A downloadable visual novel for Windows, macOS, and Linux

The fan visual novel where you get to fall in love with Sans!

This is a non-commercial, non-affiliated fanwork based on the game UNDERTALE by Toby Fox. I highly recommend playing that before you play this visual novel.
You can play that here.



About

Fall into the Underground and fall in love with Sans the skeleton! You can also befriend others along the way! Have fun spending more time with the monsters you've grown to love!

Thank you for taking the time to check out my passion project! This is a love letter to the game Undertale! It is a game that has truly touched me. 


Features

  • Meaningful choices!!
  • Meaningful moments!!
  • One (1) dateable skeleton named Sans!
  • A ton of puns! A skele-TON!
  • 4+ hours of playtime

Accessibility Options:

  • Self voicing, image captions, audio captions, open dyslexic font option



Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How can I clear my game to a clean slate?

A: Instructions for Windows here: https://itch.io/post/2792964

Instructions for MAC here: https://itch.io/post/3390388



Q: I'm getting an error when trying to download on the itch.io app.

A: The visual novel is incompatible with the itch.io app. Please try downloading it via the website instead.



Q: What platforms will this be available on?

A: Currently, I'm only focusing on a PC/Mac/Linux release.

 

Q: Are you planning on releasing this on mobile/web?

A: No, I do not have plans to release to mobile or web. I do not have a way of testing out mobile builds. And Dating Start! exceeds the recommended filesize of a Ren'Py web build. Please read this to understand more about why.

 

Q: Will this be translated into _____________?

A: Right now, I do not have any plans to translate. I'm sorry.  :c 


Q: How much does this stray from canon?

A: This is a visual novel where you can FALL IN LOVE WITH SANS. The base concept is already straying way off canon.


Q: How many love interests are there?

A: Only one (1). Sans the skeleton.


Q: Who do you play as?

A: It's you, the player! (You do NOT play as Frisk, you play as yourself.)


Q: When does this take place?

A: After a Neutral Route. The Family Ending (Flawed Pacifist) to be exact.

 

Q: How many routes/endings does this have?

A: Three. True Love. True LOVE (No Love). Secret Route.

 

Q: I played through once and got to Flowey at the end. Is that it?

A: Nope. You gotta RESET to see the rest of the story. Dating Start tells its story through multiple playthroughs. Or you can just end at one playthrough. It's up to you.

StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Release date Feb 10, 2021
AuthorDerpyChoCho
GenreVisual Novel
Made withRen'Py
TagsFangame, Romance, sans, sans-undertale, sans-x-reader, Undertale
Average sessionA few hours
LanguagesEnglish
InputsKeyboard, Mouse
AccessibilityBlind friendly

Download

Download
PC - v1.0.3 238 MB
Download
MAC - v.1.0.3 221 MB
Download
LINUX - v1.0.3 224 MB
Download
Dating Start Icons.zip 2 MB
Download
Dating Start Wallpapers.zip 26 MB

Install instructions

Don't forget to unzip the folder before playing!

  • PC: Right click on the zipped folder and select "Extract All"
  • MAC: Double click the zipped folder.

Within the new, unzipped folder, the application will have a RED heart icon with the title "DatingStartVN"


Development log

View all posts

Comments

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Viewing most recent comments 1 to 40 of 199 · Next page · Last page
(+1)

I pulled an all nighter playing this and I'd do it all again!! I got the Sans ending and it made me teary eyed, I know it sounds silly but I wish he was real and that I was in the underground so much, and this game embodied that feeling. The writing, the art, the music, EVERYTHING. It was all incredible, all the effort put in to making it was worth it tenfold, this gave me the feeling that playing Undertale for the first time did. As meaningful as I can put it through writing, Well done, you did a perfect job and I wouldn't change a thing. This game made me happy and very few things in life manage that. Thank you so much <3

(1 edit)

10/10 :)

I absolutely love games like this and this is so well done?? I started the game feeling absolutely gutted, because you know, Asgore, but as I went on it started feeling more bittersweet. Beautiful game.

This is such a beautiful game oh my god... let me tell you I cried multiple times, it wrenched my heartstrings SO HARD

I just finished the game and let me tell you, my cheek was BURNING from smiling like BASWJAJWJAW I LOVE THIS SO SO MUCH

HIIIIII sooo yk how there's a new update and all?? the blank slate instructions arent working, can you update it? btw, this was a really fun game, i loved it!!

(+1)

The way you remix the music just absolutely makes me melt. like, the dummy fight was such a bop oml I freaking love it sm

Oh I didn't make that song! You'll find the credits for each song in the music room in "Extras"!

(+3)

I finally managed to play this game on an app called Winlator, and it was magnificent! The graphics were amazing! The characters and backgrounds resembled the ones from the original game, so much so that they were indistinguishable from the ones from Undertale. The music was exactly the same as the soundtrack from Undertale as well, making it look and feel like I was playing a sequel of the game.

Everyone was in character, and that added to the feeling of playing a sequel rather than a fanmade game. Interactions with Flowey were also the same - as well as him acting as a guide, and telling you what to do to get a happy ending. Him manipulating you, and the game crashing. How nostalgic XD

I really loved the entire experience, even the bad ends had a purpose, and the actual ending more than made up for them.

Thank you for making this game, and for making me love Sans even more than I already do. This game is one that will stay with me for a LONG time, and one that I was lucky to experience.

How can I get my happy ending with Sans again? qwq

I deleted the game and reinstalled it and it's still the same. Thank you very much for the response. nwn

(2 edits)

No dice. I got a new error message:

```

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:

  File "renpy/common/000namespaces.rpy", line 9, in set

Exception: config.has_blips is not a known configuration variable.

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:

  File "options.rpyc", line 52, in script

  File "renpy/ast.py", line 2117, in execute

  File "renpy/common/000namespaces.rpy", line 9, in set

  File "renpy/defaultstore.py", line 99, in __setattr__

Exception: config.has_blips is not a known configuration variable.

```

But, it's okay. Most games work for me in Joiplay, so I won't worry too much about this. Thank you for trying to help me, anyway.

Spoilers ahead!!

-

-

heya! I was wondering, as I played through the game an finally got to kill Sans for the first, I got to meet Chara and was given a choice between erasing the world and not erasing it. I chose erasing it. Now every time I enter the game I only hear the wind and see nothing but black (which makes sense). however, is there a way I can reset without losing progress and continue playing? Or is everything already lost from now on and I'll have to restart all over again? Thank you for answering!

Hi!  You have to be patient.  Wait like.... 5+ minutes in the dark, windy void.  And Chara will talk to you again and ask you a few questions.

thanks so much for answering! This is a wonderful game you've created ^^

Hi, I tried to download the game on mac, and my computer doesn't open the file because it's trying to prevent potential malware from files it can't recognize. Do you know if there's anyway around this, or is there a different place from the itch.io page to download the game? Thanks!

Oh shoot, I'm sorry!  :(  I'm not familiar with a Mac workaround. I just know on Windows we have a button to bypass. I did release it on GameJolt as well, if you wanna try downloading it from there!  Hopefully that works!

https://gamejolt.com/games/datingstartvn/577458

I was able to figure it out and find the way to bypass! Thank you!!

Sorry to bother you about this, but, I tried to play the game on android using an app called Joiplay, and I got this error message:

```

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:

  File "game/gui_scripts/transformations.rpy", line 731, in <module>

NameError: name '_easein_circ' is not defined

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:

  File "gui_scripts/transformations.rpyc", line 731, in script

  File "renpy/ast.py", line 2503, in execute

  File "renpy/ast.py", line 2517, in set

  File "renpy/python.py", line 1152, in py_eval_bytecode

  File "game/gui_scripts/transformations.rpy", line 731, in <module>

NameError: name '_easein_circ' is not defined

```

Do you know what the problem is? And can you please fix it? I really want to play this game!

I can try my best to help, but I can't promise anything, as this VN is not supported on Android at all. Also, I don't have an android so I can't replicate the issue. I'm sorry  :(

What are you doing when you get this error?   Are you trying to launch the game?  Or has the game already launched and this is happening during a certain part of the game?

I just click on the game, and it immediately comes up. Other games play fine on Joiplay, so I have no idea what could be wrong.

Hi, I tried looking over my code, but I can't find anything  wrong. This doesn't seem to be an issue on PC, so perhaps there's a fix for the Joiplay app specifically? easein_circ is one of the transition easing functions built into the Ren'Py engine.

Okay. I tried using the newest version of Joiplay, and an older version, but neither of them worked. I'll try finding out more about the error online.

I'll keep doing research on my end, too. Sorry that you're having to jump through hoops.

I got desperate, and messaged the creator of the Ren'py engine PyTom. If they can't help me, I'm screwed.

I updated part of my code, though I'm not sure if it will resolve it. Do you have an email so I can send you this updated version to test?

(+1)

OKAY SO! I made it to the end and I THOUGHT YOU HAD TO RESET CAUSE SANS SAID HE WOULDN"T MIND IT WASN"T MY BRIGHTEST MOMENT, and the tutorial to reset completely didn't work for me, and it would literally mean everything to me if you could make a new, more in depth version on how to do it on a computer? I love your game and I'm so happy you're active on here, cause I adored this! I feel so bad for resetting, I need our happy ending! (I am so sorry this is so extreme, I just spent 4 hours playing and crying over how beutiful the art was) 

(+1)

nvm i found it! pressed windows and R, then pasted the original thing from the guide

Hi there!
I'm also making a game with Ren'py, and I was wondering if you could share how you made the fight? I've been trying to figure out how to make a sprite move and be controlled by the player but it just won't work.

(+1)

All of the movements were done using Ren'Py ATL. When a choice is made, the animations play like a movie.  The player does not actually have control of where the sprites move. It's basically a pre-programmed animation that plays depending on what was selected.

