The Hallucination
Template:Epilepsy Warning Template:Infobox Level
“quote~ originator
The Hallucination is a 2.1 Extreme Demon collaboration created by SyQual and VoTcHi. Verified by the latter and published by the former, it is a Nine Circles level with a cold blue and purple color palette. The Hallucination makes great use of teleport portals and abrupt speed changes to disorient and confuse the player; this, combined with a grueling pre-drop and tight and spammy wave sections, earns the level its place at #18 on the Main List of the Demonlist.
History
VoTcHi released the first layout preview of The Hallucination on May 7, 2020. Following another preview the next day, a video of the completed layout was posted on June 23, 2020. The first decorated preview was showcased on July 6, 2021, revealing SyQual to be the decorator. The final preview was released on September 25, 2021, showing the level's fully decorated form. The verification process took almost a whole year, with VoTcHi releasing multiple progress videos. This included 53%, 68%, 77%, and 83%. The level received many sizeable buffs before it was finally verified and published on June 19, 2022: this was almost exactly two years after the layout was completed. The verification took VoTcHi 46,538 attempts. It was then rated and featured over two weeks later on July 5, 2022.
Gameplay
- 0-7%: The very beginning of the level is very atmospheric and is mostly based on timings, starting with a small cube section before transitioning to a small ball section, and then a small UFO section. This is followed by a ship section with misleading portals and very tight spaces.
- 7-15%: The ball section that appears isn't as difficult as the prior ship, but care should still be taken to not miss any of the timings, especially the final three orbs; the click pattern used will affect the transition into the ship part afterward. Alas, this ship part immediately boasts a blind transition, followed by lots of slope-hugging and precise inputs (including a release timing) that are easily chokeable. After this, two simple cube timings and an extended double spike that bears SyQual's logo lead into the drop.
- 15-31%: The first wave alternates multiple times between different speeds, and much like the rest of the wave, is interjected by brief transitions to other gamemodes. More than once, the wave becomes a dual wave for a singular input. The first wave also tests the player's experience with the disorientating teleport portals more than most other sections of the level.
- 31-45%: The second wave is quite similar to the first, except for the "steps" section at 41%. These three clicks consist of a platform with a D-block that rests underneath the wave and follows its Y-axis, forcing the player to make light and fast inputs in order to avoid hitting the slopes and spikes above. The three clicks that follow are also very difficult timings that can be easily choked if the player is not prepared.
- 45-61%: The third wave features a few spam sections and persistent gravity and size portal changes, along with an unforgiving straight fly that leads into a very difficult wave transition. This transition makes the player, who is still traveling at 4x speed, have suddenly proceed through a very tight gap in which spikes on the surrounding slopes force the wave to hug the slope at the bottom. It is a very dangerous chokepoint that can easily ruin the player's morale if not mastered.
- 61-77%: The fourth and final wave is the most difficult wave section in the level. One of the most infamous sections is the Cosmic Cyclone-esque wave spam that occurs at 64%. This small spam section is immediately followed by 2 preposterously difficult mini-wave gravity portal timings, making 64-66% arguably the worst chokepoint. The rest of the wave is littered with tight gaps, most of which are passed through at 4x speed. Furthermore, the click pattern at 71-72%, despite being perfectly synced, is easily chokeable.
- 77-100%: Upon exiting the wave, the level immediately slows right down with a singular cube timing and a tricky ship section that is intertwined with other smaller cube and ball sections. The ending section continuously alternates between ball, cube, and ship before a short UFO section arrives. This UFO section features a nifty double click that can be easily choked if not done fast enough. Shortly afterward, a wave section appears - this is rather unique, as wave sections are usually rare at the end of Nine Circles levels. With one final ship section and an extended triple spike, the cube floats slowly uphill to an endscreen as the level comes to a close.
Trivia
- The level contains 159,696 objects.
- The level is 2m 4s in length.
- The level was rated on July 5, 2022.
- The level is one of many levels that was broken by physics changes upon the release of update 2.2.
- The level was initially placed at #11 on the Demonlist, above The Golden (#12) and below Trueffet (#10).
- This addition knocked GONER into the Extended List and Mind Control into the Legacy List.
- Nowadays, it sits far above both of these levels, with The Hallucination at #18, The Golden at #33, and Trueffet at #35.
- This addition knocked GONER into the Extended List and Mind Control into the Legacy List.
- cobrablitz became the first victor of the level on August 16, 2022, in just a month after its rate.