Cepheus Protocol News

[h2]Experimental Build[/h2]

Last week we talked about Early to Middle game improvements and how our team can learn from games like Prototype and how they handled the simulation of a viral outbreak. You guys wanted the virus to be a bit more alive, deadly and wanted improvements to Chelsey across the board.

As an early showcase of the new system we now have put up an Experimental build for all to play and give their input. In some cases you might have to restart steam to see it but everyone can now opt into a new branch to try out the new direction and give their feedback. Again it will have TONS of performance issues and we are aware of them and working towards a tech solution to fix them as we speak.

As a reminder only talk about the Experimental build in #experimental-build-feedback or it will be buried in the day to day chats.

Recap of what im talking about :
Discord Post

[h2]Patch notes to all builds [/h2]

• Chelsey talking dialogue tweaked to only play when you are nearby her
  
• Adjusted Horde logic to not have a 'dormant mode' when near the end of the attack (since 'dormant mode' seems to be less performant in Horde Mode)
  
• Added Flare noise generation
  
• Updated the 'gate upgrade' buttons to be on a different row on the Command Widget when upgrading walls
  
• Fixed an issue w/ multi-selected walls not obeying an upgrade command (only one would upgrade)
  
• Fixed a minor issue with the Field Turret
  
• Fixed up some pricing issues (such as for the Mortar)
  

[h2]Patch notes to Experimental[/h2]

• Temporary Red marker added to show players Chelseys "hunting zone" (This will not be staying in the build and will only be live in the experimental for helping people that playtest the game balance where she is allowed to go early game)Marks the zone's widget as red with a skull on it to indicate this as well
  
• Updated Chelsey System's Chelsey with behavior for "I'm outside of my zone, heading back" logic to prevent her from being too distracted, or from chasing too far
  
• Fixed up Infection Gas Towers not infecting things around them
  
• Restored Infection Gas Towers in the Chelsey System impairing vision on units who do not have gas masks/are not infected
  

Result: On the experimental build, pods now require infected to build them. You should be able to genuinely stop the infected expansion if you keep them from running around..


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

After a very long meeting discussing the early-mid game we have come to the following conclusions. Do read and tell us your thoughts in #factions-public-beta-suggestions . We will have this out in its first form this Friday on Public beta as a early test.
[h2]Early Game Changes: Time-lapse GIF to demonstrate![/h2]

• Chelsey limited to a sphere that expands over time. Enter at your own risk. (not shown, invisible ingame right now)
  
• Chelsey's infectivity way up
  
• Chelsey's lethality up
  
• No longer captures territory
  
• Things she infects in one strike become more infectious than normal
  
• Red Sphere means Chelsey infected someone at that location
  
• Purple Sphere means a victim infected another victim
  
• Chelsey's lethality up
  
• No longer captures territory
  
• Things she infects in one strike become more infectious than normal
  
• Chelsey will no longer capture zones but instead spawn randomly somewhere on the Island(Intent on spreading the Pangu Virus at all costs, goes on a kill spree on civilians)
  
• Infected will grow structures from their bodies when enough have been Infected
  
• They will also mutate to special infected from the ones that are infected during combat from going into hibernation around pods they make
  
• Civilians will now litter the entire map populating the world and providing a constant source for Chelsey to infect
  
• Hordes/Horde timers will be gutted and made more into a dynamic system where zones on the fringes/zones that are under attack would grab infected within a zone and group them up to help defend or attack a nearby point constantly
  
• Winters will no longer start on the top left Island and you'll get to choose your starting Location
  
• Chelsey will be "Zoned" initially as the game progresses she'll gain the ability to explore more around her(You cannot scare her away anymore so encounters will be deadly if you walk into her Hive)
  
• If you Destroy her Hive she will retreat across the map and attempt to start over
  
• Humans when killed by infected will always become infected now
  
• Zones will transition from Green(Safe),Yellow(Signs of Infection, Red(Extreme signs of Infection) as Chelsey spreads to a zone it is possible to own a zone shes spreading within (No more Ninja captures)
  

This will encourage players to explore the map and think about how they can effectively protect the civilians as Chelsey seeks to spread at all costs

Reference on the stages we are aiming for as we expand upon the Early-Mid game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqiTht9iq0k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1eDEhRR_W0

You can now opt-into the experimental build ! More info here
https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3047224528975328660

[h2]UI Revamp [/h2]

Share what you think here or on discord in the UI-Discussion channel!



