“A soldier’s broken body was just the foundation for a better weapon. Paralyzed? They shunted your spine. Missing limbs? They'd give you something better. Pretty soon they were standardizing the replacement parts and just outfitting the soldiers with them, whether they needed them or not.”
Mechanics
Cyber Unit · Tier 1
Attributes: · 6 group members, 4 armor, 18 hitpoints, 6 accuracy, 8 morale, 3 movement
Traits: · Biological: Classification
“We had a lot in common with the monsters we faced. They bled like us, breathed like us, and died like us. Humans were always good at hurting other humans. It just took a little creativity to hurt our enemies in the same way.”
· Mechanical: Classification
“You know what’s funny? People make machines to solve complicated problems. But on the battlefield, a machine becomes a problem to solve. Sometimes it took special skills to bring them down. Sometimes you just needed a bigger machine.”
“Our techs didn't hit on this armor—the Enforcers did. One of them kicked in the door on a strategy session and unceremoniously dumped a prototype version of the armor on our war table. "Make more of these" was all he said before leaving the room.”
· Tactical Visor (Upgrade · Tier 3): +2 accuracy when adjacent to another allied Ishim Enforcer.
“Ishim Enforcers were the first cyborgs we created with access to networked intelligence. Our techs cooked up visors that could triangulate enemy positions by pulling data from different Enforcers together. Only problem was, you needed your troops to be close to each other for reliable targeting metrics.”
Weapons: · Laser Gun: 1.5 damage, 1 armor penetration, 1 attack, 2 range · Laser · +2 accuracy · Applies Low Power to non-Low Power weapon for 1 turn · -50% damage
“A laser gun fires in a straight line from A to B. There’s no bullet drop, no wind resistance, nothing. Soldiers used to complain that they took the art out of aiming. Luckily we were still students in the art of killing. In time these became some of our favorite tools of the trade.”
“The first soldiers we augmented with cybernetic tech were still vulnerable to attacks on vital organs. With a little extra programming, our techs could numb their pain sensors, but they still needed to be patched up. If they already couldn’t feel pain, there was no reason to not let them cauterize their own wounds.”
Direction: [Masculine. Calm, unused to new strength] · Attack: “This is what I was made for.” “You’re going to die now.” “I hope this hurts. A lot.” · Move: “I think I can do that.” “That’s in reach.” “Knew I should have stayed home today.” · Hold Position: “Don’t make me wait… please.” · Select: “I’m here—or, what’s left of me is.” “You said something? “Ready for the human race.” · Appear: “Cleared for combat.” · Endure High Damage: “I thought that would hurt more.” · Kill: “We can scavenge them for spare parts.” · Cauterize Wounds: “I—*grunts* I can still fight.” [A nasty sizzling noise playing under this would help sell the cauterizing.] · Poke: “Killers aren’t born. They’re made in a factory.”
Design Commentary
With Ishim Enforcers we’re starting the Cyber path with a sturdy front-line infantry unit. Especially after acquiring the Shoulder Plate upgrade, they can truly take a beating compared to other early-game units. Cauterize Wounds then allows them to recover their health so they can stay in prolonged fights—this is such an essential element to the unit that we did not want to gate it behind an upgrade.
Their armament introduces the Laser category of weapons—an accurate, but power hungry gun that needs to cool off between shots to do maximum damage. We’ve found that this makes their use very tactical—and synergies beautifully with sacrificing an attack to use Cauterize Wounds.
Aesthetically, Ishim Enforcers represent humans merging with machines. Initially the process is grotesque, replacing individual limbs and augmenting senses in a crude way. Still, the Ishim operate on a biological substrate and a human brain.
You may have wondered about the inspiration for their naming. For earlier tier Cyber units we’re using a mix of religious connotations and basic technology. Later on, we delve deeper into transcendental and angelic themes—these won’t be just simple robots after all.
Anti-armor infantry with a walking missile launcher.
“Plenty of Militants were eager to pilot anti-armor bots far from the battlefield, but resentment grew quickly between the missile operators and front-line grunts. The solution? We docked rations every time the Missile Team pilots tripped their drones or missed a shot. It was better if they hated us—not each other.”
