Undertale Development and Design

Main Points

• Development Background

  • Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale, was not a professional developer.
  • Despite this, he created one of the best-selling games of all time.
  • Undertale is filled with interesting workarounds and failed attempts in its code.

• Genocide Route and Game Mechanics

  • In the Genocide Route, players have the option to erase the world by crashing the game.
  • The original idea was to delete the game from the system, but Toby couldn’t implement it.
  • Other games like Doki Doki Literature Club and One Shot do similar intense things.

• Art Style

  • Undertale’s art style is quirky and colorful but not perfect.
  • Some people passed on the game because of its art.
  • Some art was simplified or removed for looking too good.
  • Examples: Papyrus animation and Doge.
  • There is charm in the "bad" art (e.g., Lava Creature, Big Bob, and Floy sprites).

• Unique Dialogue Handling

  • Traditional games use distinct files (like CSV or JSON) for dialogue.
  • Undertale uses a massive if statement (switch statement) to control dialogue.
  • This approach is inefficient but works due to Undertale’s low resource requirements.
  • Example: Extensive if statements controlling cutscenes and interactions.

• Secrets and Fun Value

  • Undertale includes many hidden secrets and rare events based on a random "fun value" assigned at each start.
  • Fun value impacts rare occurrences and small events.
  • Example: Random phone call in Snowdin for specific fun values.

• Game Maker Software

  • Toby Fox used Game Maker, which is beginner-friendly.
  • Game Maker offers visual drag-and-drop and coding options.
  • Many iconic indie games, including Undertale, were made using Game Maker.
  • Game Maker is free for non-commercial use, with a one-time fee for commercial exports

• Legacy and Inspiration

  • Despite its code and art imperfections, Undertale has inspired many solo developers.
  • The game emphasizes the importance of storytelling and player choice.

• Conclusion

  • A quirky, imperfect, yet lovable game with significant influence in the indie game community.
  • Encouragement for aspiring developers to create games focusing on story and experience over technical perfection.