Hello! This is Kylie (azufx)!

We're starting off the year strong with a surprise new patch for Undergrowth and our very first Devlog! 

This is our first official 'Hello!' and it will cover some fun introductory stuff to Undergrowth, the awesome team behind the project and where to find us for updates!

=== About Undergrowth ===

Undergrowth started as a project draft back in August of 2024 whilst Elina (our BG and CG Artist) and I were brainstorming ideas to participate in the upcoming Spooktober VN Jam, which happened in September of 2024. 

As some may know, Spooktober VN Jam is a competitive game jam! 

Undergrowth actually made it to Honourable Mentions on the awards show hosted by Dev Talk, and in terms of raw itch.io votes out the 268 entries…

Thank you all! The stats don't lie! 

We knew going in that trying to fit all the content that we wanted to in a month was going to be no simple task but we've had such a fun time together that it made it worth it! I was originally gunning for about an hour of gameplay for Spooktober but, we realised later after watching a few gameplay streams that it went up to almost 3 to 4 hours instead…whoopsie.

By the end of December, we had about 70 over hours of live directed voice recording sessions, about 2800+ voiced lines of dialogue, sprites for almost all of our characters, a large handful of CGs and BGs and a tracklist of six music tracks implemented into the game.

We knew that Undergrowth had the potential to keep expanding. Which meant we'd need multiple bursts of development, so here we are on our second game jam submission for Winter VN Jam!

=== About the Team and Cast ===

From one person in the dev team, it became two. 

Then from two, we gathered five other gremlins in the Dev team.

And on top of another 18 voice actors in the cast, we now have a dedicated team of 25 working behind the scenes!

And we're fully remote, scattered around the globe!

Fun fact: Our cast is spread across 7 different time zones! Scheduling live recording sessions with all of our VAs was a challenging feat but super worthwhile.

Most importantly, with the help of Jett (our Voice Director) painstakingly wrangling bureaucracy for us, Undergrowth is on TWO game jam waivers, meaning that team is SAG-AFTRA strong! 

For the unfamiliar, you may read more about the Interactive Media (Video Game) Strike here that is still ongoing in the US and why being strike compliant is important to us all.

=== About Future Updates ===

Whether you've just stumbled upon here from Winter Jam's submission page, a post from our socials, or have been following this project since the launch last Spooktober (1st of October), from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here, your support means a lot to us!

We foresee one more huge development burst before Undergrowth is at its final completed state. More updates on that once we:

1. Wrangle some important bureaucracy procedures. That means being strike compliant and protecting our team as best we can. (as we should!)
2. Get to scheming our remaining Arcs for Undergrowth.

In the meantime, I hope you can enjoy what Undergrowth currently has to offer!

=== How you can Support us! ===

If you would like to support Undergrowth in any way shape or form, you may consider funding the project through itch.io (prompted when you download new updates). 

It is not a requirement but it is always appreciated! The funds will be put towards an eventual Steam release as well as being able to support our team and their hard work.

Otherwise, following us on our socials here on BlueSky would also be awesome too! 

You'll be able to get updates regarding how many marshmallows Pearl will burn in real time along with this funny wall of text AKA Camp Records in Devlog formats whenever there's an update or if there's general announcements.

=== Other Fun Little Doodads! ===

Latest Changelog can be viewed here if you would like to see all the fun stats and updates! And if it interests you, we do have an IMDb and a TV Tropes page, thanks to Jett for setting these up! (TV Tropes might have spoilers so visit at your own risk!)

Lastly, thank you all once again for showing Undergrowth some love! It is not a 'Goodbye', but rather, a 'See You Later!'

Stay hydrated, stay warm, don't pet any non-friendly dogs and I hope you have a wonderful start of 2025!

Sincerely (harvesting the mold), 

Kylie (azufx)