Hi, I'm PuarGaming, once again the owner of Under Dream Island! (THE BALLAD OF FIREY JR will remain non-canon)

MAKA had lost of their passion for this AU, so they agreed to give me back ownership of UNDER DREAM ISLAND, which now means I am in charge of the entire project again. (Get ready for progress, people!)

However, there's something we need to discuss.

Part 1: The "full AU" problem

Most UNDERTALE fangames are simple one-encounter boss fights against one person nowadays, and those end up taking months if not years to wrap up development (and sometimes they just don't even come out!)

I initially worried about this when we first decided on a full game, but we decided to do it anyway because there was a chance we'd end up being super productive over it...and I was wrong.

Turns out--with a small team, it's hard to do world-building at a scale that Undertale takes it to, especially when you have to program everything together.

So, over the last few weeks, we reviewed what we could be doing differently. We were going to turn this game into a boss rush, but...that still doesn't scratch the itch I've had.

The only solution I could think of is turning this AU into a web comic, like MONSTRE//IIMWAD, or Lost And Found, or Inverted Fate! I consider it a creative way to pursue the full AU without going the extra 20 miles to finish it.

Part 2: The new era

And that's what we're doing! Under Dream Island is undergoing...like the softest reboot its ever had. Like literally nothing is changing but one thing in the story and also it's a web-comic now.

"But Puar, what's that one thing?" Allow me to enlighten you.

Meet your new player character, Souly! If you've seen the Doom Era 2's Discord rich presence icon, this will seem very familiar.

Souly is a character (very cleverly) conceived by MAKA to be the new Frisk replacement, and their design is based off of when you flee from battle. (Hence, why they're armless!)

Four and X will still be relevant in how UDI starts, but not in your actual adventure in Lower Goiky. In a way, they've become the war between MONSTERS and HUMANS.

Part 3: Questions asked and answered.

Q1: Does this mean you're no longer a full OST project?
A1: We're still doing a full OST, but now that the pressure of needing to program the actual game is gone, now we can work faster.

Q2: Will this affect how I interact with the game?
A2: Unfortunately yes, some fights will either be videos or pictures. But, I have a solution in terms of bosses and it involves the idea we dismissed!

Q3: Does your idea in A2 imply that there will be a boss rush?
A3: Yes, indeed! As the name suggests, though, it'll only be for bosses.

To help expand our efforts, we are hiring! We currently are in search of the following:

• Co-musicians (to help our current ones!)

• Extra artists!

• Co-writers!

• Panel assemblers.

If you are interested in helping this AU, please feel free to reach out on Discord (_puargaming_) and we'll talk!

Thank you for reading this devlog, and cheers to a new era of Under Dream Island!