Howdy, everyone!

Welcome to the April 2024 Progress Report! Since our last report, the team and I have been hard at work on DF CONNECTED v2.8.0, and we're ready to share some exciting new announcements with you guys!

Today, April 11th, also happens to be DF CONNECTED's fourth anniversary! On this day back in 2020, v2.0.0 was released. Thank you all so much for sticking with us throughout these past few years!

Since it's DF CONNECTED's anniversary, what better day to announce some major new additions than today? There's one announcement in particular that I'm especially excited about, which has been in the works for quite a while!

You may recall that I've been teasing a major revamp for the partner system since back in January, and I'm excited to say that we're finally ready to reveal exactly what it is! It's a massive change, but one that I think fits right in with our vision for the game going forward. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it!

It's not just the partner system revamp that we're showcasing in this report, though! There's plenty more news to share with you as well, so without further ado, let's dive right into it!

Status Update on DF CONNECTED v2.8.0

To start off, I'd like to thank you all for your patience and understanding throughout the wait for v2.8.0.

I'm happy to share that development has been going at a smoother pace since our previous status update, and we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Besides what we're about to share in the rest of this post, here are some updates on other things we've been working on!

Progress on Cyber World

As we've announced previously, the Cyber World is one of the new areas being added in v2.8.0, comprised of three sub-areas: Cyber Field, Cyber City, and Queen's Mansion.

There are four enemies being added in the Field and City, which are Werewire, Tasque, Virovirokun, and Ambyu-Lance.

We've already shown off Werewire and Tasque in a previous report, but we haven't shown off Virovirokun or Ambyu-Lance yet, so here's how they look in-battle!

This is one of Virovirokun's attacks:

And this is one of Ambyu-Lance's attacks:

We hope you look forward to encountering them in the update!

Besides enemies, there's also been progress made on new music for the area! Take a listen to "A CYBER'S SPACE!", our new cover of "A CYBER'S WORLD?", arranged by 398utubzyt!

As for what's left to do before the Cyber World is completed, there's still a few rooms left to make in the Field and City, and Queen's Mansion will follow shortly after. The finished area won't be as big as the full Cyber World from Deltarune, but it'll be bigger than DFC's version of the Card Kingdom!

I've also been working on implementing new puzzles into the Cyber Field, as I feel like DFC as a whole is pretty lacking in the puzzle department. I plan on revisiting previous areas to give them new puzzles as well!

Improvements to the Battle System

There are some exciting changes coming to the battle system in v2.8.0! For this update, I've been working on some extensive framework rewrites, which have enabled me to do all sorts of things which weren't previously possible!

When I first wrote the game's battle system about seven years ago, I made the mistake of designing it around having only one monster per battle. This made it much more complicated when I eventually added multi-enemy encounters in v2.7.0. As a result, there were a few quirks to how multi-enemy encounters worked, the most noticeable being that only one enemy could attack at a time.

In UNDERTALE and DELTARUNE, when there are multiple enemies present, they can combine their attack patterns. This is something that has been requested to be added in DFC for a while, and I'm happy to say that in v2.8.0, combined attacks have been added!

From now on, when there are multiple enemies present, their attack patterns will be combined! For enemies with attack patterns that are a bit too complex to be combined, they'll be given new patterns specifically for multi-enemy encounters.

This change should help to add a lot more variety to enemy attacks going forward, so I hope you'll have fun with it!

Besides combined attacks, another change has been made to how multi-enemy encounters work!

Previously, it was impossible to encounter two of the same type of enemy together in one battle, due to those same quirks I mentioned earlier. For example, you weren't able to encounter two Froggits together in the same battle.

But now, that's no longer the case! It is now possible to encounter multiple of the same type of enemy together!

This change allows us to add even more multi-enemy encounters to the game, so that single-enemy encounters are no longer the most common!

I hope you'll have fun discovering all of the new encounters!

Release Plans for v2.8.0

Before we get into the rest of the announcements, I'd like to quickly address our release plans for the update.

While v2.8.0 has made very good progress in the past month, we still feel that it's a bit too early to announce a new public release date for it.

