Hello esteemed gentlemen and gentlemen,

Have the Ides of May brought you good tidings?

I don't actually know if they do that.

… I don't think they do that.

Anyway, we have a mini-newsletter for you this month!

I have great news, and… other news!

For the great news… Thanks to increased management power provided by my new producer, we've been able to hire a few more people onto the team! Everyone's only been working on the team for a little over a month and a half, but it's making a real difference already. The producers M.O. is, "for the fan's sake, let's finish this before we become old and wrinkled" ... I agree! (instantly stops being wrinkled)

The other news…

Chapter 4 development is going better than ever. We are on track to meet our internal deadline. The new hires are already making a great difference to improve the atmosphere and feel of the chapter. I feel really good about this, champ.

Here's the current progress:

• Cutscenes: Only a few ones left (some tough ones)! Other than that, need polish.
• Battles: All the attacks are technically done, but still trying to improve the flow of the the bosses.
• Overworld: Still need to create around 10 maps! And polish some others.
• Gimmicks: A kind of complicated gimmick nearly has all of its iterations made. Then there's whatever needs to go in those 10 maps, and one more thing. (A gimmick is something like the teacup ride from Chapter 2.)

After all that's done, everything needs to be flattened out with the steamroller of improvement and pacing. (This takes an unknown amount of time.)

It's my hope that the next time I update you, a first pass of the entire Chapter 4 will already be at least halfway crushed by a steamroller! And, at least some of the team will be moved over to Chapter 5!

The other other news is…

Despite the game making great progress, we can't discuss the release date yet. Even if Chapter 4 is completed smoothly, there may be surprise factors, so we're not at the point where we can make a solid promise. That being said, we will let you guys know as soon as we can! I can't wait for you guys to see more of the moments and characters I've had in my head for the past 8 years...

In other words, the release is still quite far... but also a very real thing that is weighing on us more and more with each passing month.

Surprise! It's time for another round of Q&A with Papyrus!

He was originally asked over 80,000 questions, so there was still a lot more material to go through...

In any case, enjoy!

READ THE INTERVIEW »

Have you heard of Virtual Youtubers...?

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Recently, I had the opportunity to create a song for AMANE KANATA of HOLOLIVE!

A couple years ago, Kanata had played through UNDERTALE for the first time on stream. Famously, she had a really difficult time beating Sans, fighting him for dozens of hours straight until she won. (Personally, I was moved seeing her cry at the Pacifist ending.)

I always liked her singing voice, I found it to be very distinct and kind of personal sounding. Combined with her Angel aesthetic, I felt I had the potential to make a really cool song with her... So, I asked her... And... It happened!

Thanks to Camellia's amazing production skills and Kanata's distinct voice, the song ended up being really special.

Actually, I liked it so much even from the instrumental demo stage, I felt like "if this idea gets rejected, maybe I can use it in DELTARUNE..."

Now, let me explain a little bit.

Although most of the time she's a goofy streamer, Kanata has a dream: to be taken seriously as an artist and musician. But, there was an issue... She was losing hearing in one of her ears. For someone whose dream is to be a singer, there's nothing more terrifying than losing this sense. She felt like she might even give up singing forever.

Actually, this resonated with me. Because I've also had issues as well. Issues with one of my wrists. It stops you from drawing, from making music, from writing, from programming, basically from making a game.

There's times where it feels like your hopes and dreams are simply slipping away from you. That the things you wanted to achieve are floating away from you in the sky while you lie there, fallen in a crater, your wing torn off, never to grow back. Bitterness grows, and you feel like you may never leave the ground again.

But

That's not true.

You can still fly.

That's what this song is about.

Just before the intense part of the song, there's whispering. These are like the magic words that let you do anything. And as long as you say them you cannot lose.

Even if you lose a piece of yourself, even if it feels like you can't get up anymore, you can. You can fly with one wing. You can fly without any wings.

So, keep singing.

Keep singing.

Camellia's arrangement was super cool, so listen to it by itself for a sec too!

Like I said before, despite how much progress we are making, the release of the game is still far.

I don't want anyone to burn out waiting for this...

But... we haven't burned out making it yet! Actually, the opposite!! We're on fire!! A lot!!

Ouch!!