What sold you on ZK?

As we're nearing the steam release and starting to think about how to appeal to people, it's good to look back at what brought us here in the first place.

Tell us how you found ZK, what made you try it, and what made you stay (or not). Can be as long or short as you want.

Rules:
- One post per person.
- Try to stick to telling your story as opposed to discussing others' posts ("oh, that's what brought me in too!" is fine).

Feel free to open a separate thread if you want to discuss something that was brought up in here.

Was bored in my first semester of uni and looked at google code projects. Found ZK. Can't say I "stayed" for the game ( Skasi lured me away with Path of Exile...), but the community was and still is very unique.

Left another RTS, searched up for free RTS got here.

Farrrr more control over units, and eco, that's what made this game a lot better anything else, and best of all, a flat tech tree...

No upgrades! No nubs getting a lvl 420 Krow and stomping on us :))))


Also: Flea!

I used spiderfac since I went to wiki and found the flea, and I thought it was like a god unit lolol

I found Evolution RTS through steam during its launch. It was frustrating at first because there were a few bugs, and it required better than average technological understanding to make work (myself having worse than average). I stayed a while, but found that the skill difference between players was even greater than it is in ZK, there were only a few players capable of holding their own (most of which were from ZK) and the rest were struggling with the fundamentals. Nevertheless, it was my favourite game and I desparately wanted people to play with, but the steam hype soon dried up and the botched launch had failed to retain a real community.

While I had the spring launcher open, I could see all the other games available. I noticed there were significantly more people playing ZK. I jumped in a clusterfuck and hated every second of it. Too much was happening and nothing made sense. People were yelling at me the most divergent advice, and knowing what I do now, a lot of it was not useful. But EvoRTS was only available for the weekly meet-up, and I needed an RTS to play, so I stuck with it. I stayed bad for a long time, but eventually developed some niggling of a comprehension.

I left before getting good though, due to hostile community.

Six months later, I logged in for the hell of it, and there was a tournament on that same night. I got talked into it, and got soundly beaten by SilentShadow. He seemed like a nice guy, and so I agreed to play a few more games with him later down the track. I then got hooked all over again.

The reason I've stayed is because the game is good (when there's enough people to play it), and I've got a lot of friends here.

