Hop 2: Bun Bun Maker

Heyo! This is Bun Bun Land's 2nd update! Hop 2: Bun Bun Maker!
This was delayed by a couple days due to going down to the sickness; but it's up finally! My main goal for this update was to polish a little and work on making a level template.

First off, I added sounds to the studio splash screen! It's a small thing but I think it adds a lot of atmosphere! I also added fun transition screens instead of just a quick freeze then have a new scene load. 

Then I went ahead to work on the level template! I added a spawn position where the player will be moved each time. This may not be fully necessary but it's a pretty good feature for debugging. I can turn level spawns on and off which will allow me to manually place the player without losing the start position! Fun stuff!

After that I added  "end checkpoints" which you know is the coins/emeralds in Sonic games, the flags in Mario games; and so on! Right now they're just flags like Mario; but I'll make them more original later on once I think of a better idea.

I also added in multiple styles of transitions! Right now this chocolatey "donut bar" one plays for most transitions. Later on I want to make a lot more funky transitions that randomize.

I also added checkpoints so the player doesn't have to restart each level from the start. I thought of just making levels short enough for this not to matter; but that wasn't a good option. A mobile experience works with the really short levels; but I want this to be playable on PC as well. And maybe Switch down the line if it gets that far.

At this point in development I really had to make a decision on how difficult the game would be; and how that difficulty would be graded. I decided due to all the controversy around easy and hard modes on certain games; I'd cater to all players and make a more memorable experience. I decided to create various difficulties that really become their own game mode.

Peaceful Mode will not allow you to get hurt or die if you fall out of bounds. It's just a fun mode that could be great for teaching new gamers how to play platformers.
Easy Mode will be the standard game where there's no lives, but on death you get sent back to a checkpoint.
Medium Mode will have 5 lives, more hazards/enemies; and be more of an arcade platformer than casual.
Hard Mode will have 3 lives, if you lose them you get sent out of the level; and the rest will be more like Medium.
Nightmare Mode will have 1 life then it's game over. You get sent back to the previous checkpoint in the area. All progress past that becomes lost.
The Dark Soul Mode, this is a fun reference and brutal mode that should make you rage quit. The color palettes become dark, levels are loaded with hazards/enemies, there's a lack of collectables; only 1 health point then game over with your save deleted. In fact this mode won't save at all.

Upon completing a game mode a new selection will become available; Mirror Mode. Which will take all levels and flip them so you run the reverse course; and if any levels break from this they'll be modified to accommodate this mode.
You'll also receive an achievement and cosmetic reward for completing the various game modes.

Game modes have been thoroughly planned since it's a simple platformer I want to make sure there's the most content I can add. These have been added in the sense of there's coding pertaining to them. However, they're not implemented as I don't have everything ready for full implementation. 

Beyond all that stuff I added death from falling out of bounds! Currently there's no polish to this at all. You fall too far, you just get placed back at a checkpoint. 

I hope you enjoyed this little devlog! I try to make it interesting especially with images and GIFs!
There's a lot more coming to this game! I'm just a bit low on time right now, feel sick; got a lot to figure out. I'm hoping to get the Steam process going with my first paycheck of next month.