This wasn't an easy decision to make, but I think it's for the best.

I started making this game in late 2017, at a time where most exe games were crappy games with cheap jpeg jumpscares and were filled with "hyper realistic blood". The only remotely decent game was Sonic.exe Nightmare Beginning, and honestly I don't even like that one.

This game started out as a really short game that was going to be released in new year's eve (of 2017-2018), and it was cancelled shortly after because I ran out of ideas. Then I came back to it because I felt like I could make an actually good exe game if I put my mind into it.

I started thinking of this huge cross-game story that would have affected my other games. NULL has made appearances in the FNaCreeper and ONwaB series, and even appeared in some of my friends' games.

Eventually though, as time went on, I started realizing that this game, in its current state, was going nowhere. To tell you the truth, the game never had a plan. I just made everything as I worked on it. This was a terrible idea, because I was constantly changing the story. The story had a complete overhaul between demo 1 and demo 2.

Thanks to this, I lost all my motivation to work on the game, and in mid 2020, I had to make a decision. I'd either cancel the game or reboot it.

I chose the reboot.

The demos that are out currently are V1, and the reboot was V2.

I made some concept art and a rough plan of what I wanted to do for this reboot so I wouldn't run into the same issues I did with V1. I even started working on a script for some really important cutscenes, which was something completely new for me.

Eventually though I realized this project is way too ambitious and there's no way I can finish it. Not only that, but things have changed in the exe game scene. There's actually good games now like PC port and Darkest Struggles.

I made sure to not announce the reboot publicly just in case I ended up scrapping it and cancelling the game, which is exactly what ended up happening. So now I'll just give you all the info about V2. Feel free to do whatever you want with it.

V2 would have been a complete remake of the game and was going to focus more on the horror aspect, unlike most exe games. It was gonna use a heavily modified version of Not So Simple Sonic Worlds made specifically for this game.

The levels would have been remade from scratch and their order would have changed so the game made a bit more sense. For example, the FNaF level would be one of the last levels instead of the third.

The reboot also used Sonic CD and Sonic 3 sprites instead of Sonic Mania sprites, since they're not as detailed and they're easier to edit.

The characters would have had slight redesigns. NULL didn't have too many changes, but the Infected (known as the Empty characters in V1) were supposed to change quite a bit.

I didn't make Infected Knuckles concept art. Infected Eggman would have looked pretty much the same as Empty Eggman.

The story had an overhaul. Meltdown's origin was changed, the Infected work differently, NULL had a different reason for doing what he did in Ultimate Box Night, etc.

The game was going to be split into two parts. The first part would be mostly Sonic levels and was gonna have Acts 1, 2, 4 and probably some new levels that weren't in V1.

It would also have the Infected levels, in which you had to beat the Infected in a little game, and you'd find out how NULL turned them into what they are now. Infected Tails' level is named SILENT HILL, Knuckles' is called COLD WATERS. Eggman's didn't have a name yet. These levels were split into EMPTY INSIDE and Act 7 in V1.

Then there would be a mid-point, where Sonic would be trapped into some sort of digital purgatory. Meltdown would have to guide him and the player to the only exit. This was supposed to be Act 5 in V1.

Sonic and Meltdown would then have corrupted NULL, which led to the second part: an insane fever dream with levels based off other games, like FNaF, Doki Doki, Earthbound, and whatever else came to my mind.

Here's videos showing off the most complete levels of the reboot, MADNESS ZONE ACT 1 and SILENT HILL. Even though they're the most complete levels, they're still nowhere near finished.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m16bXD8YXWY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzJIqLHTRQc

SILENT HILL was a Slender The Eight Pages type of level. You needed to collect 5 lamp posts that were randomly scattered across the level while avoiding Infected Tails. If he spots you, he'll chase you until you run far enough from him, at which point he'll give up and go back to patrolling. Getting caught by Tails is instant death, unless you have a shield. If you are caught with the shield, you'll only lose the shield, and Tails will go back to patrolling. There would only be a single shield monitor in the level and it would be in a random spot each time.

I planned on updating my other games which had NULL in them so that they conformed to the reboot. ONwaB Aftermath has had its update already.

FNaCreeper R's major update was also going to have new NULL stuff, but because of the cancellation I've decided to remove all of it.

UBN's His Turn is going to be updated. I already started redoing all of the art and code for it and reversing it is too difficult, so it's still gonna happen even though Sonic4R is cancelled.

I have decided to reverse the update to His Turn anyways as I don't think it's worth finishing. I will still update all of the art though.

This post is getting incredibly long so I'll just stop right here. I'll be honest, there's still a chance of this game coming back one day, but you shouldn't get your hopes up. It may never happen.

So... Goodbye for now. It's sad to see this game go, but I really don't want to force myself to finish it.