Howdy, everyone!

A new patch for DF CONNECTED has been released!

To be absolutely clear, this is NOT v2.8.0! We're still hard at work on the next major update for the game, but in the meantime, we decided to put together one last patch for the current version while you're all waiting!

Following the release of the April 2024 Progress Report, we were really happy to see how much you guys were liking all of the new changes!

However, it got us thinking: with all of the gameplay changes coming in 2.8, there may be players who will still want to revisit 2.7 in the future. For these players, 2.7 will still be stuck with its most prominent issues, such as its slow progression and underutilized skill system.

As such, we had the idea to release this new patch, v2.7.9, as the "definitive version" of 2.7! This patch aims to address 2.7's main issues, backport some quality-of-life improvements from 2.8, and throw in a few extra goodies!

Don't worry, working on this patch didn't take too much time away from 2.8, and some of the work done for this patch actually needed to be done for 2.8 anyway (such as writing the new bestiary descriptions), so it all works out!

We hope that this patch will help with the wait for 2.8, and in the future, be the version of 2.7 that players will enjoy revisiting! With that said, don't hesitate to let me know in the comments below if you have any feedback for this patch!

Now then, let's check out the changelog!

Changelog for DF CONNECTED v2.7.9

Additions

• Added two new costumes for Mew Mew.

• Added an updated SKILL system. There are now six skills you can use in-battle instead of nine, but these six skills have been buffed up and are now more straight-forward to use.

  

• Added Tension Points. The old EN stat and "EN Boost" mechanic have now been replaced with a TP system like Deltarune's. Using skills now costs a set amount of TP instead of varying EN costs.

• Added an updated Bestiary menu, which has received a new layout reminiscent of Deltarune's recruits menu.

  

• Added item boxes. You can now store up to ten additional items in your item box to make space in your inventory. These boxes can be found throughout the overworld.

  

• Added overworld corruption battles. There are now a few select corruption battles which are found in the overworld, rather than a random encounter. This makes it so players are guaranteed to be able to recruit some partners.

  

• Added a PvP battle log in the CELL menu. In this menu, you can view your current PvP rank, your progress towards your next rank, your wins, your losses, your win rate, and the results of your last few PvP battles!

  

• Added a new page in the STAT menu for your active partner, allowing you to view your progress towards raising their "Friendship Level" and give them a gift (previously the "Feed Partner" option).

  

• Added the ability to DEFEND in battle. In your MERCY menu, there is now a DEFEND option which skips your turn, but gives you +16% TP and slightly buffs your DEF.

  

• Added a new item, "Monster Candy", which can be obtained for free from a candy bowl in the Ruins.

  

• Added five additional rooms to the Ruins.

Improvements

• Weapon/Armor chests have been updated with tweaked LV/spare requirements to improve the game's pacing. The spare requirements in particular have been reduced significantly.

• The EQUIP menu now displays the unlock requirements for chests that haven't been opened.

  

• Your opponent's TP is now always displayed in the top-left HUD in PvP battles.

  

• The battle system HUD has been changed to now include icons for your vessel and your partner next to your HP.

• Ported over local chat improvements from v2.8.0. Messages now have a darkened underlay which helps them stand out against busy backgrounds, and messages now move to the opposite end of the screen if the player overlaps them.

• There is a new command, "/localopacity", which you can use to change the opacity of the underlay beneath the text in local chat messages. For example, you can use "/localopacity 0" to hide the underlay.

• Every monster now has a set "enemy level", rather than a level range, making it clearer when exactly you're ready to fight them.

• An ominous sound effect now plays when you've gained enough LV to proceed to the next area in the neutral/no-mercy routes.

• A non-ominous sound effect now plays when you've befriended all enemies in an area in the pacifist route.

• The PARTNER menu has been updated with an improved design.

  

• Partners are now able to use the P-Action skill in corruption battles.

