Howdy, everyone!

A new patch for DF CONNECTED, version 2.7.15, is out now!

This patch adds some new content and features to the game, most notably new locations and costumes from Deltarune Chapters 3+4, along with a new design for overworld corruptions, rebalanced corruption battles, a new DM system for guilds, and much more!

On top of this, v2.7.15 also adds an important new feature for Offline Mode, which is the main purpose of this patch. Before we get to the changelog, I'd like to talk a bit more about this feature, and why we're adding it now.

DF CONNECTED Server Status Update

As most of you are probably aware, the service that DFC uses to power its online multiplayer, GameMaker Server, has unfortunately been targeted with DDoS attacks for some time now.

If you aren't familiar with the term, a DDoS attack (short for "Distributed Denial of Service") is a type of cyber-attack which aims to severely disrupt an online service by overwhelming the bandwidth/resources of a targeted system.

In the past month, these attacks have become more frequent, and for a time were causing significant disruption. At its worst, there were periods where players couldn't connect at all for hours at a time, which was really disheartening.

Thankfully, the situation has gotten a lot better over the past two weeks - thanks to the efforts of GameMaker Server's host, Size43, the server has become a lot more resilient against the attacks! There may still be some occasional disruptions here and there as a result of continued attacks, but the server is usually able to get things back up and running quickly! We're continuing to monitor the situation, but as of late things are looking a lot better!

With that said, last month's disruption was a wake-up call that we should start making some preparations in advance, in order to minimize the impact on players if the worst ever came to pass.

As part of this, we're adding a new feature to the game in this patch: the ability to import backups of online save data into Offline Mode.

Importing Online Save Data into Offline Mode

In this patch, two new save data import options for Offline Mode are being introduced.

Import from Backup

The first and most important is the new "Import from Backup" option. With this option, you can now directly import save data from local backups of your most recent online save files into Offline Mode.

Starting from v2.7.8, whenever you save the game while playing online, the game creates a local backup of that save file on your device. However, unless you searched for these backups in your local appdata, and renamed them to the Offline Mode filenames yourself, there was no way to import these backups into Offline Mode (and by extension, carrying them over into community servers and private servers in the future).

This is because they were added as a quick precautionary measure at the time, with the original plan being to add an "Import from Backup" option closer to the end-of-service.

However, after recent events, we've decided to implement this feature much sooner. By making players aware of these local backups far in advance, and giving them the options to easily import them into Offline Mode, there's much less risk of any player losing their save data from now until the end-of-service.

You can browse all of your backups in the "Import from Backup" menu, with each of your online save files that you've played on that device having their own backup.

Importing save data from a local backup will create a copy of that backup in whichever slot you select, enabling you to play it in Offline Mode. Since it's a copy, this means you can always re-import save data from the same backup again later if you wanted to!

Import from Local File

The second new option is the "Import from Local File" option, exclusive to the Windows version of the game. This option enables you to import save data from a DF save file located anywhere on your computer.

This can be useful when sharing save files with friends, as you can now send them a save file and they can easily import it into the game directly from their "Downloads" folder, or any location they put the file on their device. This is also useful if you want to easily transfer your saves from one computer to another.

Now, originally v2.7.15 was going to be just for adding these options, along with some other minor improvements. However, as a way of saying thank you for your patience and support during this past month, I wanted to include a few extra things for you all! Starting with...

New Locations and Costumes from Deltarune Ch3+4

In our previous status update, we confirmed that version 2.8.0 would release later this summer, following the release of Deltarune Chapters 3+4. Prior to this, I promised over on the DF Discord that I would include some new costumes, and maybe even new locations, from Chapters 3+4 in v2.8.0 to make up for this.

So, that's what I did! I added these areas and costumes into v2.8.0 originally, but I'm releasing them early in v2.7.15!

SPOILER WARNING for Deltarune Chapters 3+4 ahead!

