2026.7.11 AI, Performance & Helicopter Systems Update on Experimental

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.

2026.7.11 Change list on Experimental :

Performance

• Added new subsystem optimizations to significantly improve mid and late game performance.

• Reduced CPU overhead across AI, vehicles, projectiles, animations, and gameplay systems.

• Continued optimization of visual effects and core gameplay systems.

Helicopters

• Improved helicopter AI movement, landing, and combat behavior.

• Improved fast rope positioning and landing accuracy.

• Added a new approach system allowing infected to properly attack landed helicopters.

• Fixed several helicopter movement and animation issues.

Movement and AI

• Continued development of the Move Queue system.

• Improved transitions between queued movement orders.

• Improved Attack Move behavior and mixed movement queues.

• Improved vehicle formations and pathfinding.

• Fixed several situations where units could become stuck or behave unexpectedly.

Infected Birds

• Improved infected bird synchronization in multiplayer.

• Improved bird save and load support.

• Added an early version of bird death effects.

• Improved bird attacks against structures and helipads.

Vehicles

• Updated vehicle destruction effects.

• Improved treaded vehicle animation and movement behavior.

• Expanded vehicle engine sound positioning.

• Improved MLRS missile effects.

Camera and UI

• Improved camera zoom smoothing and responsiveness.

• Improved camera follow and minimap camera behavior.

• Continued improvements to Steam Workshop preset support.

Maps and Environment

• Improved navigation across Calypso and other maps.

• Added additional AI navigation support around cliffs.

• Fixed several lighting, collision, and environment issues.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed turrets firing while unpowered.

• Fixed multiplayer issues with the Juggernaut vehicle throw attack.

• Fixed several helicopter, vehicle, structure, and save system issues.

• Added general gameplay polish and stability improvements throughout the game.

The Next 60 Days of Cepheus Protocol...

CERC HQ EP. 98 Summary:

This week’s update is all about making the RTS experience smoother, faster, and more responsive with major improvements to movement, formations, performance, and AI.

The new movement queue system now supports chaining unlimited move and attack orders while improving coordination between infantry and vehicles. Formation behavior continues to be refined, with work focused on edge cases, better pathfinding feedback, and keeping units moving naturally instead of stopping at every waypoint. Helicopters and vehicles are also receiving the same queue support alongside ongoing animation and movement improvements.

Flying units received a major visual and performance pass, including larger bird swarms, optimized flocking behavior, and improved destruction effects. Vehicle visuals continue to evolve with new death effects, fire, explosions, and future plans for destructible parts, while new infected variants, including armored enemies and infected dogs, are actively being developed to expand early, mid, and late-game encounters.

A huge amount of work also went into performance optimizations by batching AI systems, vehicle logic, gas simulation, and combat processing to improve large-scale battles. Additional improvements include new difficulty presets, Steam Workshop support for custom gameplay presets, UI redesigns, camera refinements, multiplayer browser updates, and balance plans aimed at making late-game infected far more dangerous and unpredictable. Experimental also includes numerous bug fixes and performance tweaks while the team continues polishing these systems before shifting focus to the infected AI overhaul.

Next week’s focus is finishing the movement queue, formation polish, camera improvements, UI updates, and remaining quality-of-life fixes before development transitions into a major push on infected AI, new enemy types, balance improvements, tutorials, and additional gameplay systems.

You can catch up on the latest CERC HQ below if you want to see the full breakdown for yourself: View store page The Next 60 Days

Over the next 30 to 60 days, the focus is pushing every major gameplay system forward beyond what existed before in the original build.

• Civilian Evacuation polish and bug fixing

• Formation AI improvements

• Infected intelligence improvements

• New infected variants

• Lieutenants and late-game infected progression

• Leviathan progression

• Operator improvements

• San Francisco North expansion work

• RTS control improvements

• Save/load and multiplayer stability improvements

Civilian Evacuation Progress

The evacuation system has reached a major gameplay milestone. Players can now complete the full civilian rescue loop from intake to evacuation, with supporting systems now coming online around it.

• Functional intake processing

• Evacuation buses

• Infection scanning upgrades

• Doctrine progression

• Direct civilian movement into evacuation zones

• Upgrades to streamline civilian processing

• Options to skip holding cells

• Improved evacuation efficiency as your operation grows

Infected Rework

The infected are also receiving a major pass as part of this phase of development. Infection spread has been rebalanced, infected structure construction is now visible before activation, and late-game pressure is being tuned to reduce the frustrating “whack-a-mole” feeling players were running into. Endless Horde Mode is also available as a custom option for players who want the infection to keep spreading forever.

What Comes Next

The next major push is about taking the systems now coming online and making them stronger, smarter, and more stable. Expect continued work on formation AI, infected behavior, new infected threats, Operator improvements, San Francisco North, evacuation polish, and the broader late-game progression loop. As always, Experimental builds may contain rough edges, bugs, and unfinished content. Player reports are extremely helpful as these systems continue moving toward the default branch.

🎙️ Next CERC HQ – Livestream Details

🕔 When: Weekly Saturdays – 7 PM EST (New Time!)

💬 What is CERC HQ:

Welcome to Cepheus Protocol HQ, your ultimate weekly briefing on all things Cepheus Protocol! Join the Halcyon Winds team as we explore the latest updates, reveal behind-the-scenes development stories, and answer community questions about the game. From exciting new features to design challenges, this is your all-access pass to the evolving world of Cepheus Protocol. Tune in every week and stay ahead of the outbreak!

• Co-op Progress

• Total Revamp based on Community Feedback

• Level Design Updates

📺 Where to Watch:

• YouTube Livestream

• Discord Server

• Steam Page

🎤 Don’t miss our Live Q&A! We’ll be answering questions from the community during the stream.

📺 Missed a Stream? No Worries!

• YouTube VOD Playlist

• Spotify Podcast Archive (VODs may take 24 hours to appear)