Cepheus Protocol is an Open World RTS Military Survival Game. Play as the CERC hunting Patient 0, maintain Quarantine camps, fight dangerous mutations & Rogue Civilian Combatants . There’s nobody else coming, it’s up to you now.
Recent Reviews:
Very Positive (45) - 82% of the 45 user reviews in the last 30 days are positive.
All Reviews:
Very Positive (1,982) - 81% of the 1,982 user reviews for this game are positive.
Release Date:
May 15, 2020
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Early Access Game

Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.

Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Cepheus Protocol is an extremely ambitious game and we are still very much still in development. There will be bugs issues but we hope you will join us in actively giving your feedback, but if not we understand. If you're not ready to jump in yet, then please consider us when we leave out of Early Access.

How often do we update?
We release minor bug fixes and general updates on a regular basis, at least once a week, if not more. Often times we’ll release hotfixes as they are needed or when our community points out issues that are affecting their ability to play Cepheus Protocol. And since we are in Early Access, we release significant updates every month or two. Additionally, we release these updates in our experimental build of the game available on Steam, where the community can test out changes and new mechanics and systems without impacting the main game. When these changes are deemed workable for the general public, we then release these larger updates to the core game, where we continue to take in feedback and suggestions – constantly reiterating the process until everything is working to the level we are aiming for.

Major updates can take much longer to release. For example, we focus our core development on builds such as 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4, with 1.4 us seeing as the end of Pandemic Mode. Within each of these builds of the game, different aspects of gameplay, systems, and mechanics are required. And since we are a very small team, implementing new features such as civilian management, Dynamic Civilian groups, the San Francisco city zone, new animations, weapons, vehicles, character models, and more can take some time to be finished. More often than not, there is only one person working on these features in the game. Nevertheless, we always make sure to provide previews of what we are doing, and even our developers will go on Discord and live stream what they are working on.

As a particular build comes closer to being finished, we like to bring our community in as we show off what we’ve been working on and put the update to our test build on Steam. After a few days or weeks, we collect all the information that our community has given us and see what changes or fixes need to be made. Furthermore, we are constantly testing the game ourselves as we try to get ahead of significant issues before the public ever sees them.

Minor updates such as bug fixing we try to get out as quickly as possible, although, with limited staff, it can take some time, depending on how serious the bug is, for it to be fixed and patched. But, if we are taking too much time to get it fixed, we make sure to let our community know and thank them for their support and patience.

It should also be understood that there are always unforeseen events that impact our development. These can be simple things like engine changes or updates to the engine that mess up our development, other new software that has to be learned and implemented, developer illness or people leaving the team, and any hundred other factors that are part of daily life and game development. Nevertheless, we always strive to keep Cepheus Protocol on track and our community informed about what is happening.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Generally, we want to keep Cepheus Protocol in Early Access as long as it needs to be. The whole point of going into Early Access was to work with our community to build a better game. We’ve come a long way since day one, but still have a long way to go before the game is to the point it can be taken out of Early Access. Nevertheless, our target date to leave Early Access is somewhere around 2024. However, remember that we are a small team with a lot of work left to do. And while we hope to grow our team in the next couple of years, we must plan for what we have to work with right now. If things change for the better and we can speed development up, we’ll leave early access sooner. However, we don’t want to leave until we are certain Cepheus Protocol is ready.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The full version of Cepheus Protocol will feature the following: Pandemic Mode, which is the current iteration of the game that is playable now. Story/Campaign, co-op, Horde Mode, and Special Operations.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

““See Project Description below!””

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The price of the game will change when it leaves Early Access. What the new cost will be is going to be determined at a later date. We will, of course, inform our community of the price change when it happens. Those that have bought the game during Early Access will not have to pay any additional cost as their copy will be updated to the release build. It should also be understood that we will continue to support the game’s development with additional content that will be charged separately from the main game; these include DLCs, skins, special items, and other related content to the game. These updates will be considered separate from the main game and will be charged differently while not being offered free to those that bought Cepheus Protocol during Early Access.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“See above ^”
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Check out the entire Cepheus Protocol Franchise on Steam
 
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Just Updated

  • Guard Tower & Sentry Turrets are now region limited instead of a Global Limit
  • Movement Queuing, Attack Queuing & better building Queuing
  • Total Minimap Revamp (Zooming & Filters)
  • Added Mobile Medium Guard Tower

Cepheus Protocol Dev Update #18

https://youtu.be/dJogCEPsYHU

Cepheus Protocol Dev Update #17

https://youtu.be/rSnhp_xKN5I

Buzz

A game that caught me off guard with how freaking fantastic it is, it runs fairly darn well, is pretty intense and reminds me quite a bit of They Are Billions just in a more modern world.
-SmashGaminG!!

