The second playable demo of ZEPHON will be available from August 18th (@ 9 am CEST) to September 4th (@ 7 pm CEST) on Steam as part of multiple festivals.

The biggest changes in this demo are the addition of Volcanoes, Concordat resource trading, new Chieftess diplomacy options when not at war and 4 new technologies at tier 3. Based on popular demand, we've also removed the turn limit. See the full changes below.

Come join us in celebration and let us know what you think of ZEPHON.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481170/ZEPHON/

This is an early look at an in-development alpha version of the game. As such, there will be bugs, imbalances and missing assets.

The demo is limited to single player against one opponent on a tiny map. 2 leaders are available for selection and 1 NPC faction is present. Research progress is limited to the first 3 tech tiers.

The full version will contain co-op and pvp multiplayer, larger maps, advanced world generation parameters, 8 leaders, 3 NPC factions, over 50 units spread across 10 tiers of research, more terrain features and quests, an end-game grand finale, unlockable game modifiers, achievements, multiple languages as well as full workshop support.

[h3]Changes in Demo 2[/h3]
## New
* Added Volcano that damages adjacent units to the volcanic terrain.
* Added resource trading to The Concordat.
* Added the ability to ask Chieftess for support (spend influence to gain Reavers or Busters) when not at war.
* Added Urban Sprawl tier 3 technology: +1 city tile acquisition range.
* Added Doomed Spotters tier 3 technology: +2 accuracy for Headquarters.
* Added Reaver Immigration tier 3 technology: +1 standing tier with Chieftess.
* Added Probe Reconditioning tier 3 technology: -100% cost to build Satellite Scan.
* Added number of charges remaining to ability buttons.
* Added accuracy percentage to weapon hints.
* Added key binding for toggle grid (Control+G by default) and toggle cliff highlights (Control+I by default).
* Added highlight when hovering over rows in the settings screen.
* Added floating numbers to the resources panel when each resource changes.

## General
* Removed demo turn limit.
* Research tree is now sorted and colored by path.
* NPCs now appear in the lobby screen.
* Melee abilities (e.g. Engineer repair) can now be used on allied flying units.
* Melee and whole map ranges are now explicitly stated on weapons and abilities.
* Units now appear from below the ground in quests (and without triggering overwatch).
* Renamed Desperate Measures to Old Access Protocols.
* Hold position until healed action now says "Hitpoints full." when it's unavailable.
* Darkened text box for city name.
* Improved claim item hint to mention the possibility of selling the item at The Concordat.
* Improved capturable feature hint clarity.
* Improved Sandstorm look and performance.
* Changed Meat Harvest visual and sound.
* More subtle capture visual effect.
* Minor GUI visual tweaks.

## Balance
* Increased Chieftess peacfulness modifier from 0% to 25%.
* Reduced Sandstorm density from 6.25% to 5%.

**Buildings**
* Reduced Orbital Uplink cost and upkeep tier from 5 to 4.
* Reduced Orbital Uplink influence output from 2 to 1.

**Leaders**
* Increased Artificer's Precision accuracy from +1 to +25%.
* Reduced Leave No Man Behind unit upkeep from +33% to +30%.
* Reduced Salvation Protocols unit upkeep from -11% to -10%.

**Units**
* Increased Cyclone hitpoints from 16 to 24.
* Increased Dark Vassael hitpoints from 32 to 48.
* Increased Exousia Marauder hitpoints from 16 to 24.
* Increased Outrider hitpoints from 16 to 24.
* Increased Warden hitpoints from 24 to 32.
* Reduced Fragmentation Grenade damage from 1.5 to 1.
* Reduced Commander armor from 6 to 4.
* Reduced Exoskeleton Gatling Gun damage from 1.5 to 1.
* Reduced Exoskeleton Gatling Gun armor penetration from 1 to 0.
* Removed Crippling from Exoskeleton Gatling Gun.
* Reduced Exoskeleton Sword Gun damage from 4 to 3.
* Reduced Exoskeleton Sword Gun armor penetration from 4 to 3.
* Increased Erelim Assassin armor from 4 to 6.
* Increased Erelim Blades damage from 2 to 3.
* Increased Erelim Blades armor penetration from 3 to 4.
* Added Crippling to Erelim Blades.
* Increased Horrifying (Dark Vassael, Whisperer of Goldrauch) morale from -1 to -2.

**Operations**
* Hymn of Decay now damages on use.
* Reduced Hymn of Decay damage from 3 to 2.
* Increased Hymn of Decay attacks from 6 to 12.
* Reduced Hymn of Decay algae cost from 30 to 15.
* Reduced Interference Protocols chips cost from 30 to 15.
* Reduced Satellite Scan minerals cost from 15 to 10.

**Research**
* Fermentation Vat is now unlocked from the start.
* Cryo Fabricator is now unlocked from the start.
* Moved Blessed Infestation technology from tier 2 to 1.
* Moved Enmeshed Savant technology from tier 2 to 1.
* Administration Complex is now unlockable at 1.
* Research Laboratory is now unlockable at 2.
* Construction Yard is now unlockable at 2.
* Moved Exobiology Station technology from tier 1 to 3.
* Moved River Port technology from tier 1 to 2.
* Changed Itinerant Recruiters from -25% production cost of Militants and Missile Teams to +1 production for Barracks.
* Changed Collective Conduit from +3 energy while loyalty is positive to +1 energy for each Holo Theater in the city.
* Changed Old Access Protocols production from +10% to +1 for each Research Laboratory in the city.
* Changed Labor Union production from +5% to +0.5.
* Increased Speciment Containment research from +2 to +4.
* Increased Probe Reconditioning minerals cost from -50% to -100%.
* Reduced Biomass Generator energy from +2 to +1.5.
* Reduced Fishery Wing food from +2 to +1.5.
* Reduced Amigara Exploration minerals from +2 to +1.5.

## Bug Fixes
* Fixed missing Hijack trait flavor.
* Fixed Hijack not killing units in a captured transport.
* Fixed incoming call panel styling inconsistencies.
* Fixed world tips being shown while the world is not visible.
* Fixed Cannibalize Machines hint style.
* Fixed attack icon looking blurry.
* Fixed effects sometimes showing on units it doesn't affect.
* Fixed city exploding playing too many explosion sounds.
* Fixed selection panel sometimes not getting refreshed when the player's resources update.
* Fixed various diplomacy issues.