Clubstep: Tips and level analysis

Clubstep is a very hard level and most people really struggle with it when they first encounter it. So, if you are one of these people, this guide should (but probably won't) help you beat this beast and maybe your first ever demon!
ver. 1.02
Changelog:
6/3/2021 = Released Guide
3/7/2021 = Links have been removed. All types now must be fixed. Some words like "lol" in certain sections have been removed and certain letters have been capitalized for a more pleasant reading experience.
6/7/2021 = More fixes. More typos fixed. More tiny adjustments.
5/11/2022 = Guide should now be easy to read. I fixed several mistakes and my English is now much better.

NOTE

During the making of this guide, an error occurred to my game, meaning you will notice a lack of images later on. I am sorry of the inconvenience and hope for your understanding.

What input device should I use?

Clubstep demands from you a lot of ship skill and control, unlike other levels where you go through a slightly tight corridor and then you are done. You need to have the game's ship physics (and the mini ship's) in your muscle memory to be able to pass it. You need to be in 100% comfort to be able to beat most demon levels.
Up to this point, it really didn't matter whether you used the space bar, the mouse, the up key, a
controller, nintendo joycons, voice control, a potato, a guitar, a piano or a giant enter key. However now you have 3 best options:
1) Mouse, due to how mechanical the mouse is, how heavy clicks feel and the ability to do multiple controlled clicks in a SINGLE second, the mouse is by far the best option to play Geometry Dash.
2) Controller, use it only if you feel a ridiculous amount of comfort with it.
3) Potato Amazing way to play, not as good as the above.
So, get a mouse and start ehmm... clicking! Yes, clicking!

What shouldn't I use?

Anything I didn't mention above.

Flow State and why it is extremely important

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology))

In positive psychology, a flow state, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting transformation in one's sense of time.

The following six factors as encompassing an experience of flow:

-Intense and focused concentration on the present moment
-Merging of action and awareness
-A loss of reflective self-consciousness
-A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
-A distortion of temporal experience, one's subjective experience of time is altered
-Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience

Translation in human language:
Flow state is a Max-performance mode, where you forget all physical needs (hunger, thirst, bathroom) and are basically an extremely focused automatic robot.

Essentially if you want to beat a level that's at the edge of your skill, well, flow state is very ******* important, since it's probably the only way you will be able to beat the level!
These are some tips that will help you get into flow state:

-No distractions, turn off Discord notification and change to ''invisible'' on steam. Try staying away from family members
-The level must be harder than most of the levels you have done. If this isn't the case, you won't have a strong emotional connection to the level
-Practice. Practice a lot of the level's parts till you are very confident with each on of them. This is why I died at DeCode at 97%
[LINK REMOVED]
I didn't practice the final section, neither 60-100% much, so I panicked by the fluke and died.
-Try to beat the level in every attempt you do, obviously. Oh and also have the goal of completing the level (obviously)
-Have a lot of time, it takes a lot of time for you to enter flow state
-Be comfortable in general
-Don't try to realize whether you are in flow state or not

This was a very important section to add. I cannot emphasize how important flow state is.

Should I even be trying to beat it?

Yes. Is it a big step-up from Electroman Adventures? Yeah. Is it worth it though? Ehmm no.

Introduction of invisible blocks and spikes

Clubstep introduces invisible blocks and spikes, as the title says.
To deal with them, look at the right side of the screen to see them in an almost full opacity.

Level overview and tips

In this section I will be covering the entire level and give you tips.

First Cube

The first part is quite easy, all you need to do is memorize which rings are the right ones. You can see in the images below which ones:


After that, you will reach the invisible block maze.
Follow the tip I gave you and look ahead to see the blocks when they are still very visible. As you can see, the 2 blocks near me are barely visible, the one that I am about to stand on is nearly impossible to see! However, the ones near the yellow gravity portal can be easily seen. This block maze does last for quite a while, so practice it if you have trouble.

First Ship

After a ''tramatik'' rise, you reach the first ship. I split this part into 2 sections, the first 3 demons and the invisible spikes.
The first demon is fairly easy, there is only 2 spikes. After that, you will enter a slightly tighter demon mouth with a gravity change, start holding as soon as you touch the gravity portal and release before you hit that sneaky last spike!


As for the the third demon face, you are still upside-down, so let go, get in, and start holding again. Remember to let go at the right moment!