We really appreciate how patient you guys have been with us since the initial delay announcement, and we don't want to cause any further disappointment by announcing a new date before we're ready to.

That's not to say that we don't have a release date in mind, though! As I mentioned in the March 2024 Mini Status Update, we still have an internal release date that we're aiming for, and the plan is still to announce the update's release date at least a week in advance.

In the meantime, I hope that what we'll be showing in this progress report will help to make the wait a little easier, by showing you all exactly what we've been using this additional time on. It's no exaggeration when we say that v2.8.0 is the biggest update we've ever done, and I can't wait for you all to play it!

Now then, I think we're ready to get started with the announcements! Let's start with the biggest one, which I've been hinting at since January...

Introducing: PARTY MEMBERS!

In DF CONNECTED v2.8.0, the partner system is receiving a massive overhaul.

It will now be possible to build your very own Deltarune-style party, so you can have two party members join you on your adventure and battle alongside you!

When the original partner system was first introduced in v2.5.0, it was very limited. It allowed you to have a single character follow you around in the overworld, and they could give you occasional bonuses in battles... and that was about it.

I've always wanted to give them more utility, and so I decided that since v2.8.0 is going to be multiplayer's last major content update before the end-of-service, it's now or never!

Every playable character in the game (all 68 of them so far), will now be recruitable as a party member!

Please take a look at this little showcase video I put together, demonstrating the key features of this new party member system:

Now then, let's go over this new system in a bit more detail!

Selecting your Party Members

You can select any two recruited characters to be in your party. To do this, you can go to the "partner" menu in your CELL, which has received a redesign.

In the new partner menu, you'll be able to see all of the characters that you have recruited, as well as the ones you haven't yet. Characters who haven't been recruited will appear grayed out.

Once you've found a recruited character that you'd like to add to your party, you can select them to open their overview screen. On this screen, you can view all of that character's information at a glance, like their stats, their primary element, their "Party Bond" (previously known as "Friendship Level"), and the date you recruited them!

To add a character to your party, simply select "Add to Party". If you don't have any active party members, then this will place them into your party automatically. If you already have party members active, then a "placement menu" will open, where you can select which slot in your party to place the character into.

Once you've chosen your party members, they'll appear in the overworld and follow behind you. You can change their costumes individually from their overview screen, giving you complete control over the appearance of your party.

To view your current party members' stats, you can open up the STAT menu, which now has additional pages for your two party members. You can see icons for your party members at the bottom of the page.

Every party member has their own individual stats, which include LV, EXP, HP, ATK, DEF, and a new MAGIC stat.

You'll also notice that there's a new option to view your party members' "spells". We'll go over this more up ahead, so for now let's move on to battles!

Battling with Party Members

Now here's where things get interesting: a new turn system has been added to battles! Your party members gets their very own turn to perform a command, just like in Deltarune!

For each party member, you can choose to have them FIGHT, cast MAGIC, use an ITEM, give MERCY, or DEFEND. Once they've made their choice, it'll then go to the next party member's turn, until everyone's made a selection.

Above the option buttons, you can see the health bars of each of your party members, with the highlighted member being the one whose turn it currently is. When a party member has chosen their action for this turn, their icon will change to display what their action is, like in Deltarune.

Let's go over what you can do with each option!

With the FIGHT option, you can attack and deal damage to enemies. Each party member can target any enemy, allowing you to deal damage to multiple enemies simultaneously.

The ACT option is exclusive to the first turn (which is your own turn), and works as usual, allowing you to increase an enemy's "mercy meter" by using various ACTs. When an enemy's mercy meter is at 100%, they can be spared.

When it's your party members' turns, the ACT option will change into the MAGIC option. This is part of the new magic system that is being introduced in this update, which will be replacing the old "skill" system!

In the magic menu, you can choose to use one of the party member's three spells, or you can choose to use "P-Action", which allows the party member to assist with ACTs. I'll talk more about the new magic system later on!

The ITEM option allows you to heal yourself or a party member. When selecting a consumable item, a list of your party members will appear, and you can choose who to use the healing item on.

