Howdy!

For those of you who just got here after our UnderEvent presentation, welcome! If you haven't, go and check it out! We'll be posting our segment to YouTube channel tomorrow, but until then, it's up on the UnderEvent channel! (We've posted our segment up on YouTube! Huzzah!)

Without further ado, let's get started!

Future Releases

Like we mentioned in our January progress report, we've come to a (subject to change) decision as to whether we'd like to do further release(s) in a chapters or full release format.

. . .

We're not doing either!

Instead: more demos! What this means is that with each completion of two additional major areas, we'll release a demo with an updated major version number:

• Demo v1.0 - Ruined Home

• Demo v2.0 - Starlight Isles and Crystal Springs added!

• Demo v3.0 - Boreal Bluffs and The NEXUS added!

• Full Game(?) - Everything else (The City of New, Endgame, final polish, etc.)

This way, we'd be able to sustain our audience, avoid burnout (ideally), and give ourselves a place to leave off in case we ever decide to stop the project (for sustainability reasons, etc.)

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this idea!

New Music!?

With the recent UnderEvent presentation, we've unveiled a brand new track (technically two). We've decided to upload those to our SoundCloud!

First up, we have Dogged Pursuit! It's up to you to figure out what this is for.

Next, we have Dogged Pursuit (With Dog)! Same with this one!

Starlight Isles Updates!

As a quick recap for new stuff featured in our UnderEvent teaser:

• Momentum-based puzzle mechanics: rather than completely rehashing Snowdin's puzzles, we decided to introduce entirely brand new mechanics--"magic speedy goop stuff" and "bouncy mushrooms!"

• Dimensional box: not only have we added this from UNDERTALE, but we made it accommodate for our DELTARUNE-inspired inventory system! Only ITEMs and TOOLs can be stored in the dimensional box, and share the same space.

• Dynamic battle UI colors: along with a unique battle background, each major location will feature a color palette change for the battle interface! This also includes the JOURNAL notification icon, in the top right corner.

• Brand new enemies: besides the Canine Unit, Stardust Woods features an entirely original set of enemies! We showed off two of them: Woodwork and Beenard! (If you've been following our project for a while, you may recognize the first one!)

• Kindness SOUL items: since we've "swapped" the order in which you find the fallen humans' items, you'll acquire the Kindness SOUL's in Stardust Woods. We've retained the unique functions of these weapons from Undertale, but balanced them accordingly with their earlier spot in the game.

  • Dented Pan: as you can see, it's perfect for flipping pancakes! Like with the Justice SOUL's toy gun, we've added a unique crosshair for this weapon (it still needs some polishing, though)--plus, it'll make ITEMs heal +2 more HP!

  • Torn Apron: we didn't show this off in the teaser, but it's added! In addition to an obligatory DEFENSE boost, equipping it will heal +1 HP every three turns.

Crossbones Sprite Updates!

We've been using the same battle sprite for Crossbones (and Sans) for quite some time, and it's become pretty dated in terms of our project's artistic direction. After giving it some thought, the artist who made the original sprite, TRéZZY, has come up with something new!

While keeping in line with the original sprites' poses and asymmetricity, the new sprites are much more clean looking and in-line with our modern style. We're really happy with how these turned out!

Post-Demo Character Designs!

We're finally ready to show off the designs for post-demo major characters!

It's important to note, before we go in, that the artwork we show is subject to change--especially for characters later in the game.

Say hello to Admiral Alphys! This top strategist of the Royal Navy coordinates her soldiers from behind the scenes, and inspires all of monsterkind with her powerful speeches. Nobody is quite sure from where her accent originates from... and neither does she, it seems!

Keeping in line with our philosophy of re-inventing the classic Underswap designs to better suit the characters, and the story that we're telling, we decided to take a much different approach. We didn't want Alphys to be a near carbon copy of Undertale's Undyne, with the exception of wielding an axe. Instead, we gave her a more hands-off, "behind the scenes" approach, fitting with her character.

