Cepheus Protocol News

Hey guys! So this is a little series i wanted to start to talk about the development of Cepheus Protocol . Enjoy!



A new video in the works from a very talented video editor that approached us on Discord recently. We will be applying a thick layer of polish and redoing a lot as we shape to leave EA in the next 2-3 years as we expand! Enjoy =) This is just a teaser as the final will be 1-2 minutes long!

https://youtu.be/GEhOE2DTRwU




After the poll we have decided to pivot and alter our strategy of attack over the next few weeks. We ask that users still experiencing path finding oddities and other odd movement bugs contact us via the bug reporting tool or on discord ASAP. On top of that we are making plans to start development on the civilian management system that will greatly improve upon player interactions with CERC.



[h2]Civilian Management System overview (By Halloween)[/h2]

Civilian Hold Administration Structure

CERC will gain a central administration building for managing civilians. You will be able to place the following modules. From this center you can set it to auto allow to capacity or hand pick who you let in and what "Module" they will be admitted to.



Euthanization Unit- a name list will be saved and admitted civilians that are found to be carriers or infected and pending turning can be forwarded to this center.

General Quarters Unit - Civilians that are perfectly healthy will be forwarded to this zone. Will generate a positive reputation to that zone and nearby zones around it. You should able to transfer to any other Unit

Containment Unit- Civilians that are infected or carriers can be routed to cages where they will generate passive income in the source of DNA. This will allow you to take the risk/reward method of passively generating DNA. You should able to transfer to any other Unit

a. If power is knocked out to the structure for any reason patients will escape
b. If the containment units are damaged the patients will escape

This will mean you will have to keep a close eye on contamination events in and near your camps since they could spread out and have wide reaching implications.

Implications of killing any Civilian

Any civilian casualty will roll a "dice" to determine if it will spread to other zones via a new spiderweb system that will let the factions know of your deeds to affect their reputation towards you. News of civilians killed will affect a reputation meter on a per zone basis. The idea is that information spreads slowly from zone to zone so certain zones could be favorable if information is restricted by locking them on an Island with CERC walls outside your "green zones". While in orange and red zones you are committing various war crimes the information will never get back to the civilian group that is separated from the zones you are committing them in. Unless a hole is created and civilians are allowed to immigrate from those zones+.

At this time we will not allow new civilians coming through the civilian hold system into the zone to affect that zones happiness yet...

Changes to Medical Structure
Medical Structure will be unlocked from the start
It will allow you to unlock a "infection detection tower" that will allow you to make decisions on how to admit people into your centers.


ROE Additions

Policy on if Detected before not admitted to Civilian Hold
a. Send to Euthanization Center or Containment Division
b. If over flow send to Euthanization Center
c. Shoot on sight/send guards to kill
Policy on if Detected after admitted to Civilian Hold
a. Send to Euthanization Center or Containment Division
b. If over flow send to Euthanization Center
c. Shoot on sight/send guards to kill
Auto scare away Civilians that gather at your base
Auto Allow in Civilians and which module to allow in by default if not infected


And more!

Read the full evolving card here
https://trello.com/c/k7xDVuXC/1100-civilian-management-system

[h2]Factions overview (By Halloween Stage 1)[/h2]

Now the big one! Simply said this update will change the very fabric of how the game is played in every regard adding actual repercussions to your actions and how you play the game. This is next up after we are content with the path finding fixes mentioned above.

The rollout will be in waves as followed:

Stage 1: Natalie's Faction is removed temporarily so we can improve and focus on Pierce and the civilian AI.

Pierce will gain random starts as with Chelsey. He will gain a personality of a defender/protector of the people, that kind of approach to gameplay. In which he will attempt to continually engage and stop Chelsey from expanding across the map
As he enters stage two when he realizes hes losing ground and he doesn't have the men to do it anymore he will make the transition to ally and vassalize nearby dynamic civilian groups that are popping up all over the map. They will then form a protective net where they will intend to "Hold out" from Chelsey and any civilian groups that are hostile I.E raiders/cannibals or you (CERC). Pierce will recruit out of these groups to replace his losses
He will continue this personality till they ultimately die as Chelsey takes the map over X hours/day since she will eventually out play and win as the virus starts to mutate

Stage 2: Natalie enters the Fray

Natalie's faction will be treated like a force of chaos not erecting and having a central zone or location. They will recruit out of the more desperate survivor groups that are formed I.E cannibals'/raiders more desperate groups on the island that are created from the conflict overall.
They will not have a central base but small/tiny outposts across the map from where they recruit from the zones they are within
Natalie will hate/fight Pierce's group whenever she can and carry out hit and run attacks including suicidal bomb runs on his compounds
Sub factions like Natalie and Pierce can kill each other and they will have hero units that represent them in gameplay.
Killing a faction leader will effectively "End" that faction making 80% of their units abandon their post and making their territory ripe for the taking by another group.