Traits: · Biological: Category. “Humans were always good at hurting other humans.” · Mechanical: Category. “Sometimes you just needed a bigger machine.”
Weapons: · Missile Launcher: 6 damage, 5 armor penetration, 1 attack, 3 range. Heavy: -50% accuracy if unit has moved.
“I had a friend who treated the Missile Launcher like a sacred weapon. They waxed poetic about how standing still to properly aim one drew power from the earth itself. They died out in an open field, exposed to a sniper’s bullet.”
Abilities: · Grounded Fire (Upgrade · Tier 3): Attack with +2 accuracy. 5 turn cooldown.
“Steady hands made for a steady shot. Same was true for the Missile Team’s attack platforms. Digging your heels into the ground… bracing yourself to absorb the shots’ recoil… it was good enough for men and even better for mechs.”
Cost: · 30 production (5 turns), 16 food, 16 minerals.
Upkeep: · 0.8 food, 0.8 minerals.
Voice Over Script
Direction: [Masculine, nerdy, like Radar from M*A*S*H.] · Attack: “Danger close. Get clear!” “Arming munitions.” “You’re just in time for the fireworks.” · Move: “Inputting coordinates.” “Ah… that’s still in range, right?” “Let’s hoof it.” · Hold Position: “Fine, but we’re sitting ducks here.” · Selected: “What do you need scrapped?” “Munitions delivery, at your service.” “Don’t let them get close.” · Produced: “Portable missile platform ready to deploy.” · Damaged: [Spoken calmly, like the operator is watching from a distance.] “The bot’s taking fire, requesting backup.” · Enemy Killed: “Nothing but rubble.” · Grounded Fire: [Hold the first letter in “and.”] “Hold—and—fire!” · Poke: “I’m always worried about making this thing trip.”
Design Commentary
Happy Christmas to everyone!
As Command & Conquer made tradition, we think every game needs a rocket soldier. This is ours.
The unique twist is that the soldier isn’t just carrying a rocket launcher on his shoulder—he’s accompanied by a small two-legged mech to fire guided missiles. Have you seen …
A weapons range of 3 tiles with a focus against armored units makes this an early staple in a Human-centric army. The addition of Grounded Fire is especially useful to improve the mech’s accuracy after moving.
It also symbolizes the Human path’s continuous, but not full mechanization. It’s one of only 4 units in ZEPHON to be both Biological and Mechanical.
What do you think? Let us know!
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Cities in ZEPHON have a radius of control that can be expanded by acquiring tiles. Though not for free. Each tile under the city’s command costs influence upkeep, but on these tiles you can construct buildings—the ever-important backbone of the economy. Your Construction Yard needs several turns to finish construction of each building. Once complete, you’ll pay an energy upkeep to keep the building operational—and of course sacrifice a worker’s time—but only by scaling your war machinery can you stand a chance against the horrors of post-apocalyptic Earth.
Familiar to players of Gladius, your production is split into different parallel queues under corresponding groups of buildings—so your city can create both Human infantry and Voice creatures simultaneously. One change to the formula is in the Construction Yard which can now produce Engineers to found cities; and to the Headquarters which trains heroes of all three branches.
Each building in ZEPHON has an entirely unique model. So you can recognize their branch as well as their function.
Let’s take a look at some human buildings …
(The graphics are still work-in-progress—by release we’ll have city walls, faction flags, dynamic lights, and better illumination and reflections.)
Barracks
“You never won any war without the grunts. Before you cracked open any advanced technology or gave into The Voice, you needed armed bodies primed for death. Great soldiers could come out of the infantry ranks—but they had to survive first.”
The Barracks train Human infantry units and do not need to be researched. As a side-effect they increase the population limit and help keep the population loyal.
It can produce: Militants, Missile Teams, Combat Medics, Assault Troopers and Praetorians.
It can be upgraded with Itinerant Recruiters, boosting production of Militants and Missile Teams.
Transuranium Stabilizer
“Now, this, I won't pretend to understand. I know the transuranic elements are unstable. I know that in that instability, there's huge amounts of latent energy. I don't know how the machines worked that stopped it escaping—that made those elements into something dense and unearthly strong. I don't know if there's anyone alive who understands, to be fair.”
