This is one of the first tracks I made for the TSTP soundtrack, although back then it was just another post-college experiment to see what kinds of crazy sounds I could get out of a tiny MIDI controller and Ableton Live 9.

I first composed this track back in late 2017-early 2018, back during a pretty dark part of my life. I'll spare you all the details for now, but suffice to say, I was emotionally like wet toilet paper and could barely string together anything musical.

This track will play in an area named Conch Beach, a part of the Dark World populated and themed around bath toys, and the hometown of one of the main party members, Delphyne. The current plan is that Conch Beach will be explored later in the story, after the player has grown to know and hopefully love him, throwing a lot of what the player thought they knew about him out of the window and making them confront the uncomfortable idea that most good people were once bad people. The irony of using a song made during a time in my life that I would consider a low point, for an area whose central plot is uncovering the unsavoury past of a main character, is not lost on me, and only makes the decision more meaningful to me.

(Written on the 4th of April, 2021)

Those who now know the details of what I was alluding to above can now better appreciate what I'm going for. And if you're reading this, you know who you are, thank you for providing so much of the inspiration of this game, and I hope life is treating you better.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Conch Beach (OLD)

This was one of the three tracks I composed while my old PC was on its last legs and unable to open or run Ableton Live 10. I briefly experimented with using alternative free DAWs, but didn't find any that suited my needs. This was the second piece I composed during that period.

The Angel is a figure mentioned in Undertale as a being who will "make the Underground empty", and since the release of Undertale has been a subject of great speculation. In TSTP, the Angel will play a more prominent role, being the sole deity that both Lightners and Darkners worship. The Prophecy in Deltarune Chapter 1 mentions an event known as "Angel's Heaven", which means that we couldn't avoid the Angel's influence over the story of TSTP and had to acknowledge them in some capacity. What I eventually came up with forms the bedrock upon which TSTP's entire narrative is built upon.

This piece plays in a currently unnamed cathedral found in the Heartlands, a region of the Dark World populated by, surprisingly enough, the Hearts. Made almost entirely of stained glass and the location of the Southern Fountain, the Queen of Hearts tends to the lonely souls who wander inside, reminding them of the everlasting and eternal love that the Angel has for all Darkners, no matter how many mistakes they have made in their lives. She is also the only person qualified to officiate marriages within the Dark World, which are magically binding and permanent until death.

(Written on the 6th April, 2021)

Beautiful, calming, nothing beats this on a rainy day. I no longer think of the person I wrote it for when I play it to myself on the piano, so I'd say that's good progress.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Angel Is Love (OLD)

This track was written around the December of 2019, and has remained largely unchanged since then. It was one of those rare instances where a completed piece of music just materialised in my head and then further miraculously materialised into reality via Ableton. In fact, this piece turned out so fantastically when I first composed it, that for all of 2020 it was the one track from the TSTP OST that I always insisted on sharing first with new potential fans.

Mochi is my favourite character I've written for TSTP. She began life as a running joke in a friend's Minecraft server, a white llama that for reasons unknown kept following me across rivers and mountains. Naturally, I had a Kris skin on at the time, so we came to the conclusion that this llama (which later became an alpaca) was deeply in love with Kris and would follow him to the ends of the earth.

This theme captures Mochi's genuinely friendly, sugary sweet nature, and will play whenever she's on screen doing her thing. The track name comes from a misspelling of "spying", and is now canonically the sound Mochi's neck makes when it extends. 

(First written April 13th, 2021)

I think Mochi would come to life and bite my fingers if I tried altering this theme, so let's keep her fictional and my fingers intact.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

spyoing on krissy! (OLD)

This track was written in the late autumn of 2019, right as I was beginning to take on a more proactive role in TSTP's writing. Up until that point I was very much the "ideas" person that my friend would bounce their own ideas off of, but the development of Delphyne marked a turning point in that process, and I personally think it was for the better.

Delphyne is another character I wrote entirely from scratch, with the simple intention of filling the Mettaton-shaped hole in the cast. JRPG parties often have the stereotypical "dandy" who straddle that fine line between comic relief and sincere LGBT representation, although given Japan's track record with that, it's often the former. Seeing as how TSTP is a thinly veiled excuse for me to poke fun at various JRPG tropes that I dislike, I wrote Delphyne as the anti-dandy: someone who refuses to be the butt of the joke (mostly by aggressively flirting with/mocking everyone else in the party), but who also refuses to be "the queer one" by having a backstory that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he's panromantic (not pansexual, Darkners lack genitals and have no concept of sex).