We have been working to design and test early implementation of a new Infection growth system. Taking alot of reference from different horror games and whatnot we believe we have a viable tech solution now to sow overgrowth and infection biomass map wide now as the virus spreads. These buildings and zones will have to be burned out and will serve as additional spawner locations for Chelsey.



We have heard your feedback on how we can improve on tutorials + more customization to cater the game to your whims. But this still doesn't excuse the tweaking we will continue to do on Recruit and Directors cut to ensure everything is balanced

We have been implementing and designing a new CERC tent structure system that will allow you to now staff 2-3 capture trucks and when deployed will allow you to build permanent structures that can operate small outposts across the map in the vein of a more finalized Ammo depot, medical station and tents to extend population. We have also added upgrades to allow you to upgrade the income inside a zone dynamically based on how much income you have + the zones worth.



Halloween will be a huge treat as by this date we expect to have shipped the Civilian Management system fully as parts of Pierces AI in terms of factions. But the icing on the cake nobody expected is a fully fleshed out 1P Operator Hero you can customize and build alongside your missions. He/She will be persistent and a hero unit you can hire on the fly when you need them. Check out some early previews below!

https://youtu.be/jp1xAFctHqU

Things in the Halloween Release
1. 4-8 core weapons that are customizable(More will be unlocked over time)
2. Drivable Vehicles(Might exclude Helicopters for a period of time)
2.1 Manable Turret Systems if the Vehicle has a weapon
3. Leveling System
4. Traits/Abilities Builder
5. Formation/Ordering of units within Operator Squad

Things that won't be i the Halloween Release due to pipeline complications (Requires more time)
1. Helicopters
2. Full Character Customization (Will likely be a preset Character we will introduce this at a latter time)



We are redesigning the HUD entirely for 1P



The island you thought you already knew? Well its getting bigger and going to give you a whole lot more room to build and have fun in.

Keep in mind these are W.I.P and wil change quite a bit before you folks see the final version as we playtest them.


Cleaning Clutter was highly requested and we shipped our first phase of it recently. We are still profiling data and determining how to best roll it out to the remaining assets in the world due to performance concerns but rest assured this is on our list.

https://i.gyazo.com/59888f89f9bda895175280cb424342d7.mp4


We are adding over 10+ weapons to the game to give more playstyles to you folks plus unique weapons coming only to the Factions. More details coming soon!






We will be launching a new weekly series that will see several chapters added every Friday after release and will cover the chapters of the Novelization with 5 chapters added to expand upon the story and give more value to those itching for more lore/story information. It will delve into and show more about a secret new faction that will become the Anti-CERC in the Cepheus Protocol universe.

Don't forget to wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology/

https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/2970672485634875929



This build will require a new save file for any saves 0.7.119 and older we added the old build as a "beta" tab for those wanting to finish their current games. Anything .120 or newer will work as is unless otherwise reported here!

[h2]The Pathfinder Update Fix #7 - 0.7.125 All builds[/h2]

• Fixed up broken sandbag construction logic (conversion to 'soft reference' silently broke pins in the 'starting player field constructions' functionality)
  
• Buildable from a Capture Truck the Command Tent is now added| Command Tent retains control of the zone for you
  
• Any med/ammo tents you had on the Capture Truck responsible for building the Command Tent will transfer their owner pointer to it from the truck (allowing the truck to mobilize without losing the already built med/ammo tents)
  
• Command Tent price varies based on how much raw zone income you have access to (money lost due to infection is not factored into this).
  
• Changed up the update logic for the initial 'set-down' of a building, when constructing them, to stop it having a small delay where the building has not yet done its 'can build here' check (to stop a bug where players could, if they click really quickly, 'build anywhere')
  
• Similar fix for wallbuilder, from the building builder
  
• LMG - U100 added ver 1.0 replaced base MG for Heavy
  
• Improved ammobox reloading to not falsely show an empty ammobox as full
  
• Also they will keep their 'auto-destroy' timer's duration between saves/loads now
  
• Improved loading of units so that, if the player has auto-reload enabled, units who load with not-full weapons will start their idle-reload timer
  
• Improved laser sight logic: if a unit in a loaded game (who has not seen combat since load) reloads, his weapon will no longer have a weird laser sight issue until seeing something
  
• Added a 'SelectAllGroups' keybind to key 0 (was previously bound to an old function for the Away Teams, which was DOP)
  
• Fixed it not spawning in a damage character (it can now be attacked by infected)
  
• Fixed several saving/loading issues
  
• Updated several underlying infection zone-related systems to prevent constructing more than one tent in the same zone
  
• Updated units to have an array of UnitMerchant strings (instead of only one) so they can be purchased at multiple different building types: used this to make the Engineer+HEMTT purchaseable at both the CaptureTruck and CommandTent
  
• Fixed up the nav to be a bit bigger for the command tent (so units won't get stuck on it)
  
• Hooked up the Command Tent minimap+button icons
  Result: Basic Command Tent logic is online, and seems to work well through saves. No special population tent or income boost logic online yet, though.
  
  

Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed



We will be launching a new weekly series that will see several chapters added every Friday after release and will cover the chapters of the Novelization with 5 chapters added to expand upon the story and give more value to those itching for more lore/story information. It will delve into and show more about a secret new faction that will become the Anti-CERC in the Cepheus Protocol universe.

Don't forget to wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology/

https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/2970672485634875929



This build will require a new save file for any saves 0.7.119 and older we added the old build as a "beta" tab for those wanting to finish their current games. Anything .120 or newer will work as is unless otherwise reported here!

[h2]The Pathfinder Update Fix #6 - 0.7.124 All builds[/h2]

• Quick speculative fix to RefireWeapon crash
  
• Revamped some of the logic for wall construction to resolve an issue with the wall's overlap sphere being incorrect for the new scale (should be more future-proofed now, too)
  
• Updated Build Location Meshes to include a new 'CustomZHeight' setting that allows each Build Location Mesh to define its own ZHeight within itself
  
• Quickly used this to enable building on hilltops in the new Power Plant
  
• Updated Wallbuilder to better compensate for building 'downward' over larger terrain differences (due to the massive hills on the Power Plant)
  
• Fixed an issue with the Cerberus Mortar weapon displaying that it does zero damage
  
• Analytics system added to the game so we can track popular doctrines, income, Victory and death screen tracking and weapon statistics. More tracking data on the way to allow us to better understand how people play the game.
  
• Fixed the Helicopter "Fast Rope" ability sometimes toggling itself off if it is moving while the player has the 'select location' indicator but hasn't confirmed the spot yet
  
• Fixed up formation movement's relationship to some abilities to stop it from erroneously 'canceling out' their confirmation (i.e. if you order a unit who is moving in formation to throw a grenade or enter Deploy Gun mode, they used to 'cancel out of it' before you could confirm)
  

Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed



We will be launching a new weekly series that will see several chapters added every Friday after release and will cover the chapters of the Novelization with 5 chapters added to expand upon the story and give more value to those itching for more lore/story information. It will delve into and show more about a secret new faction that will become the Anti-CERC in the Cepheus Protocol universe.

Don't forget to wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology/

https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/2970672485634875929



This build will require a new save file for any saves 0.7.119 and older we added the old build as a "beta" tab for those wanting to finish their current games. Anything .120 or newer will work as is unless otherwise reported here!

[h2]The Pathfinder Update Fix #5 - 0.7.123 All builds[/h2]

• Added logic to reduce the speed and number of infected that spawn when on Recruit difficulty
  
• Fixed 'mouse following widgets' not properly showing (after widget tick update)
  
• Fixed the Capture Truck 'acting as if it deployed' if you try to deploy it in a fully corrupt zone
  
• Fixed hovertips not working for difficulty adjuster widget (in custom game mode screen)
  
• Updated custom game option 'Defense Density Multiplier' to affect the max number of defense infected that respond to aggression towards infected territory (caps at 1.0x for now)
  
• -Updated custom game option 'Defense Special Infected Amount Multiplier'
  
• Updated custom game option 'Defense Respawn Rate Multiplier' to affect how quickly defense infected numbers are refilled
  
• Added new custom game option 'Starting Infected Multiplier', to affect the number of infected that Chelsey's team starts with
  
• Hid some custom game settings which are currently deprecated
  
• Cleaned up some hovertips for the difficulty adjuster widget
  
• Updated some of the custom game options for the 'Recruit' difficulty setting to be lower (to make the new Chelsey System setup easier)
  
• Updated the Infection Zone Manager for both of the maps to start with '0' infected before spawning the initial amount (instead of 250), so default infected population isn't bolstered by an additional 250 in reserve
  
• Fixed the hovertips not showing for the Faction 'set hostile' options in the ROE widget
  
• Fixed a hovertip on the difficulty adjuster
  
• Hooked up Juniardi's new weapon icons for the Honeybadger and M16
  
• Fixed medic price from 2k to $750
  
• M16: slower rate of fire, lower damage drop off.
  
