SAVE AS
SAVE AS is a 2.1 Medium Demon level by PAHC, published on 14 July 2020. The level is designed to represent the stages of Alzheimer's disease, a type of dementia that commonly affects people who are over the age of 65. It starts normally but becomes progressively glitchier and messier as the level progresses.
Description
[edit | edit source]SAVE AS begins with an easy ship sequence. For most of this section, the player can rest and slide on the platforms, but they must fly over some spikes. Next is an easy cube section that requires the player to jump over double spikes and onto platforms. What is odd about the cube section, though, is that around halfway through, it looks like the player is done with the section before the rest of it suddenly flickers in.
Next up is a simple ball section that only requires some easy timings to get through gravity portals. The level slows and jitters, representing an early stage of Alzheimer's.
After this, there is a UFO segment in which the colours become increasingly monochrome and dark. This section is pretty simple; the hardest part is the hard-to-see fakes, which require semi-hard timing to get through, but otherwise it is pretty straightforward. This section ends with the player having to avoid a fake to get to the next section.
After the UFO section is a repeating-robot section, representing the patient's forgetfulness and repetition of words. This section repeats itself seven times. After this, there is a ship section, where seeing colour is pretty rare. This section is relatively tricky because some of the hitboxes have changed.
Next is a wave section that is pretty easy for the most part. This part also repeats itself, this time only six times. It requires some easy spamming and dodging saws while the gameplay loops through glitching. After this, there is a tricky ball section that repeats three times. The gameplay jitters throughout this part and requires precise timing to get through, which can be difficult.
Next is a hard cube section. All colour is gone at this point, and both the block design and gameplay jitter so much that it is hard for the player to see and time their jumps. A similar UFO section follows. Sometimes during this part, the player's cube flickers on and off the screen. This section also jitters, and with added saws that jitter as well, it is made even tougher. After the UFO, another ship requires some easy manoeuvring before it mostly turns auto towards the end.
After that, there is an auto-transition, with structures and gameplay flashing in sync with the music. This part represents a brief break and the recalling of memories, but it does not last long and is quickly followed by an extremely dark section, with a crooked, tangled block design. This part is also mainly auto. It switches to a wave, then a ship, and then a UFO. After this, there is a robot section that alternates between a cube. It also switches to a UFO a few times. This part is not particularly hard and requires easy jumps.
Next is a ship section, with decoration that resembles the part before it, but the decoration and gameplay flicker off-screen a few times. Then there is a cube section, which is auto. The cube cannot move in a straight line anymore; it is seen bouncing up and back. The screen fades to black as it transitions into the next part. It is also a cube, but this time requires the player to jump over double spikes. The player is not required to jump sometimes, as there are pink pads during some jumps.
A ship section follows, where the screen is mostly black, and it is nearly impossible for the player to see what they are doing. Luckily, only a few timings are required during this part.
The last section is a robot so incomprehensible that the rest of the level is auto, except for a final dash orb. It is nearly impossible for the player to see their robot during this part. The level ends with said dash orb as the screen fades to black, representing the death of the patient due to Alzheimer's complications. When the screen fades entirely to black, the level ends with a logo featuring the level's name, then fades to black once more.
Gameplay
[edit | edit source]Controversy
[edit | edit source]On 18 July 2020, Mulpan uploaded a showcase of SAVE AS to his channel titled 'Ge?@o%me?tr!y d^"as$h', indicating that he was using the level as clickbait for views without actually knowing the level's meaning (though it is claimed that he believed the level to be an average modern glitch effect level). After this, he received significant backlash, with some people stating that he disrespected PAHC and their level. Mulpan subsequently removed the video and issued a statement about the situation.[1]
Trivia
[edit | edit source]- SAVE AS was nominated for Best Effect Level in the Geometry Dash 2020 Awards. It placed second with 15.61% of the vote, just under 15,000 votes fewer than HOW.
- SAVE AS was ranked #56 in Geometry Dash Today's list of 'The Top 100 Greatest Geometry Dash Levels Of All Time'.
- On 29 and 30 July 2017, Juniper held three fundraising streams where she played SAVE AS while raising money to donate to an Alzheimer's disease foundation. The final amount donated by her viewers totalled $2,120 USD.[2]
- The song for SAVE AS, 'The Noise Experiment' by triplebarrel, was made specifically for the level, as PAHC could not find the perfect song to represent the disease.
- The old song was removed at an unknown time. In August 2021, triplebarrel uploaded a new version of the song for use in the level.
- Sometime in late January 2022, triplebarrel removed the song again.
- The visual metaphors of dementia do not conclude at the end screen. The appearance of SAVE AS's logo represents terminal lucidity, a possible state in which one regains a fair amount of cognitive function and memories shortly before death.
- PAHC's inspiration for SAVE AS was an album titled 'Everywhere at the End of Time' by The Caretaker,[3] and the artist William Utermohlen's paintings.
- SAVE AS only contains two orbs: a custom orb that turns off block rotation at the fifth state (less lag) and a green dash orb in the seventh stage.