https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3746064818

First of all, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND THE INCREDIBLE SUPPORT! You brought me to tears many times and this has helped my grief, genuinely. Thanks for everyone that has enjoyed Metastasis, played it, recorded a video or even commented their experience or bug issues, even things to improve in the future too so I can make it even better! Thank you with all my heart, and of courte thanks to all of the people who made this possible!

Since I feel a bit better and I have been thinking about it, I think I am going to share some curious things about the region? Not its lore since I think I have said enough for people to piece things together, but more so other details about the development!

• The acronym M1, comes from the TNM system used in real oncology practices. We use this scale to grade neoplasic diseases (cancer). Keep in mind that TNM scale changes for each type of disease, so you wouldn't classify a tumor of the lungs the same as one of the stomach nor a lymphoma. "T" goes for tumoral size/membranes that it has crossed, usually a T0 tumor for example means it's "in situ" if it's a solid tumor (contained within its natural tissue). "N" goes for affected lymphatic ganglya, since many tumors use the lymphatic system to reach other organs such as breast cancer tumors. Lastly, "M" defines the presence or not of metastasis. A metastasis is the migration of a tumor from its original place of mitosis to a new location in a different organ. This, of course, means usually a bad prognosis (remember to always stay by your loved ones and support organizations to investigate these terrible diseases, and warn those that take in dangerous habits like smoking or drinking). M0 means that there is no metastasis, while M1 means presence of it. This is why the acronym was chosen, since M1 in medical terms quite literally means metastasis.

• I wished to make a flesh biome for Rain World because it feels very fitting with all of its references to biological horrors already, and biological horrors are my number one hyperfixation... and I had an excuse to show some lore of the cabinet beasts and put fetuses everywhere.

• The region's first room and most iconic one during its entire development in my opinion, has been M1_view. The idea was that of an undreground bioengiinering facility, separated in towers interconnected through large pillars that could be lifted alongside their sides by chains to access different levels. These are the strange obelisk structures that cover the entire region.

First interation of M1_view (above) versus the current design (below). Have some more old room previews at the end of this bulletin!

• The region map has less rooms than the original idea, it sadly had to be cut down due to scope creep issues. As you can see, there was an unsued biome made out of purple, putrid meat that had started to decay already before the changes in Saint (hence why some rooms are named like M1_putridvein). In the end, this style of room was barely use into the transition to M1_womb. In the future, I could add a larger section in that region, should I bring back that old idea?

• The threat theme (amazing composition by snoodle) has inspiration from this track from Fear and Hunger, since I thought the loud sounds were very alarming and would fit great. Snoodle had the idea of it being more of an ambient track than actual music and it was amazing!

• I find it super interesting that a lot of people are connecting Metastasis' inspiration to The Crimson from Terraria. The vibes and music are absolutely similar and I freaking love it (I had no idea about Terraria so now I have to play it with my boyfriend, lol!) but the actual inspiration was my favorite thing ever: The Mystery Flesh Pit. That's why Metastasis is a laboratory so deep underground, yet with holes that connect it to the surface and allow for the rain to still disrupt it.