If you're looking for movement like arrow key movement, I don't have a whole lot of experience with that in Ren'Py. And it would be a little move involved. Ren'Py is, first and foremost, a visual novel engine. So anything extra like that has to be coded from scratch.

ohh okay I see, thank you for responding!

amazing job. i-i didn't cry... i swear

(+2)

We're so in love rn

I used to play this game during my middle school years. I absolutely REFUSED to reset, but then I realized that I had to in order to progress...I was NOT disappointed, so thank you for making this game.

oh wow

this is actually really good

i never thought i'd be so happy playing an undertale fan game where you fall in love with sans, but i guess i wouldnt know this existed if i didnt start looking for undertale dating sims out of boredom.

(+2)

does anyone know how to get the secret route? asking for a friend

does anyone know the list of moves to do sans' fight? I'm really really bad at remembering so I have my own list I keep adding to every time I mess up- And like- I don't have any items either so I'm not looking forward to killing everyone again just to get the butterscotch pie. please-

(+1)

i really hope the secret route doesnt need me to play through the true LOVE one. i dont wanna reset, dont wanna make sans or myself sad.

thank you for the lovely story.

(-3)

was hoping for more love interests :(

Omg I cried so hard. It felt so short and yet I spent my whole day playing. It was absolutely perfect.The scene in the corridor omg omg it was so hard to hold back the tears I was in a zoom meeting omg. I truly, sincerely hope they get to be freed one day cuz if not I'm gonna turn emo istg.  

(+1)

MY FAVOURITE SCENE OF SANS IS THE STARS THING- I PHYSICALLY ‘AWWED’

uhmmm, how do i continue?? I keep clicking continue, but there's no file to load? I'm so confused

(+1)

I'm assuming this is your first playthrough. If you didn't save, there would be no file to load.  You have to RESET.

yeah I learned that after, thank you

i'm tempted to reset just cause I see no other option

(+1)

Yes, you have to RESET.

I really liked the game, I think I enjoyed litterally everything in it! The writing, the art, the music... everything feels so awesome and... right? The atmosphere of Undertale is really felt so good here...

could you please also add the option to play this on the phone(like an I-phone perhaps?)? I’m way too broke to afford a PC yet still wanna play the game myself 😓

Unfotunately, porting to phone is not possible for me. To develop for iOS, I need a Mac computer. But I don't use a Mac. Also, I would need to join the Apple Developer Program, which costs money every year to maintain. I wouldn't be able to put it on Android either, because I don't have an Android phone to test it. In addition, I wouldn't be allowed to put a fangame on the AppStore or on Android in the first place.

Because of this, it has to stay a PC only game.  I'm sorry. ☹️

It‘s okay,i can always watch the playthroughs on YouTube 😅

(-1)

Will there be other characters...iunno...like Muffet or something?

No. The story is complete.

Ah. Okay...  Thanks for replying.

(-1)

This game is super good! I just want to know how old are we in the game?

(+2)

Thank you for playing! The player does not have an exact age. However, Toriel hinted at the beginning that the player is "much older than a human child" and "probably too old to listen to bedtime stories". This means that the player, at the very least, is a young adult.

(1 edit)

AWWW I GOT THE BEST ENDING IN THE WORLDDD <333333333 

I'M SOOO HAPPY WITH MY BLOVED SANS <3   

THANK YOU FOR THE AMAZING GAMEE I REALLY NEED THAT 

this is insanely well written, and i can tell  a lot of effort went into the making of this game. the dialogues left me smiling for a long time, this is honestly one of the best visual novel games i have ever played!i love this a lot gosh this game was amazing

Hello there! I tried to download your game but it looks like my WinZip free trial is finished. Is there a way to play your game without paying?

Hi! You shouldn't need to use WinZip to unzip it if you're on a Windows computer. You should just be able to right-click the folder and select "Extract All".

Thanks a lot!! :D

well, there is this program called 7zip, it's basically winzip but free.

(3 edits) (+1)

this is absolutely incredible. the amount of details put into this are really beautiful. thanks for sharing this game with us. the story was addictive and magnificent (if we can say that in english). tbh i'm in love with sans now. its deeply frustrating that i cant find the words to describe how much this game was beautiful. it truly looks like a sequel. the love story was mesmerizing and cute. we can see your interest in undertale cuz everything is just so logical and smooth ?? even the other characters still have their own personalities and are lovely. im sorry if this comment is a bit messy but i poured all my heart in it. i truly loved your game!!

(+1)

mannn reading this comment section is wholesome, just somebody having a problem and the owner fixing it, best game maker, i haven't played that game because im on my school chromebook and the version is chrome OS so none of these work, and going to linux also doesnt work so i dont know if its possible to make a chrome OS download for the game, anyways thanks for helping everyone 

What dani is saying (the image on the bottom) 

-Very cool 👍



I really wish I could create a port for Chrome OS.  Unfortunately, I don't have a way to do it for Ren'Py games.  :(   Not sure if Ren'Py will release Chrome OS support in the future. If it does, I'll look into porting it!

I do hope you get a chance to play it soon! Sorry for the inconvenience!

Its okay no other downloads for any games work on chrome OS just sometimes RARELY on gamejolt it doesnt need a download and you can just play it instantly, and who knows im using a school chromebook so maybe if anybody finds an easy way to create a port for chrome OS im pretty sure itch.IO will be blocked. ill try to play on my phone soon, looking forward for that.

(-1)

Eu não Gostei pq não tem versão pra Android

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