I have finally progressed to a point I am ready to reveal another entertainment: Cortex Command. PCGamer’s demo disc for “May” included the latest version. I know I can invoke the next comparison for my concurrent readers, but few others. The Nineties saw two similarly themed games: Worms and Liero. Both involved destroying the opponent’s team and terrain; but, Liero ran in real time and hosted a dedicated modding community. Data Realms, CC’s development company, has managed to combine the best elements of each with much better art to make a strong game.

In its most abstract, Cortex Command is a team-based strategy game of point capture. The story hides this well. In the future, humans have managed to sustain disembodied brains in jars and wirelessly control clone bodies. The action focuses on the gold mining arm of a larger faction called The Coalition and the player is tasked with coring this new planet for all it is worth. The game promises many factions with the same goal and the firepower to enforce each claim. Reinforcements can be bought against the ore extracted, and are brought down via rocket or drop ship (a jet-engined Osprey). The default store includes a great variety of arms: bazookas, gatling guns, auto shotguns, and pistols. In the face of such danger, we reasonably bury our brain in thick-walled concrete bases. Inevitably, mining tools are pressed into service against doors and other barriers. All these conspire to create a delicate balance of sending shock troops to besiege without abandoning our own bastion.

I must admit Cortex Command lacks a satisfying single player campaign, but only temporarily. Data Realms chose to employ a transparent game engine that has undergone much improvement. They released the newest version ‘build 23′ a few days ago, but people have played since build 13. (A few youtube videos depict obsolete missions and designs.) This marks a penultimate milestone in engine development, and they can finally focus on creating a proper campaign. They have provided four missions and a tutorial. Instead, I devote more energy toward its skirmish mode. Here we can play against the AI or up to three human opponents.

The AI presents an acceptable challenge. The AI spawns dropships and rockets all across the map that release opposing clones that dig and fight their way to my brain. I can spend hours using a single actor to destroy their transports before they land. When they kill him, though, I must scramble to bring down another before they make annoying tunnels. I could use more; they can defend themselves somewhat, but not really.

What I would really like is to encourage my sister or my friends to join me so we can battle each other. Most of the maps are designed for multiple players anyway. I had to cut one myself so as to not waste time hopping around the map to kill stragglers. Luckily, Data Realms made Cortex Command gamepad compatible. I have two playstation controllers, so I bought an usb adapter. It came in that sealed plastic, so I used our glass shears to open the package as I always do. Unsurprisingly, I cut too low and ruined the driver CD. This forced a two day hunt for a replacement driver. As Xboxes and usb gamepads have become more common, the site that most forum posts pointed to – psxpad – closed.  I eventually found mayflash_com, which hosts many varieties of drivers for its adapters. Any multiplayer bout will require a similar set up. Cortex Command will not support lan or internet multiplayer.

As I mentioned above, the game has inspired a dedicated modding community just like Liero did. I often visit its forums to download mods for new actors, weapons, and scenes (maps). Have you played the flash game ‘Body Ladder?’ Some one remade it for Cortex Command. Others have added black hole bombs, stylized robots, and a Portal gun. Obviously, you may appreciate the variety better in experiencing it.

The game has already been used to make a machinama homage to MS Paint Adventures.

The untold story and beautiful concept art inspired me to yet another project. I have a vision for a comic depicting the awakening of a cryogenically frozen contemporary who must learn about the strange culture the setting must incentivize. I have made promises like this before. This time, I abstained from mentioning my goal until I had reached a physical milestone. First, I made a tiny version of the entire ‘first chapter’ wordlessly.

I then made a script to explain all the implicit dialog in the sketches. I have just finished the next stage of sketching so all the panels mostly reflect the blocking, but not the quality of future drawings. Because I worked with the script, I didn’t try to fit in the whole dialog in each panel. Each is only a reference point with the first and last words. Here is a page:

[updated information at the bottom]

I am rather disappointed that California’s budget crisis arises from dysfunction at all levels. The coming election promises to highlight our own culpability. Frankly, putting budgets on the ballot ensures this state will not reach solvency for many decades. It is comic that the planets could align and the legislature could pass the perfect solution, but eighteen million voters in unison can invalidate months of negotiating. The rejection puts us no closer and, in retrospect, makes the money used to run the election even more pointless.

I have no real love of California’s government. I live in a conservative bastion in a largely liberal state. On the occasions I catch the conservative talk-show hosts ‘John and Ken,’ I can hear about how the LA school district or some sheriff’s department is wasting taxpayer money. But, until I figure out a better place to live, I am stuck here. I can not pretend to extrapolate what will happen to our state as its budget continues to survive by willpower instead of money.

Likely, state employees will have to receive minimum wage again. Contractors may stop submitting bids for highways or new schools, knowing the state may not repay them at completion. The state universities will stop offering most scholarships. I really wish I knew if this has happened before – in this or another state – so I know what to expect. Still, I can imagine allowing this status quo to continue a few more years will visit problems that reach even me personally.

Annoying as it is, I am willing to prevent that. I am willing to eat a ten percent sales tax. (Finally, I can calculate it exactly in my head instead of estimating.) I am willing to abrogate program funding that subsidizes my grandmother’s medicine. Even the prospect of unsustainably borrowing against future lottery earnings does not bother me so long as this problem does not sinning continue year in and out. I fully understand that clearing California’s debt service is too great for any single solution. It requires taxing us more. It requires cutting into cherished departments: hospitals, schools, prisons, and roads because those are exactly what the budget funds.

