ZEPHON News

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[h3]Sentries[/h3]

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Guard bot.

ZEPHON wanted nothing to do with us. It could have just told us that directly. Instead it posted up Sentries that looked to be guarding something. We learned really quickly that they could hold a grudge. If you were the kind of grunt who liked to stomp ants because they couldn’t hit back, boy were these things a pain in the ass. More like an ant that would chew through your boot and try to take a few toes out before you put it down.

[h3]Mechanics[/h3]



ZEPHON Unit · Tier 2

Attributes:
· 3 group members, 5 armor, 18 hitpoints, 4 accuracy, 8 morale, 2 movement

Traits:
· Mechanical: Classification
· Sentry Protocols: Always attacks if neutral (not ZEPHON-controlled)

Machines that wandered the wasteland didn’t care whose flag you marched under. They did care if you entered their line of sight and, if they were programmed to do so, they’d open fire without hesitation. You couldn’t even squeeze in a friendly “hello.”

Weapons:
· Armor-Piercing Minigun: 1.5 damage, 2 armor penetration, 3 attacks, 2 range
· Crippling
· Applies Crippled to non-Large units for 1 turn
· -67% movement

Spraying a hailstorm of armor-piercing bullets was bad enough, but this piece of hardware crippled infantry and recon. Once your prey slowed down, you could just chew them up until there was nothing left.

Abilities:
· Combat Routine: Usable if below 100% hitpoints, +2 accuracy for 3 turns, 10 turn cooldown.

The first machines we encountered weren’t always fully ready for combat—but they would be once the shooting started. It was eerie how they’d become better shots once they took a hit. Some kind of triangulation subroutine or something.

Cost:
· 30 production (5 turns), 16 minerals, 16 chips

Upkeep:
· 0.75 minerals, 0.75 chips

[h3]Design Commentary[/h3]



The Sentry is a smaller cousin to ZEPHON’s fearsome Warden.

Sentry Protocols is an in-setting way for us to imbue neutral units with special AI behavior. Designed to protect key infrastructure, the Sentry’s default behavior is to relentlessly shoot on sight—which it will unless it’s synced to ZEPHON’s main control shard.

For contrast and to make this AI behavior less punishing, Combat Routine means the Sentry won’t be able to dish out its full damage potential unless attacked first.

Nonetheless, due to the Sentry's weapon possessing additional armor piercing capabilities, it is wise to exercise caution when deploying swift scouts on exploration missions.


What do you think? Let us know!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481170/ZEPHON/

Join our Discord to follow each segment of a reveal as it happens every Monday.

[h3]Ishim Enforcers[/h3]

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Laser cyborg that can heal itself.

“A soldier’s broken body was just the foundation for a better weapon. Paralyzed? They shunted your spine. Missing limbs? They'd give you something better. Pretty soon they were standardizing the replacement parts and just outfitting the soldiers with them, whether they needed them or not.”

[h3]Mechanics[/h3]



Cyber Unit · Tier 1

Attributes:
· 6 group members, 4 armor, 18 hitpoints, 6 accuracy, 8 morale, 3 movement

Traits:
· Biological: Classification

“We had a lot in common with the monsters we faced. They bled like us, breathed like us, and died like us. Humans were always good at hurting other humans. It just took a little creativity to hurt our enemies in the same way.”

· Mechanical: Classification

“You know what’s funny? People make machines to solve complicated problems. But on the battlefield, a machine becomes a problem to solve. Sometimes it took special skills to bring them down. Sometimes you just needed a bigger machine.”

· Shoulder Plate (Upgrade · Tier 2): +17% cover damage reduction

“Our techs didn't hit on this armor—the Enforcers did. One of them kicked in the door on a strategy session and unceremoniously dumped a prototype version of the armor on our war table. "Make more of these" was all he said before leaving the room.”

· Tactical Visor (Upgrade · Tier 3): +2 accuracy when adjacent to another allied Ishim Enforcer.

“Ishim Enforcers were the first cyborgs we created with access to networked intelligence. Our techs cooked up visors that could triangulate enemy positions by pulling data from different Enforcers together. Only problem was, you needed your troops to be close to each other for reliable targeting metrics.”

Weapons:
· Laser Gun: 1.5 damage, 1 armor penetration, 1 attack, 2 range
· Laser
· +2 accuracy
· Applies Low Power to non-Low Power weapon for 1 turn
· -50% damage

“A laser gun fires in a straight line from A to B. There’s no bullet drop, no wind resistance, nothing. Soldiers used to complain that they took the art out of aiming. Luckily we were still students in the art of killing. In time these became some of our favorite tools of the trade.”

