A big part of horror is the sound design, which is why I've spent a lot of time studying other games sounds and their intention, as well as making a comprehensive sound system in the game engine to cover all cases needed for Toxoplasma. Of course, I can't tell you the systems secrets as that would be a spoiler of what's to come.
During my playthroughs of Alien Isolation and ROUTINE, space horror games with amazing sound design, I wrote down pages and pages of notes and breakdowns. Analysis on how the sounds act individually and as a group, a breakdown of how (I think) the developers made each sound feel real and not as if it were a sound file being looped over and over. This led Toxoplasma having, according to my private play-testers, a very atmospheric soundscape.
There's still more I want to do in this regard though. I've set a strong foundation for the sound design which could be shipped as-is, but I truly want to emulate the same feeling of the other space horror games, games with masterful sound design and atmosphere.
Thank you all for sticking along for the ride. As a little spoiler for those who read this devlog, a public playtest will be coming within the next few months 😉.