ZED Online - a fork of the Zod Engine

[alphaxseven]

First of all, thank you for creating this wonderful project - its good to know that old good games still have some life and can adapt to the modern needs thanks to the work of people like you.

Sadly, I cannot play.
I downloaded Zed Online from the Sourceforge project website - I cannot download it from ZZone because Chrome says "Network error", and trying with wget only allowed downloading a few bytes before closing the connection and have to reopen it to download a few more bytes. I know the ZZone version is a Windows installer but I don't know if I have to install something with the Sourceforge version.

My problem is: the first time I run the program, I can create an account and try to load Level 01 - memory usage is quite high though, around 1.5 GB. When the level starts there is a black background instead of terrain, a strange "intercom" (?) sound and the units when moving leave a ghost behind. A few moments later the program closes by itself.

The next times I try to run the program, I just skip the intro by clicking on it and leave the program on the main menu - the memory usage rises again near 1.5 GB, then a message appears: "not enough memory" and closes. I've made a ticket about it in https://sourceforge.net/p/zedonline/tickets/1/

Thank you in advance.

[DaMarkov]

My problem is: the first time I run the program, I can create an account and try to load Level 01 - memory usage is quite high though, around 1.5 GB. When the level starts there is a black background instead of terrain, a strange "intercom" (?) sound and the units when moving leave a ghost behind. A few moments later the program closes by itself.

The next times I try to run the program, I just skip the intro by clicking on it and leave the program on the main menu - the memory usage rises again near 1.5 GB, then a message appears: "not enough memory" and closes. I've made a ticket about it in https://sourceforge.net/p/zedonline/tickets/1/

Bug has been discussed in Slack. For anyone having the same problem. Trying restarting the program multiple times. If that doesn't fix it, try version 0.2.
This seems to be two separated issues. 1) high memory consumption 2) some timing issue when loading game assets.
There have been code changes to fix these two issues which will go public with the next version.

One a separate note:
The Linux port is starting to take shape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4njoK0A_kd0

Are there many people here who are interested in a port to MacOS? If not, I would try porting to Mac some time next year. If there are I would start at around Christmas.

[kandrachoff]

very good game this Z online is!!! miss Z game from 90s when i was 8 years old!
now... : ...i was having some probems with:
save options changes like mousse config, save games, etc
bridges destroy problems
stucks of units, all the time
robots do not conquer flagsclose of them
1 to 20 levels cant config velocity of game

there is a save game for 1 to 20 level in some place¿
some site with some extra custom map already¿

keep it coming please!!! best game ever!!!

[DaMarkov]

i was having some probems with:
save options changes like mousse config, save games, etc
bridges destroy problems

What is the exact problem?

stucks of units, all the time

Yeah that is a known issue. Especially when driving over bridges.
At some point I have to rewrite the path finding.

robots do not conquer flagsclose of them
1 to 20 levels cant config velocity of game

hmm, they should. If they are close enough. I think it was 150 pixels and are idle they should conquer flags.
Change the speed is disabled in single player mode, because that would give players an unfair advantage to achieve highscores.
You can copy the single player maps (maps\singleplayer) into the custom folder (maps\custom) and play the maps in quickstart mode.
That way you change change the team and speed.

there is a save game for 1 to 20 level in some place¿
some site with some extra custom map already¿

The savegame is stored in the file savegame.YourUsername.bin.
I have converted some of the maps people made over the last years and but them into the maps\custom folder.
There are more custom maps, but I haven't converted them all yet.

[DaMarkov]

Question to everyone who remembers Z DOS:
How long did it take for vehicle to get repaired? Did id depend on the type of vehicle? On the amount of damage of the vehicle / repair station?

In zod engine (and zed) it takes precisely 5 seconds.

I would like to change that so that jeeps, light tanks with minimal damage only take 1 to 2 seconds
and a heavily damaged mo. missile in a burning repair station might take up to 15 seconds.