Debt service is the operative phrase above. The problem isn’t some floating abstraction like the “national debt” that artificial inflaton can sweep under the rug. The point is that every sinning proposition in my personal memory and likely every one before my adulthood include millions in bond sales. A majority of the voters decided that more children’s hospitals and mental hospitals and a high speed railroad and stem cell research and so on sounded like good ideas, damn the cost. Two (?) years ago, the legislature sold bonds to centralize its debts. The ‘government’ will not collect enough to pay off its loans and run any services. If this were a federal organization, I know what the historical solution has been: nationalize profitable businesses and declare all debts void. (Mexico, Venezuela, and the German National Socialist Party.) As California hasn’t the option I wonder what comes next.

I didn’t bother reading the ballot booklet about the initiatives. I will simply approve initiatives A through E. They could be riddled with corrupt programs and I wouldn’t care. I admit to some extremism here, but I value a solvent government above the happiness of my fellow citizens (as they meet higher costs). A solvent government, at least, will function and provide its diminished services confidently. If the taxes are too high, I consider it better to lower them after we erase our debt rather than languish waiting for congressmen to show us some perfect solution. As I mentioned at the start, we can be part of the solution or part of the problem.

I consider it ridiculous to involve a populace in its financial fate in this manner. I know that statement treads on some of my libertarian credibility, but the essential exchange is implausible at any stage. Consider it thus; the California legislature consists of forty senators and eighty representatives. It is subject to a phenomenon even more common in European assemblies and one I experience all the time playing Risk. Majorities are nice for saber rattling and in popularity polls. However, unless the majority is really huge – and even when it is – it is useless when trying to accomplish anything. Bill passage functions much like holding a region for its bonus (say Africa in risk or “abstract art” on conquer club). Having most of Africa is useless if the Republicans (or any minority faction – including those in the same party) have even a single territory. European minority parties are often lethally powerful because they hold bills hostage for their outlier concessions.

To return to my point, horse trading between 120 people is fantastically hard. Despite the consequences (cutting DMV service days and so on), I can’t begrudge their delay in passing a budget. Some practices, like giving everyone a right to opine, lengthen the process but are psychologically critical for passage. Then the governor gets to veto or line item veto the bills, so he also feels like he had valuable input in the process (in addition to coaching Republicans into approving them). Yet, I receive a ballot in the mail, along with millions of others, and my imput falls to yes or no. How can anyone expect the collective to act really responsibly in this case? I know these bills have to do with our state’s budget, but do I really have time to read it? I heard it tremendously increases taxes / cuts school funding, so I will veto months of work by people I and others elected to learn about the problem and find a proper solution to it.

This is a crypto-elitist argument. Let’s let the learned/elected decide what is best for us. The reason for our involvement makes intellectual sense to me: if the Legislature approved some exorbitant tax, I would want to be able to deny the possibility. However, I am not so paranoid as to believe that they want to raise taxes to socialist levels. There are strong disincentives against increasing taxes even in this state, which is why all the initiative programs are paid with bonds or niche (cigarette) taxes rather than a general hike.

There are more aspects of the issue I want to treat, but I feel too depressed because I am writing this. I could convince every single person to see this and it would be trivial in the election. Also, I operate between arguing, informing, and simply expressing the elements simply for catharsis. Blending this in an organic manner feels taxing and all the more so when my material reinforces the unlikelihood that my opinion will bear out. Another person might call this feeling unimportant against cosmic-type forces. There is some truth to the analysis and I make up for it by elevating my own value in many other areas. (Insert politically incorrect sentiment here. No, it doesn’t matter which.) At the very least, Chase showed me a small way in which electoral failure would not suck. I had planned to put much of the above in response to his observation, but that would be insensitive. I felt it better to isolate my own frustrations from his confession. It would be yet another reason I am not invited to their house.

By the way, I had a shit-ton of spam comments: 327. They were so bizarre, I may write about it later. Of course, I would have to be careful so I don’t attract even more. I continually wonder how the hell they found me. I would say I have all of (four?) readers tops, but their bots probably inflate the pageviews, creating a vicious cycle of unwanted “popularity.” I can’t tell because I don’t use a tracker on my blog.

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Speak of the devil and, sure enough, he will come. I fretted all through the consequences of rejecting the propositions. I opened today’s Wall Street Journal and found Governor Swartzenegger’s predictions. The joint houses may have to cut 3.6 billion dollars from the education budget, reduce the state’s firefighting budget by 10 percent, ask local governments to lend California 2 billion, and – as previously noted – release 40,000 low-risk inmates. The state needs to rearrange or scrounge up 15 billion dollars. For the past three years we have seen the indirect evidence of rearrangements. Each year saw propositions protecting various project caches from being liquidated into the General Fund. The threat against education shows almost everything has been cordoned into inflexible preserves. We are in “Kobayashi Maru:” essential services will be brought low and few members of the current congress will return. This will silence the prior whispers about amending the Constitution to allow foreigners to the Presidency.