The mysterious "A.S. Dreamer," creator of the official Crossbones Comics! Nobody knows much about this aspiring artist, who generally keeps a low profile.

Part of our project is "making sense" of the weirder character swaps from the original Underswap--in this case, Asriel and Monster Kid. While we can't give everything away, we decided to take an approach that gave a reason for Asriel's place in the story, and expand upon his character from the glimpses we get from Undertale--both from his "revived" form, and as Flowey. This includes some snarkiness.

The Royal Scientist, Doctor Undyne! This skilled roboticist has her Anti-Human Task Force on standby at all times. Using the full force of Undying Robotics, she is determined to set monsterkind free. Her technologically-advanced gauntlet allows her to punch even harder than ever before!

With Undyne, we decided to use a palette with more emphasis on dark colors--due to their association with her, and wanting to stray away from a design too similar to Alphys's from Undertale. We also drew some inspiration from her original incarnation's armor, in the form of a welding mask. It's always important to have one of those when working with robots! (That's not a robotic eye, by the way.)

The Dapper Sir Scratchalot finally shows himself! Broadcasting straight from Boreal Bluffs, the robotic host of Sir Scratchalot Music plays a wide variety of tunes for all of monsterkind to enjoy. His polite and posh personality has also made him into somewhat of a role model!

We've taken a much different direction from Underswap's Napstaton/bot. Keeping in line with Napstablook's "dapper" attire from Undertale, we decided to create a gentlemanly persona for this character. I (Beethovenus) had also designed him back in 2017, wanting to incorporate elements from Mettaton's box form while also taking an original direction. Since Undyne develops combat robots, I felt it was only fitting that I drew inspiration from Fallout's Securitrons--of course, with more musically-inclined features! We're definitely going to be updating these older sprites down the line, so stay tuned for those changes!

And last but not least, Queen TORIEL. Her image serves as a beacon of hope for all of monsterkind--though for ages, she's isolated herself to The City of New's castle. Many have never even seen her in person, only as she's depicted in monuments across the Underground.

While we haven't gotten around to making all of her sprites just yet, this concept art by SuperKirbylover demonstrates what we'll be going for with her. If you can spot the design inspiration, you get a cookie!*

While there's still more characters whose designs we haven't shown off just yet, we thought it was finally time we revealed the major cast's! At some point, we'll be making updated character references, including a shot of the entire cast! We also plan on making a video format for a look at each of the characters, though no promises.

Post-Demo Locations Concept Art!

As a little bonus, we're going to show off some older concept art for Crystal Springs and Boreal Bluffs! While these were both made by Treppy quite some time ago, they still reflect the plans we have for both areas.

Crystal Springs, the third major area! We've drawn inspiration from Undertale's unused mining-related tiles to establish this area as a "crystal mine" of sorts.

Boreal Bluffs, the fourth major area! This cold and desolate wasteland is home to the headquarters of Undying Robotics and Sir Scratchalot Music.

Other Updates!

In addition to everything else, here are some quick updates:

• Soundtrack: Besides the latest new songs posted to our SoundCloud, we don't have anything to report here! We're still hoping to start doing YouTube uploads at some point, with visuals accompanying the music.

• Video Content: Our music director, Ethosein, has been working on a video that discusses the making of "Ready to Rumble," the Greasers' battle theme! He chose this song in particular, due to its history as a lengthy, 5-person cooperative project.

Well, that's everything for this progress report! We're really excited to hear your thoughts on everything we've shown off, since it's all been in the making for quite some time.

Additionally, make sure you go ahead and check out all of the projects featured in UnderEvent! We were just one of 20 fan projects featured--there's so much creativity in this community, with many creators who put their hearts and souls into passion projects. Go and support them!

Until next time.

- Beethovenus and Team Switched

*Note: We do not have any cookies.