Howdy, everyone!

Things have gotten pretty busy since we last spoke! I'm back at university now, and I'd imagine that a lot of you are also back in school/college as well.

It probably goes without saying, but you can expect news on the game to slow down a bit over the coming months. Not just because of university, but also because we'll be focusing on DFC v3.0.0, the final major update to DFC! Once we get started on that, there won't be much I can share with you, since I want to keep most of it a surprise!

However, as a last parting gift before I buckle down with my studies, I'd like to talk to you about what's being worked on currently! If you've read the full title of this devlog, then you probably already know what I'm talking about: that's right, DFC v2.7.0 is happening!

I know in a previous devlog that I stated I had decided against making v2.7.0, and that was still true until about two weeks ago. I was originally working on v2.6.2, just a bug-fix and quality-of-life update, but then I started adding new things that felt so major, calling it a simple patch no longer seemed right. There's a lot of things coming in the next update that have been requested for a very long time, so I decided to upgrade v2.6.2 into v2.7.0!

I'm not sure when exactly the update will release yet, but I am currently aiming for sometime between late-November and early-December (Edit: probably looking at late-December now). Until then, let's go over some of the major additions coming in the update!

Introducing: Multiple-Enemy Encounters!

This is the addition that convinced me to turn v2.6.2 into v2.7.0. If you didn't already know, I had once attempted to add multiple-enemy encounters into the game before, but my attempt had failed, and I was forced to remove it to get v2.5.0 out on time. Despite how hard I tried to get it to work, it wasn't even that good of an attempt in the end, because it only allowed for up to two enemies at a time, not even the full three.

However, this is no longer the case! I've given multi-enemy encounters another try, and now in v2.7.0, you'll be able to encounter up to three enemies at once!

These multi-enemy encounters function similarly to how they did in Undertale. You can interact with each enemy individually to spare them, or you can fight them one at a time. The attack you'll need to dodge will be selected based on which enemy you last interacted/fought with, unless they get killed, in which case an attack from a different enemy will be randomly chosen. For now, there are no "combo attacks", but this might change in the future when we revisit enemy attacks.

Each area that has multiple types of enemies will now also have these new multi-enemy encounters (which is pretty much all of them). It might be worth revisiting older areas even if you're already in the late-game, just to see the new types of encounters there are now!

I hope these new encounters will help spice up battles for you! I'm sure it'll also help speed up the process of earning EXP and GOLD!

Introducing: a New Vessel for DFC!

I've heard your requests loud and clear. Ever since Deltarune Chapter 2 dropped, everywhere I looked the only thing I saw was his smug face, and people begging me to add him in...

If you want him so bad, then fine, he's your problem now.

Please give a warm welcome to the next vessel planned for DFC: Berdly.

You brought this upon yourselves.

Berdly comes complete with his Light World form, as well as his brand-new epic gamer Dark World form.

Berdly's type in PvP will be "Electric", if you're curious. If there was a "Wind" type then I'd use that, but there isn't, so "Electric" seems like the next most appropriate type. Feel free to let me know in the comments if you think maybe a different type would be more suitable, such as "Grass".

Anyway, Berdly will be joining the game in v2.7.0. I hope you enjoy playing as him, or having him as a partner (at your own peril)!

Introducing: a new Dark World enemy!

A new enemy is being added to the Dark World in v2.7.0...

Yup, it's Jigsawry! I always felt that it was a bit odd for us to have a custom battle sprite for Jigsawry, just to use it only in PvP. Well, that's no longer the case, as Jigsawry can now be encountered!

Jigsawry can be encountered anywhere that you can encounter Rudinns and Hathys, and with the addition of multi-enemy encounters, you'll also be able to find them fighting alongside Rudinns and Hathys, too!

I hope you look forward to revisiting the Dark World to see Jigsawry in action!

Introducing: THE WORLD LEFT BEHIND...

Some big changes are coming to the Dark World in v2.7.0!

You might have seen a glimpse of it already in a screenshot above, but we're currently in the process of replacing the Dark World assets with our own new assets. Like with the other areas, our aim is to use as few assets from the original game as possible, and add our own spin to the areas.

For v2.7.0, we're focusing on implementing new assets specifically for the Field of Hopes and Dreams. The old assets have been replaced, and there's a lot of brand-new assets now, including bushes, rock formations, tufts of grass, etc.

These new assets should hopefully make the area more visually interesting, by filling in the spaces that were previously just empty.

In v3.0.0, we'll continue to replace the remaining Dark World assets, as well as other areas throughout the game that still haven't been changed, such as the interiors of Home and New Home.

Moving on, there's another major change coming to the Dark World... something that a lot of you have been waiting on for a long time. But first, let me provide some context.

In terms of DF's story, multiplayer was not originally created with the intent of being "canon". It was meant to be a non-canon additional mode for the main game, which at the time was going to be "DF v1.4". I just threw in whatever stuff I wanted to add, without thinking about why it was there, because there wasn't any story to worry about. But eventually, multiplayer grew so much that it became its own game, "DF CONNECTED", and I knew at that point that I had to make multiplayer canon to DF's lore somehow.

I am very happy with what I have planned for the story now, and when v3.0.0 releases, DFC will be officially canon to the overall DF storyline.

However, to make this work, I needed to make a few changes. You've already seen some of these changes already, such as when I changed the default SOUL color from purple to red in v2.5.0. I did that for story reasons. And now, the Dark World will be changing for the sake of story, too.

From now on, the Dark World itself, and the inclusion of Deltarune characters as vessels, is no longer canon to DF... at least not in the way they were before.

I recently figured out a way to have Deltarune content still included in DFC without creating a major plot-hole. The sign at the entrance of the Dark World has been changed to provide a little hint...

To put it simply: the events of Deltarune do not happen in the canon of DONTFORGET. Instead, the Dark World we see in DFC is a glimpse of "the world left behind", based on the memories of a certain "someone". The Deltarune vessels also come from these memories.

So, while the Dark World and Deltarune vessels are still "canon" in the sense that it still fits within DFC, it is no longer planned to be used as part of DFC's storyline. The number of Delta Rune pieces in v3.0.0 will be lowered from six to five. There will be five major "story quests" to complete, one in each of the "canon" areas.

To make up for the fact that the Dark World is no longer part of DFC's storyline, there will now be a brand-new Side Quest coming to the area in v2.7.0!

I'll keep the details of this side quest a secret for now, but I will say one thing... I hope you're ready for a little chaos.

I can't wait for you to play it when the update releases!

Conclusion

Well, that's all I can share for now! Thank you all for your patience while waiting for more news.

After v2.7.0 is released, new devlogs might get a bit scarce going forward, but rest assured that we'll be hard at work getting DFC fully completed!

Thanks for reading, and as always, stay determined!