Cepheus Protocol

by
Dev Update

2024 Postmortem: Cepheus Protocol – A Year in Review

1. Introduction

2024 has been a pivotal year for Cepheus Protocol. While we introduced critical improvements and exciting new features, the year was also marked by challenges that highlighted deeper issues within the game’s systems. Early cleanup efforts in Q2 struggled to gain traction, and it wasn’t until Q4 that we started to see real progress. However, we know there are still significant structural and systemic issues that need to be addressed.

As we move into 2025, we’re committed to taking Q1 to conduct a focused audit and cleanup of the game’s core systems. This work will resolve longstanding problems, streamline development workflows, and lay the groundwork for the ambitious features we have planned, including Doctrines, DNA Research, and Co-op.

We are tired of seeing recurring bug reports and systemic complaints, and we’re making it our top priority to address them once and for all. This focused effort will allow us to leave these issues behind and move forward into a brighter chapter with more content, features, and stability.

Today, we’ll take an honest look back at what we accomplished, the challenges we faced, and the road ahead as we work toward the campaign.

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2. What We Accomplished

a. Major Features Delivered

https://youtu.be/Z3k1BgXV-FY

  • Ability System Overhaul
    Rewrote the ability system to a lightweight, modular design inspired by Fortnite’s GAS, enabling rapid prototyping of multi-stage abilities such as XP boosts, Fire Rate buffs, and unique unit upgrades.
  • Aquatic Units and Mobile Bases
    • LCAC Hovercraft: Added as a versatile transport for moving units and vehicles across water.
    • LHA6 Mobile Base: Introduced as a mobile command center and loss condition for CERC, now de-tethered from Winters for greater strategic flexibility.
  • Civilian Evacuation System Improvements
    Over months of collaboration with the community, we delivered long-requested enhancements and massive improvements to the evacuation system:
    • Bus Evacuations: Added support for faster evacuations via buses.
    • Active Intake Increase: Up to 6 zones can now evacuate simultaneously, improving flow and management.
    • New Zone Text System: Clearer zone statuses with clickable UI for easier control.
    • Zone Evacuation Options: Select how zones evacuate—by Bus, Walking, or both.
    • Double Chinook Evacuations: Simultaneous evacuations using two Chinook helicopters.
    • Holding Area Updates:
      • Holding Area XL: Houses up to 250 civilians.
      • Standard Holding Area: Houses up to 40 civilians.

    • 5×5 Cages: Added for better organization within the Civilian Admin Center.
    • Massive Efficiency Gains: Reworked movement logic for smoother, faster evacuations.
  • Tactical Pause and Game Control Improvements
    After years of community requests, we implemented a Pause Game feature to give players greater control:
    • Tactical Pause: Pause the game to issue commands or assess the battlefield.
    • Control Updates:
      • F1: Normal Game Speed.
      • F2: Slomo (slowed-down time).
      • F3/Spacebar: Tactical Pause.
  • Vehicle and Gameplay Balancing
    • Vehicle Gas Rebalance: Adjusted gas usage to better balance logistics and unit mobility.
    • New Class Weapons/Balancing: Added new weapon classes and rebalanced existing units for deeper gameplay.
  • Vehicle Weapon Packages
    • Weapon Loadouts: Added customizable loadouts for the Little Bird and Blackhawk.



    • New Units: Introduced the VTOL, Bradley, Abrams, and MLRS, expanding the tactical options available to players.


  • Global Lighting Overhaul
    Completely revamped lighting, shadows, and reflections for improved visuals and a more immersive environment.





  • Goldencrest Island
    Introduced a new playable map with varied terrain, improved visuals, and fresh challenges for players to explore.





