(Edit: some of the information in this devlog is outdated!)

Howdy, folks!

I hope you all have been having a great spooky month so far! I'd just like to give you guys a (relatively) brief progress report about what's going on with the game, and what you can expect to see in the coming months. Let's start by talking about the next multiplayer update!

ANNOUNCING V1.4.0:

Next month, I'll be releasing a large update to the game which will focus mainly on Multiplayer! I've given v1.3.3 enough time to settle, and I've gained some feedback on what you guys think about the game so far. Overall, it seems like the reception has been pretty positive, so thank you to everyone who's been playing! However, there's a few things people have been requesting, so I'm here to provide some insight on what will be coming to the game!

First, v1.4.0 will add brand new weapons, and yes, finally some armor! Armor has been highly requested, and it will now be obtainable in the next update. For you grinders out there, this will make some of the tougher enemies easier to deal with! Another change is that most weapon and armor chests will now require LV to open them, so that those who are putting in the time to grind can be rewarded for their efforts with stronger weapons and armor. But worry not pacifists, since not all chests requires LV!

Next, new leaderboards have been added to the game! There is now a leaderboard in Free-For-All mode, which gives more of a reason to raise your POWER ranking: to get higher on the board, and become the number one champion! The POWER cap has also been raised from 50 up to 999, so you can keep gaining more POWER for pretty much as long as you'd like!

Outside of FFA, there is also a new LV leaderboard, so that grinders can show off their determination and see how their LOVE compares against others!

Third, I've personally been feeling pretty nostalgic for classic Undertale lately, and I know that some of you have been feeling the same way too. DF's classic multiplayer featured some key areas from Undertale, such as Snowdin, Waterfall, the Ruins, etc. I've been missing having those areas around to explore, which is why I am happy to announce that WORLD 4, a new world exclusive to Multiplayer, will be arriving in v1.4.0! World 4 will feature recreations of the first four areas of Undertale, now with new puzzles, new minibosses, and new loot to find!

When you first enter World 4, you'll start off in a small hub room, which has entrances to all 4 areas. These entrances mainly serve as shortcuts if you want to visit a specific place, since all of the areas are actually connected, so you can start in the Ruins and just keep going until you reached the end of Hotland is you so wished to.

While each of the four areas share similar environments to the original game, the layouts have been changed up with new rooms and puzzles.

For now, v1.4.0 will only have the Ruins and Snowdin available. Waterfall and Hotland will be added in future updates!

Fourth, there will be a new addition to the game specifically for roleplayers. I've been told that people who RP feel like it's awkward to do it in DF since the only way to communicate is in the public chat. To solve this, I plan on adding optional speech bubbles that will appear above roleplayers' heads, containing whatever they type so that they can speak with people in the same room without having to put it in the public chat. This will be toggled using the command "/roleplay on" and "/roleplay off". While roleplay mode is enabled, whatever you type into the chat will become a speech bubble above your head instead, and not put into the chat. Whenever you want to start talking in the chat again, just turn roleplay mode off by inputting the command. I hope this helps RPers enjoy the game more!

Finally, Free-For-All mode will be receiving some new features. One of these new features is that starting in v1.4.0, FFA will now have a map rotation system. Instead of having all three maps available all the time, there will now only be one map accessible at a time, and they will cycle every 2 hours. Think of it like map rotations in Splatoon. This change is being made so that FFA feels less boring with having such large maps when there's only a few people playing. Now all players are in the same map together, which means a lot more head-to-head encounters! Along with the new FFA leaderboard, hopefully this helps FFA become a more engaging experience for you guys!

Anyway, that's all I have to say about v1.4.0. Expect that update sometime next month!

Now, let's move on to what's next for the game as a whole.

What's next?

After v1.4.0, what's next for the game? Well, my plan is that after v1.4 is released, that will be the last update to the game for a while. Towards the end of next month, I will begin development on Chapter 2. Once I begin, it will not be possible for me to release new updates for a while. Assets for Chapter 2 have already begun getting made by members of the team, and now that Chapter 1 has set the groundwork for the rest of the game, Chapter 2 shouldn't take as long to make (hopefully!). My estimate is probably 5-6 months, but no promises! During this development period, I might not have much to say here on GameJolt, so be sure to join my discord for more frequent updates!

Anyway, that about wraps things up for this devlog. Before I go, I'd like to bring attention to a YouTube video that one of the composers, PalodiaPrime, put together. It's the complete OST for Chapter 1 of DF, all in one video for your listening pleasure! You can listen to all of the glorious tracks here:

Alrighty, thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of spooky month!