The MERCY option allows you to SPARE all enemies that are currently sparable, or FLEE from the battle. The FLEE option will only appear on your own turn, not your party members'.

Finally, the DEFEND option works like it does in Deltarune. You can use the DEFEND option to skip a party member's turn, earning 16% TP and a temporary defense buff for doing so. This is useful for saving up TP for powerful spells.

Once every party member has made their selection, they'll perform their actions in order (except FIGHTing, which is always performed last). After everyone has performed their actions, it'll be the enemy's turn!

When the enemy's turn begins, they'll choose which of your party members will receive damage from getting hit by bullets this turn. You'll know which party members are being targeted by looking for a little indicator over their icon:

If you get hit by an enemy's bullet during their attack pattern, then all party members that are being targeted will receive damage. The damage they receive is dependent on the enemy's ATK stat, and the party member's DEF stat.

The turn order will repeat until either all enemies have been defeated/spared, or if all of your party members reach 0 HP.

If any enemies were killed during a fight, your party will earn EXP for each kill in that battle. EXP is shared between all party members that used FIGHT during the battle.

If a party member earns enough EXP, they will gain LV, just like the player can. Gaining LV allows them to increase their base stats, like their HP, ATK, DEF, and MAGIC.

Equipment for Party Members

Gaining LV isn't the only way to increase your party members' stats, of course! Each party member can be equipped with a weapon and armor, increasing their ATK and DEF respectively.

The EQUIP menu has been updated to allow you to select equipment for you and your party members. At the bottom of the menu, you can see which party member is currently selected, and the stat difference between their current equipment and the selected equipment. You can toggle which party member is selected with the left/right keys.

Since there are so many party members available in the game, it'd be pretty difficult to manage if every character needed to be equipped individually. So how it works instead is that you have three weapon slots and three armor slots. Your first weapon and armor slots are for yourself, while your second/third weapon and armor slots will go to your second and third party member respectively.

This means that regardless of who your second and third party member is, their equipment will be whatever is in your second/third weapon and armor slots, which is a lot easier to manage.

You can tell which equipment is placed in which slot by looking at the number above its icon. If it's "1", it's equipped to yourself. If it's "2", it's equipped to your second party member. If it's "3", it's equipped to your third party member.

Customizing your Party Members

With this new party member system, I want players to be able to build their "dream team" with their favorite characters. Costumes are an important part of this, so here's how they work!

In a character's overview screen, there are various options at the bottom. The "Costume" option allows you to the toggle that character's costume individually. Their icon in the top-right will change to display their costume.

It's been requested for a long time to allow costume states to be saved, so that when you quit the game, your partner's costume will still be the same when you log back in. This is now the case! Every single party member's costume gets saved, so you can choose any costume you want them to have, and they'll still have it the next time you add them to your party!

A new customization option has also been added: you can now give nicknames to your partners!

When you change a party member's nickname, that name is how they'll be referred to everywhere in the game, including during battles!

I hope you'll enjoy building parties with your favorite characters!

Introducing: A NEW MAGIC SYSTEM!

As I mentioned in the previous section, the old "skill" system will not be returning in v2.8.0, and has instead been replaced with a new magic system!

In past versions of the game, "skills" were abilities that could be used in battles to inflict buffs, debuffs, and various effects on the battle.

While these skills were useful in certain situations, like in corruption battles where the "Brace" skill was very helpful, they were otherwise not used much by players. The range of skills available was too limited, and the situations where they really made a difference were few and far between.

That's why I decided that the introduction of party members was the perfect time to make a change.

Here's how the new magic system works!

Spells for Party Members

Every party member now has a set of three spells that they can use in battles! The new "MAGIC" stat I mentioned earlier is part of this system, and it's used to dictate the effectiveness of various spells.

You can view your party members' spells from the STAT menu by going to their page and pressing the confirm button. Here, you can see the names of their three spells, their TP costs, and a description of what the selected spell does.

There are over sixty spells in the game, with a few you might recognize from Deltarune, while the rest are brand-new! Spells are split into these five categories:

• Elemental Spells: these are spells that can inflict elemental damage onto foes. Every enemy now has an element assigned to them (i.e. water, fire, grass, etc.), and if you use an elemental spell on them that they're weak to, you'll deal higher damage than you could by just attacking normally!

• Buffing Spells: these are spells that can increase the party's ATK and DEF stats, similar to the old Pump and Brace skills.

• Healing Spells: these are spells that can heal one or all of your party members. The amount these spells can heal depends on the caster's MAGIC stat.

• Pacify Spells: these are spells that can spare one or all enemies that are inflicted with the "Tired" status effect. The "Tired" status is a new addition in v2.8.0, working similarly to how it does in Deltarune. When an enemy's HP goes below 33%, or if a certain ACT is used, they can become "Tired". The Pacify and Sleep Mist spells can be used to spare tired enemies instantly.

• Effect Spells: these are spells that can inflict status effects onto one or all enemies, or cause some sort of change in the battle. Status effects are a new addition in v2.8.0, which I'll go over shortly.

The idea behind having all of these types of spells is so that when you're selecting which characters to add to your party, you're not only choosing your favorite characters, but you're also think strategically about how you'll make use of their selection of spells!

Elements

As mentioned above, every character and enemy has now been assigned an element! For party members, they actually have two elements, a primary element and a secondary element.

Their "primary element" is the same as the vessel's "PvP type" from previous versions of the game. The primary elements are Normal, Grass, Fighting, Bone, Fire, Water, Electric, and Dark.

Their "secondary element" can be one of the elements above, or it can be one of the many new elements being added! These exist mainly so I can give characters new spells that don't fit with their primary element. For example, I added the "Ice" element as a secondary element for Noelle, so that she can use her ice magic.

There are 20 secondary elements in the game, such as Ice, Wind, Ghost, Rude, Order, and much more!

Every element has two elements that it's weak to, and two elements that it's strong against.

If you're fighting an enemy with an element that is strong against one of your elements, their bullets will deal more damage to you.

If you're fighting an enemy with an element that is weak against one of your elements, your attacks will deal more damage!

Be sure to pay attention to elements to get the most out of your party member's spells!

Using Spells in Battles

When it's a party member's turn in-battle, the ACT option will be replaced with the new MAGIC option. In here, you can select which spell you want your party member to use this turn!

Like in Deltarune, spells cost TP. You can earn TP by "grazing" (getting very close to) bullets during the enemy's turn, or you can quickly save up TP by using the DEFEND option.

When you have enough TP for the spell you want, you can cast it! If it's an elemental spell that deals damage, you can choose which enemy you want to target with the spell.

Once every party member has selected an action, the actions will be performed!

Spells add a whole new layer of strategy to the battle system, making battles much more engaging than before! When choosing your party members, consider what spells they have, and how you might be able to use them to your advantage! Elemental strengths are your friend!

Status Effects on Enemies

As I mentioned earlier, new status effects have been added alongside spells! The "Tired" status is one of them, which allows you to use a Pacify spell on the enemy to instantly spare them.

Here are the other status effects being introduced!

• Burning: can be caused by fire-elemental spells. Deals minor fire damage to the enemy for a few turns after its inflicted.

• Soaked: can be caused by water-elemental spells. Makes it so electric spells will deal significantly more damage to this enemy while soaked.

• Shocked: can be caused by electric-elemental spells. Has a chance of causing the enemy to skip their attack.

• Ensnared: can be caused by grass-elemental spells. Makes it so the enemy's attack pattern becomes less intense while they're ensnared.

• Confused: can be caused by puzzle-elemental spells. Makes it so the enemy occasionally damages themselves if you get hit by one of their bullets.

• Karma: can be caused by bone-elemental spells. Makes the enemy's HP slowly drains for a little while after they've been attacked.

• Frozen: can be caused by ice-elemental spells. Makes it so the enemy is frozen solid, unable to battle.

When an enemy is inflicted with a status effect, an icon for the status effect will be displayed next to their name:

As you can see, there's a wide range of uses for spells! I hope you'll look forward to using them all in v2.8.0!