Introducing "Mini Dark Worlds"

In this update, two new "Mini Dark Worlds" have been added to the game!

While there are currently no plans to add further Dark Worlds from Deltarune as full-sized areas past Cyber World, we are interested in the idea of adding select locations from future chapters, for players to hang out and roleplay in! So, we're experimenting with "mini" versions of these Dark Worlds!

To start, the first new Mini Dark World is the TV World from Deltarune Chapter 3!

The second new Mini Dark World is the Dark Sanctuary from Deltarune Chapter 4! (Granted, for technical reasons I had to leave out a few rooms I made for this one from v2.7.15, but they'll appear in their full glory in v2.8.0!)

As I said above, the purpose of these areas is to have some select locations from the new chapters for you guys to hang out and roleplay in, so these Mini Dark Worlds are pretty small, and have no enemy encounters or side quests...

...at least, not yet! I can't make any promises, but I will say that I'm interested in expanding these areas a little more in the future!

Besides the Mini Dark Worlds, the Hometown area has also been expanded to include Noelle's House...

...and of course, the Church!

I hope you'll enjoy hanging out in these new locations!!

New Costumes for Kris, Susie, and Noelle

As you saw above, Kris and Susie have received new costumes with their church clothes from Deltarune Chapter 4! Noelle, too, has also received a new costume for her church clothes:

She also has two new character costumes, Rudy Holiday and Carol Holiday!

In the future, Rudy and Carol are planned to be their own vessels, but for now, they're available as costumes for Noelle!

These are all of the new costumes for now, but I'd like to confirm that we're already looking into adding other characters from Chapters 3+4 in the future! Tenna in particular will be a challenge, but we'll certainly try to get him playable somehow!

For now, I hope you'll enjoy playing with these new costumes! With all that said, let's get into the full changelog!

Changelog for DF CONNECTED v2.7.15

• Added an updated account registration menu, making it possible to register a new GameMaker Server account from in-game again. For now, in-game account registration is only available on the Windows version of the game, but this will be changed in a future update!

• Added a new "Import from Backup" option to Offline Mode's file select screen. With this option, players can now easily access all of the automatic local backups the game makes whenever they save while playing online, and import them as save files to use in Offline Mode.

• Added a new "Import from Local File" option to Offline Mode's file select screen. With this option, players can import a save file from anywhere on their PC using the file explorer (i.e. if you manually copied save files over from another device onto your current one, you can import them into the game easily using this option).

• Added a new command, @guild, which lets you send a direct message to all members of your current guild (if you're in one). To send a DM to your guild members, just type the command into global chat like this: @guild [message here]! Guild DMs will also appear in the Server History in local chat, if you need to refer back to them!

• Added a new MINI DARK WORLD, the TV WORLD from Deltarune Chapter 3, which is accessible by interacting with the TV in Kris' house. These are just a few select locations from Chapter 3 for the sake of hanging out/roleplaying, but in the future there'll be side quests and secrets to find here!

• Added a new MINI DARK WORLD, the DARK SANCTUARY from Deltarune Chapter 4, which is accessible from inside of Hometown's Church. These are just a few select locations from Chapter 4 for the sake of hanging out/roleplaying, but in the future there'll be side quests and secrets to find here!

• Added a new location in Deltarune's Hometown, NOELLE'S HOUSE. It can now be accessed after Noelle has been recruited as a partner, with the gate to her house opening automatically!

• Added a new costume for Noelle, RUDY HOLIDAY, as he appears in Deltarune Chapter 4!

• Added a new costume for Noelle, CAROL HOLIDAY, as she appears in Deltarune Chapter 4!

• Added a new costume for Noelle, with her church clothes from Deltarune Chapter 4!

• Added a new costume for Kris, with their church clothes from Deltarune Chapter 4!

• Added a new costume for Susie, with her church clothes from Deltarune Chapter 4!

• Added new local chat icons for Noelle.

