Archive for April, 2009


Posted by Data in Cortex Command - April 29th, 2009

CC Tribute by Jordan Brown (aka Dr. Melon)
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!



Posted by Data in Cortex Command - April 3rd, 2009

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.