Start using linux -> search 'linux games' -> find spring -> get into 8v8BADSD as 'W4R10K' for some years -> somehow find CA -> 'woah everything looks way bigger, cooler and OPper in than BA' -> WOAH CHICKENS + TERRAFORM -> stop playing for some reason -> then CA becomes ZK -> play ZK -> get bored of it -> keep lurking the forums & chat -> write a post about how I ended up lurking the forum and chat -> it all starts back when I started using linux -> search 'linux games' -> find spring -> get into 8v8BADSD as W4R10K for some years -> somehow find CA -> 'woah everything looks way bigger, cooler and OPper in than BA' -> WOAH CHICKENS + TERRAFORM -> stop playing for some reason -> then CA becomes ZK -> play ZK -> enjoy the glorius OP tick & the ̡d͠re͏a̧df͢ul̛ OP̨ st̷ile̛tto times-> get bored of it -> keep lurking the forums & chat -> write a post about how I ended up lurking the forum and chat -> it all starts when I start using linux ->search 'linux games' -> find spring -> get into 8v8BADSD as 'W4R10K' for some years -> somehow find CA -> 'woah everything looks way bigger, cooler and OPper in than BA' -> WOAH CHICKENS + TERRAFORM -> stop playing for some reason -> th̘e͕̟̪̲̬̪n̻̹̳̭̯͢ ͚̝̯̘C̭͎͖̰͞A̙̯͕͈͚̥͟ͅ ̷̜͕͔̬͓̮̺e̴̹̩͉c̱̤͎ơ̱̗̝̹͎̙̱m̰͎͍̯e͓̪̻͚̳s͓̼̜ ͙̦̰̥̩Z̵̩̠͈K̳̜͚͕̣͙͙ ̨̪̜̘-҉̭>̬̟̤̭̺̗͎͡ ͚̯̰̺p̷͔̯̰l̦͓̬͎͝a͏̥y̜̕ ̛͎Z͇K̡̭͇̹̪͙̟ ̵͔͇-̦̥̙̲̥ͅ> ̮N҉̦̖̜͕O̝͉̻͜ ̦̦̖̮P̖͔̺̱̟L̪͎̰̻͉̮̱͘E̢͖͍A̖̘S̼̣͡Ḙ̥̞̤͎̤̥ D̪̟͇̣͍O̴̦̯̭̘̥N̵̘̺̮'̛͇͖̫͚T͉̣̖̣͙ ̮́U͔̪ͅS͍͟Ẹ̱̮͙ ̳T̮̪̪̖H͏̱̻̣̜͕͔O̷͉͔̹̭̱͙̻S̗̬Ẹ͍͓̹̯ ̫͈̟̜D̴̝͈̰̙̝O͉̖͙͙̞̩̘͞M͈̪̰͓̝I̟̱̫S̰̯̭͈̫ ͘Ơ̰̳̣̪N̨̥̤̗̣ ̴͕̪ME̫͍̗̠-͖̤>̷̹̙̫̮ ̫̖̘̗͈̜̣ge͖̝t̰̖̱̲̜̗ ͏̰̜̪͉̭͕̖b̨̺̯͎͖̤͈o͎r̪̥̳̣̲͇͎e͏̺͉̫̦̦̝d ̢̳̳̻̟͎o̻̕f͖̙̯ ҉̺̫͕i̫t̘͕̗̫̙̗̣ ̛̝->̷ ͙͙͓̳̗̭k̠̻̲̲̩̤̩e͖̥͉̣̭̪ep̙͉̘ͅ ͉̞͚́l̦̝͍̗u̷̱̠̮̲ŕ̳͉͎̠͉k͇̼̳̮i̳͔͓͙̖n̹͍̜̥͇̘g̟̱͉̞ ͖t̜̼̻̬͚̻̭͡h̥e̝̣͖͇͈͜ ̡̙̩̳̯̙̭f̶o͇͔r̮͟ú̘͇̻ms & chat -> write a post about how I ended up lurking the forum and chat -> it all starts back when I started using linux -> search 'linux games' -> find spring -> get into 8v8BADSD as W4R10K for some years -> somehow find CA -> 'woah everything looks way