This theme was originally written with Delphyne in mind, although on later reflection feels more appropriate for the City as a whole. The mixture of NES and Genesis instrumentation was a deliberate choice; it not only reflects the fact that the Fountain is nearby and corrupting things, but it also represents the double life many of the citizens of the City have to live to stay alive, Delphyne included.

(First written April 20th, 2021)

Banger. No notes.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

My Cuddle Buddy Can't Be This Cute! (OLD)

This was composed during a fairly busy period, starting from December 2019 until the spring of 2020, where I produced quite a lot of TSTP's tracks. This was one of the easier pieces to put together, and has remained untouched since the first draft.

Indiana (or as she would insist it be spelled, Yndyana), is the Jack of Diamonds and a minor antagonist I wrote for Chapter 2, as a foil for Delphyne and as further establishment that there exists a place in the Dark World for bath toys (see also: Conch Beach). A highly insecure pufferfish that is constantly chasing after the next big thing, her vanity is matched only by her incompetence. While less charitable players might confuse her role in the story to that of Lancer in Chapter 1, it's her history with Delphyne that elevates her beyond a mere nuisance, and that history is part of why Conch Beach is one giant sore spot for Delphyne.

The melody of this song sits awkwardly on top, hogging attention by being ever so slightly off-kilter and refusing to resolve to any of the chords underneath it. The whole piece reeks of someone trying too hard to seem impressive, which is why it's another piece I'm fond of sharing with others.

(Written April 27th, 2021)

I'm grateful for my younger self for refraining from using as many Deltarune motifs unless absolutely necessary. It means I get to keep tracks like this essentially unaltered.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

In Dire Need Of Polishing (OLD)

This track was composed originally on Dreams for the PS4, remade and rearranged in Ableton Live 10 a few weeks ago, and received some final adjustments a couple of days ago. This won't be the last time I reuse a track from my Dreams collection, because some of the stuff I made on there back in 2018 was genuinely great stuff and it'd be a shame to let it all go to waste.

The term "Eigengrau" refers to the near-black shade of grey that people see when they close their eyes, and so this track naturally plays during a dream sequence. Writing music that evokes a dream-like feeling can be difficult, because dreams themselves are incredibly diverse things, so the aspect I chose to focus on was the surreal. The track that most inspired this rearrangement was "Silence And Motion" from FF8, with its use of sound effects and time signature changes to give off an alien, unfamiliar-yet-familiar vibe.

The different sections of this piece represent the different parts of the sleep cycle; busy-sounding REM, ethereal light sleep, a non-sequitur for deep sleep, followed by a reprise back into musique concrete for the ending.

(Written 4th August, 2021)

This turned out exactly as weird as I wanted it to, and I wouldn't change a single thing about it.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Eigengrau (OLD)

This track had a rough draft lying around for months before I finally finished it earlier today. After over a year since my last upload and four months since settling into my new place, I'm finally at a stage where I can start composing and uploading more regularly here.

Mochi Pochi is a village in the Heartlands that can be best described as what would happen if the Care Bears decided to colonise Machu Picchu, with colourful doll-like houses built atop ancient ruins among the mountains. Named after the village's star citizen and Jack of Hearts, the inhabitants of Mochi Pochi are made up of the lost toys of young humans and monsters, making this place a retirement home of sorts for them. The toys are well looked after and have found new life in the Dark World, and any emotional difficulties are handled by Mochi, making her the pride and joy of the village.

The melody and harmony essentially wrote itself, and the Super Mario 64 pan pipes do a great deal to sell both the Latin American and nostalgic vibes, but the percussion was a bit of a challenge. Because I'm not from a culture that is regularly exposed to this kind of rhythm, emulating the free feeling of the bongos and other sounds was difficult to get right, but I think the end result is comfy, inviting, and a place you can happily spend the rest of your life living in. Precisely what she'd prefer you do, now that I think about it...

