Uploaded June 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Goodness fucking gracious, it's done.
This level will be made playable in a few days or so when it has been thoroughly playtested for inconsistencies. Their names will be included in the background of the white flashy part in Phase 4.
This is the first solo level I have completed in almost an entire year. Out of the levels I have built, this one actually means quite a lot to me, and I should explain why.
I've gotten slower and slower at putting levels together over the years not only because I've realized how little patience I have for it, but I have always felt frustrated to meet standards and expectations. I would feel guilty for trying to present something that I didn't think the community would view as good enough, and that damaged any enjoyment for building that I had left. It had no longer become something to do for fun, and had instead become trying to put a professional product together for really no reason.
This is what became the exception to that. CONK started as a layout of the first two or three parts two years ago that I lost interest in and dropped. You can find it in some unfinished levels videos of mine. Ever since I first heard this broken, choppy, distorted song, I have always wanted to make a broken, choppy, distorted level to accompany it. It wasn't until recently that I realized how much value that had for what I was looking for in building.
I was looking for a catharsis, essentially. I was looking for a way to put something together without giving a single damn about the norms. I wanted to make something that wasn't necessary conventional or unconventional, but was just its own product that was not influenced by expectations and standards of the community and, really, of myself. Going into decorating this, I knew there was no way that it would meet the community's standards, because it's completely and totally illegible. It's absolutely all over the place and has no visual indicators. This level must be committed entirely to memory in order to complete. With that thought in mind, all of the boundaries kind of melted away, and I just built to the song, doing whatever I felt like. If I didn't want to spend a lot of time on detail, I didn't. This is by no means a low-effort level; I still sunk two months or so into it and put a lot of attention into it, but in different ways that I found more entertaining. This was my opportunity to break free and make what I want to make with no obligations to anyone else's enjoyment, and I had a hell of a time.
That being said, I hope others find some way to enjoy it. It is perhaps as far from flowing and cohesive as possible, and is probably a real pain, but I know there are players out there who may find it a fun challenge, and I personally think it has a kind of personality to it that most of my stuff really lacks. I had to damn near break everything to accomplish that, but I feel like that's a personal goal of mine as a creator that I can finally say I've reached.
With that, I present to you quite possibly the least pleasurable experience any 2.1 level has ever presented. Stay tuned for it to be released in about a day or two once I fix the refresh rate bugs and awkward transition issues that the play-testers run into.
Difficulty: Hard-Insane Demon?
ID: Not yet released
Song: Squid Melody [Red Version] by TheLivingTombstone
youtube.com/watch?v=SabrsZiRFYI
The sections I divided it into to feel good about myself:
Phase 1 - 0:04 - 0:28
Phase 2 - 0:29 - 0:49
Phase 3 - 0:50 - 1:29
Phase 4 - 1:30 - 1:56
Goodness fucking gracious, it's done.
This level will be made playable in a few days or so when it has been thoroughly playtested for inconsistencies. Their names will be included in the background of the white flashy part in Phase 4.
This is the first solo level I have completed in almost an entire year. Out of the levels I have built, this one actually means quite a lot to me, and I should explain why.
I've gotten slower and slower at putting levels together over the years not only because I've realized how little patience I have for it, but I have always felt frustrated to meet standards and expectations. I would feel guilty for trying to present something that I didn't think the community would view as good enough, and that damaged any enjoyment for building that I had left. It had no longer become something to do for fun, and had instead become trying to put a professional product together for really no reason.
This is what became the exception to that. CONK started as a layout of the first two or three parts two years ago that I lost interest in and dropped. You can find it in some unfinished levels videos of mine. Ever since I first heard this broken, choppy, distorted song, I have always wanted to make a broken, choppy, distorted level to accompany it. It wasn't until recently that I realized how much value that had for what I was looking for in building.
I was looking for a catharsis, essentially. I was looking for a way to put something together without giving a single damn about the norms. I wanted to make something that wasn't necessary conventional or unconventional, but was just its own product that was not influenced by expectations and standards of the community and, really, of myself. Going into decorating this, I knew there was no way that it would meet the community's standards, because it's completely and totally illegible. It's absolutely all over the place and has no visual indicators. This level must be committed entirely to memory in order to complete. With that thought in mind, all of the boundaries kind of melted away, and I just built to the song, doing whatever I felt like. If I didn't want to spend a lot of time on detail, I didn't. This is by no means a low-effort level; I still sunk two months or so into it and put a lot of attention into it, but in different ways that I found more entertaining. This was my opportunity to break free and make what I want to make with no obligations to anyone else's enjoyment, and I had a hell of a time.
