Editing The Golden

{{IB-Level
 |image      = TheGolden.png
 |id         = 60978746
 |creator    = Bo (host and publisher); El3cTr0 (co-host)
;Contributors
Gooseam, Geemi, Woomy, EyeOfTheStorm, Eridani, and Byselling
 |verified   = [[nSwish]]
 |created    = [[Update 2.1]]
 |difficulty = {{ExtremeDemon}}
 |stars      = 10
 |length     = 1m 24s (Long)
 |objects    = 117,647
 |copytype   = Password (886988)
 |downloads  = 4.92M
 |likes      = 153.1K
 |rating     = Featured
 |artist     = [https://waterflame.newgrounds.com/ Waterflame]
 |music      = [https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/638150 ThunderZone v2]
 |musicid    = 638150
}}
'''The Golden''' is a [[Update 2.1|2.1]] Extreme Demon mega-collaboration level hosted by BoBoBoBoBoBoBo (Bo) and El3cTr0, verified by [[nSwish]] on 17 April 2020.<ref name="nSwish">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpS5PSHmji0</ref> It is a remake of the 2.0 Insane Demon El Dorado. Known for its extremely difficult wave sections, it has an intense atmosphere similar to that of [[VSC]], a challenge also created by Bo. The Golden features a jungle theme, and its difficulty comes mostly from difficult timings, dimly lit decorations, and fast-paced wave gameplay.

The Golden was previously set to surpass [[Tartarus]] in difficulty but was heavily nerfed by nSwish on Bo's request, placing at #1 on the [[Demonlist (Pointercrate)|Demonlist]] on 31 May 2020, surpassing Tartarus until 12 September 2020, when the two levels were swapped.

==History==
===Creation===
The Golden started as a solo project by Bo. Dissatisfied with an earlier remake of El Dorado known as 'El Dorado Rebirth',<ref name="LmAnubis">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-JsfyWJzIs</ref> Bo decided to create an overall new remake of the level. On 21 April 2019, he uploaded a preview video of the first part of an upcoming Extreme Demon level, showing the first 37%.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1WF7zIVWSw</ref> Afterwards, the full version of the layout was revealed on 2 May 2019.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbC5O7NTGDo&</ref> Despite the original plans of being a solo project, the level became a mega-collaboration with numerous creators, including El3cTr0, involved in the project.<ref name="LmAnubis"/>

The creators involved would later upload a preview of their parts, including Woomy and Eridani.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOqS0PKlJ-g</ref>

===Verification and placement===
Bo initially tried verifying the level, making considerable progress, including 22-71%,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I__SxHADFsU</ref> 49-97%,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WUPQzBY3qM</ref> and 53%<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrTw-DjeaI8</ref> before passing the level to Sky Jax, then Dolphy, then finally nSwish. However, Bo would try to verify it with those players again. nSwish became the final official verifier of the level and verified The Golden on 17 April 2020 after 52,870 attempts.<ref name="nSwish"/> The level was placed at #1 on the Demonlist, dethroning Tartarus and keeping the #1 spot for 105 days before it and Tartarus swapped positions as many skilled players stated that Tartarus was harder.

