Deltarune, Toby Fox’s follow-up to Undertale, came as a surprise. A “survey” turned into a first chapter of an actual game. It’s been in the works since and, in honor of the series’ fifth anniversary, he’s explained exactly on the official site how far along Deltarune Chapter 2 is and confirmed he’s hiring staff to help make the game.
Deltarune’s next chapter has finished its first design phase, which involved getting a script prepared, hiring people, and getting things needed for development together, and its second phase seems to really be coming along since its art, audio, and cutscenes are mostly done and it’s mainly the battle elements, maps, and miscellaneous things that need work. After that, it can enter the finishing phase that involves catching bugs, preparing translations, and getting it ready for other platforms.
Fox also brought up the hiring process. He noted that he’s been struggling with wrist issues and trying to build up his stamina. He also noted that he’s looking for fluent, experienced, game industry professionals. In particular, he mentioned perhaps needing someone who could handle music transcription and arrangements, bullet pattern programmers, and minigame developers. (He also asked for someone to transform into a new wrist for him.)
Here’s the full Deltarune Chapter 2 and Chapter 3+ status report from Fox’s site.
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%
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%
And here are some new Deltarune screenshots.
Deltarune Chapter 1 is available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC, and it is free-to-play. Deltarune Chapter 2 is in development and through the design phase.
