Final Demo Update - Or, Random Sh*t Rev. 3

Hey there!
It's been quite some time since the "Quality of Flum" Update - and many things have changed! For one, this is the final Flummy demo before I will release the full version earlier next year. For more info, read the "Pricing" section on the games page. (The Demo will still be recieving bug fixes - if necesarry.)
Then, many things INSIDE Flummy changed aswell! His heart is now beating a bit faster, his liver is working again (thank god) and--
Oh, I'm sorry - HR just informed me that I was supposed to be talking about the GAME Flummy, not the character. Well, my point still stands!

There are so many changes in this update that I can't even remember what stuff I have changed!
For one, there have been MANY balance changes. The start of the game is now just a bit faster, making it easier for experienced players to hop right into the game, while still maintaining a phase for new players to get used to the game.
In case this is STILL too slow for some veteran players, I have inlcued a new "Level" system, where you can select on which difficulty you want to start the game at - although you will have to actually reach that section one time first, of course ;)

Speaking of getting new players used to the game - when opening the game you will now see two big exclemation marks on both sides of the screen. Hopefully these will help new players to notice the two buttons leading to the settings and to the Hats! They will dissapear once you look at the respective page once.
There will also be an exclemation mark signaling you that you unlocked the Level Menu - once that is the case. It can be removed in the same way.

Additionally, there are finally highscores in the game! Keep in mind that there is currently now highscore display in the game - only when you reach a new one. This will be either fixed in the full version, or in a final final demo. Let's see!
These Highscores work simply by surviving. Each second will reward you with one point. At the end of your run, your score will be displayed. Be sure to screenshot every highscore to keep track of them!

Obviously, you can't make a Flummy Demo Update without a new Hat! The new Hat this time is the Stopwatch, allowing you to slow down time! To improve player experience, the slow down will not affect certain things such as respawn time, the tutorial length and a few more things.
Note that during the use of this hat, scoring will be disabled. 

Additionally, a new enemy / obstacle is something we can't update our demo without!
This time, Oppenheimer himself is pulling the strings as bombs enter the battlefield! (Was that too tasteless? I'm sorry.)
These obstacles will have you running AT, instead of AWAY from them! Touch a bomb to defuse it. Keep a bomb on screen for too long and it will explode, removing one life from you instantly!
Feedback for this would be greatly appreciated as I haven't had anyone playtest this enemy yet.

Last but not least, there have been MANY under the hood fixes to allow for better saving (now allowing for cross-version safes between this Demo and future updates) aswell as smaller quality of life changes, bug fixes and so on. I really hope you enjoy this update!

However, no Flummy Devlog is complete without a ton of unecesarry information no one needs. So let's get right into it

I tried adding a "Dark Mode" in this update. Not only can you see said attempt in this screenshot, but you can also see some funny bugs, such as random numbers on screen, and the "Practice" button being there two times.


Speaking of bugs...

The first look ever at the scoring and Level System! Note both the glitched coin counter aswell as the level selection not having icons! At this point, I was simply refering to them with numbers.

The first design for the bomb - the only difference being a fuse, which was later removed as I couldn't get the animation to look right. Now, it just blinks red!
This obstacle was actually not invented by me - atleast a part of it wasn't. When I asked my Discord Community, a user ("Sir Pawnsalot") brought the idea of an enemy to me, which would spawn loads of bullets if you wouldn't defuse it in time. As I already had the fireworks, another obstacle just spawning bullets was a bit boring to me - so I changed it to a bomb!
Also, the bomb explosion is so far the ONLY sound not handmade by me (not counting music). Every other sound is either an edit of me making noises with my mouth (heavily edited) or household objects (also heavily edited).
This bomb was instead made using "jfxr".


As a last fun fact, this updates Title Name (displayed on the title screen) was also chosen by the community! As I thought that "Random Shit Update" sounded too... "informal" for my itch page, I have decided to name it "Final Demo" everywhere else - but in the game and on this devlog ;)
I myself would have voted for "Demo EX" - what about you?

The end!

Thanks for reading - as always!
This will be my last devlog for some time! The next one will be the first ever release version - which will be one sale for some time when it releases, costing €1 instead of €1.50 ;)
Thanks also for coming with me through this small journey! I really hope the final game will be enjoyable by all of you.

If you enjoyed my rambling, there is more on my discord server! You can also leave feedback there and take a look at the progress - while it's being made! If you are lucky, you can even catch me in a Voice Chat from time to time... although I am not sure if I should really call you lucky in that case... See you around!