(Written 2nd September, 2022)

Rhythm section needs cleaning up, sounds messy to my ears now.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

welcome to mochi pochi! (OLD)

This track was one of the first three tracks I completed along with Angel Is Love on my new computer, which I got in the late March of 2021. The sketch for this track had existed for about a month prior, but I was unable to work on it due to my old computer being on its last legs, so I waited patiently for my opportunity and then got to work.

The Fridge is one of the first new areas players will explore in TSTP, accessed by a short walk through an unseen branch of the Scarlet Forest and through a dank cave. The Fridge is a cold and largely inhospitable place, home to Darkners who do not otherwise belong. Hathys who dislike being touched, Rudinns who hate money, Clubs who aren't keen on rules, and Spades who refrain from fighting can be found here. Their homes are makeshift, their fires burn just brightly and warmly enough to keep them alive, but none of the residents can see themselves living anywhere else. Exploring further afield into the snowy expanse beyond the settled area is ill-advised. Local legend speaks of ghostly figures seeking new souls to torment, and of Death itself dancing in the gentle snow.

This is the first instance of a motif that will become associated more heavily with someone else later in the story, the intention behind that being to foreshadow their existence before any mention of them is made. The reason why this area was chosen to do this was because it will be the first "real" area of TSTP, instead of a Chapter 1 throwback, and the intended effect of invoking them at this stage is to convey to the observant player that as soon as they cross the boundary from the familiarity of the vanilla game into TSTP proper, there are equally observant eyes watching them back.

(Written September 14th, 2022)

Definitely keeping this one. Snow areas are mandatory in every good RPG.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

The Fridge (OLD)

This track was composed fairly early into TSTP's development, when ideas for Chapter 2 were still being discussed. We knew the "castle" of the City was going to be some kind of tall building, but I wasn't sure whether to make it a skyscraper or a factory, and then a bolt of creative stupidity hit me in much the same way I imagine it hits Toby Fox.

A brutal environment below, while being a hedonistic paradise above, the Factoryscraper is the single most dominating aspect of the City's skyline, stretching seemingly towards the top of the sky. The bottom half is a steel mill, producing girders for an unknown purpose. The top half is a casino and hotel, lavishly decorated and populated by uncaring elites who wish to spend their days gambling and ignoring the plight of the tireless, suffering masses below their feet.

While it's very easy to read into this piece a heavily anti-capitalist statement, my intentions with the Factoryscraper and Chapter 2 at large is to present a more nuanced examination of the precise interactions and conflicts that result in the absurdities seen in places like the City. Originally, this theme didn't contain Delphyne's theme towards the end, but I decided to add it to communicate his rebellious turn against the queen that he had once served unquestioningly.

(Written September 21st, 2022)

Another favourite of mine. Pretty much perfect as is.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

The Factoryscraper (OLD)

This track was written in the June of 2022, after moving into my new house. The renewed creative energy is unlike anything else I've felt so far with this project, and the existence of this upload is a testament to my commitment to seeing this project through to the bitter end.

The Floor is a gathering place of dead kingdoms, and with that comes the unscrupulous and unsavoury. A living breathing mosaic of every kind of desert at once, there is naturally a saloon to be found, and within these oaken walls, something powerful and dangerous stirs. Dart, a wanted man, stands between you and the truth behind the Floor. Do you have what it takes to bring down this most might of tyrants, this most foul of men, this most heinous of Darkners? Or will you be another notch in his belt?

I stumbled across the OST of a series called Metal Slug, which is apparently quite popular, but I'd never played. It was predominantly an arcade affair, and arcades had stopped existing by the time I was old enough to steal money from my parents. The music, energetic and boisterous as an 80s action flick, inspired the tone and choice of soundfont, and was the only fitting way to honour the unambiguously badass nature of Dart, by far the coolest character I've written for TSTP.

(Written 5th October, 2022)

Hell yeah. Still regularly listen to this one. The totally badass character it's written for is going to be a chapter highlight when I finally reach that part of development.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Bullet Time (OLD)

This track was completed earlier today, although a rough sketch has existed for well over a year and a half, since this particular character's inception. Whenever my hands were idle, I'd always find myself playing the main melody from this theme for some reason.

