Nullscapes

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quote

~ originator

Nullscapes is an unrated 2.1/2.2 Extreme Demon created and published by ItzKiba and verified by Zoink on September 4, 2024. It is the sequel to Shardscapes. Like its predecessor, Nullscapes is heavily-focused on the robot game mode, utilising very difficult unconventional gameplay and timing. The level is considered as the hardest robot-heavy Demon level in the game.

The level is expected to place around the Top 5-10 of the Geometry Dash Demonlist when rated.

History

Creation

Little is known as to when ItzKiba began creating the level, although it can be inferred that it was under creation after Shardscapes was completed. On April 25, 2023, ItzKiba uploaded a teaser of the level.

ItzKiba then uploaded the full showcase of the level on March 21, 2024.

Verification progress

After the level's creation was completed, Zoink began making progress on the level, frequently livestreaming his verification process. On March 31, 2024, Zoink would crash at 31% as his first major verification progress and getting 37-80%. He would upload his 63% progress on April 26, 2024. As he make slow but substantial progress, Zoink would get 76% on July 30, 2024, and 82% twice.

Zoink finally verified Nullscapes on September 4, 2024 after over 90,000 attempts.

Controversies

Fixed hitbox

On May 5, 2024, ItzKiba uploaded a screenshot of Nullscapes featuring a seemingly fixed hitbox close to an orb. The level was heavily-criticised by the community due to the negative impact fixed hitboxes can bring on a level's enjoyability.

Zoink would later clarify in a quote that the fixed hitboxes actually doesn't affect the level in any way. The YouTube channel, Daily Dose of Geometry Dash reached out to ItzKiba regarding the situation on Discord, ItzKiba replied that he told Zoink to add the fixed hitboxes as a joke to see if the community on Twitter would react negatively, which eventually became the case.

Anti-Click Between Frames feature

After the verification of the level, many players attempted to try the level. However, activating the 'Click Between Frames' plugin via Geode results in the level activating an anti-cheat system which causes the player to crash at 0% with the texts "CBF Detected, loser! Click Between Frames is illegitimate and will not be allowed for use in Nullscapes. Please disable the mod in order to continue player" to appear on the bottom part of the screen. This feature drew criticism from community members such as npesta. ItzKiba sardonically responded by stating he will allow CBF on the level but instead the level has 1/20 chance of the clicks not registering.

ItzKiba created a Pastebin text, explaining why he decided to add the feature and believes that CBF is illegitimate whilst clarifying that he doesn't hate the feature, at the same time criticising the community members due to the negative impact they have made against several creators.

The controversy surrounding the level eventually became a meme in the community which has since spread on other video game communities such as Omori and Ultrakill.

Gameplay

The level "begins" at the first part of Shardscapes with the song 'Slow Down' playing first. The player must perform fairly difficult timings at a mini robot before reaching 11% where the player must jump on the last spike pillar, causing the screen and level to warp into static and the texts 'Get out of my head' will appear. Afterwards, actual part of Nullscapes begins at 13%. The player must go into a series of difficult corner and micro jumps to traverse through the very tight passage of the level due to the spike pillars located on the top of many of the corner jumps within the part. The player must make two last micro and corner jumps to pass through the next section.

The next section still utilises the same gameplay feature as the previous one, albeit including orbs. The orbs randomly swap with different types, forcing the player to time their jumps late or early depending on the circumstances in order to mitigate pressing the wrong orb. Then the next segment now includes glitch effects in the platforms as well as a blur effect within the screen in an attempt to disorient the player.

The level fades to black and the player's robot switches to normal size, causing the colors of the background and the platforms to swap. The screen blurs in every interval and the platform still features a glitchy effect. This part features many prominent timings found previously on Shardscapes, very difficult corner jumps and unconventional orb gameplay including double clicks which exacerbates the already difficult timings of the level as sometimes, both gameplay elements are present at the same time. The level ends in the same fashion as Shardscapes where the player's robot will disappear after landing on the last spike platform. Afterwards, the screen fades to static.

Trivia

• The level is free to copy.
• The level contains 63,179 objects.
• The level is 1m 26s in length.
• At over 90,000 attempts, Zoink's verification of Nullscapes is the highest amount he has spent on a verification project, followed by Acheron (72,808) and Tidal Wave (49,534).
  • According to Zoink, this is due to his rather lower skills in the robot game mode.
• The description and the texts on the level may be a reference to the Among Us references meme which is often associated with the aforementioned texts.

Video

VerificationShowcase

File:VERIFIED -- NULLSCAPES -- ITZKIBA

The verification of Nullscapes. Credits to Zoink.

File:NEW TOP 5 VERIFIED - "Nullscapes" by Kiba

Full detail showcase of Nullscapes. Credits to fnm04.