Editing Nullscapes

{{IB-Level
 |image      = Nullscapes.png
 |id         = 109780665
 |creator    = Kiba
 |verifier   = [[Zoink]]
 |created    = [[Update 2.1]]
 |updated    = [[Update 2.2]]
 |difficulty = [[File:ExtremeDemon.png|x35px]]
 |stars      = 10
 |length     = 1m 26s (Long)
 |objects    = 63,238
 |copytype   = No password
 |downloads  = 3.4M+
 |likes      = 77.5K+
 |rating     = Featured
 |artist     = [https://creomusic.newgrounds.com/ Creo]
 |music      = [https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1132447 Flow]
 |musicid    = 1132447
}}
'''Nullscapes''' is a [[Update 2.1|2.1]]/[[Update 2.2|2.2]] Extreme Demon level by Kiba, verified by [[Zoink]] on 4 September 2024.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EztneTPp5CU</ref> It is the sequel to [[Shardscapes]]. Like its predecessor, the level focuses entirely on the robot game-mode, featuring challenging, unconventional gameplay and timing. The level is considered the hardest robot-heavy Demon level in the game.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILVe3jiG9E0</ref> Nullscapes would not receive any victor for a very long time after verification, leading most prominent players, such as Zoink himself, to call the level a 'secret Top 1'.

On 23 October 2025, Nullscapes finally received its first victor, spookkd, over a year after its verification.

==History==
===2023===
On 25 April, ItzKiba uploaded a video to his YouTube channel—a preview of his new project, Nullscapes, which looked immensely similar to his former project, Shardscapes.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BEWStHPA04</ref> On 30 April, [[Viprin]] released a video showcase of Nullscapes, commenting that it was indeed a sequel to its predecessor, and that it would be much more difficult than the prequel.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNxvmC0arnM</ref> At the time of its release, Shardscapes was in the Top 50 of the [[Geometry Dash Demonlist|Demonlist]], and Nullscapes, according to Viprin, could have easily claimed the 10-20 spot on the list.

===2024===
Next year, on 21 March, ItzKiba published a reworked version of the level, with already appointed 2.2 effects, announcing that Zoink would verify Nullscapes.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILVe3jiG9E0</ref> Since the announcement, ItzKiba has also made several statements on Twitter. On 5 May, he posted a screenshot of the level's modified spike hitboxes, which turned out to be a joke. However, Zoink later actually fixed the level's hitboxes, making it more difficult and sparking the controversy (more about that in the controversy section). On 13 August, ItzKiba hinted in Zoink's post that Nullscapes would include an anti-cheat measure to prevent players from using the Click Between Frames mod.

===Verification===
Zoink's first verification progress video on Nullscapes happened on 30 March, where he got 37% and a 47-80% run.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGoIIB1JI2I</ref> By 21 April, he improved his record to 45%,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvkCxJGjqtU</ref> and five days later, he got 65%, 63% twice, and a 47-87% run four times.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIR_YEQ9SDI</ref> On 5 May, he got a new best of 72% and improved his run, achieving 47-100%.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbYV7YAEKLI</ref> On 16 June, he got 72% again, and did a 47-100% two times.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzBkLN3kBh0</ref> On 23 June, he took a short break from playing the level, uploading a playthrough of Minecraft Bedwars.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeDCUaJ8Luo</ref> On 28 June, he got 70% thrice and a run of 47-100% again.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0JhLmMZz34</ref> On 10 August, he got a new record of 76%, and got 72% four times.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9YwX2f3cj4</ref> On 25 August, he uploaded his last stream progress video, achieving a new 82% record twice, and a 31-100% run.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzIEx4Ji9Q8</ref> On 3 September, he finally verified Nullscapes, calling it his biggest mental challenge yet since the beginning of his [[Geometry Dash]] career; he beat the level after over 90,000 attempts, 41 deaths past 70%, and half a year of play.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EztneTPp5CU</ref>

==Description==
Nullscapes begins with a callback to Shardscapes and features the original song 'Slow Down'. The player faces challenging robot timings until 11%, where they must jump onto a spike, causing the screen to warp and display the text 'get out of my head'. At 13%, the player dies, and the actual level begins on the following attempt, requiring the player to execute tricky micro and corner jumps through tight passages with spike pillars. Two final micro and corner jumps lead to the next section. The following section maintains the same gameplay feature but introduces orbs that randomly swap types. The player must time their jumps carefully to avoid hitting the wrong orb. Following this, the segment adds glitch effects to platforms and a screen blur to disorient the player.

