier, Commander Rieman. After a court martial judgement, the recently demoted Captain Zod, previously Commander Zod in the original Z, has been sending patrols into the demilitarized zone
Demilitarized zone
In military terms, a demilitarized zone is an area, usually the frontier or boundary between two or more military powers , where military activity is not permitted, usually by peace treaty, armistice, or other bilateral or multilateral agreement...
to spy upon the TransGlobal Empires. The scouts Brad and Clarke (two robots from the cut-scenes in the original Z) find a secret landing strip and promptly shoot down a transport ship after this discovery. The game begins with Zod sending in forces on a mission to retrieve the two missing scouts and find out "what the hell is going on", during which they find a broken box with the word "Omega" on it. Brad and Clarke's radio remains silent and although Zod lacks the proper authority, he is confident the peace agreement will remain intact but his aide Lassar is more concerned.
Gameplay
Developers wanted an accessible strategy game combined with the immediacy of an arcade titleArcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
. Consequently the game was designed so a player could get into the action as quickly as possible. Z:Steel Soldiers sports a humorous comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
style with a realistic 3D environment. These graphics are best displayed on a moderately fast or recently purchased computer although game options allow playing the game on older Pentium II
Pentium II
The Pentium II brand refers to Intel's sixth-generation microarchitecture and x86-compatible microprocessors introduced on May 7, 1997. Containing 7.5 million transistors, the Pentium II featured an improved version of the first P6-generation core of the Pentium Pro, which contained 5.5 million...
systems. This title is not compatible with Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
.
The game features the ability to scroll, rotate, zoom and tilt the isometric viewing position to gain a better perspective
Perspective (visual)
Perspective, in context of vision and visual perception, is the way in which objects appear to the eye based on their spatial attributes; or their dimensions and the position of the eye relative to the objects...
. There is a high level of graphical detail such as reflections, shadows, weather effects and other environmental factors that can slow the frame rate
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
on low end pcs.
The game has an advanced artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
that makes holding defensive positions
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
central to completing each mission. There are 30 missions on six different worlds including desert, forest, volcanic, ice, archipelago and wasteland types. Each type of world has varying wildlife and lighting effects. This sequel adds aircraft and water vessels to the units available. With the completion of missions comes the introduction of new buildings and armored units including rocket launcher
Multiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system. Like other rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers are less accurate and have a much lower rate of fire than batteries of traditional artillery guns...
s, bombers, helicopters and tanks.
When the game is paused players can scroll across the playing area, but places not under their control will not display enemy buildings and unit commands may not be issued. There are three difficulty level
Difficulty level
In general usage, difficulty level refers to the relative difficulty of completing a task or objective.In computer and video games, the term specifically delineates the ease or difficulty with which an average user may complete a game or a part of a game. Arcade games as well as many early console...
s - easy, medium and hard. Steel Soldiers has no tutorial, however the CD-ROM contains a 59-page game manual. The background music
Background music
Although background music was by the end of the 20th century generally identified with Muzak or elevator music, there are several stages in the development of this concept.-Antecedents:...
was designed to heighten the game's intensity. The game has a high score table and the ability to load and save games. There are options for changing the screen resolution
Display resolution
The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...
, a gamma correction
Gamma correction
Gamma correction, gamma nonlinearity, gamma encoding, or often simply gamma, is the name of a nonlinear operation used to code and decode luminance or tristimulus values in video or still image systems...
level setting and mouse sensitivity sliders. A free single-player
Single player
A Single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. "Single-player game" usually implies a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" usually refers to a game mode for a single player, where...
demo
Game demo
A game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version....
is available for download. Skirmish mode is a customisable secondary play mode based on a series of separate maps to the missions. Multiplayer game
Multiplayer game
A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Unlike most other games, computer and video games are often single-player activities that put the player against preprogrammed challenges and/or AI-controlled opponents, which often...
s occur on another twenty additional maps.
Game over
Game Over is a message in video games which signals that the game has ended, often due to a negative outcome - although the phrase sometimes follows the end credits after successful completion of a game...
.
The gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
is based around fast-paced battle action without resource gathering. Winning the game requires speed and sound blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
tactics. The main aim is to gain territory by securing a sector after touching a flag. Each mission begins with an introduction that includes a discussion of the goals and a preview across a sweeping landscape, briefly revealing geographical features and approaches to some strategically important flag locations. The more territory a player gains, the greater the number of units that may be built and provides more land for the construction of buildings. Unoccupied buildings that are neutral are owned with control of the sector. Each flag has a number between 1 and 5 depicted upon it. The number represents a multiplier for the amount of credits a player will draw from that territory, each minute, when captured. Credits are used at factory buildings and research facilities to construct robots.
Other activities include canceling orders, building bunker
Bunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
s and gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s, issuing repair tasks and selling buildings for credits. Players have the ability to queue commands and set way points so that newly created units can automatically move to a location once built. Each unit and structure in Z:Steel Soldiers has a damage indicator
Health (game mechanic)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
. Colored radius rings mark line of sight
Line of sight (gaming)
Line of sight, sometimes written line-of-sight or abbreviated to LoS, is a term used in wargames and some role-playing games . It refers to visibility on the playing field. Many abilities can only be used against an enemy within line of sight.In some games, miniature figures are used to determine...
limits and weapon range boundaries for the currently selected unit. Collapsed status panels include the Message and Information Panel from a leader cam (overhead view), a Unit Info View Panel and Minimap Panel displaying which territories are held by the TransGlobal Empires, MegaCom Corporation or are neutral. These panels are used to coordinate army unit movements, view mission goals and troop
Troop
A troop is a military unit, originally a small force of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron and headed by the troop leader. In many armies a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry section or platoon...
statistics.
Development
On August 24, 2000, the Bitmap Brothers announced a deal with EON Digital EntertainmentEON Digital Entertainment
Eon Digital Entertainment was a computer games publishing company based in London, UK, operating globally. It was founded by John Burns, now of Electronic Arts and a former Managing Director of Activision Europe as well as senior management figure at Atari, Sega and Bandai...
to publish a sequel to Z, then given a working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
of Z2. This was after the developers had secured all rights to Z2 from the publisher GT Interactive. The Bitmap Brothers wanted to cater to both fans of the original and to players familiar with the RTS genre. Cool Beans Productions
Cool Beans Productions
Cool Beans Productions is a defunct multimedia company that was based in Sheffield. They were known for their web comic design, web publishing and digital animations.-History:The company was founded in 1996 as an offshoot to the localisation company Polylang...
produced several animations, presented as cut scenes between a few of the missions.
This release was the first after a long break in titles for the pc, by the developers and as such was highly anticipated. Developers
Game development
Game development is the software development process by which a video game is developed. Development is undertaken by a game developer, which may range from a single person to a large business. Mainstream games are normally funded by a publisher and take several years to develop. Indie games can...
linked the delay to the substantial improvements between versions. Originally the game was to be released in late February 2001. After its initial release in June, several patches were released to fix a number of bugs
Software bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
and other minor tweaks were made.
The Gaming Director for the Bitmap Brothers, Jamie Barber has explained that the development of Z:Steel Soldiers was fundamental to the creation of the more well-known World War II: Frontline Command
World War II: Frontline Command
World War II Frontline Command is a real-time strategy, 3D, tactical war game for the PC that was developed by long standing developers, the Bitmap Brothers. It was originally released in Europe during September 2002 by Deep Silver and subsequently released in June 2003 by Focus Multimedia.-Plot:As...
.
Reception
After it was released the game was given a mostly positive reception by reviewers. The game has an aggregate average of 72% from compilations of multiple reviews. A majority described the game as a fun, strategy gameStrategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
with great graphics. A PC Zone
PC Zone
PC Zone was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as PC Leisure, PC Format and PC Plus had covered games but only as part of a wider remit. PC Zone was founded in 1993.The magazine was published...
review awarded a Classic Award to Steel Soldiers and concluded that games strong points were the sharp artificial intelligence, good use of ambient sounds
Ambient noise level
In atmospheric sounding and noise pollution, ambient noise level is the background sound pressure level at a given location, normally specified as a reference level to study a new intrusive sound source.Ambient sound levels are often measured in order to map sound conditions over a...
and well-designed maps.
A smaller number of reviews were less flattering describing the experience as standard, as one that would bore a veteran RTS gamer. Z: Steel Soldiers is similar to other pc strategy games with a military science fiction theme including Ground Control (2000), StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
(1998) and Warzone 2100
Warzone 2100
Warzone 2100 is an open source real-time strategy and real-time tactics hybrid computer game, originally developed by Pumpkin Studios and published by Eidos Interactive...
(1999). Several reviewers commented that Steel Soldiers offers nothing new to the genre.
Z:Steel Soldiers had a weak impact, compared to the more popular Warcraft II and Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer, abbreviated to C&C and also known as Tiberian Dawn, is a 1995 real-time strategy computer game developed by Westwood Studios for MS-DOS and published by Virgin Interactive. It was the first of twelve games to date to be released under the Command & Conquer label, including a...
. A few reviewers noted tiny annoyances and that the game was predictable while others described the games imperfections as significant. The game has been criticised over its lack of diversity, clumsy interface
User interface design
User interface design or user interface engineering is the design of computers, appliances, machines, mobile communication devices, software applications, and websites with the focus on the user's experience and interaction...
and generic sounds. One review described the game as old-school, formulaic and lacking distinctive graphics. The humour has been characterized as caustic and witty. At least one reviewer suggested a game-speed toggle would have been a useful addition for players.