I can't really remember how the controls worked in the original, but the controls in this version are really bad.

1. When you click on a single unit, all the units in the vicinity will be selected as well. When you want to select a single unit in a group, you have a drag a rectangle around it every time.
2. Left-click to move the screen, right-click to drag a rectangle around your troops. You know, just like in no RTS ever...
3. After giving a move order, the unit(s) will automatically be deselected. You have to select units each and every time you want to move them somewhere.

Judging by the little I've played of this game so far, this just reeks of a shitty mobile port. It's obvious that the controls were designed with a touchscreen in mind and that they weren't properly adapted for PC.

So that basically means "ignore the reviews for this game, they are NOT based on what's actually for sale".

Yes this game was remade by Kavcom first as a mobile port and then it was also made available for pc. The controls are a bit strange but don't really make a difference when playing. But the game is basically the same. I only played the demo a long time ago so it doesn't bother me.

A few of the reviews mention the fact that it's a mobile port and that the controls are sub-par, but most of them seem to be nostalgic reviews of the original game.

I also remember this as a great game and instantly bought it when I saw it on sale, but these controls are really annoying.

People on another thread seems to say that the remake is much much easier than original so even if you don't mind the controls, you're still not exactly getting the same hard as hell experience the original game was.

If what I've been reading on this remake so far is true then we seriously need an accurate and objective review of this game compared to the original, and not nostalgia pieces.

I tried medium and hard difficulty on the first level. Medium was pretty easy to beat, but on hard the CPU crushed my Army. I remember sometimes also being defeated in the DOS-Version back then because sometimes you just lack the luck.
But, as far as i can judge, the AI in this version is worse than in the original game and sometimes robots or vehicles just get stuck at bridges or in movement loops. That's even more annoying because they will not fire on targets even if they are in reach or man vehicle being unmanned.
I hope they release the original version along (like Stronghold), so that I can play this instead :)
Also they definitely need to fix the language (at least the german version) .
And many many many other bugs and flaws.....

You know, all this talk about the remake is making me sad. I feel Z is one of those game that deserve to be either played as is or not played at all. Even if the original is offered as a bonus, as long people pick the remake over it thinking both games offer the same experience, except with a different interface and resolution, and that will most likely happen, judging by the amount of rose tinted reviews from players who reviewed the game from their childhood and not the one sold on GOG, or players who have not played the original in recent time to accurately assess the faithfulness of the remake...

I dunno, something's not right if you ask me. And that makes me sad because that game is dear to my heart, back when I consumed RTS in industrial quantity, Z was one of the few game that repeatedly kicked my butt, and for more than a decade I wanted to replay it to get my revenge but I never could get this game to run through Dosbox. So imagine my deception when I find out the Z sold on GOG isn't the Z that stole my lunch money and made me beg for mercy when I was a kid...

I just looked at the Steam page for this game, and all the most helpful reviews are negative and mention the fact that the controls are terrible. The developer actually replied to some of the reviews, saying that they might improve the controls based on player suggestions.

I'd still be interested in playing the original version though. It would be great if it could be added as an extra here on GOG.

Hi,

RE 1) that also was the case in the original version.
RE 2) ??? you do not have to left-click to scroll (or did you mean the right-click to scroll faster feature from the original ;-))

one thing I miss as compared to the original version is the right-click function to select the unit last active

Well, I just booted up the old Win95 version of the game and it also deselects units after they have moved, so that is also faithful to the original versions.

Hmm, interesting. I can't remember that at all. So the main thing that they have changed in this remake then is the fact that the left mouse button drags the screen. That's obviously a remnant of touch controls. Well, hopefully the devs will just take that out then.

What about the camera movement in the original? I assume you were able to scroll the map by using the cursor keys?

The Win95 version let you choose to swap the left and right mouse buttons. One mouse button held down to scroll (or you could move the mouse to the edge of the screen) the other to select and give orders.

EDIT: Just a note, to get the Win95 version running i was using the Z Expansion Kit v1.6 by Antares.

EDIT 2: Actually, I just played the Win95 version again and maybe I was mistaken a little with the mouse control scheme. It is editable between "Old" and "New" but I can't tell much difference between them. You select robots with left mouse and use left mouse to give move/attack orders. Left mouse held down draws a selection box. Right mouse held down scrolls the map. Right mouse clicked selects the previously selected robot.