How to opt into Experimental

To opt into experimental install "Cepheus Protocol Experimental" in your steam library. It is no longer a beta opt in but an entirely new game granted when you purchase the base game.

Patch Notes

(Click Show details for a full breakdown of the changes) [expand type=details]

Infected Birds added, they will build nests and spread virus across the island past day 2. They will also build nests to create more birds over time. They can attack air units and units hiding on rooftops.
Updated 'latest save' string to point at the latest saved *or* latest loaded game. And updated the Load Game screen for Pandemic to use the same criterion for 'latest save' that the Game Over+Pause menus use (so it won't be so confusing)
Updated Garrison Position for the Merlin to be more 'under' the entry spot (instead of too far out, where it can get 'stuck' into things too easily, such as in a save Robert sent to me)
Added Infected Crow's Nest Mesh, texture and material
Updated Helicopters with a new var 'DistanceToStartLoweringForFastRope', set to 12000. Used this to make Helicopters much less likely to overshoot Rappel targets by starting to fly lower sooner
Improvements to Bird attack logic and how they pick a 'swoop target' and attacks
Improved logic to determine if a player is walled off/unreachable by destroying bridges so Flying units and Levi's will target them
Fixed an issue w/ loaded civvies (who are infected) using Civvie idles
Added a custom game setting InfectedBirdStartDay, and a function in the ChelseySystem for checking sending birds alongside any Assault checks
Added another fix for being able to mouse-click bridges certain spots to bring up a menu that lets you destroy them
Fix to autosave startup in the Open World Master to wait until both Chelsey and the Player have 'started up', to prevent the game from autosaving before Chelsey spawns, thus creating a world with no Patient Zero if you load that 'game start autosave'
Fixed up 'permanent targeting' issue if they start a swoop on someone but that person leaves vision
Improved ActorConstructionPoint to have a 'non-absorb' mode so units can 'construct' pods/etc. similar to how Engineers do
Added some additional logic so that Helicopters interacting with Construction will lower their flight height to 50, then return it to normal after their TargetConstructionActor is removed
Fixed a major save/load issue (introduced Friday) that caused Hive references for LTs to 'break' and reference random constructibles in the zone
Fixed Chelsey being included in the "LT Array" in the MercerSystem
Fixed another save/load issue with Mercer Hives (if a hive was under construction at the point of saving, due to auto construct, it was being 'ignored' and thus forgotten. No longer)
More fixes to prevent Hives or pods getting 'forgotten' by the game when saving/loading
Fixed the Sniper's default mesh being unassigned sometimes to cause them to A pose
Improved save/load logic to detect an 'empty mesh' on loaded units, and give them a random mesh from their available male/female variants if they are 'empty mesh' on load
Added another move proxy from Treasure Island Power Plant to the 'middle' of its bridge back to TI South, for fixing an issue Efrain encountered
Updated some Helicopter-related logic to be more modular, and updated Infected AI to better account for flight-height when scanning for movement spots Result: Birds more reliably roam around, move around, and can follow construction orders from really far away (instead of failing to spread from initial nest) in the Master
Fixed an issue where loaded Ravens would fail to be saved (i.e. save, load would work, but saving then loading again would delete them)
Raven Subsystem now tries to spawn a Raven to defend a nest if that nest has no Raven to guard it (higher priority than spawning to spread, so that'll happen first)
Raven Subsystem now tries to spread to player territory if it already has nests on all landmasses And, if there are no birds *and* no structures, construction points will clear so it can 'start afresh' rather than getting stuck
Minor fix to FreshlyLoaded, too, to hopefully stop the system from stalling if you save/load before the first hive starts construction
Several fixes to Chelsey AI
Stuck checks improved: if her 'on invalid nav' checks notice being on bad nav but fail to find a good spot, CriticalStuckWarp will run. Though this won't run if she has a jump attack target, is falling, has an attach parent (i.e. helicopter she's punching), etc.
Set up a response for when Hives take damage to summon the nearest Leviathan to assist in its defense
Fixed an issue with units getting 'jitters' if given a group order to move to a garrison, then given another move order away from it
Unit Mover and Chelsey System improvements to support (and encourage) usage of tunnel entrances =Results: If tunnels exist in-world, the Chelsey System and Unit Movers now know how to use them, and will prioritize spreading to tunnel exits that are far away (to make Angel island seem more 'tempting' to their AI, so to speak, and to improve likelihood of building up defenses in 'tunnel zones').
Added a safety to prevent Birds entering into an 'infinite melee attack loop crash'
Added a basic TOW weapon to the Humvee (kitbashed from the CROWS+SMAW, with mostly SMAW stats)
Used this to make the Avenger gun for the Humvee, with some basic stats and anti-air properties, as well as a description indicating to the player that it's anti-air only. The Avenger has friendly fire turned off, so it won't hurt allied
And improved initial Leviathan spawn to try to prevent him from popping up on top of buildings initially
Improved safety regarding tunnel movement for UnitMovers (to prevent a potential infinite loop crash)
Improved Leviathan 'emerge from burrow' logic to not 'miss' a case where a tunnel entrance should be dropped
Leviathans now have a lower 'wander time', especially if issued a ZoneBurrowTarget from the LeviathanSubsystem
Updated Leviathan start day on Director's Cut (and default setting for Custom Difficulties) to be ingame Gametime Day 2 (after 24 minutes ingame)
Infected also get an 'initial Leviathan token' on the Leviathan start day, allowing them to quickly get a Leviathan right as that day begins
Added a slight fix to the ZoneManager to not potentially 'add another Leviathan token' when loading saves, if someone sets custom difficulty Leviathan start day to ingame day 1
Fixed Infected bird animation speed.
Added glowing eyes to infected birds.
Speculative crashfix added for Unit+Tunnel interaction
Improved default explosive safety to stop 'false positives' in some weird circumstances with enemy tunnels
Improved enemy tunnel with 'attackpoints' to make it more easily targetable by player units
Added pipeline to support logic for Leviathans to respond to a Tunnel Entrance being damaged
made the Leviathan roar sound trigger from a tunnel in a zone when a Leviathan moves to defend a zone due to hive/tunnel being damaged there
Fixes for mouse targeting issues with world buildings/bridges after Tunnel targeting fixes
Fixed Structure Healthbars not working for things that didn't inherit from Base_PlayerStructure
Updated Tunnels to have 18K health (from 6K), so it's not an easy 'burn down': you'll want explosives.
Fixed hovering over structures that have no hovertext causing an 'empty hovertext' popup to display (small black rectangle)
Set up the Raven Subsystem to spawn additional ravens to support Assaults against locations that have already repelled enough units (up to 3 swarms)
Added Leviathan 'assault support'. If a zone has endured some Assault unit movers, the Leviathan subsystem may send up to two Leviathans to assist
A few Leviathan move/burrow functions tweaked (and a safety added to AI to try to stop rotation freeze bug)

