One big addition to Slayin 2 is the dual plane system. The game field is now divided into a foreground and background plane. The player can freely jump back and forth between them, either to dodge an enemy or to reach a closer enemy to continue their combo chain. Since the game resolution has doubled, background art can now be a lot more detailed. But the two planes need to be carefully considered when laying out the background art.
When working out a background, I start with a sketch. Then I block it out in color to figure out the lighting and the basic color palette. Finally, the details and adjustments are done. The whole process takes about a week.
Here is the Dark Forest area sketch and final.