==Description==
*'''0-14% (El3cTr0 + Gooseam):''' The Golden begins with a UFO segment containing quite difficult timings, and the colour palette is mostly dark with a dose of green mixed in. After this, the player transforms into a ball, and the timings continue, as the player must hit orbs precisely. Following this is a brief UFO section with additional timings.
*'''14-28% (Geemi + Woom):''' Next, the level gets a little greener, and the player turns into a ship. This ship segment features extremely tight spaces, and gameplay is enhanced by gravity changes scattered throughout certain areas. Following the ship segment is a brief cube section leading to the drop, where a big black glowing pillar blocks half of the player's vision. This part ends with a title screen of the level.
*'''28-50% (El3cTr0):''' Then, the drop starts. This part consists of a challenging triple-speed wave section containing pillars with tight gaps, requiring nearly impossible timings at high speeds. There are also heaps of gravity portals scattered throughout this section. Additionally, the wave's size fluctuates occasionally. After a while, the player slows down to double speed as they must spam through a brief but tight corridor, before being thrown into a brief quadruple-speed UFO section with precise timings. Then the player turns back into a wave at triple speed, with a gameplay style similar to before.
*'''50-72% (EyeOfTheStorm):''' After the player passes through the wave sections, they turn into a ship while remaining at triple speed. This section is compact and features many different portals, as well as challenging timings, making it difficult to navigate through. Next is a brief wave section followed by a short but difficult cube section, during which the player must precisely hit three green orbs. Afterwards, a tight dual wave is followed by a tight single wave, before a ball section requiring precise timings to end the drop.
*'''72-86% (Bo):''' After the drop ends, the player must pass a tricky half-speed robot section where the player must spam in some parts and perform timings in the others. Next is a UFO segment that is spam-filled but mostly filled with timings. Following this is a short spider section with difficult timings.
*'''86-100% (Eridani + BySelling, End Screen):''' Following the spider section is a slow ship part with very tight spaces to fly through. This ship section features numerous gravity and size portals that are thrown at the player. After a bit, a very spam-demanding ball appears with many timings. The same principle applies to the UFO section that follows. After the player passes the UFO section, the level title appears, showing a golden city with the level's name at its centre and the creators' names below as the level concludes.

==Gameplay==
{{VC|Sn1q9xVxc2s}}

==First 10 victors==
{| class="wikitable"
 !Victor # 
 !Player
 !Date Completed
 !Total Attempts
 !Furthest Fail
 !Video
 |-
 |'''Verifier'''
 |'''nSwish'''
 |17 April 2020
 |?
 |?
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpS5PSHmji0 YouTube]
 |-
 |1
 |swiborg
 |28 May 2020
 |40,541
 |98%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzH16AMjI1g YouTube]
 |-
 |2
 |Sid125
 |23 June 2020
 |30,529
 |94%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alazfCqbRV8 YouTube]
 |-
 |3
 |Kurumi
 |19 August 2020
 |42,576
 |96%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpUtOa9ZgvE YouTube]
 |-
 |4
 |[[Mycrafted]]
 |12 September 2020
 |?
 |94%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8pBUbMqXIk YouTube]
 |-
 |5
 |DoSh7t
 |26 November 2020
 |49,109
 |92%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f_5VvccNeI YouTube]
 |-
 |6
 |Beastular
 |30 November 2020
 |~91,500
 |96%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc8Q2HfqtR4 YouTube]
 |-
 |7
 |[[Wolvez]]
 |3 December 2020
 |20,122
 |?
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLo2OP4ujac YouTube]
 |-
 |8
 |Combined
 |10 December 2020
 |~31,000
 |?
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dssXsf8pPV4 YouTube]
 |-
 |9
 |dice88
 |28 December 2020
 |43,523
 |96%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nufO_-zZcFw YouTube]
 |-
 |10
 |Seturan
 |4 January 2021
 |63,353
 |90%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE3PlIWcYAI YouTube]
|}
{{Togglebox
 |header = Notable completions
 |body   = <nowiki />
*The Golden took [[nSwish]] 52,870 attempts to verify. It is the highest number of attempts they have taken to beat a level.
*The biggest fluke on The Golden belongs to PaulaGPe, who fluked it from 35% on 13 September 2025.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd4JZFpxwmI</ref>
*Carv became the 500th victor of The Golden on 21 September 2025, also fluking it from 65%.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfxP2yDioHM</ref>
*Sunix, the verifier of Sonic Wave, completed The Golden on 4 May 2026 after dropping after a 75% fail on 8 January 2021.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-iLQjPvGFY</ref>
}}

