Howdy folks!

Sorry for the delay with this progress report! It’s been a pretty busy month for me personally, and since Chapter 1 is getting closer to completion now, there’s not as much to share as the past two progress reports since I don’t want to reveal too much about the game. I’d like it to remain mostly a surprise ;)

That being said, there won’t be a progress report next month, so this is likely the last devlog before the release of Chapter 1, so let’s get into it!

Story Mode:

As most of you know, the Story Mode demo I released last year played a lot like Super Mario Odyssey, in which you could find puzzle pieces and soul pieces around the map, similar to purple coins and power moons. The puzzle pieces did not play a very large role in the game, as their only purpose was to unlock costumes and other goodies. Some of you liked this, but the rest of you probably felt that something as seemingly important as the puzzle pieces didn’t actually do much. After deciding to rewrite the plot after playing Deltarune, I knew that the puzzle pieces needed a better use, and so I’d like to share with you what I’ve decided to do with them. Take a look at this screenshot:

Puzzle pieces are now a very important collectible in the game, referred to as “Memory Pieces”. These memory pieces come in three sets: red, green, and blue. Once you complete a set, the pieces of the next set will become available. Only the first set is required in order to progress the game, the other two sets are optional. There are a lot more of them to collect now than there were in the demo, as I’m sure you can see. Each chapter will have 100 memory pieces to collect in total. These make the worlds feel fuller and provide something else to explore for besides the soul pieces, and since the overworld is larger than it was previously, I feel that this is a good addition.

In other words, the game now plays a lot more like Banjo-Kazooie than it does Super Mario Odyssey, as collecting things is now a primary objective.

Of course, it wouldn’t be as much fun if collecting them didn’t actually do anything, which is why for every set you complete, you unlock a new cutscene to watch which will provide clues to the backstory of the game! There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Harlow and Gaster, so if you want to find out more about them, collecting memory pieces is the way to do it!

Now, for those of you that liked unlocking costumes, don’t worry! There are now four hidden chests to find in each world that contain a new costume for Harlow, so you can explore in style! Finding these chests won’t always be easy, so keep your eyes peeled for secret entrances!

That’s all for Story Mode for now, hopefully that’s enough to keep you satisfied until Chapter 1 releases! I’ve still got a lot to do before it’s done, so I’ll be a bit quiet on GameJolt so I can focus on it. Thanks for your patience! Now, let’s move on to the next thing.

Mobile Port:

Yes, you read that right.

I’ve recently been dabbling with Game Maker’s Android exporter, and I am fairly confident that I can port the Story Mode over to android devices. You’d be able to play DF on your phone by downloading the .apk from the GameJolt page, and then putting it on your android phone and installing it, allowing you to play DF anywhere! However, I’ll only do this if enough people want it, so let me know in the comments below! Keep in mind that only Story Mode will be ported, Multiplayer will not be playable on Android. But for those of you who’d like to play Story Mode while away from your PC, this would be for you!

Final Questions:

Since this is the last devlog before Chapter 1 releases, whenever that may be, I’d like to take the time to answer some questions I’m sure you all have, just to be clear on them. If I see other questions I didn’t answer in the comments, I’ll add them here.

Q: Will Multiplayer release with Chapter 1?
A: That’s currently the plan! If this changes, I’ll let you all know.

Q: Are Story Mode and Multiplayer in the same game, or are they going to be two different downloads?
A: They are both in the same game!

Q: How long is Chapter 1?
A: Without collecting everything, probably around 2 hours. If you’re aiming to find everything, it’ll of course take longer than that depending on your pace.

Q: Is my progress from the previous two demos going to still be there?
A: No, this is basically a completely new game compared to the previous two demos, and so your saves from those two will not be compatible with the full game.

Q: What’s the release schedule like?
A: To be honest, there isn’t one! I have another personal project that I’m working on besides DF, so DF will be done when it’s done. I would like Chapter 3 to be out by the end of the year, but we’ll see. Chapter 1 and 2 will definitely release this year, though.

Q: How will Multiplayer be updated?
A: Multiplayer will be updated each time a new chapter is released, so there will be two more major updates to Multiplayer after Chapter 1 comes out.

Conclusion:

Alright folks, that’s all I’ve got to share for now! I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I look forward to letting you all get your hands on Chapter 1! Until then, stay determined!