• Springhook: was $5000 is now $2000
  
• increased cqb damage to 24
  
• Fixed up some spawn pod positions on the Power Plant (some were 'sunken into the ground' a bit, making them difficult to target - another was too close to a hill, resulting in it spawning infected inside the ground)
  
• Boosted gate 'detection box' to be taller, to try to avoid situations where it fails to open up for player vehicles when set to Automatic mode
  
• Added a 'cooldown' to pod construction: if an Infection Pod is destroyed, there now is a cooldown before Infected can try to build a pod in that same location (Normal Difficulty: 2 min, Recruit: 5 min)
  
• Modified by PodConstructionCooldownMultiplier in the Custom Game Settings
  
• Also fixed podsthat are destroyed before being fully constructed not properly 'clearing' themselves from the list of pods which can be built by infected (i.e. infected could immediately start rebuilding a pod if you destroyed it before it was incomplete)
  
• Fixed the Main Menu Widget up a bit (removed ability to focus buttons, and re-enabled Tick on the widget)
  
• Updated respawn rate's comments UI in the difficulty adjuster to be clearer
  
• Also updated its setting for Recruit mode to be a bit more lenient
  
• Hooked up proper Burst Fire logic and set up the M16 with some basic Burst Fire values
  
• fixed erroneously flipped normals on buildings.
  
• added double-wide T1 gates.
  
• M16 TWEAKS - rate of fire slowed down
  
• Minigun: Slowed rate of fire
  
• Added logic to stop turrets from being able to be infected
  
• Doubled the wall max scale size to allow for larger gates
  
• Updated gate door pieces to not have collision when the gate is open (via new bool 'bDisableCollisionWhenOpen') Result: Wall segments can now be twice as large, and as long as wall segments are at least their old size, they can still be upgraded to gates (from previous max size to the new 2x size)
  
• Fixed up the ammo widget for vehicles
  
• Fixed an issue with vehicle wheels visually 'spinning in place' despite the vehicle being stopped
  
• Started color coordinating certain UI elements to the following color table:
  
• Health: 17923AFF (green)
  
• Fuel: FFC300FF (yellow - a bit unappealing, need a new color)
  
• Infection: 7C070AFF (muave)
  
• Medic Bar (heal juice): 0031FFFF (blue)
  
• Ammo: FF6700FF (orange)
  
• Supply Ammo: 8B3707FF (brown-orange)
  
• Supply Gas (extra gas that's shared to other vehicles): 00E1FFFF (teal)
  
• Started smoothing out formation following logic for vehicles: A group of vehicles given a move order, if there are no soldiers, will no longer have an arbitrary 'push back' from the actual mouse click position . Vehicles no longer are reticent to start moving towards their follow position when moving in formation
  
• Cerberus and Atlas follow distances slightly increased
  
• Updated the Unit Card with an 'Ammobox/Gasoline Tracker' bar for tracking the extra supply gas that Atlas variants carry for refueling nearby vehicles (so you can see that amount on their Unit Card, not just in-world)
  
• Fixed Helicopters not being able to properly land on the Motor Pool (they 'land' but never counted as properly landed, until this fix)
  
• Improved startup logic for Vehicle Interaction Widget to run several bits of 'first update' logic after a short delay, rather than just weapon check (to fix a healthbar incongruency issue on loading a save)
  
• Minigun - Animations improved
  
• Spec Ops New weapon added M14 EBR
  
• Spec Ops New weapon added honey badger
  
• Spec Ops greatly boosted to make him a more effective End Game unit.
  
  

Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed



We will be launching a new weekly series that will see several chapters added every Friday after release and will cover the chapters of the Novelization with 5 chapters added to expand upon the story and give more value to those itching for more lore/story information. It will delve into and show more about a secret new faction that will become the Anti-CERC in the Cepheus Protocol universe.

Don't forget to wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology/

We need your feedback! Please vote ASAP the poll ends Friday at midnight! If your having path finding issues make them known now we will be choosing our next major system very soon to focus.


https://strawpoll.com/xjzwo7rv3