Cepheus Protocol

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Dev Update

2026.01.30.3 Doctrines Have Arrived (Shared Progression Is Now Live)

Patch Notes Summary (Jan 16 → Jan 30)

AI + Vehicle Pathing

  • Improved ground vehicle pathing to reduce crashes and unnecessary driving through landscape objects. They should be a lot more intentional for when they decide to kool-aid man through walls

  • Fixed large vehicles attempting to route through infantry-only gates

  • Cleaned up navigation and collision in key zones (HMB + Treasure Island choke areas)

Performance + Stability

  • Fixed Niagara StackWalkAndDump micro-stutter issue in heavy combat

  • Fixed replicated DOT crashes under strain

  • Multiple crash fixes (ResourceComponentSOC, closing-game timing crash, GetAlliedUnits crash)

  • Projectile and spitter net traffic optimizations to reduce rubber banding

Airstrikes + Call-In System

  • Airstrike balance pass with cooldowns ranging from 5–7s up to 360s (MOAB) Global Cooldown system!

  • Updated Call-In visuals and graphics

  • Added Ammo Crate call-ins

  • Added Gas Strike to airstrike system

  • Dragon Gunship duration increased to 60s

  • MOAB now deals absolute damage (cover no longer blocks)

Juggernaut + Special Infected Fixes

  • Fixed Juggernaut roar causing car drop/glitch behavior

  • Applied fixes for Juggernaut rubber banding

  • Slowed down gas tower expansion speed by 50% and doubled survivable time inside gas zones by 50%

  • Scientist and Spitter immune to gas call in strike

Doctrines UI + Progression

  • Major Doctrine UI polish: resizing, spacing, margins, icon updates, localization updates

  • Added starting Doctrine Points option in Custom Game Settings

  • Increased Doctrine level cap from 500 → 800 to resolve some bugs reported during experimental of people running out of points to spend after we made some upgrades a bit more expensive

  • Fixed multiple doctrine unlock issues (walls, barbed wire, cannon turret, guard tower M107)

  • Some text was updated like Flashbang cooldown reduction percent to make it more clearer it applies to Winters/ Spec ops and Operators if they have that ability.

Economy + Balance Adjustments

  • Adjusted airstrike pricing and doctrine costs based on playtests lowered overall to make them more enjoyable

  • Reduced Operator XP grind by ~34–40%

  • GC36 + New Operator Skin added under Allen Walker called “Onslaught”

  • Greatly reduced weapon XP requirements per level for Operators

  • Custom game starting money increased up to 4 million

  • Added the ability to set Starting Doctrine points for those that just want to bypass progression in a more casual game

  • Half Moon Bay (Stray Ember was rebalanced based on weeks of communicating with the community to address turret limits, guard tower limits and power issues). Making it a lot more forgiving in your sessions!

Weapons + Combat Updates

  • M203 grenade launcher ability added to Assault and as a new perk for the Operator

    • Assault can only get it from the Doctrine unlock

  • Spec ops throw demo charge added to Operators as a new ability

  • Demo Charge strengthened and retuned

  • Infantry explosives buffed vs Juggernaut

  • Vehicle cannon turn speed and pop cost balance pass (Bradley, Abrams, Cerberus)

  • Turrets lights now properly rotate when they “Look around” at night

Visual + Audio Updates

  • Updated loading screens from contest submissions

  • Fixed nights being too dark, added Moonlight lighting support

  • Medium GI now uses Screenspace GI, Low disables GI entirely

  • Fixed weapon flashlight attachment pivots and turret visual desync issues

Camo + Cosmetic Systems

  • Vehicle camo system implemented with replication support

  • Recruit Popup + Weapon Market camo selector initial pass

  • Added “signs” from legacy (Online support too!)

  • Support Pack camo unlocks are now back in the rebuild! supports online play too!

