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[Cosmocat Games]

And here he is with texture (and the requisite glowing eyes):



I've also started on his AI:



Still very early, but so far he:

• Moves forward with some random movement in the Y axis
• Continuously raycasts a little bit ahead
• If the ray hits something, turns right

Next, I'll be adding:

• Additional vertical raycasts to prevent him from swimming up or down into things
• An "attack" state in which he will swim towards the player while chomping

I'm still debating if I'll give him a "recoil" state, i.e. after the player hits him, or just have him aggressively charge the player. Probably the latter.

I did research flocking algorithms as part of this--Boids in particular... I friggin love that name--but really, I don't want these guys to flock as much as I just want them to swim around randomly.

The current approach will obviously bias them towards swimming near walls. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if it becomes a problem I'll add some crude pathfinding to nudge them back to the middle now and then (maybe just a few preset waypoints that are out in the open or something).

[Thaumaturge]

It's neat to see this enemy coming together! And it does look pretty cool. ^_^

I do think that its movement at the moment looks a little mechanical: all straight lines and sharp turns. If that's the intent, then fair enough! If not, then I'd suggest perhaps making its movements more fluid, more inclined to curve, both in general movement and in obstacle avoidance.

[Cosmocat Games]

I do think that its movement at the moment looks a little mechanical: all straight lines and sharp turns. If that's the intent, then fair enough! If not, then I'd suggest perhaps making its movements more fluid, more inclined to curve, both in general movement and in obstacle avoidance.

Not at all the intent, just focused on the core behaviour right now... smoothing out the movement will come after.

[Thaumaturge]

Aaah, fair enough! In that case, don't mind me. ^_^

[Cosmocat Games]

Aaah, fair enough! In that case, don't mind me. ^_^

Heh, all good, it's a fair comment. I just like to try to work on one thing at a time or I end up getting overwhelmed and often achieving nothing!

Admittedly, the movement probably won't end up being quite as fluid as I want due to time constraints, but at the very least I should be able to achieve smoother (and more gradual) curve-based turning, and some more randomness in the forward motion (I'll add some horizontal in addition to the vertical).

[Thaumaturge]

Heh, all good, it's a fair comment. I just like to try to work on one thing at a time or I end up getting overwhelmed and often achieving nothing!

That makes sense, indeed.

Admittedly, the movement probably won't end up being quite as fluid as I want due to time constraints, but at the very least I should be able to achieve smoother (and more gradual) curve-based turning, and some more randomness in the forward motion (I'll add some horizontal drift as well as vertical).

That's fair. Alas, these things don't always turn out as we'd like; but hopefully they can at least turn out well. ^_^

[Cosmocat Games]

After another couple of iterations:

• Fixed an issue that was causing them to sometimes turn 180 degrees unnecessarily
• Fixed issue with the random direction bias not being smoothed properly
• Added a random bias for the 90 degree turns
• Now updating the look rotation to face the direction they're swimming
• Brought back the caustics I prototyped long ago--going to see if I can finally integrate those into the game along with this

Still a bit of jerkiness in places but it's starting to come together! I also did a first pass over the attack state, but not quite GIF-worthy yet.

I had to do something I don't totally love doing: parent the mesh and rotate it separately from the rigidbody. This is to ensure that the fish's transform.forward can be used reliably, i.e. I always want it to be pointing along the X or Z axis, never Y.

[Thaumaturge]

That looks much better already, I do think! Even with those box-models, the movement of the creatures reads as fish-like, I think. ^_^

[Cosmocat Games]

Well, these fish are kicking my ass, but I'm soo close!



The swimming and attacking logic is pretty solid, there are just a number of edge cases left to deal with. (one I just noticed now: one of the fish just kinda watches as the red "player cube" gets swarmed, heh)

[Thaumaturge]

Well, these fish are kicking my ass, but I'm soo close!

It does look like you're making good progress! ^_^

(one I just noticed now: one of the fish just kinda watches as the red "player cube" gets swarmed, heh)

He's just the sort of person who prefers to wait until the crowd has dissipated a bit before approaching the buffet table.

[Cosmocat Games]

Phew, finally got these guys integrated into the game (video forthcoming), along with an update on Itch and the alpha branch on Steam.

I had to do a few more iterations to get them interacting nicely with the player. In particular, they had a tendency to push the player up/out of the water. To counteract this I now limit their rotation on the Y-axis and have them back off if the player's position is above the waterline. You can see the former below (the bottommost fish never face directly upwards):



Next up in the Creatures Update: tentacle monsters!



These guys will be found in the corners of rooms. When the player approaches they'll emerge from the ground and swipe at her. If I'm able to get them integrated in the next few days I should be able to get the Creatures Update out before the end of the month! Then I'll be taking a week or two "off" to get another one of my games (Super Rocket Ride) over the finish line, at which point I can hopefully focus on TOXICANT 100% until full release!