Resources extracted from the ground aren’t enough for advanced units. The Transuranium Stabilizer converts minerals into transuranium—one requirement for high-end Human units.
Orbital Uplink
“The ground part of this system was familiar enough—a set of high-powered transmitters and dishes. But what it was communicating with wasn't—the wreck of the human satellite network mingled with the destroyed alien fleet. The clever bit was using the former to manipulate the latter for benefit on the ground. It mostly worked.”
Here operations for the Human path are constructed. Think of operations as stored-up abilities that can be used globally. As a side-effect the Orbital Uplink also increases research and influence for the player.
As an example, it can produce Orbital Scans, allowing you to reveal when and which enemy troops are moving under the fog of war.
Later on you’ll be able to create connections to Orbital Missile Silos floating since before the apocalypse and launch nuclear weapons. Maybe one apocalypse wasn’t enough for us.
What do you think? Let us know!
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“Defending the heart of a city took a certain kind of grit. If you saw action while stationed here, there’d be no running. This job was for the stubborn and the stupid—those who’d rather die than lose pride in defeat.”
The centers of economy and human life—cities. And towering at their core is a defensive structure, canonically dubbed Headquarters.
Each emplacement is generally equipped with 9 machine gun turrets and 3 missile launchers and looks unique to each leader.
Heartless Artificer
“Man can be more again. Become more by becoming less.”
Everyone was changed by survival. Some found themselves changed in their beliefs, others re-affirmed.
This one entered as an architect—and exited the same. But in the process, other things were stripped away—nation, family, love.
Honorable Aristocrat
“Oh, you simply must try one of these. Deviled Abkluth eyeggs, my chef pulled the spines by hand. Eine Delikatesse, I won’t take no for an answer!”
The Aristocrat was young when the sky fell—but his parents were connected globally and he was taken into a government bunker with them at the first sign.
He sat out the rapture, the war, the fallout, the starvation. His only complaint was that the preserved food was appalling and that no-one had thought to bring herbs or spices.
Fallen Soldier
“I know death. I’ve survived it—and I’ll train you to do the same.”
The Fallen Soldier never made it to a bunker. He was already dead. For cowardice in the face of the enemy—or rather, for desertion in the face of his elite platoon being crisped from space and the sky being on fire and the world ending—he was made an example of. Tried, convicted, executed as the world burned around them.
It kept him occupied, at least.
Hesitant Chieftess (NPC)
“D’yer mind if we skip the chit chat and go straight to stabbin’? I’m a bit fucked off from killing all yer mates.”
The Raider and her people survived the end of the world on the planet’s surface. To emphasize how rare that is, this is when nuclear blasts were scattered in the sky and the sea was evaporated.
Somehow the Raider’s crew lived through both the short war and the long fallout and thrived. No-one else who encountered them at that time did, though.
What do you think of the city headquarters?
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This time we’re putting extra effort into creating custom sound effects for every ability. But aural enhancements don’t end there.
Weapon Sounds
In Gladius we only used single-shot weapon sounds—even for automatic weapons. This often decreased fidelity, overburdened the audio mix and decreased performance.
ZEPHON not only utilizes continuous-fire sounds where appropriate, but also supports wind-up/down sounds and delay firing of individual weapons.
The additional sounds let us create things like realistic whirring-up and cooling-down of machine cannons. Staggering when weapons fire adds drama and distinction to the attacks. The resulting experience is much more pleasant.
Algorithmic Variation
We also have a new computational technique: algorithmic sound variation.
It’s common to vary the pitch of a sound effect each time it’s played—you see this in sound effect tutorials all over the internet. We go a few steps further.
On top of randomizing the pitch and volume over the whole sound, we’re also using digital signal processing to take several randomized portions of the frequency spectrum and attenuating or amplifying them to varying amounts.
For looping sounds (like continuous weapon fire, movement and ambient), we’re additionally randomizing the offset at which point the sound starts playing.
All of this is to prevent listener fatigue—to try to keep the feeling fresh, but familiar.
UI Ambiance
Immersion is of critical importance for us with ZEPHON. That’s why we’re creating unique ambiance clips for each different screen, leader and quest.
This is it for audio for the moment; we’ll have more, exciting reveals about voice-overs later down the line.