Discord UI chat channel link
https://discord.com/channels/469412014427602944/834268755386302494/839716278122053662

[h2]Patch Notes - 0.7.103 Aggressiveness for Infected in Experimental Build changes[/h2]



[h2]Patch notes to Experimental [/h2]

• Gas Towers will now dynamically start appearing across Treasure Island
  
• Gas Towers will not emit gas until they're finished constructing
  
• Gas Towers do not affect CERC unit infection level this patch but will do so next patch
  
• Random start System for Chelsey tweaked to give more starting locations
  
• Aggressiveness of Infected tweaked to make them spread out and more aggressively target nearby zones/civilian populations
  
• Chelsey's direct infection victims will automatically be Aggressive roamers
  
• Added new logic to make roaming regular infected, if they detect an incomplete construction pod in their area, move over to it to absorb themselves into it (to overcome infected being a bit too lacidasical in finishing construction)
  =Note that this is a massive improvement to Chelsey's construction efficiency: maybe too much so, as the infection can get much more out of hand much more quickly now if you're not stopping it. Perhaps this efficiency is desired though, especially with the random start.
  
• Early Test VO added for Chelsey to talk and have dialogue (This is being tweaked to be less annoying less patch and only played based on how close the player is to her)
  
• Added AI VO ducking
  

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

After a very long meeting discussing the early-mid game we have come to the following conclusions. Do read and tell us your thoughts in #factions-public-beta-suggestions . We will have this out in its first form this Friday on Public beta as a early test.
[h2]Early Game Changes: Time-lapse GIF to demonstrate![/h2]

• News Data lost.... rewriting
  

This will encourage players to explore the map and think about how they can effectively protect the civilians as Chelsey seeks to spread at all costs

Reference on the stages we are aiming for as we expand upon the Early-Mid game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqiTht9iq0k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1eDEhRR_W0

You can now opt-into the experimental build ! More info here
https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3047224528975328660

[h2]Patch Notes - 0.7.103 Aggressiveness for Infected in Experimental Build changes[/h2]



[h2]Patch notes to Experimental [/h2]

• News Data lost.... rewriting
  

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

[h2]Patch notes to all builds Public/Beta/Experimental [/h2]

• Improved height for carpet bomb box so it can hit above/below the mesh indicator, not just at the same zheight (so if you bomb slightly 'above' something, i.e. on a roof or some such, the bombs can still hit the street below)
  
• Speculative crash fix to Command Post Capture Points potentially asking to send a notification from a missing player controller pointer
  

[h2]Experimental Build[/h2]

Last week we talked about Early to Middle game improvements and how our team can learn from games like Prototype and how they handled the simulation of a viral outbreak. You guys wanted the virus to be a bit more alive, deadly and wanted improvements to Chelsey across the board.

As an early showcase of the new system we now have put up an Experimental build for all to play and give their input. In some cases you might have to restart steam to see it but everyone can now opt into a new branch to try out the new direction and give their feedback. Again it will have TONS of performance issues and we are aware of them and working towards a tech solution to fix them as we speak.

As a reminder only talk about the Experimental build in #experimental-build-feedback or it will be buried in the day to day chats.

Recap of what im talking about :
Discord Post

[h2]Patch notes to Experimental[/h2]

• Pods will now be grown when several infected run to a zone and submit their biomass to build a pod
  
• Pod can be set down with replacement mesh (currently using existing one), and customizable health+size incrementation based on construction progress
  
• Attack points logic revamped while in 'construction mode' to aim near the root of the building even when looking at a visibility proxy
  
• Added support logic onto the Infection Pod Locations for constructing a pod there (even when there's yet to be a pod)
  
• Fixed some 'decal' issues with infection pods not properly 'painting' the ground beneath them
  
• ChesleySystem spawn pods will show their 'ground decal' at all times, not requiring the player to see them first. You can 'watch the corruption spread' now without even having thermal vision on, when the Chelsey System is online
  

Result: On the experimental build, pods now require infected to build them. You should be able to genuinely stop the infected expansion if you keep them from running around..


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

[h2]Patch notes to both builds Public/Beta[/h2]

• Improved Attack Move logic to support weapons that have lesser range than unit vision range (just Scientists w/ flamethrowers for now)
  
• Improved Flamethrower 'nozzle orientation' to better face the direction the Scientist faces when firing it
  
• Updated some C++ logic to ensure the visual effects also line up with this
  

[h2]Experimental Build[/h2]

Last week we talked about Early to Middle game improvements and how our team can learn from games like Prototype and how they handled the simulation of a viral outbreak. You guys wanted the virus to be a bit more alive, deadly and wanted improvements to Chelsey across the board.

As an early showcase of the new system we now have put up an Experimental build for all to play and give their input. In some cases you might have to restart steam to see it but everyone can now opt into a new branch to try out the new direction and give their feedback. Again it will have TONS of performance issues and we are aware of them and working towards a tech solution to fix them as we speak.

As a reminder only talk about the Experimental build in #experimental-build-feedback or it will be buried in the day to day chats.

Recap of what im talking about :
Discord Post

[h2]Patch notes to Experimental[/h2]

• Chelsey AI improved for defending her zones (will now jump up to helicopters and board them if you get close enough)
  
• Adjusted the 'sleep mode' animations to play on a percentage-based chance 80% in place and 20% on the floor
  

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