Riot Lights (NDXL)
Here it is, my contest entry I ended up rushing the majority of in 3 days! Be prepared for a lot of mechanical attacks!
Riot Lights is an Advanced difficulty level created by NDXL. It was created for the 2020.1 "No Boss" Level Contest, where it won third place in community votes. Additionally, it was featured in PA Memories (2.1). Following the contest's theme, Riot Lights features no boss characters and is centered around a mechanical theme.
Layout
Opening
The level opens with several bombs appearing as warning lights are visible on the top of the screen. A metal door closes on the background, and lasers begin to appear onscreen. Boxes with pistons attatched drift across the screen slowly, expanding and retracting as they move. Near the end of the checkpoint, the door in the background slowly opens to reveal a pulsing white circle. As the circle grows, it attacks with lasers.
Checkpoint 1
Six metal arms attach to the circle, each leaving with a slice of it. The metal arms attack with lasers from the slices while rotating back and forth on the edges of the screen - aside from two arms which shoot bullets instead. Afterwards, the arms retract as bombs and spinning pulses appear while the camera zooms in. A single shockwave appears just before the next checkpoint.
Checkpoint 2
The screen begins scrolling to the right, making this checkpoint a maze-like section. Large gears appear that need to be dashed in and out of, along with pistons that need to be avoided. After moving through a corridor and through a set of gears, the screen begins scrolling downwards as walls appear on the left and right. A lone sawblade chases the player from the top, eventually forcing them into being surrounded. A box closes in on all the sawblades and then disappears, beginning the next part.
Checkpoint 3
The screen is split into two sections, with a wall that must be dashed through separating each. Piston attacks appear on both sides, with a large attack occasionally covering an entire side of the screen - forcing the player out of it. Just before the next checkpoint, gears roll across the edges of the screen as a final attack.
Checkpoint 4
A brief flash is followed by several small square pulses appearing on a dark background. Several vertical lasers begin appearing as a set of claws and sawblades slowly rises from the bottom of the screen. The camera begins to scroll upwards as the lasers continue and the machinery follows, with the view being drastically zoomed out.
After the scrolling section ends, the camera slowly returns to its initial position as circular pulses appear. A quick barrage of attacks including gears, pistons, and lasers appears before a piston box appears in the center of the screen and the next checkpoint begins.
Checkpoint 5
A single piston box rotates in the center of the screen, with a circle arena surrounding it. A group of hexagons orbits around on the outside of the circle. Several small, red square pulses appear onscreen in this part, as the hexagons fire lasers inward and the piston box occasionally sends out shockwave attacks. The camera then zooms in on the piston box as the circular pulses return. The box slowly shrinks away, and the door from earlier in the level closes again - this time with the credits and special thanks for it attatched.
Gallery
Steam Workshop image of the first checkpoint
Workshop image of the second checkpoint
Workshop image of the third checkpoint
Workshop image of the fourth checkpoint
Workshop image of the final checkpoint
Video
Trivia
- The Riot Lights part in PA Memories (2.1) represents each checkpoint, rapidly switching between the signature attacks for each. Unlike the original level, however, the door is segmented into smaller parts and doesn't open and close all at once.
- All Your Energy, a level created for NDXL's birthday, is intentionally themed after Riot Lights in one of its parts and pays homage to the circular pulse attacks and piston boxes.