Manuel von Struction, a name as auspicious and ostentatious as its owner, is the Game Master of a currently unnamed DnD-inspired area of the Dark World, and is the same kind of Darkner as Rouxls Kaard. A poorly kept instruction manual, complete with missing pages and margins full of scribbles, Manuel is a barely stable individual who micromanages every action of every citizen in his perfect little world, forcing everyone to move within a strict turn order and obey his equally strict, often silly rules. Given the multitude of people inhabiting this world, it can take hours or sometimes even days for it to become your "turn" to do something. From Manuel's perspective, not even death would be a valid excuse to not play...

Harpsichords are fun and underrated instruments, and they pop up a few times in the TSTP soundtrack. Here, it's the centrepiece, playing the entire way through, with everything else accentuating the whimsical, yet brash nature of this piece and this character.

(Written 2nd November, 2022)

This one's getting used. Could do with some slightly better mixing, though.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Manuel Von Struction (OLD)

This track was not written for TSTP at first, and was instead for someone else's project involving the living aspects of the Seven Deadly Sins. This one was, naturally, Greed's theme. I intend on taking more of those tracks and finding places for them in TSTP because they were written with the same style in mind.

This theme plays in an unremarkable part of the game wh- HEY GET AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER STOP YOU'RE GOING T-

G'day, Lightners! Chester 'ere! Today, I'm gonna tell you all about me and my theme tune, For The Taking! So basically, this song plays whenever I do my thing, and my thing is stealin' anythin' and everythin' that ain't bolted down! Kris and the others won't know what hit 'em! Err... he left some notes here... apparently it's based on an old tune called "We Are Number One"? And he added the bongos at the last minute because he wanted to tie it further to the area it'll be first played in? I'll be honest, I've got no bloody idea what he's yappin' about, but he's lookin' at me all angry like from across the room so I'm gonna bounce. Catch me later, ya big rippas!

...oh my god I'm so sorry you had to read all of that. My computer isn't letting me delete anything she said. You weren't supposed to meet her until- Oh forget it. Yeah. New song. Woo.

(Written 23rd November 2022)

Chester may not even stay Aussie, considering what I plan on doing w- OH COME ON AGAIN SERIOUSL-

Don't listen to that load of ol' rubbish! I'm stayin' as Aussie as Tim Tams! Also, they're a girl now? Struth, my condolences. Whatever evil witch cast that spell on ya, we'll find 'em in a jiff and give 'em a right seein' to! Wait what do you mean you "like" bein' a girl? There's no witch either? Wow, it's worse than I thought. We better hurry and find 'er before she puts a curse on another innocent game dev!

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

For The Taking (OLD)

This track was written fairly early into development, right as we were first fleshing out Chapter 3 in serious detail. The desert vibes were a particular favourite with our old artist.

The Floor is a notably more hostile location than the City before it and the Heartlands after it, with a sense of lawlessness despite the heavy presence of guards. The Queen of Clubs struggles to maintain order in her kingdom of thieves, plunderers, and outlaws, and her royal guards can only be in so many places at once, despite the abundance of heads. Some have speculated that the Queen colludes with certain criminal factions to compensate for the inefficiencies of her own enforcers, but these are surely baseless rumours, right? The Queen of Clubs, the Orderly Queen, would never dare stoop so low as to shake hands with the enemy for a greater peace, right?

Originally, this was going to be the Queen of Clubs' boss theme, but I decided against it because it lacked the right energy. It suited the setting, yes, but it conveys a more traditional active kind of battle, whereas the Queen's fight will be more cerebral and slow paced, hence the title of this track. That track will be made at a later date, when I can think of a suitable genre/feel.

(Written 7th December, 2022)

This one can stay as is. Maybe update the percussion to sound more authentic.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Enigma And Conundra (OLD)

This track was composed very early on, back when TSTP was largely an excuse to give Susie an extended family for RPing reasons. Further revisions saw more of a cohesive story take shape into the project that it is today, largely due to my efforts to give the characters something meaningful to do in the story.

It's no surprise to anyone who's played the first chapter of Deltarune that Susie comes from a somewhat broken home. Shabby clothes, a distrust of authority, a penchant for violence, difficulties in relating or socialising with peers, all of it hinting towards some manner of abuse. However, players of TSTP will be pleasantly surprised to learn that the source of Susie's issues stem from a more mundane, everyday neglect rather than the brutality people often associate with the term "abuse".

