Recently at the DEA headquarters, Steve implemented a fantastic level-switching mechanic which allows all potential levels to be loaded into RAM (basically how normal developers do it), except because of a few technical thingies that we pulled, we're able to have absolutely loads of maps, blistering with enemies, traps, props, and more, all instantly loaded into RAM and ready to switch. This will allow instant map switching and results in virtually zero load time at the moment (There are lots of empty maps here too (hence the blackness)):
Apart from that, I've started re-hashing the backgrounds within the levels. I've been able to deploy parallax backgrounds for a long time now, but now these need to be made resolution-independent, meaning that they will always originate and shape correctly regardless of whether the player is using an old monitor, or a brand-spanking new 40" HD TV. As of now, I've just chucked in some abstract floating shapes, which will be the basis for full backgrounds, such as forests, citites, planets, etc:
