Howdy, everyone!

Welcome to the October 2024 Mini Status Update!

In this post, I'd like to share a sneak peek at a new feature for v2.8.0 that we've been working on! We'll be showing off this new feature fully in the next major progress report, but we'll introduce it here first!

Not only that, but a new version of the game has just released today, v2.7.13! This is mainly a quality-of-life patch, but it should help to improve your online multiplayer experience by improving the auto-reconnect system and adding a log-out option, among other improvements!

But before we get into all that, I'd like to say a few things about DELTARUNE!

DELTARUNE's Sixth Anniversary

On this day six years ago, the first chapter of DELTARUNE released. This anniversary really snuck up on me, I can't believe it's already been six years!

I'll always remember the day that Chapter 1 dropped; the anticipation from the cryptic tweets on the UNDERTALE Twitter page, culminating in the reveal of the deltarune.com website, leading to a download for the mysterious "Survey Program"...

For my first 10 minutes of playing it, I was expecting it to be a short teaser game. I thought the game would end at any minute with a "Coming Soon" screen. But then it just kept going, and going...!

I'll never forget when I entered the Dark World for the first time, and saw that the menus had completely changed. That's when it dawned on me that I really was playing the actual, official follow-up to UNDERTALE, and I was freaking out LOL.

In the years since, my first playthrough of Chapter 1 has stuck with me closely, and DELTARUNE has been one of the biggest influences on me as a game developer. After finishing Chapter 1, I felt more motivated than ever to really push myself with my projects, and I've become a better programmer, writer, and artist as a direct result of that.

DONTFORGET is what it is today because of DELTARUNE, and I'll always be grateful to Toby and the whole team for creating something so special.

With that all said, happy sixth anniversary to DELTARUNE! I'm super excited about the future of the game, and I can't wait to see what Chapters 3 and 4 have in store for us next year!

Status Update on DF CONNECTED v2.8.0

Since our last progress report, we've been hard at work on v2.8.0; recently, we've been working on:

• New rooms and puzzles throughout the Underground.

• Implementing the new set of Trial Quests, replacing the old set that was introduced in v2.7.6.

• Implementing the last new vessel for v2.8.0.

We're really excited about how the update has been progressing, and can't wait to show you more in the next major progress report!

However, that's not all that we've been working on! We've actually been working on another big addition to the game, which is...

...UNDERNET 2.0!

The number-one social media service in the Underground is getting a makeover, inside-and-out! It will feature:

• A fresh new appearance, with a consistent design that fits in much better with the rest of the game's interface.

• An improved live feed on the home page, which displays the latest posts and artwork made by players, as well as useful server messages! This new feed can also be scrolled through, so you're not limited to seeing only the latest few posts!

• Redesigned user profiles, with even more customisation options to choose from!

• An improved DM (direct message) system, with a message history so you can have proper conversations through DMs with your friends!

• More posting options, such as the ability to post public PvP invites, guild invites, or add a description to your artwork!

• An all-new Undernet Shop, where you can spend your gold to unlock profile backgrounds, profile picture frames, and eventually stickers that you can display on your profile!

With this new UNDERNET, we hope that you guys will feel even more connected with your fellow players, now that viewing and creating posts will be easier than ever!

Check out the live feed every now and then to see what everyone's up to, and deck out your profile with your favorite backgrounds, profile picture frames, and stickers to express yourself to the fullest!

UNDERNET 2.0 is still a work-in-progress, so be sure to check out our next major progress report for a closer look at its shiny new features!

Speaking of the progress report, our current plan is to release our November 2024 Progress Report by the end of next month. In that post, we will share our last remaining announcements... and if all goes well, we will confirm our finalized release plans for v2.8.0.

In the meantime, we've prepared a new patch for the game, v2.7.13, to improve the online experience for you guys! Let's go take a look at it!

Changelog for DF CONNECTED v2.7.13

A new patch for DF CONNECTED, v2.7.13, has released!

As mentioned above, this is mainly a quality-of-life patch to help improve the online multiplayer experience. It brings an improved auto-reconnect system, adds the ability to log out and return to the main menu, various gameplay improvements, and more!

Before we continue, I know that some of you have been wondering why we've continued to update 2.7, and I'd like to quickly address this.

The reason that we've been spending the time to release these patches, despite 2.8 being our priority, is so that we can test and improve the auto-reconnect system.

As you may already know, our server host has unfortunately been facing DDoS attacks since last month. These attacks can cause temporary downtime for the server, and in some cases, force players to relaunch the game. You can read more about the situation here.

As such, we want to ensure that the auto-reconnect system is as well-equipped to deal with these attacks as it can possibly be. That way, when 2.8 does release, it'll be in the best possible position to handle them.

We're committed to mitigating the impact of the DDoS attacks as much as possible, so if you have any further issues reconnecting, then please let us know and we'll be sure to look into it!

Now then, here's the full changelog for this patch:

• Added the ability to LOG OUT. Holding down [ESC] in Online Mode will now log out from your account, disconnect from the server, and take you back to the main menu!

• Added the ability to adjust the volume of music and sound effects separately via the SETTINGS menu in your CELL.

• Added holiday decorations to Hometown.

• Improved the auto-reconnect feature to help reduce cases where the game would be unable to reconnect.

• The "Connection Lost" menu will now appear if the server stops responding, as previously it only appeared if connection was lost entirely.

• Attack lengths for enemies in the CORE have been decreased, making them more akin to attack lengths throughout the rest of the game.

• The Daily Gift notification in Online Mode has now been converted to use the dedicated notification system.

• Reward notifications from guilds in Online Mode have now been converted to use the dedicated notification system.

• Music files have now been compiled into their own audio group, which you can find in the game folder as "audiogroup2.dat".

• Expanded the local chat history to now store up to 75 messages.

• Removed the "/localclear" command, as it was made redundant with the addition of the message limit for the local chat history.

• Made minor improvements to wall and slope collision.

• The "Hot Chocolate" item name now gets shortened to "HotChoco" during battles.

• Fixed a bug where Undernet would stay open if the Connection Lost menu had appeared. Undernet will now close when connection is lost.

• Fixed a bug where notifications would stop displaying while emoting.

• Fixed a bug where it was possible to walk around with a menu open if the player reconnected with certain menus on-screen.

• Fixed a bug where the "Hotland Cliffs" map would not appear in the map rotation for the Free-For-All minigame.

• Fixed a bug where it was possible for one of Tsunderplane's attacks to cause an error message to appear.

• Fixed a bug where sprinting didn't reveal the player's location on the minimap.

• Fixed a bug where Hathy could use their solo attack in the wrong battle.

• Fixed an oversight where the player couldn't emote in FFA.

• Fixed an oversight where a few tiles were missing in the Hotland Cliffs FFA map.

• Fixed an oversight where it was possible to open Snapshot Mode while auto-reconnecting.

• Fixed an oversight where editing a .dfmap file manually made it possible to make maps larger than the limit of 3000x3000.

• Other minor fixes and improvements.

• Updated to the latest version of GameMaker Server.

Conclusion

Well, that about wraps up this post!

Thank you all so much for your continued patience and support. The past year has had its ups and downs, but we're still working our hardest to ensure that 2.8 is the best it can be! We can't wait for you to play it!

Before we end this post, I'd just like to announce that I've created an account over on Bluesky! I'd like to start using my socials a bit more, so feel free to follow me over there if you'd like to see what tomfoolery I get up to, like carving this Sans-o'-lantern that I shared pics of!

Also, I'd like to give big thanks to @PrimaDrawz for the Halloween illustration at the top of this post! (Poor Harlow, hopefully Kris doesn't scare them too bad...)

Anyway, thanks again for reading, and as always, stay determined!