Cortex Command

[AidanAdv]

Cortex Command Home: http://www.datarealms.com/games.php
Data Realms Fan Forums: http://www.datarealms.com/forum/index.php

Cortex Command is a 2D RTS being developed by Data Realms in which you control a disembodied brain that can command the other bodies around it. You can currently download the Trial Version (It has a buggy gameplay timer that doesn't always work and no access to the in-game editors) or buy the full game for $18. In the currently unfinished Campaign mode, you act as the leader of a small mining company who has just arrived on a newly found planet to exploit its resources. Other factions have also laid claim to the planet and the campaign centers around the control of the planet's resources.

The game also comes with a Skirmish mode (It could be more accurately called Survival mode) where the enemy throws waves after wave of troops at the bunker you construct for your brain before the beginning of the match. You call down reinforcements through a space-order catalog. Your order arrives by Rocket or Dropship, and learning to control these craft as they land is an important task to master as the sub par AI that controls them will often have them crash and explode before your order can be unloaded. (You can also use them as weapon against enemies this way.) Skirmish is a fun time-waster because you can just dick around and do things like MINING OFF FACES.

In summary:



One of the best parts of this game is the mods and custom scenes (which you can find on the Data Realms Fan Forums) which add a whole lot of fun to the game. There are mods that let you do stuff like this:

and stuff like this:

and even stuff like this:

[LukeRM]

I love nuking the enemy base or sending my customized browncoats in.
I remember making huge piles of dropship debris using both stock and modded turrets. They keep falling on my turrets, though.

[Kaelis]

My god. Last time i checked CC was before lua scripting, now i see theres been some insane progress in the quality of stuff people are making. Spectacular. I wish BSF had such creative community.

Someone should rip CC weapons, they would do well as SW style BSF weapons i think.

[Dragontear]

Played it a while ago, I recall taking the habit of controlling just a single body doing everything, because the other units under my command were not much more then target practice, or it was just me. X3 It was pretty good, mind you. The idea of calling down a dropship laden with well-armoured re-enforcments, when my base was under attack was scuppered by a less than graceful landing, hilarity ensured.

Seems very... different from last time. Spectacularly gorey gatling sequence. o.=.0'

[Bad Boy]

I remember playing this a short while after it started, when there were like two people, three guns, and unpleasantly slow resourcing. There was one good mod at the time which added a shitload of weapons and other things, including the wonderful goldmaker. The best way to kill people in it was of course glitching out rockets and making them into steerable super-fast fireball weaponry that could go around or through the world in seconds.
Then I tried it again a while later (shortly before you had to pay), and found it a huge improvement in every way. I'm glad to see it's still progressing, and hasn't stagnated.
Thanks for posting this (with some kickass pics showing its improvements) and reminding me of it, I'll have to try the new version sometime.

[AidanAdv]

I love nuking the enemy base or sending my customized browncoats in.
I remember making huge piles of dropship debris using both stock and modded turrets. They keep falling on my turrets, though.

Yeah, you always want to keep some diggers around to clean up all the enemy gibs, as you usually get mountains of them around your base.

I wish BSF had such creative community.

To be fair, the BSF community doesn't have the same type of tools available to them that the CC community does. Yes you can add new sprites to weapons and import and custom sections, but adding entirely new weapon types would require editing the source code which as I understand it that would be a legal nono. Also, the Encounter making currently doesn't support scripting of any kind so we can't do the same kind of stuff the CC community has been able to with custom Scenes and Missions.

I recall taking the habit of controlling just a single body doing everything, because the other units under my command were not much more then target practice

Yeah, the AI that control your the bodies you aren't using is pretty bad at the moment.

The idea of calling down a dropship laden with well-armoured re-enforcments, when my base was under attack was scuppered by a less than graceful landing, hilarity ensured.

Landing Dropships and rockets can be difficult, but once you've learned how to do it with out killing everyone on board they're alright. If you don't want to worry about that stuff just use drop crates.

Seems very... different from last time. Spectacularly gorey gatling sequence. o.=.0'

Heheh, yeah.

Thanks for posting this (with some kickass pics showing its improvements) and reminding me of it, I'll have to try the new version sometime.

You're welcome.

[Kaelis]

To be fair, the BSF community doesn't have the same type of tools available to them that the CC community does.

Well duh, of course. Thats why i don't mean weapons or encounters but sprites.

[Slayer0019]

I tried this game out a while ago, and did a bit of code modding along the lines of rebalancing the weapons. As is, the biggest improvement that the game needs is making the troops that you aren't directly controlling useful. Their AI range is outright pathetic, with them refusing to shoot until the enemy is 20 feet away.

Call me when the game is actually done.

[derekiv]

I tried the game and now am addicted. I'm getting down to the point where I'm trying to beat all the story missions in the 6min time limit.