Level 13

Chinese version / 中文版:	第13关

Level 13, also known as Speed or SuDu, is a new level officially added a few months after Ballance was released (September 14, 2004), and it is a downloadable content (DLC). . It can be entered without clearing any of levels 1-12. It is the the only official level that has a level name instead of just a level number, and the only official level that has an official Chinese name. It is also the most difficult level in original levels (but in the comprehensive evaluation of Ballance bar difficulty, it is only 2 stars; the other 12 levels are all 1 star).

Speed Level 13
original level 13 (DLC)
The big spiral in the fifth section and the U-shaped road faintly visible below, the final challenge of the original Ballance game.
Basic information
source language name	Speed (Sudu)
Author	Cyparade (Ballance official)
Release time	September 14, 2004
Number of sections	5
Extended information
Applicable to	Ballance
Contained in map package	yes
Record authentication is supported in	Ballance bar, Speedrun.com

Level Introduction

Entering the level

The 13th level is a downloadable content; if one has the original 12-level version of Ballance, one needs to download and install the 13th level patch to enter the 13th level. However, the Ballance version currently in circulation basically has this patch already built in, so there is no need to install it.

Before entering the 13th level, you need to enter the Twilight zone at the bottom of the game level selection interface menu. After clicking to enter, the interface will emit the same thunder sound as the level 12 sound effect, and the menu disappears. The light color of the demo level on background changes to dark blue, and there are blue vertical rows of the chinese characters 速度 at the intersection of the road connecting the three "transformers". . When the mouse hovers over it, the color changes to purple, click to enter the 13th level.

In addition, the normal clearance of the 12th level can also naturally enter the 13th level through the Clear level menu option to enter the next level.

Level content

There are difficulties in each section of the 13th level, and the difficulties are closely related to the theme "speed" of the level: in the first four sections, the player ball is racing with the prop ball, and the obstacles in the area must be cleared before the prop ball reaches a certain area, or the player has to protect the ball to let it reach the end and help the player clear some obstacles. The player can get bonus points if done faster; the fifth section requires the player to have a very fast speed to pass.

This level requires players to have high reaction ability and operation ability, and in the last section, there is a stone ball helix and a wooden ball reversed helix side rail.

The initial attribute of the player's ball in Level 13 is a stone ball, and except for the last part of the last section, there is no wooden transformer.

After clearing the level, it is the same as the 12th level, and a flying saucer will appear to pick up the wooden ball. However, since the 13th level is the last level, there is no option to "go to the next level" in the menu displayed after clearing the level.

Design problems

Some areas of this level are obviously poor in detail and the design is slightly insufficient. For example, the guard rail lacks "screws", and the last spiral rail is actually in a road sound effect group. Not only are there many non possum mori s, 13-4 even has a serious design loophole of a non possum vivi. Deterioration of detail is often attributed to lack of time for the production team to examine the map carefully.

There is no cloud layer in this level, but there is a cloud layer model, which is at a very high position equivalent to the main part of the map, and in the normal game process cannot be observed.

It has been said that because the height and plane distance of this pass are too large, there are no clouds. However, the test found that the size of the cloud layer in different levels is actually different, and sometimes the difference is very large. It is not a problem to make a larger cloud layer for the 13th level and follow the example of the 11th level to cross the cloud layer. Therefore, the real reason is not clear yet.

Clearance Tutorial

• [Ballance Can't complete dalao operation? Check this out! Teach you to pass the level 13 step by step! ] - Bilibili - STERD

Player Experience

After watching this guide (refer to the video link above), I finally cleared the level. Thank you up master for sharing! Here is my experience as a newbie:

• The stone ball rebounding the bascula bridge in the second section is key. It can not only brake but also push the board, which can save a lot of time.
• The simple way of moving in the third section is very practical, and there is basically no difficulty after learning it.
• The ventilators in the fourth section is a bit difficult. My personal experience is to go to the ventilator at an angle earlier, so that the ball can be lifted to the highest point earlier, and there is time to adjust even if it is not at the highest point at the first time. The reaction time to control the landing of the paper ball after reaching to the highest level should be sufficient.