Game Rebalancing in v2.8.0

Throughout v2.8.0's development, I've mentioned my intentions to rebalance the game, as I wanted to reduce some of the game's slower points, particularly in the mid-late game.

However, with the inclusion of party members in v2.8.0, and the end-of-service coming later this year, I've been thinking a lot about the game's balancing as a whole. What do I want DF's multiplayer to be like in the years ahead?

Up until this point, DF CONNECTED's gameplay has largely focused around its "grind". My design philosophy for most of DFC's development was that I wanted to ensure players would always have something to do each time they logged in. That way, when they're not engaging in the social aspects of the game like chatting and roleplaying, they can still play the game on their own and have something to progress towards.

However, while this extensive grind might make sense for an MMO, what about when the game isn't an MMO anymore?

As I'm sure you're all aware by now, DF's multiplayer will be reaching its end-of-service this year. We will be shutting down the official in-game server, and instead allow anyone to make their very own community servers for their friends or anyone to join.

While my original intention was to keep the game as close to the MMO experience as possible, I've been thinking that maybe that isn't the right choice. Instead, maybe the game should be redesigned as an experience that works better with the community server format.

So, in v2.8.0, I'm going to start introducing some major changes to the game, in preparation for the end-of-service and beyond.

The Grind to LV 99 is No More

This is an idea that I've wrestled with numerous times over DF CONNECTED's lifespan, but I feel like now's the right time to finally implement it.

For the past four years, the grind to LV 99 has been the "ultimate goal" of the no-mercy route. While getting to LV 20 was always the main goal, I increased the maximum LV to 99 as an optional challenge for no-mercy players.

This decision was part of my old design philosophy I mentioned above, where I put a lot of focus on the game's "grind" so that the game could last players a long time, always giving them something to do.

However, throughout v2.8.0's development, I've been reconsidering a lot of these old aspects of the game. Does the game really need a grind to LV 99?

The conclusion that I've come to is... no. That's why, starting in v2.8.0, the LV cap will be brought back down to 20. It will no longer be possible to increase your LV past 20.

This change allows me to rebalance the game to better suit the main questline. Instead of the gameplay revolving around how long you can grind for, it'll instead have a clear goal with multiple endings depending on your choices. This encourages replayability, rather than elongating a single run as much as possible.

When playing the no-mercy route in v2.8.0 and beyond, each area will now have a limited number of enemies, just like in UNDERTALE. Once you've exhausted the kill count of an area, you'll then defeat the area's boss and move on to the next area. Having a LV 20 cap just makes more sense for this.

I understand that this is a pretty big departure from previous versions of DF's multiplayer. But when the game is no longer an MMO after the end-of-service, there doesn't need to be an extensive grind. I just want players to enjoy playing the game with their friends, whether that's for 6 hours or 60 hours.

However, I know that some players actually do like the grinding aspect of the game, and I don't want to take that away from them. This is why I am adding a new feature: a run counter.

Starting in v2.8.0, once you've reached LV 20 at the end of the no-mercy route, you'll be given the option to reset your LV back to 1. This will respawn all enemies that you've killed, allowing you to continue your grind (sort of like the Darkheart's effect from previous versions of the game). This is especially useful if you want to continue grinding up your party members to LV 20, or if you want to continue your hunt for all diamond enemies.

When you reset your LV back to 1, a new "run counter" will be displayed next to your LV. It will increase by 1 each time you reach the no-mercy route ending and restart back to LV 1.

For players who have already made it past LV 20 before v2.8.0, don't worry! Your progress won't be lost!

For every 5 LVs you gained past LV 20, you'll be given +1 to your run counter automatically when you start playing v2.8.0. For example, if you've already reached LV 99, you'll automatically receive +16 to your run counter. You can then choose to restart at LV 1 again to continue your grind, if you so wish.

Your run counter will be displayed on your Undernet profile, so you can still show off your progress to your friends!

The run counter will exist for pacifist players, too! I'm still in the process of deciding exactly how many spares it'll be, but for every X amount of spares you've earned before v2.8.0, you'll automatically be given +1 to your run counter as well.

