Hello Commandos 🫡
We're launching a new session of John Carpenter's Toxic Commando's Public Test Server!
I hope you're excited for all the new content for you to test: new Retrieval game mod, new enemies, new weapons, a new movement ability, a new defense apparatus and a whole new cargo attachment system for vehicles and that's only scrapping the surface of the changes we're bringing. Customizations, bots improvements, various other QOL changes and a new local hosting feature for private servers are on the menu!
This PTS will last about 2 weeks and is available in all languages.
⚠️Test environment, expect bugs and work in progress elements.
⚙️How to access the Public Test Server
If you own John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, the Public Test Server should have popped up in your Steam library already.
It's a different Steam application, requiring a separate download.
Here's what you can expect on this Public Test Server We want your feedback on everything!
📦New Gamemode "Retrieval"
In this high-stakes mode, Leon dispatches your squad to retrieve six artifacts under the watchful glare of the Sludge God. Every time you collect an artifact, the Sludge God’s anger grows. Work together to eliminate enemies and fight your way to the extraction point before the air becomes too poisonous.
Hide from the Sludge god in safety domes to stabilize the sludge activity, slay enemies to slow down the environment corruption. Destroy the sludge nodes if the situation as a last resort.
🧟New enemy: the Goblins
The Goblins are small but mighty enemies that always appear in groups of three. They attack the same target and can revive each other if any of the three remain alive. To defeat the Goblins, players must eliminate all three creatures within a short period of time, otherwise the survivors will revive their fallen allies.
Though their force lies in their numbers, they individually pack enough power to send you flying. Coordinate your attacks to wipe them in a fell swoop!
🔫New Weapons
Primary weapons:
Le Clairon: Assault bullpup rifle with 3 firing modes
Pickman RN9: Double-barreled pump-action shotgun with bullpup design
Melee weapons:
Thunderstick: Lightning melee weapon that applies a temporary lightning effect to enemies. If charged it triggers a small explosion which knocks enemies back and deal some heavy lightning damage to up to three nearby targets. If the Thunderstick hits the ground, static lightning bolts linger in this area and damage enemies standing in it.
Heavy weapon:
Flamethrower: Portable jet flamethrower to send the infected straight back to hell
🚘Vehicle improvements
We have overhauled the game's vehicle fleet with major upgrades, balance tweaks, and visual updates:
Added universal winch modules and unique suspension physics for each vehicle.
Adjusted HP, ground clearance and maneuverability across all vehicles to improve overall handling and performance.
Added a dynamic cargo attachment system. Players can now attach pickable items — such as gas canisters, ammo, or heavy weapons — directly to matching slots on the vehicle.
👟Movement ability: Dash
The dash quickly moves the player 3 meters on the ground or in the air and consumes stamina when activated. If used timely, the dash can save players from being grabbed by Goon, Hornet or Mace.
There are two kinds of Dash:
Angle Dash to dash diagonally or at a specific angle, but not forward
Free Dash to dash in any direction
🪚Defense: Saw Trap
One more defense available for Spare Parts at the end of missions. When activated, the saw trap slowly rotates and then speeds up to eliminate enemies caught in its area of effect. After dealing a certain amount of damage, the saw trap stops, but can be repaired.
✨New customization added:
Added multiple unique weapon skins, patterns, weapon charms, character skins, unique vehicle skin and patterns, tints, vehicle graffiti, light colors, honk sounds, vehicle display and profile customization.
🤖Bots Improvements
Updated Sludge Seed logic:
Only one Sludge Seed spawns per mission. When any player grabs it, everyone on the team receives one (giving the team 4 seeds total). If any player is trapped in a cocoon without a Sludge Seed, but there is a bot with a Sludge Seed in the same cocoon, the player can command a bot to use a Sludge Seed to revive both of them.
Bots progression:
Depending on the difficulty level bots begin the match with certain sets of perks, abilities and firearms designed for this difficulty.
QoL:
Bots now gather in Healer and Tank safe domes.
Bots use heal ability for any player with HP < 70.
🌟Challenges system
Challenge System Overhaul: Added new tasks, rebalanced requirements, and introduced visual progress/rewards on the post-match screen. Season 2 challenge content is now live.
🖌️HUD Customization
A new HUD customization system has been implemented. Players can now fully customize their interface to suit their playstyle by choosing between three modes: always visible, completely hidden or dynamic.
🛜Local server hosting
Local server hosting, will allow players to create private games with friends on locally hosted servers.
Local hosting comes with its own set of drawbacks, it requires: stable internet connection, higher CPU and RAM load. The reason behind this is our client-server architecture. We are offloading some parts of our game logic onto the server to make it easier for people with low-end devices to enjoy our game. Hence, when a player is hosting locally, that logic and the server itself work on this player’s machine, and this player’s internet connection affects the experience of other players.
To better utilize the new feature, consider picking a friend with the best CPU and internet connection. If there are 16 GB of RAM available, one should be good only if some hungry little web app isn't chewing on memory.
Note: this is an experimental feature. So don't hesitate to provide us with your personal feedback.
🔧Quality of life improvements
Shotgun Buffs: Increased damage at a range of 4–5 meters. Reduced ADS spread for some shotguns.
Support for AZERTY and QWERTZ keyboard layouts has been implemented.
Bug fixes.