My only issue is that I can't compose my own sprite sheet out of the individual frames since:
1) They are not all in the same dimensions. (Most are 765X430 while others are 641X316 or 466X564.
2) The squirrel is not centered in the same way for all of the different actions. So he maybe in the right position when running, but then "glitch" to another position when hanging.
Now for sure I can adjust for it in the code, but usually when creating such frames for games it's ideal that the character is always in the center of the frame, So that no matter what animation it transitions from, it is still in the right location.
And that the "dead space" size around it is chosen according to the frames in which the character takes as much room as possible on both axis. (A texture packer than removes the dead space anyway, but still notes that the character is centered in all frames).
Hey man I feel you, these are all stressful things. You know best about your situation and about how much energy and time you have to devote to the project. So I'm sure you'll make the best decision that's suitable to you.
But I'll just point out the following things:
1) This is the perfect time for you to start a crowdfunding campaign. Not only because of the pandemic, but because there's a great hunger for Metroidvanias these days. People are biting their nails off waiting for Silksong and Axiom Verge 2 to come out. So they will gladly throw their money at any promise for another good game.
If you look at currently/recently running campaigns, you can see they raise funds of between 30K(Haiku, the Robot) and 210K (The Last Faith).
Hell, even a kinda uninspired HK clone like Chiaroscuro raised 12.5 K.
Once the above mentioned SS and AV 2 will come out, people's thirst will be quenched for the next 1-2 years. And who knows if afterwards it will come back, or if Metroidvania genre will still has the focus it has now. So this might be your last chance to make this work.
2) Doing everything alone IS stressful. But if you have money you can afford to hire someone to help you with the game. You can outsource some/all of the music/art/code/marketing/stretch goals.
3) Not many people know as much as you do, how much work goes into creating a game. And that's exactly why it's impossible to make a game hesitantly. To overcome the massive workload and goals that needs to be achieved, you need to go all in! And to do that you need funding.
4) Zordak have been blessed with more attention than most indie game demos get these days. Almost everyone in the scene knows about it. But attention is fleeting, so you need to make the best out of it.
I would love to play the updated demo when it comes out(and also buy the game when it's finished).
And it's definitely a good thing that the boss will still be challenging. I don't mind dying often in a boss fight. I just want to feel like it's my fault for dying, instead of like it's the game's fault.
The game is very good, and has a great feel for it. The lighting, sound effects and music - all create a great atmosphere.
My only gripe is with the boss fight. He doesn't telegraph his attacks in an optimal way, and thus doesn't leave many options to learn his patterns and respond to them properly.
It all feels like a game of chance in regards to how I must position myself before his next attack, and whether or not I'll meet my impending doom. It all just feels like it's out of my control.
Also, the spike in the difficulty level, is too great for such an early phase of the game. It's a bit of a leap to move on from dealing with jumping suicide crabs to dealing with an over-powered water bender that shoots plasma balls out of his eyes.