The level fades to black, resizing the player's robot and swapping the background and platform colours. The screen intermittently blurs, and the platform glitches. This section includes challenging timings from Shardscapes, tricky corner jumps, and unconventional orb gameplay with triple-clicks, all of which add complexity. The level concludes with a staircase of corner jumps, leading to a spiked platform where the player becomes invisible before the level ends.

==Gameplay==
{{VC|KKS8uqy014I}}

==First 10 victors==
{| class="wikitable"
 !Victor #
 !Player
 !Date Completed
 !Total Attempts
 !Furthest Fail
 !Video
 |-
 |'''Verifier'''
 |'''Zoink'''
 |3 September 2024
 |>90,000
 |82% x2
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EztneTPp5CU YouTube]
 |-
 |1
 |spookkd
 |23 October 2025
 |249,109
 |87% x2
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co4SRNnsf1Y YouTube]
 |-
 |2
 |whfyre
 |28 November 2025
 |116,670
 |78%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIIOdHqy36E YouTube]
 |-
 |3
 |Hover
 |24 January 2026
 |~61,000
 |75%
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcG3X3WZZrs YouTube]
 |-
 |4
 |w3rty
 |5 February 2026
 |~80,000
 |86% x3
 |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmeeyDzivzI YouTube]
 |-
 |5
 |Theitha
 |17 May 2026
 |139,000+
 |79%
 |[https://x.com/TheithaRatio/status/2056140990679822650 Twitter]
|}

==Controversies==
===Fixed hitboxes joke===
On 5 May 2024, Kiba shared a screenshot of Nullscapes showing what appeared to be fixed hitboxes—hazards with tighter hitboxes to match their physical footprint—near an orb,<ref>https://twitter.com/KibaGD/status/1787013502500024504</ref> sparking criticism from the community due to fixed hitboxes' effects on level enjoyability.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3nfF1Km714</ref> Zoink, known for adding fixed hitboxes in his verifications, later clarified that the shown hitboxes did not affect gameplay. Kiba admitted he had asked Zoink to add them as a joke to gauge the community's reaction.

===Click Between Frames blocker===
[[File:NullscapesCBFBlocker.png|thumb|Nullscapes CBF blocker]]
On 13 August 2024, Zoink posted a screenshot showing an 82% death, referencing the Click Between Frames (CBF) mod on Geode in the title of his copy.<ref>https://twitter.com/gdzoink/status/1822858276502921694</ref> Confusion arose as to why the mod was referenced in the title, leading Kiba to confirm that the level featured an anti-cheat system to block the mod.<ref>https://twitter.com/KibaGD/status/1823266332407632250</ref> This sparked a backlash from the community and drew criticism from players such as [[npesta]],<ref>https://twitter.com/zNpesta__/status/1823359990544871720</ref> accusing Kiba of poorly handling the level. After the level was verified and published, players discovered that the anti-cheat system kills the player at 0% and displays a text prompt at the bottom of the screen urging them to play the level without CBF.

Kiba faced backlash, even after the Demonlist stated that records made in the CBF version would be allowed.<ref>https://twitter.com/demonlistgd/status/1804997025949532566</ref> Kiba later created a Pastebin text explaining the reasoning behind the CBF blocker, affirming that he believes that CBF is illegitimate while clarifying that he does not dislike the mod.<ref>https://pastebin.com/zACDeF3T</ref>

The message accompanying the CBF blocker became a meme in the community, which went viral and spread to the broader gaming community, including in ''[[Wikipedia:Omori|Omori]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:Ultrakill|Ultrakill]]''.<ref>https://twitter.com/Lukky21omor/status/1831632668389224941</ref><ref>https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cbf-detected-nullscapes-cbf-blocker-geometry-dash</ref><ref>https://twitter.com/_Just_JP/status/1832780146870460426</ref>

The CBF blocker was eventually removed on 27 January 2026, following Update 2.208, which added RobTop's own version of CBF and Click on Steps.