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

Known Bugs

(Click Show details for a full breakdown of the changes) [expand type=details]

Charon will be gaining new abilities to hunt Chelsey/Levi/Tunnels next patch

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New Versioning Number system

[expand type=showmore ] We are changing the way we do version numbers to simplify them going into the future. The one will represent a "release" version and the octet following it will the title update or major patch version we are on. 1.2.1 1 = Release version 2 = Title Update (Major Update) 1 = Minior Fix/bug fixes etc [/expand]

Letter from the Producer

https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3186869726433966739

New Roadmap system

We now have a new system for our community to follow along on development. This website will break down all the major systems that are coming each patch. It will not include hotfixes/bug fixes. Sections inside TBD can be included randomly if we are ahead of schedule Trello and the old picture Roadmap system will be removed going into the future. https://www.notion.so/cepheusprotocol/Cepheus-Protocol-31f1b25ce00148d6844825f4a0c0bc08

Cepheus Protocol Anthology

Experience the outbreak of the Pangu Virus from multiple perspectives across as the brave heroes of the Center for Epidemic Research and Control battle tirelessly to stop the spread of a cataclysmic alien virus that has mutated innocent people into monstrous creatures of unimaginable power [expand type=details] https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology_Season_1/

First 40 Minutes of Cepheus Protocol Anthology Season 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eWbDibGMrU [/expand]

Swag Store

The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile: Link here

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[ 2023-02-11 02:08:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Cepheus Protocol

Halcyon Winds Developer

Halcyon Winds Publisher

2020-05-15 Release

Indie Strategy Adventure Simulation Singleplayer EA Tags

Game News Posts: 141

🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse

Very Positive (2253 reviews)

https://cepheusprotocol.com/

Steam Store

Game is not tagged as available on Linux on Steam.

The Pangu Virus has been unleashed in San Francisco, turning thousands of innocent lives into mindless beasts that feel no pain and have no fear of death. With each passing hour, the Pangu Virus evolves, creating new and ever more horrific mutations with one goal in mind… Spread.

You are Captain Winter, a military officer fighting alongside the Center for Epidemic Research and Control(CERC). With a massive arsenal and the resources of the US Government behind it, you and CERC will stop at nothing to ensure the terror of the Pangu Virus does not escalate beyond containment, even if a whole city and millions of lives must be sacrificed.

Cepheus Protocol is inspired by classic RTS games such as Company of Heroes and World in Conflict, alongside the book World War Z.
Survive if you can against a relentless enemy that evolves and grows more powerful with each day.
Build specialized units from a variety of bases that can be placed anywhere in the open-world map.
Battle those infected by the Pangu Virus across four open-world islands, featuring unique and challenging environments.
Choose from three combat tiers that play to your style. Each tier has specialized units, equipment, and weaponry.
Engage a relentless horde of infected which numbers grow larger and stronger with each territory captured as you battle for control of San Francisco.
Hunt Patient Zero, who races across the city seizing territory. Each capture zone increases her population as the virus spreads and possesses all organic matter.
Form an alliance or side against the Anarchist and Police factions, which struggle to survive among the madness that has enveloped San Francisco.

Note: Steam Remote Play is for allowing your friends to try out the game if you already have purchased it. It's not for online co-op: that is is planned in the current roadmap, but is not complete yet

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