Howdy, folks!

I hope you're all doing well. You might remember that I originally planned on the February devlog being the last one until v2.5.0's release, so this devlog might be a bit of a surprise to see!

Well, the reason that I've decided to make a March Progress Report (albeit at the very end of March) is because there's an important announcement regarding DFC that I'd like to share with you all. Let's get started!

Expected Release of DF CONNECTED v2.5.0

Welp, DFC v2.5.0 has been delayed again, sorry guys!

Okay, okay, I'm kidding. DFC v2.5.0 is still expected to release on April 10th, as planned!

However, there's a bit of a catch.

University has thrown me for a heck of a loop, so I haven't been able to work on DF as much as I'd have liked. A lot of work is still happening behind the scenes (which I'll talk about later), but actual development on the game has slowed a bit while I focus on my studies. I have assignments due at the end of April which I really need to catch up on.

Because of these factors, the available content in DFC v2.5.0 is going to change a bit.

In the end, I had two choices: I could either delay v2.5.0 again so that everything gets included at launch, or I release v2.5.0 on schedule, but any unfinished content gets left out for a future update.

In the end, I chose to prioritize getting v2.5.0 out on time.

So, I'm here to announce DFC v3.0.0!

Announcing DF CONNECTED v3.0.0

While I've said before that v2.5.0 was planned to be the last major update, the circumstances have changed since then, and I don't want to keep you guys waiting much longer.

Therefore, we're going to make a v3.0.0!

It's not "v2.6.0" because I feel like that number would give the impression that there'd be a v2.7.0, v2.8.0, v2.9.0, and so on... which there wouldn't be, so v3.0 seems like a good version to end on. It looks more "complete" that way.

On April 10th, we will still be releasing v2.5.0 as expected. However, the following content will NOT be present in v2.5.0:

• Story Quests (including the new boss fights)

• New Intro Sequence

• Double-Enemy Encounters

• Jevil Vessel (since he's unlocked from a boss fight)

• Endings

Instead, these will be saved for v3.0.0, which I expect to release in June.

It's been nearly 9 months since the previous DFC update, v2.4.3b, so I appreciate your continued support of the game, and your patience during this long wait.

I want you guys to be able to enjoy all of the new stuff like the partner system, corruption battles, the skill/EN system, the new vessels (I know a lot of you are really looking forward to Niko), and the new graphics.

I think it's better to get all of the new gameplay stuff out for you guys as soon as possible, so I can step away for a bit to focus on my education, and be able to spend more time giving the story quests the polish they need. It also gives you a lot of new stuff to play around with while you wait!

Think of it like this: v2.5.0 is the big gameplay/graphical update, while v3.0.0 is the final story/polish update.

Since v2.5.0 is no longer the last update, this does mean that DFC's development lifespan will last a bit longer. As such, I'll have more time to fix any issues that come up in v2.5 so that the game is finished off as polished as it can be in v3.0!

But let me reiterate: v3.0.0 will be the last major update for DF multiplayer. This doesn't mean that support for the game will stop, though! If there are any new issues that get found, I'll still release patches to fix them.

And who knows... maybe I'll release some minor updates here and there, just for fun! No promises, though ;)

Anyway, to sum it up, v2.5.0 is still releasing on time, but you'll need to wait a bit longer for the story-related content. It'll be worth the wait, I promise!

New Features in DF CONNECTED v2.5.0

Going back to v2.5.0, there are a few new things that I want to show you!

First off, Harlow's new sprites are in the game! The default design for Harlow has now been updated to their DF Story Mode appearance!

Harlow's Dark World design from DF Story Mode has also been added as a new costume!

Don't worry though, classic Harlow is still available as a costume, along with all of their other existing costumes!

Next, the vessel menu has received an overhaul!

With redesigning the vessel menu, my aim was to streamline the process so that you no longer have to keep spamming the right arrow key so much.

Vessels are now organized in a grid (like a fighting game) instead of a straight line, so you can get to the characters you want much faster!

Next, I'd like to show some changes that I've made to the Skills/EN system!

Originally, EN was intended to work like "MP" from typical RPGs. It would be a base stat that could be spent on skills to use during battle, and you'd have to go to a save point to replenish it fully.

However, after playtesting this system, it became clear that it just wasn't very interesting, nor did it mesh well with the game's mechanics. Since you're never far from a save point to replenish EN from, there was never a risk of running out, so it became essentially useless. I considered making it so you had to buy something like "potions" as the only way to replenish EN, but that would just suck lol.

So to fix this, I decided to change EN to work more like Deltarune's TP system!

You'll start each battle with 0 EN to use, but if you "graze" bullets during an attack, you'll earn some EN! You can then use the EN you earned on Skills. When the fight is over, your EN will reset back to 0, just like TP.

Now, you might be wondering why I didn't just rename EN to TP if it works so similarly. Well, that's because there's still a big difference with EN: upgrades!

Unlike in Deltarune where the maximum TP is always 99 from the start, in DFC your maximum EN will start off as just 25, and you'll need to upgrade it by increasing a new stat called "EN BOOST".

You can earn "boost points" by grazing bullets in battles. When you graze a bullet and get 1 EN, you also get 1 boost point! The more EN you earn during a battle, the more boost points you get.

