Cepheus Protocol News

[h2]Patch Notes - 0.7.73 Open World Revamp & Our Development Intentions [/h2]

Old Saves will not carry over, only play in the public beta to give feedback never play "real" games in the public beta as game sessions can and will be broken from time to time from the vast number of things we test here at any given time. I.E we dont support save files started from a public beta -> a normal build.

Do note you can only access this latest patch on our public beta branch. Anyone can opt in and play it by right clicking on the game on their steam library going to properties and then opting into the beta from the "beta" tab on steam.

It is our intention over the next few days to weeks to fully polish up Treasure Island and the two new surrounding provinces with the feedback of our community. We have added a LOT in this new update so I apologize if something is omitted in the patch notes.

Naturally the roadmap will be affected by this extra time spent on polishing up the "Open World Map" but we believe its time well spent to ensure every section is fleshed out and provides interesting gameplay opportunities in each zone of the world.

You can track our progress as its updated daily on our Trello board here
https://trello.com/b/b5DFiVyv/cepheus-protocol-development
On this link you can track our new release targets for 2020-2021
https://trello.com/c/b8UXIihr/888-release-targets-2020-2021

The goal of this test is to gauge how you folks feel about the current layout and new direction. We want to gather as much data as possible on the likes/dislikes of the current design so we can take them into consideration as we work to finalize the world.

[h2]Some Quick updates from our Discord[/h2]

The Tutorial girl that talks to you will be animated and given an Avatar in the future. Here's a first look at this!


Check out our currently in progress WIP Main Menu layout we'll roll out soon obviously some buttons will be grayed out as they wont be available yet


Rough Render of the new Open World Map


We are also working on the UI for coop at the moment as well. Still Early!

• Changed SFX for Grenade Launcher to one more appealing
  
• Floating Sandbags that appear on top of each other should no longer be possible
  
• However, other things could be 'built upon' with sandbags (buildings, preview actors, command post trucks). Added more safeties to guard against those issues.
  
• Also improved placement 'feeling' when something would block placement (so the cursor no longer 'freezes' in place while mousing over something invalid)
  
• Added muzzle flash and lasersight sockets to the Javelin+Grenade Launcher meshes (fixes laser sight and related issues)
  
• Safety Values added to ROE to restrict how close the Javelin/Grenade Launchers will fire near allies or buildings
  
• Added muzzle flash and lasersight sockets to the Javelin+Grenade Launcher meshes (fixes laser sight and related issues)
  
• 2 meshes added (Welcome Center Grid01 Presidio, Welcome Center Bathroom Grid01 Presidio),
  
• Changes to the landscape paint grid01, minor foliage changes, props added to grid01 presidio (WIP)
  
• Angel Island Grid 1 detail and blocker work, landscape clean-up.
  
• Updated the SimpleOverlapSphere with new options for checking for civvies as well as walls, for use by friendly fire safety
  
• Mortars will mark a location to help players visualize where they are about to fire you can toggle this on and off in ROE
  
• Toggle Laser Sights on and off in ROE
  
• You can cancel building of units now
  
• Added a '20 second drop' to the 'actual time trained' for vehicles, to account for assembly time. Trying to 'fast track' before the initial 20 seconds is over and you will now get a 'TOO EARLY' warning instead of immediate deployment
  
• Added logic to allow refilling ammo on units who have full reserve ammo but less than a full mag
  
• Fixed the SCAR H (after rebalance) starting with 20 bullets in the mag, but with a capacity of 21
  
• Presidio_Grid_02 added apartment buildings (need to get the rest in place)
  
• Updated Mortars to no longer require Phase 3 unlock (just the doctrine unlock)
  
• Mortars can be added to team cards now!
  
