hey, thanks a ton for the feedback! somehow i missed the super long gray screen when uploading to itch since it didn't happen in my editor. but i guess i was super sleep deprived last night lol
i don't know if it will fix the long load times you had, but the game is severely smaller in filesize now, and i added a load screen so you can at least see the progress instead of wondering when the game will start. hope this improves the experience and good luck in the jam!