[DaMarkov]

Quick announcement regarding the next version. Beta test will start in a week. Public release about one or two weeks later.
Biggest changes are:
- Linux version
- Standalone .exe for a server
- RAM requirements are much lower. About 50%. Fixed a lot of memory leaks.
- Graphics will now be loaded on the fly during gameplay. Less loading time, less RAM requirements.
- T button next to the mini map now does something useful.
- Optimized OpenGL renderer. In general expect a performance increase of about 20%

FPS in v0.2.1 --> FPS in v0.2.2
Level 1: 220 fps --> 500 fps
SC hunters: 130 fps --> 190 fps
Merged map: 40 fps --> 53 fps

- When joining a server a one can now spectate a match that has already started
- Updated the zed replay file format. Should make replaying replay files more stable in the future (mostly for dedicated servers).

[SteelGhost]

https://www.galaxus.de/en/page/intervie ... rket-11088

[DaBoss]

Does Zed Online also include the Expansion Kit?:

Z and Z Expansion Kit includes a native Windows 95 port of the DOS Game Z and the Z Expansion Kit, which was never released separately. The game runs only in native Windows 95 mode.

The expansion kit adds a multi-player editor and a Z Theme Pack. Furthermore, the control interface has been optimized, and tweaks were made to the single- and multiplayer gameplay. A few changes to the placement of the guns in the game were made as well.

The Z Expansion Kit also adds 11 levels (from 20 to 31), replicas of the first 11 levels of the original DOS release, but with a larger map and all of the units available right away.

[DaMarkov]

Does Zed Online also include the Expansion Kit?:

Z and Z Expansion Kit includes a native Windows 95 port of the DOS Game Z and the Z Expansion Kit, which was never released separately. The game runs only in native Windows 95 mode.

The expansion kit adds a multi-player editor and a Z Theme Pack. Furthermore, the control interface has been optimized, and tweaks were made to the single- and multiplayer gameplay. A few changes to the placement of the guns in the game were made as well.

The Z Expansion Kit also adds 11 levels (from 20 to 31), replicas of the first 11 levels of the original DOS release, but with a larger map and all of the units available right away.

Yes, the additional maps are included! The multiplayer maps can be used in quickstart/multiplayer/online game mode.
The Z95 maps are available in single player (as level 21 to 35) after finishing the first 20 levels.
Furthermore, completing all 35 maps unlocks the maps of the beta/press release version with a harder AI.

If you want to play the maps without unlocking anything first, the easiest would be to copy the map files into the maps\custom folder a play the single player maps in quickstart mode.

[DaBoss]

https://www.mydealz.de/deals/zthe-game- ... rs-1460610

[DaMarkov]

Version 0.2.2 is now out:

Download link for Windows:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/zedonl ... p/download
Linux:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/zedonl ... p/download

The Linux version is still "unstable". So, any feedback would be appreciated. Also try the OpenGL renderer if the SDL renderer gives bad results.

Changelog: https://sourceforge.net/p/zedonline/wiki/changelog/

This release is the biggest code change between releases, so there are far too many things to mention here.
Also the gateway I set up is down. So to update you can follow the instructions here: https://zzforum.lewe.com/viewtopic.php? ... 952#p27952
Or just download the copy from sourceforge and copy it over (or copy your accounts, savegame files into the new installation folder).

[xxxXx]

Hi mate!

I dunno why but Avast immediately put the exec into the phantom zone

Otherwise wish you all best, I'm dying to see a proper online for Z.

[city slicker]

just download it. well done! i give some feedback 2morrow!

[DaMarkov]

Hi mate!

I dunno why but Avast immediately put the exec into the phantom zone

Otherwise wish you all best, I'm dying to see a proper online for Z.

"phantom zone" what a weird, but cool name ^^
I scanned the exe with Virus total and only BitDefenderTheta thinks its a some Trojan all other antiviurs engine think its fine.
I assume you are using Avast Antivir free version? I will download and check

[DaMarkov]

Now that I understand the zod engine better I am looking more into the pathfinding and the unit AI.
I am now making some maps and some Lua code which should act as a benchmark for the pathfinding engine etc.

Here is a sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NbYP06 ... e=youtu.be

Units take flags that are near, recalculate their path. When entering a vehicle that path is recalculated again.

The red lines are just debug output. Also ignore that the audio is not synced to the video.