• added MUTT engine loop sfx
  
• Angel Island Landscape clean-up and detail progress
  
• Fixed up several issues with mortar selection:
  
• Smoothed out vehicle/mortar mixed selection issues
  
• Smoothed out selection visuals for mortars when selecting multiple/deselecting/sequentially selecting mortars
  
• Fixed up Cerberus Mortar and regular mortar interaction
  
• Fixed up Dragon Gunship being 'selectable' via Next Mortar hotkey
  
• Fixed up Next Mortar hotkey not selecting the Cerberus in question (only when Cerberus mortar is deployed)
  
• Added logic to make 'non-absolute' grenades require to trace to their targets (on the visibility channel) before they deal damage
  
• Updated Mortar rounds to have a larger radius, to match the new indicators (and boosted the FX size by 30%)
  
• Improved Mortar so it takes into consideration cover and surroundings better
  
• Fixed Mortar construction saying it requires an unlock if you actually just don't have enough money
  
• Added DNA Tracking Toggling to the ROE
  
• Updated Zone Marker Visualization Button on the HUD with visual changes when it's off, an improved hovertip, and with saving and loading, too, to match
  
• Adjusted a light+fire hydrant in Grid 5 to be less of a chokepoint (they were quite close to a traffic light, resulting in hordes sometimes 'getting caught' between the light and the traffic light)
  
• Cleaned up some errant blocking volumes in the map causing bad navigation
  
• Hospital is capturable now
  
• Fixed up starting locations for Open World play
  
• Apartment buildings in grid02 and grid03 presidio added
  
• added MUTT stturtup / stop sound cues
  
• Made healthbars for Command Post trucks show themselves when the trucks are selected
  
• So they now appear when the truck is either damaged, or when the truck is selected
  
• Added a placeholder set of images for the Ammobox 'empty' display
  
• Hooked up logic to show an icon (w/ little glow anim) for Ammoboxes when they're empty and rigged to remove themselves
  
• Fixed the Minigun not having a Laser Sight socket
  
• Also fixed the Minigun's muzzle flash socket rotation
  
• Fixed Ammo refill supply cost to be more consistent
  
• Also with logic to allow you to use remaining supply to refill only a partial amount (rather than no refill and leaving some supply unused, if not enough ammo for refilling a soldier completely)
  
• Fixed Ammo Supply notification not properly tallying
  
• Added 'no-build-zones' to rubble walls
  
• Fixed a flaw in difficulty setting in the Main Menu as well as in loading that caused Custom gameplay settings to not properly be loaded
  
• Fog of War in Open World Test improved
  
• All player builds emit line of sight into the world now
  
• Fixed to MGL Grenade Launcher (More fixes to the weapons on the way!
  
  

Cepheus Protocol Novelization is now available on Steam Store!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1387390/Cepheus_Protocol_Novelization

Keep in mind this book takes place before, during and a bit after Pandemic mode and follows dozens of characters around the events of CP. It will hint to our year 2 content(So spoilers if you analyze it close enough). Its not for the faint of heart (Very violent deaths and all that). You can pick it up for $3.99 now!

It will also be available on the Steam Store as an DLC on October 1st if you prefer to get it there! Just keep in mind on our website we make 99% of the sale the rest goes to PayPal

Feel free to use the #💬lore-questions on our Discord to discuss the ramifications of what the book brings to the universe and how it will affect the game as we start to work in story elements presented in the novel

[h2]Patch Notes - 0.7.72 Open World Revamp & Our Development Intentions [/h2]

Old Saves will not carry over, only play in the public beta to give feedback never play "real" games in the public beta as game sessions can and will be broken from time to time from the vast number of things we test here at any given time. I.E we dont support save files started from a public beta -> a normal build.

Do note you can only access this latest patch on our public beta branch. Anyone can opt in and play it by right clicking on the game on their steam library going to properties and then opting into the beta from the "beta" tab on steam.

It is our intention over the next few days to weeks to fully polish up Treasure Island and the two new surrounding provinces with the feedback of our community. We have added a LOT in this new update so I apologize if something is omitted in the patch notes.

Naturally the roadmap will be affected by this extra time spent on polishing up the "Open World Map" but we believe its time well spent to ensure every section is fleshed out and provides interesting gameplay opportunities in each zone of the world.

You can track our progress as its updated daily on our Trello board here
https://trello.com/b/b5DFiVyv/cepheus-protocol-development
On this link you can track our new release targets for 2020-2021
https://trello.com/c/b8UXIihr/888-release-targets-2020-2021

The goal of this test is to gauge how you folks feel about the current layout and new direction. We want to gather as much data as possible on the likes/dislikes of the current design so we can take them into consideration as we work to finalize the world.

[h2]Some Quick updates from our Discord[/h2]

The Tutorial girl that talks to you will be animated and given an Avatar in the future. Here's a first look at this!