That being said, I hope others find some way to enjoy it. It is perhaps as far from flowing and cohesive as possible, and is probably a real pain, but I know there are players out there who may find it a fun challenge, and I personally think it has a kind of personality to it that most of my stuff really lacks. I had to damn near break everything to accomplish that, but I feel like that's a personal goal of mine as a creator that I can finally say I've reached.
With that, I present to you quite possibly the least pleasurable experience any 2.1 level has ever presented. Stay tuned for it to be released in about a day or two once I fix the refresh rate bugs and awkward transition issues that the play-testers run into.
Difficulty: Hard-Insane Demon?
ID: Not yet released
Song: Squid Melody [Red Version] by TheLivingTombstone
youtube.com/watch?v=SabrsZiRFYI
The sections I divided it into to feel good about myself:
Phase 1 - 0:04 - 0:28
Phase 2 - 0:29 - 0:49
Phase 3 - 0:50 - 1:29
Phase 4 - 1:30 - 1:56
![SirHadoken- Distant Lands [Chill Electro]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/B8a3uDk0r_E/mqdefault.jpg "SirHadoken- Distant Lands [Chill Electro]
This is the first song Ive made that I felt was worth uploading to more than one platform, but Ill upload Lithium later today due to a common demand.
I do apologize for the giant FILMORA written across the screen; if I dont pay a fortune to get the full version of this video editor, it will continue to do that, and with Windows Movie Maker being discontinued since last month, I have no other option.
Background Art:
http://coolvibe.com/2011/8-immersive-paintings-by-andreas-rocha/distant-lands/
Find this song on Newgrounds at:
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/723111")
![Hado - Hot Flash [Verification]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C5mdWuoMIkY/mqdefault.jpg "Hado - Hot Flash [Verification]
Surprise!
Unfortunately, if youre seeing this video and reading this description, then the surprise is already over. Allow me to fill you in:
On July 21st, 2021, a musician named Fluubah asked me on Discord to whitelist his Newgrounds work, and I started playing around in the editor with one of his songs. I had accidentally used nothing but 2x1 slopes for the first few seconds, and this became the challenge I accepted for the rest of the level. There are no flat solid objects in this level, nor are there solid 1x1 slopes. The few surfaces that appear flat are actually upside down 2x1 slopes, which have flat or pseudo-flat hitboxes on their backside.
At the time I started this, the creating community was at the peak of a self-proclaimed experimental trend that was in reality heavily derivative of the styles of para, Wav, and a few other level design influencers. A heavily mocked characteristic trope of this subset of levels was the heavy use of 2x1 slopes to throw the player around in a controlled way (i.e. Wavs level Brainwash). Partly to spite the people making fun of the movement and partly because its just really funny to me, I opted to take the trope to the extreme. Because of this, while the level tries to be an overheated and disorienting experience like a proper hot flash should be, the name is also a nod to Cold Sweat (although the para level involved in sparking this trend was actually Klutz).
So, the surprise. I had a conversation with wless on Twitter concerning the surprise drop of Retrograde by Codex in which I mentioned that I would love to see surprise drops happen more often, but that I am too slow of a builder and too antsy to compulsively share every bit of my progress to contribute to this cause. I loved the excitement of when someone like Codex or Hinds dropped a level out of complete nowhere, and I realized that this was my opportunity to give that a try! Over the five and a half months it took to build this, I told exactly six people about its existence. Five were extremely close friends who helped playtest and give feedback, and the other was Fluubah, who made the song.
(https://twitter.com/sirhadoken/status/1378461052988497927?s=20)
To egg it on even further, even after releasing the level, I went on about my day as though it didnt exist. No video, no promo, no announcement, no mention of it in public, no mention of it in private. The plan was to just drop it and then see how long it took for people to notice it was there. This is my first level since Flicker in October of 2020, so I was curious to see just how long it could fly under the radar. Alas, I realized I would have to upload a video at some point for people who would prefer to just watch and avoid playing the incessantly janky slope gameplay for themselves. So, if youre watching this, the level has already been out for a bit, people have noticed its there, and the jig is up.
Its a pleasure to finally finish a project again, especially one that I had so much fun with! If anyone actually looks forward to these, Im seriously sorry that Im so slow.
Song: I M A X I N A T O R by Fluubah
https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1055581
ID: 77158262")