I'm really into Tower Defense games and this one is a great creation. It keeps you easily entertained. The sounds and graphics are decent. It's still in E.A and it looks pretty good so far. ~8.2/10
-Kawaii Reviews

Cepheus gameplay is a unique blend of RTS with a real tower defense feel. 100% a strong learning curve to master the tactical skills layered across the six different character classes. Check it out!
-Mature Minded Gamers

About This Game


Cepheus Protocol is an Open World RTS Military Survival Game, it puts players in control of CERC(Center for Epidemic Research and Control).

A beached ship called the Voyager Dawn has been discovered near Half Moon Bay. Chelsey one of the first people to discover it has been infected, returning to her home on Treasure Island in the Bay Area. Little does she know is that she is now carrying the Pangu Virus(alien pathogen) that will soon convert her into Patient 0 and start a "Cepheus Protocol" level event.

Current Features

  • Hardcore Infected(Zombie) Military RTS where units can be infected/killed
  • Infected can swarm and attack your positions and Ambient Civilian encampments
  • Command the "Operator" a unit that can be controlled in TPS(Third Person) or used as another hero unit in RTS
  • Level up in the Doctrine tree to unlock new support options, weapons & units.
  • Customize Pandemic Mode to your whims. Turn off Infected Types and customize your experience in the custom game options feature
  • Level up your Characters through combat and increase their proficiency (Health and Targeting Acquisition time)
  • A modern take of Line of Sight and hearing featuring AI that need to actually hunt you
  • An extremely large detailed map with varied locales you will need to plan accordingly for when you Attack, Defend or plan civilian evacuations.
  • Employ Land, Sea and Air assets to battle the Infection and enemy Rogue Civilian Combatants (Hostile Dynamic Civilian groups)
  • Employ Diplomacy with Dynamic Civilian groups to recruit out of their camps and protect each other.
  • Setup Civilian Evacuation through the Civilian Administration Structure allowing you to choose who lives and dies via an in-depth Civilian intake system you can customize or use preset templates.
  • Research the Pangu Virus and learn its secrets so you can kill Patient 0
  • Hunt and kill Patient 0's LT's and expanding Horde as they attempt to infect every province
  • Dynamic Groups will form randomly in provinces based on your reptation or just in the desire to survive against the Infected(Zombies)

Planned Features:

  • The Operator can customize weapons, drive vehicles, has a progression system is more fleshed out so you can customize their basic appearance & abilities.
  • Aircraft Carrier - A new base of Operators in Pandemic mode. If you lose it you lose. Winters is now a rebuildable Hero
  • DNA Research - A proper progression/unlock tree allowing you to better counter the virus and better protect your units in the field
  • Infected LT/AI improvements - Just improving Attacking/Defense logic for extreme turtle situations
  • Coop - A shared "CERC" where all players share resources and work towards a unified front together up to 4 players.
  • Campaign - Experience the canon story told from the Novel and side stories.

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work: Frequent Violence or Gore, General Mature Content

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
    • Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-4500K
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 1060 GTX or AMD Radeon Equivalent 2 GB
    • DirectX: Version 12
    • Storage: 8 GB available space
    • Sound Card: Direct X Compatible
    • Additional Notes: **recommended SSD install for optimal performance
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
    • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-6770K / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
    • Memory: 16 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 2060 GTX or AMD Radeon Equivalent 6GB VRAM
    • DirectX: Version 12
    • Storage: 8 GB available space
    • Sound Card: Direct X Compatible
    • Additional Notes: **recommended SSD install for optimal performance

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