RUST
RUST is a 2.1 Extreme Demon level by neigefeu, verified by Keir on 28 July 2021.[1] It is a highly atmospheric and technology-themed level, featuring smoggy effects and extremely tight timing gameplay, which was inspired by Black Blizzard and Sunset Sandstorm.
RUST has been praised for having great music sync and original, high-quality decoration. It has also gained widespread popularity among skilled players, with over 600 victors. Additionally, 30 people playtested the level.
History
2020
The first mention of RUST dates back to 3 November, when neigefeu published a showcase of its layout on their YouTube channel.[2] neigefeu explained that they wanted RUST to place within the Top 50 of the Demonlist; however, some estimates said that it might have the difficulty of a Top 10-20 Demon. On 10 December, they made a 20-second preview of a part of the level's completed decoration.[3]
2021
On 4 January, the second preview of RUST's decoration was uploaded to their channel. neigefeu shared that the level's playtesters agreed on its difficulty, saying it could place within the Top 20 of the Demonlist.[4] On 12 February, they uploaded the last and final preview.[5] On 26 July, they showcased the entire level.[6] neigefeu said they were originally going to verify the level, as they wanted RUST to be the hardest fully-solo Extreme Demon. However, after spending 88,300 attempts on the verification, they gave up playing it. Instead of cancelling the level, they passed the verification to Keir.
Verification
Keir verified RUST on 28 July 2021 after 10,671 attempts.[1] He also fluked it from 59%. Keir added that the level's difficulty might comfortably place in the Top 10 of the Demonlist.
RUST was uploaded to the servers on 28 July, and on 31 July, it received an Epic rating.
Description
- 0-18%: RUST begins with a yellow pad that launches the player's cube into a yellow orb that must be hit. Next is a blue orb, followed by a yellow orb that must be hit very late to avoid crashing into a block. Two simple green orb timings are next, followed by a black orb before a tight green orb timing. After going through a blue gravity portal, the player must perform a double-input to hit both the blue and yellow orbs quickly. After avoiding the next blue orb in the platform, the blue orb after that must be hit late. The player must then jump and hit a green orb that appears to be a yellow orb at first. Next is some tight cube jumps (including one jump through what looks like an obstacle) before another double-input, this time being a green and red orb. After one more jump, a blue orb must be hit before immediately performing another double-input with a blue and red orb. The player must then jump and hit a green orb before hitting a blue orb. Another double-input follows with a blue and green orb before a black orb. Next, the player must hit a pink dash orb very late and hold it down for a short time, hitting a blue orb directly after releasing it. A green dash orb is next, which the player must quickly hold and release before jumping over a single spike. The player then falls onto a flat platform and must jump over a gear object and hit one last blue orb quickly after hitting a blue pad. The title screen of RUST appears before the level's drop begins.
- 18-31%: The drop begins with a triple-speed transition and a yellow pad. The player must then hit three orbs before going into an extremely tight ship part, where they must manoeuvre around spike pillars and hit green orbs. Then the player becomes a cube again and must hit a blue orb quickly, followed by a black orb, a green orb, and a pink dash orb. Green, black, blue, and yellow orbs must be hit next, in that order. Four black orbs in gravity portals must then be hit precisely to avoid crashing into spike pillars. More orb timings follow before the player becomes a ball.
- 31-38%: The player enters a ball part starting with a green orb, which the player must activate after switching gravity from a platform beneath the portal, which pushes them upwards. Next, the player must hit a blue orb late, which hits a blue pad, and hit a yellow orb early. After that, the player must hit a black orb that leads to a yellow gravity portal with a green orb inside. After hitting a green orb, the player must switch gravity on a platform before hitting the blue orb. After hitting the platform, the player must then hit a blue orb. It causes the player to move to the platform below to avoid crashing quickly. Next, the player must switch gravity, hit a yellow orb precisely to avoid crashing into two spikes, then hit a blue orb. Next, the player quickly reverses gravity using a blue pad. It continues twice, and the last one ends with the player having to hit a yellow orb to launch up, then hit a green orb that leads to an upside-down wave.
- 38-44%: Next is an upside-down wave part where the player must carefully fly between a couple of spikes and tight spaces. Next, the player must hit a yellow orb immediately after entering a cube portal while still in anti-gravity. Then the player becomes a normal gravity mini-wave and must navigate through some tighter spaces before encountering two cube portals, one of which contains a green orb. Next is yet another wave part with even more tight spaces, then a cube part in which the player must jump at the edge of the platform they land on. The player must hit a blue orb late to fall into two blue gravity portals, land on a pink pad, and clear this area.
