Command & Conquer: Commando

Command & Conquer: Commando
Developer: Point of View Platform: PlayStation This game has unused graphics. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material.

This game was never completed and/or given a public release. As a result of this, keep in mind that the developers might have used or deleted some of the content featured here, had the game actually been released.

Command & Conquer: Commando is a tech demo for an unmaterialized title in the Command & Conquer series, self-labeled as "Pre-Milestone 1" and dated July 14, 1997. Features include a model viewer, two test maps... and nothing else, really.

The files were recovered from a set of data discs that belonged to the developer by ASSEMblergames user jollyroger and released by fellow member Borman on November 23, 2014.

Download Command & Conquer: Commando File: Commando (PSX Tech Demo).7z (0.99 MB) (info)

Overview

All the options in this build are categorized as "scenes" and displayed as a menu with a blue backdrop. This appears to be common within Point of View's in-house engine, as Deuce (another unreleased game by them) has a very similar layout on its title screen. It's possible to switch between scenes and exit to the main menu by pressing Start at all times.

Model Viewer

Your average, run-of-the-mill mesh viewing tool that allows glimpsing of three preloaded models:

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  Test Model, a generic low-poly soldier in a dark outfit.

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  Commando, a smaller soldier with broken UVs.

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  Flame Tank, a huge tank with a oxidated tint to it.

• D-Pad/Left Stick - rotates the model.
• Triangle, Circle, X, Square/Right Stick - pans the model in the X and Y axes.
• Select - changes the model.
• R2 - toggles the display of a green box on the bottom of the screen; it has no use in this particular environment.

Player Test

A basic test map severely lacking collisions and using the Commando as a player. The camera system on this one is quite annoying and requires fiddling with R1 in order to reach anywhere. Going north has you facing upon the Flame Tank, and progressing further leads to a small river with dodgy bridges on the sides. Near this area is a hill that leads to the void skybox. On the southern side, there is a fortress with a pond on each side. Notably, Commando levitates around the scene as he doesn't have any implemented locomotive animations.

• D-Pad/Left Stick - move around.
• L1 - switches between camera modes that can only be called "static" and "seizure-inducing spins".

Terrain Test

Essentially the same map but with Test Model as the protagonist. Unlike his stiff companion, he actually has proper walking and running cycles and is able to crouch. The camera is also much more tolerable in this version, and you can switch between static and third-person modes. Controls are pretty much the same as before, albeit holding Square or moving the Right Stick to the left makes him run; and pressing Circle or moving the Right Analog Stick to the right makes him crouch.

Jogging Around Atlanta

An odd test map where Test Model can freely roam through a racetrack, specifically Road Atlanta. As it also appeared in the Sports Car GT prototype from the same period, it is very likely an early version of the track in that game. Aside from the player having a much broader FOV than the previous map, it doesn't have much going for it.

Debug Mode

There are at least two visible debug displays during gameplay, primarily present in the test environments.

• On the very left of the screen is a red meter that presumably registers the amount of CPU usage.
• R2 - toggles a green box which details the amount of free memory available, FPS and player/camera positions.
• Select - brings up a colourful background of unknown purpose.

Unused Graphics

For having such a small filesize, some unused content managed to sneak into this little project.

Commando Textures

Due to this particular model having incorrectly mapped textures, some of them are obscured from normal view.

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UI Elements

DATA0.BIN has a sheet consisting entirely of fonts, cursors, arrows and boxes. These were likely to be used in a more extensive debugging menu.

Supreme GT Alpha

TITLE.BIN contains a title screen from the April 28, 1997 build of Supreme GT, which became Sports Car GT.

IMSA Racecar

IMSA.BIN has a full set of textures for a racing car, suggesting that this is a model which isn't present on the Road Atlanta map or the Model Viewer bank. Everything here would later be used in an early build of Sports Car GT.

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Unused Text

PSX.EXE and MAIN.EXE have this little message from the developers at offsets 426C8 and 43010 that more or less reflect the results after scanning both executables for text.

Nothing of Interest