bigger, cooler and OPper in than BA' -> WOAH CHICKENS + TERRAFORM -> stop playing for some reason -> then CA becomes ZK -> play ZK -> A̦͉̠͍B̛͓̖͔̼͕̻o͍̻͔̜̞͔ḿ͇̠̩I̻̬̮͡N̡̘͙͔AB͓̲̦̪̠ͅl̖̳E ̢̤C̮̮̦̼ͅO̗̝N̴M̻̣̱A͇̤͉͕͙̫̰N̵̟̩͉̦͔̝ͅ ͖ͅ-> s͖t̝̭͍O̹̩P̺̳̣̗̳̮ ̼̱ͅTH̻̥A̗̳͙T̷̙ ̷̘̝̜̬̹P͈ͅL͏̱̜͓̘͇E͈̥̬͈A̯̺S͉͔̜̘͇͔̘̕E͎̺̱͎-> keep lurking the forums & chat -> write a post about how I ended up lurking the forum and chat -> it all starts when I start using linux -> search 'linux games' -> find spring -> get into 8v8BADSD as 'W4R10K' for some years -> whY is ThAT COMM FLYING TOWARDS My TEchSPOT ->somehow find CA -> 'woah everything looks way bigger, cooler H̨̛̟̺͎̘̥ͧ̾̽̓ͥ͋ͨ̎ͤ̐̿̎̄ͨ͛̚͡͠͞Ė̾͑͌̑͗̔͐́҉̞͇̝͕̼̥̳̩͉̩̪͔͝ ̢̼͚̟̘̬̼̰͇̜̗̽̔ͯ̇ͯ͆́C̴͂̓̂̍̉ͨ̽͑͂̓ͧ͛̽ͥ̌̚͏̻͇̜̜̮̠͙̩̪̣̪̦͔̯̱̦̖͘O̷͋͛̈́ͧ҉̧͍̳̝͇̼͉̤̬̲̱͈͔̼̲̱͎M̶̧̜̤̺̠̜̤̯̝̣̟̜͔͖̋̈̇͋ͯͧ̌͒ͫ̓͢ͅE̸̡̪͖̠̩̟͙̠̤̮̭̲̰ͪ͋ͦ̑͋ͥ͒ͤ̇ͮͦ̀͞ͅS̝̟͙̣̜̽̆̋ͭ͑͋̇͆͟ͅ ̧̏ͣͧ̏͌̈̐͜҉̮̳͚̙̫͔͚̺̻̝̻̪͕̖̗͔̻̜ ndO̪̠̕P̟̳̝̱̗p̲e̪̮r̩̰̥̩͈ ̻í͚n̝̻͓ ̛̝͓͉̫̥͕͕t̡̬h̵͖̟̫a̪͝n͔̙̤͍ ̛͇̹A͠'̳͉̱̼ ̱͎͓͔̀-̪͕̞͢>̫̤̖̗͔̤̯ ̭̖W̡̙̱̝͚̳OAH͘ ̙̯̪C̣ͅH͍̤̰̦̝̻I҉̘͎͈͔͓̮̩C͔̤͚̝̩K̼̯͓͍E̼̝̲Ṇ̢̳̬̹S͈̀ ̥̹̘̳+̜̹̞ ̶̝̰͎͚̠ͅT҉E̹̦̣̜̺̥R̠̟͡R̟̫̠̩̟̖̩̀AF̼O̹Ŗ͈̲͔M̶̳͓̝ ̖̮̻̯͔̭-̹̣͓̪̭̤̦>̛ ̡̺̼͕̪ ̻̝̲̹͠s̯͔͕͔͠t͓̦̳̫̠o̙͈͖̣̗̬͡p̱͎ ͏̳̯͍̼̖p̭̱͓̯̬̜͈l̵̰̗a͍̲̻̞͓͟y̸̱̲̰̼̘̩̤in͇͕g̹͍͇͎͓̮͝ ̥̱̭̩f̟̲̱͉̹ǫ͈͖̜̘͚r̨͎̟̗̱̦͇ͅ ͚͓̬̹̙͎s̭͇̪̰͉̘͠om̩͉̦̲e͙̼̩̹͓̣͞ ̳͈͍̕r͚̦èa̼̹̜̥͈s̤̙͎͚̦͟o̯͍͡n ͚͝-̠̘>̼̣̱͞ ̠̭̟̭̰̥ͅt̖̗͚̣̞͢h̹̬͙̱͎͇̀ẹ̥̟̝̞͠n̙͖̭̙͕͓ ̤̤̥̕CA͖̻ ́b͙̜̪e͕̦̲̦͎͝c̱̬̱̺̼o̭͍͓̘m̤͘es͇̥͚͇͓͍͇ ̱͔͈̼̘́Z̖̟̠̼̣̭͙͘K͏̬ ̴̠̘͔͉-̴̳̙̼̩͍>̷͇͈̩̭͖ ̙̣̠͙̥p͡l̠͕͚̫̩a͖͝y̺̤͍̝̦͉ͅ ̕Z̬̕K̨̮ ҉̗̖̦-̘̗͓ͅ>̢̯͓̬̟͓ͅ ̱̥g͎̺̝̫e̥͞t͕͍̮͚̜̠ ̼̻̭̞͓̯͟b͎͙͖̝ơ̟̭̜̫r̻̲̠̱e͏̩̺͈̺̝̖d̘̫̮͘ ̮͉͍͉o̷͍͓f̩͠ ̠̩̤̙̹̯̗͟i͇t̞̳͓̝̰̤̞͘ ͏̩̱̯̱̫̘-̙͙̼̜̝̝>̳ ̩̯͖̜̰̕k͖͇̘ͅe̮e͔̩͠p ̷͕̲ͅḷ̀ų̖̮̟̫̰r̡̳̮̼͙k̶͍̺̘̠̥ͅi̶͇̭̰̠͙n̨͙̱͍̹͖g͖̙̱̹͕̲̳ ̯̦̘̣͖̣̘t̗̘͇̰͕̪h̹̦̠̝̞̬ḛ̠͓͠ ̸̞͚̗̝̱̬͚f̘o̙r̷͚̜͎͍̜̜u̴m̷͍ͅs̡ ̦̖͕͓̯̺͘&̯ ̺̻̦̲͟c̷̠̲̭͚̗h͍͞à͖̞̺͓̙͍t̢͉̳͙̺͙ ̥̕-̫̙̬͞>̛ ͙͈͈͡w̝͙̳̣͙͍r̩̮̞i̘̹̦̘̲̠t͏͈̜͚̯e͈̻̞̖ ͖͈ͅá͎̰ ͍̰̭̙̲̺͇p̟̬̩o̤s̞̟t҉ ̻͇̜̺̱͖̦̀ábo͍̭̥u̙̟͚t͍͕̫̹ ̺͈̩͉̰̟̫h̶̪̼ow҉͇̻͙̼̞ͅ ̪͚̻͉͓ͅI̳̯ ͔̱͎̫̣̥̤e͎͍͇̘̰͖n̴̺̩̝ͅd̶e̟̱̦d͏ ̜͕̼̠̗̞͖u̬p̩̻̫͖̦ ̴͇̫̺͖̖l͙͎͔̗̭͚͙͢u̡r̖̱̮͘k͎̣̮̹͕̰̼ị͘n̳̤͘g͎̼̦͎ ̴͍͇̮̖͓͖̪ṱ̜ͅh͔̱̣̖ͅe̪̟̖̻̹̗ͅ ̧͙̱̱f̳̙͎̯͓̥o͔̱̦̪̫ŕ̟̣̬u̝ḿ̠͈͖͍̦ ̭̲͙͕̩̯͈̕a̹ņ͎͉̪d ̲͈c̮h̷͙a̫t̙͉͈ͅ -̥̖̰̼̩̫̥≯̞͈̼̜

