In 2016, Team Switched began making an UNDERTALE fangame based on the popular role-swap AU, UNDERSWAP. Despite being a group of teenagers with no game design experience, we wanted to create something new.
Since UNDERSWAP was mostly limited to character changes, we ended up taking various creative liberties to avoid making a simple reskin of UNDERTALE. Over the course of 2016-2018, the project evolved considerably, until we finally decided to solidify our creative vision. With this came a substantial reboot--we renamed our project to mark its distinction from the original AU, and created a brand new demo from the ground up.
After 2 years of development, we're beyond proud to say that...
The TS!UNDERSWAP Demo has been released.
Now, we know you're (hopefully?) excited! This has been in the works for a while, after all.
In this devlog, however, we'll be covering some important topics that we'd like people to read before playing the demo. (With some other extra bits!)
Before You Play
General Stuff
First of all, we've updated the F.A.Q. and created a brand new website that hosts it! Make sure to check that out, as we have a bunch of different things there--not only the updated F.A.Q., but also some general information and the troubleshooting page.
For Steam users: if you want to put our game in your library, we also have some custom artwork hosted on the website! Go and check that out.
Localization Support
Official localization patches are in the works! We're starting out with Russian and Spanish, with plans for Portuguese, French, and Russian. In the meantime, however, we do have support for unofficial localization patches! We'll be providing more information about them--how to make them, the style guide, and distribution guidelines--at an unspecified future date.
We want to make sure we focus on troubleshooting any potential bugs first. This is just so we don't also have to troubleshoot localization issues at the get-go.
Video Guidelines
As stated in our previous devlog, we have certain guidelines for whether or not you can monetize footage of our fangame on YouTube. The guidelines themselves are very simple, and clearly outlined in our updated F.A.Q. as such:
Q: Can I make a video on TS!UNDERSWAP?
A: Absolutely! Please just make sure you give proper credit. You can do this by specifying the project is "TS!UNDERSWAP by Team Switched," and linking to our official game page. Please do not misrepresent our fan-game as "UNDERSWAP" or affiliated with Toby Fox. We are an unofficial fan-game based on UNDERTALE, nothing more.
Q: Can I monetize videos of TS!UNDERSWAP?
A: If your content is transformative (contains meaningful commentary, etc.) and credits us properly (as specified above), then you may! If you're doing a let's play (multi-video or longplay), you need to display the entire credits sequence at the end (we want people to be recognized for their hard work, and we have a tribute to a departed friend.) You may not monetize straight footage of our fan-game.
Please make sure to respect our wishes! We don't want people profiting from straight footage of our fangame--which we don't profit off of--without any kind of transformative content.
Moving Forward
Demo Patches
While we've done a great deal of playtesting up until the demo's release, there's bound to be some really obscure bugs here and there. We'll make sure to fix any issues that get reported--just make sure that you use the bug report form! We also have troubleshooting channels in our Discord and GameJolt Community, if needed.
As mentioned before, we'll also be providing official localization patches in the future!
And, of course, a post-launch Spep Mode DLC. What is it, you may ask?
It's. Something.
Soundtrack
Over the next few days or so, we'll be uploading the rest of the demo's soundtrack to our SoundCloud page. At some point, we'll also be uploading the soundtrack in its entirety to our YouTube channel, complete with visuals alongside the music itself.
In the meantime, please don't upload our soundtrack! We want the people who created the tracks to get the attention they deserve, and would prefer our content is hosted from official sources.
Chapters vs Full Release
We know this is a question that a lot of you probably have. Now that the demo's finally out, what's next for TS!UNDERSWAP?
Well, we're not sure how long a full game is going to take. We've had different conversations as to whether we'd like to release the game in a chapters format ("Entries"), or if we'd rather release it in full. However, each of these have their own pros and cons, and regardless of what we decide on, it's probably going to take a long while.
We still need to come to a solid decision, but as we've been weighing our options, we're currently gravitating more towards the "chapters" release format. We'll have to wait and see!
Post-Demo Content
At some point Soon™, we plan on making either a devlog or video showcasing post-demo character designs & sprites (Alphys, Undyne, Asriel, Sir Scratchalot, Toriel, etc.), giving some insight on the characters themselves, and briefly discussing our plans for each area. Remember that anything is subject to change, so sprites and concept art showed off may differ from the final versions.
Down the line, we'll also be showing off scrapped content and beta assets from the course of 2016-2020. This will include an art book (more of an art pdf file), and music concepts that either evolved into the final versions, or didn't make the cut. We probably won't cover everything, but we'll show off as much as we can!
We also hope to do some updated character references! Hopefully, that should give people a better sense of what they look like than sprites and slightly outdated references.
UnderEvent 2021
That's right! TS!UNDERSWAP will be a part of UnderEvent in February 2021.
In case you missed it, UnderEvent is an unofficial presentation of UNDERTALE fangames, meant to celebrate the creative talents of this community. We'll be doing our own short presentation, where we'll be talking about our 4 year development history, along with gameplay footage from outdated beta builds. At the end, we'll be talking a bit about our future plans, so stay tuned!
Inverted Fate: Fallen Crown
(Artwork by Dorked)
...Well, what better way to end off our release devlog than to promote another fangame releasing soon?
Introducing: Inverted Fate: Fallen Crown!
This official playable adaptation of the Toriel battle from Inverted Fate, made by philiplol, will be coming around Christmastime! It features a custom soundtrack, brand new gameplay mechanics, secrets, and more!
As always, it'll contain a great deal of spoilers for the AU itself, so make sure to read up on the official comic before giving it a go (when it's out)!
And with that... this devlog is done.
Words can't express just how happy we are right now. Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck around with us for the past 4 years--and anyone who has contributed to the project in any shape or form.
We're so excited to see your reactions to the demo!
Feel free to share your thoughts, reactions, and gameplay in our Discord, GameJolt community, or on social media! We'll definitely be watching.
Just make sure not to spoil anyone, please!
Until next time!
- Beethovenus and Team Switched
(...Did nobody pick up on the Festivus release? We left so many clues...)
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