Abilities:
· Cauterize Wounds: Restore 50% hitpoints, 10 turn cooldown

“The first soldiers we augmented with cybernetic tech were still vulnerable to attacks on vital organs. With a little extra programming, our techs could numb their pain sensors, but they still needed to be patched up. If they already couldn’t feel pain, there was no reason to not let them cauterize their own wounds.”

Cost:
· 30 production (5 turns), 8 food, 8 minerals, 16 chips

Upkeep:
· 0.4 food, 0.4 minerals, 0.8 chips

[h3]Voice Over Script[/h3]



Direction: [Masculine. Calm, unused to new strength]
· Attack: “This is what I was made for.” “You’re going to die now.” “I hope this hurts. A lot.”
· Move: “I think I can do that.” “That’s in reach.” “Knew I should have stayed home today.”
· Hold Position: “Don’t make me wait… please.”
· Select: “I’m here—or, what’s left of me is.” “You said something? “Ready for the human race.”
· Appear: “Cleared for combat.”
· Endure High Damage: “I thought that would hurt more.”
· Kill: “We can scavenge them for spare parts.”
· Cauterize Wounds: “I—*grunts* I can still fight.” [A nasty sizzling noise playing under this would help sell the cauterizing.]
· Poke: “Killers aren’t born. They’re made in a factory.”

[h3]Design Commentary[/h3]



With Ishim Enforcers we’re starting the Cyber path with a sturdy front-line infantry unit. Especially after acquiring the Shoulder Plate upgrade, they can truly take a beating compared to other early-game units. Cauterize Wounds then allows them to recover their health so they can stay in prolonged fights—this is such an essential element to the unit that we did not want to gate it behind an upgrade.

Their armament introduces the Laser category of weapons—an accurate, but power hungry gun that needs to cool off between shots to do maximum damage. We’ve found that this makes their use very tactical—and synergies beautifully with sacrificing an attack to use Cauterize Wounds.

Aesthetically, Ishim Enforcers represent humans merging with machines. Initially the process is grotesque, replacing individual limbs and augmenting senses in a crude way. Still, the Ishim operate on a biological substrate and a human brain.

You may have wondered about the inspiration for their naming. For earlier tier Cyber units we’re using a mix of religious connotations and basic technology. Later on, we delve deeper into transcendental and angelic themes—these won’t be just simple robots after all.

What do you think? Let us know!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481170/ZEPHON/

It's always a delight to see a new and interesting looking game world, one you'd really want to play around in, and Proxy Studios' Zephon looks to be set up to deliver just that. It'll be a followup on Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War, a 4X game set in the eponymous grim, dark universe that has gained a very devoted following over its years of development...
Read more.

Join our Discord to follow each segment of a reveal as it happens every Monday.

[h3]Missile Team[/h3]

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Anti-armor infantry with a walking missile launcher.

“Plenty of Militants were eager to pilot anti-armor bots far from the battlefield, but resentment grew quickly between the missile operators and front-line grunts. The solution? We docked rations every time the Missile Team pilots tripped their drones or missed a shot. It was better if they hated us—not each other.”

[h3]Mechanics[/h3]



Human Unit

Attributes:
· 3 group members, 12 hitpoints, 4 armor, 6 accuracy, 6 morale, 3 movement.

Traits:
· Biological: Category. “Humans were always good at hurting other humans.”
· Mechanical: Category. “Sometimes you just needed a bigger machine.”

Weapons:
· Missile Launcher: 6 damage, 5 armor penetration, 1 attack, 3 range.
Heavy: -50% accuracy if unit has moved.

“I had a friend who treated the Missile Launcher like a sacred weapon. They waxed poetic about how standing still to properly aim one drew power from the earth itself. They died out in an open field, exposed to a sniper’s bullet.”

Abilities:
· Grounded Fire (Upgrade · Tier 3): Attack with +2 accuracy. 5 turn cooldown.

“Steady hands made for a steady shot. Same was true for the Missile Team’s attack platforms. Digging your heels into the ground… bracing yourself to absorb the shots’ recoil… it was good enough for men and even better for mechs.”

Cost:
· 30 production (5 turns), 16 food, 16 minerals.

Upkeep:
· 0.8 food, 0.8 minerals.