  • New CERC Models Live on Experimental
    • Engineer
    • Spec Ops
    • Assault
    • Sniper
    • Winters
    • Medic
    • Heavy
      Full Team
  • Unreal Engine 5.5 Integration
    Integrated powerful new features to improve visual fidelity, performance, and efficiency:
    • Nanite Skeletal Meshes
    • Chaos Physics Improvements (vehicles and general interactions)
    • Megalights for scalable lighting.
    • Niagara Improvements for enhanced VFX (birds, smoke, etc.).
    • Day/Night System at the engine level for smoother transitions.
    • RHI/Render Improvements for optimized frame rates.
    • Mutable Customizable Characters and Meshes for dynamic visual variety.
    • Stability/Performance Enhancements across the board.

https://youtu.be/cfoh5FHS5RA

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3. What We Faced Challenges In

a. Legacy System Cleanup
Rewriting and optimizing older systems took longer than expected. While the work gained momentum in Q4, significant cleanup remains necessary to modernize the game.

b. Vehicle AI and Interface Conversion
The overhaul of Vehicle AI and interfaces took far longer than we anticipated. Unreal Engine’s Chaos Vehicles system presented a steep learning curve, with few existing examples to guide implementation for AI-driven vehicles. While progress has been made, Vehicle AI is still not where we want it to be, and further polishing will continue into early 2025.

c. Pandemic System Fragmentation
Back in 2020, the game was highly fluid as we explored different gameplay directions based on community feedback. Systems like the Pandemic Subsystem were implemented quickly for prototyping, resulting in a scattered, inefficient setup:

  • ChelseySystem
  • AI Controllers for Chelsey
  • Level Scripting Logic

While this approach served its purpose, the system became unwieldy as the game matured into its current state in 2022. A complete reorganization is now necessary to consolidate these elements into a streamlined Unreal Engine World Subsystem, making it more efficient and easier to manage.

An example of how the game used to play in 2020
https://youtu.be/tfeeTD0jDtY

d. Unreal Engine 5.5 Technical Hurdles
Bugs affecting CPU usage and HLOD systems in Unreal Engine 5.5 forced us to pause work on the Open World Update, which includes expanding to San Francisco North. We’ve reported the issue to Epic and await a fix in an upcoming 5.5.X update.


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3.5 Doctrines: Work Held for Future Integration

Everyone but the programmers will continue working on Doctrines and future content, establishing a large backlog. New features and assets completed by other divisions will be showcased but will not be implemented until the Project Audit cleanup is finished in Q1

New/Revised Airstrikes(Some will be done going into Q1 from the Doctrines Chart)

A10 bombing Run


White Phosphorus

A10 Main Gun Run

Larger Tier Ammo Crate & Medical Crate

Smoke Launcher Paid upgrade for structures (New Ability)

Medic HUMVEE

New Generator Tiers

New Scientist Ability: Delphi Module -Steal DNA from Infection zones passively

Male 01 Operator Variant 01

Male 01 Operator Variant 02

Male 01 Operator Variant 03

Female 01 Operator Variant 01


Female 01 Operator Variant 02

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4. What Needs to Be Done (Q1 2025)

To address lingering systemic issues and prepare for new features, Q1 2025 will focus on:

Audit Structures/Building System

  • Modernize the Sandbag Builder/System
    The system has remained inefficient and poorly organized since its 2020 implementation. This rework will focus on:
    • Improving performance and maintainability.
    • Making the system designer-friendly for easier modifications.
  • Engineer Building System Finalization
    Ensuring the system is bug-free and fully optimized for both player and AI use.
  • Improved AI Logic for Buildings
    AI will now:
    • Better understand defensive positions.
    • Prioritize structures based on threat levels.
    • Dynamically adapt strategies during sieges.
Formations System Rework

  • Finalize the Formation System
    Improvements will align the system with player expectations and increase responsiveness.
  • Dynamic Adaptation
    Formations will adapt dynamically to:
    • Terrain and obstacles.
    • Nearby enemy presence.
  • Integration with Vehicle Pathfinding
    Formation behaviors will work seamlessly with vehicle pathfinding improvements, ensuring:
    • Consistent and efficient movement.
    • Avoidance of collisions.
Pathfinding Improvements for Vehicles