When you've filled up your EN BOOST all the way, you'll be greeted with this screen after a battle:

You can choose whether you want to upgrade your maximum EN (increasing it by 5), or you can upgrade one of your skills!

Each skill has three variants: A, B, and C. In the beginning, only the A variant of each skill is available. But when you upgrade a skill, you can unlock the other two variants! A is the weakest variant of the skill, while C is the strongest variant. It's kind of like the power levels for PSI moves in Earthbound!

Here's a list of the 9 skills and what they do:

• PUMP: Buffs your attack for the next turn.

• BRACE: Buffs your defense for the next turn.

• CHARM: Has a chance of convincing the enemy to drop more G at the end of the fight.

• CONFUSE: De-buffs the enemy's attack for the next turn.

• APPROACH: De-buffs the enemy's defense for the next turn.

• LULLABY: Lowers the enemy's guard to improve the odds of being able to flee.

• RUSH: Makes attacks end faster for up to 3 turns.

• FOCUS: Increases your invulnerability frames for up to 3 turns.

• AGILITY: Increases your movement speed during attacks for up to 3 turns.

While these skills will be particularly useful to pacifists, even those who are above LV 20 will get some use out of them (Especially when the tougher bosses get added in v3.0.0!)

I hope you look forward to the new EN and Skill system!

Alright, the last thing I want to show you is a brand new minigame: Dance Dance Spaghetti!

I wanted to replace "Spaghet Clicker" with something that was actually interesting, since Spaghet Clicker was just a time waster. I wasn't sure what I wanted the new minigame to be, though.

In the end, I decided to go with an idea I came up with as a joke, just so I could say that I did it lol. It's FNF DDR in DF!

There are two parts to this minigame. The regular part is just an endless minigame where spaghetti notes will randomly spawn, and you have to press them in time to earn points. This mode is the new way to unlock the shed, which Spaghet Clicker used to be for.

The other part is the most interesting, though. You can actually create and play your own custom charts!

You can load up some music from your computer (it has to be a .ogg file) and then press the arrow keys in time with the music to easily create a custom chart!

You can then save the chart as a file, and send it to your friends so they can load it up in-game and play it too!

High scores are saved for every chart, so compete with your friends to get the best rank on a chart!

I'll create a channel in the DF GameJolt Community for the sole purpose of sharing charts, so I look forward to seeing what you guys make!

By the way, if you're one of the rare few people who actually liked Spaghet Clicker (I know there's some of you who have over 1 million clicks in it, jeez), then worry not, because Spaghet Clicker has now moved to inside of the shed! You can now also earn gold from Spaghet Clicker, but it's not as fast as earning it from battles, so it's not very useful... At least it's still an option, though!!

Anyway, that's it for all the new stuff I can show this time. There are still some parts of the update that I haven't shown you yet, but since we're so close to release, I'd rather let you experience it for yourselves!

How's Story Mode doing?

I haven't really had much of a chance to talk about Story Mode, huh? DFC just takes up a lot of my time! Well, I want to be as open about the game's development as I can, so let's talk about it for a bit.

Development on DF Story Mode, like most games, is divided into phases: designing, implementing, and polishing. We are currently in the first phase, designing, and this is where we've been since September of last year.

During this time, I refined elements of the game's story (as well as DFC's), and worked on DeltaEngine, which we're using for the game. I recently added a Hathy fight to DeltaEngine, to test being able to do cool stuff with the speech bubble (like Hathy's animated heart messages):

Internally, we have had discussions about our approach to DF Story Mode. We briefly considered if it would be better in the long run to go back to our original plan of making Story Mode and Multiplayer in the same game together. But in the end, the team unanimously agreed to stick with creating DF Story Mode as its own game.

Since then, I am pleased to say that the first pass of DF Story Mode's design plan (which includes concepts for all major areas, story beats, and endings) has been completed!

We now have a concrete foundation to build the game off of, and we plan on getting started with phase 2, implementation, as soon as DFC v3.0.0 releases.

DF Story Mode still has a long road ahead, but I hope you look forward to it!

You may be wondering if we have a set release period. Well, last year I said that I expected DF to be completely finished by the end of 2021, but with delays to DFC, this has been pushed back.

Our current aim is to have DF Story Mode finished by February 2022. Keep in mind that this isn't a confirmation, just an estimate. It might be later, it might be sooner (probably not), but I can at least say that this is the aim. We'll see how things go!

Something else...?

Oh, by the way, there's something cool that I've been working on that I'd like you guys to try out!

Come back tomorrow and it should be ready by then.

Conclusion

Alright, that's all for now!

There probably won't be many more progress reports going forward. Maybe one more before v3.0.0's release, but when we switch over to working solely on DF Story Mode, devlogs will probably slow down quite a bit. There's not much we can show you without spoiling stuff, after all!

Before I end this devlog, I'd like to thank Prima for the header artwork of Harlow in their Dark World outfit, they look adorable!

Hopefully sometime soon we can show off the designs for the other party members joining Harlow in DF Story Mode, the team and I are very excited about them!

Anyway, thanks for reading everyone. As always, stay determined!