UNKNOWN
88203501
DrCuber (host); NineDice (co-host and publisher)
- Contributors
Relayne, muriday, GhostVandalf, GD Iris, Gusearth, and Renn241
Diamond
Original: Dom and Ronald
Replacement: Okuu
Original: Thunder
Replacement: Thunder (Okuu Remix)
Original: NONG (Not on Newgrounds)
Replacement: 1131108
UNKNOWN is a 2.1 Extreme Demon mega-collaboration level hosted by DrCuber and co-hosted by NineDice, verified by Diamond on 30 January 2023. The level received a decoration update on 11 June 2022. It is a short greyscale level, decorated with a dark, mysterious atmosphere. The level's gameplay features narrow straight-flying segments, extremely tight wave sections, and generally punishing timings. kywy had a 95% record on the old version until he dropped it and gave it to Diamond, who verified it after 35,818 attempts, with a fail at 92%.
The old, original version of UNKNOWN, which had 1.9-styled decoration, was created by Relayne and muriday and released on 9 June 2021. The redecoration update, hosted by DrCuber, updated the level's decoration and featured slight gameplay changes to improve its chances of being rated once verified and released. However, the old decoration of the level will be accessible through the level's Low Detail Mode.
An official sequel, UNSOLVED, hosted by muriday, is under development.
History
[edit | edit source]Controversy
[edit | edit source]After verification of UNKNOWN and its initial placement on the Demonlist, a Twitter user and an impossible level creator named Skub made a series of threads, explaining that the original creators of UNKNOWN have never gained explicit permission from DrCuber's team to redecorate the level, as well as never been credited in both the verification video and in the level. The screenshot in the thread also shows muriday expressing his frustration, wanting the level to be unrated out of hatred.[1]
Description
[edit | edit source]Note: Relayne created the gameplay from 0-53%, and muriday created the gameplay from 53-100%.
- 0-12% (GhostVandalf + GD Iris): UNKNOWN begins with GhostVandalf and GD Iris' part, a timing-based cube section described as deceivingly difficult. After jumping over a few sets of spikes and a tight spike pyramid inside a Clubstep monster, the player must hit two blue orbs and jump over another spike. At 5%, they must jump off of an invisible short platform near the left edge of the following structure to get on top of it. After several tight timings involving orbs and blue pads, the player must jump early on top of the structure at 10% to land on the right-most edge, then jump again to clear some spikes at the bottom. The next part begins after they hit a pink orb inside another Clubstep monster.
- 12-25% (Gusearth): Gusearth's part continues the cube section from the previous part, beginning with a yellow orb that must be hit after jumping when directly under it. After a long segment of timings with gravity portals and orbs, the player must jump over a triple-spike at 23% and jump once more into a ship portal.
- 25-53% (DrCuber): DrCuber's part begins with a ship section. The player must first straight-fly between some spikes inside a Clubstep monster and through a tight passage full of gravity portals with orbs inside them. At 30%, they must carefully enter the blue portal to avoid hitting spikes to the left when they go through a cube portal. The player must then jump over a spike and land on the left edge of the following block, allowing them to jump above to go through a yellow portal to hit a blue pad. After two jumps on sloped surfaces, the drop of the level begins. The player enters a fast wave section with extremely tight gaps and speed changes between triple- and double speed. Following the wave section, there is a short ship section with a straight-flying segment at the beginning and a few tight timings between gravity portals. The player then enters a triple-speed mini-cube section with two yellow and two blue orbs, which must be hit as they bounce between blue pads.
- 53-61% (NineDice): NineDice's part is a double-speed ball section where the player must carefully go through gaps between spikes and hit orbs. Structures in this part flash between a normal design and hand-drawn line art.
- 61-67% (GD Iris): GD Iris' part in the level is a tight normal-speed mini-wave section. Because the decoration is difficult to see, the path the player should take is marked with bright white, spike-like objects.
- 67-100% (Renn241): Renn241's part begins with a triple-speed mini-ship section where the player must go through some gravity portals and then straight-fly as a single-sized ship. Following this, the player enters a half-speed wave section that becomes double speed as the player becomes a mini-wave. Following this are some mini-cube timings with yellow orbs, with a short mini-ship section in the middle. Then, the player enters a tight triple-speed wave section that somewhat resembles River's part in Slaughterhouse, with tight hard-to-see gaps and a glowing Clubstep monster. The player is a mini-wave until they go through the Clubstep monster, where they become normal-size before becoming mini again immediately after. The level ends with a normal-speed cube section where the player must carefully jump over the triple-spike and hit a half-speed portal to land on the right edge of the triple-spike, allowing them to jump again to clear another spike below.
Gameplay
[edit | edit source]First 10 victors
[edit | edit source]| Victor # | Player | Date Completed | Total Attempts | Furthest Fail | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verifier | Diamond | 30 January 2023 | 35,818 | 92% | YouTube |
| 1 | Cursed | 11 February 2023 | 20,702 | 97% | YouTube |
| 2 | Zoink | 12 February 2023 | 6,491 | 94% | YouTube |
| 3 | summrs | 14 February 2023 | 32825 | 82% | YouTube |
| 4 | Thnnder | 16 February 2023 | ? | 94% | YouTube |
| 5 | pohgii | 19 February 2023 | 28,543 | 97% | YouTube |
| 6 | Trick | 19 March 2023 | ? | 97% | YouTube |
| 7 | Netermind | 25 March 2023 | 13,422 | 81% | YouTube |
| 8 | Cryonix6000 | 29 March 2023 | ~24,000 | 97% | YouTube |
| 9 | Denni | 10 April 2023 | 33,764 | 95% | YouTube |
| 10 | Buter | 16 May 2023 | 26,481 | 94% | YouTube |
Trivia
[edit | edit source]- UNKNOWN was rated on 9 February 2023 and placed at #14 on the Demonlist on 5 March 2023, above Tartarus and below The Hallucination.
- This addition pushed Kenos out of the Top 25, Plasma Pulse Finale into the Extended List, Sonic Wave out of the Top 100, and Framework into the Legacy List.
- The former replacement song for UNKNOWN was 'Retro Dancer' by Darule, with a Newgrounds ID of 1244. This replacement song is still used in the old version.
- UNKNOWN is a popular level to jump to as a new hardest for wave-carried players due to most of its difficulty carried by the wave game-mode.
- On 5 February 2023, muriday posted a preview of UNKNOWN's official sequel called UNSOLVED.[2] The level currently has no verifier, as it is too difficult in its unnerfed state. It is set to place at Top 1 on the Demonlist.
- On 19 July 2025, Ultrobro GD previewed a remake of UNKNOWN called UNIDENTIFIED.[3] It is set to be verified by Bamvie.
- There is also an upcoming impossible Top 1 remake called SILENT UNKNOWN. The community has praised the level for its outstanding, detailed decoration.[4]
- There was a trend of unserious silent versions based on UNKNOWN, by attaching the word 'SILENT' numerous times to the title each time.
- There is also an upcoming impossible Top 1 remake called SILENT UNKNOWN. The community has praised the level for its outstanding, detailed decoration.[4]
- On 19 July 2025, Ultrobro GD previewed a remake of UNKNOWN called UNIDENTIFIED.[3] It is set to be verified by Bamvie.
- On 25 April 2026, a 'GD World Tournament' event was hosted by TCD called 'The UNKNOWN Race', in which Netermind, Tihra, Breakcore, ekleraaa, EmeraldKnight, and ejgpsyched were competing to get as many points from either beating UNKNOWN or doing runs of 24% or above, 53% or above and 76% or above.[5] Netermind won the tournament, achieving 6,704 points.
- On 7 May 2026, Itz Xtinct, who is legally blind in one eye, completed UNKNOWN as a new hardest after 150,123 attempts and became its unluckiest victor, as he has failed at 97%, 96% thrice, 95% five times, 94% sixteen times, 93% five times, and 92% six times.[6]
- The current world record for the old version of UNKNOWN is 39%, achieved by Emp on 11 November 2025.[7]
- The placement of Penumbral on 29 April 2026 pushed UNKNOWN out of the Top 100 of the Demonlist.
Videos
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ https://x.com/skub42/status/1635203118110773248
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiH5RujXomk
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y88gJeB33Q
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq6fMb8DhKA
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAEbVAm0SZQ
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SqgnG6Niwo
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjaPIEDUa70&t=6682s