Check out our currently in progress WIP Main Menu layout we'll roll out soon obviously some buttons will be grayed out as they wont be available yet


Rough Render of the new Open World Map


We are also working on the UI for coop at the moment as well. Still Early!

• Organization of Internal file structure for modding in the future
  
• Adjusted physical location of Presido & Angel Island and the new support Island north of Treasure Island
  
• Names of Weapons cleaned up how they physically display
  
• Doctrines are now live give us your feedback!
  
• New Winters mesh added
  
• New Chelsey mesh added
  
• Cable Component resolved to properly attach to CERC trailer as a test when they are being dropped
• into the level (Will be expanded to other buildings once we polish up the effect)
  
• New right click safeties in to remove offset that was created outside the play region
  
• Utilizing the first major pass of an animation revamp allowing more fluid body movements
  
• Wind VFX readded to foliage
  
• Minor pathing improvements
  
• Units can no longer shoot and rappel at the same time
  
• Upon repairing a wall it will no longer block the ability for a unit to fire through it
  
• Amount of infected allowed in the game in directors cut have been doubled for Defense and Horde Attacks
  
• Attenuation adjusted across the board to make SFX easier to hear
  
• WIP Minimap generated
  
• SFX for all weapons polished to add more variations
  
• Destructible Bridges added (only certain segments)
  
• Fixed Turrets not saving correctly
  
• Crash fix added for Infection Pods
  
• Bridge Repair Logic added (Engineers can repair them)
  
• Safeties added to Horde to ensure they always reach their target location
  
• Starting Camera Height adjusted to allow it to easily go lower to the ground
  
• Adjusted Pod locations in G5 that were too cramped causing spawning issues
  
• Hospital is now capturable again
  
• All weapons have been rebalanced to make them far more effective (That means the Spec Ops is now a viable unit now )
  
• Critical Hits chances that knock over infected have been increased
  
• SFX Passes to add more audio states to all vehicles
  

All weapons crit chance was set to default of 5% originally,

SMGS---

UMP:

Damage was increased from 11 to 30
RPM: 650
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 4%
Rank 1: 6%
Rank 2: 9%
Rank 3: 12%
Rank 4: 18%

MP7:

Damage was increased from 8 to 12
RPM: 1100
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 2%
Rank 1: 5%
Rank 2: 8%
Rank 3: 12%
Rank 4: 15%

P90:

Damage was increased from 10 to 15
RPM: 900
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 4%
Rank 1: 7%
Rank 2: 10%
Rank 3: 12%
Rank 4: 16%

LMGS--

M240:

Damage was decreased from 55 to 45
RPM: 600
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 3%
Rank 1: 7%
Rank 2: 8%
Rank 3: 12%
Rank 4: 15%

M249:

Damage was decreased from 50 to 40
RPM: 680
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 4%
Rank 1: 8%
Rank 2: 9%
Rank 3: 12%
Rank 4: 16%

DMR--

MK14:

Damage was increased from 55 to 65
RPM: 360
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 6%
Rank 1: 9%
Rank 2: 13%
Rank 3: 15%
Rank 4: 18%

Sniper--

M1017:

Damage was not adjusted still 150
RPM: 96
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 6%
Rank 1: 9%
Rank 2: 12%
Rank 3: 16%
Rank 4: 20%

Shotguns:

M1014:

Damage was decrease from 50 to 45
RPM: 300
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 2%
Rank 1: 5%
Rank 2: 8%
Rank 3: 10%
Rank 4: 13%

Saiga 12:

No changes to core values
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 3%
Rank 1: 5%
Rank 2: 8%
Rank 3: 12%
Rank 4: 15%

Dp12:

No changes to core values
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 3%
Rank 1: 6%
Rank 2: 8%
Rank 3: 10%
Rank 4: 13%

Assualt Rifles:

M4:

Damage was increased from 11 to 20
RPM: 850
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 3%
Rank 1: 6%
Rank 2: 8%
Rank 3: 10%
Rank 4: 15%

Scar:

Damage was increased from 15 to 30
RPM: 650
crit chance:
Unit Level 0-4
Rank 0: 6%
Rank 1: 10%
Rank 2: 12%
Rank 3: 14%
Rank 4: 17%


Cepheus Protocol Novelization is now available on Steam Store!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1387390/Cepheus_Protocol_Novelization

Keep in mind this book takes place before, during and a bit after Pandemic mode and follows dozens of characters around the events of CP. It will hint to our year 2 content(So spoilers if you analyze it close enough). Its not for the faint of heart (Very violent deaths and all that). You can pick it up for $3.99 now!

