No custom eyecatcher this time, I wasn't able to make one. Sorry! :(

Introduction

hellooooo everynyan. buoys and girls. my name is corthon & i am your bitch

today's devlog is going to be a little bit different, i'm afraid (although hopefully it won't deter you all). i was really wanting to make a devlog this month however the issue is that we don't really have that much to show so instead of doing my usual thing with the devlogs i thought it would instead be nice to like. y'know. be more casual this time & just ramble on about how development's been going lately, even if it isn't much.

strap in your seatbelts. i'll try not to let my cadance end up sounding too depressing

(Also, before continuing any further, hello! My name is SweetheartStan (just call me Mari) and I’m the assistant writer/proofreader for OUTDATED. Corthon asked me to step in and help with some of the devlogette. You’ll know it’s me when I end the paragraph (or section) with an “-M”. Okay, that's all I wanted to say! Handing it back to Corth for now.)  -M

Development Status

not much has still been going on, unfortunately. :(

i'm very glad i did the layoffs & set up the trello because at least now i know that the devs that i have left with me won't also randomly go silent without reason (i hope) & we'll be able to pick development back up without too much trouble whenever we eventually get back to the grind, but like. man. i was really counting on things to pick back up RIGHT AFTER the devlog. oh well

i suppose it makes sense, given how this is the time where everybody is working & focusing on academics, so i won't blame them for not really working or being entirely active in the dev server lately. truth be told, i haven't being doing too much for OUTDATED lately either. i wish i could, but as much as i brainwash myself into thinking that i'm working hard the most i've done within the past few weeks have been writing, which isn't...actually that much.

the OUTDATED writing document will most definitely be important in the long run if i want everyone to be on the same page regarding what i want to do with the mod's story but the issue is that the doc's importance only pays off if people are like, y'know. actually around to read it. and i've more or less been the only one talking in the dev server for the past few weeks so after a while of grinding away at the document i decided to put a pin on it until things kick back up again.

development on my part has also been slowed down by the fact that i recently lost my drawing tablet, which means i've had to use my backup drawing tablet until the old one gets found again (which isn't likely to happen anytime soon). the backup drawing tablet works well enough, but i have some issues with it, a particular one being that it does not support adobe animate, kicking my usefulness about halfway down the Usefulness Ladder™. i can technically still work under these conditions, of course, but the process has become a lot more convoluted & so i do not believe that working on art will be as fun for me going forward.

April Fools

(There was a plan for upcoming April Fools, but due to the slow development of the base mod and wanting to focus on getting dev work back on track, we’re pushing it back. Whether that's Demo 3 or the Full Release, we will see, but know that it will be finished. Thank you for your patience!) -M

Content

tl;dr More Simplification. perhaps with how much i mention simplifying things this is starting to sound concerning, but honestly, what else can i do?

when i was first expanding on OUTDATED i was fully expecting development to go 100% smoothly, and so i wanted to go out with the Full Release. high effort Everything. Leave the audience amazed, etc etc.

as development went on and i started coming across hurdles in both the development life & in my personal life, i started realizing that i probably wouldn't be able to make things as majestic as i wanted them to be, so i started scrapping things from the mod that i thought we didn't need (primarily songs and stuff). i was definitely on the right track at the time, but i never got to realize the rest of that lesson until recently

WHAT I LEARNED: there is no point in trying to make "the next big thing". this sounds like a very obvious point to make, but it really isn't. trust me.

of course you can be as ambitious as you want with your plans AND have fun doing so, it's your project, but the truth is that you're probably not going to be able to cover all of your initial bases. you're a human being, you will most likely not be able to strive for perfection. make things the best way you can make them, but you have to remember that it's okay to cut corners and go the simple route as well. a simpler project will have a greater chance of coming out than an ambitious one

if you are a projectmaker that is currently trying & struggling to make something the way they want to make it, i advise you to watch this video. this was something that also helped me reach this conclusion, and i'm very glad i stumbled across this video

i also got the chance to go through most of Doki Doki Takeover+, a mod i'm sure most of y'all have heard about already. going through it and seeing what the mod had to offer really cemented the idea that maybe i should just try to have more fun working on this mod rather than just trying to be flashy.

am i secretly trying to find an excuse to be lazy? perhaps i am. who knows! all i really want is for this mod to have a good chance to get out by the end of the day, and if it means i'll have to take a couple of shortcuts for that to happen then i'm fine with that. i don't want to feel like i have to be on ball and chain for this project

Cutscenes

(After Corth took some input (both within the team and the DDFH server), it was agreed upon to do text-based cutscenes. Maybe not the most mind blowing thing, but fitting for the game that OUTDATED is based on, no? It’s also a lot easier on the team overall, and allows us to put our focus elsewhere.) -M

New MC sprite

(All that said, we are making progress (if slow). Take a look at this sprite of MC, made by skibanana! He did a wonderful job updating the outdated demo sprite!)

(…Sorry.) -M

Why not just cancel FNF OUTDATED at this point?

(To quote Corth herself: “It’s personal”. There’s a lot underneath the hood for this project that means a lot to her, so she (alongside the team) wants to see this project to fruition. Sure it might be going slow right now, but things are getting on track. I’m excited to show all of you all what we have cooking; I think we have something very special that we are cooking up :3) -M

OUTDATED's development started around the time a lot of things were happening/about to happen in my life, and so over time everything that was going on managed to subtly influence the direction of the project, eventually making it one of my more personal, "to the heart" projects. while i still consider OUTDATED to be a joke project at heart (with the bullshit concepts it happens to work with and whatnot), the story that i've constructed for it happens to be something that resonates deeply within me, and i'd like to be able to have the chance to release this project before i can "move on" from this era of my life.

this project means a lot to me, and if it ends up being canned i will be nothing short of devastated. no matter how shit the circumstances may become, until progress becomes completely impossible to make i will do my best to make sure things move forward. i have a story i intend to tell you all, no matter what.

Conclusion

(Okay, that’s all for major(ish) updates about the project! Next devlog should be out by Christmas, maybe New Year’s eve at the absolute latest. Hopefully we have a lot more positive-leaning news next time haha)

(Also, maybe keep an eye out for a little something. Might have something (small) to share in future.)

(Thank you for taking the time to read this, I appreciate it more than you all can imagine. Hope you have a very spooky and evil Halloween. And uh… I hope y'all don’t hate me.) -M

i'm hoping thing'll manage to pick back up by around 2025 as 2024 has kind of been terrible for us development-wise, being overall slow with most of our time being spent more on planning than actual progress.

the next devlog will probably be towards the end of december (hopefully with more stuff to show). if you guys want to get more into the Monika.EXE/OUTDATED space in the meantime & even have access to exclusive teaser, consider joining Doki Doki Funkin' Hub! you'll be sure to have fun there.

that's all for now, and here's to (still) hoping things get better from here. toodles!