Shifting Smashers

**!Spoiler Warning!**: **Plot and/or crucial story details follow.**

## Story

The Sentient Sedimentary in the level hints towards a greater meaning of the ancient civilizations that once ruled this world. Professor Smith in particular discusses how they are artificially-made, yet show no signs of inner-mechanisms or machinery. This leads The Player to believe that the previous residents of the tomb have managed to create life. Additionally, Professor Smith's research of the location points towards the area being a compost for bodies, and that something stole them before they managed to decompose fully.

## Appearance

Much like Under The Mangrove, the soil surrounding the underground cavern is rather moist, and houses several Starfish. Large green crystals can be seen in the background, though the crystals are unidentified. An entire sandstone foundation is embedded into the cave, will leaves and bushes sprouting out of the brilliantly-crafted sandstone architecture, as well as Beach Crabs exploring the ruins themselves.

## Solution

This level can be rather difficult as the threat of Sentient Sedimentary patrolling the area can put stress on the player, resulting in a greater change of easily-preventable failure. The distinct lack of Time Bugs also makes the level more challenging for beginners. The player must first begin by building upwards from the starting position to connect to the Energy Bomb. From there, the player must connect the Energy Bomb to the electric wire guarded by the second Sentient Sedimentary to the right using Plasma Goo and Mutant Goo. This must be done quickly and with proper timing before the first Sentient Sedimentary near the beginning slowly crushes the Goo Balls on the ceiling.

If done correctly, the Energy Bomb will explode, releasing Goo Product onto the goo structure below. Then, the player will have to build over to the right where the Filter Pipe is located. The player must ensure that not too many Goo Product is killed by the first Sentient Sedimentary before they climb to the right, as the strict Filter Pipe needs at least 6 Goo Product in order for the level to finish.

## OCD Solution

To achieve OCD for Shifting Smashers, the player must complete the level in 150 seconds or less. Quick haste is needed for this OCD. An easy stategy is for the player to build up to the Energy Bomb while simultaneously building a bridge over to the pipe as the Sentient Sedimentary is rising. Once it starts lowering, the player must quickly build a Plasma structure over to the electric wire before the horizontal-moving Sedimentary crushes it. A neat trick the player can do is to bounce a Plasma ball off of the Sedimentary onto the structure if they didn't build to the wire in time. After that, all that's left to do is get the Goo Product to the pipe and achieve OCD.

## Dialogue

* The Journalist
	+ *What a fascinating temple! Sadly, it appears snails have taken refuge on it recently. Say, these snails seem a bit familiar... Oh, aren't these the ones we blew the homes of? ... Uh... I think we should get out of here as soon as possible... I hear some talks about "prosecutions" and "war crimes" and "crimes against snailkind"... You know, maybe we shouldn't have blown up civilian housings... ... Well, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if we did that again! -The Journalist*
	+ *Look! There appears to be some sentient blocks made entirely of sandstone moving about! Well, maybe they aren't alive. I don't actually know. Though one thing is for certain. These blocks are capable of crushing goo balls. Better move quickly otherwise your goo squad here will be squished into jelly. What is this? Some kind of goo-icide squad? Though goo jelly does sound delicious... ... Also, time bugs appear to be afraid of moving objects for some reason.. So don't expect to find any time bugs in here, or anywhere else where moving objects are present. And stuff. -The Journalist*
* Professor Smith
	+ *--Tomb Of Hakken Log II-- This is quite the mysterious place. These blocks here are moving on their own, as clearly shown. Though, none of us are able to find any signs of machinery in these blocks. The only way to explain the behaviour of these blocks is literal magic. Signs show that this also used to be some kind of organic landfill. Like a compost, but for bodies. What kind of bodies you may ask? We don't really know. We do know that it would've taken ages for all of them to decompose properly. The leading theory to the disappearance of all these corpses is that something had taken them. They have been stolen. But why? And what for? Too many questions, and not enough answers. -Prof. S*

## Secrets

* One of Professor Smith's articles can be found located in the background, as a silhouette of a signpost.
* After the Energy Bomb explodes, click on the sandstone block with the bizarre drawing near the top of the level for a paragraph of Ancient Goo Scripture to be revealed behind a cluster of sandstone blocks.

## Trivia

* The level's name 'Shifting Smashers' is inspired by a level from Donkey Kong Country Returns.
* This level contains Professor Smith's first appearance.
* This level first introduces the mysterious 'AGS' language.
* The music used in this level is not officially named 'Attack Of The Killer Swarm', as instead that is the name of the game from Kyle Gabler's Experimental Games Package, called 'Attack of the Killer Swarm', where the music originally came from.
	+ Additionally, the version of the track used in **The Unknown World** is a slowed version of the original.
* The Journalist continues to make niche references in this level.
	+ The Journalist's crude humor from Under The Mangrove is continued here, referencing the Nuremberg Trials specifically.
	+ "What is this? Some kind of goo-icide squad?" is a reference to a bad quip from the movie 'Suicide Squad' (2016) where the character Deadshot says "So that's it... What, we some kind of suicide squad?" StrixToxis (the game's creator) regrets making this joke.
* The true reason for Time Bugs being "afraid of moving objects" is due to a bug in the original game, where Time Bugs cannot save the location of some dynamic geometry.

1. ↑ https://donkeykong.fandom.com/wiki/Shifty\_Smashers
2. ↑ http://goofans.com/download/other/kyle-gablers-experimental-games-package
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg\_trials
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide\_Squad\_(film)
5. ↑ http://goofans.com/developers/world-of-goo-level-editor/reference-guide/scene-tree/geometry/dynamic