Heyo! Welcome to the first official Versotale Game Devlog!

...Man, does it feel strange to be able to say that now. Not gonna lie, guys, this one has been a struggle to figure out what I want to say! I mean, it's the first devlog! I've gotta set a good precedent here!

Howzabout we start with the updates first?

THE UPDATES - Behind the Scenes

A large chunk of my work over the past month or so has been behind-the-scenes stuff, such as polishing up old placeholder code, getting info documents and spreadsheets set up for the convenience of my two music team members and I, etc. So, I'm afraid there's not too much fun stuff I can show off at this moment, unfortunately. But that doesn't mean no fun progress hasn't been made!

THE UPDATES - Haven Intro Revision

For starters: Following feedback on the first WIP Showcase video, the beginning section of Haven is being revised to more effectively balance dialogue with gameplay.

The beginning of Versotale is HEAVILY frontloaded with cutscenes at the moment. Provided you aren't skipping through by holding down X or C, it takes a whole 6 and a half minutes to get to some gameplay. And to top it off, you're thrown right back into another cutscene after 4 minutes.

That simply just won't do. So, I'm revising how the Haven intro is paced out. Obviously, I can't tell you how I'm going about it yet (That would be a spoiler!) but I think you all will really enjoy the new version! This does, however, mean that the first WIP Showcase video will have quite an outdated beginning section, but I'm fine with that.

THE UPDATES - Character Redesign

Speaking of things being outdated... Herald's received a redesign, which now reflects his character more accurately!

The big problems with his earlier look were that it looked too generic when compared with the rest of the Haven Angels, and it just simply didn't match the personality I wanted to convey. This one gets the job done much more effectively.

(Oh yeah, also, Herald now has a mini-face when he speaks, of course based on Deltarune! Figured this would be important to get done sooner rather than later for when multiple characters without dialogue portraits are speaking at once.)

THE UPDATES - Boot-Up Intro

It wouldn't be an Undertale fangame without a classic sepia-tinted intro cutscene now, would it?

(SPOILER BELOW: The current first panel of the sepia cutscene. Spoiler Rating Low)

The current intention is for the sepia cutscene to only play on repeat boot-ups after having already seen the King's Promise cutscene, so as to avoid adding more cutscenes to the beginning. Though this could all change at some point!

THE UPDATES - Battle System

Finally, I'm working on coding up the battle system. It plays and looks a little bit different due to having multiple party members in one battle.

(SPOILER BELOW: A battle scenario. Spoiler Rating Moderate)

(Nobody will be surprised to find out that it's inspired by Deltarune)

Fully coding out a functional battle is going to be the main hurdle I want to overcome before putting together the next WIP showcase.

THE NEXT SHOWCASE VIDEO

The plan for the next WIP Showcase video is to show off the sepia cutscene and a brief demonstration of the battle system.

I don't know when this next showcase is going to release. Tentatively, I'm aiming to have it done by the end of March or early April, but no promises!

Welp, that's all from me. Hopefully you guys will see me again relatively soon!

-Verstamech