Howdy, everyone!

On behalf of the DONTFORGET team and myself, I'd like to start off by wishing you all a happy holiday season!

Another year came and went, huh? Overall, 2023 has been a great year for the project! We released five new versions of the game, and we've continued to make good progress on the long-awaited v2.8.0!

Thank you all so much for your continued support while we've been cookin' the next major update. We really can't wait for you all to play it soon!

In this progress report, we'll be diving into some of the new additions that you can expect to see in v2.8.0. After that, we have some important announcements to share regarding the future of the project going into 2024.

So, without further ado, let's begin!

Status Update on DF CONNECTED v2.8.0

If you can recall from the end of last year, we took part in a fangame presentation known as UNDEREVENT! It was our first time taking part in a big community event, and it was so much fun that we jumped at the opportunity to join in again!

A few hours ago, a new trailer for DF CONNECTED v2.8.0 premiered in UNDEREVENT 2023! You can watch the trailer here if you haven't already seen it:

A lot of new stuff was shown off in this trailer, so we'll be spending a bit of time going over everything and sharing some new details! But first, let me give you a general status update on how v2.8.0 is coming along...

With the release of v2.7.8 earlier this month, the team and I have been able to put all of our focus back onto v2.8.0, and it's been making steady progress since then!

As stated at the end of our new trailer, we are currently aiming for a release next month, January 2024! Specifically, we're looking at a mid-late January release.

We know that you guys have been waiting a long time for this update, but rest assured that we've been using this time to fill it to the brim with new content!

While this new trailer shows off a lot, it actually still doesn't give the full picture of how big this update is! There's even more that we haven't shown you yet, including more enemies, more sub-areas, a new boss fight, and even more vessels! Stay tuned for more information on these next month...

In the meantime, let me show you a few cool things I've been working on recently!

First up, I've updated the vessel system to finally allow multiple emotes per vessel! No longer will a character be limited to just one emote... they can now have up to three!

When you press the emote button, a little menu will appear where you can select which emote to use! If a vessel has just one emote, it'll automatically use it instead.

Next, the vessel menu has received an upgrade! When you open it, you'll be greeted with a new transition where your SOUL appears out of your vessel. But that's not all, the coolest addition of this upgrade is that vessel categories can now have more than one page! This means that we no longer have to worry about limited character slots when adding new vessels to the game!

The last quick thing I'd like to share is item boxes! With the addition of new items in v2.8.0, it seemed like the best time to finally add the dimensional box to the game! You can now find boxes throughout the overworld, which you can use to store up to 10 additional items outside of your inventory:

Alright, that's it for the status update. Now let's dive into the latest major announcements for v2.8.0!

NEW AREA: CYBER WORLD!

In the past, we would often get asked if we would ever add the Cyber World to the game, to which we would always respond that it "probably wouldn't happen".

Well, it happened!

In v2.8.0, a new main area is being added into the game: CYBER WORLD!

Similarly to the Card Kingdom, we've essentially added a mini version of the entire Cyber World into the game, complete with all of its sub-areas (Cyber Field, Cyber City, and Queen's Mansion)!

We've given the whole area a fresh coat of paint, giving you the opportunity to rediscover the Cyber World all over again!

Cyber City in particular has been a lot of fun to work on, with new shops and adverts all throughout the streets!

But a new area wouldn't be complete without new enemies, would it? So that's why we've also added...

NEW ENEMIES: WEREWIRE AND TASQUE!

In v2.8.0, four new enemies are coming to the Cyber World! For now, we're going to show you two of them!

First up, we've got Werewire!

Second, say hello to Tasque!

In previous versions, enemies in the CORE were considered the toughest enemies in the game. Well, that title now goes to the Cyber World enemies! These foes pack a punch!

And of course, for any bestiary completionists out there, all of the new enemies being added into the game have rare gold and diamond variants too, so have fun hunting for them!

If you're curious about the other two enemies, I can confirm that they'll be Virovirokun and Ambyulance! However, we're still working on them currently, so you'll have to wait until next month to see them in action!

NEW VESSEL: JEVIL!

This update is going to add a LOT of new vessels, so let's kick things off with who I believe to be the most highly-requested vessel of them all... JEVIL!

This vessel has been in the works for quite some time! If you're wondering why that is, it's because the original plan was that Jevil was going to have their very own boss fight that you'd need to beat in order to unlock them as a vessel. However, that boss fight kept getting reworked and pushed back...

So at this point, we decided to just add Jevil regardless! While the new Jevil boss fight we've been planning won't be ready for v2.8.0, we do have an alternative that I think you'll enjoy! I hope you look forward to it!

NEW VESSEL: SPAMTON G. SPAMTON!

"HEY EVERY !!

IT'S ME!!!

EV3RY BUDDY 'S FAVORITE

[[Number 1 Rated Salesman1997]]"

That's right, your old pal Spamton G. Spamton is coming to DF CONNECTED! In the past, we've teased that Spamton might get added as a costume for Jevil, but in the end we decided that Spamton deserves to be his own vessel, and so here he is!

Like Jevil, Spamton is a "Dark" type vessel, which means that in PvP he'll be using the new Dark-type attack patterns!

Speaking of PvP, take a listen to Spamton's new PvP battle theme, "HYPERLINK BLOCKED", arranged by 3DSquared! (This is the same track that was played throughout the trailer!)

NEW AU VESSELS ARE COMING!

We've heard your requests, and we're happy to announce that more AU vessels are on their way!

First up, we've got Underswap Alphys!

We figured that it was about time that we expanded the AU vessel selection, so that it was no longer mostly comprised of the skelebros LOL.

For her emote, she laughs triumphantly at her foes!

She'll be a fighting-type vessel in PvP. On the subject of PvP, take a listen to her new PvP battle theme, "What You've Done", arranged by 398utubzyt!

Alongside Underswap Alphys, we're also adding Underswap Undyne to our roster of AU characters!

In PvP, she'll be an electric-type vessel. For her emote, she can be seen jotting down notes on a clipboard!

Last but not least, we've got Underfell Frisk!

Accompanying Underfell Frisk on their journey is none other than Underfell Flowey, who Fell!Frisk is carrying around in their backpack!

For their local chat emotes, you can chat as either Fell!Frisk or Fell!Flowey! There's a range of icons to use for both!

Fell!Frisk also comes with a fun alternative costume, giving them a sporty appearance based on a design by Underfella!

While that's all of the AU vessels we can show for now, we do have plans for a few more in the future, so stay tuned!

NEW VESSEL: REIMU HAKUREI!

A new vessel in the "Other" category is coming in the next update, and that's none other than Reimu Hakurei from Touhou Project!

Since the Touhou Project was a big inspiration for Undertale's bullet hell mechanics, it was only natural that its protagonist Reimu would find her way into DF CONNECTED eventually!

Reimu comes complete with three new emotes:

Not only that, but she also has multiple costumes, allowing you to play as other major characters from Touhou Project!

This includes Marisa Kirisame:

Sanae Kochiya:

and Youmu Konpaku:

I'd like to give a special thanks to SuxMenner for working on Reimu and the gang! Sux is a previous member of the DF team who worked on the game during DF Classic and DF v1.0, and he's returned as a guest spriter for this update!

We hope you look forward to playing as your favorite Touhou characters! Who knows, maybe a few more are on their way, too...

NEW VESSEL: FLOWEY THE FLOWER!

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, "wait, wasn't Flowey already in the game?" And technically the answer is yes, but actually no!

Up until now, the Flowey that we know from Undertale has never actually been a playable character in DF CONNECTED. Instead, we've had Underracer Flowey, an AU version of the character that moves around in a flower pot vehicle.

The reasoning for this is that back when I was first adding Undertale vessels, there didn't really seem to be a good way to add regular Flowey into the game which wouldn't make him look out of place.

After all, since he's a flower that appears out of the ground, it'd look a bit odd if he just slid around the floor. So, it just seemed easier to add a version of him that moves in a flower pot, hence Underracer Flowey's inclusion!

But now, at long last, the Flowey that we know and love is in the game! He's quite a unique vessel, as he uses a different animation system exclusive to him!

When Flowey moves around in the overworld, he'll actually burrow into the ground, and then when you stop moving he'll come out of the ground again. Here's how that looks in-game:

I hope you look forward to playing as Flowey! He'll be available as a partner too, which would be a pretty good fit for the next vessel we're gonna talk about...

NEW VESSEL: CLOVER FROM UTY!

We're incredibly excited to announce that Clover from UNDERTALE YELLOW is coming to DF CONNECTED!

In collaboration with Team UTY, we've officially added Clover as a playable character, ready to bring justice to the Underground!

Clover also comes with an alternative costume, giving them a design similar to our take on Frisk!

Clover will be a fighting-type vessel in PvP. Speaking of PvP, take a listen to Clover's new PvP battle theme, "Luck of the Draw", arranged by Paledoptera and Perpetrator!

Paled is a previous member of the team who has returned as a guest composer specifically for this track, so a big thanks to Paled for their help!

If you haven't already played it, Undertale Yellow was fully released earlier this month, and is one of the best Undertale experiences you can have, period. Check it out here!

A big thanks again to Team UTY for working with us to add Clover into the game! We've been keeping this under wraps for nearly a whole year, so it feels great to finally reveal this to you all!

We hope you look forward to playing as Clover in v2.8.0!

NEW SIDE QUESTS ARE COMING!

In v2.7.6, a new quest system was added to the game, giving us the opportunity to add side quests to the game. Like with most MMOs, a side quest is an optional quest where you'll typically help an NPC with a problem they have, or engage with the world in some way that isn't required to progress the plot.

We only added four side quests to start off with in 2.7.6, just to showcase how the quest system works, but now we're ready to start adding a plethora of new side quests!

One notable example of an upcoming side quest was shown in our trailer, which we'll call the "machine quest".

As part of the new Lost World 4 area, you can take part in a unique side quest where you'll rediscover the machine from the scrapped Story Mode of DF v1.0, left in a state of disrepair. You'll be tasked with finding five key components to fix the machine and restore it to working condition. Once you can get it working, perhaps an old friend awaits you on the other side...

I hope you look forward to all of the new side quests we have in store for you! Stay tuned for more information!

What's next for DF CONNECTED?

Phew, that was quite a lot to cover, huh?

Now then, since we've almost reached the end of yet another year, you might be wondering what's next for DF CONNECTED in 2024. Well, right off the bat, let's start by discussing a topic that I know some of you might be concerned about: the end-of-service.

WHAT IS THE END-OF-SERVICE?

If you're unaware of what the "end-of-service" is, then here's the basic rundown:

• Our online multiplayer is currently powered by a service called GMServer, which provides the server that the game uses to connect everyone together. GMServer has been around for a very long time, but it's getting ready to shut down, possibly by the end of next year.

• We have an administration team that is responsible for moderating player activity on the server, as well as to respond to user reports, questions, and appeals. Some of our admins have been here for the full run of DF's online multiplayer, which is over seven years of service! Now that we've all grown up and have more responsibilities in our personal lives, we're pretty much getting ready to retire from admin duties.

• With these two factors in mind, we announced our decision to put an "end-of-service" into effect starting next year. What this means is that DF CONNECTED will no longer be using GMServer to provides its online multiplayer, and there will no longer be official moderation support from the DF team.

If you think this means that DF CONNECTED is ending, then let me reassure you, the game is not going anywhere! Instead, we're viewing this as the start of a new era for the game!

INTRODUCING COMMUNITY SERVERS!

Starting in v2.8.0, we will be rolling out an early access version of our new multiplayer system. With this new system, instead of having only one official server to play on, it will now be possible for anyone to host their very own DF CONNECTED server!

We'll call these "community servers".

If you've ever played Minecraft multiplayer before on PC, what we're adding is essentially a similar system to that. There will be server software included with the game, which anyone can use to setup an online server for the game. Once a server is setup, the host can choose whether they want it to be a public server where anyone can join, or if they just want it to be a private server for them and their friends.

With this system, we're essentially handing control of the online multiplayer experience over to you guys! You'll now have way more freedom with how you choose to play online. Server hosts can make their own rules for their server, kick/ban when they need to, and even grant admin permissions to users they trust!