- 44-57%: The player once again becomes a ship and has to fly through narrow spikes, with the black orbs and gravity portals making this section more difficult. After this, the player turns into a cube and navigates through a sequence of orb-clicking, sometimes double-clicking blue and red spheres. After a few more inputs, the player flies to the next section on two pink orbs.
- 57-70%: The player becomes a UFO and makes precise inputs in tight spaces using multiple blue and dash orbs. Afterwards, as a cube again, the player makes several inputs on black orbs located in pillar-like structures, interacting with pink pads to bounce off the structure and reach the next one. Then, a short transition from the portal occurs, with the player reaching a section cluttered with orbs, and then has to make a few inputs to reach the next section.
- 70-84%: The music fades, and the speed slows down. While controlling the cube, the player makes precise inputs, jumps over spikes, and interacts with numerous orbs in narrow corridors, holding the dash orbs. After a short break, the player hits a green orb, then holds a pink dash orb, reaches the two moving dash orbs, and holds the dash orbs again. If released at the right time, the player will reach the orbs they must hit and enter the next section.
- 84-100%: The player shrinks and once again faces very narrow spaces between structures filled with various orbs. After holding the dash orb, the player must hit the incoming orbs a couple of times, entering a gravity portal. A short break begins, where the player must jump up and down the structure's steps a few times. After jumping over the spikes, the player is thrown up by a pad, and they find themselves in a section filled with orbs. The player increases in size, double-clicking the blue orb, then jumps to the black orbs, makes a precise input on it to bounce off the edge of the structure, and flies over the final obstacle (a spike), landing on the level's art.
Gameplay
First 10 victors
| Victor # | Player | Date Completed | Total Attempts | Furthest Fail | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verifier | Keir | 28 July 2021 | 10,671 | 59% | YouTube |
| 1 | 12_Kelvin | 31 July 2021 | 10,226 | 89% | YouTube |
| 2 | Crisis | 7 August 2021 | 15,054 | 95% | YouTube |
| 3 | Paliermu | 30 August 2021 | ~30,000 | 96% | YouTube |
| 4 | Wolvez | 30 August 2021 | 3,999 | ? | YouTube |
| 5 | Crimsonking22 | 31 August 2021 | ~40,225 | 96% | YouTube |
| 6 | Bradenbowl | 1 September 2021 | 35,743 | 96% | YouTube |
| 7 | RG | 5 October 2021 | ~7,500 | ? | YouTube |
| 8 | skzyl | 8 October 2021 | 22,449 | 95% | YouTube |
| 9 | Cymmas | 19 October 2021 | 7,996 | 96% | YouTube |
| 10 | ShadowGao | 27 October 2021 | 33,010 | 84% | YouTube |
Trivia
- RUST was rated on 31 July 2021 and placed at #17 on the Demonlist on 25 August 2021, above The Rupture and below Cognition.
- This addition pushed Arctic Lights out of the Top 25, Stalemate Redux into the Extended List after almost four years, and RASH into the Legacy List for the second time.
- RUST was ranked #76 in GDToday's '100 Greatest Levels of All Time' list.
- RUST was nominated for Best Extreme Demon in the Geometry Dash 2021 Awards.
- At some points during the creation of RUST, it received some criticism from the community for its decoration and gameplay. neigefeu has since responded in a Pastebin.[7]
- neigefeu also wrote that they themed the level around 'broken, decaying technology' to distance it from Sunset Sandstorm, which has similar gameplay and the same song as RUST.
- An Extreme Demon called Levigo, created by Swib, was heavily inspired by RUST, along with GOODTHING.
- There is an upcoming unofficial sequel to RUST called BAD TO THE BONE, created by MentosTee.
- RUST was in EricVanWilderman's 12 Demons of Christmas 2022 Community series, as Demon #4.[8]
- The placement of The Salt Factory on 8 January 2026 pushed RUST into the Legacy List of the Demonlist.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEXGlrNMyR4
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7OcOrh5_kE
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8vBscaiNo
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UvmTFGE7-E
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M98vapWYi6c
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaH68t_tsjo
- ↑ http://pastebin.com/KQU8CiWQ
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYh2gFPUiN0