Editing GRIEF (section)

==History==
In late 2015, icedcave released the impossible hell-themed level Slaughterhouse, known for its simple decoration and intense spam, made as a sequel to icedcave's older level Challenge Club and inspired by one of [[Cyrillic|Cyrillic's]] unfinished levels, Death Angel River. [[ToshDeluxe]] notably showcased it on YouTube on 3 October 2015, where it gained popularity quickly.<ref name="ToshDeluxe">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csLA88xah4g</ref>

From 2018 to 2021, icedcave hosted an Extreme Demon also titled Slaughterhouse because he was frustrated by the original level's popularity, given how poorly it was made. The level was supposedly verified by [[spaceuk]] on 24 October 2021; however, after it was proven that his verification was hacked, the level's first victor and former verifier, Doggie, was deemed its actual verifier.

In 2019, icedcave considered remaking the original Slaughterhouse from 2015.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTFJsybcJog&t=5476</ref> Over the following years, icedcave amended the old version of the level to make it possible and added a minute-long extension. In December 2021, after hearing rumours about a 'Slaughterhouse sequel' and seeking an ambitious project, Doggie asked icedcave for permission to verify it, to which icedcave agreed.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4PlhND44Nc&t=1064</ref> In early 2022, icedcave publicly announced the level as GRIEF, the 'prequel' to Slaughterhouse.

===Creation process/cancellation===
In April 2022, GRIEF's layout was finished,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd2qPxNi6Zw</ref> stirring mixed reactions. Some praised it as a nostalgic nod to its predecessor, while others criticized it for a lack of originality. Despite criticism, production continued, with the decoration process lasting 16 months and featuring periodic showcases from decorators. A preview was released on icedcave's channel on 15 April 2023.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCHbxxWhgSI</ref> However, complications arose when one of the two parts Burgadahz decorated was allegedly replaced by greafer.

The level was completed in August 2023 and showcased on the 11th.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQXnREyaO34</ref> Unfortunately, it faced criticism after its showcase and was labelled unoriginal. Additionally, the supposed removal of Burgadahz's part sparked criticism, raising concerns about icedcave casually discarding hard work. There was speculation that icedcave replaced Burgadahz's part because Burgadahz had leaked Aeternus, a project icedcave was closely associated with. According to icedcave, greafer made his part before Burgadahz did and that the Aeternus leak had nothing to do with removing Burgadahz's part. icedcave further stated that Burgadahz's second part was only made because greafer was not satisfied with his part, and Burgadahz offered to make another part with icedcave's approval, but icedcave stated he would only replace greafer's part if he liked the new one more, which he did not, so it never got implemented.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUsebPNu9lM&lc=Ugw7qyzpYkjlI8lj7wF4AaABAg</ref> However, from Burgadahz's perspective, icedcave told him he liked his part more than greafer's because it fit better and was more optimized, taking about 5,000 objects. Unfortunately, icedcave allegedly never told him his part would be replaced, and he said he was going to keep it on the level.

Regardless, because of the backlash, icedcave cancelled the level altogether. However, once the controversy settled, he revived it and waited for Doggie to begin verification.

===Leaking===
During a stream unrelated to GRIEF, Doggie accidentally revealed a Discord link to a .gmd file. This is the file format used by the GDShare mod, which allows for local importing and exporting of levels.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDl8eQWrc5o&t=1191</ref> He did not realize the slip-up until his friend lolwut told him.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDl8eQWrc5o&t=1243</ref> At the time, no one appeared to notice the mistake. However, later, Deadlox leaked the level to public servers, suggesting someone had seen the link and shared it with him.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDl8eQWrc5o&t=1261</ref> The copy remains public as ID 102422025, though it is an early version of the level. Despite this setback, the level was still set for verification.

===Physics conflict/CBF===
Doggie originally planned to start verifying GRIEF after Update 2.2 was released. However, in October 2023, [[Robert Topala|RobTop]] announced that in Update 2.2, the game's physics would be locked to a uniform 240Hz across all devices, replacing the previous 360FPS physics-bypass meta that top players preferred. This decision sparked controversy, particularly among players like Doggie,<ref>https://x.com/DasherDoggie/status/1716576092385894572</ref><ref>https://x.com/DasherDoggie/status/1717231008654021070</ref> who argued that it would significantly impact high-level play due to increased input delay, making it harder to complete difficult levels like GRIEF. Consequently, Doggie postponed his GRIEF verification until a solution was reached. Later, in April 2024, syzzi released a mod on Geode called Click Between Frames (CBF), which lets players click between frame ticks with no input delay.<ref>https://x.com/zoe_bve/status/1776106599247143030</ref> Doggie took a liking to the mod,<ref>https://x.com/DasherDoggie/status/1776440902233321575</ref> showcasing impressive runs with it on Twitter.<ref>https://x.com/DasherDoggie/status/1776826460906430562</ref> He ultimately used it to verify GRIEF, sparking controversy and accusations that he gained an unfair advantage over other players. He also understood that verifying GRIEF with CBF would make the level ineligible for a rating—required for inclusion on the [[Demonlist (Pointercrate)|Demonlist]]—unless the mod was officially implemented in the vanilla game. To advocate for its implementation, he, along with Diamond<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcPjLy2W0HM</ref> and LordVadercraft,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRv462sRxlc</ref> released a video on 7 May 2024.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ1w88fEgoA</ref> It featured insights from players like [[Technical]] and icedcave, advocating for the mod's inclusion in the vanilla game.