[Thaumaturge]

Those fish are looking really good! Their motion and animations are quite convincing, I do think! ^_^

Next up in the Creatures Update: tentacle monsters!

...

Heh, I'm put in mind of a cross between Half Life and Day of the Tentacle.

But more seriously, I think that the tentacle enemy looks cool, and should make for a decent addition to the list of foes. ^_^

If I'm able to get them integrated in the next few days I should be able to get the Creatures Update out before the end of the month!

Very cool--good luck with it! ^_^

Then I'll be taking a week or two "off" to get another one of my games (Super Rocket Ride) over the finish line, at which point I can hopefully focus on TOXICANT 100% until full release!

It sounds like it may be an exciting time for you! ^_^

[Cosmocat Games]

Heh, I'm put in mind of a cross between Half Life and Day of the Tentacle.

Works for me The concept is actually inspired by the tentacles in Doom Eternal, but I suppose those were probably inspired in part by Half-Life. Admittedly I've never played Day of the Tentacle... I'll have to remedy that someday!

At any rate, it came together quickly! A bit of fighting with simple vector maths (always the case...) and Unity animation transitions/interruptions, but in the end, I prevailed! And here it is:





Just a few loose ends to tie up and then it should be a quick path to integration. I'm hoping I can tackle that tomorrow, prepare a quick teaser video for the Creatures Update, and then start spreading the word! I'm also hoping to update the main trailer with the footage I've captured via the past few updates, as it's starting to become quite barebones as compared to the actual game.

[Thaumaturge]

Conversely, I've never played Doom Eternal, and so didn't have that reference! (Although in all fairness, I've not played Day of the Tentacle, either--it's one that I've learned about via the circles that I've run in.)

I'm glad that the new creature seems to have gone fairly smoothly, vector-maths notwithstanding! ^_^

As to trailers, I've had a similar experience myself: each major release leaving the previous trailers outdated, and thus me wanting to replace them...

[Cosmocat Games]

As to trailers, I've had a similar experience myself: each major release leaving the previous trailers outdated, and thus me wanting to replace them...

Yeah, I just need to get into the habit of doing it regularly. I think I'll find a good cadence with the monthly updates: work for a few weeks -> prepare a release -> capture video for a highlight reel -> revise trailer.

And on that note, the fruits of my labour:




And a slightly updated trailer (I also took the opportunity to increase the volume of the music--was waaaay to quiet in the original):

[Thaumaturge]

It's all looking pretty good, I do think! ^_^

I don't think that I'd want to update my own trailer quite so often, but nevertheless, I hope that doing so works well for you. ^_^

[Cosmocat Games]

... aaaand we're back! With Super Rocket Ride having been released, I can finally give some proper attention to TOXICANT again! This month's update--the Explorer Update--is all about adding new loot and expanding upon the beacons system.

New Loot
Initially, this is going to start with two new types of mushrooms. As with the existing mushroom, these offer a temporary buff in exchange for a slight hit to your health, though I may end up applying distinct debuffs for all three.

• Red mushroom: boosts strength
• White mushroom: boosts stealth

Along with this, I took the opportunity to buff the strength attack modifier; it was way too subtle. Now while under the influence of a red mushroom you can take down a mutant miner with a few swings of a melee weapon.

Oh yeah, plus some updates to the VFX (added spores, improved lights):



New Beacons
Next up: new beacons! I'll be adding three new beacon types:

• Trap (mine) beacon: explodes on contact
• Smoke beacon: obscures enemies visibility
• Distraction beacon: creates noise for 30 seconds, drawing nearby enemies towards it

(Shout out to Jan for his help with these)

I'm also planning an overhaul of the beacon selection UI. Specifically, I'll be moving to something more along the lines go a "weapon wheel" (but much more compact). More to come on this.

Last but not least, the beacon launcher model is getting a revamp! My man JP--who modelled the fish and tentacle enemies--is helping with this. I think it's looking pretty good so far!

[Thaumaturge]

Congratulations on the release of Super Rocket Ride, and welcome back to Toxicant! ^_^

As to the changes here, it's hard to estimate how they'll affect things, but more variety sounds interesting in and of itself! And the new launcher does indeed look goid, I think. ^_^

[Cosmocat Games]

As to the changes here, it's hard to estimate how they'll affect things, but more variety sounds interesting in and of itself! And the new launcher does indeed look goid, I think. ^_^

Thanks! The hope is that they'll create more variety overall. The white mushrooms will enable you to play more stealthily in parts, the red mushrooms will allow you to power through, the beacons will offer a range of options along the same lines, etc.

More progress on the beacon launcher:



Some new VFX for the freeze beacons (you can also see an early version of the beacon wheel)



And trap mine + improved explosions:

[Thaumaturge]

I'm definitely liking the visual-effect work shown there, and the texture-work on the launcher. ^_^