[Announcement: Closure of live services]

Good day.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the immediate termination of live services for Toonsville Online. We do not take this decision lightly but in light of the catastrophic data corruption and server collapse we experienced approximately sixteen days ago has left us with no alternative.

We worked had these past nine years to unite players around the world in our silly and whacky world of Toonsville. We hit significant player counts year on year and strived to deliver a continuous stream of updates on a steady basis.

We have seen first hand the passion and sense of community from our fans, whether you were a die-hard Toon or found the more business acumen of the Suits to your liking. We never would have made it this far without the support of each and everyone of you.

And for that, from the bottom of our hearts, you have our deepest thanks.

We would have liked to have a farewell event in game, but under the circumstances that is not possible. This page will be left up for one more week before the site itself will also be permanently taken offline.

We know this must be hard and believe us, we wish this did not have to happen but with the unsalvageable damage of our entire network, back ups and all, we were left with no choice. We are currently in talks with our investors and seeking emergency external funding at this time, but so far no commitments or promises can be made.

We are a studio made up of many talented people and we are working hard on ensuring this causes minimal impact on their livelihoods.

We apologise for how sudden this must all seem, but the sooner we get our heads down and start working on this unfortunate development, the sooner we can get this sad chapter behind us.

Do not see this as a ‘goodbye’ but instead as a ‘we’ll see you around.’ Who knows? It may take some time, but maybe Toonsville Online will rise again from the ashes. We care keeping all our options open at this time.

And until we meet again, remember:

Stay silly Toons.

With love:

The Townsville Online Team.


Oh god! Oh man!

I’m running. Running as my stupid little cartoon animal legs will carry me.

That-that thing! It’s chasing me now. I can hear those heavy metal stomps just barely above the near deafening screaming. Whatever it is, it is not not not a Suit! There was a person inside of it. Under all the rusted gunmetal and stupid business aesthetic there was an actual flesh and blood living being under it.

I was frozen in place for a moment at the horror of it. Only a split second of cold mind numbing confusion as I tried to process what I was looking at. The instant it clicked the monkey part of my brain kicked into high gear and sent me dashing away from it full pelt. But the second spent was a second wasted and it could have cost me. So I ran and I ran, only daring to look back once the entire time.

It was on all fours bounding after me like some kind of goddamn predator! My blood ran cold and my mouth was so dry, I couldn’t even muster a scream or a slew of curses like I felt like I had to in that moment. It was probably for the best. It would have just wasted breath.

I dashed around a corner I came by mere minutes before and kept going. I was a half decent sprinter growing up. Not as healthy as I could be, but I’d like to think I was better than most of people, so mercifully I could keep the pace going. I just remembered what I learned in track. Breathing and pacing. Moving my arms as I go with steady breaths.

It let out an especially shrill agonised snarling scream.

Screw pacing!

Screw breathing!

Just run as fast as you can!

Oh no...that dumb wagon is ahead of me and I’m drawing in close. I don’t have time to stop and climb over it, not with that abomination close on my tail. Literally! “Okay...okay…” Disregarding the idea of wasting precious running breath, I force myself to talk. If only to reassure and help myself in this dire time.

“Three…”

Closer and closer the wagon draws now. Just a dozen meters away.

“Two…”

If I didn’t do something very soon I was just going to run straight into it. And then that would be it.

“One…”

That thing was going to get me. I was going to die.

“Hnrg!”

I let out a grunt as I launch myself at the very last second on my surprisingly springy cat feet and leap forward, arms outstretched towards the wagon. I clear the ground by a two or three meters and to my astonishment I manage to slide belly first across the top of the flatbed, right over to the other side and land in a roll. I don’t even stop despite the scrapes. As soon as I hit the cobbled street floor, I’m up and off again.

I allow myself a little cocky smile and a laugh. “I’d like to see you do that you big metal jerk.” The bounding doesn’t stop. It’s still as close behind as it was before. The wagon didn’t even break it’s stride. I think it just leaped over it the same as me. Only clearing the ground further and quicker. When the thought dawns on me, I let out a choked groan. I’m not going to get away.

I hate this dream!

I hate this stupid suit Toon thing!

I hate-bikes! No I don’t hate bikes but there was that old one I passed! I should be coming close to it sometime soon. Any second now. If I can snatch it up as I run by, I can hop on and peddle away. It won’t be much faster but if I can break line of sight maybe I can hold myself up in one of those buildings until it gets bored and goes away.

Good plan, I think to myself. I might look like an idiot wheeling away on a bike but at this point I have no other option. Now I just need to keep an eye out for it. I pan my head left. The bike isn’t there. I pan my head right.

I just passed it lying there on the floor as I went by.

It was too late now.

Oh.

I want to scream. I really really want to scream. Or cry. Or just wake up from this hellish nightmare. With nothing that can be done, I just keep on running, but I’m starting to slow now. My breaths are ragged and my legs hurt. So does my chest for that matter. No no this can’t be happening! C’mon you idiot keep up the pace! But it’s no use. I’m running out of breath. And that screaming metal monstrosity is closing in for the kill.

