So, i just downloaded this here game and decided "let's play!". Okay so i start it up and if i'm not hallucinating i think i saw some kind of keymap flash by in a milisec before the intro starts (this is just a guess, i restarted the game several times to check it but i don't even get time to snap a screencap of it so i can read the darn thing).

So i check the options section and look up what kind of keys the game lets you define, to get some idea of what to do when i start playing. Not much to be gathered from there. So i decide to just start up a skirmish mode since i can't find any kind of tutorial. I thought to myself "if there's no tutorial then it mustn't be that hard, no?". Well i just failed hard and long on that one.

Let me relay my train of thoughts here: Okay so let's get started. Oh place your bunker... Well i dunno what that is or what it does and where i'm allowed to place it, Above or below ground. Well let's just place it floating on this here hill. Okay done that. Oh a radial menu how nice, start game. Whups i clicked it. What do i do now? Buy menu? What are good things to buy, where do they pop up, what do i do with them? Oh a skeleton how cool. And it has a little gun too. It's shooting that disgusting brain, go skeleton show that brain-scum. Oh it killed it, yay. Wth... Loss?

Well there you have it. I've looked around the forums and related pages and i haven't found any guide on how to play the thing. Is it all trial and error?

Any help is appretiated, didn't think i would be forced to write a lenghty forum thread just to figure out the basic.

Okay.
It's a trial version.
No need to get snotty.
Change the controls if you don't like them.
Bunkers = your base.
Objective of the game is defending your brain.
Order down people to defend it.
Place in tactical positions.
Brain destroyed, game over.
Different buttons do different things depending on how you set them.
That better?

Basically, Trial and error. By default, you are the red team. The heart colors indicate that. Otherwise, just figure it out.

I know it's a trial but how about some help for the players? I get the feeling of "Go ♥♥♥♥ yourself, it's my game. You can play it but i ain't telling you ♥♥♥♥." A tutorial is pretty basic for getting interest.

(this is cynical humor, you might not get it but don't take it seriously)

Yeah, I know cyncial humor.
Don't worry.
Search my posts.
You'll find much.
Seriously, though.
Just screw around with it.
There will be tutorials at one point.
Nobody's been able to do it yet.
We're focusing on more advanced aspects of the game right now.

Game really does need more documentation. This is up to the Mods and Scenes moderating staff.

Alright, we'll add it in the mega tutorial.

EDIT: Or I can write one up now and you can put it somewhere useful. CC controls doesn't fall under mods and scenes.

Well, as long as you don't forget about it.

A hint could be to let people know that there's no tutorial and that they'll just have to figure it out, saves them the feeling of being a retard.

Just jot down something that it's far from done, and a little bit about the general aspects of the game. It would go a long way.

HMMYES.

Ok.. Here is the basics.

Actors/Bodies
Are your soldiers, you can control these, switch between them, and use them for general overall fighting. They come in 3 types.

Clones: Good overall fighters, but can bleed to death slowly over time.
Blue clone- Light and fast, but weak.
Green clone- Overall fighter.

Robots: Harder to kill and do not bleed, but the head is a much weaker spot.
Robot 1- I actually can't see the difference between the robot 1 and robot 2.
Robot 2

Skeliton (also known as skellies): They keep coming at you even after you shoot their arms off!
Only one type of skelly.

And there is also a unit that counts as an actor but does not act like one.

Brain Case- The brain, the thing controlling all of your units. It cannot move or defend itself.

Weapons/Devices
Devices is the official name for weapons and tools.
Weapons:
SMG- A little cheap but effective machinegun. I find it kind of cute.
Pistol- Great for last resorts if your SMG gets shot out of your hands. But, of course, it's a pistol. It isn't as good at killing as the other weapons.
Shotgun- BLAM chu-chun. Shotguns are lots of fun.
Blunderbuss- This is the gun you saw the skeleton with. It's like a really short range shotgun, but it's more damaging.
AK-47- Best machinegun in the game. The bullets are sharper than normal bullets and they also come out faster than an SMG.
Flak cannon- A flak cannon. Kills everything that's too close.