P̦̻̝͖̪̣̤ͯͥ̀̐ͨͥͫ͛̋̋́͟͟O̡̻̮̟̮̳̬̐ͤ͋ͫ̀ͬ̈́ͧ͋͑ͨ̀̂̄̀Rͥ͂̃̐͌ͮͬͫ͐̒̍̆͏̨̜̼̮̗͓̰͜C̛̮̗̠̟̲͛ͣͩ̃̈ͨ̿ͩ̓̈́͑̓ͮ͟ ̍ͮ̍͗ͤ̄ͫ̾̑́̚҉̤̲̻̬͈̳͚̗̭͍̞͓̱̠͖̗̲̲̰͟F̵̢͍̮̥̝̫̥̮̱̣͈̟̥ͥ̈́͆̍͊͌̂ͤ̓ͦ̚E̡̘̰̖̯͈̮̭̥͓̠̣͎̟̭ͤ́̉̆ͦͬ̾͂̆ͧͫ̉ͧ͌ͥͩ̽̚̕͟S̵̡̙̞̘̣̰̬̭̰̥͍̰͇̪̬̲̱̬ͫ͂̓͊͢͡Ţ̴̯͚̱̌̈ͨ̆͘͡ ̆̽́ͦ̉̍ͩ̓̏͏̵̩̺͈͕̝̹̥̩̣͚̯͚̫̭̳̕͜͜l̴͖̲̪̜̱̠̰͉̣̙̳̗͎̫̦̭̬̭̒̄́̿͌͆̆ͣ̇̊̀ͥ̈́̒͛͂̓͒ͭ̀̀͟͞ͅo̸̩̠̟̣͚̦͇̻̺̯̲̲̤̦̗̟͕͐̿̍̋͗͆̑ͅb̋͂̾̉͛̏͒̊̓̽͒̿͝͝͞҉̧̘̙̗̪̯͙͉ ̵̧̬̼͕͈̪͈̖̠̳̬̜ͪͤͭͧͦ͒ͩ͊ͫ̅́ͣͬ͆ͫ̕͞ͅl̨̛̖͙̦͒̇͆̃͌͂̾̅͒̊ͣ̏̄ͣͩͮ̉́́ͅö̏͑ͫ̓̆ͫ͋̓ͥ̂͋́̈̉̈́̚͏͏̡͍̠̩͍̗͎̤̬̭͈̪̻̲̜̪̗̖͓̪͢b̛̞͕̪̼̦̫̙͔̬̫̻ͦ̽̃͋ͦ̈ͨ̏͛ͩͮ̍̒͆̽̚͢͞ l̩̯̦̮͙͔͎̫̈́ͮ͝ǫ̵̞̫͈̭̦͆̑͌̓͑̒ͭ͡b̧̪̪̞̳̪̼́̏̇̑͜ ̴̢̳̜̬͖͈ͬ͛͂ͮͬ̑l̨̛͙̫̼͍̯̺̇̊ͩ͋ō͔̱̯̻͈͎̲̙̎̌͘̕͜b̶͙̎̐͝

