Introduction.
Howdy! We haven’t really made a lengthy update in a while, and a lot of people have been asking about the current state of the UNDERSWAP demo and why it’s been taking so long to be completed. In response to this, we’ve decided to take the time to let you guys know just why it’s been taking so long.
Part 1 - Programmers.
Development for the game started when the engine begun being worked on in March of 2016. One of our programmers was starting to work on the engine in terms of collisions and such. Another one was working on the battle engine and text boxes but we kinda lost contact eventually. After a while of pretty slow progress a new programmer joined the team with a around 2/3rd finished engine using UNDERTALE’s demo code. After a while this programmer had lost interest in the game, stopped working on the demo, and lied about its progress only to then bail on us. The next person who stepped up as main programmer basically did the same thing. One of the previous mentioned programmers is now also unable to work due to suffering from Enthesitis. Another one of our programmers we’ve unfortunately lost contact with as well. However now we have three very dedicated and skilled programmers who are assisting us with the game.
Part 2 - DRAMA!
Oh, boy. Where to begin with this? I’m not going to go too in-depth about all of this, as there’s quite a bit, but here’s a general idea of some things that have happened:
A former sprite artist of the team had left after there were disagreements regarding development, revoked permission to use their sprites (which, at the time, was a great deal of the game’s sprites), and then made claims that they were harassed by members of the team, among other things. And then the former leader of the team had made attempts to sabotage the project, believing these allegations.
Old YouTube channel had been deleted by a former team member when they were upset with decisions being made in regards to sprites.
Team members leaving and rejoining the team after having petty temper tantrums or outbursts.
Team members not cooperating with others and complaining over petty things; expecting their work to remain completely unedited, despite the fact that we’re a collaborative group of people working together to make sure everything is consistent (art styles, etc.) and the best it can possibly be.
People stealing assets of the game revealed in public screenshots for their own games.
Part 3 - Rewriting and Overhauling.
As developers, we are constantly coming up with brand new ideas to make UNDERSWAP a more original experience and less of a simple reskin of UNDERTALE —- brand new artwork, music, characters, plot elements, level design, puzzles, easter eggs, game mechanics, and more. Because of this, it takes more time for the demo to be completed, as we are working towards adding brand new content to make the game a new experience for players to enjoy.
Part 4 - Our Lives.
We’re people, not machines. We also have lives outside of UNDERSWAP —given that most of us are children, specifically students, we have our own academic and personal lives to tend to. Some of us even have their own projects to work on outside of UNDERSWAP, and we need to focus our attention to those, too. We get that people have been waiting quite a while for the demo, and it’s been so motivating to see more and more people have patience and understanding regarding this matter; however, expecting us to simply churn out a full game in a matter of seconds is unrealistic, and the “where’s the demo?” comments do nothing but annoy and demotivate us.
Conclusion + Mention of PSA.
So, yeah. Hopefully this sums up just about everything we’ve wanted to let you guys know for this update, and what you guys have wanted to know from us.
Also! Quick notice that we’re also going to be making a PSA soon about some predominant issues in the UNDERTALE fandom, including widespread harassment and art/music theft.
Other than this, that should be it for now! Hope you guys have a lovely day ^_^
Beethovenus and Granpris from Team Switched
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