• You can now press [R] to refresh the PvP List when playing online to check for new incoming invites without having to reopen the menu.

• The temporary "ending" of the game is now unlocked for pacifists when they reach 750 spares instead of 2000 spares.

• There is now a 100% success rate for fleeing against befriended enemies.

• You can now earn up to 8% TP from hitting the reticle in the center of the target when fighting.

• Increased the chances of encountering a corruption battle by around 25%.

• When a corruption has reached 100% MERCY, they will no longer keep attacking you.

• The cost to purchase partners has been reduced from 500,000 gold to 250,000 gold.

• Renamed UnderNet's "Party" option to "Guilds". This is to help prevent confusion with the new party member system, which is being added in v2.8.0.

• Changed Whimsun's overworld sprite.

• The sprite for the FIGHT target has been updated.

• The damage value that appears when FIGHTing has received a new bounce animation, which plays quicker than the previous falling animation.

• The correct sound effect now plays when you hit the FIGHT reticles perfectly in the center.

• A star icon now appears where the emotion icon would normally appear once an enemy has reached 100% mercy.

• Moved the tutorial Dummy fight to its very own room in the Ruins.

• Adjusted some of the tutorial Froggit NPCs' dialogues in the Ruins.

• Replaced the "Growing Stronger" trial quest with "Feeling Tense", a beginner trial quest to introduce new players to TP and the SKILL system.

• Removed the "Post some artwork on Undernet" daily quest, as it caused some players to feel forced to replace their existing artwork.

• Other minor improvements.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an oversight where the number of costumes for the Omori and Niko vessels in the Vessel Vendor menu were outdated.

• Fixed a bug where it was possible to talk to one of the Rudinn NPCs in Card Castle even after they vanished upon reaching LV 99.

• Fixed a bug where the Harlow partner in their Light World form would not emote along with the player.

• Fixed a bug where fleeing from one of the Ruins' pre-set encounters would immediately put you back in the fight.

• Fixed a bug where the player would appear to teleport if they transitioned into a new room while on a conveyor belt.

• Fixed a visual error with the rainbow soul where it turned white when browsing the Arcade menu.

• Other minor fixes.

Changelog for DF CONNECTED v2.7.9b

Thank you to everyone who joined us for 2.7.9's launch! It seems like you guys have been enjoying the improvements in this version, which we're happy to hear!

Before I focus my attention back onto v2.8.0, I just wanted to release a quick non-mandatory hotfix for the game. There was an issue with the shader I used for the overworld corruptions which would cause crashes for some players, so I wanted to fix that. If you've been affected by this issue, please download the latest release, v2.7.9b!

There are some other minor improvements as well, so check out the changelog for the deets:

• Added a new command, "/localfreeze", which lets you toggle if the local chat should move to the bottom of the screen if it overlaps the player.

• The overlap detection for local chat now stays the same regardless of how many messages are on-screen, to prevent the chat from moving back and forth too much if you're standing at the top of the screen.

• Adjusted some of Mew Mew's local chat icons.

• Adjusted the default opacity of the local chat underlay to be a little more see-through.

• You can now use either "/localalpha" or "/localopacity" as the command to adjust how see-through the local chat underlay is.

• Fixed an oversight where entering a guild's name on mobile would still call it a "party" rather than a guild.

• Fixed an oversight where the spare requirements for the "True Neutral" and "Confused" ending photographs were still 2000 and not 750.

• Fixed an issue where entering a room with an overworld corruption would crash some players due to the shader the corruptions use. The game now checks if the shader was compiled before using it.

Conclusion

Well, that's all regarding DF CONNECTED v2.7.9! We hope you enjoy the patch!

As for v2.8.0, we're aiming to release a May 2024 Mini Status Update later this month, coinciding with DONTFORGET's 8th anniversary! The status update will contain some new information regarding v2.8.0's development, so keep an eye out!

With that all said, thanks for reading, and as always, stay determined!