What do you think of the improved audio systems?
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ZEPHON’s research continues the tradition of a tiered progression system. It will feature over 150 technologies across 10 tiers. To advance from one tier to the next, 3 technologies are required.
That may sound like a lot compared to Gladius, but we’re reducing research costs by 33% to compensate. Instead of a baseline of 6 turns to unlock a new technology, it will now only take 4 turns.
If that’s not to your taste for any reason, research cost and unlocks per tier will be customizable per game as a world setting.
Players begin by attempting to recover from a primitive and scrappy level of technology in the first third of the game (post-apocalyptic, think Mad Max), followed by a more advanced second third (Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell paired with magic), to a highly advanced last third (Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space universe or Dan Simmons’ Hyperion).
Each leader will also have 5 special technologies to enhance their unique properties—spread evenly through the research tiers.
We are pushing the boundaries of modifiers to new degrees. It’s very exciting to see conditional building bonuses in action—scaling building output depending on terrain features or even synergizing with other buildings to create combat effects in a radius.
To make all of this clear, we’re adding an often-requested Gladius feature: showing exact modifier numbers in technology hints. No need to search through the compendium for the information anymore.
Specimen Containment
Many of our early learnings were rediscovering what went before. In time, though, we realised how much the familiar had shifted—how far man had killed off Earth’s species before the Acrin even arrived and how much new life the aliens had brought with them across the stars, life that filled out the world’s emptied niches. Capturing and studying that new life proved to be inspirational for our eventual victory…
Tier 1 : Human : Player Upgrade
Gain research from killing unaligned neutral units.
In Death, Life
An old flame once told me how the Aztecs or the Mayans—one of those dead empires—how their gods drew power from bloody sacrifice in their city centers. I didn’t understand what she meant until I saw troops mown down on the doorstep of a Voice-corrupted city and heard the unearthly ullulation from within. Whether it was true magic or just motivation, that city grew strong on death.
Tier 3 : Voice : Building Upgrade
Regain production from biological units that die in 6 tile radius from the headquarters in each Canticle of Dusk in the city.
The Mind's Eye
When I was a young fool, gossip went around; of a scientist, a genius, who died attempting to fulfil that old billionaire dream of living forever by uploading herself. It didn’t work, of course-the giant machine was inert, unmotivated, left operating as a curiosity. Until ZEPHON found it and brought that mind to life, focussing its will as a weapon against the invading Acrin. In time, its—I should say, ‘her’—her will could stretch for miles, a thought could snuff out an enemy half a world away. A good reason not to gossip anymore…
Tier 5 : Cyber : Unit Upgrade : Emulated Mind Leader Special
Doubles Oblivion weapon range on headquarters.
What do you think of the new research mechanics? Discuss it below and let us know!
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Items Heroes are upgradeable and customizable in more ways than just through leveling up their skills.
Items can be bought from The Concordat and equipped on hero units—up to 6 items at a time. Each item comes from a path and rare items of a path can only be purchased after unlocking the appropriate research.
Unlike in Gladius, items can be bought from anywhere and transferred to a hero on the next turn. One-use items have categorically been replaced with cooldown-based items.
The Concordat
Everyone knew The Concordat. But no-one knew who they were. Maybe survivors on the surface, maybe a ZEPHON-fork, maybe an old Corp reaching outta the 20th century’s grave. They fed the rumor mill, hiding their truth under the chatter. All we did know was that they traded everything to everyone—and that they never made a loss.
Trauma Kit
Our medics… well, they were amateurs. But they’d survived and they patched you up just enough to get back into the field. The Concordat’s kits, though, they were… something else. The best of the old world mixed with whatever the AIs and aliens knew. They called it a “trauma kit”, but the real trauma was seeing that *thing* open you up and put you back together. If you could forget it, worth every cent.
Common item. Restore 33% hitpoints. Free action. Cooldown 10.
Rare Human items are unlocked for purchase from The Concordat by researching The Golden Pass.
Acrin Bone Whistle
“At kirk, or at market, whene'er ye meet me, Gang by me as tho' that ye car'd na a flie; But steal me a blink o' your bonie black e'e, Yet look as ye were na lookin' to me, Yet look as ye were na lookin' to me. O whistle an' I'll come, &c.” — Robert Burns
Uncommon item. Summon a Dark Vassael for 3 turns. Free action. Cooldown 10.
