Written on July 30th, 2024.

AbstractDark is a famous creator who has recently risen to fame again after not releasing many levels in 2.1. Throughout his 8 year journey in Geometry Dash, he has shown his talent in the editor numerous times, creating fantastic levels like Seasonal Haven, Tornado, Underground, Darkness Keeper, and many others. However, I would like to talk about my personal favorite time where Abstract impressed the community with his talent. Not even a month into 2.1’s release, Abstract released one of his most famous levels, titled “Generator.”

For Abstract’s first 2.1 level, Generator is a very impressive take on the new features. Unfortunately, the level’s decoration is not too great. Most of the block designs throughout the level are cluttered with objects exclusive to 2.1, leading to designs that have aged for the worse. Additionally, the majority of the level uses a strange blue combination where the background is a deep navy blue, while the designs and other assets use a bright royal blue. Although the decoration is very rough around the edges, there is one aspect that Abstract excelled in, which cements this level in history as one of the most famous early 2.1 levels. The rotation trigger, one of the major triggers added in 2.1, was difficult to figure out for a majority of the community. However, Abstract learned the rotation trigger almost immediately and used it to fantastic extents in Generator. The most impressive usage of the rotation trigger in this level is the ship part at 18%, which features entirely rotated gameplay. There are also other impressive uses of the rotation trigger, such as the rotating carriers in the ufo at 38%, the rotating backgrounds in the parts at 60% and 91%, and the rotating lasers and saws found throughout the entire level. Abstract tastefully used the rotation trigger many times in Generator, which gives this level a lot of charm regardless of the abnormal decoration.

Fortunately, the gameplay is a step up from the decoration. Although this level came out less than a month into 2.1, Abstract did not overuse the new gameplay elements. Because of this, Generator has gameplay that experiments with the new features while not being overly confusing, which makes for some very fun gameplay. Nevertheless, the gameplay is not perfect either. Although the ship at 18% is the most impressive part of the level, the gameplay in the ship can get very boring having to play many times over. Additionally, the part at 60% utilizes 4x speed, which makes the gameplay tough to sight-read. Yet, if you keep these two complaints in mind, the gameplay is still very enjoyable.

Although the decoration and gameplay are not perfect, Generator is still one of the best early-2.1 levels. Abstract’s fantastic usage of the rotation trigger created an experience of a level that still holds to this day. Generator undoubtedly showed Abstract’s sheer talent in the editor, and helped him become the amazing creator he is today.