Our goal with the community server system is to preserve pretty much every element of the online multiplayer experience, with little to no compromise. Local chat, global chat, PvP, minigames, and Undernet will all remain fully functional.

For players, we're looking into ways to make it super easy to find new servers to play on. Previously, we've mentioned that we're going to make a dedicated server invite channel in our DF GameJolt Community, but we're also investigating other options.

While I can't confirm anything yet, we're interested in the idea of having an in-game server browser, so that you can see a list of every public community server right there in the game, and easily pick one to join. This might not be ready in time for v2.8.0, but if we can get it working, then we'll have it in for v2.9.0!

HOW WILL ACCOUNTS WORK?

We've also been asked about how accounts will be handled on community servers. Currently, the game uses GMServer accounts to identify players online, so it's understandable to wonder what the alternative will be now that we're no longer using GMServer.

Our solution to this is actually inspired by a system that classic MMOs used back in the day, which is a nickname registration system.

The idea is that for every community server you join, you'll be prompted to register a nickname for yourself, along with a password so that no one else can use that name except you. The name you register will be what everyone else will see you as. Then, when you log into that same server again later, you can just enter your nickname and password again to continue to use that name.

Essentially, we're using nickname registration as the way to identify people on community servers. This means that as long as you register your nickname first, nobody else can take it from you!

CAN WE STILL PLAY ON THE OFFICIAL SERVER?

So to be clear, in v2.8.0 we will still be running the online MMO experience as usual, you'll just need to select the option "Join Official Server" from the main menu.

If you want to try out an early-access version of the community servers, then you can just select "Join Community Server"!

We plan to continue running the Official Server until the release of v2.9.0, which will mark the beginning of the end-of-service.

After that, it will no longer be possible to join the official server, and community servers will take over as the main way to play online.

WHEN IS THE END-OF-SERVICE?

We want to give you guys a decent amount of time to enjoy the new update before we have to roll out the end-of-service, so here's the general timeline of events:

• DF CONNECTED v2.8.0 will release in mid-late January.

• On Friday, May 17th, we will release a patch for 2.8 that prepares the game for the end-of-service.

• For 7 days after the patch releases, we will be hosting a goodbye event in-game, complete with new decorations and music.

• The event will also be accompanied by a fan-art contest and an official PvP tournament.

• Throughout the goodbye event, I'll personally be playing the game as much as I can to hang out with you guys and play some PvP matches. If I can, I'll even try to livestream while I'm online!

• On Friday, May 22nd, we'll host an anniversary party in-game to celebrate the 8th anniversary of DONTFORGET.

• On the last full day of the event, the winners of the fan-art contest and the PvP tournament will be confirmed and announced.

  • The top three entries for the fan-art contest will be added as official Undernet profile backgrounds in a future update (fully credited of course)!

  • The winner of the PvP tournament will have their name added to our Hall of Fame in a future update!

• On Friday, May 24th, DF CONNECTED v2.9.0 will be released. In this update, the "Join Official Server" option will be removed, and the end-of-service will come into effect. Community servers will become the official way to play online going forward.

So, if all goes to plan, you guys should have at least 4 months to play v2.8.0 before we reach the end-of-service. Then, from that point on, community servers will be the future of DF's online multiplayer.

While we're pretty set on these dates, we'll let you guys know if anything comes up which would require us to push it back a bit more.

WHAT COMES AFTER THE END-OF-SERVICE?

Let me reiterate, the end-of-service is NOT the end of the game! We've got a lot coming up for you guys!

After v2.9.0 releases, the team and I will begin working on the long-awaited singleplayer Story Mode for DONTFORGET. I know that quite a few of you first started playing the game for the online multiplayer, so believe it or not, but DF originally started as a fan-made Undertale sequel! The MMO aspect of the game came in later, but it grew so big that it pretty much became our main focus for a while!

Now that we're retiring from running the official multiplayer server, the team and I are really excited to finally be able to return to the roots of the project and finish the game's story.

Personally, I've been wanting to tell this story for a really long time, so I can't wait to officially begin developing it!