• Added new local chat icons for Susie.

• Added a new sound byte for Lonely Girl's text when she speaks in local chat.

• Added a save point before Waterfall's exit.

• Added a save point before the CORE's exit.

• Added Mettaton's arena at the end of the CORE, where his corruption battle has now been moved to.

• Extended Toriel's basement at the end of the Ruins, where her corruption battle has now been moved to.

• Redesigned the overworld corruptions. Replacing their old design, these new overworld corruptions now behave like Deltarune's overworld enemies. They will now appear as their respective characters, wandering around the room until they notice you, upon which they'll start giving chase. If they catch you, their corruption battle will begin. You can still flee from these fights, and the corrupted foe will stay still for a few seconds to give you time to retreat if needed.

• Defeating a certain overworld corruption in each main area (Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Mettaton) is now required in order to proceed to the next area.

• Rebalanced the HP and ATK stats of corruption battles. Overworld corruption battles now have new HP and ATK values that better fit the point in the game they are found in, while random corruption battles now base their HP on the player's expected damage output and current LV. Make sure to utilize SKILLs and ITEMs to best these corrupted foes!

• After a certain number of failed login attempts, the login screen will now stop attempting to login automatically, and will display a message to suggest the player check the server's status page and/or their internet connection before retrying.

• When another player enters an encounter, an exclamation mark will now appear above their head before they disappear into the battle.

• When another player is browsing their menu, a gray speech bubble will now appear next to them.

• After the player has gotten 20 of every pog, the GACHAPOG menu will now display text explaining the reward for earning 99 of every pog, rather than jumping straight to explaining the reward for 999 of every pog.

• The game will no longer autosave when the player first gains LV, even if autosaving is on, to avoid situations where a pacifist player may accidentally gain LV and be unable to reverse it.

• It is now possible to earn glitch tickets in Offline Mode. They can be earned as rare rewards from completing daily quests.

• Significantly reduced the amount of time it takes for the game to register the player has won a PvP battle if the opponent had been defeated during the attack phase.

• Improved the on-screen keyboard on the Android version of the game, so that it feels more responsive.

• Improved the on-screen joystick on the Android version of the game, so that it should no longer get stuck if another part of the screen was already being pressed before using the joystick.

• Improved the collision code for corners.

• There is now a cap in the amount of shared EXP that can be received from guilds at a time, with the cap increasing gradually as you gain LV. After LV 20, the cap is removed completely.

• There is now a cap in the amount of shared GOLD that can be received from guilds at a time, with the cap increasing gradually as you gain spares or LV. After 750 spares or LV 20, the cap is removed completely.

• Corruption battles no longer play the dust animation when defeating them violently.

• Chara and Asriel's overworld corruption battles now require Asgore's corruption battle to be completed first before they become available.

• Increased the price of EXPx to 2000 Undercoins.

• The save menu now uses the Deltarune-style UI when saving inside a Dark World.

• A custom error message will now appear if a player attempts to play online without first extracting the game's zip folder, as doing so is necessary to allow the game to run properly.

• Removed the ability to log out temporarily. Holding down ESC while playing online will now show "Quitting..." instead of "Logging out...", and will close the game.

• Fixed an oversight in Offline Mode where the vessels in the "Other" category displayed the wrong gold price to unlock them.

• Fixed an oversight where not all overworld corruptions resulted in a Game Over if the player was defeated.

• Fixed a bug where elements of the EQUIP menu could stay on screen if the Connection Lost menu appeared while it was open.

• Other minor tweaks and improvements.

Conclusion

Thank you all so much again for your patience and support throughout this past month, it really does mean a lot!

We're still working hard on version 2.8.0, and we should have some news for you very, very soon! Our aim is still to release the update later this summer, and we've been making steady progress towards this goal! Until then, I hope you'll enjoy playing v2.7.15!

Thanks for reading, and as always, stay determined!