The three instruments in the piece represent each member of the Drachenhart family. Susie plays the guitar, strumming the six open strings and fretting the first fret with a fat purple finger for most of the song. Addy, her father, plays the bass underneath, at first lazily but gradually becoming more involved with Susie's part. Sam, her mother, plays the shaker in the background, a steady rhythm providing the only semblance of order in the household. As for the strings? An intrusive force from outside, as Kris is the first and only friend Susie has successfully convinced to hang out at her place.

(Written 14th December 2022)

Well, this one's probably not surviving the cut. Susie's motif is pretty prominently on display, and there's no guarantees that Susie's replacement will even be like Susie enough for this song to make sense.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

A Room With Some Views (OLD)

This was written early into development, once I had a better understanding of who the Knight was and what exactly their plans were. This track may as well be called "Song That Might Play When You Meet The Knight". Does that mean this won't be what plays when you meet them? Or is the meta awareness posed by me asking that question enough to make you reconsider? Or have I said too much? Or not enough?

The Knight is a character we know to exist within Deltarune's story, as a distant benefactor and presumably superior of the King of Spades and possibly all of the card-based Darkners. They are the entity most likely responsible for Card Castle's dishevelled throne room, as well as the one who sent Jevil mad with ideas of Chaos. In TSTP, we are left with the task of giving the Knight consistent, believable, and engaging motivations for all of their actions, which I can happily report we have done with aplomb. The King may have been too much of a coward to follow through with killing their son, but rest assured, the Knight is the kind of villain that holds no such reservations.

Of all the things I've written for TSTP thus far, this is perhaps the most blatant FFVII soundfont worship I've done. This soundfont was designed to paint technocrats and failed gods alike in shades of metallic grey and distant green-blue hums, while letting a little sunlight in through the cracks, so things never become too bleak. With how deliciously oppressive this track turned out, I regret nothing.

(Written 21st December 2022)

The Legend motif needs removing. I'm not sure if this song will even survive the reworks, to be honest.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

De Jure (OLD)

This will be the last music upload for a while. From January onwards, I want to focus more on programming and producing art and sprites for the game. If you are interested in following development more closely, message me privately and I'll send you a link to the official Discord server. Other than that, this channel will go dark for a while.

Speaking of darkness, I felt this track was the most appropriately low note to end things on for the time being. A duumvirate refers to a system of governance where two rulers, typically a king and a queen, co-rule in equal measure. The Queen of Spades is a character that will play a pivotal role in the events of TSTP, especially around its midpoint. She will be the last of the Queens the party faces, and by far the most fearsome. She assumes sole authority over the Spadelings, mighty knights clad in thick armour that serve the Spades exclusively, that will serve as a roadblock throughout the early chapters, forcing the party into a linear adventure. Linearity on its own isn't a bad thing, it's when the linearity feels too restrictive that it becomes an issue, but I plan on giving players enough to see and do that they won't mind the first four chapters being a glorified straight line with a few detours.

This track features a live recording of me playing my keyboard, so the timing is slightly imperfect. I use this throughout TSTP's soundtrack in other areas, partially because the sounds on my keyboard are far better than any free VSTs I can find, partially because I like the more natural sound of notes being played slightly out of time, and partially because I'm lazy and can't be bothered to do better takes.

(Written 29th December)

I can be bothered, actually. 

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Duumvirate (OLD)

This piece was composed during my three-month abstinence from composing new music. Yes, I know, I can explain. For those of you not in the Discord server, essentially this means that, try as I might, I just can't extinguish the musician in me, no matter how hard I try to focus on other aspects of the project. This might prove troublesome if left unchecked.

TSTP's soundtrack, as of writing this, should have all of its bases covered by now. As the sole composer since the very beginning, you would expect all of the obvious tracks to have already been composed by now. And yet, up until now, a regular battle theme didn't exist. Oh sure, I had plenty of character-specific battle themes, I've got two end-game boss themes that'll almost certainly go down as some of my best work, but I had no answer to Rude Buster. A Touhou-infused piano riff flowed from my fingertips, and I knew that the time was right to fill a glaringly large gap in the sonic space. The title of this track is a word with many connotations, almost all of them relevant to TSTP in some capacity. It's also one of those words that stops sounding like a word the more you say it. Prompt. Prompt. Prompt. Propment. Protm. Pronto. Prepomp. pT. PPPPPPPPP. Prompous. Prrrrr. P! omomom. And so on.