Tools:
Concrete sprayer- Sprays concrete.
Light digger- Digs through light dirt.
Medium digger- Digs through medium dirt and some rocks.
Heavy digger- Digs through the deepest dirt, rocks, and concrete/base walls slowly... Very slowly. Watch out for knockback.

And last but not least, the crafts.

Rocket Mk1- Up to fire bottom thrusters, left or right to lean, down to fall faster. I would try getting used to this, because if you start getting low on money you'll be using these more often.
Dropship Mk1 and Mk2- They are both the same but the mk2 looks better.

Ok, now to actual gameplay.

You start in bunker-build mode, you place your brain-chamber first, which is a random room that holds your brain. You can then select the "Pick items" or "select items" or something like that option to go to a big menu that holds everything in the game. Just in case- to get the options menu out, hold down the right mouse button.

Bunkermodules (bits of the base) have no secondary use apart from the brain chamber, a tunnel is just a tunnel.

If you don't feel like building a base, or don't want to spend too much money, place your brain underground, the AI can't get it there. But some people take pride in big bases.

Ok, so you've done building your base and you want to play, you start the game with the brain, select the buy menu, of course, then order any units and weapons you like. If you order more than one actor (I wouldn't recommend it, they die when left on their own very easily) and weapons you have to set it up like this-

Actor
gun
actor
gun
actor
gun

If you just do

Actor
Actor
gun
gun

Then the guns will all go to the bottom actor.

Since you know the buttons, I don't need to tell you how to switch actor. But, when you switch actor you may want them doing more than just sitting around. So, hold down the inventory button and select 1 of the options near the bottom. There should be-

Brainhunt
Sentry
Patrol
Dig/golddig/something like that.

Brainhunt will make them act like AI units, taking the shortest route to the enemy brain, unless you are playing 2 player or on promgrounds, the enemy has no brain, so don't bother. Sentry is what it is now, stand where you are and shoot whatever you see. Patrol is walk back and forwards, but you have to be careful with this, the patrolling AI cannot see holes in the floor or walls. Dig will make the actor switch to his digger (if he has one) and start firing it up and down on the spot, you need to move him towards gold for this to work.

Also, ships have AI controls aswell.

Stay- Obvious
Return- go up
scuttle- look at the picture, scuttle makes the ship crash itself and die. This is for when your ships are stuck and cannot get out of wherever they are.

In the corner is a number like 1600oz, that is your funds. Every unit, ship, and weapon you buy costs gold. To get more gold, you can dig up gold from the ground, or you can steal enemy weapons and throw them inside a ship (you need to set it to "stay" mode and open the doors) and return the ship to space, then you are payed for the weapons inside and for returning the ship. At this time, actors cannot enter craft.

Ok, you've got a basic idea how to play, how to fight. If you need anymore help, PM me. Also, any crossed off items in the menu, are not in the game yet (except for next and previous item). Obvious, but sometimes people have asked "Liek, haw I us mini-map? lolz."

And I'll just cover the very few things 3 solid didn't go over. (Great job, btw... wish I had seen your post when I first started out).
***I just started playing Cortex Command yesterday so if I'm incorrect, please correct me.


Skelitons: In addition to being able to come at you without limbs, they also do not have a jet pack which means they have zero ability to fly.

If you don't feel like building a bunker, then Promgrounds is the map to pick. The bunkers are already built for you which means all you have to worry about are your actors. Of course, you can add on bunker modules to the base if you wish.

You have the ability to blockade the AI units from your brain if you just want to learn the ropes without having to worry about a brain to protect. The AI units do not know how to dig or get through walls so just select a structure to block the entrance to your brain and you're set (this takes the fun out of defending since you really don't need to defend anything at all anymore).