strategy, real-time and round-based were always my thing. i started with dune2, civ1 and warcraft2, over the older c&c universe and semi-professional broodwar ... and ended playing LAN battles of supcom. so, you can see some concentrated and critical experience and view on rts here.

due to cpu lag of supcom on greater scale, one linux-affine guy introduced zk when it was some 8X.X engine used. i liked supcom better at that time, but my crappy pc forced me to zk. i got used to it.

i fell in love with the variety of options for success, the flat "tech tree" and terraforming. linux-availibility and constant active develobment, most of it to the better. also being able at rejoining and spectating is a plus.

did i mention skuttle?

Had OTA as a kid. Loved it because it was more simcity than other RTS (I was a total porcnab and only played metal maps with bots)

Found TASpring, spent half an hour building 1 of each unit with XTA v9 (default mod) on the original Small Divide, thought "cool", deleted because just a tech demo

Friend visited an hour later, "hey whats up" - "oh i found a 3d TA techdemo" - "wow show me" - redownloaded because it was just 10mb, messed around again, didnt delete

Figured out there was a bundled TASClient, ran it, holy shit there are people

Then the usual path: XTA > AA/BA (more people, gameplay closer to OTA) > CA/ZK (there was something new to discover almost literally every day)

At some point Supcom appeared. It would've probably contested the my OTA Successor throne but at the time my PC didn't run it (and when it did there was already the sunk cost of rediscovering the gameplay and the community).

At some point I tried getting into SC2 which is when I've discovered that ZK's godlike UI made me decadent and complacent so now I can't play any other RTS because the controls are shitty everywhere else. ZK itself has been evolving and it's design and quality are top notch by now so it's both the best and the only playable RTS for me.

My hardware is not keeping on with times well and I have less time in general so I barely play nowadays and moved into things I can do at work - develobbing and lurking the forum (and participating in spiderlord intrigues). These are interesting enough to make me stay but as soon as I get enough spare time (so probably when I finish uni) it's back to playing ZK.

I liked Brood War. But i liked Urban Assault more: it was 3d, and it had physics, and it had some armor rules but no targeting rules. I could shoot bombers down with a tank, or kill fighter planes by dropping bombs on them. It had a flat tech tree. It was also personal when you shot your enemies because of the embodied commander aspect.

But Urban Assault was sadly dated, didn't run on modern systems or Linux, had no multiplayer, and nothing similar was on the horizon. However, i had some experience modding games. A plan quickly hatched: i shall make my own clone of Urban Assault! It will have physics, fast-paced combat, and no contrived targeting rules!

I decided i'd do this on Spring engine in 2008 to 2009 and actually got somewhere along with it. I couldn't really run CA at that point because CA demanded a lot more computer power than i had, and was an "annihilation" which, to me, meant just another artless clone lacking any interesting mechanics or designs, and forever poisoned by the touch of Big Gamedev corporate IP.

Then RL interfered, and i abandoned this project. In 2011, i was prepping to resume it with more skills and a better computer. So i decided to research what recent advances happened in Spring that would affect my plans. I ignored all games which had the word "annihilation" in them, again, but this time CA was called ZK and also claimed all kinds of radical changes, so i went to investigate.

ZK was fast paced. It had physics. It had very little in terms of targeting restrictions. It eliminated armor classes. It eliminated tech trees. It was already existing and had a multiplayer community. The only thing missing was direct control over units - a feature that spend long decaying in Spring, and one i was by then prepared to abandon because no engine developer cared to support it or even enable easier Lua implementations.

So, essentially, my plan was implemented better than i could hope. It was time to pwn.

TA nostalgia brought me to BA, which eventually brought me to ZK (when I was tired of DSD and I was constantly seeing new maps being played in the CA/ZK room in TASpring lobby).

I remember my first game of ZK: we were about 4 and everybody was building puppies! Maybe a new unit at the time?

After years of playing C&C online (Generals, Zero Hour) I discovered Spring. First I used to be a BA player on the *Spring server* (also some TA, NOTA later on). If it wasn't for seeing ZK as another Spring game on the server (with better graphics, terraform, communism) I might have never or possibly much later ended up playing ZK. I doubt that people can discover ZK like this nowadays... guess why. And I believe many people playing ZK will never see the opportunity to try other spring games and see if they like them. I believe in giving and taking within the small community of platform independent opensource games, especially among Spring games.

All hail to the Steam release. What do you expect Steam will bring? It's not free super advertising. The players I would want to attract are not primarily Steam focused. They are players interested in opensource and indie games - and while those people certainly could do that over Steam, it's not where the music is playing. What makes you believe that? Maybe I have missed those examples of small community OS games that got thousands of players through Steam? I can only repeat, what do you expect Steam will bring? New players, contributing to a thriving community can be brought by advertising on the right places, indie and opensource game lists and communities. Zero-K is a small niche game and should be cultivated like this, together with the other Spring games. Maybe my point of view is biased, because I come from this direction. But opposing views might be biased in the same way in the other direction, keep that in mind. Knorke might be a troll, but, to be honest, I agree with his criticism. Things have gone horribly in a wrong direction. Please, please prove me wrong in the upcoming years.