In June, RobTop stated that CBF would not be added to the game, making it effectively impossible to rate GRIEF if Doggie verified it with CBF. Since a rating was required for Demonlist placement, Doggie planned to verify GRIEF with CBF enabled, then rebeat it without CBF to qualify it for a rating.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tadA-qSrrjs&t=2255</ref> He preferred this approach over verifying without CBF from the start, since he did not want to nerf any parts of the level that he would not have nerfed with CBF.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tadA-qSrrjs&t=2274</ref> However, he later found that beating GRIEF without CBF was extremely difficult. He even considered having another player reverify the level without CBF after his own verification, but quickly realized no one would attempt it because it was brutal without the mod enabled. 

At that point, it seemed like GRIEF would never be rated. However, the issue eventually resolved itself. Doggie's only reason for wanting GRIEF rated was so it could appear on the Demonlist, which traditionally required levels to be rated. In May 2025, the Demonlist team announced a new section: the Rated+ list, which would include both rated and unrated levels.<ref>https://discord.com/channels/395654171422097420/395692399919366147/1376399042942074962</ref> Notably, the Demonlist had supported the use of CBF since as early as June 2024, accepting records achieved with the mod. They favoured including levels verified with CBF and wanted to feature them on the list, but the main obstacle was that such levels could not be rated because of RobTop's firm stance against rating them. However, the community's strong desire to see GRIEF listed—despite the use of CBF—prompted them to consider alternatives, primarily allowing unrated levels on the list. After a poll showed 82% support for a new list format, the Rated+ tab was confirmed. In the end, however, CBF was added to vanilla [[Geometry Dash]] in Update 2.208 on 19 January 2026, and perfected in 2.2081, ending all fears that GRIEF would not be rated upon its verification.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/geometrydash/comments/1qhdelj/cbf_added_to_vanilla/</ref> As such, the Rated+ tab was originally cancelled before being revisited a couple of months later.

===Verification===
Doggie began streaming GRIEF on 1 May 2024. For his first achievement on the level, he tried to complete a 65-100% run, which he eventually accomplished on 27 May 2024 on stream #16, comparing it to beating a Top 20 level like [[Edge of Destiny]].

Doggie first reached the drop on 30 May with 27%. In later streams, he mostly played runs, though he occasionally started from 0% and made some progress. On 14 July, he achieved 41%, which remained his best for nearly two months. He completed a 56-100% run on 17 July and a 49-100% run on 29 July. He finally broke his 41% record on 19 August with 47%. Two days later, he got 49%. He finally reached MercuryDT's part on 13 September with a 52% best, followed by a 54% best three days later. He reached the level's extension on 25 September, achieving 56%. One day later, off-stream, he reached the second drop, achieving 68%.

Doggie's consistency declined steadily in October and continued into early November, prompting a short break. After returning, he quickly reached 80% on 24 November. He then took another break in December due to his school commitments. Progress remained slow until late January, when he started reaching the second drop more often. By February, he was reaching the second drop in nearly every stream. He achieved a 25-100% run on 26 February on a slightly easier version of GRIEF, which was his best run to 100%. Progress eventually slowed, with Doggie not reaching the second drop at all for over three months, starting in mid-July. Finally, in November 2025, Doggie would achieve a new best of 83%, sparking new confidence and consistency in the verification after that point.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp8TSHLoW8Q</ref>

In 2026, Doggie streamed the GRIEF verification almost every day of February 2026 (26 days, taking two breaks to rest his hand)<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-v769GzrjQ&t=196s</ref> and reached greafer (66%+) on every stream in March. He has achieved several notable attempts since his return on 21 January 2026, including 73% three times, 78%, 79% twice, 80%, 81% twice, 35-97% twice, 25-92%, 25-95%, and 25-100% four times.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ldsEF0yNXeTS1r5rape9wjTLor6KWyeJvZk9-_HdFrE</ref> From this observation, this month's session has been his most consistent one for reaching GrenadeofTacos's part so far.

Doggie continued to stream periodically. On 28 April 2026, Doggie created a slightly nerfed version of GRIEF, moving obstacles by only a micro-step to help him improve on the level and hopefully perform better on the real version.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffMCLmnhKC4</ref> On 7 May 2026, [[Zoink]] decided to join the verification race for [[Heliopolis]], leading to a competitive Top 1 verification race. On the same day, Doggie reached 84% after six months from his previous record,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLqlssP1Dxw</ref> which, ironically, he mentioned earlier in the stream he did not want to fail there.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBgbzet6-yY&t=896s</ref>

About a month later, on 14 June 2026, Doggie finally broke the barrier of GrenadeofTacos's part, almost fluking the end, and failed at 97% on his 361st stream.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emd2tWP2FkI</ref> On 21 September, Doggie failed at 97% again on his 390th stream, followed by another ending run of 91% during the same stream.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nv9UsomBi0</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro__P8vGP6k&t=9204s</ref>

On 5 October 2026, two years and five months after the first stream, Doggie finally verified GRIEF during stream #396 after 436,879 attempts.<ref name="Verification" /> The Geometry Dash community's reaction caused the game's servers to crash, along with other related websites, due to a massive traffic surge.