Naturally, this theme borrows heavily from the aforementioned Rude Buster, but also includes elements of house, inspired by the 5pm alarm that's set to go off on my phone every single day, to remind me that it's 5pm and that if I haven't done anything productive with my day, I should probably hurry up with that. Some of the urgency associated with that alarm definitely translated to the final piece.

(Written 29th March 2023)

No notes. Easily one of my best from this era. I can keep the little freedom motif reference in the main section as a little treat.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Prompt! (OLD)

This piece has existed as a piano-only track since the beginning of this year, when I swore off composing entirely. I may or may not have been composing anyway, such is the fate of these restless hands.

Puzzles are going to be a major focus in both gameplay and story within TSTP, that is to say, they'll play an important role in getting from point A to point B as well as have relevance within the narrative and the world itself. While I think Toby did a good job contextualising the puzzles in Undertale as deliberately designed features of the Underground, either to stump intrepid humans or to hide things in plain sight, and while it certainly added charm to the game, it's not something I intend on replicating for TSTP. Darkners and their puzzles serve a different function, and this theme reflects that.

Playing this piece requires my hands to overlap on the piano, which gives me the sensation of picking something up from the left and carefully placing it on the right, similar to how I'd assemble a jigsaw.

(Written 12th April, 2023)

Need to make this one loop properly.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Falling Into Place (OLD)

This track was composed fairly early into development, and had a last minute extension before uploading. The original unaltered theme admittedly flows better as a piece of music, but this inclusion was necessary to paint the appropriate mishmash of themes clashing horribly in the middle of nowhere.

The Floor is the primary location of Chapter 3, a kinetic sand desert comprised of Darkners whose real counterparts are the various confiscated items found in the police station in Hometown. And yes, I said kinetic sand. The sky lacks a sun, so the black featureless sky contrasts with the technicolour dunes, making it the focal point of any given horizon. As described before, the people who live here are accustomed to a life of crime born out of generations of tradition, but find themselves under the tyranny of a ruler who up until now had merely tolerated their existence. The Queen of Clubs seeks order above all things, but if you wish to learn more about her motivations, might I suggest seeking counsel with her majesty yourself? You might find yourself the subject of interrogation instead...

Bold, adventurous, slightly playful, this theme has always been a staple for when I need music to motivate me through periods of self doubt or creative drought. The beginnings of a grand odyssey, the tying up of shoelaces, the pulling up of the elastic of my pants, the getting the hell on with it, so to speak.

(Written 19th April 2023)

Need to reincorporate the western/cowboy section more naturally. Doesn't sit right with me.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

The Floor (OLD)

This track was composed a few weeks ago and was simple enough to get done in an hour or two, but hosting multiple barbecues and discovering Ultrakill pushed that back somewhat.

Prompt!, as of writing this, is well on its way to reaching 900 views, by far the most popular original song I've ever published online in my entire career. But if Prompt! is TSTP's equivalent to Rude Buster, does that logically mean there should be an equivalent to Lantern? Yes, the answer is yes. But don't expect this theme for when Seam is fronting the shop. That is all I shall say on the matter for the time being. Perhaps extracting the .ogg file directly from the game once it's out will reveal more of the mystery? Perhaps I'm just saying things to pad out this admittedly lacking description?

Waltzes are fast becoming one of my favourite things to make lately. This song is especially pleasant to play on rainy days, or when my hands need something simple and satisfying to accomplish during the long afternoons spent staring at a blank code block.

(Written 10th May, 2023)

This one needs a lot of work. Might get a real violinist to play the second half. Definitely need to remove the FFVII motif near the end. Last thing I need is Square-Enix sending a cease and desist.

(Written 15th of July, 2024)

Reminisces (OLD)

Hopefully the music isn't too grating on the ears.

