Verticality, bonus levels, and pack monsters (Patreon)

Hello, the last two weeks have felt pretty long. I've been able to get stuff done, which is pretty good, since winter tends to be the least productive time for me and I've had a tiny bit of fatigue. The first thing I did was add a new map tile that introduces verticality to the map design. 

I haven't been able to nail exactly why verticality feels important to me; the only REAL difference is that you might hear creatures and players moving around above or below you, but the most important thing to me is that it just feels different. I guess the sense of height/depth adds to the atmosphere of a sprawling industrial complex.

. . .

Then I switched over to The Upturned to keep my momentum going as I was feeling burnt out. I made 3 bonus levels which I'm proud of. I'm a little conflicted over whether I should release these bonus levels now (and make the achievement unlockable) then add more bonus levels later, or wait until I've made all the bonus levels and release it all like a free DLC. What do you think?

I've also been practicing guitar and made a new, simple background track for the ending dialogue of the game, which I attached so you can listen to it.

. . .

The last thing I did in the past two weeks was finally make the system for spawning enemies outside the factory; these enemies are differently designed, more like stationary obstacles. And I just modelled the first outside enemy, whose design is inspired by hyenas and the "Vraal" from Deltora Quest. It seems like this will be the third iteration of a "pack animal" design I like to do (which was the crows in The Upturned and the MB machines in Dead Seater.) 

This time around, though, it has a purpose that's more central to the game's design; the outside of the factory needs to become slowly, exponentially more dangerous as night arrives. Nightfall could be a hard time limit like Pikmin, but that's too black and white for horror. I like grey areas--the yellow light. In theory, it's more fun if the players have to decide for themselves when too much danger is too much. And it would be fun to watch another player get swarmed and devoured by a pack.