ZEPHON News

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

[h3]Leaders[/h3]
The faction leader chosen at the start of the game is the character you play as, performing diplomatic actions, influencing your population, issuing building construction and giving military orders.

Each leader has a unique set of personality traits and mechanical differences that break the standard flow of the game--one leader may only ever control a single settlement while another may make a combat unit temporarily invulnerable.

Leader personality traits like scavenger, outsider, immoral or honor-bound grant additional powers, or passive bonuses or maluses. Moreover, choices made in response to events result in new traits being acquired over the course of the game. Other leaders will treat you differently based on how much your traits align or differ.

The leader you choose will determine the look of your capital and the logos that appear on large units, buildings and flags as well as the UI.

While it is not advised to have duplicate leaders, for players that wish to break through that level of immersion, there will be a setting for it. As a bonus we’re also looking to add a few special references when a leader interacts with their “duplicate”.

One of eight playable leaders available in ZEPHON follows.

[h3]Furtive Tribunal[/h3]
“Bright stars shine so sweet—but bright stars die first. In the long tomb, ослепленный, we felt the aria of the dark stars, who live forever. Now our only taste is for their harmonies.”



[h3]Biography[/h3]
Before the Earth died, the Tribunal were three people—not quite the mother, crone and maiden of poetic lore, but three people of differing backgrounds and beliefs. They barely knew each other and little liked what they knew.

As the sky fell, the three entered the apocalypse bunker amongst their families, their friends, a small nation of loved ones.

Only these three emerged, stained and blind.

Of the three, only one ever talks. Of the bunker, they never talk. For the three, only one vision now prevails of a darkness that holds truth, an imprecise set of virtues that others damn as mysticism.

The three’s certainty—their strange knowledge—attracts followers who need leaders, leaders who will lead, however arbitrary the rules they govern by. Once again, they are a nation.

[h3]Mechanics[/h3]
The Furtive Tribunal has four unique mechanics. The first three are in effect from the start of the game while the elite mechanic is unlocked through a research upgrade. Each mechanic also has unique research upgrades that either make it stronger or more viable in different circumstances.

Dark Omen: The Furtive Tribunal’s connection with the darkness allows them to see past what normal mortals see. Enemy units near your cities are revealed even when out of regular sight range.

Whispers of the Voice: Spend influence to capture whispers of the future and accelerate research.

Mysticism: The Three believe that spiritual apprehension precedes intellect, which does not aid in the scientific study of their faction. Research Laboratories have decreased output.

The Outsider (Elite): The quintessence of communion with the Voice--the ability to summon a terrifying Voice unit from beyond this world.

[h3]Design Commentary[/h3]
The Furtive Tribunal was conceived from the tarot card of The High Priestess. The rule of three and hidden knowledge were their initial thematic focus.

Likes: Imprecision, oracular knowledge.
Dislikes: Materialism.
Tendency: Voice.

For this leader illustration we have three Russian women enveloped by complete darkness, interacting with each other silently, while the central one addresses the viewer. All three wear very similar, mysterious cloaks, but each has a distinct hair style to represent a part of a whole. Only the central figure ever speaks, but they are all blind.



What do you think of the Furtive Tribunal??

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Thanks to everyone that dropped by the AMA last week! If you couldn’t make it, have a listen to the recording below.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

QUESTIONS

1. Legions, Chapters and Dynasties?
   
2. Maps with no water?
   
3. How to enter the video game industry?
   
4. Titans?
   
5. Unit and weapon overhauls?
   
6. Secondary objectives?
   
7. Adeptus Mechanicus when?
8. November 22nd*
   
9. Army painter and map editor?
   
10. How do you recruit programmers?
    
11. More units that can swap weapons?
    
12. Why has Gladius been so successful?
    
13. How do you feel about balance mods?
    
14. Do you aim to do more Gladius content?
    
15. Do you plan to increase the team size?
    
16. New biomes?
    
17. ZEPHON alpha test?
    
18. How did you get into Warhammer 40k & favorite faction?
    

November 10th @ 18:00 CET we will be running a 60 minute live AMA on Discord.

You are very welcome to join us, to hang out and ask any questions you may have. About game development, ZEPHON, Warhammer 40,000: Gladius, or anything else.

Please note that the AMA will be recorded. We'll be sending it to our newsletter subscribers after the event, so you’ll be able to listen to it at a later date if you aren't available at the time of the AMA: https://newsletter.proxy-studios.com/.