It will also be available on the Steam Store as an DLC on October 1st if you prefer to get it there! Just keep in mind on our website we make 99% of the sale the rest goes to PayPal

Feel free to use the #💬lore-questions on our Discord to discuss the ramifications of what the book brings to the universe and how it will affect the game as we start to work in story elements presented in the novel

[h3]Rescheduled AmA[/h3]

Please note the original event scheduled for October 31st was rescheduled due to medical concerns. More information can be found in our Discord announcements channel. We apologize for any confusion this caused.

[h3]Overview[/h3]

Example Format of our previous AmA
https://youtu.be/ZznhKn8hPU4



This will be our second Ama and we plan on showcasing a lot of new features/systems we've been working to bring to completion by December, We'll go over the new Doctrines system, Open World Map and the Levitation implementation. Talk about modding, coop and the newly released Novel as well. We will have various team members from different divisions present and will be answering questions live.

1. Doctrines, Open World & Levitation Updates(Shipped and a discussion on the systems
   Post Mortem)
   
2. Q&A (Novel etc, any topic except below mentioned ones)
   
3. Factions Modding & Coop
   
4. Q&A Conclusion (Factions, Modding & Coop targeted)
   

We will be taking questions throughout the event! These will be huge reveals and we will be broadcasting on our twitch page. Link at the bottom!



We'll be answering your questions live and also discussing the last 2 months of the year and what we'll be implementing.

You can join our Discord and leave questions for us to answer in between intermissions on our discord via the october-ama channel or tune in live and we'll answer your questions live.

Join it here

[h3]Time and Date[/h3]

November 29th at 12 PM PST (Steam will auto convert it to your time zone if you subscribe to the event)

[h3]Broadcast Link[/h3]
Follow our Twitch here so you can get the notification there if you wish!
https://www.twitch.tv/halcyonwinds

Until next time, good luck in Treasure Island!

Each update this week will ship more tweaks, adjustments and additions to the build to prepare for the open world map and doctrines, both of which are scheduled to drop on Halloween.

We are also working on a new main menu for ingame and launcher for when we add modding from the roadmap.
(Early WIP)


AmA on Halloween Details check it out here
https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/2867062153648512410

[h2]Patch Notes - 0.7.70 More Customization Options & Preload for new Content relating to the open world update and doctrines. [/h2]

• Improved UI support for 'OneClip' weapons to properly display low ammo anim when the actual clip is low
  
• Preloaded Content for Doctrines and Open World Update
  
• Added saving/loading for the 'call-in' helicopters, so they properly drop off their unit if you save while the helicopter is en route (instead of taking your money and leaving)
  
• Added weapon 'piercing' logic:
  
• Guns now have a 'PiercingStrength', which represents how many targets it can pierce before the next target stops it.
  
• M107 given piercing strength of 5
  
• Minigun given piercing strength of 4
  
• Tuned the Minigun a bit: still very powerful, but Michael wants to tune it manually later
  
• Created weapon 'spin up' logic (For the minigun, and potentially other guns in the future):
  
• Updated 'grenade overlap' logic to be more modular, with a new version that has a radial overlap instead of a box overlap
  
• Updated the parentage of the carpet bomb overlap to work with the new hierarchy
  
• Improved custom call in to have a 'preview scale' for the preview mesh used for the call-in
  
• Improved custom call in to properly recognize 'RequiresHero' bool
  
• Hooked up new customizable settings (and backend updates to support 'em):
  
• Starting Population (starting unit capacity) adjusted for Recruit Mode to 12 initially
  
• Zone Population Boost added to customization window(multiplier for how much zone captures will boost your unit capacity)
  
• Also added Juniardi's new dividers for the settings in the Difficulty Adjuster widget
  

[h2]Cepheus Protocol AMA/Showcase[/h2]

Work on our other maps have started officially in the last week and we hope to have more to share in the coming weeks! Keep in mind a LOT of our week this week into the Little bird and doctrine updates so make sure to check out our dev-update channel on discord to see the daily updates we do!

