hot rod

“	my memory is not like the other one	”
―stcubing

hot rod is a 2.1 Extreme Demon mega-collaboration level hosted by stcubing, co-hosted by Astrodyke, published by stcubing and verified by DozenthLeaf on 12 October 2023. Initially a joke, the layout transformed into a Cognition-styled level being the sequel to Oblivion. It is a modernised take on the style.

Gameplay[]

The level's entire layout was built by stcubing.

0-18%: The beginning features a lot of tough timing clicks, with flow-styled gameplay. The first showing of the level shows a cube being launched into the air before the player icon transitions into the gameplay, with the whole transition only being focused on the cube launch before the gameplay is shown. There are wheel objects that spin in the background and line and circle decorations. The gameplay is mostly click-sync-based, with lots of moving objects. Some moving objects are illuminated with blocks of glow passing through in every snare of the part in the song. A subtle line of glow is shown for every snare in the whole part. There are arrows in the wave to direct the player on where to traverse in the wave part. There are subtle decorations on orbs and portals correlated to each part, which is present in the rest of the level. The ship part features orbs, which you cannot touch otherwise you will be launched into the spikes, making it harder. Some have criticised this part for being awkward. These two parts were decorated by Linox and fajhfkdskl.
19-38%: The first part features arrows in the background in symmetrical form. The continuation of pulses to the glow is shown in this part but is illuminated much more clearly than in Linox's part. There is a shake and black outline shown when hitting the UFO portal at 24%. An arrow is used in the transition to the next part, featuring more varied colours and big spike structures as decoration. Parts of the level change colour based on the main and background guitars. The level has a greyed buildup before building to the drop. This part has more reminiscence of Cognition styled gameplay and is a pretty-well-liked part. These two parts were decorated by Mari and Monthmai.
39-65%: The transition to the drop features a cube flying across the screen and text matching the song's lyrics appearing. Almost instantly, the colour of the level changes to a more autumn-like appearance. Glow decorations appear when the background reverb piano notes play. Star decorations are seen everywhere, some in the background and some in the block design. Text matching the song lyrics appears again. Circle decorations appear when the snare is hit in the song. The gameplay is even more reminiscent of "Oblivion but modernised" in a sense. This part was decorated by JaSonic.
66-90%: After JaSonic's part, the level swaps to a lightish blue theme with cool colours before switching to a green-styled decoration. The block design feels like an extension of JaSonic's block design. The first part is the least Cognition-styled in terms of the gameplay. It then transitions with sync-based wave clicks into a dual with lots of bright colours and pulses. The block design in this part is much older, opting to use 1.9 or below pulse blocks, and also features these blocks in the background design. There are even saws in the block design which is an interesting choice. Text on the screen appears again, syncing to the music. The gameplay is mostly sync-based, incorporating the Cognition gameplay as well as flow gameplay into it. These two parts were decorated by Turnernator and Clay.
91-100%: This part of the level is the most criticised of the whole level - according to many it is a massive chokepoint and is easily the hardest part of the level, being way harder than the parts before it. It features a tough UFO section and a difficult ship click before entering a straight-fly. This often can be an enjoyment killer to many. The decoration of this level is very different from the rest, featuring very little block and background design. The end-screen has the ship fly into the end-screen before showing stcubing's and Astrodyke's logo, the verifier (dozenthleaf), the decorators (Linox, fajhfkdskl, Mari, Nadire, MMonth, Jasonic, Turnernator, and Clay), and the playtesters (wackylol, GDParks, LegC, CharlOwO, lewkeee, Fluff, Beulraeki, and Ninxout). This part was decorated by stcubing.

Trivia[]

The level's password is 121023.
The level contains 34,708 objects.
The level is 1m 1s in length.
ElectricNJ fixed widescreen issues with the level.
The layout was made in spite of stcubing being unable to beat Carcano.
The original layout was originally 45 seconds, before Astrodyke and stcubing reworked the layout to get it to a minute.
The original verifier was Lotus, who died at 96% and dropped the level due to demotivation.
The verifier, Dozenthleaf, completed the level in a school cafeteria.

Videos[]

'hot rod' by stcubing and more -8k-

Hot Rod by Stcubing Verified