In terms of releases, we plan on releasing DF Story Mode in three parts, which we'll call "entries". The first entry will be added to the game in v3.0.0.

I can't guarantee that v3.0.0 will be finished by the end of 2024, so for now we're not willing to announce any dates for it. However, don't worry! We don't plan on going months and months without anything new for you guys.

While most of our focus will be on the Story Mode, we still plan on releasing small updates for 2.9 throughout the development of Entry 1, adding in the occasional new playable characters, new enemies, and maybe even new areas... We'll see what we can do! Either way, just know that we don't plan on completely stopping updates for the multiplayer mode!

Now that that's cleared up, we have one last announcement to make...

WE'RE RESTRUCTURING! (SORTA!)

Last year, you may remember that we announced the DONTFORGET project was going to consist of two separate fangames, "DF CONNECTED" and "DF PERPETUAL".

DF CONNECTED would be our online multiplayer fangame, while DF PERPETUAL would be our singleplayer fangame.

However, since then, GameMaker has rolled out a new function called "game_change". Essentially, this feature would allow us to package two games into one.

So, here's the plan going forward:

• After v2.9.0 releases, we're going to begin the process of porting DF CONNECTED to GameMaker Studio 2 (currently we use GMS1.4).

• From there, we will begin development of DF's Story Mode as a separate game from DF CONNECTED.

• Using the game_change feature, we will package DF CONNECTED and DF Story Mode together into one game, so players will no longer have to download two separate games to get the full DF experience.

That's right, we're going back to being one whole fangame again, instead of two separate fangames!

This means that we no longer need to differentiate between the online multiplayer and the Story Mode by using subtitles like CONNECTED and PERPETUAL.

So, starting from v2.9.0, we will be renaming the game back to just "DONTFORGET" again. We will be dropping the previously used subtitles entirely. 2.8 will be the last version of the game to use the "DF CONNECTED" name.

We think it'll be less confusing for newcomers going forward if we just refer to the game as "DONTFORGET". After all, if we were to stick with having two separate games called DF CONNECTED and DF PERPETUAL, new players might get confused on which game they should download. It's better to just have both experiences packaged together.

I hope you look forward to playing DONTFORGET v2.9.0 and DONTFORGET v3.0.0 in the future!

Recap and Conclusion

Golly, I can imagine that was a lot to read! Thanks for taking the time to read through everything, I really appreciate all of your continued support on this project!

Before we wrap things up, let's quickly recap what's been covered:

• We took part in UNDEREVENT 2023, and released a new trailer for DF CONNECTED v2.8.0.

• Development of v2.8.0 has been progressing well. The update is aiming for release in January 2024 (next month).

• The vessel system has been upgraded to allow characters to have up to three emotes instead of just one!

• The vessel menu was been redesigned with a slicker interface and the ability for categories to have multiple pages, eliminating the need to worry about limited slots for new characters!

• The Cyber World from Deltarune Chapter 2 is being added as a new area in v2.8.0!

• Werewire, Tasque, Virovirokun, and Ambyulance are being added as new enemies in v2.8.0!

• Jevil is being added as a new vessel!

• Spamton is being added as a new vessel!

• Underswap Alphys is being added as a new vessel!

• Underswap Undyne is being added as a new vessel!

• Underfell Frisk is being added as a new vessel!

• Reimu from Touhou Project is being added as a new vessel!

• Flowey is being added as a new vessel!

• Clover from Undertale Yellow is being added as a new vessel!

• New side quests are coming in v2.8.0!

• Before the end-of-service, an in-game goodbye event will commence on May 17th, 2024, alongside a fan-art contest and an official PvP tournament.

• The end-of-service will officially begin with the release of DONTFORGET v2.9.0 on May 24th, 2024.

• Starting with v2.9.0, the game will be renamed back to just "DONTFORGET", we will be dropping the "CONNECTED" subtitle from the name.

Man, even the recap list is long!

Well, that's pretty much it for this progress report. Thank you all so much for being on this journey with us. Your continued support is what drives us to keep making this goofy little game.

I'd also like to thank our artist Prima for providing the header artwork for this progress report, it's really pretty!

Anyway, thanks for reading, have a happy new year, and as always, stay determined!