I'm considering other rewards as well, as a thank you for playing the game for as long as you have. Please let me know in the comments below if you have any ideas for how pre-2.8 players should be rewarded for their progress!

Unlocking Weapons and Armors

In previous versions of the game, weapons and armors were locked in chests throughout the overworld, with each chest requiring a certain amount of LV or spares to open them.

This has always felt like an unnatural way to gate equipment progression, especially in-universe. Why do these chests even exist in the Underground? Who put them there? DF's multiplayer has gone back and forth between whether or not its canon over the years, which is why certain elements don't really make sense. In v2.8.0, I'll be tackling a lot of these older elements to try and make them fit better in-universe, and to better suit the game's direction going forward.

With that said, from now on, gaining new weapons and armors will work more like how it does in UNDERTALE.

In each area, you can find weapons and armors laying around in the overworld, which you can pick up freely without any requirement for LV or spares. These will usually be just enough to get started in the area, but if you want to buff your stats even more for the journey ahead, better weapons and armors will be available from shopkeepers. Basically, gaining better equipment will now be gated behind GOLD, rather than your LV or spares. New shopkeepers will be added in v2.8.0 where you can buy equipment!

This method of obtaining equipment works particularly well with the new party member system. If you want all of your party members to have the best equipment up to that point in the game, there needs to be a way to gain duplicates of each weapon and armor. That's why it just makes more sense to allow players to purchase equipment, so that they can purchase duplicates for their party members.

Enemy Stat Rebalancing

While I was already planning on adjusting enemy stats for this update, the inclusion of party members has made this even more necessary.

Now that party members can target multiple enemies at once, or concentrate their attacks on one enemy for massive damage, their old stats just don't cut it!

I'm in the process of rebalancing the HP, ATK, and DEF of all enemies in the game. I'm taking extra care to ensure that the game's pacing isn't all over the place like it has been in previous versions. I hope you'll enjoy battles a lot more in v2.8.0!

Updated Trial Quests

The last thing I want to mention is that, with these changes in mind, I will be updating the Trial Quests in v2.8.0.

If you're not already aware, then in v2.7.6 of the game, I added a temporary questline to the game called the "Trial Quests". These were intended to showcase the new quest system, in preparation for the main questline that will be implemented in the future.

However, the Trial Quests were essentially just a checklist of various things you could do in the game. They didn't really give players an idea of what the actual Main Quests would be like.

So that's why in v2.8.0, I will be replacing the old Trial Quests with completely new ones, adding a new (non-canon) storyline to the game! This new storyline comes complete with new cutscenes, route differences, bosses, and endings!

Now, it's nothing too big, since I still want us to put most of our efforts towards the official Main Quests, but this updated Trial Questline should help to give you all a much better idea of what the game will be like after the end-of-service.

Anyway, that was a lot of reading, so I'll leave it there for now. I hope you'll look forward to these changes in v2.8.0!

Introducing: LOCAL PLAY!

A new way to play with your friends is being added in v2.8.0: local play! In Offline Mode, a new option has been added in the CELL, "LAN PLAY".

In this menu, you can open up your game to LAN, allowing nearby players connected to your network to join your game! This is the perfect way to play together with your IRL friends!

When a local game is detected nearby, the options at the top will display the name of the host, allowing you to select it and connect instantly.

In a local game, you'll be able to see other players! Their nickname will display above their heads, so you can tell who's who.

You can change your nickname from the LAN PLAY menu at any time.

Like in regular multiplayer, you can use both global chat and local chat in a local game, too!

Speaking of global chat, I've been working on a brand new one, which will be used in both local games and in community servers! Check it out!

Unlike the global chat in regular multiplayer, this new global chat allows you to change the color of your text!

You can select which colors you want to use with the new Text Color menu!

I'm considering adding the ability to use colored text in local chat as well!

While this isn't exclusive to local games, I'd also like to mention that local chat has received a few changes. The first change is that in the default style, a transparent black rectangle has been added beneath the message text, making it easier to see it against a busy background (such as in a crowded Grillby's).

