You know… when I sit down to write a piece of text which will eventually become a new post, I often come back to the previous ones to check them so not to repeat what was said then. And in rereading, I observe a definite trend: every year the gap between the publications widens. I’ve acknowledged the fact of my rare visits to you, but I would never have thought to see the day when the project is still alive, but you get the news once in a year 😅

It sucks, in fact. And I really don’t want to take this specific achievement to the next level. Considering there are almost six hundreds of you here… it's kind of embarrassing, though…

Anyway, if you received the notification and clicked on this post, it means one thing -- I have news for you. But it’s the first half. Later, if you see this post on the DT’s Anniversary (and yet I knowingly warned you of this possibility on the 15th), then it's something important since I chose to report it on such a day.

And, no, it’s not about cancelling the project -- it would be too ironic and cruel even for me, haha 😅

Let's not drag this out any further and get straight to the topic. Enjoy your reading (it's been a long time since I wished you that, hasn't it?) -- it's gonna be short, but packed with good information! ✨✨

In the year of the UnderTale’s 5th Anniversary (gosh, I miss that time…), DT was in its alpha stage. It was a test of our capabilities just to understand what we can do and where to go with it. The result was… disappointing, to say the least. No one liked it. Well, maybe only a couple of people did, which is very cute. For me, I drew conclusions and decided to literally start from scratch.

Word (the programme I used for writing) says the script document was created on 4 January -- it's unlikely I wrote much that day, but by early March we had the first 27 pages in hand. Would you believe it, but it seemed like a lot to me at the time… I was even proud of it… were there any thoughts on how many times that number would grow? Absolutely not. At first it amazed me, then began to press on. In one moment, it seemed like all of this is pointless and I will never finish it -- for the last two years, I may not have touched a document for months at a time. Basically the whole concept of the "DT script" has become a meme among my friends -- everyone talks about it, but no one has actually seen a single page.

However, there’s no way I could cancel the game. Even now something blocks this thought. And one time, when the project went into crisis again, I said to myself:

"Tim. All of this looks overly huge for most fan-games, and you alone will never make it -- but -- you gotta at least finish the script. Just to have something you can refer to as DoctorTale and say, ‘Yeah, there’s no game. We have a text for it, though. So it can always be adapted if you want.’"

And I kept going. Was writing when I could until 4 years, 7 months and 9 days later when I put the final dot. And that’s exactly what I want to inform you today.

Ladies and gentlemen, I officially announce that

✨ THE DT’S SCRIPT IS DONE ✨

But please don’t jump for joy now. What this really means is the main storyline from the opening to the closing credits is complete -- branching, side missions and big scenes have not yet been added. Now, please don’t jump out the window, they'll all come up as I edit the script, which I'm already doing. And the fact there is already a basis, something on which you can already make gameplay, draw and write music is incredibly satisfying for me. Mainly because it means we can get to a proper work.

Which leads us to the next part.

✨ WE'RE RECRUITING FOR THE TEAM ✨

The required ‘positions’ will be announced in another post, just a ‘teaser’ now. The intention to start forming a real team has been here for a long time -- the participation in UnderEvent was pretty much for that purpose (in addition to being around some incredibly talented people in the fandom…), to check how many people would be interested in this strange project, and if possible, find among them those who would be willing to help. The plan was to publish a welcome post and a list of locations in the first few days after the broadcast but,

a) I got very ill due to an overload of cases (because it was the end of term), and b) until the script was finished, I couldn't give a proper ToR. Nevertheless… I'd like to believe it will work out. In one way or another.

Hopefully by the end of the year we’ll be able to gather a small number of enthusiasts willing to help the two hearts of this project beat. We'll see at the end of January on the 25th!

(These are sketches for more detailed portraits in dialogue; yes, I've decided to use more upscaled images to increase the range of character's emotions)

That’s all for now. Expect an addition to the post with the required positions, a possible rebranding of the game’s page (unless I get lost again). And as I(probably) like to say -- see you later!

Tim DN (art by Ksan)