Rare Voice items are unlocked for purchase from The Concordat by researching Amoetia's Embrace.
Pathcutter
A wide-beam AI array, mounted on a prototype drone. Useless for combat, as it takes an hour to warm up. You set it up, point it where you want to go, and flip the safety off. Then cover your ears to its howl and follow. It finds impossibly perfect way through the most tangled jungle, plant or urban, paths you can never find again.
Rare item. Gain +3 movement and ignore movement penalties of forests and ruins for 1 turn. Free action. Cooldown 5.
Rare Cyber items are unlocked for purchase from The Concordat by researching Ha'sharet Exchange.
What do you think of the new item mechanics?
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Heroes in ZEPHON are rare, powerful units that can manifest extraordinary abilities to vanquish their foes or protect their allies. They can equip items and increase the strength of their special abilities as they level up.
There are a total of six heroes, with two available from following each path—an early hero and a large mid-game hero. Unlike our previous game Warhammer 40,000: Gladius, these units are produced in the headquarters available to each city from the start instead of a special building.
One of our six heroes follows.
Erelim Assassin
This creation looks to have been inspired by Dick's Second Variety—just a normal looking human, until it gets near enough then everything just unfolds into blades upon blades upon blades.
The initial hero of the Cybernetica path. A synthetic machine designed for deceit and murder. Its combination of advanced technology, superior agility and precision enables it to infiltrate enemy lines and assassinate targets at will. Although innocent-looking, peering behind the mask reveals a mechanical monstrosity with blades sheathed inside synthetic skin. Being at the other end of these blades is fatal for anyone who is unlucky enough to be poorly armored. If the first strike does not end you, a critical thrust at your weak points will.
Traits: Agile: Not slowed by forests or ruins. Hero: Category. Mechanical: Category. Stealth: Does not provoke overwatch attacks. Performs overwatch attacks with melee weapons.
Levelable Abilities: Assassinate: Inflict a critical strike on an injured unit. On kill, enemy units lose additional morale. Ghost Walk: Ignore zone of control restrictions and walk through enemies. Evasion Processor: Temporarily reduces incoming damage. Dance of the Erelim (Elite): Damage all adjacent enemies.
Cost: 24 Minerals, 24 Chips, 48 Influence
Upkeep: 2 Minerals, 2 Influence
What do you think of the Erelim Assassin?
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Quests High replayability and an immersive world are two key aspects for us in ZEPHON. Quests directly enhance both.
All but one final quest will semi-randomly occur during a playthrough. At predetermined time intervals, your chosen leader and your actions in the world—anything from your discoveries, communications, combat or economy—will determine which quest triggers.
At the core of each quest is a large illustration with custom ambient audio and meaningful player choices. Some choices may have an immediate consequence, but many will chain into further tasks.
Choices Choices will reflect on the world, units and features on the map, your leader traits or what you can subsequently do and how you can interact with others. A number of choices will be locked behind special conditions, come with a cost, or be based on reputation as in other classic role-playing games.
To enforce the survival aspect, replayability and atmosphere, results won’t be shown until a choice is made. Choices also come with a risk of failure. Surviving in the world of ZEPHON is hard—no victory is guaranteed…
The Dream
Design Commentary You have a weird dream. Grotesque beings are feasting on your soul. What does it mean? Is it a warning? Or are the demons of your past coming for revenge? You can't explain it yourself and no one around you has a meaningful answer.
The ask options only appear if you've met the corresponding leader. And the “Ask your sisters” option is exclusive to when you’re playing as the Furtive Tribunal.
A prime example of interacting with other NPC leaders of the world and getting answers based on who they are. The Fluid Anchorite might teach you how to handle your mind with more prowess. Otherwise ZEPHON might be able to decrypt the enigma. But if these polemicizing NPCs aren’t to your taste, asking the manic Hesitant Reaver is bound to help… somehow… surely?
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ZEPHON Cinematic Intro Trailer
Get a peek at the story for ZEPHON in this cinematic intro trailer for the upcoming 4X strategy game from the creators of Warhammer 40,000: Gladius.
