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

New Intro video/Main menu Idle Video

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

Strawpoll Results

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.

Civilian Management System overview (By Halloween)

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

Factions overview (By Halloween Stage 1)

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.

Infection Growth V2 (By Halloween)

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.

Regarding Overall Difficulty

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

CERC Unit Redesigns

CERC Outpost/HQ

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.

Operator (By Halloween)

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)

1P Operator HUD(By Halloween)

We are redesigning the HUD entirely for 1P

A new resized Treasure Island(By Halloween)

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.

Clearing Clutter

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

Weapons...Weapons...Weapons...

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!

Some neat community screenshots from our Discord

Cepheus Protocol Anthology

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/

Year 2 Content reminder