This is also a minor change, but local chat will now move to the opposite end of the screen if it obscures the player. After all this time, it feels weird to see local chat at the bottom of the screen instead of the top, but this should help make it more readable!

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy playing together with your friends in local play! Landimizer worked on the netcode for this mode, and we're really happy with how it turned out!

While the feature will stick to the basics in v2.8.0, allowing you to see other players and chat with them, eventually we'd like to make it possible to PvP in local games as well! That way, you can have a quick PvP battle with your friends at school, or something like that!

NEW VESSEL REVEAL: Underfell Toriel!

Another AU vessel is being added in v2.8.0!

Back in December, we announced that Underfell Frisk was being added to the game, and now we're ready to reveal that Underfell Toriel will be joining them!

With her inclusion, there are now 14 AU vessels in the game! Like regular Toriel, Underfell Toriel's primary element is fire, so she'll use fire-type attacks in PvP, and have fire-elemental spells as a party member.

We've also given Underfell Toriel a new cover for her PvP battle theme! Take a listen to "Heartattack", a cover of "Heartache" arranged by 398utubzyt!

NEW VESSEL REVEAL: Lucas from Mother 3!

A new vessel in the "Other" category is being added as well!

We're excited to reveal that Lucas from Mother 3 is being added in v2.8.0! Up until now, we've only had vessels from Earthbound, but not its follow-up! We figured it was about time this changed!

With his inclusion, there are now 16 vessels in the "Other" category! Lucas' primary element is fighting, so he'll use fighting-type attacks in PvP. However, Lucas' secondary element is psychic, allowing him to use a powerful psychic-elemental spell, "PK Love"!

Lucas also comes with one costume, allowing you to play as his brother Claus!

They both come with emotes as well, with Lucas holding onto Rope Snake, and Claus petting their pet dog Boney!

I hope you'll enjoy playing as Lucas and Claus in v2.8.0!

Conclusion

Phew! Well, that about wraps up this month's progress report! Let's quickly recap all of the new information we've covered today:

• Progress on Cyber World has been going well. Virovirokun and Ambyu-Lance have been implemented, and new music is being made.

• The battle system is receiving some much-needed improvements! Enemies can now combine their attack patterns, and more multi-enemy encounters are being added!

• A new release date for v2.8.0 hasn't been announced yet, but we still have an internal release date that we're aiming for! We'll announce it when we're ready!

• The biggest addition of v2.8.0 has been revealed: party members! You can now build your very own Deltarune-style party with all 68 playable characters in the game!

• A new magic system has been added into the game! Your party members can now cast all sorts of spells, including elemental spells that can inflict great damage on your foes!

• The game will be receiving some major rebalancing in v2.8.0. There'll be a lot less focus on grinding from now on, and instead more of a focus on replayability.

• A new way to play multiplayer with your friends, Local Play, is being added! Now you can connect wirelessly to play with your nearby friends!

• Underfell Toriel is being added as a vessel!

• Lucas from Mother 3 is being added as a vessel!

I hope you're excited about all of the news in this report! Please be sure to let me know your thoughts on these changes down in the comments below!

April Fools' Project 2024

While you're here, I'd also like to mention that DF's tradition of releasing something silly on April Fools' Day continued this year! In case you missed it, on April 1st I uploaded this random teaser trailer for "DONTFORGET 4":

While this isn't actually an official sequel to DONTFORGET, the game shown in this video is going to be real! I'm working on a short, silly fangame called "Gaster's Basics", combining Undertale and Baldi's Basics+ together. Why am I making this? I don't know, honestly!!! But it's been a lot of fun to work on!

Don't worry, I'm not letting this side project take much time away from v2.8.0. I've just been working on it here and there, and don't plan on releasing it until after v2.8.0 is finished.

When I do finish it though, I think I'll give it its very own GameJolt page, rather than slapping it into the DF Forgotten Collection. Even though it's a jokey game, I hope you'll still look forward to trying it out!

Final Words

Anyway, that's all for this progress report! Thank you all so much again for your patience. I really can't wait for you guys to be able to play v2.8.0!

Thanks for reading, and as always, stay determined!