Yep, it’s out. Here’s a few of the notable additions/changes:

• Full Lua scripting of any object, not only missions. Documentation here.
• A lot of added content, most of it is still works in progress though. All kinds of toys to play with!
• Improved buying menu now displays long item names correctly and more clearly
• Buy menu Presets can now be made to quickly switch between completely different shipment loadouts!
• New in-game music by dannyB
• Several new campaign and skirmish missions in the works.
• Fixed scene editor making the game not load afterward
• As always, several months’ worth of general touches and improvements

Again, note that the detailed Lua binding documentation is up! Will be writing a separate post and some tutorials on the scripting soon - this is powerful stuff. Modders can now make nearly anything happen in the game engine, as if they had access to the C++ source!

CC Tribute by Jordan Brown (aka Dr. Melon)

There’s been lots of press and media coverage of Cortex Command since IGF, here’s a selection:

CO-OP (former 1UP crew) IGF video segment, at 9:30 mins in:

Wall Street Journal article on the different emerging indie buisness models:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124094416078864595.html

Another interview/gameplay video by GameReactor (I was REALLY tired and hoarse during this one):
http://www.gamereactor.dk/grtv/?id=4460

Super long, rambly podcast interview with Data, by IGameRadio:
http://www.igameradio.com/2009/04/13/igame-radio-gaming-the-igf-2009-part-2-posted/

For more related links and other cool stuff, here’s Data’s twitter feed:
http://twitter.com/Data01

If you find any more coverage or useful mentions, then post it in the comments and I’ll put them here in the post!

Contrary to what some have feared, we have been working (albeit slowly) on Cortex Command during and after the GDC madness. The biggest new feature for Build 23 is the ability to attach Lua scripts to not only the Missions, but any MovableObject in the game!

In the ini definition of any Preset in the game, an optional line can be added to make any object of that Preset load and use a script file:

AddAmmo = AEmitter
  PresetName = Destroyer Cannon Shot
  ScriptPath = Dummy.rte/Devices/Weapons/Launchers/Destroyer.lua


The test script file Destroyer.lua looks like this - try to figure out what it does to the projectile:

function Create(self)
  print("CREATED: " .. self.PresetName);
  self.testTimer = Timer();
end

function Destroy(self)
  print("DESTROYED: " .. self.PresetName);
end

function Update(self)
  if self.testTimer:IsPastSimMS(1500) then
    self.Vel = self.Vel + Vector(0, 1);
  end
end




That simple! You can attach any data or timers or whatever you wish to the object, and since almost the entire C++ engine is exposed to the Lua state, modders will have a LOT of power to play with! You will be able to come up with completely new, custom logic for how anything and everything should behave. Want homing bullets? Custom AI behavior? Crazy special effects? No problem!

Next up is to get get the documentation for all the Lua bindings in the engine made. It’s all about scraping the C++ source for the thorough documentation and spitting it out to legible files, but we’re not far off.

Wow. Just back and recovering from the alternate dimension known as the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. In the Independent Games Festival which is part of the larger GDC, Cortex Command won two (!!!) awards: Technical Excellence and the Audience Award. The latter was probably mainly due to our amazingly supportive fans here in the Data Realms community. So, thank you guys and gals; we will be doing our best giving back the love for a long time to come!

By the time the second CC award was announced during the ceremony, I was already quite drunk and lost a bet to Kyle of 2DBoy (hence the shirtless nonsense) —>

Data is going back to sleep for a few more days now; will be gradually updating the photo gallery with the complete week’s coverage. UPDATE: ALL PHOTOS ARE NOW UP

Thanks again everyone!

2009 started out a bit rocky for progress on Cortex Command. Distractions large and small got in the way of serious development for all of January, but I am happy to report that we’re now back on track and chugging along just fine. We are working through a backlog of important features and fixes required by the content team and mod community - and then it’s on to development of the meta game in earnest.

The meta game is what will be going on in the planetary view, tying all the surface missions and activities together. It will be turn based, where the player gets to build his mining bases to generate income, which in turn can be spent on expanding and exploring new sites and discovering the dangerous secrets of the planet.

Also, we are thinking about making some Cortex t-shirts and other neat stuff like fridge magnets and stickers. Please let us know if you would be interested in buying such things with sweet prints like you see to the left. If there’s a lot of interest, we’ll get it going sooner!

Hey, Cortex Command finally made it into the IGF, after probably breaking the record of number of years any same game has been submitted! We have been sending it in more times than I can actually remember.. there were even a couple of submissions under the name D.I.R.T., way back when, before some other game projects claimed it. I think the total attempts is five, but could be plus/minus one.

It’s always been well worth it though; we got enough publicity out of the IGF entries page listing to make up for the entry fee. That initial traffic definitely helped build the great fan base and community that we enjoy today!

Congrats to all our Indie brethren who also made the finals - I’ll see you in SF soon! And to those who didn’t make it this time, take it from us: Don’t give up - keep working on it and submit again next year! It’s always worth it.

To the right is the first official gameplay trailer that I just threw together for the finalist page. This is how Data plays CC! (best viewed in fullscreen mode)