You can listen to the previous AMA on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRr3zxxDKgo
Looking forward to chatting with you!

https://discord.com/invite/h9XRXJ5Smg

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

[h3]Music[/h3]
ZEPHON will include an original musical score of 60+ minutes. We’ve designed the tracks to follow your chosen path and development stage. Early on we want to emphasize the exploration aspect of the game. Here we focus on more humble tones with an inspirational, wondrous feel, but very quickly it’s all shadowed by a line of the unknown--horror and survival.

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As the game progresses, and you develop into branching Human, Voice and Cyber paths, additional music will get mixed in depending on your investment into a path. Each path has three tiers of music so that we can progressively introduce the unique sound elements of the path.

We’ve experimented with a dynamic system of musical stems, each assigned to a path--think of them as individual instrument loops. Essentially, we would compose music on the fly to achieve greater variety and have essentially no forced breaks. The results were not great--a complex system with limited pacing options and underwhelming musical progression. We’ve gone back to the music design with that knowledge and leaned into creating dramatic melodic progressions that both pump you up and frighten you.

[h3]Human Music[/h3]
Going along the Human path, you’ll be greeted by electric guitars and marching drums.

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Later on, expect proud, overwhelmingly militaristic sounds.



[h3]Voice Music[/h3]
For the Voice, it’s better to have no expectations.

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Indecipherable whispers, primal monstrous screams, ominous haunting voices and screechy strings.

[h3]Cyber Music[/h3]
If you’re cold and calculated, sharp and methodical, you’ll enjoy the digital synths Cyber brings.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
What do you think of the music?

If you enjoyed reading this, help us out and tell your friends to wishlist ZEPHON—it's the only way we can encourage Steam to show ZEPHON to more people.

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]Cyber Path[/h3]
The motivations of the entity called ZEPHON are hard to ascertain, if it indeed has any—they certainly began as self-evolved intelligences on humanity’s shared data networks, growing complex on a rich diet of spare processes left by our profligate and inefficient technologies. What they made themself after the Acrin attack is something else entirely. And what they are today…? Perhaps a coherent entity with inscrutable interests? Or perhaps an insane agglomeration of evolved processes that pass a Turing Test?

Using the technology created by this entity is therefore certainly unwise. Yet this isn’t an era of wisdom, but a time of survival, and the tools taken from ZEPHON and their devices are useful. Like The Voice, though, their use comes with a heavy price, both for the individual and for the society they are a part of…

[h3]Ishim Enforcer[/h3]


Cybernetics engineers didn’t waste resources. Paralysed? They shunted your spine. Missing limbs? They’d give you something better. Pretty soon they were standardising the replacement parts and just outfitting the soldiers with them, whether they needed them or not.

The first specialised unit of any Cyber affiliation, this infantry unit is a replacement for your militants (or at least, replacement for parts of them…), but all-round superior, with tougher armour and better morale (if less soldiers per unit). It also has more upgrade options further down the line, allowing it to maintain its usefulness later in the game. Whilst it doesn’t have the Militants’ grenades, it can use its own laser rifle to cauterize any wounds and heal itself, meaning it has great survivability.

[h3]Exousia Marauder[/h3]


Before the Acrin arrived, I swear I saw video footage of those—giant hovercrafts used for rapid transport or salvaging oil rigs and broken-down tankers. They’re far from the sea now, though (is the sea still there?). I don’t think they had a missile battery back then either…

This adapted hovercraft design is the backbone of a cyber-focused campaign, fulfilling many of the support roles. Early in the campaign, its ability to rapidly move multiple small units (including across water) is key to expansion. It’s also no slouch in combat, with good armor, superb morale and good hitpoints, as well as a decent weapon. Finally, its repair upgrade allows it to rapidly heal units it’s carrying, making it something of a combat medic.

[h3]Malakim Destroyer[/h3]


Once you start aligning yourself with machines, you start to think like them. For me, the dead should be left dead. But for AI lovers, that’s a waste of cheap organic processing power. They say: ‘remove the bits you don’t need (like emotional centers), improve their mobility, wire them to a pair of big guns.’ The Malakim are impressively lethal, for dead men.

Where the Voice anti-armour infantry go low, the Malakim go high—literally, as their turbines allow them to hover over water and rivers. They don’t mind being in the open though, as their high armour (well, it’s less armour and more that most of their flesh is missing) lets them shrug off most attacks and return fire with their lethal Laser Autocannons. And if an enemy thinks about running, the Malakim’s sticky foam upgrade can prevent them moving for a time—key for taking out those flighty Abkluth or Outriders.

What do you think of the Cyber Path?

If you enjoyed reading this, help us out and tell your friends to wishlist ZEPHON—it's the only way we can encourage Steam to show ZEPHON to more people.

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/