I could feel the sheen of sweat on my forehead and my back. Despite the cool weather my shirt was sticking to my as I was slowly coated in perspiration. That’s not how it works. I’m a cat I think. Cats don’t sweat like that. They sweat from their paws, not everywhere else like humans do. It’s a dumb thought I know. I had much bigger concerns but at this point I don’t think I could have done anything else.

“Hang on..I’m a toon...of course it would be….something dumb...like that…” I wheeze out a meek stupid laugh in-between mouthfuls of air. Then I yelp as my foot catches a loose cobble and I trip over slamming gracelessly onto the street beneath me. My head bounces and for a split second I see a bright flash of light behind my eyes and a sharp pain dashes my entire thought process leaving me temporarily mindless.

I open my eyes with a groan, hand raised to my head. It hurts but it was more of a daze than anything else. A severe headbang and thankfully no outward injuries-but I’m on the floor! Oh god I can see it’s mere metres away, surging forward. It moved like a wolf coming in for the kill. And I was it’s prey of course.

I try desperately to crawl away but it’s not like I can get far. I try to rise but my foot slips and I smack onto the floor again moving a whole thirty centimetres or so if I’m lucky. As it approached it slowed down, coming to a near skidding halt it righted itself back onto it’s legs with those long robotic arms raised and reaching towards me. I want to yell but I can’t muster it. I just whimper pathetically while rolling onto my back. I raised an arm defensively, as if that would somehow shield me from the horror as it tore me to part. Without even thinking about it I’m trying to scoot away on the heels of my feet and my other free arm but I’m hardly moving. Funny how the body just does these things on its own when you’re in peril.

As it loomed over me, I got a better look at the creature. It was definitely a horse. A raw skinless horse made of entirely exposed muscle. Christ it looked painful. It had stopped screaming now, instead breathing. Same as me, ragged and heavy and it’s meaty checks and thick neck sinew all seemed to quiver and tense with every heave. Christ it looked painful. The beats had eyes but no lids, just huge exposed orbs lined and crossed with red blood vessels, some of them clearly burst here and there with blotches. Both slotted into sockets with nothing to cover or protect them. And the look in them.

A pure feral animalistic madness.

If this was a Toon at one point, it no longer was. This was a wild predator now. Plain and simple. A predator that was hungry.

It seemed to be chattering it’s teeth now on this final approach. Maybe that was hunger or just some involuntary muscle spasm but those jagged shattered teeth clattered together again and again maddeningly. Some were gone, some were sharp like jagged points, others were broken here and there with exposed-no I don’t even want to think about it. The sight made me wince, it made my own teeth hurt, especially with how violently it kept slamming them together. It appeared to be drooling freely without a care either. Long ropes of slobber running down the chin and getting lest further into the suit, or spattering onto the cobbles below. It reminded me of the family dog at dinner when it would sit there and watch us eat, inching closer and closer when she thought we weren’t looking, drooling all the while.

The torn metallic head was still clinging on on either side of its neck, like the jagged top of a can opened incorrectly with a can opener, the thick solid metal not even wobbling as it moved. And from that neckline more and more steam poured out, with it now coated in thick dripping condensation from the rusted shoulders up and a veritable heat shimmer like a halo around the red mass of it’s face.

“I really hope this is a dream…” It’s all I can muster for my last words. It’s reaching out to grab me and my breathing spikes and my heartbeat goes into a crazed overdrive. Clicking fills my ears as the robotic digits are curling and slowly twisting as it is about to engulf the entirely of my head in a single grip.

I hate this game.

Snap.

A blur of cold grey steel and the Suit suddenly exploded in a deafening cacophony as I was showered in razor sharp metal, pulpy wet meat and a burst of intense screaming heat that felt as though it would burn all my skin off. I’m sat there, still breathing heavily, gobsmacked with eyes wide as I slowly try and process what I’m looking at.

The Suit was gone.

Well half of it was at least.

Where it once stood leaning towards me, crated into the floor was...was a safe! A safe dented and embedded into the cobbled street and the upper half of the Suit at an angle with a nasty red stain on it’s underside.

I can’t even speak. All I can do is stare dumbfounded.

Somehow against the odds I was able to scream. And boy did I scream.

A pool of red and black begun to seep out from under the safe and I scrambled back to get away from it. Still screaming while I’m at it.

What the hell just happened?

“Psst! Hey! Hey over here!”

It was a half whisper, half shout. Loud enough to get my attention and to give off the impression whoever this was was trying to at least keep things fairly covert. I manage to finally stop screaming and turn to see a nearby door open just a few inches on a nearby building with a face and a hand waving out to me.

“You just gonna sit there like an idiot?! More of those things are coming, c’mon!” It-it was a Toon! A real one! And they were waving me towards them.

Then off in the distance I could hear more and more voices. All letting out feral shrill screams of their own.

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Pub: 07 Jun 2026 22:57 UTC

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