May Dev Blog: Working on the Heart and Lungs

Hey Parasites!

Just want to let you guys know that we don’t have an update to Pathogenic's demo today, as we’ve been busy developing new content for the Lungs and Heart in the full game. That said, with all the work on the new levels, we’re really excited to share what’s going on behind the scenes in today’s dev blog. Shall we begin?

Fleshing Out the Lungs

The Lungs is coming together nicely behind the scenes, as you might have already seen in our previous posts with an early preview of the level. We have a great basis to build upon, and now the focus is on expanding it with thematic props and mechanics.

This new level draws a lot of inspiration from the lungs' air sacs, in which our blood exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide to sustain our bodies. In Pathogenic, they will appear across the Lungs level, sometimes as mere props, and sometimes an impactful traps.

And of course, you can't have Lungs without air, though just like everything else, too much air can still be lethal to the human body. That's why, while we are incorporating air into this area, it will only appear in small doses each time.

Concept Art of the Beating Heart

Here's a mock-up of what the heart level will look like. As the beating core of the human body, this organ will be pulsing with life, literally. We aim to create a dynamic and everchanging environment engaging with elements of heartbeat and blood flow, not only in visuals but also in gameplay. We even have some props drawn up already!

With a new area comes new enemies. We’ve been exploring new designs for macrophages of the Heart level to give you a unique combat experience that matches the importance of the organ itself. These new immune cells will possess unique abilities. We don’t want to spoil the surprise just yet, so further details will still be a secret for now!

Pathogens of Our Community

Something else we want to share today is our appreciation for you, Pathogenic's community. Ever since the demo came out, you all have come up with all kinds of experimental organelle combos that we never even imagined, and we love every crazy pathogen build you guys shared on our Discord server. Here's a few of the cool pathogens we came across:

Steam post imageLet's start with a this deadly laser beam from zOmbiesrock. The size of your projectiles scales with their damage, so a laser beam THAT wide is certainly packing a heavy punch.

Steam post imageLight contorts with way too much gravity with this build of Attractor and Magnetosome, made by pAInter. I think they're trying to create a point of singularity here.

A particular popular combo is the metabolic mitochondria feedback loop. Here's one from Who am I, filling the entire map with a ridiculous amount of armor and HP hearts. Guess it doesn't matter how many hits you take if you can simply out-heal the damage.

And one final parasite from ThatPurpleMage, taking the "Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" way too seriously. Sir, that's a whole nuclear factory in your cell.

From perpetual loops of overcharge to explosive damage covering the entire screen, time and time again you've pushed the limits of our pathogens (and sometimes the game itself) to incredible lengths. We always love seeing you post new, broken parasites, and we just want to say a big thank you for being so passionate about infecting the human body and messing around with evolution.

That's all for this dev blog. We hope this gets you excited for what's to come in Pathogenic, as we continue to work on the full game. If you're also interested in sharing your pathogen, or if you want to share your thoughts on our game, join our Discord of parasites! Or follow us on YouTube, Twitter or TikTok for more news on Pathogenic!