Normal Mode and Hard Mode
Since the beginning of this project, I've designed the game to have a normal mode and a hard mode. The hard mode is all of the same levels as the normal mode, but each level is tweaked to be harder. I mention this because I've completed all of the normal mode levels (except for the bosses and bonus levels), and now I can go on to really develop the overworld. Out of the 230 levels I plan to have in the game, I have finished about 130 of them.
Overworld
Since normal mode levels are done, I've been completely redesigning the overworld from the ground up. I want the overworld to be a place that you can adventure through, not just a place that lets you navigate from one level to the next.
One of the things that I want to do with the overworld is to give the player choices with how they navigate through the overworld. To guide the player through the overworld, I restrict access to certain areas that require the player to somehow unlock them. There are no power-ups in this game, so I can't create locks that require new skills to overcome, but at the same time, I don't just want all the locks to be physical barriers.
You can read more about these non-blocking locks in the dev log post Reworking The Overworld, but for now I want to share a new lock animation (for one of the physical barriers).
Bonus Level Overworld Locks
There are bonus levels in the game that, if beaten, open shortcuts in the overworld. In order to beat the bonus level, you must collect all 8 bonus goos in the level. I've been working on a lock that opens up after you collect all 8 of these goo. The lock has 8 gray goo slots on it that light up (to green) based on how many goos have been collected. When you have collected all of the goos, it triggers an animation to show the player that they unlocked the new area. Here is the animation:
