Toby Fox celebrates Undertale’s 5th anniversary and gives an update on Deltarune

Five years ago, a little indie game called Undertale was released. Not so little anymore, Undertale’s creator, Toby Fox, shared on his Twitter account today an update concerning Deltarune as well as a treat for Undertale fans.  

Explained in a detailed blog post, Deltarune’s Chapter 2 has been in production since May of this year. Toby has had a small team working on it alongside him and to take over various tasks due to health issues. Currently, Toby is estimating that Chapter 2’s content will be completed before the end of 2020 “(not accounting for translation, bugtesting, and porting).” Toby also shares the following information on Chapter 2’s status in terms of Design, Implementation, and Finishing.

 

CHAPTER 2 (04.15.20 – 08.13.20)

Phase 1: Design

Main Design 100% (dialogue, etc.)

Initial Setup: 100% (stuff involved setting up people to make the game, adding debug tools, documentation, etc.)

Phase 2: Implementation (05.01.20 ~ 08.13.20)

Art: 90%

Cutscenes: 80% (90% are started, needs 2nd pass)

Bullet Patterns: 70% (enemies are mostly completed, bosses are about 40% done, needs 2nd pass)

Non-Bullet Battle Elements: 30% (Some ACTs are done and enemies are fightable, but interactive ACTs need to be completed and polished and the bosses aren’t programmed outside of bullet patterns)

Audio: 80%

Maps: ??% most are started or placeholder, most need 2nd pass. NPC interactions are completed in all spots where written.

Other: 65%

Phase 3: Finishing

Balancing: 0%

Bugfixing: 0%

Translation: 0%

Porting: 0%

(Honestly, a lot of stuff FEELS like 80% to me, but the truth is that what’s there is quite rough now. Polish ends up taking a lot of time, so the real actual time value may be around 50% done…? We’ll see what happens. It’ll be a lesson for everybody.)

 

He also does the same for Chapters 3 and beyond, but it’s more of a rough outline:

PROGRESS CHAPTERS 3+

Phase 1: Design

Story and General Game Progression (First-pass) 100%

Cutscene Dialogue (First-pass, lacking cutscene instructions) 95%

Map Design (textual) 70% (varies per chapter, earlier chapters totally completed)

Map Design (drawn) 0% (this takes a lot of wrist energy so I don’t do it until we start programming)

Enemy Design (conceptual) 90% (all bosses are known)

Enemy Design (bullets/visual) 80% (varies per chapter, earlier chapters totally completed)

Music (Concept) 95%

Music (Completed) 50%

Visual Design:

BG concept (First-pass) 75%

Important Character, Bosses (First-pass) 100%

Phase 2

Sprite Art 20%?

Other Content Creation 0%

Phase 3

Release Readiness 0%

(These numbers can be somewhat deceptive though. My true design style is to reach the moment where we have to make something, then suddenly think of something different at the last minute. This is always how it’s been with me and my work. It feels like no matter how much I plan, everything comes down to what I think of at the last second…)

 

In addition to these notes, Toby is also asking for those who can fill the following roles to send him their portfolio: Music transcription/Basic Arrangement, Bullet Pattern Programming, Minigame Programming, Cutscene Programming, Art, and for a new wrist. It’s not guaranteed that anyone will be hired onto Deltarune, but Toby is hoping to be able to bring a couple of people on board and to have a list of talent to pull from in the future. To apply, visit the blog post for the requirements and role details. Portfolios will only be accepted until the end of this month (September).

As for Undertale, Toby says the following and reveals the Undertale 5th Anniversary Alarm Clock Winter Dialogue:

 

Thank you for everyone who's offered well wishes, drawings, thoughts, and screams today! You made UNDERTALE's 5th anniversary a great one.

By the way, if you want to read more dialogue from the UNDERTALE characters, there was some as part of the update! https://t.co/zw6AmHW1hg

— tobyfox (@tobyfox) September 15, 2020

 

Initially planned to debut in the Undertale Alarm Clock app (which has been delayed), you can read brand new dialogue from various Undertale characters. Just head on over to this page and read what everyone has to say about the winter season – including Flowey.

 

 

Yes, it doesn’t seem like it’s “only been five years” since Undertale launched on PC, but what a wonderful five years it has been for the fanbase. Here’s to many more years and many more chapters of Deltarune and what else lies ahead for the Undertale universe!

 

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