==Trivia==
*Nullscapes was rated on 7 September 2024 and placed at #3 on the Demonlist on 7 October 2024, above [[Silent clubstep]] and below [[Acheron]].
**This addition pushed [[KOCMOC]] out of the Top 10, qoUEO into the Extended List, and Gustavo Fring into the Legacy List for the second time.
*Nullscapes reached its peak placement on 6 February 2025 when it was moved to #2 (above [[Avernus]] and below [[Tidal Wave]]).
**This position made Nullscapes the hardest featured level at the time.
*Nullscapes went through a bunch of initial verifiers—[https://www.youtube.com/@cobrablitz cobrablitz], then [https://www.youtube.com/@vulcanium4 vulcanium4], and then Zoink. There were also other verifiers, of whom Kiba does not remember their names.
*There were two contenders for the first victor of Nullscapes that turned out to be faking their progress.
**One of these contenders was CookieIsMine.<ref>https://twitter.com/CookieIsMine__/status/1978939105036681456</ref> Instead of playing the actual level, he was playing 'Nullscapes Hold', an automatic version of the level that utilises options triggers to control the registration of the player's input from holding. He confessed to doing this on Twitter on 16 October 2025, after the Demonlist moderators supposedly forced him to, because he had been posting fake progress on his Twitter account. On top of that, his [https://pointercrate.com/demonlist/statsviewer Pointecrate] account was banned for three months.
***CookieIsMine also noted that Secret Way's video about his notable progress made him feel guilty,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/shorts/F_3tZoOV2Nw</ref> causing him to make his faked runs more obvious, and finally leading him to play Nullscapes in an [[Wikipedia:Elmo|Elmo]] costume.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VvKaU0UbLdQ</ref>
****Despite faking his runs, CookieIsMine has made legitimate progress on Nullscapes, with runs of 44-80%, 63-100%, and 33-73%, saying that he really wants to beat the level in the future.
**On 19 October 2025, one of the other contenders, mobile player DanielCookie, was revealed in a YouTube post to be using a method similar to that of CookieIsMine. A friend of his exposed that he had added some options triggers to create a semi-hold version that allowed him to cheat progress in both Nullscapes and Shardscapes.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxChF7xkHyrgcprvT6pS6s55cT39qFwgld</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rzl-Wz81bwM</ref>
*At over 90,000 attempts, Zoink's verification of Nullscapes is the highest amount he has spent on a verification project, followed by [[Thinking Space II]] (83,913), Acheron (72,808), and Tidal Wave (49,534). It is due to his weaker skill set in the robot game-mode.
*JYes is jumping from Hatred to Nullscapes as their second Extreme Demon ever and currently has spent over 408,902 attempts, with their best progress being 69%.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoU-haWA85E</ref>
*The level's name is presumably derived from its gameplay gimmick, as the player is forced to jump on tiny platforms all covered up by spikes, meaning that there is no safe 'landscape' to 'walk' on; thus, the name Nullscapes seemingly describes the level accurately.
*There is an Insane Demon level called Nilscapes, which is inspired by Shardscapes, Controlled Chaos, and Nullscapes, with its theme centred around [[Wikipedia:The Matrix (franchise)|The Matrix movie series]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIbardyGrRk</ref>
*There is a humanly impossible remake of Nullscapes called Dawnscapes, which uses a chill song and utilises the same gameplay gimmick.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWKwL6_1ka0</ref>
*Nullscapes used to hold the record for the longest time a list Demon has gone without a victor, surpassing [[Avernus|Avernus']] nine-month record, and becoming the first to surpass a year with no victors. It has since been surpassed by [[BOOBAWAMBA]].
*There is a level in the game [[Wikipedia:Roblox|''Roblox'']] of the same name. In it, the player must always click within the 30ms window to jump across gaps between platforms and avoid falling.<ref>https://www.roblox.com/games/104549210366539/Nullscapes</ref>
**One of the victors of it, Ninde, is trying to jump from [[The Golden]] to Nullscapes, with progress of 65%, 25-83% and 48-100% ten times.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkKo0bftMRQ</ref>
***There is a special Discord server hosted by Ninde and others called 'Manscapers', an exclusive place for players who have made significant progress on Nullscapes, with some exceptions. The server initially was just a friend group for players who happened to enjoy the robot game-mode.
*There are currently 20 players who got to the drop at 49%, excluding all victors.
*It used to be possible to hold multiple times at the start of Nullscapes, allowing the player to perfectly align and fit in the gap of the first spikes. This method was discovered by Diamond, who later told Zoink. Zoink then added a sawblade above the spikes to make the first click significantly harder.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dZdReEipOc</ref>
*The sphere in the background of Nullscapes that appears as the drop starts is actually Shardscapes, because Nullscapes and Shardscapes are two 'sibling planets' according to Kiba.
*Most players who attempted Nullscapes agree that the first 15% of the level is the hardest section.
*Entering practice mode and dying many times in the Shardscapes section will display a message saying 'Delete all practice checkpoints'.
*On 11 April 2026, Zoink gave a reaction to a video called 'How Zoink's Scariest Verification Was Beaten', with the topic of the video being Nullscapes.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbpeoDBsKTo</ref> Zoink reflected Nullscapes as a really enjoyable level, and he told everyone in his live-chat to jump to it from Shardscapes.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EycPZx7K29M</ref>
*The placement of [[ORBIT]] on 10 March 2026 pushed Nullscapes out of the Top 5 on the Demonlist.

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Demon List levels]]