Dissolve (MotionIII)
[USE EDITOR-ALPHA BRANCH - The Experiments 1/4] After installing the Experiment Viewer, you're ready to try out your first Experiment! It looks like this one involves color... (Thumbnail artwork by TheLordOfPorgs)
Dissolve is an Expert difficulty level made by MotionIII. It is the first level in The Experiments storyline and is centered on a gimmick where only attacks that are the same color as the player can damage them, with other-colored attacks being distractions.
Layout
Start
- Experiment Viewer loading screen, Dissolve
The level begins with an "Experiment Viewer" option being selected from the Project Arrhythmia main menu. After reaching the Experiment Viewer title screen, a random experiment is loaded: Experiment - #0153. A description, tags, and stability level are displayed in a similar style to PA's level select screen. An image of the experiment shows that it is a star formed by 5 multicolored triangles and a white center. After selecting the PLAY button, a loading sequence begins where the on-screen tips explain the level's gimmick. As loading finishes, a brief glitchy transition takes the player to the level.
Checkpoint 1
The player starts off colored red. Only the red triangle of Experiment #0153 is present, spinning and sending out bullets from the center. It is shortly joined by the blue triangle, attached to it and also sending out (harmless) bullets. Then, the two triangles send out respectively-colored pulses covering each half of the screen, as well as lasers of the opposite color which the player must dodge. The triangles continue to spin faster and faster until they split apart or "dissolve."
Checkpoint 2
The red triangle flies to the left side of the screen as the blue triangle flies to the right. They each create rings of bullets as they bounce along the walls before rapidly flying up and down across the screen in an alternating pattern. After they come to a stop, they send out more bullet rings before meeting at the center joined by the green triangle. They quickly spin, with each triangle having a respectively-colored laser that swipes across a third of the screen. The triangles split apart again, this time moving in a circle with each one having spinning lasers. Once they stop, they send out more bullets before each flying randomly across the screen for a short while.
Checkpoint 3
The player turns green as the triangles move to the top of the screen and fly from left to right, each with a laser shooting downward (only one of which the player must dash through). Afterward, the triangles line up on the right side and shoot out patterns of beams in three colors such that the player must move to the correct level to avoid damage. Then, the player is moved to the center as a circular border encompasses them. The three triangles encircle the player and shoot out bullets as they circle around, a reference to Soundodger+. At the end of this section, the triangles quickly spin and shoot out lasers that force the player back to the center.
Checkpoint 4
The triangles leave and a white circle appears at the center of the screen. Four sets of spinning beams, each a different color, emerge from the circle as the color yellow is introduced. Multicolored pulses also start to grow from the center, with each quarter of the pulses being a different color. Eventually, the circle and beams disappear as the player turns yellow and the yellow triangle makes its first appearance alongside the previous three. They each pop out in random parts of the screen and shoot patterns of bullets. Slowly, a white rectangular border starts to enclose the screen and the four triangles appear on the top and bottom, seemingly each about to shoot a different colored laser.
Checkpoint 5
Suddenly, they align themselves together and the four lasers merge into two with their colors mixing. The player must now deduce which half of the screen they should move to to avoid damage as more color-mixed lasers are fired. After this, the 4 triangles merge together at the center and spin similar to in Checkpoint 1, firing respectively-colored pulses and lasers to each half of the screen. Once again, they spin faster and faster until they split apart and dissolve into four.
Checkpoint 6
The player turns red, and similarly to Checkpoint 2, each triangle moves to a side of the screen and creates rings of colored bullets while bouncing along the walls. Then, each triangle moves to a different side and fires a pulse such that the player must dash in the correct direction to avoid damage. The triangles merge in the center again, this time joined by the fifth and final purple triangle as they spin quickly and cover the screen with five colored lasers. Afterward, they split apart and move across the screen erratically, bouncing off the walls as they hit them and donning small trails of triangles to avoid.
Checkpoint 7
After stopping, the triangles briefly merge into their star form before the player turns purple and the screen fades to the final section of the level. Here, each of the five triangles performs a different attack simultaneously, challenging players to stay focused on the correct attack to dodge. Midway through the section, the triangles join at the center and spew out a circular pattern of bullets before splitting off again. At the end, the triangles spin rapidly at the center and spew out a random assortment of bullets as their final attack. They then start to slow down, and each triangle turns into a respectively-colored circle. The circles start to spin and merge into a white circle which then dissolves, ending the level. An "EXPERIMENT COMPLETE" screen appears and teases the next experiment in the storyline.
Video
Trivia
- The lasers at the end of the Soundodger section are a reference to an attack in Rampant by Thaun0.
- One of the attacks featured in the final barrage involves a three-part spinner made of triangles, referencing an attack found in Excelsus from The Synthwave Trials.
- Towards the end of the final section, the blue triangle can briefly be seen with a gun that shoots a row of bullets, referencing an attack from DXL44's Dissolve which was unreleased at the time.
- On April Fools' Day 2024, MotionIII uploaded a version of Dissolve where all colors hurt the player. Minor alterations were made to ensure the level remained possible to no-hit.
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