Hoi everyone! The development of Chapter 1 is going well overall.

As shown in the trailer, the entire Chapter 1 will be free, and as I've partially mentioned in previous devlogs, it consists of 3 Acts. Here are their general parameters and completion status:

Act I:

• 100% complete and released in 2024 for everyone to play. (Many have already played it and loved it (I can't thank you enough :3 :3 :3))

Act II:

• Story: 100% complete in 2025, almost all cutscenes are done, as are all the differences on less peaceful paths (plus, the real start of the "Massacre Path," if you met the requirements for it back in Act I.)

• Locations: The most basic rooms for everyone in this act are ready, only the side rooms remain, with additional platforming sections.

• Gameplay Mechanics: The most basic ones are ready, but there are still some minor details to be added.

• New Enemies and Bosses: Not very challenging, most of them are ready, but a couple of the remaining ones are still in the coding and sprite drawing stages for them and their attacks.

• New character skills: There are 4 of them, one of which is ready, but the rest still need to be done (in fact, there's not much to do, since I had something similar in mind back in Act I, but didn't find the right space for it.)

• Music: 9 of the 15 new tracks are fully completed (you might've heard a couple of them in recent videos)

Act III:

• Story: It was also fully completed back in 2025, but many cutscenes are still in the coding stage, and some are still only in the text script.

• Locations: Only rooms with some cutscenes are done, the rest are not.

• Gameplay mechanics: In the planning stage, only one of the planned ones has been implemented in the game.

• New enemies and bosses: There won't be many of them here, as the act itself won't feature many battles, but many of those that do exist are also just ideas, not implemented in the game yet.

• New character skills: There won't be any here (at least, I didn't initially plan for them).

• Music: Many tracks use leitmotifs from existing but unfinished tracks, as well as those that use completely different ones.

In short, everything's moving towards the point where I'll most likely release Acts II and III separately, although I was initially planning to release the full Chapter 1 at once. I'll try to release Act II this year, and then Act III will come out sometime in 2027, I hope.

While I have free time, I'm doing what I can, and I'm trying to find time for development in between classes, even though I have exams coming up and still have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. But I've been working on the game for a long time now, so don't worry if I don't get in touch for a while – I'll be fine. Once I figure everything out, I'll definitely write about it and the development progress.

Promotion is another matter, and I continue to what I can. People continue to find the game, sometimes with my help, of course, but I always say that my main job is to suggest playing, and whether to do so or not is everyone's choice. This is standard practice if the problem isn't that there's something wrong with the game, but that many people simply don't know about it.

As for Chapter 2, it only contains the basic plot, without any additional details. Besides, there's little point in sharing anything about it when Chapter 1 is still roughly two-thirds complete.

I won't reveal the plot details of Act II here; you'll discover them in the game itself, along the path you choose. However, just for fun, I'd like to give you some ideas right now. Here's a small teaser of what awaits you in it, complete with emojis:

☯️🎩🔮✨🌕🍃🧨🃏👁️‍💧🐱

Plus, you can already find some screenshots from it in a couple of previous devlogs and check out that Sneak Peek on the channel. Can you guess what's encrypted here? Let me know in the comments, I'm really interested to read!

Solving these kinds of puzzles is quite fascinating. For me, as for any other creator, the most interesting part comes when others take an interest in their game and someone dives deep into it, sharing their impressions or their own creativity, bringing something unique to the table. And given that Normenhill allows you to interpret key characters in your own way in your playthrough, it's even more interesting to see how someone else sees one of your characters, even though many of their character traits are already familiar and consistent across playthroughs.

This is also reflected in the style in which someone talks about these characters or draws them. Take a look, for example, at these interpretations of Bon and Avery, which have forever stuck in my mind and for which I will never stop thanking @minaboom (sadly she has deleted her art channel, I loved her art very much...):

If you're inspired to draw fan art, share your wild theories about the plot, or just share your thoughts on the game, please don't hesitate! Tag the game on social media with #normenhill, post them to the GameJolt or Reddit community, or share them anywhere else you like. I'm keeping an eye on everything new about the game and would love to share your creations.

We're nearing the end of this devlog, and I'd like to share one more thing with you just for fun. First, I'll send you links to Normenhill fan communities:

• Reddit: Normenhill

• Wiki Fandom: Normenhill Wiki | Fandom

• GameJolt Community: NORMENHILL Community - Fan art, videos, guides, polls and more - Game Jolt

And now, something unusual. I present to everyone Gloomroom, a place to find friends with similar interests, built entirely on trust! Here you can wrap yourself in the comfortable twilight and find "your kind." Some people already have a lot to share with you! Check out their page here from time to time; you might find something interesting: @FlooffnChaos2010 on Gloomroom

And finally, I want to remind everyone about Undertale: Unite in October! Come to the premiere, I'll be sure to send you the link!

Until the next devlog!