As of today, Thus Spoke The Prophecy is no longer a Deltarune fan project. We received a cease and desist from Materia Collective on the 31st of May, who argued that our usage of copyrighted characters was a violation of US copyright law, and that we did not have the authorisation to make such a project. Rather than do what Undertale Yellow's developers did, because we lack a large enough audience, we have decided to remove all copyrighted elements from TSTP moving forwards, and we will be setting all of the released music up until this point to private on all platforms.

To clarify, TSTP is not cancelled, and provided I'm not struck dead, it will be finished one day. I've poured far too much of my time and energy into this project to simply let it die. Ever the optimist, my initial reaction was to consider this a compliment of sorts. It means that, with just a handful of music uploads and some story tidbits on an account with only 50 subscribers, I've been considered enough of a financial threat that such legal action was necessary. To clarify, not a single line of code for TSTP has been written, due to ongoing circumstances beyond my control. I know that sounds like lazy talk, but trust me, if you've been following the weekly updates in the Discord server, it really is that bad.

I've chosen to see this as a hidden blessing, as I often do when tragedy strikes in my life. I now have a blank canvas upon which to correct narrative and gameplay quirks that were holdovers from the fact that this was a Deltarune fan project, things that bugged me but I couldn't really do anything about. It also means I get to re-develop TSTP's story and worldbuilding all over again, which was a joy the first time. Those of you who remember the old tracks will recall that I hardly used Toby's motifs due to an insistence on producing almost entirely original work, so thankfully the music will only require a few note changes here and there. My only concern is the logo, which I don't have an adequate replacement for right now, nor do I have the means to commission any artists.

Once this is uploaded, I'll be responding to the cease and desist itself. Fingers crossed this is enough.

Sorry about the music. At least it's original.

(Written 3rd of June)

Please read the description.

Apologies for the radio silence. I've been working on a few other things behind the scenes and in my personal life. Also, sorry about the broken glass everywhere.

Last month, I uploaded a song to both the Youtube and Soundcloud accounts to inform you all that Thus Spoke The Prophecy had been struck with a cease and desist from Materia Collective, and moving forwards would no longer be a Deltarune fan project. I also privated all of the music uploaded to both accounts, in compliance with the emails I had been sent. 

However, Materia Collective reached out to me and clarified that they hadn't sent any such email, and asked for further details. After forwarding the correspondence I had with someone claiming to be a lawyer representing Toby Fox and Materia Collective, Materia Collective denied any involvement with the lawyer, accused this individual of impersonating a legal professional, and may be in the process of seeking legal action against them. Materia Collective also clarified for me that I am well within my rights to continue making Deltarune music, as I had not attempted to monetise anything with copyrighted material, a conscious choice on my part to avoid situations like this.

In light of this surprising turn of events, I will be unprivating all of the previously uploaded music on both platforms. However, after having sufficient time to process this incredibly stressful situation in full, I've come to the conclusion that despite getting the go-ahead from Materia Collective, I will continue to rework TSTP into a fully original project, while also being open and transparent about its origins as a Deltarune fan project. Honesty is the best policy, and it's a policy I've maintained both with TSTP and in my personal life for my entire adult life so far.

This means that the older music on both platforms will be labelled as (OLD), to avoid further confusion. Eventually, I'll redesign the logo, among many other things, but for now, both channels will retain the "Please read the description." logo as a placeholder. As for the immediate future, my goals for the rest of the summer are to lose weight, eat healthier, learn the guitar, and finish other musical obligations before sitting down and really working on retooling TSTP into becoming a game I can be fully proud of.

(Written 15th of July)

Please read the description again.

Thus Spoke The Prophecy is an independently produced game made by a small team of enthusiasts, which will be released for free upon completion. Originally a Deltarune fangame, it has since grown into its own thing, with a cast of entirely original characters, a distinctive aesthetic reminiscent of early PS1 RPGs, and a complex, nuanced narrative that will please veterans of the genre, as well as being a friendly introduction to newer players to the storytelling potential and depth of gameplay that RPGs have to offer.

TSTP started life as a series of speculations about the story of Deltarune, shortly after the release of Chapter 1. Several people contributed and built upon one another, until we had a cohesive and compelling narrative. With an original soundtrack being composed by myself and art provided by several good friends of mine, we have spent the last five years developing this project into a state where we feel comfortable sharing it with the world!

Thus Spoke The Prophecy

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