Hi kcaze! Thanks for the kind words and the most valuable insight and feedback. The last level is definitely a lot more challenging than the others.
- panning on level start is a great suggestion. I tried a few camera styles and it was difficult for me to find the right compromise.
- I thought different timings could create more interesting dynamics, but I get what you say. The game probably ended up being more about execution of a plan than adapting real time to situations. I thought it'd be ok because if you switch fast enough between two nodes, you can basically "stand still" and wait out a better window of opportunity, but I am unsure whether that can be good design.
- theoretically it's possible to move anywhere just by bouncing between two nodes, so I often added extra "comfort" nodes so that the player can have something close to do some quick switching. Those might have ended up just being confusing though. Or being placed in positions where they don't really help or give any comfort.
- orbit circle is a great QoL improvement that I also thought of. I cut it out because I was late on the deadline and couldn't figure out how to do it in a quick without refactoring too much. I found a method as I type, but I couldn't somehow yesterday.
The level design took around 4h so it's not very refined. It came out organically while exploring the design space for the game. The initial pitch was to use this mechanic to create some golf game where you had limited switches, but while playing around with it I settled with this because it felt ok fun. Some discarded mechanics because I am a lazy dev and a minimalist "less is more" guy:
- key pickups which unlock doors/obstacles: wouldn't have changed the game experience much as it would still be "going places with non conventional movement system"
- pickup which detaches you from your orbit and throws you along your current tangent as you pick it up. This could probably be interesting, but I was too short on time to add it. It would have also required additional level design.
- limited use nodes (nodes you can attach to a limited amount of times). Would have made it more of a puzzle and also more of a headache for me to design levels.
Sorry for the long reply and thanks again for playing the game. I would love to hear some of your level design ideas, should you have time for it.