  • Vehicle Pathfinding Pass
    Another development pass will focus on addressing lingering navigation issues, especially in:
    • Complex terrains.
    • Urban environments.
  • Formation System Integration
    Vehicles will move cohesively in formations, avoiding collisions and maintaining integrity.
  • AI Performance Optimization
    AI calculations for large-scale vehicle movement will be optimized to minimize overhead.
Audit Civilian Spawning & Dynamic Groups

  • Refactor Civilian AI
    Integrating civilians into the Pandemic System will improve:
    • Spawning behaviors.
    • Pathing and crowd interactions.
  • Dynamic Group Behaviors
    Civilians will now:
    • React contextually to threats and enemies.
    • Dynamically group, disperse, or flee as needed.
  • Enhanced AI Logic
    Improved survival behaviors for better immersion in pandemic scenarios.
Reprogram Pandemic Systems
  • Consolidate Pandemic Components
    Disjointed systems like ChelseySystem, AI controllers, and level-specific logic will be unified into a cohesive Unreal Engine World Subsystem.
  • Improved Maintainability & Modularity
    Centralizing Pandemic-related systems will ensure:
    • Better performance.
    • Easier long-term maintainability.
  • Robust AI Interactions
    Pandemic systems and AI behavior will interact seamlessly to provide predictable and dynamic responses during events.

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5. Order of Operations for 2025

Once the Q1 audit and cleanup are complete, development will proceed in the following order:

  1. Finishing Doctrines – Revamping the current Doctrine tree UI/Layout and implementing another dozen or so upgrades (See picture above)
  2. Implementing DNA Research – Making DNA actually have a progression. I.E Kill each LT collect their DNA, use that to unlock Shreader rounds but also using the DNA to research small passives/new structures that make CERC more adaptable to the growing infection. Longer Time in gas zones or say less chance of getting infected
  3. Infected LT/ General AI Updates (Leadership and AI improvements) – A total rework of all Infected Attacking/Defense logic. Infected Climbing & Swimming(Considering this one) are on the table for implementation and test. Each LT/Chelsey wil gain a unique personality/AI to make it differ how you counter and fight them.
  4. The Operators – Customizable to a degree Hero units that you can pick their weapons/attachments/abilities and use them as TPS/RTS hybrid Hero. They will have a skill tree for assignment points as you level them up and are persistent Heros you can bring into any game session in pairs or individuals. At that time we will also merge over our prototype into the base game for playing TPS in a exclusive mode.
  5. Co-op – 4 Player shared CERC experience, Host is game master
  6. 1.4 on Roadmap – See roadmap website

“The Operators TPS prototype” https://youtu.be/p0ULGHmjP1Q

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6. Conclusion

2024 was a challenging year for Cepheus Protocol. While we made progress in rebuilding core systems and laying the foundation for future content, it wasn’t always meaningful in the ways we hoped. I’m personally unhappy with the current state of the game. Despite hard work and dedication, we fell short of achieving the level of polish and functionality we demand of ourselves.

That said, this year wasn’t wasted. The work we’ve done has revealed systemic issues that must be addressed, and 2025 will be defined by a renewed focus on fixing these problems. A quarter of the year will be dedicated to a full-scale cleanup—ensuring systems are stable, efficient, and ready to support the features you deserve.

Once this foundation is solid, we’ll shift our focus to delivering impactful new content like Doctrines, Operators, and Co-op Mode. These additions will expand the game in meaningful ways and reflect the standards we aim to meet.

Your feedback, patience, and support drive us forward. Thank you for staying with us as we take Cepheus Protocol to where it needs to be. Here’s to a focused, transformative 2025—one built on accountability, progress, and delivering a game worthy of your expectations.

We will also be having a Podcast this weekend for those that have questions/concerns
https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/537714770822823938

Year in Review Poll 2024

Vote here

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For ongoing updates, visit our Steam Community page and official website.