I still don't know why that bug with the respawning happens.
The pixelation is some weirdness with the cutoff value of the shader I use for the screen transitions. It's always there so those pixels just stay somehow.
I agree that this open level design was just a really bad idea. Sometimes you get one of those and just go for it with blinders on. Initially I thought few, large levels would be just as easy to design as many small levels, not the case.
I'm going back to the earlier design. It just worked better. Plus, this was originally meant to be a small learning project. Even at this point I'm well beyond that lol.
Talking about some minor collectible like coins, I've been meaning to add that for ages but I just can't come up with anything that isn't super generic, like coins.
Thanks for playing man.