Quality of Life + Restrictions

  • Fixed exploit bypassing Doctrine restrictions via upgrade buttons

  • Added sky validation to block invalid building placement where you could build production structures over say a bridge and units would not land correctly

  • Added preset landing points to the Motor pool, barracks and main tent to resolve long standing issues with units landing in stupid spots

  • Ammo boxes no longer grant unintended LOS

  • Ammo crates no longer explode when destroyed

  • M / P and other “live” keys no longer trigger the action associated\ with them when you are focusing a type box.

Calypso is under going a revamp and is removed from the rotation for the next week

  • To improve vehicle pathing for ground vehicles and airborne.

  • Resolve some rough patches for bad collision where units would get stuck.

  • We had this map in rotation around early January and we decided to pull it alongside improving pathing for Stray and Blacktide so we could rework parts of the map.

Very still W.I.P we expect to readd this map sometime next week!

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Screenshot contest on Discord!

We are doing a screenshot contest for updating our loading screens submit your art here-> Rebuild only!

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Cepheus Protocol Dev Report
Friday, January 30

Alright everyone, quick report on where we are today.

This is not a short update.

This is a full development report.

The rebuild reset the board.

Doctrines are the start of the real long-term game.

This post is meant to clearly document:

  • What is now released

  • Why it exists

  • What problems it is solving

  • What is still being tuned

  • What we need from players this weekend

  • What options are coming so people can shape the game to how they want to play

This is the foundation going into February.

Doctrines Are Now Live

As of today:

Doctrines are released.

This is the new progression system for Cepheus Protocol going forward.

In Legacy builds, we effectively gave players top-end tools too early:

  • Abrams

  • Bradley

  • MLRS

  • Apache

  • Endgame weapons within minutes

There was no real ladder.

No structured tempo.

No meaningful progression loop.

That is now fundamentally changing.

Doctrines are the backbone for:

  • Unlocks

  • Economy scaling

  • Long-term pacing

  • Team progression

  • Strategic identity over hours of play

The rebuild was the restart.

Doctrines are the actual game structure being rebuilt on top of it.

Why We Built This System

The goal is simple:

We want Cepheus Protocol to feel like you and your friends are building toward something together over time.

Not rushing the entire tech tree in the first 10 minutes.

Not having every weapon available instantly.

Not having progression be meaningless.

Doctrines exist so the game has:

  • Early game pressure

  • Midgame growth

  • Late game payoff

  • Real strategic choices

  • A shared campaign-like loop in co-op

This is how the game becomes sustainable long-term.

Shared Doctrine Progression (Team-Based)

Doctrine Points are shared across the match.

This is not individual grinding.

All players contribute toward the same tree.

That means:

  • Your team progresses together

  • Your upgrades are part of a shared strategic plan

  • Co-op sessions feel like collective effort, not disconnected builds

Three-Stage Doctrine Structure

The Doctrine tree is split into three stages:

Stage 1 → Stage 2 → Stage 3

Important design rules:

  • There is no prerequisite besides paying into the next stage

  • You can take upgrades from any stage

  • Some upgrades chain forward across stages

Example:

  • XP upgrades scale from Stage 1 into Stage 2 into Stage 3

  • Ammo reserve upgrades begin early and reach full power late

  • Gas efficiency follows the same progression

The intent is stacked modifiers and long-term strategy.

Not instant power spikes.

What’s In Doctrines Right Now

The current tree contains roughly two to three dozen items, including:

Economy and Efficiency Passives

  • Increased ammo reserves

  • Increased XP gained from kills

  • Reduced structure costs by category

Ammo Reserves by Unit Type

Upgrades are split by:

  • Infantry

  • Vehicles

  • Helicopters

Gas Efficiency Scaling

Doctrines improve how much gas units can hold by type.

This directly supports longer operations and late-game pacing.

Unlocks and Progression

Doctrines now govern unlock structure for:

  • Weapons

  • Abilities

  • Classes

  • Airstrikes

This is the system that finally allows progression tempo to exist in Rebuild.

You should not be rushing Abrams, Bradley, MLRS, or other endgame tools immediately anymore.