[h3]Voice Over Script[/h3]



Direction: [Masculine, nerdy, like Radar from M*A*S*H.]
· Attack: “Danger close. Get clear!” “Arming munitions.” “You’re just in time for the fireworks.”
· Move: “Inputting coordinates.” “Ah… that’s still in range, right?” “Let’s hoof it.”
· Hold Position: “Fine, but we’re sitting ducks here.”
· Selected: “What do you need scrapped?” “Munitions delivery, at your service.” “Don’t let them get close.”
· Produced: “Portable missile platform ready to deploy.”
· Damaged: [Spoken calmly, like the operator is watching from a distance.] “The bot’s taking fire, requesting backup.”
· Enemy Killed: “Nothing but rubble.”
· Grounded Fire: [Hold the first letter in “and.”] “Hold—and—fire!”
· Poke: “I’m always worried about making this thing trip.”

[h3]Design Commentary[/h3]



Happy Christmas to everyone!

As Command & Conquer made tradition, we think every game needs a rocket soldier. This is ours.

The unique twist is that the soldier isn’t just carrying a rocket launcher on his shoulder—he’s accompanied by a small two-legged mech to fire guided missiles. Have you seen …

A weapons range of 3 tiles with a focus against armored units makes this an early staple in a Human-centric army. The addition of Grounded Fire is especially useful to improve the mech’s accuracy after moving.

It also symbolizes the Human path’s continuous, but not full mechanization. It’s one of only 4 units in ZEPHON to be both Biological and Mechanical.

What do you think? Let us know!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481170/ZEPHON/
Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to receive regular reveals and exclusive closed betas to your inbox: https://newsletter.proxy-studios.com/

Join our Discord to follow each segment of a reveal as it happens every Monday.

[h3]Buildings[/h3]

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“Let’s build something great here.”

Cities in ZEPHON have a radius of control that can be expanded by acquiring tiles. Though not for free. Each tile under the city’s command costs influence upkeep, but on these tiles you can construct buildings—the ever-important backbone of the economy. Your Construction Yard needs several turns to finish construction of each building. Once complete, you’ll pay an energy upkeep to keep the building operational—and of course sacrifice a worker’s time—but only by scaling your war machinery can you stand a chance against the horrors of post-apocalyptic Earth.

Familiar to players of Gladius, your production is split into different parallel queues under corresponding groups of buildings—so your city can create both Human infantry and Voice creatures simultaneously. One change to the formula is in the Construction Yard which can now produce Engineers to found cities; and to the Headquarters which trains heroes of all three branches.

Each building in ZEPHON has an entirely unique model. So you can recognize their branch as well as their function.

Let’s take a look at some human buildings …

(The graphics are still work-in-progress—by release we’ll have city walls, faction flags, dynamic lights, and better illumination and reflections.)

[h3]Barracks[/h3]



“You never won any war without the grunts. Before you cracked open any advanced technology or gave into The Voice, you needed armed bodies primed for death. Great soldiers could come out of the infantry ranks—but they had to survive first.”

The Barracks train Human infantry units and do not need to be researched. As a side-effect they increase the population limit and help keep the population loyal.

It can produce: Militants, Missile Teams, Combat Medics, Assault Troopers and Praetorians.

It can be upgraded with Itinerant Recruiters, boosting production of Militants and Missile Teams.

[h3]Transuranium Stabilizer[/h3]



“Now, this, I won't pretend to understand. I know the transuranic elements are unstable. I know that in that instability, there's huge amounts of latent energy. I don't know how the machines worked that stopped it escaping—that made those elements into something dense and unearthly strong. I don't know if there's anyone alive who understands, to be fair.”

Resources extracted from the ground aren’t enough for advanced units. The Transuranium Stabilizer converts minerals into transuranium—one requirement for high-end Human units.

[h3]Orbital Uplink[/h3]



“The ground part of this system was familiar enough—a set of high-powered transmitters and dishes. But what it was communicating with wasn't—the wreck of the human satellite network mingled with the destroyed alien fleet. The clever bit was using the former to manipulate the latter for benefit on the ground. It mostly worked.”

Here operations for the Human path are constructed. Think of operations as stored-up abilities that can be used globally. As a side-effect the Orbital Uplink also increases research and influence for the player.

As an example, it can produce Orbital Scans, allowing you to reveal when and which enemy troops are moving under the fog of war.

Later on you’ll be able to create connections to Orbital Missile Silos floating since before the apocalypse and launch nuclear weapons. Maybe one apocalypse wasn’t enough for us.

What do you think? Let us know!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481170/ZEPHON/
Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to receive regular reveals and exclusive closed betas to your inbox: https://newsletter.proxy-studios.com/