I opened my Iris Gradu article with the following:

This is by far the most fun I've had playing Geometry Dash in a long while. And I believe the reason for that to be because Iris Gradu was so free.

But I don't think I can say the same here.

Don't get me wrong. Spatium Gradu was fun. We gave creators a lot of freedom just like the first level (although maybe a bit less due to the harder theme) and collaborated with mostly the same group of people. We even started right after 2.2 dropped, so we all had loads of ideas. But unlike Iris Gradu, as time passed, this level became more and more a pain to finish.

And I think that is because we became too ambitious.

Iris Gradu was a lot of fun and a huge success. But it was also just simple. It had only 6 creators and a very simple theme.

Spatium Gradu, on the other hand, was a lot more ambitious.

First, we had 9 parts to start, plus an intro sequence and endscreen. This proved to be too many so we later shortened it to 8 parts (which is why the level ends maybe a little too early).

We managed to build the first 6 parts super fast. But the last two proved to be a struggle. I eventually got two of my friends to fill them, but it took months to get to that point.

I wouldn't say the level was at risk of dying. But we did get to the point where we almost cut out those two parts, which is now possible in 2.2 thanks to the song trigger. But I really did not want this to happen, which is why I recruited some friends.

Second, the theme was a lot harder this time around. With Iris Gradu, we sort of just let people do whatever so long as it even remotely related to the theme of "rainbow."

The theme for Spatium Gradu was "space," which is already a lot more limiting. But we made things even harder by sort of dividing the parts up. Some parts took place in deep space, others inside a space station, others on a planet, etc.

That being said, I honestly don't think this is as big an issue I originally thought. Everyone pulled through and managed to make some fire parts. And these minor theming requirements made the progression for this level SO MUCH better.

So in the end, maybe it was really just the 9 (later 8) parts that turned out to be the problem.

With all that being said, I think Spatium Gradu turned out well. Although I think my part and ClingingBog's parts could be better. But at this point we are done with this level and do not want to spend any more time working on it.

On the bright side, we've finally made a Team Gradu Discord server! Iris Gradu was organized in the Team Uprising server and that was fun. Spatium Gradu started in the Team Uprising server but we later moved to a group chat, which made communication a bit harder due to lack of multiple channels. But now with the Gradu server, I think Gradu levels are about to get real.

For the next Gradu level, we plan to stick with 6 parts. We pretty much all agree that after how ambitious Spatium Gradu turned out, we want a break. The theme for this level is also much easier (we will reveal the theme later).

For previews, keep an eye on Kivixi's channel. He somehow became our go-to guy for showcases and previews for Gradu levels so.

Anyway, as I did in the Iris Gradu article, here is a list of all Spatium Gradu contributors:

1. Knox14
2. Waffl3X (a.k.a. Purzin)
3. Nidroo
4. GD Melk
5. Ronlix
6. Moldy
7. Kivixi
8. ClingingBog

Also special thanks to Bli, Kivvvi, and Sdslayer for making funny coins for us to use. Waffl3X also made the intro sequence and endscreen.

The gameplay is mostly by Kivixi but the creators had no obligation to use it.

And finally, a dishonorable mention goes to Atlanz. Not only did he fail to contribute to the level in any way, but he actively made the production harder. And he's weird.

Overall, this level was a group effort, just like Iris Gradu. Everyone contributed in some way, even if their contributions made our lives harder (hi Atlanz).

The Gradu ideology is pretty much just giving freedom to creators. Let them build in whatever styles they want and make whatever changes to the gameplay they want. So long as it even remotely sticks to the theme then we're gaming.