Streptococcus

"UNDER BOSS" Streptococcus

Strep was one of the first "bad guy bacteria" I wanted to tackle after E. coli, mainly because of its shape—it was round. Simple. Easy. I envisioned it moving around the screen between waypoints, dragging a tail behind it, since the bacteria reminded me of a string of little grapes all stuck together.

I found a great tutorial by Blackthorn Prod on YouTube about creating a trail effect, and I jumped right into it!

It seemed pretty straightforward to add the AI movement. The bacteria would simply traverse an array of waypoints, basically moving in a square pattern. Here's the first iteration:

The only problem? He was the wrong color! That just wouldn’t do for a proper bad guy bacteria. Time to fix that!

When I first created my Streptococcus bad guy, I didn’t even notice he was the wrong color! It wasn’t until a microbiologist named Tori pointed it out that I realized the mistake. She explained that Streptococcus bacteria are Gram-positive, which means their thick cell walls trap the purple crystal violet stain used in Gram staining—a key method in microbiology. Thanks to her insight, I learned why they appear purple under a microscope. So, to keep my bad guy both menacing and scientifically accurate, I gave him a proper purple makeover. Now he’s ready to terrorize the screen in true Strep style!