Actors

From Data Realms Wiki

Latest revision as of 02:39, 25 January 2013

General class of game objects that move under AI control and, typically, the player's. Each type starts with "A" for Actor and has specific requirements.

Actors

The Brain Case is defined simply as an "Actor", as is the Dummy Controller. Using the most generic instance of the general Actor class, these have little more than a "body", health, and the ability to use the Buy menu. They have no limbs or parts and so cannot move.

Note: Brainbots are "AHuman" type (see below), not just "Actor"s.

Humanoids

Main Article: AHuman

Coded as "AHuman", humanoids are soft bodies controlled by the AI or Player. Their main distinction is standing upright and bipedal walking.

The type supports a main body, a head, two legs, two arms, and a jetpack (see Ronin Dafred above). Arms and legs can sport hands and feet. Jumper hop-walks on its one leg.

The foreground arm is required to use Devices but not to carry them in inventory; the background arm to use Shields. Minimally an AHuman requires a body and head.

Most humanoids are equipped with jetpacks, but the Culled Clones (aka Undead or Zombies prior to Build 27) and Jumper are defined with a "Jetpack = AEmitter" which looks and acts more like jumping.

Crabs

Main Article: ACrab

Coded as "ACrab", crabs lack any upright constraints for standing (leading to wobbling) and use a quadrapedal walk-- unlike their real-life counterparts, crabs in Cortex Command have only four legs.

The type supports a main body, foreground and background legs on the left and right, left and right feet, and a turret which can be equipped with one weapon or tool; ACrab cannot drop or pick up anything.

Stationary "Turret" actors are made with legs that are invisible and too small to use, like the Dummy Small Turret

Crabs do not use jetpacks as such; their lack of upright constraints makes flight control unstable. If they have a "Jetpack" definition it uses an AEmitter that behaves like jumping, which is the main attack of the rare Mega Crab. That, and landing...

Without a "Turret" defined, crabs can't use any items, though ones can be added to the crab's inventory. These are exposed when the crab dies; thus one can make kamikaze "Bomb Crabs" (see also Crab Bomb).

Doors

Main Article: ADoor

Doors open for Actors of the same team automatically and close when no one is around, or when an enemy is near. They cannot be controlled as other Actor units can. All current doors are slabs of metal that either slide or rotates on a fixed path. Other than the vertical "Door A", all current doors come pre-fitted into a bunker module.

Craft

Main Articles: ACRocket, ACDropship

Coded "ACRocket" or "ACDropship" ("AC" is an analgram of Actor and Craft) all Craft have one or more have hatches by which Actors, Bombs, and handheld devices can exit or enter. Almost all are airborne vehicles using Jetpack emitters, with the exception of the Crate, which is an ACRocket without legs or jetpacks. They simply obey gravity.

Craft flying past the top the map return to TradeStar Midas, adding to the player's gold the value of the craft's cargo and its buy price minus percent of its health lost.

Craft serve various purposes, such as:

• Transporting Units
• Bombing Enemies
• Evacuating Units
• Shelter / Hiding Place
• Transporting Equipment
• Stealing Equipment
• Slave Raiding

...but basically dropping and retrieving cargo.