Phase 3 is fully underway, and the end is in sight

🎧 Last Time on CERC HQ…

Cepheus Protocol | CERC HQ | # 84

Civilian evacuation is finally coming together, and it’s reshaping how every system in the game connects.

Phase three kicks off with a full evacuation framework. You can now purge or relocate entire buildings, shift populations between zones, and manage reputation based on your decisions. A new civilian hold system tracks infected, dead, and evacuated counts in real time, while evacuation orders and zone flow create a dynamic map-wide population movement.

DNA systems are getting a major upgrade. Enemies now drop DNA, scientists can collect it, and a new DNA collector passively generates resources based on infection levels. This ties directly into upcoming research systems, letting you invest in detection tools, upgrades, and long-term progression.

There’s also a wave of improvements across the board. New weapons are being added, vehicles and time-to-kill are rebalanced, and infected AI like birds are being tuned for better behavior and performance. Some bugs are still being worked through, including pathfinding quirks and visual issues with DNA collection.

Next up is finishing the evacuation loop with buses, intake systems, and full civilian processing. After that, focus shifts to operator polish, smarter infected AI, and expanding into larger maps with more complex scenarios.

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Developer Update This Week

Phase 3 is already in motion. We are several weeks into implementation, and the next major push is Civilian Evacuation. We are aiming for an experimental patch in the next week or two, and when it lands, we are going to need strong testing and actionable feedback.

NOTE:

Non Infected Civilian Meshes are in + Operator Weapon drop is coming soon!

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2 New maps are live for testing on Experimental. Angel Island will be joining the roster as a standalone map in the next 1-2 weeks before we resume work on San Francisco North.

Operation Iron Wake & Operation Stray Ember

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The virus is loose across the Bay Area. Flashpoints are erupting across the peninsula as entire districts fall into chaos and infected swarms push deeper into civilian zones.

CERC forces are already in the field.

Embedded military reporters and frontline operators are transmitting battlefield coverage directly from active operations. The images you are about to see were captured during recent combat deployments across the region.

These transmissions come directly from the front.

The battle for the Bay Area has begun.

Civilian Evacuation, Zone Reputation, and DNA Research

Civilian Evacuation is one of the biggest new ways to engage with the game. It is not just another side system. It is a new gameplay lane that changes how you make money, how you move people, how you secure territory, and how your decisions reshape the map over time.

What Civilian Evacuation Adds

• Civilian Evacuation creates a new way to play the game by turning population control into a real strategic layer. Taking away the Biomass resource from Infected

• You will be able to generate income through evacuation.

• Martial law can be declared in any zone to slow infection but doing so will piss off civilians depending on the level you employ ruining your reputation in that zone.

• You will be able to move populations between zones through buses and normal movement.

• You will be able to route civilians into intake centers and process them based on the rules you set. That means deciding who gets evacuated, who gets screened further, and who gets shot.

• The goal is to add replay value and give players another way to approach the war beyond