Now Approaching Completion, ‘Cortex Command’ Test Build 27 Releases Soon
Ambitious pixel-mining n’ shooting game Cortex Command was one of the first games to start down the path that has now commonly become known as Alphafunding. Taking early orders in exchange for regular development builds, and taking user feedback into account as development progressed. The problem is that development of the game ended up slower than most people would have liked – the game has now been in the works for close to a decade. Eventually, the game got an outing in the second Humble Indie Bundle, but it seemed like development had stalled out. Hearts were close to breaking.
Such doom and gloom is thankfully misguided, though – one-man studio Daniel Tabar has been slowly hacking away at the game, and it’s finally nearing completion. The build currently being compiled and distributed (HIB2 customers should be able to download it soon) is apparently the last major release before the fated version 1.0. The game is now mostly playable, with multiple factions fighting over a persistent campaign map. The new build is demonstrated in the rather extensive preview video below.
Looking good! It’s nice to see the base-building and AI mechanics finally given broader context, with bases being long-term investments that you can defend in later missions. The core gimmick of the game – that every single pixel has physical properties – remains unchanged, so earth is compacted under robot’s feed, armor chips off under heavy fire, and fleshy limbs go flying when people mess around with high-powered tools. It’ll be nice to see how the final version shapes up, and how the balance of the grand campaign eventually settles down. Until then, keep an eye on Data Realms’ site and IGM for more news and info.
