We’ve officially moved into Phase 2 of the Rebuild — this stage is all about addressing long-standing community feedback. From Steam reviews to Discord discussions, we’ve been listening, and now we’re acting. This post serves as a reference point for what’s being worked on in Phase 2 and why.

Recap for those late to the party

2025.08.27 now live on CERC-HQ-Public

• Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese , Russian & Spanish added

• Fixed an Operator Client issue where Recoil would be "crazy" that was reported from the Steam forums thank you!

• Fixed a power calculation issue that was reported from the Steam forums thank you!

• Clients not being able to recruit directly into groups fixed

• Main Menu Utility fixes across the board and new cameras added

• Fixed abilities sometimes appearing inversed even though they were originally directed at another direction

• Fixed up 'weapon market bulk buy' not functioning for clients

• Fixed Aim source warning that would occur when using the HK

• News slider added to main menu

• Brute movement speed reduced a bit

• Added a player list for all players Client/Host at the top right while in the Hub

  

🎯 Core Focus of Phase 2

Helicopters & Weapon Packages

• Returning aerial units: Little Bird, Blackhawk, Chinook, Scout Drone and VTOL.

• Includes working weapon loadouts for Little Bird, Blackhawk, and VTOL.

• The proof of concept that was tested in the now merged build is fully brought into the CERC HQ public Rebuild.

• A Helicopter 2D nav mesh in the sky so its impossible for them to crash into buildings. Working below! We'll be showing off more at this weekends CERC HQ Podcast!

• Also here's a quick tease from the first 3 hours of working on helicopters in the rebuild! Its vastly better then legacy and supports a new dynamic nav mesh in the sky meaning they will always stay clear of buildings now!

  

Custom Game Options

• Complete overhaul of the legacy custom game system.

• Host can configure infected health, speed, melee damage, density, spawn rates, infection rates, and which enemy types appear.

• Standard infected will always remain enabled. Everything else is up to you.

• Includes tuning for Chelsey, Lieutenants, and overall spawn pacing.

• Presets are fully shareable via Workshop and more modding support will be investigated later on

• Shareable game presets let you shape Pandemic runs to fit your own scenarios or roleplay needs with friends. The following are just loose examples of conditions players could configure towards, but the only real limit is your imagination when it comes to tweaking:

  • 28 Weeks Later–style: fast, rage-driven infected that overwhelm through speed.

  • Dawn of the Dead–style: slower shamblers with greater durability and punishing melee.

  • Left 4 Dead–style: similar to the vanilla game’s balance, but with the option to make it harder or easier through further tweaks.

  Disclaimer: References to films or games like 28 Weeks Later, Dawn of the Dead, or Left 4 Dead are used only as loose examples of potential configurations. They are not official presets, and we make no claim to ownership of these original works.

Pandemic Mode

• Pandemic returns! ːCPWintersLaughː

• Outbreak spread and civilian AI rebuilt for performance and co-op compatibility.

• Infection adapts dynamically to player actions, creating more reactive challenges.

Chelsey Improvements

• Added redundancy and fallback logic to Chelsey’s AI.

• Prevents aggressive play from breaking her core systems.

• Strengthens behavior loops so she can recover and adapt instead of causing game stalling bugs.

Civilian Evacuation Overhaul

• Complete UI redesign by Winters to reduce noob traps and improve usability.

• Smarter evac bus and civilian pathfinding.

• Civilians evacuate more reliably

• Scientist DNA scanners now integrate into structures as modules, reducing micro and automating the flow.

Dynamic Civilian Groups

• Revisited from the ground up.

• Fixing Chelsey’s priority weighting so she does not allocate all resources to combating civilians.

• Configurable presence and personalities for raiders, militants, and survivors.

• Expanded diplomacy and interaction features planned for v1.4 alongside Pierce(Police) and Natalie(Anarchists).

• Giving them weapons based on their "archetype" (Scaling as time progresses I.E more deadly weapons)

• Dynamic Civilian groups camp locations will be more prearranged so they dont appear in awkward places

🔮 Looking Ahead (Phase 3)

• Ground Vehicle AI Rework (Abrams, Bradley, Ajax, Humvee) + porting over all vehicles!

• Doctrines System — branching upgrade paths that personalize each campaign or co-op run.

• Full integration of operators driving vehicles and using turrets.

💡 Why This Matters

Phase 2 is designed to directly tackle the most common frustrations voiced by the community:

• “Evac is confusing and unreliable.”

• “Chelsey breaks too easily.”

• “Civilian groups stall the game or feel irrelevant.”

• “I want more control over difficulty and infected behavior.”

• "I dont like this worm thing!"

• “Pandemic is missing in the rebuild...”

This phase is our way of proving: we hear you, we’re fixing it, and we’re not stopping until these systems feel right.

📌 Call to Action

• Within the next 24–48 hours, the Legacy build will only receive critical patches as all priorities are being shifted fully onto the Rebuild.

• The Default branch is now the main way to play. We’ll be posting workarounds for minor bugs as they come up. If you encounter any major bugs not yet known, please report them on the Steam forums or Discord so we can address them during the remaining Legacy triage.

• We encourage everyone to try the CERC HQ public branch, which features the Rebuild, Co-op, and sweeping systemic changes.

✅ TLDR:
We’re in Phase 2.
We’re addressing the issues you’ve raised for years.
Play, test, and give feedback — the Rebuild is being built with you.