When buying actors at the start of every game, be sure to buy some type of weapon and drop it at their feet. Actors do not come with weapons which means you must supply them with the weaponry at the beginning of the game. Also, when you are done building and ready to start the game, be sure to cycle through every actor and make them equip the weapon you have bought for them. If you do not, they'll just end up without anything to defend themselves and that'll equal catastrophe.

You also have the ability to shoot down any enemy dropships which are deploying units. I personally aim for the thrusters (the parts of the ship which seem to shoot flame). If one of the two thrusters are destroyed, the dropship flips out of control and if you're lucky, crushes all the actors it has just deployed.

None of the actors have the ability to jump. They can only jet. Be sure to take the extra effort to learn the general physics of the actors. At first, controlling them might be quite a difficult task but after experimenting with them, you'll find out how to properly use them.

The actors are fragile. Long drops from a high place will make them lose quite a bit of health. Be careful while jetting - if you decide to zoom across the map without any thought for what lies ahead of you, you'll most likely kill or seriously injure your actor.

As stated by 3 solid, you have the option to choose three types of landing craft. The Rocket Mk1, the Dropship Mk1, and the Dropship Mk2. When selecting the Rocket Mk1 to deliver your cargo, try to choose ground which is somewhat flat. If you choose rocky ground, the rocket will end up tipping over, possibly onto any actors you've just deployed, and then try to jet off while crooked. The flame from the thruster will probably kill any actors nearby. The advantages of a dropship are that they tend to just float above the drop area and do not need to land. The actors pile out and the dropship simply flies off. This means you can choose whatever type of ground you'd like to deploy actors. However, if any enemy actors are nearby, they have the ability to shoot down your dropship.

The Flak Cannon is a powerful weapon but it is also very dangerous. One shot from a Flak Cannon into the thruster of an enemy dropship will guarantee a downed craft. However, whenever a round hits a surface, shrapnel goes flying in every direction which will cause harm to the actor weilding it if he is not under safe cover. Also, the Flak Cannon is quite a heavy weapon which means the actor holding it will not be able to jet high off the ground. If you wish to form some type of anti-aircraft squad, I would suggest 2 actors with Flak Cannons and 1 actor with an AK. If any enemy units decide to creep up on the AA squad, the actor with the AK will protect them.

One last thing. If you wish to experiment with everything without having to worry about gold, go to your Cortex Command folder, look for a folder named "Base.rte" and double click it. Search for a Configuration File named "Activities". Open up that file and search for the text that says "FundsOfTeam1=". The number next to "FundsOfTeam1=" is the amount of gold you start out with and you can edit that number to however much gold you'd like.

That's all I can think of at the moment and I hope I've been of some help.

I just tried all... No one told me how... You must train, train, and train.

you can't really "beat" skirmish mode because the ai is not that bright so therefore i dont think you need a guide. just have fun. experiment. give your self infinite $ and build insane defend the base type mods. try to see how many enemy ships you can kill with one of your own. test how good your sniping skills are. be the ultimate grenade thrower without the grenade mods. get funny screen shots. make the whole entire map filled with trap mods so when you touch it the whole ground falls off. for that mod search trap modules. try to kill kelas! search kelas clone i think. get every piece of gold on the map! make maps, mods, gifs. sprites whatever. try to draw cortex comman designs with pencil and paper. see how many guys you can kill with one gun. YOU DONT HAVE TO DO ALL OF THIS THIS IS JUST SUGGESTIONS. read the other guys guides they posted on this topic they will help ALOT! i hope this gave you some ideas on what to do.

GET WINRAR YOU NEEEEEEEEEEEEEED IT!

how to use a mod go to mod section click on a topic that sounds beastly and click download. next click the window that pops up and click open with winrar and hit ok. so now the mod is actually on your computer now the winrar screen pops up. click close or buy now what ever you want. i am using gladius as an example right click the gladius folder, hit extract files to specified folder and a window pops up. hit local disk, program files then in program files search for data realm folder. click the data realms folder and hit enter and you have a mod! now go play the game and test out that new mod. easy tip. hit the start button, my computer, program files and find data realms folder and drag it to your desktop for easy downloading!