Worm Caves - the last major environmental addition to the new skeleton level
Here is the entire layout of he game's underground area so far. The whole skeleton level layout is 80-90 % done, besides any small additions I might decide to add later.
In the past several weeks I've been working out an extension to the level, a lower area that will be unlocked after you beat the main level for the first time. This extension will contain a couple monster nests, where you can find higher tier monsters than normal, just like in the first Abandoned Archives level. Here is the finished artwork for the first chamber you can access in this place.
Lower down it transitions to a darker fleshy area. This is the only area left that is just a sketch for now and this is that 10-20% left to do in terms of layout. The red worm monsters are also here as a test to see if all the sizes make sense, though the artwork for them is done. I want to have those monsters block some paths until defeated and spawn some smaller insect enemies. These are essentially overgrown and stuck hive queen enemies. On the left side of this area I will add a shortcut to the surface, so it can be accessed easily after going through it once, because the nest I mentioned are places you might want to return to multiple times.
At the end of this whole area is a giant bloated and dead humanoid worm wrapped around the missing leg bones from the main level. All the cracked bone shards can be destroyed if you can avoid collapsing cave along the way. This single bone is really quite huge, the rectangle in the image above marks a single screen size for comparison.
I will probably place a new skill unlock item in the worm's mouth and I also plan a little secret in this area, but that idea is still a bit half formed.
At the beginning I wasn't too sure if I will have enough decent ideas for this whole skeleton level, but I think I might end up liking it more than the first level myself. It's a little smaller in terms of possible paths, but I think the variety of connected areas here will be fun to explore.