After that, you will reach the 2nd section of the ship part that's 3 demon faces in a row with invisible spikes, the screenshot on the right highlights the right path.

First Mini Cube

This is a very easy part, just hit the right rings (unless you want to die).

Mini ball

This part can be tough when you don't know what to do.
At the start hit the correct rings. Remember that there is a purple jump pad, so don't click too early.
After that there is this fake. To avoid dying, you want to go up, into the demon's face and hit the blue ring. I noticed that sometimes clicking it too early kills you, so don't buffer it.

Buffering

Buffering is a technique used to hit jump rings as early as possible. I don't know how to explain it so i will just show you this screenshot:
Basically, you hold mid-air. Make a test level and try it.

Anyway, back the the ball part.
After hitting the purple jump pad and the yellow orb, you will be faced with this:

All you need to do is go up and switch gravity to not get hit by the spikes.

UFO

Then you face the UFO. I can't really give any tips. Just click late. However, make sure you click in this pattern at the end of it:

Mini ship

Simple hold-release pattern. Nothing hard.

Cube

Easy, again, just hit the correct rings.
The following screenshot shows which rings will kill you:

Mini Ship

This can be one of the most troubling parts for you. Hold-release-click at the star decorations. once you change gravity almost immediately start holding and release at the right time. You may need to do another ''hold'' to avoid the demon's invisible teeth.

Mini UFO

Another really easy one. just jump. Here are the spikes visible (go middle, btw).

Mini Ship

The image on the right is the intro of the first section of the mini ship. The hardest part is the transition. There are 2 ways of doing it:
1. Do 2 fast clicks to gain control as soon as you enter the portal
2. Jump right before entering the portal so you fall down. You will be able to hold without any ''bonus'' clicks.
If you survive, the rest of this section is free, just some memory.
Later on however is the second section and generally considered one of the hardestest part:

Practice this part a lot, it will give you trouble.
Click pattern: The best click pattern I've found is: hold-release-change_gravity-wait-hold

Cube

This section is simple but buggy. Jump as early as possible and hit only 2 gravity orbs.

Mini Ship

In my opinon the hardest part. The control tips said earlier should be helpful!

Cube

Not worth talking about, just be wary of the orb fake.

Ending

You've almost made it, this is the last part! Make sure you practice this and don't screw up!

Practising methods: How to use start positions

So far you could just, do a simple practice run and play normal mode till you beat it. However, Clubstep is a home to many hard parts that need practice. The best way of practicing is start positions and copyables. This allows you to immediately practice ANY section you want. Here are some instructions as to how to use start positions:
1. Look up ''Clubstep Copyable''



2. Use the copy button located to the left of the screen (the pass is 666666)


3. Open the level

4. Go to the last tab and click ''START POS''.

5. Afterwards, go to the place you want to practice.

6. Once you place it:
-You can press "2" (or click "EDIT") to switch to edit mode. You can click on the Start Pos and move it around.
-Click on "Edit Object" to bring up a menu where you can edit what you spawn as.

7. Press "ESC"

8. Click "Save and Play"

NOTE: Sometimes the ground and ceiling won't be like they should. Fix this by moving the Start Pos up or down.

9. Click "DELETE" or press "3" to go to delete mode and click "delete all Start Pos" if there are too many.

This way, you'll be able to practice any section you want as quickly as possible for as long as possible with the song you would hear in the level.

You can use Practice Mode to do a least deaths possible run.

End

Bonus Tips:

• Try playing some online levels, they can prepare you for Clubstep or just clear your brain.
  
• Use the easy demon filter to find some levels you could play.
  
• It's recommended you play The Nightmare, The Lightning Road and Noobman
  Adventures before you play Clubstep. They should prepare you well.

Anyway, you've made it! Yep, it was really short and you learned almost nothing, but hey, you made it, glad you sticked around! Some of you probably just scrolled down all the way here. If you are one of them, the congratulation message does not apply to you, even if you go read the rest now.

Goodbye!

[gioisthecool]

this is a hella good guide, ive already beaten every main level but i still read through the whole thing lol

[Arsenic444]

lol so hard level yes very

[Goga Boga]

@kopeleto961 I am glad, though I don't understand how you beat the level with this rushed piece of crap lol.

[Marker]

its easy tho

[kopeleto96]

Thank you I finally beat clubstep