==Trivia== 
*The Golden was rated on 1 May 2020 and placed at #1 on the Demonlist on 31 May 2020, above Tartarus.
**This addition pushed [[Crimson Planet]] out of the Top 5, Belloq into the Extended List, and A2Marbl into the Legacy List.
**The Golden is regarded as the 36th instance of the hardest rated level in the game's history.
***On 12 September 2020, The Golden swapped with Tartarus, with Tartarus being at #1 and The Golden being at #2. Many victors around this time stated that Tartarus was harder; it was mainly due to the level's straight-fly segments with fixed hitboxes at 31% and 45%.
****The Golden lasted as a Top 1 level for 105 days.
*The name of the level comes from the English translation of 'El Dorado', 'The Golden', since The Golden is a remake of El Dorado.
**[[LmAnubis]] had a comment thread on the full layout showcase of The Golden, approving it as an official sequel.<ref name="LmAnubis" />
*The Golden is part of the player-made 'New RGB trilogy', along with Tartarus and [[Sonic Wave Infinity]].
**The Golden is also part of the player-made 'GRP trilogy', along with [[Avernus]] and [[Amethyst]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SNmJEyDItc</ref>
*The order of the verifiers for The Golden is: Bo, SkyJax, Bo again, Dolphy, Bo yet again, and then nSwish, who verified it.
**lolwut was chosen as a backup verifier in case nSwish dropped the level.
*A copy of The Golden, given to nSwish before they buffed it, was privately circulating with players for a while, with a 'no detail' copy appearing on the servers shortly after it started circulating. This copy infamously fell into the hands of Breeze, who used it for a joke 'verification' video of the level.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdYTtJhzLfk</ref> [[ToshDeluxe]] also used it for his April Fools 2020 video.
*lolwut created a fan-sequel layout named Athens.
*swiborg once decided to rebeat The Golden and managed to do so in one attempt.
*swiborg allegedly verified the unnerfed version of The Golden on 19 December 2021, claiming that he forgot to record.
**klimk verified ItzDoVi's buffed unnerfed version of The Golden on 14 December 2025 after ItzDoVi had hack-verified it.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvuZmhSeZ6A</ref>
**Nkontion officially verified the unnerfed version of The Golden on 4 September 2026.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfIy-LRaeOc</ref>
*[[spaceuk]] supposedly beat The Golden as his fifth Demon, after [[DeCode]], [[Windy Landscape]], Leyak, and [[Wasureta]], until he got exposed as a hacker on 25 April 2023. 
**spaceuk rebeat The Golden legitimately on 6 May 2023.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLDsfM3jU2Q</ref>
*stillsouless fluked The Golden from 40%, making it the biggest fluke on the level.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YKLJcolFLM</ref>
*Sid125 beat The Golden three times in a row in the ''GD World Tournament''.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6dUBlA38_4</ref>
*Bo and PockeWindFish (originally Woomy, Kyhro, and El3cTr0) officially hosted a level as the 'antagonist' to The Golden called Avernus.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZfUhk-G0qY&</ref> It was verified by [[Zoink]] on 22 March 2023.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16Zh8jssanc</ref>
*The Golden was temporarily updated to complain about a creator's release schedule in December 2023.{{Verify}}
*A multitude of levels were created as an inspiration from The Golden.
**PockeWindfish created Avernus, which is an antagonist to The Golden.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO-OX4c8aWA</ref> It was a former Top 1 reigning since 16 October 2023 to 18 February 2024.
***PockeWindfish also created Tethys, the third level of The Golden series, and simultaneously the sequel to Avernus.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXRT9hlDGWE</ref>
**Mist created Amethyst, a crystal cave-themed level and a former Top 1.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTEERDj1i5Y</ref>
*The placement of CHIL on 26 December 2025 pushed The Golden into the Extended List of the Demonlist, making it the first level of the New RGB Trilogy to fall into the Extended List.
**The placement of Master of Puppets on 17 June 2026 pushed The Golden out of the Top 100.

==Videos==
{{VC|wpS5PSHmji0|zfIy-LRaeOc|Xt6twbj2gm4|S6Dex7L28_w
 |cpt1 = Verification
 |cpt2 = Unnerfed version verification
 |cpt3 = Unnerfed version
 |cpt4 = ItzDoVi's version
}}

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Demon List levels]]