If you missed our AmA you can watch it here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZznhKn8hPU4

Cepheus Protocol Novelization is now available on Steam Store!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1387390/Cepheus_Protocol_Novelization

Cepheus Protocol Novelization is also available on our website! Buy it here!

Keep in mind this book takes place before, during and a bit after Pandemic mode and follows dozens of characters around the events of CP. It will hint to our year 2 content(So spoilers if you analyze it close enough). Its not for the faint of heart (Very violent deaths and all that). You can pick it up for $3.99 now!

It will also be available on the Steam Store as an DLC on October 1st if you prefer to get it there! Just keep in mind on our website we make 99% of the sale the rest goes to PayPal

Feel free to use the #💬lore-questions on our Discord to discuss the ramifications of what the book brings to the universe and how it will affect the game as we start to work in story elements presented in the novel

[h2]Stage 2 Chelsey WIP[/h2]




Ever since we heard some feedback regarding the stiffness of our units/animations we have been hard at work finding a solution. We are now working on implementing a better RIG and Animation Blueprint to give us even more control including starting to utilize a Mocap suit to really make these animations shine as we work towards 1.0. Here's a quick preview of what we have in store for you folks in the coming weeks via a total animation revamp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqpNGvAZJ8k&feature=youtu.be

Until next time, good luck in Treasure Island!

[h2]Doctrines & the Open World | October 30th after AmA [/h2]


The highly requested game customization feature is now live!




AmA on Halloween Details check it out here
https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/2867062153648512410

We are aware of the Horde map population bug and we are working on a fix, expect a hotfix in the next day.

[h2]Patch Notes - 0.7.69 Custom Game Start and Maintenance update for Doctrines [/h2]

• Grenade sound class fix and Engineer death and damage vo temp unhook
  
• Added saving for 'collapse' button logic
  
• Further boosted 'safety delay' after collapse run, to ensure it works in the master
  
• Changed default columns to 4 for save file columns
  
• Fixed the zone income display not properly displaying on loading a save that already has income (didn't stop income from coming, but it didn't show properly unless something occurred to change income)
  
• Fixed a spawn pod in Grid 6 being too close to a building, causing spawns to get stuck in said building
  
• Set up a Main Menu difficulty option 'Custom', for bringing up the custom difficulty sliders
  
• Started on an 'advanced options' tab for the Difficulty adjuster (hidden for now)
  
• Added a console command 'ShowDifficultyAdjuster' for showing it during gameplay (it works, performing live changes when you hit 'CONFIRM'!)
  
• Added some updates to group widget generation and 'making visible' to try to reduce overlaps (not perfect)
  
• Also increased starting group widget width
  
• Tons of classified Doctrine system adjustments

[h2]Cepheus Protocol AMA/Showcase[/h2]

Work on our other maps have started officially in the last week and we hope to have more to share in the coming weeks! Keep in mind a LOT of our week this week into the Little bird and doctrine updates so make sure to check out our dev-update channel on discord to see the daily updates we do!

If you missed our AmA you can watch it here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZznhKn8hPU4

Cepheus Protocol Novelization is now available on Steam Store!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1387390/Cepheus_Protocol_Novelization

Cepheus Protocol Novelization is also available on our website! Buy it here!

Keep in mind this book takes place before, during and a bit after Pandemic mode and follows dozens of characters around the events of CP. It will hint to our year 2 content(So spoilers if you analyze it close enough). Its not for the faint of heart (Very violent deaths and all that). You can pick it up for $3.99 now!

It will also be available on the Steam Store as an DLC on October 1st if you prefer to get it there! Just keep in mind on our website we make 99% of the sale the rest goes to PayPal

Feel free to use the #💬lore-questions on our Discord to discuss the ramifications of what the book brings to the universe and how it will affect the game as we start to work in story elements presented in the novel

[h2]Stage 2 Chelsey WIP[/h2]




Ever since we heard some feedback regarding the stiffness of our units/animations we have been hard at work finding a solution. We are now working on implementing a better RIG and Animation Blueprint to give us even more control including starting to utilize a Mocap suit to really make these animations shine as we work towards 1.0. Here's a quick preview of what we have in store for you folks in the coming weeks via a total animation revamp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqpNGvAZJ8k&feature=youtu.be

Until next time, good luck in Treasure Island!