Since the first section can be repeated directly, and one can quickly pickup an Extra Life in sections 2, 3, and 4, even if you are not proficient in the front and make many mistakes, you can enter section 5 with 6 lives, and then this section is the key... If you can complete the spiral, you can pass the level in an instant, but if you couldn't, you will be stuck for a long time... It feels too troublesome to start from the beginning after running out of life. So I turned on Infinite Life and practiced the two spirals repeatedly. After more than an hour, I finally cleared the level normally with 4 lives left (although I didn’t get full marks).

I summed up the difference between the two spirals: the spiral of the stone ball only needs to press the button in the direction of grasping the track, as long as you don’t deliberately slow down, the speed of entering the spiral is enough. However, because the wooden ball climbs upwards, and the initial speed is quite slow, and the force exerted by the keys alone cannot grasp the track (it will slide down), one has to press the keys along the direction of the wooden ball's movement, not towards the direction of the track. More specifically, when entering the spiral, you should press and hold up to accelerate the wooden ball instead of pressing right to grab the track. Before, I couldn’t even go up the first lap, because I saw the ball enter the spiral and I changed to the right. The wooden ball didn’t accelerate and naturally couldn’t climb the spiral.

Of course, the most important thing is to be familiar with the rhythm of counterclockwise rotation. I climbed to the top for the first time when I cleared the level, but I didn’t react and slipped down the suspension bridge. The second time, the rhythm was out of order on the way, so I often stayed on the same floor and derailed a few times, but luckily I was rescued. Yes, finally pass the level. Those who can climb up smoothly like the master of up, and can climb up again after derailment should have practiced many times, and the rhythm is very good, awesome!

In short, thanks again to the up master for sharing, which made me successfully end the previous nightmare! – 孔孟塌了屋（于The reference tutorial video above, the 29th floor of the comment area），October 30, 2020 06:20

History

After Ballance was released on April 2, 2004, the official version only had 12 levels, and there was no entrance to the Twilight zone (twilight zone) and level 13.

On August 9, 2004, Ballance developer Klaus Risch revealed on the official forum that "the production team is designing level 13, which can be downloaded here after release".

On September 14, Ballance's official website released a news announcement about the "Speed" DLC, and gave a DLC patch containing the 13th level map. Players can download it for free and use it to overwrite the original related game program files to add this level.

Ballance official website's original announcement on the release of the 13th level "Speed" DLC

After a lot of requests from Ballance fans, we finally finished an extra level! Now, we are proud to launch this level with the Chinese name - "速度" (there should be the sound of gongs and drums)! It can be downloaded for free in our download area.

While the level looks rather ordinary (sorry, no visual improvements), you'll find that not only is this level the hardest out there, but it's also a very different experience to play. Thanks to it, we were finally able to implement those little ideas that were strictly forbidden when making other levels in the first place - for a simple reason. They are all likely to make the player fail directly at the first contact~

So, welcome to the "Twilight zone"!

— Ballance Production Team (paraphrase)

If you want to get the Level 13 DLC patch file and The installation method of this DLC patch, please click the bold italic words in this sentence to access the corresponding file or item.

On September 24, Ballance's official website released another message to the effect that "Only 10 days after the release of the 13th level, a player with the ID Isaberry released his excellent clearance video".

Later, when asked if he had a plan to make level 14, on October 12, 2004, Klaus replied that he originally planned to continue making one or two maps, but in the end because the production team lacked time and energy and had to give up. They plan to put more energy into new games.

There have been rumors in Ballance Bar about the "two other levels" in the Twilight zone, Level 14 "Power" and Level 15 "Ability". But those levels actually don't exist at all.

Gallery

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  The first section. This section requires the player to use the prop stone ball many times, which often becomes an obstacle for newcomers.

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  The "ball cart" in the fourth section, and the big spiral in the fifth section can be seen in the distance.

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  The floating transformer above the ending section is suspected to be a remnant that the producer forgot to delete.

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  Overview of the whole level; it can be seen that the third section occupies a very long space.

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  The demo level in the Twilight zone, the entrance of this level. Note that this is what it looks like when the "strength" and "ability" plugins are added.