New Structure: Logistics Requisition Center

We are introducing a major infrastructure component:

Logistics Requisition Center

Built by Engineers.

Purpose:

  • Passive Doctrine XP generation through infrastructure

  • Helps maintain Stage 2 to Stage 3 pacing

  • Provides an alternative to purely kill-based progression

Key details:

  • High energy cost

  • High upfront money cost

  • Up to 10 globally

This is designed to reward strategic buildup, not just frontline farming.

UI Status

Doctrines are live.

The UI is being finalized right now.

Target window:

  • Monday to Tuesday

Some placeholder icons may still exist briefly while final assets are swapped in over the next couple of days.

Balance Status: This Weekend Is Data Collection

Let me be extremely clear:

We are not pretending balance is “done.”

Doctrines are a foundational restructure.

Now we tune.

A lot of major balance pressure points have already been progressed significantly, but we need more real match data.

We need to know:

  • What feels off

  • What feels too easy

  • What feels too punishing

  • What feels unfair

  • What upgrades feel mandatory

  • What pacing feels too fast or too slow

This weekend is where we gather that data in real sessions.

This is how the system becomes solid.

Custom Game Options Expansion (Player-Controlled Difficulty)

One of the biggest goals going forward is flexibility.

Not everyone wants the same experience.

Some players want a sweaty hardcore strategy grind.

Some players want a casual pandemic sim where they mess around for hours.

We want to support both.

Custom game options are going to expand heavily before Civilian Evacuation.

Examples of what we are working toward:

  • Starting with all Doctrine Points

  • Increasing or decreasing Doctrine XP gain rate

  • Turning Supply systems on or off

  • Turning Gas mechanics on or off

The goal is that players can shape the experience:

Hardcore tactical progression, or relaxed sandbox apocalypse.

Both are valid.

We want Cepheus Protocol to accommodate the full range.

Save System Update (How It Will Work)

We started active Save System work on Wednesday and we’ll have more to show early next week. Full details will keep getting posted as we progress.

How saves work in most games

In a typical game, a save is tied to one mode of play:

  • You save your session

  • You load it later

  • It usually stays single-player, or it becomes a completely separate “multiplayer server save” system

What we’re building for Cepheus Protocol

Our goal is to let you treat a session like a real campaign that can move between offline and online play.

The intended flow is:

  • Start a session offline if you want

  • Save it whenever you want

  • Later, you can take that same save and host it online so friends can join and continue the same world

This is built specifically for co-op groups who cannot always start and finish a long session in one sitting.

What this enables long-term

  • Pandemic co-op sessions you can pause and resume across multiple days or just by yourself if you want

  • Start a run solo, then bring friends in later without restarting

  • A clearer structure for future systems like Civilian Evac and long-form progression

What We Need From You This Weekend

Please play Doctrines in real sessions.

Test:

  • Progression pacing

  • Shared Doctrine Points feel

  • Stage advancement timing

  • Upgrade relevance

  • Difficulty curve

  • Network performance under match load

  • Any bugs, desyncs, or edge cases

And tell us directly:

What do you love?

What do you hate?

What feels wrong?

What feels right?

This feedback is massive right now because this is the foundation the entire game scales around going into February.

Forward Timeline

This Weekend

  • Doctrine release testing

  • Balance feedback collection

  • Data gathering

Monday to Tuesday

  • Doctrine UI finalized

  • Placeholder elements replaced

Tuesday to Wednesday

  • Save system rollout

Following Weeks

  • Bug fixing

  • Quality of life

  • Operator polish

  • Civilian Evac groundwork

Mid February:

  • Livestream covering Civilian Evacuation direction and next-stage expansion

Final Note

The rebuild reset the board.

Doctrines are the real progression game now.

This is the long-term structure:

  • Shared progression

  • Structured unlocks

  • Strategic scaling

  • Player-controlled customization

  • Persistent co-op sessions through saves

Thank you again for the overwhelming support lately.

Together, we are building something truly remarkable in Cepheus Protocol